Page 440 of The Tempted

Chapter Thirty-One

I started staying at the apartment almost immediately after Lauren left, partially because of the feud with Bones, but mainly because I wanted to hold onto my brief time with Lauren and Pea. The first few days it took all the willpower I could muster up not to break every piece of furniture. The couch, the bed, hell, even the refrigerator reminded me of what I gave up.

I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing the right thing even when my conscience tried fucking with me, whispering in my head words of doubt.

I could’ve protected them.

They would’ve been safe with me.

It was my responsibility to watch them.

Not Anthony’s.

And when I pushed those thoughts out of my head all I saw was Wu’s face as he promised to go after me and mine. It’s real clear that this shit won’t die until one of us does. Throwing a bunch of dicks, literally, well, fake dicks, into the river wouldn’t do anything to end this war. Jack says intercepting their shipment sends a message—we aren’t weak, we won’t sit back and let them attack us.

It’s all bullshit.

He will strike.

We’ll strike back and so on and so forth.

We don’t have a common goal with the Dragons, no truce to iron out.

It’s either their blood or ours.

Me, personally? I don’t want to sit back and wait for them to draw our blood. I say we take them out, starting with Wu. But I don’t call the shots and everyone thinks I’m a mad man these days.

I placed the roller in the tray when I heard someone knock on the door and took a step back to admire the paint I had chosen. The clerk at the paint store recommended either yellow or green, something neutral…something gay. I painted one wall gray and the other three white. If Pea was a girl then we could add a ton of pink shit but if he’s a boy, then we’d add a ton of blue.

Who was I kidding? Pea wouldn’t see this room.

But still I’d continue painting these walls. I’d buy a crib, and whatever other shit a baby needed because I’ll always be his dad. Even if he doesn’t know it. Even if this is just for me to feel like I’m someone’s dad.

I walked out of the room, wiping my hands on my t-shirt before I pulled open the door to find Bones leaning against the doorjamb. I stepped aside as he kicked off the wall and walked into the apartment.

“Painting?” he asked, as he sniffed the fumes.

“Yeah,” I said, as I grabbed two beers from the fridge and popped the tops off them, offering him one. “Thanks for coming,” I added.

He nodded, taking the beer I offered him and placed it on the counter.

“I figured you wanted to talk about last night,” he started.

“Why would I want to talk about what went down last night?” I asked, narrowing my eyes in confusion.

“Dude, you snapped that guy’s neck,” he reminded me as he widened his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders, taking another guzzle of the beer.

“One less motherfucker roaming the streets, one less man looking to kill us. He had to go. They all have to go. It shouldn’t matter how I killed him, whether it be a bullet or my hands, he’s dead. Job’s done.”

“The goal wasn’t to partake in a massacre on the docks.”

“There is no goal, Bones. Don’t you realize that? Jack’s big plan to intercept their shipment was a pussy move, so was Wu’s when he cut me loose, roughing me up with a haircut. It’s just prolonging death because that’s the only way this ends, one side dies.”

He studied me for a moment before he nodded in agreement.

“Is that why you asked me to come here?”

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