Eternal Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 6)
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Eternal temptations
By Janine Infante Bosco
Table of Contents
Dear Reader,
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dear Daddy,
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
Next from Janine
Also Coming Soon
Acknowledgements
Other Books by Janine Infante Bosco
About the Author
© Copyright All Rights Reserved
Playlist
Dear Reader,
Can you believe this is the last time I warn you of the temptations you’re about to read?
Let me start by saying this book should’ve actually been two novels but instead of paying for two books and waiting on a cliffhanger—you get a long ass book with two parts and no cliffhanger. Pretty sweet deal.
But then again, it’s been a pretty sweet ride.
Alright.
Here we go.
CAUTION!
It’s time for the last hit.
Saddle up for the final ride.
Shit’s about to go down for the dapper men of the mob and the leather clad knights.
You are about to enter the unapologetic world of the Satan’s Knights.
For those of you who have visited before, you have an idea of what to expect—
Crass talking bikers with no fucking filter.
For the new readers…
This is a standalone and you’ll get to know the couples in the happily ever after stages. If you’re tempted to learn how they got there, pick a couple, any couple and go back and read their book. The whole series can be read out of order—including Eternal Temptations.
Like the rest of the Tempted novels there will be a shit ton of motherfucking, loving and violence. I think each book gets grittier than the last and my mind more twisted…Beware.
I hope you enjoy Victor and Grace’s story as well as the little glimpses of your favorite couples living their happy endings.
Hang on to your panties it’s going to be a wild ride.
They’ll be lots of lovin’.
A bunch of tears.
And of course some laughter.
I won’t even get into the sex—but this is an erotic suspense novel and Blackie is back. Do I need to say anything else?
The grammar won’t be on point and that’s because you are now riding with the Satan’s Knights and the men wearing the reaper aren’t scholars, they’re street guys who are rough around the edges…
Their words are just as rough.
Now grab your drink of choice and let’s do this one final time.
The Drinking Game Rules:
Take a shot every time Blackie gets you hot.
Take two shots if someone dies.
Take three shots whenever you smile.
When the Pastore family breaks your heart, chug the bottle.
When you gasp because you never saw that shit coming, grab the Tylenol.
When you’re good and bombed write your review and remember to stay #ForeverTempted
See you on the other side,
Janine
Dedication
To my parents,
Your story will always be my favorite one ever written.
Chapter One
Everyone loved him.
The way he walked.
The way he talked.
The clothes he wore.
The smile he adorned when he was victoriously acquitted time after time—crime after crime. In the public eye he was cocky, arrogant, a man confident in his ability to beat the odds. To me he was just the man I fell in love with when I was sixteen years old.
Victor Pastore was more than what society thought he was. He was more than a criminal, not just a notorious gangster conquering the streets of New York, he was my first love.
And my last.
I lost my love somewhere along the journey. He became the kingpin and the Vic I knew, the man with a big heart and bigger values, that man died. If I had to put a time stamp on when it happened, I’d say it was right after Michael Valente was murdered. Michael was my husband’s underboss and he and his wife, Maryann, were our best friends. Michael, or Val to most, stepped into the line of fire when a rival organization tried to take down Victor. Val sacrificed his life for Vic’s and my husband could never make peace with that. His mission in life no longer was to keep rising but to seek revenge for the blood of his brother.
Everything else faded including me and our two girls. He severed his relationship with our eldest daughter, Adrianna, by sending her boyfriend, Anthony, who was also his enforcer, to jail. He planned to have Anthony avenge Val’s death in prison but the man he thought was responsible, someone they called the G-Man, was transferred. At the time Vic’s connections didn’t run that deep. Anthony spent three years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and never got the chance to commit the one Vic sent him to do.
He barely paid any mind to our youngest, Nicole, and I started to think of that as a blessing in disguise. Nikki pushed forward with no validation from her father, made a life for herself without Victor hovering over her. I reasoned that since he didn’t have a hand in her happiness then he couldn’t rip it away like he did with her sister.
I tried to make sense of Victor’s actions, especially after we found out that Adrianna was pregnant but there was no talking to him. That’s when I mourned the man I loved and realized I was married to a stranger.
Adrianna and Anthony lost that baby and each other.
Victor lost his daughter.
And me? I watched the foundation of our marriage crumble.
