The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition

by Janine Infante Bosco

  “You want my mother to move in?”

  He waved at my mother and brother through the glass, giving them a thumbs up.

  “Shit, Kitten, I’m joking. You Bianci’s are a shitload of fun to fuck with,” he said with a chuckle, turning back to me and kissing me softly. “Who would’ve thought I’d be marrying a Bianci?” he whispered against my mouth, pulling back to kiss Eric’s head.

  “I bet Bones did,” I whispered.

  “He’d be so fucking proud right now,” he said, as he looked down at our son. “Best thing I ever did was listen to him.”

  Thank you, Bones.

  The End.

  Epilogue

  The thing about finding your heart is knowing that you now have something valuable, something worth more than any dollar in a trust fund, and with that knowledge comes the urgent need to always protect your heart.

  One month ago Sun Wu tried to take my heart from me.

  Stupid fucker.

  But tonight, he’d be a dead fucker because tomorrow my family was coming home and before they step foot outside that hospital it’s my job to ensure their safety.

  To settle the score once and for all.

  For the first time since the shooting, I parked my bike in front of the Dog Pound and killed the engine before removing my helmet. I glanced over to the spot where both Bones and Lauren had been shot and the memories came rushing back. Her frightened eyes as she begged me to choose Pea, and Bones’ short breaths as he bled out beside her.

  The memories gave me a burst of adrenaline, making me even more certain that tonight was the night I’d live up to the promise I made to Bones.

  I shook my head, trying to shake the memories as I pulled opened the door and heard the boisterous sounds of my brothers as they prepared for war.

  I missed that fucking sound.

  “Get your dick out of your ass, boy, and suit up,” Wolf told Stryker, slapping him upside the head before dropping a bullet-proof vest on his lap.

  “Well, look who it is,” Pipe shouted over their voices as his eyes met mine.

  The room grew silent as they all turned around and looked at me as I walked further into the clubhouse, my eyes catching the cut that hung behind the bar in a frame.

  I didn’t have to look at the patch to know it was Bones’—the blood still stained parts of the patches. I locked eyes with Jack, who stood behind the bar, lining up a row of shot glasses.

  “Nice to see your pretty face,” Pipe said, breaking the tension that filled the room.

  I tore my eyes away from Jack and looked back at the rest of my brothers.

  “I know you bitches missed me,” I said, grinning.

  “Pipe cries himself to sleep night after night. Keeps a photo of your naked ass under his pillow,” Wolf chimed in, walking over to me and patting me on the back. “Glad you’re back, kid. You ready to hunt, motherfucker?”

  “That depends what’s on the menu,” I said, looking back at Jack.

  “Peking-fucking-duck,” he growled.

  “With a side of Wu,” Wolf added.

  Jack walked out from behind the bar, stood in front of me as he crossed his arms and assessed me.

  “Only going to ask you once—” he started.

  “You don’t have to ask at all,” I interrupted. “Let’s do this.”

  Jack remained quiet for a moment before he bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. He knew all about revenge, got his and now it was fucking time for me to get mine.

  “One thing before we hit the road,” Jack said, turning back toward the bar.

  We all followed and took the glasses he offered us before lifting them to his.

  “To Bones,” Jack cheered.

  “To Bones,” we all said in unison before shooting back the liquid fire.

  Time to make it right.

  We slammed our empty glasses down onto the wooden bar and started marching for the door like the devil’s soldiers that we are. Jack grabbed my arm and slapped a vest against my chest.

  “Don’t be reckless,” he ordered. “Stick to the fucking plan, you hear me?”

  Plans.

  I wasn’t big on plans.

  “Right,” I agreed. “Stick to the plan,” I said, bringing my fingers to my forehead and saluting my president.

  We walked outside, mounted our bikes and the roar of our bikes was deafening throughout the lot. Jack peeled out first, followed by Wolf and then Pipe. Bones would’ve been next but his bike remained parked across the lot. I glanced over at it before gripping the throttle on my bike and tearing out of the lot taking his spot in our line-up. The nomads came up behind me and then the prospects were last to take to the rode as our pack rode against the wind on a mission to take back life lost from our club.

  This will always be a part of my life but it wasn’t what gave me purpose anymore. I’ll always be a man who loves the road, his bike and the wrong side of the law. But, I ride second, and love first. I owned my place in the world.

  I sped up, whipping around Pipe’s bike and made my way next to Jack.

  “What are you doing?” he shouted against the engines of our bikes and the sounds of the city.

  “Taking a detour,” I hollered back, turning right as they turned left and pushed my bike full speed ahead.

  They had a plan.

  They were going to raid the Red Dragons’ clubhouse on a night they planned a patch party. It was a very well executed plan and I had no doubt that my brothers would take out every motherfucking Dragon and whore that populated that party.

  But I had a plan too.

  And my shit was personal.

  Wu killed my brother.

  He put a bullet it my woman.

  He forced my son to be born before his time.

  It didn’t get more personal than that.

