Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5) (46 page)

Two minutes later I was devising a plan of my own.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Nice and sharp, like the tip of a needle.

His words repeated over and over inside my head as I mimicked the way he tied the sheet over the bars. I grabbed the blade from under the mattress and took a seat on the cold floor, letting the razor slide between my fingers.

So smooth.

I pictured Jimmy’s face as he sat across from me that day he showed up at the Dog Pound, provoking me to resurrect the devil I tried so hard to bury.

Victor tells me you’re familiar with the business, that, you used to be one of the biggest players in the game.

Even the mighty players fall.

Just look at Vic.

But I didn’t just fall, Jimmy Gold knocked me off my horse and dragged me to hell.

I’d like to think a man like you knows his product, enjoys it even, won’t you have a taste for me?

I scratched the razor against the concrete subconsciously as I relived the nightmare that nearly killed me. I recalled drawing my sleeve up my arm and tying the rubber band around my bicep. I could almost feel the needle prick my skin and when I closed my eyes I watched as my thumb pressed down on the top of the syringe.

There you go.

Just a little more.

All done.

I’ve been at war with myself for a long time and if I would yield Victor’s advice I needed to put my addictions to rest. I needed to go religiously to meetings when I got out and more than that I needed to hang on to the picture he painted for me. The woman home waiting for me and the dream of a family that could be mine.

But before all that, to give myself to Lacey completely I had to free myself from the demons that threatened to pull me away from her. I wasn’t like Victor; I learned the hard way money and power aren’t everything, not when you’re pulling your dead wife out of a bathtub. I had my own issues though and as much as I was addicted to drugs I was addicted to pain. I let people get to me through my heart and I’d have to end that by ending all the people who threatened to take my heart away from me.

Starting with Jimmy.

Ending with Boots.

I didn’t even give a fuck about the G-Man anymore. If that man never got what was coming and lived to a ripe old age only to rot away in a cage, that, was good enough for me. Vic gave me a glimpse of the future, providing me with a wake-up call and a new dream.

I wanted the picture he had taped to the wall, but I wanted that photograph tucked safely into a frame on the nightstand next to my wife.

I touched the edge of the blade, continued to sharpen it before glancing around the cell, searching for an answer to a question I wasn’t going to divulge.

You want to know what happens?

Watch and see motherfucker.

I promise to give you a good show.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the metal toilet bowl screwed into the wall and the floor. I crawled across the floor and placed my hands on the bowl, remembering the morning after that first prick of the needle in five years and how I remained hunched over the bowl. I inspected the toilet bowl and found what I was looking for. I used the sharpened edge of the razor as a flat head screwdriver and twisted the bolt attaching the metal thrown to the wall.

Then my voice rang in my ears after Gold tried forcing me on Reina.

I’m not touching her you sick fuck.

Shoot me up, do what you got to do but I won’t fucking touch her.

I twisted and twisted until I pulled back my hand, revealing the three inch bolt and ran my finger across the flat tip.

Nice and sharp, like the tip of a needle.

I moved away from the toilet, placed the sharpened razor back into Vic’s pillowcase before I went to work on the screw.

Lacey’s face worked its way into my brain as my hand quickened the pace, stripping the ridges that swirled around the metal, smoothing them down as I created a point.

I couldn’t wait to see that face again.

I couldn’t wait to kiss that mouth of hers again.

Or hold that soft body in my arms.

I couldn’t fucking wait to be inside her and watch her eyes as she became mine over and over again.

Yeah, I had a fucking future, and it was so goddamn beautiful.

“Nice and sharp,” I repeated.

“Just like the tip of a needle,” I whispered.

I heard the keys dangle before the officer fitted them into the bars and I quickly hid the weapon I was making. Vic pulled back the sheet and stepped into our cell.

“How was church?” I muttered.

“God is good,” he replied, placing his bible under his pillow. “He forgives us all.”

“Yeah? You think?” I asked, wiping the sweat from my brow and pushing my hair away from my eyes.

“I know,” he assured as he climbed into the bottom bunk. “Tomorrow is a big day,” he said, yawning. “Tomorrow I become God.”

No you don’t.

I do.

I climbed onto the top bunk and once I was sure Victor was sleeping, I continued to sharpen the screw against the wall.

God was good.

But I was the devil.

Chapter Forty

I watched Victor take the comb resting on the sink and run it through his silver hair, meticulously coming it back. He slipped on his sparkling white sneakers and brushed down the front of his jumpsuit before he turned around and smiled at me.

“My sources tell me by tomorrow you’ll be a free man,” he assured me.

I didn’t ask questions, relying on his word and the hope that Jack pulled off whatever the fuck he and Victor planned.

“Give Jack some time to come around,” he advised. “A father needs to see the proof that when he leaves this earth his daughter will be well looked after. We don’t always deserve the peace of mind but some of us need it, anyway. Give it to him. Make her happy.”

“I plan on it,” I said huskily, barely recognizing my own voice.

