Page 426 of The Tempted

Jack stared at me thoughtfully and opened his mouth to speak but Blackie interrupted.

“What are we going to do here?” he questioned, rolling a toothpick between his teeth and tipped his head back toward Brantley and his posse. “You know they’re going to be riding our asses now,” he added.

“Fuck ‘em,” Jack hissed, blowing out a heavy sigh.

“Gladly,” Blackie gritted, spitting the toothpick onto the ground. “We putting this club on lockdown?”

“No, not yet,” Jack said, surprisingly. “For now, round up the prospects, put them on Reina, Lacey and Lauren,” he ordered, turning his eyes to mine. “That going to be a problem?”

“No,” I said immediately. The fact that Kitten was lumped in the list of priorities along with Reina and Jack’s daughter, scared the fuck out of me. “Jack,” I started, losing the words on my tongue.

“It’s a precaution, Riggs,” he answered, taking in the worried look in my eyes. “We need to bide our time and keep our heads. We can’t keep our heads if we’re worried about our women. You feel me?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, nodding my head.

“You trust me?” He asked.

“Of course,” I declared.

“Then trust me when I say we will get these motherfuckers,” he declared, as he cupped my shoulder. “We always win, even when it looks like it’s impossible. You know why? Because I’ve lost too much to let anyone else ever take a goddamn thing from me and mine,” he fixed his eyes on me and patted my cheek. “Get that look out of your eyes, Riggs,” he ordered. “Looks like you found your heart, kid. Now, you have to hang on to it.”

I should’ve freaked out with the first part of that sentence but it was the last part that threw me for a loop.

I knew Lauren had become my heart and if I’m being honest I’ve known for a while. I didn’t fight it very hard, a part of me wanted her to be the person I lived for, for her and Pea to be my purpose.

A big part.

But the small part of me knew having them in my life could hurt them. That was the part that was winning now, trumping everything else.

How do you hang on to someone knowing it’s better if you let them go?

What kind of man would that make me if I kept Lauren around just for my benefit? Sure, I could throw a prospect on her but that wouldn’t ease my conscience.

Hang on for what? Purpose? A reason not to be reckless?

Something happens to them, God, if something happens to them I’d really lose my heart. Then, and only then would I lose my purpose.

I turned around, striding toward my bike, ignoring Jack and Blackie’s calls and grabbed my phone from my pocket, dialing Anthony’s number.

“Yo,” he answered. “Where’d you guys go—”

“Don’t tell anyone it’s me,” I interrupted. “I know you’ve got company and shit but think you can sneak out and meet me at the gym?” I asked, as I straddled my bike. He was silent for a moment. “It’s important, Bianci. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise—it’s about Lauren,” I confessed, my own voice sounding very unfamiliar to my ears.

“Give me an hour,” he said.

“Thanks,” I muttered before disconnecting the call.

Bones ran up beside my bike, placing his foot on top of the wheel and gripped the handlebars.

“Where are you running off too?”

“Get out of my way,” I snapped.

“Riggs, I know that fucking look in your eyes. Don’t do something stupid,” he ordered.

And for the first time I wasn’t doing something stupid or reckless. I was doing something worth a damn.

“I’ve got no issue running your ass over,” I shouted over the noise of my engine. Bones knew me well enough to know that when I had something in my head, no one could sway me another way. He grunted as he removed his hand and foot, standing to the side as I peeled away from the mayhem and headed straight to Hell.

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