The Devil Don't Sleep

by Janine Infante Bosco

  I prayed for someone to save us.

  For Leo or Milly to prevail.

  Something.

  Anything.

  “Mommy, I’m scared,” Ryder cries. “Where’s Uncle Bass? He promised we’d be safe, and he broke his promise,” he continues hysterically.

  Scrambling to give him some sense of comfort, I do what comes to mind first and I start to recite the pages of the worry book I read to him every night back in Kentucky. I remind him of the worry box in his head and that he needs to lock all his worries inside the box.

  “Lock them up tight, baby and never let them out,” I whisper through the tears streaming down my face.

  Next, I tell him to think of his favorite memory.

  “Are you listening to me, Ryder? Tell mommy what your favorite memory is,” I plead.

  The gunfire starts to fade and I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve blocked it out or if the massacre is over.

  Ryder proceeds to tell me his favorite memory.

  “It was this morning when Uncle Bas told me he loved us,” he whispers.

  Bringing him to my chest, I close my eyes and press my lips to the top of his head.

  “Uncle Bas does love us,” I say softly.

  Suddenly the door to the closet flies open. Ryder screams in fear as the light streams into the closet and before I reach for the gun, I lift my eyes and find Milly standing there holding out her hand, covered in someone’s blood.

  “Let’s go.”

  This time when she says it, I don’t put up a fight.

  This time Milly wins.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  I’ve had my fair share of gunfights. I even got the scars to prove it. However, my life never flashed before my eyes as I stared down the barrel of a gun. I never thought about everything I would miss if I died. I suppose that’s because I never had anything worth missing until I had Mac and Ryder.

  The thought of never seeing them again fucking kept me rooted in place and made me a liability to the men who were fighting for what was mine. It should’ve been me who jumped in front of Jack when Javier pulled the trigger. Instead, Blackie held loyal to his oath and took the bullet for the man who laid it all on the line for my woman and kid. With Blackie down, that left Deuce our only translator and he was too busy grinding Mexicans to dust to keep up with all the shit they were spewing.

  It wasn’t until Pipe threw me to the ground and saved me from getting clipped that I realized I hadn’t moved. Shielding me with his own body, he fired away like a trained sniper the government enlists for one of their top-secret missions. It was then as I watched him fight mercilessly to get out of that factory and back to his family, that I understood the meaning of heart.

  I’m not talking about his love for his patch and his brotherhood.

  That love will get you killed.

  He, like most of these guys, had heart outside this club.

  They had love.

  Real fucking love.

  The kind that keeps you fighting to stay alive.

  The type of love that makes you wish you would’ve paid more attention to your sixth grade Spanish teacher. It would’ve helped to know what those motherfuckers were saying when I got my head back in the game and remembered I had heart too.

  I made a promise to a little boy this morning.

  To love him and his mother.

  To protect and honor them all the days of my life.

  I couldn’t fulfill those promises dead and that made me move. It made me fight. And it made me fucking kill.

  It wasn’t until sirens sounded and bodies dropped that Deuce ordered me to leave. At first, I thought he was handing me my ass for freezing up but then he started to shout the reason for the carnage surrounding us.

  “They had guys watching the house and someone shot at them,” he shouted over the gunfire. It didn’t make sense, but I didn’t ask questions either. My mind flashed back to the memory of Ryder on the kitchen floor, staring up at me with fright in his eyes and I bolted the fuck out of there.

  Blowing lights and defying speed limits, I dragged my pipes across the streets of Brooklyn and sent a silent prayer up to my father, begging him to look out for Mac and Ryder. I promised him if he kept them safe, I’d pay more attention to all the things he tried so hard to teach me.

  Reaching the block, I see the cops have closed it off and I abandon my bike at the corner. Cutting through the crime scene tape, my stomach drops at the sight of the ambulances and patrol cars polluting the entire street. Neighbors from surrounding blocks gather around as bodies are chalked and bagged. The bile rises to my throat as my boots pound the pavement.

  “Hey! Stop right there! This is a crime scene!” a cop shouts, grabbing me from behind.

  “Fuck you, you pig! That’s my fucking family in there,” I growl, brushing him off me. “Mac!!!”