He crossed the small floor space of the cell and reached under his pillow for the bible, opening it to the middle where a ribbon acted as a bookmark and laid the open book on the bed.

My legs dangled over the edge of the top bunk and I leaned forward, watching intently as he emptied the pillowcase and lifted the razor, inspecting the sharpness of it with his finger before he lifted his eyes to mine and smiled.

“You do good work,” he complimented.

“Always aim to please,” I said as he placed the razor onto open page of the Holy Scripture before he covered it with the ribbon and closed the book.

“Let’s go Pastore,” the guard called from behind the sheet.

I jumped down from the bunk and shoved my hands into my pockets, fingering the weapon rubbing against my thigh. Victor untied the sheet at one end and let it hang from the other as he tucked his bible under his arm and waited for the guard to open the cell.

“Wait,” I called.

Victor looked over his shoulder at me.

“Think God could find forgiveness in me too?”

He studied me for a moment, remaining completely silent and I thought he would deny me. I knew what he was going to do, he never tried to hide it from me and now I was asking him to allow me to bear witness. His lips quirked, and he granted me the faintest hint of a smile.

“Come, my brother, you want to see God work in mysterious ways? Let me show you his divine powers,” he said, his voice almost sounding like a hymn.

The C.O. raised an eyebrow at Vic but the mob boss paid him no mind, leading me out of the cell. As we walked the cell block I felt the inmates eyes on us and wondered if they knew what was about to go down. I diverted my eyes to Vic and watched as he held his head high and moved his lips. I leaned closer trying to listen to him and I heard every other word but it was clear the man was praying.

It takes a certain breed to do the things we do and each of us has our own way of getting in the zone. Whether it’s reliving the pain you suffered in life or listening to a particular song there’s something that gets you pumped and ready to take blood, a ritual one partakes in before he sanctions the beast within and takes a life.

I’m not sure if Vic prays to God or if he really thinks he becomes him, but it’s almost fascinating to watch him evolve into a holier than thou persona.

We stepped into the chapel which the only thing that showed God’s presence was the small wooden cross hanging on one wall, high enough that no one could reach it and use it as a weapon. A man in a cloak stood in the front of the room and Victor made the sign of the cross as he passed him, taking a seat in one of the folding chairs in the front of him.

I glanced around the otherwise empty room before I took a seat beside Victor and watched him lay his bible on his lap. The officer that escorted us stood in the back of the room, leaning against the wall as the priest recited mass to us.

I kept looking towards the door, rubbing my hand over my pants over the screw resting in my pocket, anticipating the moment when I came face to face with Jimmy Gold.

The moment never came.

Church continued.

Vic received Holy Communion.

I sat back and watched.

Then the priest walked over to Vic, he dipped his thumb into Holy Water and drew the sign of the cross on his forehead with his finger.

“God forgives you, son,” he said.

“Amen,” Victor whispered as he closed his eyes and became one with God.

The priest dropped his hand, looked to me and side stepped until he stood before me and dipped his finger back in the Holy Water. My eyes widened as he lifted his hand and I felt the cool water touch my forehead, surprising me I didn’t go up in flames when his finger touched my skin.

“God forgives you, son,” he repeated.

I stared back at him, forgetting the response I was supposed to say and watched as he dropped his hand before closing his bible.

A moment later he was gone.

The officer followed him out the door and left Vic and I sitting in the first makeshift pew of the prison’s chapel. I wondered if every inmate finds God or just the fucked up ones.

The door opened, forcing me to tear my eyes away from the wooden crucifix and stare in horror at the man who walked into the room. He was ugly, scary looking as all hell, he was the devil.  A man who used to be covered in some of the finest ink had skin that was so worn and badly burned that it was almost translucent and the parts that weren’t were sutured with pink puckered flesh.

      The left side of his face resembled the villain Two Face from the Batman comics.

I had to look away because staring at him for too long made me feel sick.

Jimmy was so badly scarred the only thing that made him recognizable to the people who knew him was the gold tooth he flashed when he opened his mouth to gasp. His eyes moved back and forth between me and Vic, finally deciding to stay glued to the man he once called his boss.

I forced myself to keep my eyes on him, ingraining his appearance to my memory, then I remembered what my brother’s said Jack did to his finger and I looked down.

The Bulldog took a saw to his pinky finger and sliced through the bone just as Jimmy had done to his blood brother Danny.

Five fingers on one hand.

Nine on the other.

I realized why Jack didn’t kill him that day.

Suffering is worse than dying.

And this motherfucker suffered.

Now it was time for him to die.

It was time to put him down like the fucking dog he was.

“We meet again, Jimmy,” Victor crooned, as he ran his fingers over the leather cover of his bible.

“Guard!” Jimmy shouted.

“They won’t save you,” Victor said, calmly as he took a step toward Jimmy. “No one can.”

Jimmy opened his mouth to speak but really, what could he say? He was sorry? Cry for help? There was no one there to hear his pleas. And God was before him, ready to bring him into the land of eternal temptations.