The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition

by Janine Infante Bosco

  I kept my mouth shut because I did want to know him. I wanted to know who the fuck he was and why he kidnapped me and Blackie. I wanted a name to the creepy face I’d always remember.

  “You,” he said, pointing a finger toward me as he pulled over a chair. He slowly removed his fur coat, draping it over the back of the chair neatly. He wore a wife beater tank top tucked into perfectly tailored pants and topped the ensemble with suspenders. His arms were covered in tattoos, not an inch of skin unmarked. He sat down, crossing one leg over his lap as he made himself comfortable and stared at me. “I never forget a face, especially one as pretty as yours,” he winked, and I wanted to vomit.

  “Although I’m not really a fan of the scowl you’re giving me right now,” he continued. “I thought bringing one of your men here would make you happy. Or is his not the dick that gets you wet, sweetheart? Do you prefer Jacks?” his eyes widened and his grin spread as a light bulb went off inside of his jaded head. “I’ve got it. It’s neither of them, is it?” he leaned forward, reaching behind him and producing the shiny blade of a knife. “It’s the dead guy isn’t it? The Fed, Danny, that your pussy got excited for, right? Tell me I’m right.”

  “How do you know about Danny?” I asked, swallowing hard as he brought the knife to the side of my face.

  “Oh, Danny boy and I go way back,” he grinned. “In fact, that is how I put two and two together. You see, the other day when I saw you, I knew I had seen that face before. Someone doesn’t forget your face, it’s that pretty,” he whispered. “Would be a shame if someone made that face ugly—for the sake of all the men who like looking at you let’s hope your boy Jack comes through,” he said, pulling the knife away from my face and cocking his head as he stared at me. “Seen you before, seen you with Danny a few times I followed him and I saw photographs of you decorating his house,” he offered.

  “So when I saw you with this junkie’s dick in your mouth, I knew something wasn’t right. Your kind doesn’t go for the likes of us, the men who lie, cheat, and kill for a living. You’re more suited for a man like Danny, who tries his hardest to put the bad guys like us away. But your boy Danny didn’t know which side of the fence he wanted to stick with and thought he could jump from side to side,” he shook his head. “Major miscalculation on his behalf.”

  I gaped at him, his words settling and realization dawned upon me.

  “You killed him,” I whispered.

  “Didn’t you?” he raised an eyebrow.

  “Didn’t you,” I shouted, but he remained silent.

  “Who’s the pussy now?” I laughed in his face.

  He was on his feet in a flash, rearing his hand back before slapping his palm against my cheek.

  “YOU SPEAK TO ME WITH RESPECT,” he yelled.

  “He will kill you,” Blackie slurred, from beside me. I turned my head, fighting to ignore the sting on my cheek, reminding myself it was nothing compared to the feeling of my skin melting.

  Blackie fought to keep his eyes trained on our captor.

  “Joke’s on you, Jimmy,” he managed.

  “What’re you talking about?” Jimmy laughed.

  “She’s not some whore we take a chance a piece on,” Blackie explained. “You just laid a hand on the president’s old lady.”

  Jimmy looked back to me, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

  “What’s he saying?”

  I glanced at Blackie, watching as he tried to focus, giving me a slight nod. I turned back to Jimmy and smiled.

  “He’s saying you’re fucked,” I offered, smiling. “Pussy,” I added for good measure.

  “In case you haven’t realized you’re tied up at my mercy, the only one who is fucked is you,” he sneered, as his eyes traveled my body. “Well, maybe not quite yet but we can fix that,” he continued, before snapping his fingers. “And I know just the person to give you one last fuck,” he said, turning around and smiling as his eyes met Blackie’s. “It’s brilliant!”

  He moved toward Blackie, kneeling in front of him, he cupped his face and forced him to look into his eyes.

  “You want to play me, try to fool me? I’m no one’s fool. What was it you said? That you were just having a go at her before Jack came and finished her off? Yes, I believe that was it,” he said proudly. “Going to make your lies become your truth,” he warned. “And that’s how we’re going to deliver my demands to Mr. Parrish,” he dropped his hold on Blackie’s face and rose to his feet, eyeing his goons. “Let’s go boys, need to set the mood!”

