Down boy.
I went to the bathroom and for the greater good of Kitten and Tiger, I jacked off. There was no fucking way I’d be able to sit there and share a meal with Lauren with a hard on. I thought about asking her if this co-parenting thing involved sex but I decided not to rock the boat any more than I already had. Come to think about it, we already had a kid on the way, why not take advantage of the no rubber thing?
I guess we did that already.
But we should do it again.
And this time I’d eat her pussy while I was at it.
It didn’t take long for me to come, and I was thankful for the fancy towels that were a new addition to the otherwise bare bathroom. When I emerged from the bathroom, Lauren’s cheeks were redder than nail polish on her toes.
Cute toes.
I looked back at her face, her eyes wandering the room and her cheeks growing even redder.
She definitely knew I rubbed one out.
But why was she embarrassed?
Unless….
No, did Kitten have her hands down her pants too?
Ah, that’s great.
I leaned back against the couch, spreading my arms across the back and stared at her knowingly.
She threw a pillow at me and I fell in love with her temporarily again.
We both burst out laughing.
When the pizza arrived, we had a picnic on the floor. I was kind of glad we didn’t have a table yet because I had never been on a picnic before, outside or inside. Pea needed to go on picnics. I’d take him or her to Central Park and we’d have a picnic, just the three of us. Wow, two hours playing house with Lauren and I was turning into a bitch, making plans and dreaming of a family. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Time to go.
Run.
I grabbed my empty plate, moving to my feet and nodded toward hers.
“You done?” I asked.
“Yeah, thanks,” she said, handing me the paper plate. I dropped them in the garbage as she packed up the rest of the pizza and brought the box into the kitchen.
“I’ve got to head out,” I said, turning around to face her.
I saw the disappointment flicker in her eyes, kicking myself again because I was the reason behind that sad look in her eyes.
“It’s better if I go,” I explained.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
Who says you can’t bullshit a bullshitter? We fucking aced that shit.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips against her cheek, nuzzling my nose along her jaw because I was a greedy fuck and wanted to smell her. I wanted to go back to the compound with her scent on my face and pretend it marked me because of all the naughty things I did to her.
Her hand traveled the length of my arm and her fingers laced with mine, forcing me to pull back and look at her.
“Thanks for the pickles and ice cream,” she said with a smile.
“Thanks for not cutting my balls off for missing the appointment,” I replied.
“No problem, but next time you do, I might,” she warned, dropping my hand and taking a step backward.
“Duly noted,” I said with a laugh. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She nodded, following me toward the door and as I reached for the knob I remembered the guy who bought her car. I turned around and looked at her.
“Why’d you sell your car?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“There are other things more important than a car,” she explained.
“Like?” I probed.
“Riggs, I don’t have a job. Anthony offered to hire me at the gym but let’s be serious who would you rather see at the front desk Brittany or me? I’m going to start showing soon. I’ll have a big belly and swollen ankles, not your ideal eye candy,” she huffed. Besides, I lost my medical insurance after I dropped out of school, so for now I need to pay for my doctor’s visits.”
“Stop,” I said, lifting my index finger to her lips. “I’m dead fucking serious, Lauren. I don’t want you taking some job at the gym, and I don’t want you selling your shit worried about paying for a doctor. I’ve got you,” I said, then leaned close and repeated my words. “I’ve got you,” I drawled. “That means whatever you need, I will make sure you have,” I declared. “You should’ve told me about the insurance,” I said, dropping my hand from her mouth.
“Why? What does it matter?”
“You’re fucking car would still be parked on the street if you had just told me what you needed,” I hissed.
“Riggs…”
“Nah, Lauren. I get you’re uncomfortable with this shit, leaning on me and all that, but suck it up because we’re doing this together. No more secrets,” I ordered. “I’m serious, if you and Pea need something you come and tell me,” I stressed.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I don’t like it but for Pea, I’ll swallow my pride,” she whispered.
I nodded.
“If you want something else to swallow, give me a call,” I teased.
“You’re a pig,” she said, punching me in the arm.
I winked at her, stepping through the door.
“You love it,” I quipped, turning around to look at her one more time. “For the record…” I shoved my hands into my pockets, pulling out my leather fingerless gloves and fitting them to my hands, “…if I had to choose between you and Brittany, I’d always choose you,” I lifted my eyes, watching as her mouth opened slightly.
“Good night, Kitten,” I said.
“Good night, Tiger,” she whispered.
And just like that, we were Kitten and Tiger again.
I don’t know why that made me smile.
Or why it made me feel better about things but it did. I walked away, running down the stairs and not because I was running away from Lauren but running to my bike, desperate for the open road to help me make sense of it all.
I stepped outside and turned to where I parked my bike and noticed it was missing.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
I glanced around the street when I felt someone walk up behind me.
