Wait a minute.
This is Robert?
The smirk falls from his lips as he plucks the sunglasses from his face and a gasp sounds from my mom as she brings her palm to her mouth.
“Oh my God, Robert!”
“Joss?”
He shakes his head in disbelief as my mom nods. Everything that comes next happens in a flash and before I know it my mom is hugging the man and they’re both laughing.
“Oh, good everyone is friends. Does that mean this idiot gets to live to another day?” Rob asks.
I turn back to the two boys who look just as confused as I do.
“Um does someone want to explain why you’re hugging the lady whose car I hit?” Eric questions. “I mean, I’m all for peace and all that shit, but it’s weird and I think mom might castrate you.”
Still laughing, our parents break their embrace. Mom wipes away a few wayward tears as she juts a thumb toward the bickering brothers.
“These two yours?”
“They sure are,” Robert boasts. “Got two more at home, another boy and a girl,” he reveals proudly, then his eyes find me, and that smirk, which is so like his eldest son’s, falls once again.
“Holy shit,” he murmurs.
My mom follows his gaze and our eyes lock as a proud smile graces her face.
“Brook, baby, come here,” she urges.
Before I can make a move, the leather clad man steps forward and my gaze slices toward him. He continues to move until he’s standing right in front of me, staring at me with what I swear are tears in his eyes.
This day is getting stranger and stranger by the second.
Feeling as if I’m a specimen under a microscope, I look away.
Big mistake because both of his sons are scrutinizing me too. If there was ever a time to wish I could disappear into thin air, it’s now.
“She looks just like him, doesn’t she?” my mom says from behind him.
The question seems to break the trance and the man turns back to my mom.
“Joss,” he rasps.
His voice fades, though, as he closes the distance between him and my mom. Without uttering another word, he lifts one hand and fingers the soft silk sash of her scarf. That vulnerable look crosses my mother’s face again and she steps out of the man’s reach. When she opens her mouth to speak, her voice is hoarse and her tone desperate.
“Is he here, Robert? Please, tell me he’s here.”
The thought of Eric Nicholson being close by makes my stomach roll and bile immediately rises in my throat as I wait for the elder Robert to answer.
“Joss,” he repeats, stumbling with his words. My mom drinks him in and the next thing I notice are her shoulders slumping with defeat. “I’m so sorry…but Bones…” His voice trails as he shakes his head. “Eric,” he corrects before pausing again.
Spit it out, guy.
He lifts his eyes back to moms and I swear the biker dude looks like he might cry.
“Joss, he’s gone.”
And just like that my mom’s optimistic approach to life hit the inevitable dead-end she so badly tried to avoid.
Pre Order Fight Or Flight
Excerpt From Reckless Temptations
Want more of Bones’ friend Riggs? Read Reckless Temptations today!
Riggs
Don’t these bitches know who they’re fucking with and who the fuck I ride with? Pretty ballsy move taking me—or any of the Satan’s Knights for that matter. You would think after that shit went down with Jimmy Gold, people would realize we don’t fucking play around. My club will come for me and when they do these motherfuckers will get down on their knees and tell me they love me. They’ll beg my ass not to slit their throats—but I’ll do it anyway because I’m nobody’s bitch.
I heard a screech, like nails on a chalkboard, but that wasn’t it. I knew that sound, someone needed a can of WD-40 for that garage door. Stupid fucks couldn’t even spring for an electric door—that shit was still on a chain link.
Good, maybe these assholes will take the fucking bag off my head so I can spit in their faces and make them wish their mothers aborted their asses. Fuck that, I’d piss on them. Literally, these fucks took my cut, stripped me of all my clothes and tied my naked ass to a metal chair. I had to take a leak, and I was determined to take aim at one of these fuckers when the time was right.
“采取袋他的头.”
Chinese, mumbo jumbo.
Great.
I would definitely piss on “Jackie fucking Chan.”
The bag was lifted from my head and someone pulled a chain switch on a lightbulb dangling above me, temporarily blinding me as they said a bunch of shit I didn’t understand.
These bastards ruined me. I used to love a good eggroll but after this shit, I’ll never look at another one.
They exchanged more of their shit language before Sun Wu dragged a chair across the concrete floor and sat in front of me.
“Mr. Riggs, we meet again,” Wu crooned, as he crossed a leg over his knee.
I wriggled my arms that were tied behind me, trying to free them so I could grab my dick and aim straight for his mouth, but it was no use.