  The front door opens and the soles of my boots skid across the cement as my mother is ushered out of the house with blood splattered across her face and a pair of cuffs wrapped around her wrists.

  “What the fuck did you do?” I screech, pulling my hair. “Mac! Ryder!!!!”

  Mooney comes to my side as the police drag my mother down the stairs.

  “She saved them,” he says.

  At that, I turn my attention to him.

  “Where are they?”

  He tips his chin back towards the front door and I look back as Leo carries Ryder out the front door. I’ve never been so relieved in my life and I drop to my knees. Combing my fingers through my hair, my eyes meet his and he scrambles out of Leo’s arms. Holding onto the bannister, he runs down the stairs as quick as his little legs can carry him and he charges for me. Arms wide open, I catch him and wrap my arms around him.

  “I’m okay,” he says as he clings to me.

  My eyes focus on the door and I will the other half of my heart to appear. Flocked by two officers at her sides, Mac appears. Her eyes lock with mine and the tears fall.

  Mine.

  Hers.

  Unlike her son, she doesn’t run to me and for a second my heart stops. I lift Ryder in my arms and start for her, closing the distance between us.

  “It’s over,” she whispers. “It’s finally over,” she cries, rushing for me. Maneuvering Ryder with one arm, I wrap my free one around her and bend my head, pressing my mouth to hers.

  “Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt but we need to finish taking their statements,” a cop says, forcing me to tear my mouth away from Mac’s.

  “Can it wait?” I growl, glaring at him.

  “No,” he replies. “And the woman in the patrol car is requesting to speak with you. She says you’re her lawyer,” he adds, letting his eyes travel over me. “Don’t look like any lawyer, I’ve seen before.”

  Setting Ryder on his feet, I move to step to him, but Mac intervenes.

  “Yeah, well you should see him in the courtroom,” she says. “You’re not going to deny her legal counsel, are you? That would be a violation of her rights.”

  “Gilbertson, take Mrs. Turner’s lawyer to the patrol car,” he orders as he stares at me warily.

  Taking Ryder’s hand, Mac looks up at me.

  “Go, we’ll be fine.”

  Pressing another kiss to her lips, I follow the cop to the patrol car where my mother sits in the backseat like a caged animal.

  “You got five minutes,” Gilbertson says, opening the back door.

  Sliding into the seat, I look at my mother as she stares at the cuffs binding her.

  “What the hell happened?” I ask.

  “Crank and I came to bring Mac and Ryder back home,” she reveals.

  “Not happening,” I say immediately.

  “No kidding,” she mutters, finally looking me in the eye. “Take good care of that boy, Sebastian. He’s a special one.”

  In all my years on this planet, I have never seen my mother shed a single tear.

  Not for my father.

  Not for Junior.

  Not for
no one.

  “One day you’ll learn to listen to me,” she says. “I told you I would handle the cartel. But, you had to go and get your damn posse involved in something that ain’t their business.”

  “Pardon me for doubting you,” I grind out, rolling my eyes.

  “Only if you pardon me for hurting you,” she replies.

  Shock courses through me and I stare at her with narrowed eyes, waiting for her to divulge the rules of whatever game this is.

  “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she chastises. “You’ll be rid of me soon enough,” she adds, lifting her cuffed hands. “Me and my new bracelets are headed to prison, the least you can do is tell me you forgive me.”

  “Forgive you for what?”

  “Everything,” she says with a shrug. “Mainly for not being the mother you deserved.”

  My father used to say, sometimes we have to let go of what was, appreciate what remains and fearlessly embrace what comes next. Keeping that in mind, I glance out the window to where Mac and Ryder are giving their statements.

  Letting go isn’t that hard when what remains is everything you ever wanted.

  Diverting my eyes back to my mother, I open the passenger door. With one foot out the door, I reach across the seat and lay my hand over hers.

  “I forgive you,” I tell her.

  And truthfully, I do forgive her, because she saved Mac and Ryder and in turn, she gave me the opportunity to embrace what comes next.

  A life and a family.

  A chance to keep my promises.

  The End

  Epilogue

  My mother and her club had taken out two prominent members of Javier’s hit squad in front of the house that day. I say her club because it doesn’t matter which man held the power, my father or Crank, it was always Milly who was the real leader of that charter. I think that’s why she was so adamant about keeping the gavel in the family. It didn’t matter if it was me or Junior who eventually took over, as long it kept her on the front lines and in control.

