Reckless Temptations (Tempted #4)(63)

Well fuck that, I made a mental note to do the same the next time my phone rang.

I tiptoed closer to him, trying to listen just as he had.

“Not here and Bianci called Lauren, yes the baby mama…”

I paused, fighting off the urge to take the phone and tell whoever was on the other end that was getting old.

I was Lauren Bianci not Riggs’ baby mama.

But I was.

I sighed, accepting my title, or at least the one I’d carry with me for the next eighteen years and leaned closer to Bones.

“His bike is at Xonerated and apparently someone decided to fuck it up and poured paint all over it. Yeah, I know, he’s going to blow a gasket,” he said, turning around and raising an eyebrow at me.

Busted.

“I’ve got to go. Yeah, I know, well we can’t afford to skip the meeting with Wu. We have to keep that deal in good standing. I’m on my way,” he ended the call and looked back at me. “You’re nosey.”

“So are you,” I argued.

He smirked.

“I like you, Lauren, think you’re great for Riggs,” he stated.

Wow.

Cue the violins.

Someone tell the poor guy we were just friends having a kid.

“Think you’ll keep him on his toes and that’s what he needs,” Bones continued. “He’s going to do the right thing and he’ll be a good dad too, just have patience with him,” he affirmed. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back to you,” he said.

His words were meant to ease me but instead they instilled fear in me. What if he was wrong? If there was one thing I learned being Anthony Bianci’s sister, it’s that a man who plays on the other side of the law is a gambling man. You can’t win every hand and one day you’ll be forced to fold.

Bones started for the door and I stared at the patch on his back. The reaper stared back at me, warning me everyone folds eventually.

Hey Reaper.

Two words.

One finger.

And then Bones turned around as I held up my middle finger.

“Uh…that wasn’t meant for you,” I stammered, dropping my finger. Shit!

“Right,” he said, cocking his head as he stared at me perplexed. “God she’s perfect for him,” he mumbled, turning around.

This time when I lifted my finger I gave it to Bones and not the Reaper.

I wasn’t perfect for Riggs.

No, not at all.

Hope.

Fuck you hope.

I don’t want you.

I locked the door, grabbed my bat and went back to the couch. Then I did what any good catholic girl did and prayed with my baseball bat tucked under my arm.

Because I was Anthony Bianci’s sister.

Because I was having Riggs’ baby.

Because everyone folds.

Because I was fucking pregnant and crazy.





I blinked against the darkness, unable to see. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the bag over my head or the fact that one eye was swollen shut and the other was bleeding. My head was pounding and the left side felt like it was on fire.

I’m going to come out of this.

And when I do, I’m going hunting.

I’m going to torture and kill every fucking Dragon I can find.

I’m going to beat the fuck out of them until they’re pissing blood.

I knew the moment I mentioned the Dragons’ stash house to the Knights I was playing with fire. I was so sure that setting Jimmy up to take the fall would be key in saving our asses.

It would’ve worked too if I hadn’t fucked up, but it’s my fault I’m lying here beaten and bloody.

Jack wasn’t kidding when he told Wu I was the best in the surveillance business.

I was.

I wired every fucking inch of Wu’s building and in the process I set myself up for my own fate. I’m the one who signed my death certificate the moment I took the mask off in the hallway of the stash house. I saw the footage with my own eyes. I was naked when I woke up from the blow to the head, handcuffed to a pipe and at the mercy of the Red Dragons. Wu played the video back for me and he played it over and over again, each time he did he struck me with a whip.

They maneuvered me into the back of a van, covering my head with a canvas bag as they drove me to wherever it was these fuckers thought they would kill me.

I may have made a mistake and been reckless but I wasn’t going down without a fight.

I’d go “Jackie Chan” on their asses.

Jack was right about something else.

We all need heart, it’s what keeps us from being reckless, keeps us breathing.

I needed to breathe.

For Kitten and for Pea.

I only wish I had found my heart before my mistake.

The van came to a sharp stop causing me to roll around the floor of the truck.

“Son of a bitch!” I screamed, as my welted body ached in pain.

This is it.

Time to fight.

I’m a motherfucking Knight, only Satan can drag my ass to hell.

Someone jumped into the back of the van with me, grabbing my arms and dragged them, tied at the wrists, across the floor.

“I will kill you, after I kill the woman who bore your pathetic ass,” I hissed.

He shouted something in Chinese and then another voice replied in, surprise, surprise… Chinese! I was never eating Lo Mein again.