Page 132 of The Tempted

Chapter Seventeen

2014

We had been driving for an hour and the GPS estimated that we had another hour to go to get to wherever Danny was located. Jack sat in the passenger seat beside me staring out the window at the dark highway. He was calm for someone who was ordered by the mob to kill his brother.

“What’s it like working for Victor?” he asked me, keeping his eyes focused out the window.

“I imagine not much different than working under you,” I replied, causing him to turn his head slightly and look at me.

“Word on the street is that he lost his shit after Val died. After Val took those bullets that were meant for him they say he changed, and I don’t mean he changed how he ran things but he changed as a whole.” He probed then paused for a beat. “I didn’t do much business with him and Val back then but it was Val who made the partnership between the Pastore family and Satan’s Knights possible. The few encounters I did have with him made it easy to determine how valuable he was to Vic, that man was a fucking legend in the streets.”

“Yeah, Val was no slouch,” I agreed, thinking fondly of the man who was my mentor at one point.

“Makes you almost feel bad for Vic that he lost a guy like that, only to have him replaced by a schmuck like Jimmy.”

“Jimmy’s eccentric, but make no mistake about it that man has devoted his life to the mob,” I responded, believing wholeheartedly that Jimmy didn’t second guess his choices.

“Devoted to the mob yes but devoted to Victor are two different things, I doubt he’d stand in front of a loaded gun aimed at his boss,” Jack challenged, his voice full of certainty.

If Jimmy had to choose between himself and someone else, I didn’t doubt he’d save his own ass first.

“You on the other hand, wouldn’t think twice about giving your own life,” he declared, turning to look at me again. “You’ve sacrificed a lot being one of Vic’s henchmen which makes me wonder if there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for him.”

I glanced at Jack out of the corner of my eye pondering his words for a moment. “I don’t know if that’s true.” After all, I was technically going against him at that moment knowing he expected the Fed to be a casualty when in reality we were only going to silence him.

“So if Victor told you to choose between the love you have for his daughter and the oath you took to be his soldier would you choose your oath again?”

“No,” I huffed automatically. I assumed that since I didn’t have to think about my answer it spoke volumes about me and the soldier I had become.

“Why didn’t you choose her?”

“Because I didn’t I believe I had a choice,” I grumbled.

“You did your homework huh?” I questioned.

“There was a lot of talk when you went away,” he probed before waiting a beat to continue.

“You still love her?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Nothing, nothing at all,” he shook his head as he continued to stare out the window. We both remained silent for a moment and I suppose Jack took my words as a hint to end the discussion.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“I’ll never stop.”

“So that’s it? You live your life loving her but don’t do a damn thing about it? Seems wrong to me, no?”

“Never pegged a biker to be a matchmaker.”

A grin worked its way across Jack’s face. “Ah, come on now, didn’t you hear that I’ve been called the biker with the soft heart?”

“That’s almost comical,” I replied, my lips twitching threatening to form a smile. Jack Parrish was okay in my book.

“So tell me more about this brother of yours.”

“He fucking hates me for one,” he snarled, running the back of his hand along the scruff that lined his jaw.

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