Uncontrollable Temptations (Tempted #3)(59)

“No more lies, Sunshine,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Stop it,” I demanded, retreating backward. “You’re lying because my Danny didn’t have a brother. His parents died, and he was an only child.”

“Our parents died and he might as well have been an only child because we didn’t have much of a relationship after they passed.”

I shook my head adamantly, wondering why he’d do this. Why would he bring up Danny, and in such a way?

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, feeling my eyes fill with tears.

“I didn’t speak to him after that day. Three years and not a word then Victor Pastore asked me for a favor. The Fed’s dug up a body and threatened to take Vic and his organization down. Victor asked me to take care of the Fed and I agreed because that Fed he was gunning for was Danny. I had no doubt that if I didn’t agree to help Victor, he’d have someone else do it and I was the only person who could save Danny. He sent Bianci with me to do the job and I confessed the truth to him. I told him Danny was my brother and I wasn’t going to kill him. My plan was to get him to shut down his investigation,” he said, pausing to give me a moment to process his words.

My head was spinning, still processing Jack was Danny’s brother and trying to comprehend that Danny was a Fed.

“He was a financial investor,” I whispered.

“He was a federal agent,” he insisted.

“You were going to kill your own brother?” I questioned. Even if what he said was true, and Danny was his brother, he was going to kill him. What kind of monster was I in love with?

“No, I wasn’t. I swear on my son; I would never kill Danny. I struck a deal with Bianci, he would tell Victor I took care of the problem,” he explained. “But I was too fucking late. I was too late because when I got there his house was already up in flames.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, lifting my hand to my mouth to cover the gasp that escaped but I couldn’t hide my tears as realization set in.

“Reina…” he whispered, stepping closer.

“You were there,” I cried, dropping my hand. “You saw the fire…you knew!”

He shook his head.

“Not at first, not then. I didn’t know until that first night I came to Dee’s. I had no idea you existed,” he admitted.

“You knew all along. You knew everything,” I whispered in shock.

“I knew you were his girlfriend. I knew you were with him in that fire, that you were hospitalized but that’s it. Bianci convinced me to go to you, to grill you for information. He made me think that you could give me closure or maybe I could give you some. But one fucking look at you and I couldn’t do it. You wouldn’t even look at me, Reina. For fuck’s sake you took five weeks to tell me your name and by that time it wasn’t about Danny, it was all about you. It didn’t matter you were his, the instant you looked up at me and told me your name you weren’t his anymore because you were mine,” he shouted. “Look at me, Reina,” he pleaded. “Yeah, I thought you were some high class bitch and yeah, I planned on using you to get information on Danny but that shit faded away. It faded real fucking quick,” he said, reaching for me but I quickly moved away from him.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t fucking look at me that way either,” I yelled through my tears.

“What way? Tell me how I’m looking at you,” he ordered.

“Like you’re losing everything,” I sneered.

“Sure as fuck feels like I am when you look at me the way you are,” he growled.

“Fuck you, Jack,” I said, wiping my cheeks with the backs of my hands. “I never thought I’d be able to be with someone. I lived in hell since the fire and then you come charging into my life and I felt things I had never felt in my entire life. Your friend was right, you gave me closure, but you gave me a shitload of deceit too,” I struggled, trying to get my head together. “I opened up to you,” I whispered.

“You gave me your scars, Sunshine,” he reminded me.

“I never gave you my scars, Jack. You manipulated them out of me,” I said.

“Reina, I didn’t know the extent of your injuries,” he said, his voice sounding defeated.

“I saw you staring at the picture of me and Danny on my refrigerator,” I accused. “Why didn’t you tell me then? Why did you wait for me to fall in love with you?” I cried out, my body shaking uncontrollably. “Don’t answer that. I know why. You’re a greedy bastard who loves control. Most of the time you’re so out of control that when you have a little piece of it you don’t know what the fuck to do with it.”

“That’s enough,” he shouted.

“What’s the matter Jack? You’re so accustomed to lies you don’t like to hear the truth?”

“I said enough,” he warned. “Now, you got a right to be mad, Reina...”

“Mad? You think I’m mad at you? Jack, I hate you right now. In just a few words you went from being the guy who stole my heart to the guy who robbed my past. You made a fool out of me. You tricked me into thinking what we had was real,” I said.

“Oh, it’s real,” he assured me.

“Reality isn’t built on lies,” I replied.