Venom’s Secret
Iron Vex’s MC Book 4
Elizabeth Knox
Contents
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Do you like Paranormal Romance
Iron Vex MC: Queens, NY
Iron Vex MC: Calgary, Canada
Iron Vex MC: Toronto, Canada
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Omen’s Sign
Nikki’s Nemesis
Keep in contact with Elizabeth
Venom’s Secret
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Venom’s Secret. Copyright © 2021 by Elizabeth Knox. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information contact E. Knox.
Editing: Kim Lubbers, Knox Publishing
Proofreading: Jackie Ziegler, Knox Publishing
Formatting: E.C. Land, Knox Publishing
Cover Designer: Charli Childs, Cosmic Letterz Cover Design
Photographer: Chris Correria, CJC Photography
Models: Taylor and Riley
Created with Vellum
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Elizabeth Knox
Series: Skulls Renegade
Reign
Redemption
Revenge
Relentless
Reckoning
Reclaimed
Reckless
Regret
Reclusive
Retribution
First Generation: A Skulls Renegade MC Boxset
Series: Steele Bros.
Tough as Steele
Stripping a Steele
Protecting a Steele
Steele her Heart
Stolen Hearts: The Complete Steele Bros Boxset
Series: Reapers MC
Scarred
Blackjack
Here Kitty, Kitty
Booger
Widow
Kade
Hawk
Bull
Cobra
Mouser
Dixon
Zane
Amara
Grim
Chaz
Frost
Zorro
Axel
Series: Iron Vex MC
Enraged
Bossed Up
Vex’s Temptation
Series: Royal bastards Mc: Baltimore/Knights of retribution mc
Bet on Me
Rely on Me
Hate on Me
Series: Satan’s Raiders MC
Inc’s Regret
Series: Love Hack
Ransom
Series: Dungeon Demons MC with J.H. Wolfe
Filthy Valentine
Series: The Clans with Iris Sweetwater
Promised
The Trade
Cherished
Deceit
Love is War
Defiant
Shattered
Ruthless
Covert
Heretic
Venomous
Flawed
Demise
Series: The Mackenzie & Volkolv Duet
Deceptive Love
Series: The Mackenzies
Forbidden Love
Corrupted Love
Sin City Fets with Linny Lawless & Aubree Valentine
Switched
Surrender
Full Throttle with Erin Trejo
Against All Odds
Sharp Edges
Pins and Needles with E.C. Land
Blood & Agony
Do you like Paranormal Romance?
Check out Elizabeth’s Alternate Pen Name, Liz Knox.
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Series: Bloodlines Trilogy
Fated by Blood (Free Prequel)
Series: Nightshade
Blood Oath (A Prequel)
Series: Lone Wolf MC
Origins (Free Prequel)
Series: Hells Gateway MC
Caym’s Fated Mate
Shax’s Destined Mate
Series: Bloodborn Academy
Bitten Magic
Anthologies
Romanticizing the Gods
The Elementals
Iron Vex MC: Queens, NY
Boss – President — Ol’ man — Cowboy
Children: Destiny
Omen – VP
Mug – Enforcer
Muffler – Road Captain
Ricochet – Sgt. at Arms
Hoodrat – Full Patch
Abyss – Full Patch
Venom – Full Patch
Chuckles – Full Patch — Ol’ lady — Gold
Vex – Full Patch — Ol’ lady — Finley
Children: Dominic
Reno – Prospect
Deviant “Devi” – Prospect
Clubwhores/Barmaids:
Gold
Iris
Faith
Nikki
Iron Vex MC: Calgary, Canada
Cowboy – President
Hunter – VP
Pony – Sgt. at Arms
Domino – Enforcer
Banjo – Road Captain
Toxin – Prospect
Malice – Prospect
Envy – Prospect
Clubwhores/Barmaids:
Sugar
Honey
Delta
Baylee
Iron Vex MC: Toronto, Canada
Joker – President
Monk – VP
Boomer – Sgt. at Arms
Kodiak – Enforcer
Polock – Road Captain
Bane – Prospect
Ravish – Prospect
Spite – Prospect
Prologue
Venom
One Month Ago . . .
“I thought they’d never leave,” Nikki cackles against the booth, smiling deviously like the devil would if he were here in the flesh.
“It’s been too long since we’ve had a girls’ night, and we sure didn’t need those assholes coming over here, ruining our time,” Faith adds, handing shots of tequila off to Nikki and me.
