Reckless Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 4) (38 page)

We pulled our bikes into the shipping yard, locked and loaded, ready for mayhem, thirsty for blood. We weren’t the weak ass motherfuckers the Red Dragons assumed we were. We had Blackie back, and as fucked as he was he was crazy too, and now we had four more men, ready to make names for themselves within the club.

Cutting our engines, we dismounted our bikes before pulling our weapons and crouching down as we ran up the pier where the vessel docked. Sun Wu and the Dragons were nowhere in sight, not scheduled to unload their shipment for another hour. Jack led the pack, pausing at the container and forking over an envelope to Rienzi before he snapped the plastic seal off the doors giving us access to Wu’s merchandise.

Wooden crates stacked from the floor to the ceiling, filled the entire container. It would take more than an hour to unload this thing.

Stryker and Deuce charged in first, tucking their guns away before Stryker got down on one knee, placing one palm over the other while Deuce put his boot clad foot onto Stryker’s hands before he hoisted him up. Deuce pulled a crate from the top and dropped it onto the floor beside us. Together Stryker and Deuce demolished the first row of crates.

The last crate fell onto the others, busting open and Wolf, the nosey fuck he was, sifted through it.

“Well, well, looks like Wu wanted to get fucked after all,” he mocked, as he held up a pink dildo.

I walked over to the crate, pushing around the contents, and sure enough it was full of sex toys.

“I bet this one is labeled butt plugs,” Pipe said, prying open the top of another crate.

“Dump it,” Jack ordered.

Pipe raised an eyebrow, questioning Jack.

“You sure about that, boss? Bet we can turn this shit for a pretty penny,” he countered.

“Dump the fucking shit,” Jack barked, as he lifted a crate over his head and threw it into the water.

Sweat poured from our bodies as we hustled to empty the container, finally hauling the last crate into the river, creating a sea of vibrators. The Hudson River looked like a goddamn nympho’s paradise.

What a fucking sight.

“Pack it up,” Jack demanded, as he reached into his back pocket and produced a can of spray paint. I turned to Bones, my eyes questioning his, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and we both turned back to watch as Jack nodded toward Rienzi.

Rienzi closed the container, locking it up with a new plastic seal before taking a step back and letting Jack do his thing. He pulled the cap off the bottle, throwing it into the water before putting his finger on the aerosol can and writing a message to Wu.

Fuck you.

In bright red letters across the door.

Jack took a step back, admiring his handy work before dumping the can of paint into the water and turning around to face us.

“Clear enough?”

“Still think we should’ve fucked him with one of his toys,” Wolf clipped.

“Message is clear,” Pipe confirmed, smacking Wolf upside the head.

Jack slapped each of the newbies on the back, impressed with their efficiency as we strode down the dock, pretty fucking pleased with ourselves that we pulled it off with fifteen minutes to spare.

We were half way down the dock when we heard the roar of the Red Dragons engines.

“Shit, we’ve got company,” Blackie declared, reaching for his gun.

Time stopped after he uttered those words and everything moved in slow motion. It didn’t matter we were running down the rickety wooden pier, guns drawn and lighting the shipping yard a blaze, to me we were just standing still.

I glanced down at my feet then lifted my head and watched as my brothers ran forward, shooting their way back to their bikes and I remained still.

They ran.

They fought.

I stayed still, taking it all in before something clicked inside of me and I took my other gun, crossed one arm over the other and fired both guns.

One down, then another, and another. I didn’t know if they were dead or not but I told myself they were.

It wasn’t enough.

I needed more.

I took my time, walking the rest of the pier, firing one gun then the other. Another two dropped to the ground.

Still, not enough.

I wanted Wu.

I wanted to decorate my hands with his blood.

I wouldn’t stop until I did, and I continued to pop any Dragon that stepped in my way, full of lead.

I heard my brothers shout out to me.

But I tuned them out.

I didn’t give a fuck.

Let them tell me I’m reckless.

Let them tell me I have no heart.

I don’t.

This motherfucker was the reason I won’t see my kid being born, or hold Lauren’s hand as she brings him into this world. This son of a bitch took my family from me with his threats.

I don’t make threats.

I make promises.

I promise to take that bastard’s blood.

I solemnly swear to make it my mission in life.

I reached the end of the dock as another Dragon neared and I pulled the trigger, emptying my clip into his head. One of his brothers came up behind me, shouting in Mandarin as he watched the blood of his brother pour from his eyes and drop to the floor. I turned around, fired a shot and clipped him in the shoulder. I went to finish the job, but I ran out of bullets. He screamed, spewing Chinese bullshit as I tucked my guns away and rolled up my sleeves. My dick got hard from the look of fear in his eyes and it was all I needed to finish him. I grabbed him by the neck, smiled at him as I leaned into him and spit in his face before I snapped his neck and dropped his head to the ground.

“Jesus Christ,” Bones hollered, pulling me to my feet. “C’mon, man, what the fuck are you doing?” He fumed, as he stared down at the slayed Dragon. I followed his eyes and looked at the man at my feet, feeling unsatisfied as I gasped for air. Bones looked at me, muttering something under his breath before he bent down and grabbed the guy’s feet, dragging his bloody ass to the end of the pier before he kicked him into the water.

He grabbed the back of my cut and pushed me forward.

