Reckless Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 4) (19 page)

I think he’s dead already, just waiting for the reaper to call him home.

I parked my bike next to Blackie’s, noticing it was the only one in the lot aside from the few cars. I hung my helmet off one handlebar and strode into the compound.

Bianci was off doing father-to-be crap and luckily for me I wasn’t invited to that sort of shit. After the night I text Lauren, I kept my distance and respected she wanted nothing to do with me. Which sucked, because with the afternoon to myself all I wanted to do was take a ride on my bike with her. I don’t know what the fuck was wrong with me. I guess it’s the game of temptation, wanting what you can’t have.

I stopped in my tracks when I heard a sob and turned around to see Jack’s daughter running down the stairs. She froze, mascara streaking her pretty face, as she buttoned up her shirt.

Well, now.

“Lacey,” I started.

“I was never here,” she sniffled, straightening her back as she stared at me.

I raised an eyebrow. Daddy’s little girl didn’t fall too far from the badass family tree.

“I was never here,” she repeated.

“Never saw you,” I agreed, biting the inside of my cheek. She waited a moment, assessing me to be sure she had my word, before grabbing her keys off the bar and jetting out of the Dog Pound.

I think it was safe to say she wasn’t visiting daddy looking for a handout.

I glanced toward the stairs and decided this afternoon just got a whole lot more interesting.

Who needs Kitten when you got a clubhouse full of demons?

I climbed the stairs, remembering the only bike in the lot was Blackie’s and made my way toward his room.

If I had any brains whatsoever, I would’ve turned the fuck around and minded my own business. But I was bored and stupid. I’ve been doing a lot of stupid shit lately. I needed to get that shit under control, but not until after I saw why Lacey was running down the stairs crying.

I opened the door to Blackie’s room and found him sitting on the foot of the bed with his head in his hands. He slowly lifted his face and the whites of his eyes were so red he looked like he had pink eye.

“Get out,” he seethed.

“You the reason Lacey just ran out of here crying?”

“What’s it to you?” He said, rising to his feet, stumbling a little as he did so. He was fucked up. No surprise there, but he wasn’t drunk. He crossed his arms against his bare chest and that’s when I noticed the fresh marks on his forearm.

I took a step closer, getting a better look at the bruises that marked his skin, and lifted my eyes back to his.

“You’re using?” I questioned.

He uncrossed his arms and reached behind him for his gun before aiming it at me.

“Get the fuck out of my room, Riggs,” he shouted, unlatching the safety.

The reaper was coming, and he was coming soon.

I wonder if the Psychic Friends Network is hiring. Dionne Warwick was dead, wasn’t she? If not, the bitch had to be retired by now and I’m a perfect candidate to take her place.

It didn’t take that long for the reaper to show up, ready to claim our souls. In fact, he showed the next day, getting our attention when Blackie’s truck was blown to bits. The reaper has a name and his name is Jimmy Fucking Gold.

I knew these gangsters were nothing but trouble but now really isn’t the time for “I told you so.” Not while our club is on lock down. Not while Jack Parrish was in Bulldog mode, teetering on the edge of insanity.

I knew shit was heavy between Jack and Blackie, and for a hot minute I thought it was because Blackie might be banging Jack’s daughter. But, this runs deeper than a little game of “just the tip.” When Bianci showed up at the Dog Pound with Grace Pastore in tow it became clear that this was more mobbed up bullshit that found its way to the Satan’s Knights doorstep.

It also became clear that Anthony had been working with Jack and Blackie for some time. Clearly, I was doing a bang-up job on keeping tabs on Anthony because I never saw this shit coming. But hey, the motherfucker was still breathing and I should get a gold star for that right?

I lifted my eyes from the beer I was holding as the compound door opened and Wolf pushed his three sons through the door. Pipe followed him with his young, hot piece of ass wife. I think she was one of those mail-order brides that married him for a green card. Gotta love America!

“They come back yet?” Pipe asked.

Blackie had gone to get Jack’s daughter—no shocker there and Jack went to pick up his old lady, Reina. Everyone who ever mattered to a Knight would fill these four walls until this crap died down. At least then we could do our jobs and know the people who mattered most were safe.

Me and Bones? We had each other, no one else to rally together and bring here to keep safe.

The door opened again and crazy came barreling through the door.

Fuck my life.

Maria Bianci walked through the door holding the boy. Talk about déjà vu. All she was missing was her nifty little frying pan. I guess frying chicken cutlets wasn’t on the menu tonight. Adrianna and Kitten followed, and I moved to make my way toward them but stopped myself. Anthony stepped inside, holding the door open for the next two stragglers. Adrianna’s sister, Nikki and her boyfriend, Mike. It was a fucking party at the clubhouse.

For one fleeting second I looked at the Bianci family and felt a sense of relief. I hadn’t realized it, never wanted it, but these crazy sons a bitches had become my heart. I might detest some of them but they were mine to protect until I found what made me tick. Until I found my heart.

And they were here.

Safe and sound.

The whole crazy lot of them.

Plus a few extra.

My eyes locked with Lauren’s as I brought the beer to my lips and watched her turn her back to me.

Lovely.

I was too busy staring at Lauren’s ass to notice the door open again. At least her ass wasn’t mad at me.

Wolf slapped me upside the head, tearing me away from Kitten and reminding me I needed to keep my head. I rose to my feet and followed him as Jack stared back at us, a grim expression on his face and Lacey at his side.