  I pulled up to my destination, my boots chomping at the wooden planks as I made my way to the warehouse on the pier overlooking the Hudson River. The same pier Sun Wu used to transport his shit to Beijing. I came up to the door and greeted Michael Valente, Anthony’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. When I had first decided on how all this would go down, Anthony suggested Michael as the man for the job, the job being kidnapping Wu on his way home from the Red Dragons clubhouse.

  “Thanks for doing this,” I said.

  “It’s all good, man,” he replied, opening the door to the warehouse. “He’s all yours,” he said, as he moved aside and allowed me room to step inside. “I’ll be right here,” he added, before stepping back out into the night and closing the door behind him.

  I turned around, flicked the lights on and spotted Sun Wu on the floor with his ankles tied together and his hands handcuffed behind his back. He was gagged with a....pink dildo?

  Jesus Christ.

  Then it occurred to me he wasn’t even gagging—this motherfucker must’ve sucked a lot of dick. The Red Dragons’ own personal club whore was none other than their president.

  I laughed.

  That would explain the sex toys.

  And the fake dick he had in his mouth now.

  Good job, Mikey.

  I stepped closer to him, pinning him with my eyes as I pressed the steep tip of my boot between his legs.

  “Hey motherfucker, remember me?”

  I pressed harder as I crouched down and pulled the duct tape that kept the dildo lodged in his mouth.

  “Does your wife know you can deep throat a cock like that? Or just your brothers?” I questioned, as I pulled the cock from his mouth and threw it to the side.

  “Fuck you, Mr. Riggs. You’re a dead man,” he hissed.

  “I wouldn’t be making threats, “Jackie Chan.” You, motherfucker, you’re in my fucking house now and I’m the one cracking the whip,” I ground out, digging the tip of my boot into his crotch just to hear him wail like a bitch.

  I pulled out my phone from the back of my pants and started swiping my fingers across the screen until I pulled up exactly what I needed.

  “You could
n’t leave well enough alone, could you? You got your money for the drugs, you shot up Pops warehouse and took our guns and still it wasn’t enough,” I reminded him, still toying with my phone.

  “You killed my men! Money can’t replace lives, you know that, now don’t you? You were particularly close to the Knight that died, weren’t you?”

  He tried to taunt me but it wouldn’t work. I remained in control. I stuck to my plan and I did what I came here to do.

  “How’s the surveillance on your house these days, Wu?”

  “What the fuck do you care?”

  “I don’t care,” I said, as I looked him in the eye. “But I feel it necessary to tell you it’s pretty shitty and your alarm system is bootleg. Maybe I should thank you for that, you made this so much easier,” I pointed out, as I sat down beside him.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You see a funny thing happened when you and your club shot up the Dog Pound. Yes, you killed my best friend but only because you almost killed the mother of my child and my child. If Bones didn’t die, they would’ve. They almost did die. You have a daughter and a son, not to mention the “Yoko Ono” wanna be wife of yours.”

  I felt his gaze wander to me but chose to ignore it as I brought the phone between us, so we both could see the screen when I pressed play.

  “Imagine not knowing if they are going to live or die. Imagine knowing they may die and there isn’t a fucking thing you can do about it.”

  I turned and met his eyes.

  “Ever feel so helpless in your life?”

  “Keep my family off your tongue,” he seethed.

  “Or what? You’ll kill me or maybe you’ll have your club kill me?” I shook my head. “That’s not going to happen, Wu because right now my club is desecrating the Red Dragons, right now your brothers are dying and mine are the ones taking their lives,” I cocked my head as I studied him.

  That’s right, my house, motherfucker.

  My rules.

  “How about a little entertainment? Get your mind off the bloodshed?” I nodded. “Sorry I forgot the popcorn,” I added, as I brought up the surveillance footage of his house. Anthony was dressed in black, with a ski mask covering his face and shielding his identity as he stared into the camera, reaching up and turning the lens toward the three people tied to chairs in the center of Wu’s living room.

  His wife.

  His daughter.

  His son.

  They were gagged and bound.

  Helpless.

  Just like Lauren and our son were.

  I turned back to Wu as he shouted something in Chinese, turning to me with desperate eyes, or maybe they were vengeful. I wasn’t sure.

  I didn’t give a fuck either.

  “Let them go. Now! Please, don’t hurt them. They’re innocent,” he pleaded.

  “You’re right, they are, just like mine were. So now here’s the part where you become me. Where you have to sit there and know there is nothing you can do to save them but there is one difference,” I stated, handing him the phone as I stood up. “I wondered for nearly three days if my family was going to live or die, you’ll wonder for eternity.”

  Anthony stepped into the view of the camera and slowly pulled a gun from his back pocket just as I drew mine and aimed it at Sun Wu.

  He screamed as he watched Anthony lift the gun and aim it at his wife just as I aimed mine at his chest.

  Bang!

  One shot to the heart.

  That’s for Lauren and Eric.

  Bang! Bang!

  Two shots between the eyes.

  That’s for Bones.

  My phone dropped from his hand as Satan came and claimed his soul.

  See ya motherfucker!

  This shit was personal.