“Fuck you, Wu,” I sneered, as one of the Red Dragons’ rammed his fist against the side of my face. I wasn’t expecting the blow and bit the inside of my cheek, tasting the metallic flavor of my own blood.
“I expected more from you, something more original than fuck you, since you and your club have already fucked me over,” he pointed out.
I turned my head, stared him in the eyes and swished the blood around in my mouth before spitting it at the kung fu warrior, which earned me another fist to my face.
“You have a sharp tongue Mr. Riggs,” Wu said, lifting his head to meet the eyes of one of his men.
“Why don’t we cut the bullshit,” I said, spitting more blood from my mouth. “You got a hard on for me or something?”
“A hard-on,” he scoffed, earning me a glare that could kill.
Fuck him.
“Explains why I’m naked as the fucking day I was born. You a faggot or something? I ain’t bending over for you, “Jackie Chan.” Ain’t no fucking way,” I growled.
“尊重,” shouted the first asshole who punched me.
“Yeah, whatever the fuck that means! You jerk offs haven’t realized I’m not fluent in your dick language,” I spat, losing my patience with this game of cat and mouse. I turned my eyes back to Wu, “Why the fuck am I here?”
“You will tell me where my drugs are and why I’m burying three of my men and a bunch of whores.” He held out his palm and one of his men handed him a leather whip.
What the fuck?
“Sounds like you bitches rang in the Chinese New Year early,” I said, eyeing the fucking whip. “What are you people into? Like it rough, do ya?”
Sun Wu uncrossed his legs and stood, slapping the whip against the palm of his hand and crouched down in front of me.
“Mr. Riggs, I’m giving you a chance to save yourself right now and tell me what happened to my drugs?”
“I don’t know dick about what you’re talking about. If you’re missing some of your drugs maybe you motherfuckers should turn on the news. That crazy mobster, Jimmy Gold, got caught with a shit ton of them. Maybe he’s your guy,” I snarled, cocking my head to the side. “Sucks for you though, that mofo is sitting cozy in the burn unit at Lutheran Medical. I heard his dick got singed off, maybe you can lend him yours…that’s if you can find it,” I said, winking at him.
I didn’t have a clue as to where this guy was going or what he was fishing for—there was no way in hell they could’ve known it was us. I made sure I took the proper precautions before we ransacked their stash house—all fingers pointed to Jimmy Gold.
He snapped his whip against my shoulder and I yelped, more from shock than from pain.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!”
I gritted my teeth, lifting my head to meet his slanted eyes.
“J
immy Gold took your fucking shit, we don’t ride with the mob no more, not since Victor went away. Now unless you have an issue with the gun deal I suggest you cut these fucking ties around me and let me go,” I grunted. “You’re only making it worse for you and the deal you have with our club.”
“How’s that?” He asked thoughtfully.
“You think the Bulldog will do business with you after you fucked our truce? You can kiss that deal goodbye after he finds out you took me,” I roared.
“The Bulldog pissed, as you people put it, on our deal the minute you stole from me.”
“Nobody took your fucking drugs,” I hissed.
Three more lashes of the whip, three more marks on my flesh, secured the three bullets I’d put in this pricks head.
“Untie me and let me fight like a fucking man. Or are you Dragons too pussy to unleash me,” I growled.
He laughed, cracking the whip and branding my chest with another fresh mark from the leather. I gritted my teeth through the fresh sting before glaring at him.
Give me more.
I’ll take everything you got.
But I will come for you motherfucker.
“You have a lot of faith in your club. You think Jack will come riding to your rescue? You’re nothing to him but a pee on that he uses to tweak his surveillance. You’re the eye in the sky, someone who can be replaced. You’re not his heart or his right hand. They won’t come for you. They don’t even know you’re gone.”
For a smart man, he made a pretty stupid move, using one of the oldest tricks in the book, trying to get me to turn on my club. Wu took the wrong brother, I’m no rat. I’ll burn in Hell before I give up my family, before I give up the Satan’s Knights.
Whip me motherfucker.
Give me all you got.
And so he did, him and his brothers took a chance a piece, cracking the whip and balling their firsts. My skin felt like it was on fire, I was bleeding from one of my eyes and spitting blood from my mouth.
Give me more.
“Enough,” Wu ordered, before one of the Dragons could pound in my face a little more.