  She also wasn’t bullshitting me when she said she would be the one who handled the mess Junior left behind. According to Crank and Mooney, it was my mother who took out Sergio too. Once she was sure her grandson was safe, she came to Brooklyn with every intention of bring him back to Kentucky. Mac tells me she and Milly faced off about that but when the gunfire broke out, it was Leo and my mother who saved the two most important people in my life.

  Leo, I get to thank on the regular. After Crank spotted the two guys Javier put on Mac, which he thought were Sergio’s guys that had followed them there, he started shooting. Chaos broke out and Leo ran into the house to get Mac and Ryder out. As for my mother, I got five minutes in the back of a patrol car. Now, she’s on trial for murdering the two New York guys and we’re not sure if the feds are going to throw another case at her after this one ends. Crank says there is no proof she killed Sergio but, I don’t know if I trust him after Rick revealed the story of Valeria. He and Junior never were pros at getting rid of bodies and unless my mother dug the hole herself, I’m not so sure she’ll get off.

  Aside from my mother and Leo, there was a whole other group of people I owed my gratitude to and those were my true brothers. As long as I live, I will never forget what they did for me. Sure, the deal may not have gone through but that doesn’t change the fact they were willing to sacrifice so much for me and mine. Let me not forget that Blackie took two bullets, one in the shoulder and another in the leg or that Pipe shielded me with his body when he saw I was struggling.

  My father taught me to be a loyal soldier and the fundamentals of a man’s character is his loyalty to the people he surrounds himself with. The Satan’s Knights taught me family ain’t always blood and brotherhood is the condition of a man’s survival.

  Another thing I learned is Jack Parrish may be crazy, but he is one hell of a man. Someone I’m proud to ride with and call my president. But more than that, I am proud to call him a friend. I don’t know if any of us will ever be half the man he is. There’s a lot of talk of him possibly stepping down these days and Blackie taking over, something none of us are ready for. However, should the day come where he can’t lead, he will still be held in high regard, for he is just as much all of ours as we are his.

  “Mommy is going to be so surprised, Uncle Bas,” Ryder says, pulling my attention back to him.

  “You really think she doesn’t know?”

  Being Ryder’s uncle has been the most rewarding role I’ve ever had the honor of holding. It still bothers me that I missed the first five years of his life and will always be one of my biggest regrets.

  However, as much of a blessing as it is being this kid’s uncle, it’s not enough.

  I want to be his father.

  “Nope, she has no idea,” he says, staring at the scrabble board.

  It’s game night and seeing as how Mac is a fan of scrabble, Ryder and I decided the best way for me to ask her to marry me is if I spell it out with the tiles.

  The front door opens and shuts, jarring me away from the question on the board.

  A question I’ve been waiting my whole life to ask one woman.

  Just Mac.

  Other Books by Janine Infante Bosco

  The Tempted Series: *all can be read as standalone*

  Illicit Temptations (Book One)

  Forbidden Temptations (Book Two)

  Uncontrollable Temptations (Book Three)

  Reckless Temptations (Book Four)

  Lethal Temptations (Book Five)

  Eternal Temptations (Book Six)

  The Nomad Series: *all can be read as standalone*

  Drifter (Book One)

  Wanderer (Book Two)

  Roamer (Book Three)

  Loner (Book Four)

  Satan’s Knights novels: *all can be read as standalone*

  From the Ruins

  The Crazy Bastard – Coming Soon

  Standalone novels

  Raging Inferno – From the Burn Me Anthology – Full novel Coming soon

  The Riverdale Series: *should be read in series order*

  Pieces – Book One

  Broken Pieces – Book Two

  Fitting the Pieces – Book Three

  Jake’s Journal (Book 3.5) novella – companion to the series

  About the Author

  Janine writes emotionally charged novels with an emphasis on family bonds, strong willed female characters, and alpha male men who will do anything for the women they love. She loves to interact with fans and fellow avid romance readers like herself.

  She is proud of her success as an author and the friendships she’s made in the book community but her greatest accomplishment to date would be her two sons Joseph and Paul.

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