Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)

by Janine Infante Bosco

  Wolf was back…empty-handed but swore he had it handled and that we needed to hang tight.

  The new blood was coming.

  Pipe had expanded the garage, put the club in the red but vouched for the loss if the business didn’t prosper. Pipe was a cheap bastard, guy didn’t waste a penny so if he offered to put up his own cash, you knew that fuck had something up his sleeve.

  All in all, we were keeping busy, working our shit out and getting the club back to where it needed to be. And the best part about that shit? We weren’t using drugs to do it.

  We didn’t sell them.

  We didn’t orchestrate deals with them.

  And I didn’t do them.

  I was still on the methadone, but that shit would change soon too. I didn’t want to be a man who checked into a clinic every morning for a fix. I wanted to be the guy I was on the weekends.

  The guy that sanded floors in a house he had neglected for years. A man who allowed Lacey to pick the paint for each room even though her choice of colors drove him insane. The kitchen was aqua blue.

  When she wasn’t driving me mad with paint samples she was driving me mad with her smile. I wonder if she knows the power she has over me with that thing.

  I shouldn’t limit her control to just her smile.

  It was everything she did.

  There were so many layers to her I never knew existed but I was discovering all of them and there wasn’t one I didn’t love.

  I didn’t see much of her during the week between my obligations to the club, her school schedule and keeping things from Jack, we were lucky if we found a night to be together. She didn’t bitch about it, or bust my balls which I appreciated, especially since I needed to keep reminding myself that Boots had eyes on her.

  A week after I returned from my meeting I gave up trying to convince myself that I should let her go. I pulled Bones to the side and lied through my fucking teeth. I told him with everything going on with the Dragons and the Bastards, it was best if we kept an eye on Lacey. Then I told him he needed to keep this shit between us, using Jack’s illness as my excuse for keeping him in the dark about putting one of our brother’s on his daughter for protection. I only had him tail her when she was at campus that way he didn’t catch on to what was going on between us.

  Jack spent most nights with Reina but he blocked out every Sunday to have dinner with Lacey.

  Every Sunday after dinner, she came back to Staten Island—back to me.

  Aside from my blue kitchen, I had a bed, one we put to use often.

  My girl, was learning she liked to take charge in the bedroom. Her favorite position was when she was on top, riding me as I whispered filthy things into her ear. But the dirty talk didn’t stop there, Lacey got in on that, using her words and her body to tell me exactly what she wanted.

  I want your mouth on my cunt, now.

  Goddamn, I was lucky.

  Fuck me, Blackie.

  Yeah, baby.

  And my favorite…

  I want to try something different.

  She nearly killed me when she sucked an ice cube into her mouth and dropped to her knees, giving me the best fucking blow-job I ever had.

  Yeah, I was a lucky bastard.

  My phone rang inside my jacket, pulling me away from my thoughts as I took the call.

  “Talk to me,” I answered.

  “Get your ass to the range,” Jack ordered.

  “For what?”

  “Wu made his move,” he growled before disconnecting the call. I put two fingers into my mouth and whistled as I rose from my chair. I grabbed my gun from the table, checked if it was loaded before tucking it into my jacket pocket.

  “Yo, let’s go!” I hollered.

  Wolf and Pipe turned to me as Bones came bounding down the stairs. Nobody asked questions, they knew…we were waiting for this moment and it was finally here. They strapped their vests on, loaded their guns and straddled their bikes.

  Jack and Riggs had gone to some shindig over at Bianci’s house and arrived before us. I wasn’t expecting to see the place swarming with blue and whites and took that as a sign things were worse than we expected. If Pops placed a call to 9-1-1 instead of the cops we had on payroll someone was hurt. Pops was Cain’s old man and allowed us to keep the gun range in his name for legal purposes. The man was never patched, nor did he want to be, and a part of him blamed the reaper on our backs for taking his son’s life.

  I assessed the damage as I dismounted, noting the front of the building was riddled with bullets.