I didn’t have time to turn around because whoever it was grabbed me, putting me in a headlock before they covered my head with a bag. My gun was lifted from my waistband and I went to elbow the motherfucker in the ribs but I was too slow, something crashed against my skull and everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-One
The persistent banging on the door woke me up. I untangled myself from the blanket I had thrown on me and rose from the couch. I grabbed my handy baseball bat I kept hidden beneath the couch.
You never know when you might need one.
I stumbled toward the door, closing one eye and peering into the peephole to see Bones staring back at me. Well, not really. I dropped the bat, leaning it against the wall so he didn’t think I was a maniac and proceeded to open the door.
“Hi,” I greeted, pulling my sweatshirt together and zipping it up. “What’s up?”
“Can I come in?” He questioned, looking past my head and into the apartment.
“Of course,” I said, as I moved aside, giving him room to enter the apartment. I was about to tell him that Riggs wasn’t there when my cell phone rang. I walked into the kitchen and pulled the phone from the charger, noticing Anthony was calling me. I lifted my eyes to Bones.
“Excuse me one second,” I said before answering the call. “Hi,” I said.
Bones moved closer almost as if he was trying to listen in on my conversation.
“Where’s Riggs?” Anthony hissed into the phone.
“I don’t know. Why?” I asked, covering the receiver and looking back at Bones. “It’s my brother,” I said, feeling the need to explain.
“Because his bike is parked in front of my gym and whoever he pissed off dumped red paint all over my door and his fucking bike,” he growled.
“What? Hold on,” I dropped the phone to my side and peered at Bones. “Why are you here?”
“J
ust a friendly visit,” he replied, offering me a crooked smile as he took a step back. “Everything okay with your brother?”
“Riggs isn’t here,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I stared at Bones. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
“Now I do,” he said, before tipping his chin toward the phone. “You just going to leave your brother hanging like that?”
“You going to tell me why Riggs’ bike is in front of my brother’s gym covered in red paint?” I retorted, putting one hand on my hip as I gaged his reaction.
He remained neutral, shrugging his shoulders, and he pushed his hands into his pockets and stared back at me.
“Probably just a bunch of kids fucking with him,” he suggested, biting the inside of his cheek. “So Riggs is at the gym?”
“No, he’s not,” I said, lifting the phone back to my ear as I recalled the teenagers I went after when I saw them circling Riggs’ bike. “Anthony?”
“Who is with you?”
“Bones is here,” I supplied.
“Put him on the phone,” he demanded.
I extended the phone to Bones who stared down at it like it was a foreign object.
“He doesn’t bite,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Like hell, he doesn’t,” he grumbled, taking the phone. “Bianci…no…yes…I have no idea…we’ll figure it out…no…okay, I’ll tell Jack,” he rambled on, before finally disconnecting the call and handing me back my phone.
“Is Riggs in some kind of trouble?” I asked.
“Nah, he’s fine,” he assured. “He sleep here last night?” He asked as his eyes scanned the place. I don’t know why, it’s not like he’d find a clue here. These bikers could never be detectives, that’s for sure.
“No. Okay, Bones, what’s up?”
He looked at me blankly.
“Are you serious? You can’t be serious. If something happened to Riggs I have a right to know,” I demanded, but even as I said the words I wondered if I really had any right. Fuck that, of course I did. I was Pea’s mom which gave me every goddamn right in the world.
“Where is he?”
“Lauren, calm down. I’m sure he’s fine,” he said calmly, placing his hands on my shoulders and smiled at me. “It’s nice having company,” he added.
I squinted.
“What’s that mean?”
“For a long time, I’ve been the only one in Riggs’ corner,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Seems like I’m not alone anymore,” he continued. “I’ll take care of it, keep you posted.”
It was his turn to receive a phone call and when he answered it he turned his back away from me.
Well fuck that, I made a mental note to do the same the next time my phone rang.
I tiptoed closer to him, trying to listen just as he had.
“Not here and Bianci called Lauren, yes the baby mama…”
I paused, fighting off the urge to take the phone and tell whoever was on the other end that was getting old.
I was Lauren Bianci not Riggs’ baby mama.
But I was.
I sighed, accepting my title, or at least the one I’d carry with me for the next eighteen years and leaned closer to Bones.
“His bike is at Xonerated and apparently someone decided to fuck it up and poured paint all over it. Yeah, I know, he’s going to blow a gasket,” he said, turning around and raising an eyebrow at me.
Busted.
“I’ve got to go. Yeah, I know, well we can’t afford to skip the meeting with Wu. We have to keep that deal in good standing. I’m on my way,” he ended the call and looked back at me. “You’re nosey.”
“So are you,” I argued.
He smirked.
“I like you, Lauren, think you’re great for Riggs,” he stated.
Wow.
Cue the violins.
Someone tell the poor guy we were just friends having a kid.
“Think you’ll keep him on his toes and that’s what he needs,” Bones continued. “He’s going to do the right thing and he’ll be a good dad too, just have patience with him,” he affirmed. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back to you,” he said.