It’s grueling to watch your child suffer, knowing your husband ultimately caused every bit of her pain. Adrianna not only suffered a miscarriage but the heartbreak of losing Anthony. She wound up meeting someone, and though her heart was elsewhere she found solace in the attention Vinny provi
ded. A part of me thinks if Victor would’ve stepped up, Adrianna wouldn’t have been looking for someone to pay her attention and lick her wounds. But then I wouldn’t have my beautiful grandson Luca, I’m a firm believer that life works in mysterious ways.
For a brief pause after Luca’s birth my Victor came back to us. He took one look at that little boy and his heart grew ten times in size. Luca became Victor’s chance at redemption and I even started to think he’d be able to repair his relationship with Adrianna. A baby is one of life’s most beautiful blessings and Luca’s birth was just what our family needed to mend.
I’ll never forget finding Victor in the corridor of the hospital, staring at Anthony as he watched Luca through the window of the nursery. I looked into my husband’s eyes and saw regret, something he never expressed in all our years together.
Anthony was there when Adrianna went into labor and he never left her side. He watched that boy take his first breath and when we arrived at the hospital we found him in the hallway looking at the boy, wishing he was his. He may not have been Luca’s biological father but God made him his dad.
Things started to look up for our family; Victor was around more, spending quality time with the girls and Luca. He was still on the rise, his empire grew both financially and in power making him the ultimate mob boss and his organization trumped all others.
I foolishly believed he put his quest for revenge behind him.
Like everyone else I believed he was invincible, his empire indestructible. Victor Pastore would reign over the streets he loved forever and I’d be the woman standing in his shadow, perfectly content with him having his glory, knowing he wasn’t the type of man you held back. I watched Victor soar to the top and knew my place was to be the one who grounded him when he needed the reminder that beneath the Teflon he was a husband, a father and now a grandfather.
Then the call came that Val’s wife had tragically died in a car accident, leaving their son, Michael, the sole survivor of their family. Vic harbored guilt that he didn’t step up and take care of Mike and Maryann after Val died and so he thought he could make up for that by bringing Val’s son into the fold.
Victor was opening a new night club called Temptations and his plan was to give Mike a legit opportunity to make something of himself. He wanted to bring him back home, have Michael manage Temptations and hoped to fix another broken relationship. I commended him for trying to do the right thing, even if it took him a while to figure out what that was.
My husband was repairing the relationships he severed bringing hope back to our family.
Life was good.
But it usually is before it turns bad.
The night Temptations opened began the descent of a mob boss. We learned the hard way that even the most powerful men sometimes get knocked off their throne.
I don’t know if I was too naïve or simply immune to the life we dangerously lived but I never saw the disaster that was heading straight for us—the end of Victor Pastore.
The destruction of an empire.
The death of a man.
The ruination of a family.
The end of Victor and Grace.
The buzzer rang, dragging me away from my thoughts and forcing me back to the reality of what we had become. I spot him immediately, sitting in the far left corner of the packed visitor’s room in the federal penitentiary.
This is our life now.
We’re doing a life sentence.
He’s paying for his crimes behind bars and I’m paying for them in an empty bed.
His head is bowed as he stares down at his hands that are neatly folded on the table. I freeze in my tracks, taking a moment to stare at the man I so deeply love despite his flaws. A sad smile spreads across my lips as I take in his appearance, noticing his hair has grayed even more so than the last time I saw him. He aged well, his features the same as they were when we first met, only now there are faint lines on his face that tell his life story. He’s still the most handsome man I ever laid eyes on.
I was transfixed back to that night when our world crumbled, staring adoringly at my husband, unbeknownst to him, I studied him through the eyes of the rest of the world.
It was opening night and Temptations’ capacity seemed to be at its limit. Everywhere you turned people were smiling, laughing or dancing.
The music blaring from the impressive sound system faded away and was replaced by Vic’s laughter. It was easy to see why people were drawn toward his larger-than-life personality. He owned the room. The people surrounding us hung onto his every word but when he turned around and stared into my eyes as he wrapped his arm around me, he was just Vic, the man beneath the designer suit.
Success.
It was the number one word in Victor’s vocabulary. He did nothing half-assed, always gave one hundred percent, and this club was no exception. From the marble floors to the over-the-top sound system, my husband didn’t skimp on one tiny detail. The extreme flashiness was what people had come to expect from Victor.