“We gotta get the fuck out of here,” he ordered. “Now, Riggs.”

I stared at him blankly before glancing down at my hands, recalling how Blackie lifted his hands and spoke of the bloodshed his hands were responsible for.

My hands weren’t clean anymore.

But they weren’t nearly as dirty as I wanted them to be.

Not until I had Wu.

I was going to get that motherfucker.

Mark my words.

I was six months pregnant, more than a month had passed since I had seen Riggs. The first few weeks were rough, I went from having so much hope to having nothing at all. I felt like I was crawling out of a hole, desperate to get above ground. I’m still not there yet, and I may never be, but I’m moving forward.

I have no choice.

After I left the clubhouse Anthony took me to the apartment so I could pack my things before bringing me to his home. I feel bad for the hell I’ve put my brother and Adrianna through. It should’ve been a happy time for them, they should’ve been enjoying Adrianna’s pregnancy but instead they listened to me cry myself to sleep and put off painting their daughter’s nursery in fear it would upset me.

They tiptoed around me, but I’d catch things here and there, like when they were laying on the couch together and Anthony dropped his head into Adrianna’s lap so he could talk to the baby. Or the several times he placed his hands on her stomach when their little girl kicked.

Pea kicked a lot.

But there was no one to lay a hand on my belly other than me.

I was happy for my brother, really I was, but I didn’t like feeling envious so when my mother suggested I move in with her, I jumped at the chance. Of course, Anthony didn’t like the idea, he was my shadow these days and me living with our mom, made his job harder.

I got a job, working from home, billing and coding for a doctor. It wasn’t a great job but it would get me through until I had the baby. Then I really needed to figure out what I would do to support us.

I think of Riggs all the time. I hate myself for it but I can’t help it. I wonder if he regrets what he did or if he’s happy to be rid of the burden.

I’m dreading going to the doctor tomorrow, and not because I can’t wait to see how the baby is doing, but because Riggs won’t be there to hold my hand and whisper jokes in my ear. He won’t be there trying to put his own legs in the stirrups like he did the first time he came to a doctor’s appointment with me. He won’t be there trying to convince the doctor he has super sperm and that our baby will be a genius. He won’t be there to rob hospital gowns intending to play doctor when we get home.

He’s gone.

It’s like he’s dead.

And if I’m being honest, there are days when I tell myself he is.

Rest in Peace, Riggs.

You’ll forever be in my heart.

I started staying at the apartment almost immediately after Lauren left, partially because of the feud with Bones, but mainly because I wanted to hold onto my brief time with Lauren and Pea. The first few days it took all the willpower I could muster up not to break every piece of furniture. The couch, the bed, hell, even the refrigerator reminded me of what I gave up.

I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing the right thing even when my conscience tried fucking with me, whispering in my head words of doubt.

I could’ve protected them.

They would’ve been safe with me.

It was my responsibility to watch them.

Not Anthony’s.

And when I pushed those thoughts out of my head all I saw was Wu’s face as he promised to go after me and mine. It’s real clear that this shit won’t die until one of us does. Throwing a bunch of dicks, literally, well, fake dicks, into the river wouldn’t do anything to end this war. Jack says intercepting their shipment sends a message—we aren’t weak, we won’t sit back and let them attack us.

It’s all bullshit.

He will strike.

We’ll strike back and so on and so forth.

We don’t have a common goal with the Dragons, no truce to iron out.

It’s either their blood or ours.

Me, personally? I don’t want to sit back and wait for them to draw our blood. I say we take them out, starting with Wu. But I don’t call the shots and everyone thinks I’m a mad man these days.

I placed the roller in the tray when I heard someone knock on the door and took a step back to admire the paint I had chosen. The clerk at the paint store recommended either yellow or green, something neutral…something gay. I painted one wall gray and the other three white. If Pea was a girl then we could add a ton of pink shit but if he’s a boy, then we’d add a ton of blue.

Who was I kidding? Pea wouldn’t see this room.

But still I’d continue painting these walls. I’d buy a crib, and whatever other shit a baby needed because I’ll always be his dad. Even if he doesn’t know it. Even if this is just for me to feel like I’m someone’s dad.

I walked out of the room, wiping my hands on my t-shirt before I pulled open the door to find Bones leaning against the doorjamb. I stepped aside as he kicked off the wall and walked into the apartment.

“Painting?” He asked, as he sniffed the fumes.

“Yeah,” I said, as I grabbed two beers from the fridge and popped the tops off them, offering him one. “Thanks for coming,” I added.

He nodded, taking the beer I offered him and placed it on the counter.

“I figured you wanted to talk about last night,” he started.

“Why would I want to talk about what went down last night?” I asked, narrowing my eyes in confusion.

“Dude, you snapped that guy’s neck,” he reminded me as he widened his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders, taking another guzzle of the beer.

“One less motherfucker roaming the streets, one less man looking to kill us. He had to go. They all have to go. It shouldn’t matter how I killed him, whether it be a bullet or my hands, he’s dead. Job’s done.”

“The goal wasn’t to partake in a massacre on the docks.”

“There is no goal, Bones. Don’t you realize that? Jack’s big plan to intercept their shipment was a pussy move, so was Wu’s when he cut me loose, roughing me up with a haircut. It’s just prolonging death because that’s the only way this ends, one side dies.”