  I glanced down at my phone and watched as Anthony cut the wires to the feed, killing the image on my screen.

  It was all part of the plan.

  I took the burner phone out of my cut and called 911. They would send the cops over to Wu’s house and cut his family loose and find the ransom note that we left behind, staging this whole thing to look like he pissed one of his trade partners off. Eventually, they’ll find his body in this empty warehouse where he conducted business overseas and the story will all match up.

  Plans.

  They don’t always go astray.

  Some things are just meant to be.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “I’m calling to report a home invasion at two-thirty-six Cromwell Ave,” I said, before disconnecting the call and stepping outside to meet Mike.

  “We all good?” He asked.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” I confirmed.

  Revenge was sweet.

  ©Copyright All Rights Reserved

  Lethal Temptations

  By

  Janine Infante Bosco

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  ISBN 13: 978-1533225573

  ISBN 10: 1533225575

  Published by Janine Infante Bosco

  Edited/formatted by: Jennifer Bosco

  Cover Design by: Hang Le

  Cover Model: Nick Bennett

  Photographer: FuriousFotog

  Prologue

  “I’m getting out of here,” Riggs said, throwing a few crisp bills on the bar. I nodded, a delayed reaction to his departure, and lifted the shot glass to my lips, welcoming the smooth poison down my throat. Unsatisfied and insatiable I flicked the empty glass across the bar.

  “Another, boss?” the bartender asked.

  I shook my head, pushing back my stool and slowly rose to my feet. The alcohol wasn’t making me numb like it usually did and the methadone doesn’t bring me to the state of oblivion I crave. I tried not to take anything today. I tried to be better than yesterday and the day before that.

  But once a junkie always a junkie.

  And I make no apologies for it.

  This is who I am, or what is left of who I used to be, depending on who you ask.

  I feel her innocent eyes on me, burning a hole into my back, setting my black heart on fire. I won’t turn around, I won’t even acknowledge her because I have enough demons and don’t need those dark, sad eyes haunting me anymore than they already do.

  I told myself I was just coming to the bar to make sure she was safe.

  I wanted to see her one more time.

  I got what I wanted.

  I walked into the crowded bar and found her amongst a sea people. Her face stood out and those eyes of hers… they were almost as black as the leather on my back and held me captive. It was impossible to turn away. She laughed and when she laughed she lit up the whole room.

  Fuck, she lit up the whole world.

  Turned on the lights and drew me out of the darkness I’ve been wallowing in.

  Some people think I have a death wish, that I’m on a mission to end this nightmare I call life, and maybe for a while I thought they were right. A part of me wanted to join Christine, to see her one last time and make right all the wrong I did to her. But when I nearly died, my body didn’t succumb to the darkness and fought against it. Jimmy Gold pumped me with enough drugs to kill me two times over but it was Reina, my president’s girlfriend that made me realize I wanted to live and I wanted to live for those dark eyes that she had pinned on me.

  Leather.

  Lace.

  Me.

  Her.

  A temptation so lethal, neither of us would survive.

  Maybe I had a death wish after all.

  I stumbled into the bathroom, locking the door behind me, before I turned around and glanced at myself in the dirty mirror. Staring at my reflection in the m
irror, I wonder why she ever looked at me in the first place. Someone as innocent and pure as her doesn’t belong with a poisonous bastard like me.

  I reached into my pocket, pulled out a plastic baggie filled with five Xanax pills and slapped the bag onto the counter. I diverted my eyes back to the mirror, glaring at the piece of shit staring back at me.

  “Fuck you,” I growled, hanging onto the feeling of self-loathing, welcoming it and encouraging it to overcome me as I slammed my fist against the baggie on the counter. I pounded it over and over again, crushing the pills until they turned to dust. Then I emptied the contents onto the counter, not giving a fuck how dirty and disgusting the bathroom was because, all that mattered was getting my fix.

  I was in the zone, anxious for the high that hopefully will come and wash away my thoughts of her.

  She is my savior and my assassin.

  The one that keeps me from ending it.

  And yet, right now I’m slowly killing myself trying to escape the thoughts of her.

  Lacey Parrish. Jack’s daughter. His fucking nineteen-year-old daughter who wasn’t even legally allowed to order a fucking drink so why the fuck was she in some bar.

  I fought long and hard not to see her as a fucking woman, not to take what I so badly wanted. But like everything else in my life…I take and I take until there is nothing left.

  She was so innocent, so pure, so untouchable and untainted.

  I’m the filth that took her innocence, who touched her and tainted her.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  I kept going back for more.

  I rolled the twenty-dollar bill, leaned over the counter dragging the bill across the powder and snorted the drugs up my fucking nose.

  One rip.

  Another.

  Three rips later, I licked my finger tips and swiped them across the counter top, before popping my fingers into my mouth and sucking any residue of the pills from my skin.

  No waste.

  A true junkie.

  I sniffled, wiping the excess powder from my nose before I turned around and unlocked the door, waiting for the numbness to inebriate me as I stepped out of the bathroom, colliding with the soft body I used to worship and called mine.