He boisterously laughed at a joke Jimmy was telling, turned to me and the laughter died in his eyes, replaced with something foreign yet familiar…love and affection. He bent his head, pressing his lips to mine; I closed my eyes feeling nostalgic as one kiss reminded me of the thirty-five years of kisses we shared.
“I love you, Gracie,” he murmured, pulling back from my lips staring into my eyes as the back of his hand caressed my cheek.
I wish I had of taken a photograph of him, of us, and the last time we were together when everything was just as it was when we were young.
Before the mob.
Before the suit.
Before I lost Victor to a life full of crime.
He lifts his head, turning it slightly and our eyes lock.
Nostalgic.
“Behind every great man is an even greater woman who made him this way. You’re my greatness, Grace, and I want you by my side forever…say you’ll marry me.”
Tragic.
“It’s time, Gracie. I’m turning myself in.”
Bittersweet.
“It doesn’t matter that I’m here and you’re there…you’ll always be my love, Gracie.”
I walk toward him watching as he rises to greet me, stepping around the table to pull my chair out. While most inmates aren’t allowed to touch their visitors, Victor seems to be the exception to the rule. Openly wrapping his arms around me he squeezes me tight like I’m his salvation. I relish in his touch.
Several moments pass before he breaks our embrace and motions for me to take a seat, pushing my chair under the table once I do.
Always a gentleman.
His fingertips graze my shoulder before he walks back to his seat and stares back at me.
“My Gracie,” he whispers, smiling faintly as he reaches for my hand.
It doesn’t get easier.
Every visit is another knife to my heart.
And when I leave here I know I’ll feel empty inside and wish I never came because seeing him like this, knowing all we have is an hour surrounded by strangers and a few stolen touches, is my damnation.
But then I tell myself if I don’t have these moments, I have none, and I need to cherish them just as I cherished every moment we shared in our life together.
“How are you?” He rasps. “How are my girls?”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the few photos I was allowed to bring him and place them on the table between us. Releasing my hand, he lifts the photos, handling them with such care, like they are a fine piece of china.
“Oh God,” he breathes. “Is this…” His voice trails off as he turns the photo around to face me.
I smile warmly, knowing very well how much he needs my smile at this moment.
“That’s your granddaughter, Victoria Grace,” I reveal, introducing him to Adrianna and Anthony’s daughter. The little girl I held in my arms minutes after she was born. The same girl Vic will never co
me face to face with.
“She’s beautiful,” he says, turning the picture back and staring at it in awe.
“She is,” I agree. “She weighed seven pounds, three ounces, just like Adrianna did when she was born,” I continue. “Both Anthony and I were in the room when she gave birth. I swear, Victor, I have never seen anything more beautiful, and I don’t mean the birth but all the love surrounding it. It happened so quickly, well not really, she was in labor for nearly twenty hours, but when that little girl was ready to make her grand entrance it was beautiful chaos. Adrianna was crying, the poor thing was exhausted, but Anthony grabbed her hands, held them tight and forced her to look at him…” I pause, taking a minute to recall the moment myself before lifting my eyes back to Vic’s and noting that he is hanging on my every word.
These were the moments we should have been sharing together. Instead, I have to create them with words and Vic has to experience the birth of our granddaughter through my eyes.
“Adrianna focused on Anthony, kept her eyes locked with his as she pushed and not a minute later their baby girl’s cries filled the room,” I whisper. “It was precious.”
“I bet it was,” he breathes, placing the photo of Victoria on the table before lifting the next one. “Luca is getting so big,” he marvels, laughing at the photo of our grandson with a backward Yankee cap, pointing to his shirt that read ‘Don’t even think about dating my sister’. “Anthony’s training him young,” he jokes, showing me the photograph.
“You’re not kidding,” I confirm.
“He’s a good father,” he says huskily, taking a deep breath. “A real good father.”
He placed Luca’s photo next to his sister’s and lifted the next.
“Look at her smile,” he whispers as he studied our daughter, Nikki’s, picture. I had taken it right after Michael proposed to her. I’m not sure she had even said yes before the flash went off.
Victor lifted his gaze to mine.
“Was she surprised?”
“She was shocked. I believe her first words were ‘get the fuck out of here’ and then she said yes,” I wink at him, sharing a knowing look that our daughter was a spitfire. “And then she cried.”
“Why?”