  “Jesus Christ,” Pipe hissed behind me. “How’s this place still standing?”

  I glanced over my shoulder at him then turned around and scoped the property for Jack and Riggs. They were standing in front of the cops and Jack was going head to head with the man I despised most in this world, more than Boots, more than Wu…he was mouthing off to Craig Brantley. The biggest dick to make his way into the N.Y.P.D.

  “Shit,” I growled, as we killed the engines of our bikes and assessed the damage at Pop’s shooting range. I stared at the front of the building, riddled with bullets, then took casual strides toward the dozens of cops swarming the joint.

  “Easy,” Wolf warned, placing a hand on my shoulder trying to reign me in. “Keep your head, Black.”

  “He’s right. We got a lot of eyes on us right now,” Pipe added.

  I gave them both a quick nod before we started for Jack and Riggs. I kept my eyes on Brantley watching the motherfucker grin and gloat before I came up behind Jack and he lifted his head.

  “Well, look who it is,” he taunted, stepping around Jack and closer to me. Jack glanced over his shoulder at me, wedging himself between me and the douche bag who held just as much blame as I did that Christine was dead.

  “Relax Bulldog, no need to get possessive over a junkie,” Brantley mocked, flexing his jaw. “Scum like that’s not worth the effort,” he added.

  “You would know right, Craig?” I clipped, as Jack placed his hand on my chest, holding him back. “I’m good,” I told Jack, shoving his hand off my chest as I glared at Brantley.

  I might not deserve to be here but neither did this motherfucker.

  The both of us had Christine’s blood on our hands and this son of a bitch wanted to point fingers.

  “Instead of taunting my brothers why don’t you assholes do your job and find out who shot up Pop’s business,” Jack suggested.

  “We intend to,” Craig promised. “Who’d you piss off this time, Bulldog?”

  “Don’t bust my balls. Do your job or get the fuck out of here, put all those hard earned tax dollars to use," Jack hissed, turning around to face the rest of us and nodded toward Pops.

  “You people probably never paid taxes a day in your life,” he sneered.

  I rolled my eyes, deciding this jerk off didn’t deserve anymore of my time and followed Jack toward Pops.

  “Hey, Blackie, I’d watch my back if I were you. It’d be a shame if you suffered the same fate as Christine,” he crooned.

  I froze in my tracks.

  He didn’t get to say her name.

  He didn’t get to use her death against me.

  “Fuck,” I heard Jack hiss as I spun around and charged for the douche bag who wouldn’t let my wife rest in peace.

  “Keep her name off your fucking tongue or so help me God I’ll slice that thing right out of your fucking mouth,” I roared.

  Jack grabbed the back of my jacket and pulled me back before my hands closed around Brantley’s throat.

  “Sounds like you just threatened a police officer,” he tormented.

  I blew out a ragged breath, shrugged Jack off me and took a dangerous step closer to Brantley, piercing him with a deadly glare.

  “You got a hard on for me, motherfucker?” I whispered, extending my arms outward and crossing one wrist over the other. “Go on, lock me up,” I coaxed.

  His eyes dipped to my wrists before turning his head side to side and glancing at the b
rothers in blue.

  “Pussy,” I hissed.

  Just as I thought.

  Man wanted to play the good cop in front of his precinct but he was as dirty as the sole of my boots.

  “You okay?” Jack questioned.

  “I’m fine,” I confirmed, tipping his head toward the ambulance rolling into the parking lot.

  We walked away from “Dirty Harry” and made our way to Pops. He was crouched down on the ground over the young worker’s body. The kid had taken a shot to the leg and would be fine but Pops was obviously shaken up. Wu had shot the joint up and taken our guns, desecrating any future deal we were trying to make with Spinelli.

  “We’re sure it was Wu?” Riggs asked.

  Good question.

  I pinned Jack with a look, questioning him with my eyes, knowing we had two clubs gunning for us when everyone else only was worried about one.

