Forbidden Temptations (Tempted Series Book 2) (20 page)

“So this is it? This is goodbye for real?”

“Yeah baby it is,” he whispered.

I let go of his wrist but he kept his hand against my cheek, lifting his other hand to my other cheek and cradled my face in his hands.

“No one will ever love you like I do, Reese’s,” he said, caressing my cheek with his thumb tearing his gaze away from me for a split second to glance over my shoulder at the correction officer watching us. He dropped his hands from my face and pushed his chair back rising to his feet. I heard myself whimper, knowing this was the end, that he would walk away from me yet again. I wished I could’ve walked away first maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so much if I had.

Anthony moved around the table to walk passed me but stopped just at my side. I glanced up to see what had caused him to freeze and saw him glancing around the room at all the officers.

“Fuck it,” he grumbled, turning around and catching my chin in the palm of his hand. My eyes widened as he bent down, lowering his mouth onto mine. I wrapped my arms around his waist as his lips delicately worked mine. This kiss was different, it didn’t have the passion I was used to when he kissed me. This kiss filled me with sorrow and regret.

“Bianci!” An officer called interrupting our tender moment, forcing Anthony to disconnect from my mouth. He ran his thumb across my lower lip.

“I love you, Bianci,” I whispered.

His blue eyes melted for me one last time before he winked at me, dropping his hand from my face and turning around. He walked away from me, never turning around to glance at me one last time, breaking my heart all over again. Yeah, I definitely wished I had been the one to walk away first.

An hour later, I was walking into the dog pound for my meeting with Jack Parrish and his MC. My head was still reeling from my conversation with Victor, not to mention my night with his daughter. I had to push Adrianna out of my head and focus on the task at hand or I’d end up back in the pen or worse in a black bag. This shit with the feds was no joke. If I was being honest, it made me doubt every choice I had ever made working for Victor. I wondered if I had turned back the clock and listened to Adrianna all those years ago, maybe I could’ve had a normal life. I don’t know why I couldn’t see the good in myself like she did. I couldn’t help feel I was nothing more than a common street thug. Maybe if I had, then I wouldn’t be sitting at the bar at the Satan’s Knights compound waiting for the president to come out and tell me the plan on how we were going to clip a fed.

“Seems like you crawled into the wrong place handsome; we’re not the kind of establishment that the likes of you come through looking to buy a beer.”

I lifted my head to the woman behind the bar with teased out hair. She was wearing a tank top that was too small with the words Property of a Knight stretched across her chest. I suppose she was someone’s old lady or whatever the fuck the term was they used. So I politely smiled at the overdone broad.

“I have a meeting with Jack.” I said. “And I’m not looking for a beer honey but I’ll take a shot of the smoothest tequila you have stashed behind there.”

“Jack.” She said skeptical. “He know a pretty boy like you is here to see him?”

“He’s expecting me,” I paused for a moment. “How ‘bout that shot?”

She held my gaze for a moment before looking down the bar at one of the bikers that was taking up space fixing me with a suspicious stare.

“Riggs why don’t you go tell the Bulldog he has a visitor,” she planted the shot glass on top of the bar in front of me, holding the bottle of tequila mid-air ready to pour. “What did you say your name was handsome?”

“I didn’t, but you can tell him that Bianci is here.”

She smiled at me and began to pour the shot. “Bianci, huh?” She winked at me, pushing the glass with her index finger towards me before looking back at the guy Riggs. “Tell him a Pastore is in the house.”

“So you know me,” I said taking hold of the glass.

“Oh, handsome I’ve been around this club a long time. I know all of Jack’s associates and their protégé’s. It’s easy to pinpoint which crew you roll with, all you grease balls look alike.”

I looked at her for a moment swallowing her derogatory slur right along with the tequila she had poured for me.

“So Vic sent me Anthony Bianci…,” Jack said from behind me, causing me to place my empty shot glass back on the bar and swivel around in my bar stool to face him.

“That a problem?” I asked, as he advanced towards me two of his men tucked on either side of him.

“When Victor Pastore sends his most valuable player to do business, you know it’s a reminder of how fucking serious shit is about to get,” Jack said, holding out his hand for me to shake.

I shook his hand looking at the men standing close to his sides scrutinizing me before looking directly into Jack’s eyes.

“We going to get down with an audience or is there somewhere you and I can talk privately?” These men might be Jack’s brothers and all that but they were no fucking brothers of mine. The less people knew about my take in all this the lesser the chance of one of them ratting me out.

Jack looked at me for a moment before looking at the men that were glued to his sides. “Down, boys.” He said, averting his eyes back to me. “Follow me.” He stated, moving towards the door where the whole crew had emerged from moments before. Jack’s road name was Bulldog, hence the MC’s compound being dubbed the dog pound. Apparently, the dog references didn’t end there and when he ordered his men, he ordered them like they were pups in training. The mafia and the MC had a lot of the same morals making our alliance an asset to both organizations. We ran on different sides of the eastern seaboard, controlled different parts of the streets but in the end, we were cut from the same cloth. For instance some of the guys in Vic’s organization had goomah’s another term for a man’s sidepiece while the MC called theirs sweet butts. We had a boss they had a president. We called one another soldiers they called themselves brothers. In the end, we were both criminals that ran the streets of New York.

I followed Jack into the room he called the chapel. He sat at the head of the wooden table and I took the seat to his left. His Vice President, reading his title off the badge on his leather cut, Blackie sat across from me sizing me up.

“I hope you don’t mind Blackie sitting in on our meeting.” Jack said eyeing me cautiously, which made me think he was testing me. I glanced across at Blackie who might’ve been a year or two younger than me which had me wondering how a guy so young had climbed the ranks in the MC. I’d be old and on my way out before, I was ever considered a potential underboss. I suppose that was the difference between our organizations. A guy like Blackie got promoted on his crimes, while a guy like me stayed stagnant, continuously asked to break the law and make a larger mess out of his life without gaining anything.