We’re a few blocks away at a local bar and while the night started out great, shortly after getting here a group of guys came up and tried to flirt with us. The first thing they asked about were my tattoos and hair, then they asked Nikki about the leather get up she’s always wearing, and after a couple of minutes passed by, they asked if Faith was the innocent one of the bunch. I don’t think we could’ve rolled our eyes hard enough, but, this is the type of shit that happens when the three of us leave the club for a night out.
“To girls who back each other up, badass bitches, and friendships that never die,” I declare while grabbing my shot glass and the other two do the same.
“Shit, I’ll drink to that,” Nikki adds.
“Hell yeah,” Faith comments.
The three of us clink our glasses together and throw ba
ck our shots. I don’t know about them, but the tequila burns my throat and settles deep in my stomach. It’s been one of those weeks where I need the alcohol to make up for everything I’ve been feeling. Regret’s been plaguing my mind with its best friend, known as shame.
Demons from my past . . . they just can’t seem to leave me alone.
Every night I’ve gone to bed and I’ve seen the same thing flash before my eyes. The same horrors, the same fear, but most importantly the same mistakes.
Inhaling through my nose, I push those thoughts at bay and keep myself in the present moment, with two of my closest friends. Nikki, who’s a clubwhore at the Iron Vex MC, and Faith who’s one of our bartenders. My reality is, I’ll head to sleep tonight and I’ll end up seeing the same thing I’ve been seeing for the past few weeks. Back then I didn’t think I had any other options, but now I know I did. Now I see there could’ve been a multitude of ways for me to get out of that situation, but I was too blinded by fear to even see the other paths I could’ve ventured down.
For what I think is the next hour we have numerous drinks and end up on the dance floor shaking our asses to old school Britney Spears. The three of us end up getting back into the booth and guzzle down some water while Nikki checks the time. “Shit, it’s already been five hours since we got here,” I comment to myself, and Faith breaks out into laughter.
“I’m only laughing so hard because we were so desperate for a break that the time flew by,” Faith says, continuing laughing.
“We don’t really get out much,” Nikki speaks up and she’s right. We really stick to ourselves for the most part. With the cult still out and about, none of us really feel safe going out alone, especially as women. Hell, Faith was kidnapped a couple years ago by the cult and she barely made it out alive. If it weren’t for Rage, she probably would’ve been killed . . . and for him, God, I don’t know what we would’ve done without him.
“For good reason.” Faith nervously laughs, grabs her purse, and walks over to the bar.
“Guess she’s closing out her tab. We’d better do the same,” Nikki comments and I follow her, pulling my crossbody purse to the front of my body, I pull back the zipper and grab some cash. After a few minutes the three of us have paid our tabs and now we’re walking on the sidewalk, ready to go home. The first thing I plan on doing is face planting into my bed. Goodness, after all the liquor and the dancing we’ve been doing, the only thing I want to see is the back of my eyelids.
“You two heard when Ricochet’s coming back to town?” Faith asks Nikki and me.
Nikki looks over to me, knowing she doesn’t get a lot of information about what’s going on whenever a couple of us leave town. Ricochet was sent down to Virginia on club business to help Vex. She’s one of our full patch members, but she’s working undercover with the Devil’s Riot MC since they’ve seen some cultist activity down there. Vex is making it appear like she’s just a normal college kid and considering that’s the type of people the cult searches for, I’m sure she’ll be able to get a bite really soon. She’ll be too good of a follower for them to pass up, especially with the way she seems so innocent.
“Venom, do you know something?” Nikki asks while moving her long dreadlocks behind her back. She always keeps her hair natural, but recently she’s really been going for the braids or dreads. Iris keeps saying she’s talking about cutting it all off and shaving her head, saying how the trend on TikTok is making her curious to what it would be like.
“Yeah, but it’s club business. You know I can’t say more than that,” I tell her and then look over to Faith.
“I’m betting it’s something to do with Twister’s charter, I mean, isn’t he super close with Emerson?” Faith asks, but her tone insinuates something more, and it’s something I’m not a fan of.
“He’s like her adoptive older brother. Don’t go putting shit together that you don’t have any idea about. Do you even know who her ol’ man is?”
Faith shakes her head.