His words were meant to ease me but instead they instilled fear in me. What if he was wrong? If there was one thing I learned being Anthony Bianci’s sister, it’s that a man who plays on the other side of the law is a gambling man. You can’t win every hand and one day you’ll be forced to fold.
Bones started for the door and I stared at the patch on his back. The reaper stared back at me, warning me everyone folds eventually.
Hey Reaper.
Two words.
One finger.
And then Bones turned around as I held up my middle finger.
“Uh…that wasn’t meant for you,” I stammered, dropping my finger. Shit!
“Right,” he said, cocking his head as he stared at me perplexed. “God she’s perfect for him,” he mumbled, turning around.
This time when I lifted my finger I gave it to Bones and not the Reaper.
I wasn’t perfect for Riggs.
No, not at all.
Hope.
Fuck you hope.
I don’t want you.
I locked the door, grabbed my bat and went back to the couch. Then I did what any good catholic girl did and prayed with my baseball bat tucked under my arm.
Because I was Anthony Bianci’s sister.
Because I was having Riggs’ baby.
Because everyone folds.
Because I was fucking pregnant and crazy.
I blinked against the darkness, unable to see. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the bag over my head or the fact that one eye was swollen shut and the other was bleeding. My head was pounding and the left side felt like it was on fire.
I’m going to come out of this.
And when I do, I’m going hunting.
I’m going to torture and kill every fucking Dragon I can find.
I’m going to beat the fuck out of them until they’re pissing blood.
I knew the moment I mentioned the Dragons’ stash house to the Knights I was playing with fire. I was so sure that setting Jimmy up to take the fall would be key in saving our asses.
It would’ve worked too if I hadn’t fucked up, but it’s my fault I’m lying here beaten and bloody.
Jack wasn’t kidding when he told Wu I was the best in the surveillance business.
I was.
I wired every fucking inch of Wu’s building and in the process, I set myself up for my own fate. I’m the one who signed my death certificate the moment I took the mask off in the hallway of the stash house. I saw the footage with my own eyes. I was naked when I woke up from the blow to the head, handcuffed to a pipe and at the mercy of the Red Dragons. Wu played the video back for me and he played it over and over again, each time he did he struck me with a whip.
They maneuvered me into the back of a van, covering my head with a canvas bag as they drove me to wherever it was these fuckers thought they would kill me.
I may have made a mistake and been reckless but I wasn’t going down without a fight.
I’d go “Jackie Chan” on their asses.
Jack was right about something else.
We all need heart, it’s what keeps us from being reckless, keeps us breathing.
I needed to breathe.
For Kitten and for Pea.
I only wish I had found my heart before my mistake.
The van came to a sharp stop causing me to roll around the floor of the truck.
“Son of a bitch!” I screamed, as my welted body ached in pain.
This is it.
Time to fight.
I’m a motherfucking Knight, only Satan can drag my ass to hell.
Someone jumped into the back of the van with me, grabbing my arms and dragged them, tied at the wrists, across the floor.
“I will kill you, after I kill the woman who bore your pathetic ass,” I hissed.
He shouted something in Ch
inese and then another voice replied in, surprise, surprise… Chinese! I was never eating Lo Mein again.
The van took off, speeding, and I felt the air wash over my naked body, figuring the door to the van was open. They shouted some more bullshit I didn’t understand and then I heard the familiar sound of gunfire.
Music to my ears.
Then my body was thrown from the van.
What a fucking way to go.
“Shit. Riggs!” I heard Bones’ voice over the gunshots starting to die down and the distinct sound of tires screeching against the pavement.
“Holy shit,” Pipe, yelled.
Someone grabbed my body, forcing me to sit up and pulled the bag from my head. I brought my hands up to my face, trying to shield the sunlight that threatened to blind me with my tied hands.
“What happened?” Jack demanded.
“Bulldog, look,” Wolf said, turning my head slightly.
“What?” I asked. “Shit, I have a hole in my head don’t I? Someone untie me!” I shouted, trying to feel for the hole, my hands stilled when I touched my hair—it felt off.
I lifted my eyes to Jack as he crouched down in front of me.
“Who did this to you?” He asked calmly.
“Wu,” I replied. “He knows we took the drugs it’s on camera,” I hissed.
He lifted his eyes to my head again.
“Jack why is my hair missing?” I asked hastily, looking around at my brothers. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on,” I demanded, before I reached for the pocket knife on Jack’s belt and flipped the blade open. I lifted it to my head and with the eye I could open I tried to see the image reflected in the knife.
Someone decided to give my fine self a new do, and by that, I mean a fucking chop job.
I looked like one of those rappers that shaves his mama’s name onto his head.
Bones held my head, turning it slightly to the right, so I could see what they were gawking at.
There was something I couldn’t make out faded into the hairstyle, something legible if you had two working eyes.
“What’s it say?” I demanded.
“Two hundred and fifty,” Bones whispered.
Wolf turned my head around, inspecting it for anymore messages before glancing back toward Jack.
The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition Page 105