  He walked back to the chair in front of me, taking his coat and slipping it on as he smiled at me. “Yes,” he said, sweetly.

  I squinted, confused but then before he could even speak the words it became clear.

  “I killed Danny boy,” he winked. “Cried like a little bitch, too. Now, that’s a pussy,” he chuckled as he walked out the door, his men on his tail. The door closed and I heard the lock slide into place, securing us as his prisoners.

  I looked back at Blackie and watched him fade out again, the tracks on his arms staring back at me offensively.

  “Don’t lay down and die,” I whispered.

  I must’ve dosed off because I groggily opened my eyes when I heard the harsh sounds of Blackie upheaving. I turned to him, watching as he violently thrashed while he vomited, trying his best not to do it on himself, but with the way he was handcuffed it was impossible.

  “Blackie, look at me,” I pleaded. I wanted to reach out to him, to help him in some way but I couldn’t move, leaving my words my only source of comfort. “Look at me, damn it!”

  His body lurched but nothing came out, he turned his face into his shoulder, an attempt to wipe at his mouth before lifting his eyes to mine.

  “You’re okay, you just need to remind yourself you’re okay,” I said, softly.

  He closed his eyes momentarily before blinking at me.

  “I’m not a junkie,” he said, defeated.

  “I know,” I replied. “Why is he doing this to you?”

  “Because I deserve it,” he answered simply. “Listen, Reina, you need to keep your head because as long as he keeps feeding me that shit, I’m useless. Jack’s on to him so it’s only a matter of time before he and the club gets to you.”

  “To us,” I amended. “He will not leave you behind, you’re the closest thing he has to a brother. A real brother,” I whispered.

  “Right,” he replied, closing his eyes. “Reina, do me a favor?”

  “I’m kind of tied up right now,” I said, trying to make light of our shitty situation. He smiled faintly and my eyes filled with tears. Ironic isn’t it?

  “Oh God,” he moaned. “I need to throw up,” he mumbled, hanging his head waiting for his body to convulse or for the moment to pass.

  “Blackie, focus, if you let that shit control you, then the poison wins,” I pleaded, having no fucking idea what I was saying. Could he really fight against drugs? I don’t know but I couldn’t watch him anymore. “Tell me your real name. Blackie is your club name, right?”

  “Road name,” he corrected.

  “Cut me some slack, I’m new to the old lady status,” I said, my voice shaking. “Tell me your name,” I repeated.

  “Dominic,” he said finally.

  “Dominic,” I gulped, twisting my face as he looked at me. “I like Blackie better,” I stated, and he smiled weakly at me.

  “You’re good people, Reina,” he said. “We will get the fuck out of here,” he declared. He cleared his throat, swallowing, probably trying to rid the foul taste of his own vomit from his mouth. “Jimmy blew up my truck,” he informed me. “After I dropped you off I made a stop, must be when he planted the bomb,” he added.

  “You don’t think he planted it while I had the truck?” I asked. I had taken Blackie’s truck to drive to Jack’s and it remained parked in his driveway for hours, anyone could’ve tampered with it and we wouldn’t have ever known.

  “Jack’s house is covered with cameras, anyone watc
hes him, and it’s obvious Jimmy’s been watching us, wouldn’t be stupid enough to plant a bomb with the camera rolling,” he explained.

  “So where did you go?” I questioned as I flinched, my body aching from being in one position and my legs tingling.

  “We being real with one another?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I affirmed.

  “You about over the whole Jack being Danny’s brother thing? I mean when you get the fuck out of here you’re not going to hold some sort of grudge over the man’s head are you?”

  I squinted at him, confused as to what any of this had to do with where he was before the truck exploded but I played along.

  “I’m over it,” I admitted. “I don’t like being lied to, but…” I shrugged my shoulders to the best of my ability, “I love him,” I glanced down at my lap and couldn’t help but wonder if I’d truly survive this. What I wouldn’t give to look him in the eye and tell him how I felt. I didn’t really get to do that. I blurted out I was in love with him but never looked into his dark eyes to whisper the three words we all liked to hear now and then.

