Page 133 of The Tempted

“Even after all you did for him after your parents passed?”

“You have to remember my parents wouldn’t have died that night if I hadn’t of been the fuck up they needed to bail out,” he grimaced while rolling his shoulders. “He blamed my criminal tendencies on all that was wrong in his life. A part of me believes he became a Fed to fuck me in the ass,” he laughed, cupping the back of his neck. “You know how it goes Bianci I’m sure you sister wanted a better life for you too.”

“Probably,” I agreed, even though Lauren never busted my balls I’m sure she didn’t like that I worked for the mob. My mother hated it and Adrianna fucking despised the fact so yeah, I understood what Jack was saying.

The rest of the way we drove in a comfortable silence, neither of us speaking until we veered off the exit and closer to our destination. The GPS sounded telling me where to turn and I could tell Jack was becoming anxious as we approached the end of the route.

“I haven’t seen him in three years,” he whispered.

“What makes you so sure he’s going to go along with what you have planned?” I asked cautiously.

“Nobody wants to be murdered, do they?” he said solemnly.

I didn’t even know what to say to him so I didn’t say anything. I made a right turn as the navigation instructed only to slam on my breaks before I crashed into the car in front of me. The police roped off the street; the five cars that had tried turning onto the street just like I had, remained at a standstill. Sirens and lights flashed as far as I could see down the block and to the right a house stood engulfed by flames where firefighters were trying to tame it.

“No, no, no,” Jack said frantically, slamming the palm of his hand against the dashboard before I could ask him what was going on. He reached for the handle of the door and hurried out of my truck. I turned the car off and jumped out to follow him, a sickening feeling churned in the pit of my stomach. I watched his motorcycle boots skid to a halt against the pavement in front of the police officer that barricaded him from going towards the burning house.

“Get the fuck off of me!” he screamed while pushing his weight against the cop and trying to charge past him.

“Jack!” I hollered, hooking my arms through his and pulling him off the cop.

“Danny’s in there!” he shouted.

“You don’t know that, maybe he’s not home,” I tried to reason, blinded by the flames that would soon be flashes of ember.

“That’s his car!” he pointed to the sedan in the driveway.

“That don’t mean a thing,” I yelled, glancing at the cop. “Boss, do you know if there was anyone inside the house when the fire started?”

“There are two people trapped inside,” he said, looking over his shoulder as a fireman shouted something before parts of the house began to crumble.

Jack kneeled to the ground taking me with him as he leaned back on his haunches covering his face with his hands.

“Danny!” he cried out in agony.

I lifted my eyes to the burning home as two firemen emerged from the front door carrying out a body, which they placed upon a stretcher before they ran back into the flames. The paramedics ran with the stretcher towards the ambulance and as they passed us by, I held my breath. A hand dropped off the side of the stretcher and I dropped my gaze to the dainty fingers covered in ash.

A woman had been rescued.

“It’s going to blow! Everybody clear out!” Shouted the chief.

Jack dropped his hands from his face as he stared wide-eyed at his brother’s home. The firemen evacuated; running across the front lawn to save their asses as a blast sounded. The windows blew out, shards of glass flying, the flames climbing higher into the black cloud of smoke that hoovered over the house. Another pop and then the house came crashing down, all three stories crumbling down to the earth.

The flashes of light, the destruction before me, left me mesmerized. I didn’t even notice Jack’s reaction at first but his screams echoed through me, eventually pulling me out of my daze. I needed to get him out of here but that was probably going to be impossible. I reached into my pocket for my phone deciding that I’d get in touch with his club. If anyone was going to get through to him it would be his brothers not me.

Jack stared at me, his facial expression hardening, his eyes narrowed as he started to get up. I held out my hand to him but he was up in a flash, slamming me against the side of a firetruck.

“You son of a bitch! You gave me your fucking word!” He growled, cupping my neck with his hand, his fingers digging into my flesh in his attempt to choke me. He reached behind him and I saw a flash of something shiny before the sharp blade tickled my throat. I didn’t want to do it but he left me no choice I lifted my knee and connected with his groin. His face fell, and I took advantage, flipping the knife onto him. I threw him back against the truck mimicking the way he had held the blade to my neck.

“How the fuck am I responsible if I’ve been with you this whole time? Think about what the fuck you’re doing Jack! Now I’m sorry about your brother, I am real fucking sorry but you need to get a grip!”

Jack was a badass motherfucker they didn’t come tougher than him, so when tears fell from his eyes my heart bled for the guy.

“I didn’t do it,” I said looking him in the eye.

“Someone did,” he said through gritted teeth. He viciously poked my chest with his index finger.

“Someone on Victor’s end did this,” his eyes narrowed.

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