Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)(98)

“Petra, let’s go,” one of the C.O.’s demanded, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto my feet.

She needs me and I’m not there.

She needs me to right everything wrong I put in her head. She needs to know she’s more than what I let her think she was… she was f*cking everything. She was my heart.

“Let’s go!” he pulled my arm again, but I kept my feet firmly planted on the ground.

“I want my phone call,” I demanded.

And one more chance.





Chapter Thirty-four





I took three strides, swallowing up the floor space and braced my hands against the cement wall, breathing heavily as I tried not to scream in frustration. The cell door slammed shut behind me, echoing off the bare walls confining me to my memories. I cursed the day my demoralized self, had noticed Lacey as a woman. A goddamn woman with a tiny waist and hips meant to hold onto as I bent her over and appreciated the sweetest ass I ever laid eyes on. Not to mention tits that could make any man lose his mind.

It was so f*cking easy to lose my mind and forget my morals.

Morals I still wasn’t sure I had in the first place.

I curse the day she stopped being Jack’s daughter and became the object of my desire and my affection because it was all over from that point forward.

I was too wrapped up in consuming her and feeding off her light to notice she was crying out for help. That night she came to the Dog Pound she wasn’t a girl looking for a man to pay her attention and take her virginity. No, Lacey was looking for someone to help her, someone to share her pain with.

I waited for the C.O.’s to change shifts and then asked to use the phone. Things were different than they used to be, now you used your commissary money to make a call instead of calling collect and hoping it was accepted.

The officer who brought me down to the call room was all right. He wasn’t a ball buster and didn’t give two f*cks about anything but punching a clock and bringing home a paycheck. He wasn’t on a power trip, just a guy who worked as a correction officer because the city finally called his ass and offered him a job.

“Take your time,” he said, turning his back and giving me some privacy.

“Thanks, bro,” I called, picking up the phone and leaning my head against the wall trying to debate on what the f*ck I would say. I wasn’t even sure I should call her after everything I said and everything I did. Being so close to Jack all these years I knew firsthand how delicate someone’s mind was when they were mentally ill. After a while I learned Jack’s trigger points and could avoid them. Lacey was different, for all I knew I was the trigger point, the thing that set her maker off. I wasn’t sure if calling her would cause her more harm than good.

Then I picked up the phone and dialed the number of one person who could help guide me and wouldn’t turn her back on me. All I had to do was remind her of three words and a promise I made when we were dying.

I waited, listened patiently as the phone rang and then her voice reached me. It was strange how a familiar voice could make you feel the repercussions of your actions and remind you of life on the outside, life beyond the prison cell.

“Hello?”

“You made me promise if we lived I’d tell you what Leather and Lace meant,” I rasped, clearing my throat to mask the emotion in my voice.

“I’m still waiting,” Reina said softly. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” I swallowed. “It’s me and Lacey. It’s Lacey, she’s my Lace. She’s the face I pictured when we thought we would die. It’s her face I hung onto and wished to see again,” I admitted, letting out a ragged breath.

“I know,” she confessed. “I’ve known since the hospital she was your reason, your why and your purpose,” she added.

“Jack was here,” I started. “I told him the truth, Reina. You might want to prepare yourself for that ride,” I warned.

“Blackie, you didn’t call me to warn me about Jack,” she coaxed.

“No, I called you because I didn’t know who else to call. I’m stuck here when I should be there, with her, helping her through this shit. I’m calling you because I need to know she’s okay. I’m calling you because I need you to remind her I’m here and I’m begging her to hang on to those three words. I’m begging you to help me remind her of them.”

“I’m sure she’d want to hear them from you and not me,” Reina said.

“I don’t want to upset her,” I rasped.

“Blackie, you want a reminder? Here’s a reminder. You told me to hang on because Jack needed me. You told me he loved me and I was the one who fixed him, made me believe I had to get back to him because I was what he needed most in this world,” she recalled. “Now do yourself a favor and make the call because the one thing Lacey needs most right now is hearing your voice remind her of everything she knows in heart but is too weak minded to hang on to.”

I remained quiet as I soaked up her advice.

“Are you there? Did you hear me? She needs you,” Reina called. “And in case you need another reminder, something to force you out of your own hell and bring you back to her, let me give you what you need to hear too…Leather and Lace. Make the call Blackie, and make it right, make it count,” she challenged.