  “Hold onto that, what you feel for him, it’ll help,” he said.

  I stared at him for a moment.

  “What are you holding on to?” I asked hoarsely.

  He looked away. “Which question do you want me to answer? Where I went after I dropped you off or what I’m holding on to?”

  I studied him, even in the state he was in there was something he was focusing on, something he was holding onto or at least trying to. It wasn’t his deceased wife either because then he would just succumb to the fate that Jimmy had planned for him. I wondered if Blackie even realized that he was fighting against the path he originally thought he was meant to follow. There was someone pulling Blackie back, someone giving him purpose. Maybe he found his sunshine.

  “Something tells me both questions have the same answer,” I said softly.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. He diverted his eyes to the floor and I swear I saw the faintest hint of a smile but as I blinked his lips set into a thin line again. He turned his head, his eyes focusing on the leather cut that covered his shoulder. “Leather and lace,” he whispered.

  The door opened, jarring the both of us and we turned our eyes to one of Jimmy’s men. He carried a leather pouch tucked under his arm and knelt in front of Blackie. I watched him unzip the bag and pull a vile out, followed by a syringe. He roughly grabbed Blackie’s outstretched arm and tied a band around it.

  “Don’t,” I yelled. “Can’t you see he’s not a threat to you people? Why are you doing this to him?”

  He ignored me and Blackie turned his head to me.

  “It’s all good, Reina,” he struggled, biting the inside of his cheek. His eyes glazed over as he stared at me.

  “Leather and lace,” I reminded him as the menace pushed the needle into his skin. I kept repeating the three words, chanting them almost, until the henchmen pulled the needle from his arm and tucked it into his leather pouch.

  Blackie continued to stare at me with hooded eyes as the heroine swam through his veins.

  “Leather and lace,” he slurred. The man rose to his feet and snickered before turning around and walking out the door. I heard the lock click and knew I’d always remember the sound, just like I’ll always remember Jimmy’s face. The same way I’d never forget Blackie’s eyes or the tears that fell down his cheeks when they closed. How do you forget Hell?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I walked into the clubhouse with Lacey tucked against my side and stared around the packed room into the eyes of all the people waiting on me to make sense of the situation we all found ourselves. Wolf and Pipe rose from their barstools and walked toward me. Wolf slapped Riggs upside the head who was sitting at a table, staring across the room at Anthony Bianci’s mother and the girl I assumed was his sister. Riggs stood up and followed suit, joining the brothers as they stood before me.

  “Where’s Blackie?” Wolf asked, glancing at Lacey before fixating his eyes on mine.

  “Gold has him and Reina,” I said, diverting my eyes to Lacey as she whimpered beside me. “Call your mother and tell her where you are, tell her you’re okay,” I said, lifting her chin. “You’re okay,” I reminded her as she stared at me with questionable eyes.

  “Come here, sweetheart, let’s dry that pretty face of yours,” Grace said, reaching out to take Lacey’s hand. Her eyes lifting to mine, seeming to speak the words she didn’t say. You take care of mine and I’ll take care of yours.

  Lacey dropped her hand into Grace’s as she pulled her against her chest like the nurturing woman she was and guided my daughter toward the bathroom.

  I ran my fingers through my hair and walked toward the room where we held church. I knew they’d follow, and not so much because they wanted answers but because one of our own was at the mercy of another man and that wasn’t acceptable. Not in our book, not in our club.

  However, I didn’t expect Anthony to stand in front of the door, with his arms crossed against his wide chest, his brother-in-law Mike at his side.

  “Move out of my way, Bianci,” I growled, fire in my eyes as they met his. He glanced over my shoulder at Riggs, Wolf, Pipe and Bones who had joined the pack behind me.

  “I get you have a code you people live by, a brotherhood, but you’re down a man and I owe you a favor. So, like it or not, I’m a part of this thing. I’m with you until you get your right hand back and your woman, because not too long ago you laid it all on the line to help me get mine.”

