Page 518 of The Tempted

I don’t know why the memory came now, but it did and when I needed it the most.

“Lace? Oh we’re doing the nickname thing?” she said mockingly, like a true smart ass. She was insisting I take a sip of her milkshake. “Fine. C’mon Leather, live dangerously,” she teased.

“Leather?” I asked.

“Leather and Lace. You and me,” she affirmed as she smiled at me.

That smile.

Man, I was gone.

She had the power to heal me, even if it was only temporary.

I lifted my eyes back to Reina’s.

“Leather and Lace,” I whispered.

Because the idea of me and her—it was all I had left.

The door opened, jarring the both of us and we turned our eyes to one of Jimmy’s men. He carried a leather pouch tucked under his arm and knelt before me. He unzipped the bag and pulled a vile out, followed by a syringe.

Lace.

Her.

He roughly grabbed my outstretched arm and tied a band around it.

“Don’t,” Reina yelled. “Can’t you see he’s not a threat to you people? Why are you doing this to him?”

I turned my head to Reina, but all I saw was Lacey’s face. My angel with the sweet smile and sad eyes.

“It’s all good, Reina,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek.

“Leather and lace,” Reina whispered as the needle pricked my skin.

I closed my eyes and remembered dancing with her, holding her close as we blocked out the rest of the world.

A world where there was no maker.

A world where there were no drugs.

And Jimmy fucking Gold didn’t exist.

The heroin took over.

Fight.

For her.

“Leather and lace,” I slurred, fighting with every fiber of my being to get those words out.

Her.

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