Page 535 of The Tempted

Two fucking weeks.

He better be dead.

“Oh, we fucking got him,” Jack assured. “Lit that motherfucker up,” he added.

“How?” I demanded.

I wanted to know everything, from the shock and horror in his eyes to the way his flesh smelled when the flames ate away at him. But before he divulged the sweetness of Jimmy’s demise, Jack needed to explain how he pulled this shit off without me and the deal we made with the Corrupt Bastards.

Jack turned around and pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward Riggs.

“This son of a bitch right here, saved the day, your life and my sanity,” he declared.

“And still no fucking pie,” Riggs replied, shaking his head in disgust.

Riggs? He got the drugs for the deal? I know for a fact he didn’t get that shit from the Corrupt Bastards because they wouldn’t deal with a new face. I was the one that shook on our agreement. They were funny like that, or maybe smart, depending on how you look at it.

“What about the deal?” I questioned.

“We made a new deal,” Jack answered.

I stared at him for a minute before narrowing my eyes in confusion.

“You got the drugs?” I asked, trying to sit up. It was a yes or no question so, I’m not sure why they’re all tiptoeing around like a bunch of pussy’s.

“C’mon man, don’t worry ‘bout that shit. You need to concentrate on getting off this shit and getting yourself good,” Jack said, reaching over to help me sit up.

“I want to know,” I insisted, glancing around the room before bringing my eyes back to Jack. I watched as he raked his hands through his hair, cupping the back of his neck as he bit the inside of his cheek and debated on what bullshit lie he would spew at me.

“We took the drugs from The Red Dragons,” Riggs offered.

The room fell silent as I watched Bone’s elbow Riggs in the gut.

They got the drugs from Sun Wu, the leader of the Red Dragons, the same club we went to war with when Cain controlled us. The Red Dragons were big time dealers back in the day but the G-Man shut their business down and used the Satan’s Knights and Cain’s addiction to aid in his cause. We shut down the Dragons, stole their business and left them high and dry. They were vulnerable at the time, their trade business wasn’t off the ground yet and taking away the drugs was like cutting them off at the knees. Sun Wu supplied the cops with the location of the two bodies of those kids that overdosed and died. He was trailing me, I knew it then, but I ignored it because I was a greedy, cocky motherfucker who thought I was invincible. After the cops found the bodies, they built a case against me. Greg Brantley was new to the force and trying to make a name for himself, and the Red Dragons led his ass straight to me.

I proved to be invincible.

Christine not so much.

Brantley got his hooks in her.

“You got the drugs from Wu? Are you out of your fucking minds?” I barked, pulling the wires off my arm as I sat up.

“Blackie, it’s good. We’re good. Jones arrested Jimmy at Temptations with the drugs,” Jack explained calmly. “Everything went like we planned.”

Famous last words.

Nothing ever goes as planned.

Lesson fucking learned.

“We didn’t plan to fuck the Chinese,” I shouted furiously in between coughing.

“It’s fine, brother. Wu and the Dragons have no idea it was us. We have a meet with them tomorrow for another shipment of guns. We’re good man,” Pipe offered. “We’re fucking good man, relax!”

I was useless lying here in this bed, I needed to be out on the streets smoothing shit over with the Corrupt Bastards and keeping my eyes and ears open for when Wu discovered the truth.

“Tell him your news,” Pipe ordered Riggs.

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