Lacey, not Reina.

“Where’s Blackie?” Wolf asked.

“Gold has him and Reina,” Jack said.

They were five words, representing a declaration of war. I had heard the rumors, listened to the guys tell stories, of times passed, wars fought and won but I had never been a part of one. I had never been a fighting Knight, but I was ready. Saddle me up motherfucker and put me in the zone.

Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t found my heart like Jack asked because there wasn’t anything stopping me from fighting for what was ours.

We moved to the Chapel, Anthony and Mike too, because when you’re down a brother and your woman’s at the mercy of a crazy fuck, you need all the help you can get. I might give these gangsters a lot of shit but they earned my respect the minute they put themselves in our corner, willing to abide by our code and fight for a brotherhood they weren’t even a part of.

Heart.

They had it in shitloads.

And they were still there.

Brothers not by blood but by choice.

The only type of brotherhood that was worth a damn.

“A couple of months ago Pastore asked me to take care of a problem he had. A Fed was sniffing around one of Jimmy Gold’s bodies and they wanted me to make the Fed disappear. The Fed was my brother, Danny, and this guy over here…” Jack explained, pointing 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.” He paused, making eye contact with each of us before he sighed and 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, right?”

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.”

Val was Victor’s underboss and Mike’s old man. He was murdered, and this Gold character took his place. Jack continued his story, informing us that Jimmy was involved in Val’s death and every blow the Pastore’s had taken over the last few years had been premeditated. Jimmy was working with our nemesis, the G-Man, since Jack took the gavel.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Jack and Blackie cut a deal with Victor to set up Jimmy for all the shit he was responsible for. Val’s death, Jack’s brother’s death, the demise of Victor’s organization and the drugs polluting our streets. With Victor in jail and Jimmy running the show, the son of a bitch was going to run drugs through Vic’s territory. He needed a supplier, and Jack and Blackie had it set all up, they would be the ones to get him the heroin.

I wondered if Jack knew Blackie was dipping into that shit.

I pushed the thought aside and continued to listen to our president, trying to make sense of this mess and figure a way for us to get through it.

Their plan was to get Jimmy hooked on their product and when he needed more they would tell him only large quantities. Jimmy was in the market for a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of H—Jack had promised to deliver. They would set him up with the drugs and Victor Pastore would wait for him on the other side. But somewhere the plan went astray because it wasn’t even about the drugs anymore.

We had no fucking idea what he wanted or why he took Blackie and Reina.

We were riding blind.

Victor knew something, tried reaching out to Grace, and that’s why she was at the compound but we couldn’t get a hold of him either because he got his ass thrown in solitary.

Blind.

“I’m sorry this shit fell on our doorstep. I’m sorry I didn’t bring it to the table sooner. You can vote upon my poor judgement but not now, that will have to be done some other time because right now you have a choice to make. I’m going after Jimmy Gold, I will put him in the ground and I will plow through anyone who stands in my fucking way. You’re either with me or you’re not, but I got a brother to find and a woman to get back, and a cocksucking weasel to bury.” Jack said, fire in his eyes, determination in his soul.

“Ay,” Pipe said in agreement. “I’ve got you.”

“We’re brothers, that shit isn’t temporary, it’s a bond you take to your fucking grave. Now you may have forgotten that but I haven’t and I will not let you forget it ever again. Got your back.” Wolf said, pausing for a moment. “Always.”

Jack turned to me, raising an eyebrow in question.

This was what I signed up for.

This was what I was born to do.

Ride or Die.

Motherfucker, I’m going to ride.

“I’m in but I want pie when your lady friend is safe and sound,” I said, lifting my head to meet Jack’s gaze as I brought my right hand over my heart. “And I’m not sharing it either,” I warned, my words teased but my actions were my vow.

I’ve got you brother, and this club is my heart.

Bones sat beside me, slapping my back in agreement.

“Let’s bring this fucker to his knees,” Bones chimed in.

We sprang into action, doing what men like us did best, and prepared for war. Even, Anthony and Mike gave their share, contributing to our warfare. We were dispersing responsibilities to each man when Jack’s phone rang.

Every pair of eyes were on him as we waited for him to clue us in. They say Jack’s crazy. They say he’s a loose cannon. I had never seen it first hand, not until I saw his eyes flicker and the darkness take over.

Crazy.

“Son of a bitch,” he shouted, sliding his phone across the table.

“What’d he say?” Pipe asked.

“Nothing, just that he’ll be sending me a video including his demands,” he said, diverting his eyes toward me. “Get a wire on that thing and get it done fast,” he ordered, before pushing back his chair and storming out of Chapel.

Everyone cleared out of the room and I grabbed the phone.

“Riggs,” Bones called from the door.

“Yeah?”

“Whatever happens…” his words trailed off.

“Stay safe,” I finished for him. “You too,” I added.

He nodded in agreement before taking off with Pipe. I hurried up the stairs to get my equipment and work at tapping Jack’s phone. Before I could even get started the message came through on his phone, missing the opportunity to trace it.

Strike one.

Shit.

I ran toward Jack’s room and pounded on the door.

“Come in,” he called as I opened the door.

“Message came through before I could get a tap,” I said, handing him over the phone.

The moment he hit play, the stakes in the game changed. I actually wished I wasn’t the only man in the room with him because I had no idea how to reel Jack in, but then again, he wasn’t Jack.

Jack died when he played that message.