“This is how it’s going to work, Mr. Riggs. You’re going to tell me why my drugs are sitting in an evidence room. You’re going to make me understand why Jack Parrish wants you dead,” he insisted. “Because he does you know, sacrificing you and the rest of the club for a piece of pussy, that’s some fearless leader you brothers have there,” he continued. “Because if you don’t I’m going to find everything and anything you love and I’m going to tear it apart. You know how it works and if you think what that stupid prick Gold did was fucked up, how he took Jack’s vice president and his woman and made them pay for his sins, you haven’t seen anything yet. When I’m through with you, you’re going to sing to the Lord and beg for His mercy as you stare at the blood of those you love on your hands.”
“You stupid bastard,” I scoffed, laughing in Wu’s face. “You took the wrong brother. I ain’t got shit and as far as love goes—I only got love for the reaper on my back,” I rasped, leaning as close as my confinements would allow. “I won’t sing to the Lord but I’ll rejoice with the Devil when I take your sorry ass down.”
“Oh no, I’ve got the right brother,” he assured, turning around and pulling back a curtain that lined the back wall of the garage, revealing a bunch of flat screen televisions.
“What the fuck is this, movie night?” I questioned, trying to figure out what he was up to.
“I’m a very patient man, Mr. Riggs, I will wait and bide my time but I’ll always get my revenge. I will take back what is mine. The Knights took my product and they’ve killed three of my men—they owe me and I will collect. So, one last chance, one shot to tell me the truth or you and yours will be the first I take.”
“We’ll see about that motherfucker,” I growled.
I’m going to come for you motherfucker.
Gonna give you all I got.
He turned around to face the screens and pulled a remote control from his pocket. He aimed it at the wall of televisions, bringing each of them to life. I peered at the screens with my good eye, slowly taking in each frame. I was thankful for all the red marks on my skin and the black eye because the blood drained from my body. The stash house was wired from the street to outside and back to the closets inside. Everything looked as it should. The time stamps all had the same date and time, every frame was perfectly adjusted to the footage we wanted them to see that day.
“Can you see what I see?” Wu sang.
My eyes scanned each frame slowly until they stopped and zeroed in on one, the one that showed Jack and me in the hallway.
Oh shit.
I cringed, closing my eyes as I lifted the ski mask and bared my face to the camera. Wu paused the frame, hit another button and brought the same image up on all the screens. He turned to me, his eyes meeting mine, and he smiled knowingly.
He had me.
“It’s time to send your club a message,” he informed me, as he looked over my shoulder at one of his boys.
He wasn’t blowing smoke. I had fucked myself and royally too. Sun Wu had everything he needed to wage a war between the two clubs. He had everything he needed to be a man of his word and make us all pay.
I had no doubt that he’d start with me.
Then it dawned on me—his words, his threats, they all of a sudden had meaning.
One last chance, one shot, to tell me the truth or you and yours will be the first I take.
Lauren.
Pea.
One reckless move would change my whole life, actually two. One that changed my life forever and another that would ruin it.
I heard the sound of a machine vibrating before something crashed against my skull and everything faded to black.
Keep Reading!
Also by Janine Infante Bosco
The Tempted Series
Illicit Temptations
Forbidden Temptations
Uncontrollable Temptations
Reckless Temptations
Lethal Temptations
Eternal Temptations
The Nomad Series: Satan’s Knights MC
Drifter
Wanderer
Roamer
Loner
The Satan’s Knights Transition Of Power Series
From The Ruins
The Devil Don’t Sleep
Riding The Edge
Parrish
The Leather & Lace Duet (Satan’s Knights MC)
Blackout, Book One
Blackout, Book Two
Satan’s Knights Novella
Rite Of Passage
The Satan’s Knights Prospect Trilogy
Shifting Gears
Breaking The Chains
Walking The Line
The Tempted Series Generation 2.0
Fight Or Flight
The Pastore Crime Family
Straightened Out
Stand Alones
Raging Inferno
About the Author
Janine Infante Bosco lives in New York City and is an International Bestselling Author. When she was thirteen, she began to write her own stories and her passion for writing took off as the years went on. At eighteen, she even wrote a full screenplay with dreams of one day becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love. She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself.
When she isn't writing, she is busy planning the Tempted & Tantalizing Author Event, an annual book signing in her hometown of Staten Island, New York. She also recently started a mystery box subscription services that caters to bad boy characters and the various authors who write them.
She is proud of her success as an author and the friendships she's made in the book community but her greatest accomplishment to date would be her two sons Joseph and Pau
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