Page 12 of Unexpected Temptation

TRISTAN

“Give me a second,” I call when somebody knocks on my door. I put my cell phone back to my ear just in time for Raffie to let out a snort. “What’s funny about that?” I growl. “I’ve got every right to keep the area around my business clean.”

“There’s moving on dealers, then talking down to one of our guys. A Trentini man’s got every right to try and make an honest living. I don’t see how him handing out those flyers affects people giving away their sick dogs.”

I grind my teeth but say nothing. Raffie knows the sanctuary is for more than sick dogs.

“Maybe some of the fellas don’t like you having that place, anyhow,” Raffie says, a cold note in his voice. “Maybe they think it’s bad for business. Makes us look weak.”

“There’s nous,” I growl. “I’m a private contractor.”

“Do you think that exists in our world?”

I grip the edge of the desk, a sharp jolt moving through my body. It’s like the adrenaline dump I’d experience before a battle. My body flooded with get-ready energy.

“We had a deal. I’d do certain tasks. I’d get paid. That’s it.”

“So why are you hassling one of my guys? You know what? Maybe I’ll put more men out. More flyers.”

“Don’t fuck with me, Raffie.”

“No, really. Explain why you need that home.”

He’s playing games. This isn’t what I signed up for, but I’m not some naïve green boy either. I’ve lived long enough to know he’d try and turn big bows sooner or later.

“Tristan?”

“I run this home because it’s the right goddamn thing to do. Some of these dogs have been treated like trash for the crime of not knowing which human to listen to. I do it because somebody has to. I do it because all this shit has to mean something, Raffie, which you should understand, but you always refuse to.”

“Hmm …” He’s clearly considering my words, which he’d never do if the men could hear us. That’s how I know he must be alone.

Raffie was a Trentini bastard, but when he went looking for his father’s family, and they gave him an in, he was more than willing to be brought into the fold. Yet they had to remind him of a cold fact one night: he would never be the same as them. That’s why some of the fellas—some of the men he now parties with when they let him—took him to the docks, beat the hell out of him, and spit in his face. He’s content to pretend it never happened. Content to do their dirty work just to be part of the fold.

That’s the difference between him and me. I try to remind myself of that. I do the right thing even if it’s hard. Don’t I?

“I don’t think of it as me choosing to do this. Some dogs need help. It’s in my blood to help them.”

“How noble,” he says in a board tone. “What a hero you are.”

“Fuck your sarcasm. It’s the truth. But why don’t you ask me what you want to—what you really meant?”

“You’re something else, T, always have been. Remember when we were kids? Remember Death Valley?” That was the name for a dirt jump near our neighborhood. “Nobody else would even try it but Tristan Greene. Everybody knew he was tough enough. Just don’t get too tough for your own good.”

“Is that a riddle?” I snap. “We both know what you were getting at, asking me about the home. Don’t take it there.”

Saying it would be like tempting it. Ugly flames flash across my mind, the yaps, bringing me back to the other time with my dog. My stomach tightens. Suddenly, it’s like I want to fight, to bleed. It’s a primal and fucked-up and unwelcome feeling.

“Relax.” Raffie sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. People need to know why you’ve got it,ourkind of people.”

“Oh, so you want a story,” I say. “How about this? I’m a mean, tough bastard who takes in some of the scariest dogs in the city. Nobody else can handle them. Nobody else can inspire that loyalty, but I can because I’m like them—an animal.”

“Yeah, that works,” Raffie says with a laugh. “See you soon, big man.”

He hangs up, leaving me to boil over his words. We agreed I’d be completely separate from the Mob crap, but that’s on me, too. I should’ve left that bastard alone.

But Maya …

Hell, I’m keeping her waiting now. Pushing away from my desk, I open the office door and find her sitting on the couch outside. She’s got her hands clasped in her lap and is staring off into the distance.

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