Reckless Temptations (Tempted #4)(23)

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Riggs wasn’t a bad guy, he was just crazy. Absolutely bizarre.

Everyone needed a little crazy in their lives, right?





She made me drop her off around the corner from her brother’s house in case Bianci showed up. Ridiculous.

What was even more ridiculous was that I didn’t want her to leave.

That was fucking ridiculous.

I didn’t know when she’d be back for a visit, and with her car out of commission it probably wasn’t anytime soon. Bianci still hadn’t towed the damn thing to Xonerated. So, this was it, the end of Kitten and Tiger as we knew it.

All I had to hang on to was the memory of my fingers inside her. I shouldn’t have been such a dick—at least then, I’d know what she looked like when she came.

I killed the engine of the bike as she climbed off and removed the helmet.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said, extending the helmet to me.

“Anytime,” I said before clearing my throat.

“I need to get going or I’ll miss the bus. I won’t tell anyone where I was,” she rambled.

“I don’t care if you do,” I replied with a shrug.

Nothing happened.

“So, this is goodbye? I suck at goodbyes,” she admitted. “I mean, it’s pretty stupid isn’t it? It’s just a word. One word.” She exhaled quietly. “Should I say see you soon? When I know I won’t. There’s always Christmas?”

“It’s been real, Kitten,” I said, with a smile. “Keep in touch?”

“See, that’s so much better!” She replied. “Not final like goodbye. Keep in touch leaves a person with hope that there will be an opportunity for more,” she added.

“More?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, more,” she said incredulously. “You owe me an orgasm,” she accused. “I plan on collecting.”

She winked at me and I was fucked. Fucked, because I temporarily fell in love with her, with those words, and the way she said them.

Temporarily.

I didn’t do love.

“I always pay my debts,” I replied huskily, crooking my finger, beckoning her closer.

She licked her lips, biting down on her lip before taking the steps to close the distance between us. I reached out and grabbed the hem of the t-shirt, my shirt, and pulled her against me, pressing my lips to the corner of her mouth.

“Let me know when you’re ready to collect, Kitten,” I murmured against her mouth, letting go of her shirt and inching back. “Go on, before we do something stupid.”

I didn’t tell her that by stupid, I meant asking her to stay, and her actually doing so.

She nodded, turned on her heel and walked away from me.

Smart move, Kitten.

I watched her walk away and contemplated what had just happened for a moment. I revved my engine and made a U-Turn, driving as far away from Lauren Bianci as I could.

But I wasn’t as smart as her because she never turned around and looked back. I know this because I kept looking in the side-view mirror until I couldn’t see her anymore.

Instead of going to the clubhouse I took a detour, jumping on the Belt Parkway and getting off at Fort Hamilton. I had an apartment with a killer view of the Verrazano Bridge but that’s where it ended. An apartment with a nice view. No furniture, no television—hell, I didn’t even have a refrigerator.

I should probably get one of those. I didn’t even know what I was doing there, but I didn’t want to go back to the clubhouse and hear Bones break my balls about Lauren. The truth was, I didn’t trust myself around him, and if he said anything stupid I might just lay him out.

I moved to the window, crawling out of it and took a seat on the fire escape. I pulled half of a joint out of my pocket and lit it up, taking that first long pull as I stared out toward the bridge.

My phone rang as I blew puffs of smoke out of my mouth. Goddamn it, can’t a man get high in peace? Jesus.

I glanced down at the screen and saw it was the Bulldog.

The bastard probably wanted to know why I wasn’t holding the gangsters hand as he bid his little sister farewell. I rolled my eyes and answered the call.

“Talk to me,” I answered.

“Yeah? That’s how you answer the phone these days?” Jack questioned.

“Changing things up a bit,” I said, taking another toke.

“Get your ass to the compound. You got a job kid, one that doesn’t involve looking after anyone,” he stated.

“Yeah? So what’s it involve?” I asked, as I started to cough.

“Lo Mein,” he quipped.

I guess “Jackie Chan” called and wanted to fork up the dough after all. This was a good thing because I needed a distraction, something to focus on. I needed to get my fucking patch too.

“Thank fucking God, because I’m starving,” I ground out. “See you in twenty,” I said, before disconnecting the call and clipping the joint.

Time to go do what the fuck I was made to do. No more sitting around dwelling on some girl. That shit was for pussy’s not a fucking Knight.





Chapter Eight





I never waste an opportunity to bust Bianci’s balls. I don’t know what it is about the guy but it’s so easy to piss him off—you just need to know which buttons to push. I happened to be an expert and thoroughly enjoyed fucking with the retired gangbanger. That was my excuse, and I was sticking with it.