  “And him?” I tipped my chin toward Mike.

  “Now come on, Bulldog, you and I go way back,” his lips curved. “You saw my shot with your own eyes,” he said, raising an eyebrow, slapping the palms of his hands together and pointing his index fingers outward, mimicking a gun. He clicked his tongue. “Bang, bang,” he added.

  They were both right, not that long ago I vowed to help Anthony get his life on track so he could get his woman and I was there when Michael first pulled a trigger at our shooting range. The kid was his father incarnate. They weren’t Satan’s Knights, but we were allies and when one was at war they needed all the help they could get. Anthony and Mike provided us with an advantage—they’d been around Jimmy a lot more than any of us had. They would have insight to that lunatic, knew what made him tick and what they didn’t know they could get from their people on the streets.

  I looked at them once more before turning around and looking at my club.

  “That okay with you?”

  “Since when does what we think play a factor when dealing with the likes of them?” Pipe grunted.

  Wolf elbowed him. They had a right to be bitter but now wasn’t the time for it to surface. No, now we needed to be a unit, and our honor and loyalty to one another needed to play front and center.

  “Fine, but I’m not riding with one of them on my fucking back, they drive a cage,” Wolf warned.

  “A cage?” Mike asked, leaning into Anthony. Bianci shrugged his shoulders and stepped aside allowing me to walk into the chapel. One by one we filed through the door, taking our respective seats at the table. I stared at Blackie’s empty chair for a moment before slamming down the gavel.

  “A couple of months ago, Pastore asked me to take care of a problem he had. A Fed was sniffing around one of Jimmy’s bodies and they wanted me to make the Fed disappear. That Fed was my brother, Danny. This guy over here…” I pointed to Bianci who was leaning against the wall, “…was about to help me save my brother’s life but we were too late. Jimmy killed Danny and set his house on fire. Reina, the woman I’ve been seeing, was Danny’s girlfriend and she was in the house with Danny when he let the house go up in flames,” I glanced around the table and sighed as I continued. “I’ve been planning my revenge for months, figuring it was personal and so no need to bring it to the club. It’s not personal anymore. It’s not even about Danny anymore. Wolf, Pipe, you two have been around since Cain’s days, you guys remember the G-Man, ri
ght?”

  Pipe nodded. “Remember going to a lot of funerals at his hand,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, long story short, Jimmy has been working with him since the days of Val.”

  I averted my eyes to Mike as he cleared his throat at the mention of his father. I realized I wasn’t sure if he knew Jimmy and the G-man were responsible for his father’s death. Victor had taken out the hitman responsible and when Nikki was kidnapped by the G-man’s son, Mike had killed him but the man he killed went by the name of Deke Rogers, an alias to throw off the Pastore’s. I looked over at Anthony, allowing him to see the questions in my eyes before he continued. Mike’s eyes moved back and forth between the two of us before he rolled his eyes and stared at me expectantly.

  “Keep on, I know all about it,” he informed me.

  “Every blow to the Pastore family has been orchestrated by Jimmy and his quest for control, including Val’s death,” I stated.

  “That’s your pops,” Wolf said to Mike. “And Victor’s underboss.”

  “I remember the newspaper headlines. The press called his death a ‘mobbed up massacre,’” Pipe added.

  “With Val dead and Vic in jail, Jimmy is the head honcho, paving a clear path for the G-Man to move drugs through the streets. The thing is, without Cain and his connections, and Victor cutting out whatever smack he could, they became vulnerable and in search for a supplier. The plan was for us to supply Jimmy with the heroine, give him enough to make some money. When his dick got wet, he’d come crawling on his hands and knees for more and we’d tell him we were only in business to get large quantities. He’d agree because he’s a greedy cocksucker and we’d set the scene for the cops to find him with all the drugs.”

  “So now we’re playing cops?” Pipe asked. “When did we start doing citizen’s arrests?”

  “When Victor Pastore gave the green light, he’d be waiting on the other end, ready and willing to do our dirty work,” I retorted.