  “Yeah, they didn’t even try to hide their identity, sending their message loud and clear,” Wolf said as he lit up a cigarette. “Those fucking Dragons, man,” he took a puff and turned toward Jack. “Give me the green light, make them watch as I fuck all their mothers,” he offered.

  “Christ, Wolf,” Bones snarled. “What the fuck did their mothers do to you?”

  “Them bitches brought those fucks into the world,” he insisted.

  Fact.

  Jack patted my shoulder, assuring me it was Wu, and proceeded to Pops, giving him his undivided attention. I turned around and stared at the damage, knowing it would take a lot to bounce back from this.

  I overheard Jack promise Pops he would make things right.

  “Yeah, you will,” Pops announced as the paramedics pushed him aside to work on the kid. “Don’t feel like revisiting history son, did my time, buried enough innocent lives to last a lifetime.” He rose to his feet, brushing the dirt from his pants and stepped closer to Jack. “You need to get a handle on these bastards before they draw more blood,” he demanded.

  Another fact.

  The paramedics pushed us aside and worked on the kid, applying pressure to the wound as the other opened the ambulance doors. They lifted the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and Pops climbed up, taking a seat on the bench beside the kid. The paramedic closed the door before running around to the driver’s side. The sirens sounded and brought me back to the day I sat on the floor holding Christine and waited for help.

  I shook my head, refusing to go back to that hell, knowing I didn’t have time for that trip. I walked back over to Riggs and Jack, back in beast mode, ready to make someone pay for every hole in the building in front of me, not to mention the one made in that innocent kid’s leg.

  “What are we going to do here?” I questioned, rolling a toothpick between my teeth before I glanced back at Brantley.

  I wanted to spit in that motherfuckers face.

  I wanted it more than my next breath.

  “You know they’re going to be riding our asses now,” I informed Jack as I stared at the posse of assholes standing around doing nothing.

  “Fuck ‘em,” Jack hissed, blowing out a heavy sigh.

  “Gladly,” I ground out, spitting the toothpick onto the ground before lifting my eyes back to Jack’s. “We putting this club on lockdown?”

  “No, not yet,” Jack said, surprisingly. “For now round up the prospects, put them on Reina, Lacey and Lauren,” he ordered, turning his eyes to Riggs. “That going to be a problem?”

  I realized the club needed all hands on deck and I would have to pull Bones off Lacey and saddle her with a prospect. That didn’t rest with me, knowing no one would ever value her life more than me. I reminded myself we had eager prospects, young guys that would do nearly anything to earn their colors.

  But would any of them stand in front of a gun aimed at her?

  They better or I’d be the one pointing the gun at them.

  I diverted my eyes to Riggs and watched as he fought for control over his emotions, his eyes conveying all the fear a man has after he’s found the life that’s worth more than his.

  Riggs was scared of losing his heart.

  I felt every ounce of his pain.

  “It’s a precaution, Riggs,” Jack assured. “We need to bide our time and keep our heads. We can’t keep our heads if we’re worried about our women. You feel me?”

  A third fact.

  I paid close attention to the pep talk Jack was giving Riggs, pretending I was the one on the receiving end of it.

  “Then trust me when I say we will get these motherfuckers,” he declared. “We always win, even when it looks like it’s impossible. You know why? Because I’ve lost too much to let anyone else ever take a goddamn thing from me and mine.”

  He was talking about his son.

  And I was picturing his daughter.

  “Get that look out of your eyes, Riggs,” he ordered. “Looks like you found your heart, kid. Now, you have to hang on to it.”

  A final fact we all needed to keep in mind.

  Heart.

  It wasn’t only the thing that kept you from being reckless it was what gave men like us purpose in this world.

  I walked toward my bike, glanced back at Brantley just as my phone chimed, signaling I had a text message.

