Uncontrollable Temptations (Tempted #3)(34)

I pushed through the glass doors and made my way toward Jack. He was leaning against his bike, shaking his head at something he was looking at on his phone before shoving it into his leather jacket and pulling out a pack of Marlboros.

“I didn’t know that you smoked,” I commented, even as I said the words I tried to recall if I had ever seen him smoke.

He lit his cigarette, taking the first drag before looking back at me.

“Lot we don’t know about one another, Reina,” he said evenly.

I considered his words as I zipped up my jacket. There was nothing wrong with his statement, his words weren’t a lie but there was a bite behind them. I tilted my head, assessing the circles that shadowed his eyes, the scruff that looked a tad bit fuller on his face, the disarray of his hair and how he inhaled the smoke slow and steady, savoring the pull.

“True,” I started. “Did something happen? Because last night…” My words cut off when he pushed off his bike and exhaled the smoke, blowing it close to my face.

“Just some shit with my ex-wife,” he interrupted.

I waved the smoke away from my face and pulled the collar of my jacket over my nose.

“Well, I’m sorry you’re having issues with your ex-wife but if you’re in a mood why are you here?” I questioned. I’ve come to know Jack as a hard man to figure out, a complex character, a man who wasn’t an upstanding citizen but one who had a heart buried somewhere behind all the leather and tattoos. I saw a piece of his heart the night I shared a meal with him and his daughter.

“You got yourself an ex-husband? Boyfriend?” He asked, ignoring my question.

“No,” I said, truthfully. Danny wasn’t my ex-boyfriend. There was no break-up, no bitter ending, but I wasn’t a widow either. I struggled to find an adequate description for what had been taken from me. “I was in a relationship,” I confessed.

His eyes flickered, and he flipped the cigarette into the street, crossing his arms over his chest, looking like he got his second wind.

“Figured you weren’t a virgin,” he commented.

“Funny,” I bit back sarcastically. I held my time with Danny, my love for him, sacred, letting no one in other than my therapist. Yet, here I was willing to share that part of my life, a part that scarred my heart, with this man. This crude bastard of a man. I turned on my heel and moved to walk away from him, making my decision to keep the story of me and Danny to myself.

He reached for me, closing his hand over my arm and yanked me back toward him.

“Going somewhere?” He whispered against my ear.

“Let go of me,” I hissed.

“Tired of being left in the dark, Sunshine,” his voice so low, his breath against my ear. “Got no problem sharing your pussy with me, bout time you share the rest of you with me,” he growled.

Flashes of red blinded my vision, without a second thought I flipped around and pulled my arm from his grasp. I planted my palms against his chest and shoved him against his bike.

“Fuck you, Jack,” I screeched.

His eyes widened, but he suppressed the shock that branded his features.

“Your ex-wife got you riled up, that’s your fucking problem, but don’t you dare take out that shit out on me,” I ranted, shoving my finger into the hard wall of his chest. “You want more from me? You want my scars? You got to earn them.”

I pulled back my hand, glaring at him as his features softened. He sighed and nodded, impressed with my outburst.

“I’m not a man who makes apologies, but when I’m wrong I say I’m wrong,” he said. “I got some shit going on, gonna be off the grid for a couple of days,” he explained.

I crossed my arms under my breast, giving him the benefit of the doubt and listened.

“I get back, I’m coming for you, Reina and I’m going to earn your scars and make your secrets my own,” he declared, standing tall and closing the space between us.

“Sorry, I’m a dick,” he whispered, trailing the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, his tired eyes pleading with mine for redemption.

“My boyfriend was murdered,” I blurted, closing my eyes the moment the words fled from my mouth. “I was the one who found him,” I continued, the vision of Danny lying dead with his finger dismembered and his eyes lifeless and wide open, haunted me. His skin had already faded to gray and his body was as cold as ice when I kneeled down and begged for it to be a mistake, for him to wake up. I could still feel his limp body against mine as I lay beside him and wrapped my arms around his dead body. I don’t know how long I lay there hanging onto nothing but death, but it was long enough for a fire to spread throughout the house.

I opened my eyes and stared back at Jack. He had placed his hands on my hips and brought me to stand between his legs. He lifted a hand, gently pushing away the hair that cascaded around my face.

“We weren’t together long, never made it to the one year mark, but what we had was solid, it was strong. We respected one another, we trusted one another, and we loved each other. Or so I thought,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I mean at least those are the lies I tell myself because the truth is too hard to accept,” I whispered.

Jack remained silent, making it my choice whether I continued with my story or ended it there.

“How well could I have known him?” I questioned out loud, the same question I asked myself over and over in my mind. “How much could he have trusted me? People don’t just end up murdered for no reason. Their houses don’t just go up in flames because they cut the wrong guy off on the road,” I continued, voicing all the things I’ve been keeping to myself. “I don’t know the details, probably never will. I’ve struggled with that truth for a long time.”