I scoff, figuring as much. “Let’s just say if Hades ever thought there was the slightest chance for something like that between them, he would’ve already hung Ricochet up by his balls and slit his throat.”
“God, he sounds . . . morbid.”
“You have no idea,” Nikki pipes up, causing me to look right back at her.
“How would you know anything about Hades?” Nikki’s never once met the man. Hell, she hasn’t even been to Virginia to even be in the same general vicinity as him.
Nikki fights back a smirk and gnaws on the corner of her lip. “Saber was up a couple days ago, you know, updating Boss on some business dealings she must have with the Devil’s Riot MC. He likes to talk just as much as he likes doing other things, if you catch my drift.”
“I think we do. We know what you do for the club,” Faith grumbles and rushes off about fifteen feet away from us.
“What the fuck?” I mutter, staring off at Faith, who I can only see from the illumination of the streetlights.
“Just leave it. Not worth the fight. I think something’s going on with her. She’s been a bit snappy the last couple days,” Nikki tells me and her dark eyes seem empathetic, like she doesn’t give a damn about how Faith just snapped at her. She’s more concerned about her friend and that’s admirable. I don’t know if I could be that selfless. Hell, I probably would’ve given her a piece of my mind.
“Alright,” I reply, not wanting to poke the bear. “Want to talk about something . . . else?”
“Mhm, like when you’re finally gonna fess up to Ricochet that you’re in love with him,” Nikki says out of nowhere, almost causing my eyes to fly out of their sockets.
While I do have a thing for Ricochet, I’ve never once said anything to him about it because I don’t want it to ruin our friendship. We all know that feelings can either make a relationship or break it, and I, for one, don’t want to lose him in my life. He’s one of the only people who made me start seeing the good again, even after I was stuck in the dark for far too long.
“I’m not,” I lie through my teeth, hoping I sound convincing enough but alcohol always fucks with me.
“We’re drunk enough that I won’t remember anyway, probably.” Nikki busts out laughing, and I can’t help but smile.
“I like him, alright? Just don’t say anything,” I tell Nikki.
“It won’t matter. Anyone who’s got half a brain can tell you have something for him,” Faith’s southern voice comes out of nowhere and she looks back at me
God, I hope that isn’t true. I don’t want Ricochet to know how I feel. Not now . . . not when I have so much left to do. Hell, when all of this is over, he might not even want anything to do with me. I wouldn’t even be able to blame him, not after all the secrets I’ve kept from him.
Chapter One
Ricochet
“There’s some shit goin’ on, Prez. I can smell it,” Chuckles speaks up, demanding attention from every brother and sister in the room.
“I second what Chuckles is saying. Things have been too quiet, Prez. I don’t like this . . . it means somethin’ is goin’ down and we need to figure out what, sooner rather than later,” Muffler, our club’s road captain, speaks up. He’s never typically a vocal man when it comes to shit seeming off, so if he’s talking about it, well, it means he’s worried.
Boss glances around the room, looking at every man and woman in here. She shakes her head and laughs while taking her seat, but the way she laughs tells us all she doesn’t find this funny. “I just have to say how much I love it when you jump on my back before I’ve even taken my fuckin’ seat. You ever hear of other Prez’s who let their people talk to them like that?!” she snaps directly at Muffler and Chuckles, who don’t dare say a word. We’ve all been around Boss for years now, which means we know her personality. While it might look like she’s askin’ a question, only a fool would answer her when she’s this heated.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she huffs. “There’s been some
activity up in Boston the past few weeks. That’s what I called church for, the new intel I got. Of course, I wanted to verify it myself before telling anyone this shit.”
Most of us nod while Chuckles simply stares. He respects the fuck out of Boss, but he was good friends with her father, so sometimes I get the impression he’s judging the decisions she’s makin’. Old man needs to quit his shit. He isn’t her daddy and she’s not runnin’ around wantin’ everyone’s opinions.
I tune out a couple of the guys while they ask Boss questions and glance around the room, noticing there’s a missing seat—Venom.
Where the hell is she?
While my eyes are focused on her seat, Abyss catches my gaze and asks the question I’m wondering right now, “Where’s Venom at?”
Boss glances over to Abyss. “She’s workin’ an event right now.”
Venom works security with a couple of the others on occasion as another way to earn some extra cash. Being in Queens means we have no shortage of quick ways to make cash, especially since artists love to come here to perform for intimate crowds, or at Madison Square Garden.