Mayhem (Book 1): Vipers MC, #1

By Heather West

This is book 1 of the Vipers MC trilogy. Books 2 and 3 are available everywhere now!

Loving her is savage mayhem.

She tore my heart to pieces.

And now she needs my help.

But when I find out what she's hidden from me, my rage knows no bounds.

Will I punish her for her sins, or keep her safe from our enemies?

ELI

My ex-wife left my heart in burning shreds.

I had to find out from a letter that she was leaving me.

She was too much of a coward to even tell me to my face.

But fate has a cruel sense of humor.

And seven years later, when I rescue a woman from a brutal destiny…

It's her.

She's just as gorgeous as I remember her.

Smooth curves and dark brown hair.

Creamy skin and lips like sin.

I can't decide what I crave more:

To claim her or to break her.

I shouldn't want this. She left me in the dust.

But my mortal enemy wants her blood.

She needs my help.

Only I can protect her.

But Tori has been hiding secrets from me, and now, they threaten to ruin everything.

F**k it all.

I'll kill everyone in the world if I have to.

I'm not losing my woman again.

TORI

Leaving Eli nearly destroyed me.

But I had no choice.

Seven years after I threw away the love of my life, he somehow finds me again.

Just when I need him, the man I've always loved grabbed me from the jaws of death.

Eli is an enigma, chaos personified.

Both sweet and savage, kind and cruel.

My angel. My demon. My savior. My doom.

But my body still longs for his, and I can't help but give in to his touch.

It's everything I remember and more.

There's no time to relax, though.

The killers on my trail are threatening to ruin my rediscovered paradise.

Eli says he'll keep me safe from them.

He says, this time around, he won't let me go again.

But he doesn't know about the secrets I've been hiding from him.

And if he finds out what I've done…

I might lose everything once more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sopris Page Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393778172

Book preview

Mayhem: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Vipers MC) (Book 1)

By Heather West

Loving her is savage mayhem.

SHE TORE MY HEART TO pieces.

And now she needs my help.

But when I find out what she’s hidden from me, my rage knows no bounds.

Will I punish her for her sins, or keep her safe from our enemies?

ELI

My ex-wife left my heart in burning shreds.

I had to find out from a letter that she was leaving me.

She was too much of a coward to even tell me to my face.

But fate has a cruel sense of humor.

And seven years later, when I rescue a woman from a brutal destiny...

It’s her.

She’s just as gorgeous as I remember her.

Smooth curves and dark brown hair.

Creamy skin and lips like sin.

I can’t decide what I crave more:

To claim her or to break her.

I shouldn’t want this. She left me in the dust.

But my mortal enemy wants her blood.

She needs my help.

Only I can protect her.

But Tori has been hiding secrets from me, and now, they threaten to ruin everything.

F**k it all.

I’ll kill everyone in the world if I have to.

I’m not losing my woman again.

TORI

Leaving Eli nearly destroyed me.

But I had no choice.

Seven years after I threw away the love of my life, he somehow finds me again.

Just when I need him, the man I’ve always loved grabbed me from the jaws of death.

Eli is an enigma, chaos personified.

Both sweet and savage, kind and cruel.

My angel. My demon. My savior. My doom.

But my body still longs for his, and I can’t help but give in to his touch.

It’s everything I remember and more.

There’s no time to relax, though.

The killers on my trail are threatening to ruin my rediscovered paradise.

Eli says he’ll keep me safe from them.

He says, this time around, he won’t let me go again.

But he doesn’t know about the secrets I’ve been hiding from him.

And if he finds out what I’ve done...

I might lose everything once more.

Chapter One

Tori

Iwoke up that morning , immediately wishing I could go back to sleep. Sleep was better. I could dream there. I lived a better life there. No worries, no shut-off notices for utilities, no creditors calling day and night. Just sweet, blissful peace.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the morning away. I wouldn’t wake up. I would sleep again. The last dream I’d been having was a good one, too. I was an actress on the set of my favorite TV show, and the actor half the world had a crush on was my boyfriend. I sighed happily, snuggling up in my cocoon of blankets, ready to go back to that world.

Then I poked my head out from beneath the blankets and exhaled. A cloud of vapor came out, hanging in the air before dissipating.

No. No, no, no. I flung back the blankets, shivering in seconds as the cold air hit my body. I pulled the top quilt off the bed, wrapping around myself as I rushed to the thermostat on the living room wall. One of those old-fashioned round ones, where the needle shows where the temperature sits. It was all the way to the left, meaning the heat had been turned off. They’d actually gone through with it, in the middle of February—I’d pleaded with them over the phone, too. I told them I had a seven-year-old boy living with me, that we needed the heat. If it were only me, I’d find a way. I couldn’t let him suffer.

It was only six o’clock. Still dark out. George wouldn't be up for at least another hour. I ripped the blankets from my bed, bundled them in my arms and went to his room.

The sight of him curled up in sleep on the little twin bed nearly broke my heart with a mixture of fierce, breathtaking love and soul-shattering fear. How could I protect my son? How could I care for him? The most pressing need at the moment was to keep him warm, so I slid in behind him, pulling the blankets over the two of us. The bed was so cold. His little body was cold, too.

Mama? His little boy voice was thick with sleep. What is it?

Nothing, baby. Go back to sleep. I just wanted to snuggle with you, is all.

Mm-hmm. It was all he got out before sleep grabbed hold of him again. The way I wished it would grab hold of me.

I curled my body around him, and within minutes the bed was toasty warm. That much I could give him. I didn’t know about anything else. I stayed awake, my head on the pillow, eyes wide open and staring at the window as the sky gradually lightened.

What was I supposed to do? Money had never been plentiful, but as long as I’d been working there was food on the table, clean clothes on both our backs, a clean apartment with the luxury of heat, electricity to power the TV and such, with money left over for the occasional treat. Treats for George, of course. Never for me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had my nails done, or even gone to a movie that didn’t involve animated characters. It didn’t matter, though. I never needed much.

Then came the day when a pink slip arrived. I remembered staring at it in horrified disbelief. I’d heard rumors of layoffs throughout the company—we all had. Up until that day, they were only rumors. I’d worked extra hard to prove myself indispensable. I learned no one was indispensable, as half the investment firm’s employees were let go at one time. I had only been a lowly assistant, entering data and running reports, but I’d made a comfortable living. Enough for our apartment, enough to pay tuition for George’s private school and extracurricular activities. I felt it all slipping away as I realized I had no job.

I’d told myself to buck up. Five years at the firm meant a fairly comfortable severance. I could rely on that, plus unemployment, to carry me through the first six months or so. I hoarded every last penny in those months, desperate to make the money last. But then my car broke down, needing a fix. George had a bad fall in the school playground, resulting in a trip to the ER, an X-ray and stitches to his forehead. When that bill came through, I actually called the hospital to make sure there was no mistake. How could a few stitches be so ungodly expensive?

Before I knew it, I was down to next to nothing in savings. After pounding the pavement every day looking for work, too. Times were tight, as though I didn’t know it after the layoff. The job market was practically nonexistent, except in the restaurant industry. I couldn’t work a hectic schedule, though. I needed something with set hours so that I could create a steady, dependable schedule for George. I couldn’t afford daycare even with a job, not with tuition costs always on the rise.

By the time the heat cut off, my severance had dried up, and the unemployment kicked, too. I had no money coming in. Just bills. Lots of bills.

And my boy. I leaned closer to him, taking a heady whiff of his little boy smell. I hoped he never got too old to mind when I needed to bury my face in his neck and try to capture a little bit of his youth by inhaling that strange scent