Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)(111)

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 f*cked 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 motherf*cker suffered.

Now it was time for him to die.

It was time to put him down like the f*cking 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.

But before God had the chance to take him I was going to. I slid my hand into my pocket as Victor circled Jimmy.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this reunion, to see your face, to look you in the eye and tell you who the boss is,” he seethed. “Always wanted the title didn’t you? You didn’t give a damn what you did or who you killed to get to the top. That was your first mistake…wanting what was never yours. The second was killing Val, that man was my brother, someone you never could hold a candle to. The third was f*cking with my children, bringing that guy around Nikki, using her to get me out of your way. I won’t even start about the heartache your hand caused Adrianna. If you hadn’t killed Val, I never would’ve sent Anthony to prison. But I’ll take the blame for that one.” He paused, as he opened the bible.

It’s now or never.

I closed my hand over the screw and took three steps closer to Jimmy.

“You kept going, leaving a path of destruction behind you. You’ve drawn blood and left scars, you’ve killed and you’ve stolen…now it’s time for you to ask God for forgiveness,” he said.

I closed my eyes, and I was back in that basement, standing in front of Reina, pleading for her to hang on to Jack as she reminded me of the girl with the sad eyes waiting for me.

Leather and lace.

“Forgive me father for I have sinned,” Jimmy cried.

“Yes you have,” I heard my own voice say as I wrapped my arm around his neck and pinned him against me with my forearm as I reared the hand that held the weapon and drew it down, aiming for the same spot he stabbed my neck with the needle.