“It’s fine,” I said clearing my throat as my eyes diverted back and forth between Blackie and Jack. “So, either of you want to explain why your club is so eager to clean up this mess Vic has found himself in? I mean you’re aware that it is RICO charges they’re looking to nail him with, which means it’s federal.”

Jack sat back in his chair and ran the back of his hand along the scruff that lined his jaw. “You mean aside from the offer Vic placed on the table?”

“The deed to a warehouse in New Jersey doesn’t seem like much of an incentive when you’re talking about taking out a fed,” I said. “I’m sure you can understand my concern.”

“Blackie, give us a minute,” Jack said, eyeing his second in command. He didn’t look too happy about being dismissed but he didn’t put up an argument.

“I’ll be right outside,” he growled, as he rose from his seat. I wanted to laugh at him because he reminded me a lot of the guy I once was. A son of a bitch that would do anything for his higher command.

Jack waited for the door to close behind Blackie before he turned his attention back to me.

“You have any siblings Bianci?”

“A sister” I said, hesitantly wondering where he was going with this. There weren’t many people who knew about Lauren and I had done everything in my power to keep it that way. I didn’t need people using my sweet innocent sister as a ploy in this game that was my life.
     
“What’s it to you?”

“There it is…,” he said purposely, as he slapped his palm against the wood table. “Right there. The possessiveness one has over their blood.” He cocked his head to the side. “I bet not many people know of her.”

“Where are you going with this Parrish?” I complained, feeling irritable.

“Hear me out,” he demanded, holding up a hand. “There isn’t anything you wouldn’t do to protect your sister is there?”

“No, I suppose there isn’t,” I said automatically. I’d kill for Lauren I’d lay down and die for her if it came down to it.

“What does your sister do?”

“What the fuck does my sister have to do with this?”

“Not a damn thing.” Jack bowed his head. “But my brother, that’s a different story.”

“Your brother?” I asked, not following him.

He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before shedding light on whatever the fuck it was he was talking about. “My parents died when I was twenty years old in a car crash. They were headed south on the Garden State on route to bail my ass out of jail when one of those luxury buses, you know the kind that drive down to A.C., slammed into them.” He lifted his eyes to mine and continued. “My brother Danny was only eighteen but still considered legal and after we buried our parents I vowed to take care of him. My aunt in Detroit wanted to take him with her but I swore on our parent’s grave that I would do the right thing by him. I didn’t have much going for me then but I had a shitload of responsibilities. I tried my hardest to make ends meet until I couldn’t anymore. I had no choice but to sell my parent’s house or let the bank foreclose on it. I was packing up the house when I went into the garage and found my old man’s Harley that he was rebuilding before he died.” He shrugged his shoulders a faint grin playing on his face. “It was the last gift my old man ever gave me, and I don’t mean the bike I mean the sign.” He crossed his arms against his chest. “It all became clear after that and I suddenly knew what I had to do to get me and my brother through this.” He unfolded his arms and swept his hand around the room. “And here I am now the president of Satan’s Knights.”

“And your brother?” I asked my curiosity piqued.

Jack released a heavy sigh as he leaned over the table and peered up at me. “He became a straight A student, scored himself a fancy college degree, and followed that with a gig on the opposite side of my spectrum.” He paused for a moment. “Are the dots connecting for you Bianci?”

I squinted as I leaned in close to him trying to read between the lines he was drawing for me. “You telling me your brother is a cop?”

“No Bianci I’m telling you my brother is a Fed, the same Fed that’s sniffing around your boss and that dead body that surfaced.”

“Jesus Christ, Jack,” I said in disbelief, running my hand over my face and through my hair cupping the back of my neck as I studied him. “I take it Victor doesn’t know that we’re gunning for your brother.”

“No, he doesn’t,” he replied, leaning back against his chair letting me digest the information he dumped on me. I didn’t even know where the fuck to start. This situation was fucked to begin with but now it was just a goddamn disaster.

“How do you plan on this playing out? Victor sent me to assure him you would do as promised and take out the Fed, but that’s not the plan is it?”

“Let me ask you something; you think it’s a coincidence you’re here standing in front of me? Take a minute and think about it, why wouldn’t he send Jimmy to make sure the job gets done?”

“How the fuck should I know why that man does anything he does?”

“I agreed to this deal under the condition you would be Vic’s eye,” he said evenly.

“Why me?” I asked.

“Because, you my friend understand what it’s like to make a deal with the devil.” He laughed, cocking his head to the side. “You see, I did my homework Bianci, and I found it particularly interesting that you did three years for a crime you didn’t commit. A man can lose a lot in three years, his woman, his future, his sanity, and most importantly his loyalty when he’s been pushed too far.”

“Hold it right there Jack, before you say something you’ll regret. I’m not sure what you think you know about me and my problems with Victor but you’re questioning my character and that I won’t stand for. Yeah, I hate him, I fucking resent him for everything I lost including his daughter, but I took an oath to work for him and my word is gold. I’ve done a lot of shit for that man and you’re right, I lost a lot because of the things I’ve done for him. However, I’m not going to turn my back on him because then it would all be for nothing.” I stated, hoping I made myself perfectly clear to the man before me.

“I’m not asking you to go against him. I made a deal with Victor to shut down the investigation and to ensure that the Fed is dealt with. I’m not going to whack my brother Bianci and neither is anyone in Victor’s organization. I said I’d deal with him and I will but if I find out that one fucking hair on my brother is altered I will take out everyone that ever mattered to anyone in the Pastore organization. You get my drift,
brother
?”