Reckless Temptations (Tempted #4)(75)

“I think you proved that point when you shot and killed those whores,” Jack cited, grounding out his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him.

“God rest their souls,” Wolf muttered, making the sign of the cross.

“You’re sick,” Bones declared, as he watched Wolf bow his head and pray for the souls of the whores who made a living cutting heroin.

I wasn’t a church man but something told me they needed more than a prayer to cleanse their souls, but then again so did we.

“Pipe, where we at with our finances?” Jack questioned.

“Wait, we’re seriously going to pay these rat bastards?” Pipe asked, turning his attention toward Jack.

“We pay them what we owe them because I don’t want them taking another one of my guys,” Jack said. “Now, I asked how our finances are and I expect an answer,” he barked.

“We don’t got much to work with, most of the clubs money has been tied up in the guns, but hey, we got a shitload of guns now,” he informed.

“What if we got another buyer?” Bones asked.

“Not enough time,” Jack answered. “There’s no money coming in from our dealings with Victor either, not until I get my ass up there and figure out where we go from here. What about the Corrupt Bastards, they paid their debt?”

“Yeah, they paid for the run we made up north with them—a whopping fifty grand. We’re right there boss,” Pipe said sarcastically. “I can pull about seventy-five grand from the garage but how we going to get the other half?”

“I’ll take the rest of the money out of my house,” Jack declared, diverting his eyes to Wolf. “Tell the Chinese prince we’re coming for him, to set the fucking table,” he grunted.

“I can’t let you do that,” I said, raising my eyes to meet Jacks. “We leave the clubs money alone and you don’t touch one red cent of the equity in your house,” I stated.

“Not your call to make, Riggs,” Jack bit back.

“Too bad.” I leaned back in the chair and glanced around the table at my brothers. “This is my fault, I’ll pay the debt.” I declared.

“If you didn’t give us that intel we wouldn’t have had the drugs. It was pure luck we got Jimmy the way we did, if things went differently and we didn’t have the drugs to bargain with Reina and Blackie would both be dead,” Jack explained. “You did good, kid.”

“You want to know why Wu came after me.” I asked, as I turned around and looked at him. “Why he didn’t put a bag over Pipe’s head, or put a price tag on Wolf? Because I’m the one that fucked up.”

I watched as Jack narrowed his eyes in confusion and the table grew silent.

“When you gave me the green light I switched the camera feed on Wu’s stash house and replaced the live feed with the recordings of the day before. So when we got there and Wu checked his cameras he wouldn’t see shit.”

“Smart man,” Jack commented warily.

“Yeah, except I missed a frame, one frame out of a forty-five. I had no idea, even after he took me I didn’t know why he did, and then he showed me,” I pulled my hat from my head, displaying my new haircut to my club. “The frame I missed was the camera in the hallway. I may be good-looking but I’m not very photogenic.” I turned back to Jack. “When we were calling out for Wolf I turned toward the camera and lifted my mask. That’s how Wu knew it was us…knew it was me,” I confessed.

“Shit,” Pipe mumbled, swiping his hand over his face.

“It was a slip up Riggs, doesn’t mean this shit should lie on your shoulders. We were racing against the clock and anyone of us could’ve made a mistake,” Jack began. “We could vote on it but it’d be a waste of time.”

“Appreciate that boss but I’ve got the money and I want to be the one who pays,” I insisted.

“You got a quarter of a million dollars just hanging around?” Pipe questioned.

“Ever hear of Montgomery Oil?” I asked the club, glancing over at Bones who shook his head.

I never wanted the club to know where I came from, mainly because if they knew the truth they probably wouldn’t have patched me in. I was the heir to a fortune, a spoiled brat who turned his back on his family and their millions to be a fucking criminal. It was the shit FX movies were made of. To be fair though, my family wasn’t worth my piss, they didn’t give a damn about me. I was just a dick that would carry their name and hopefully produce more dicks for them. Long live the Montgomery’s and all their glory. Bullshit.

My mother reached out to me a couple of times after I left, only because my old man cut her off. It didn’t matter that they were divorced, that she had been re-married three times since their divorce, Robert Montgomery owned that bitch with a fat checking account. She jumped at his command. When he told her to reign me back in or he’d cut her flow of money, she tried her damnedest to be the doting, loving mother she never was when I needed one. Fuck her too.

I didn’t need them or their money.

Montgomery was a name inked to a piece of paper.

Riggs was a name I chose for myself and the Satan’s Knights was the name of the family I chose.

I may not need them or want them but I took what was mine to take. What I fucking earned. Twenty-one years I gave them fuckers, being the son they pawned on babysitters and hired help. I deserved every dollar of that trust fund.