  I tore my eyes away from the bastard, pulled out my sunglasses and covered my eyes before I straddled my bike. I reached into my jacket and looked down at my phone. The screen showed a message from a foreign number. I swiped my thumb across the screen, opened the message and a photo of Lacey appeared on the screen. She was carrying books, making it clear the photo was taken while she was at school. Another text came through from the same number, containing a message.

  I haven’t forgotten about her.

  Heart.

  The one thing we’re all afraid to lose.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  I left Pops and headed straight for the Dog Pound, my phone burning a hole in my pocket, the picture of Lacey plastered to my mind. I opened the door, found the prospects playing a game of pool and stalked toward the table, grabbing the white ball from the felt top and threw it against the wall.

  “Games over,” I sneered. “Time for the three of you to stop playing with your dicks and earn your fucking patches.”

  I pointed to Toke, the youngest of the three, and the one who has been sitting around the longest. “You get on your bike and ride to Dee’s Diner. From this point forward you are Reina’s shadow. She needs to take a piss you hold the fucking stall closed. Do not let her out of your sight,” I ground out.

  “Yeah, you got it,” Toke said, grabbing his leather vest off the back of a chair.

  “Go,” I bellowed, turning my eyes on Bosco. “Get your ass to Riggs’ apartment and keep his woman and that baby she’s got on the way breathing. I don’t give a fuck if she pulls a bat out on you and takes a swing or if her mother shows up wielding a frying pan—you do whatever the fuck it takes to make sure no one touches her or that kid she’s about to bring into this world. You hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” he assured, dropping his pool stick and moving quickly toward the door.

  “That leaves you,” I said, cracking my knuckles as I stepped closer to Mack. He stared back at me with hungry eyes, clenching his fists as he rolled his neck.

  Yeah, he’s the one.

  “Kingsborough College,” I stated. “You find Lacey and you stick to her like glue.”

  I took a step closer, reached behind him and cupped the back of his neck.

  “Anyone so much as blinks at her wrong you take them fucking down. Don’t think, just do. Do you understand?” I questioned digging my nails into the nape of his neck as I clenched my jaw. “One fucking hair on her head gets harmed, I’ll cut you and bury you deep in the earth.”

  “I got you,” he said.

  “No, you got her. You got her life in your fucking hands,” I corrected. “A life that means more than yours, remember that,” I hissed, releasing his neck. “Now get on,” I ordered.

>   I watched him straighten his jacket before he walked out the door and off to guard my girl. My phone rang again inside my pocket, dread filled my body as I reached for it and saw it was Lacey calling.

  My fingers hovered over the screen, itching to answer and hear her sweet voice one more time. I pictured her pretty face, that smile, those eyes that bore into my soul and knew there was only one choice.

  My love or her life.

  Her life.

  I declined the call, turned the ringer off and went to shove the phone back into my pocket but stopped myself. I pulled up my contact list and debated on whether to make the call.

  One phone call and a twenty-minute drive to the projects is all it would take to forget.

  And I wanted to forget so badly.

  I wanted to forget how she made me feel and how she made me want to be better.

  But I didn’t want to forget her.

  That alone was enough to stop me from making the call.

  I took off on my Harley in search of a place where Lacey was still mine and wound up home, standing in the middle of my aqua kitchen.

  Every wall, every new fixture, even the doorbell she had me install reminded me of her. I’d never be able to step into this house after tonight. I lifted the folding chair in the kitchen and, swung it against the freshly painted walls.

  Jack kept the holes in his walls to remember a time when he was too proud to get help. If he ever doubted his choice to get well and do the right thing all he had to do was remove one of the many pictures and stare at the offensive reminder.

  I dropped the chair, letting the metal clang against the wooden floor before I kicked it across the room and stalked through the house. I stepped outside, slamming the door to a life I wasn’t meant to have.

  A dream that was never mine.

  I needed to remind myself of my destiny and reiterate why I was about to give away the only thing worth a damn in my life.

  It was time for a wake-up call, something to bring me down from the high of being happy and drag me back to the reality I deserved.