Lethal Temptations (Tempted #5)(99)

“I hear you,” I assured. “Thanks, Reina,” I added huskily.

“Just returning the favor, my friend,” she replied.

Make it right.

Make it count.

I could do that.





Today was a big day for me. It’s my first day back at school and the first day I took the Lithium the doctor prescribed. Now, it’s a waiting game to see if it works or if we will have to adjust the dosage or possibly try a different medication. I’m confident that I’m going to kick my maker’s ass.

Surviving the rest of this semester? That I’m not so sure about.

“Everyone’s staring at me,” I whispered to Daniela as we walked to the campus store. I know my treatment with Dr. Spiegel is helping because I would be having an anxiety attack right about now, wondering what everyone was saying behind my back.

I knew they were talking.

I just didn’t care.

Let them talk.

“They’re not staring at you,” Daniela insisted. “And even if they are it’s not because of anything you did but because Brandon fooled everyone,” she added.

I don’t know how true that is either. I overheard some girls talking in the bathroom. They think I’m the bitch who had her daddy’s motorcycle gang beat the f*ck out of Brandon because I didn’t want to go down on him.

People talk.

They always do.

Even when they don’t know what the f*ck they’re talking about.

After I overheard Riggs tell my father what he heard at the hospital I confided in Daniela, because sometimes you just want to talk to your girlfriends and not a shrink. She admitted that when she was making plans for that night, Brandon asked her if I would be there. Of course that led to a crying session with Daniela, where she blamed what happened to me on herself for a good two hours.

The truth is, it would’ve happened anyway, even if she didn’t invite him or tell him I was going.

He’s still in the coma and every day he doesn’t wake up things become worse for Blackie. I wish I could see him or speak to him especially after what Riggs told my father. I wanted to thank him for what he did. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him and I wanted to tell him about everything that was going on with me.

I didn’t even care if he told me how he felt.

If he didn’t say a word.

Just knowing he was listening was enough.

Daniela and I grabbed a coffee and went to our next class. I pretended to be paying attention but my mind was elsewhere, busy dreaming of what could’ve been. It doesn’t look like we will get another chance at making our story work. If Brandon dies, Blackie’s sentence changes and he’s looking at murder.

I’m waiting for my father to give the green light and have the lawyer escort me into the station so I can make a formal statement but talking to my father these days is a struggle. He won’t even look at me and has made it very clear that talking about Blackie is out of the question.

A part of me wishes we never hid from him, maybe if he had gotten a chance to see us for himself he’d know it wasn’t something to frown upon. Sometimes the heart rules and if you’re lucky it lasts. I think if my father would’ve seen us follow our hearts straight into each other’s arms he might be a little more lenient. If he saw the ease of our relationship, the stolen moments that sparked a fire in our hearts, or if he would’ve seen us smiling whenever we were together than maybe Jack Parrish would understand Leather and Lace.

No man will ever be good enough for me in his eyes but no man cared more about me than Blackie, even before we were anything, when we both thought we were nothing…even then we were still something.

The other part of me is happy we kept our time to ourselves. For a short while we were on top of the world. All the sorrows and regrets of his past faded away and the trials and tribulations of my mind disappeared.

I fell harder than I thought was possible and as I fell Blackie swooped in, claiming my heart. He gave me the broken pieces of his heart and with every kiss and every smile he asked me to put him back together.

So what went wrong? He loved me. I know he did, hell even Riggs saw it. So why did he wound me with his words and break my heart? Was it because he didn’t have enough faith in himself? He should know by now I have enough faith in him for the both of us. He should know that he didn’t have to prove his worth to me. I believe when you love someone as hard and as fierce as I love Blackie, there is no reason to prove anything other than your commitment to that person. I believe, God creates a second half of your soul and puts it into someone else, if you’re lucky you cross paths with that person and get to be one half of a great love story. You become complete and a full heart and a mended soul is all the proof you need. You begin to write an epic love story, one you never saw coming but will always be thankful for.

The words come freely.

The actions speak for themselves.

The love evolves without trying.

It’s a rare form of beauty.

Only the lucky ones get to experience.

I was lucky for a little while.

Then my luck ran out.

But I had the story scribed into my heart and that would never run from me.

My phone vibrated on top of my desk, pulling me away from the heartbreak and into the present creating a ruckus and all eyes turned around to see. I stared at the screen and saw it was an unknown caller.