Page 593 of The Tempted

I sighed, pushing back the bottle.

“She thought I was cheating on her and that’s when Brantley came around. He was a rookie then, looking to make a name for himself and thought he’d start by taking down the Satan’s Knights. He’s smart, I’ll give the son of a bitch that. He looked for the weakest link, found it was me, and used my wife as bait.”

Here I was all these years later, still the weakest link only there was a different innocent woman being used as bait.

“He gave Christine all the attention I wasn’t giving her anymore, made her feel things I gave up on making her feel, and promised her all the things I couldn’t. He used her, played on her broken emotions and convinced her I would wind up dead because of the club. I found out they were having an affair, put two and two together and confronted her but she had already made a deal with him. She would get the drugs from me and prove I was dealing the shit that killed those two kids,” he said, solemnly. “Instead of giving me up she gave up her life.”

As similar as the stories were they were different.

As similar as Lacey and Christine were…they too were different.

I was Lacey’s one and only.

I was supposed to be Christine’s one and only too.

Christine gave her life for mine.

And I’d give mine for Lacey’s.

I covered my face with my hands and felt Riggs pat me on the back. A groan escaped my lips as I dropped my hands from my face and pinned Riggs with a stare.

Don’t be me, man.

Hang on to that woman of yours.

Hold that baby of yours and fucking enjoy life.

You only get one.

“Jack’s been trying for a long time to get this club on the right track, to give us some peace. He thinks he can turn us into a legit club and make us proud to call ourselves the Satan’s Knights—but he’s in over his head. We’re in too deep, and every time we think we are pulling ourselves out of the hole, some other fucking threat comes along. Whether it’s a man in a fur coat or a fucking Chinese emperor, there will always be a fucking cancer that will drag us down.”

Truth.

I glanced down at my hands, turning them over and displayed my palms.

“See these hands? They have a lot of blood on them and that’s all I see when I look at them, all the blood and all the faces of the people who bled from these hands.”

They didn’t have Lacey’s though.

I could still close my eyes and see her pretty face and not her blood on my hands.

“Blackie…” he started.

I shook my head and interrupted him.

Let the devil teach you something.

“You got something good with Bianci’s sister, stop trying to prove yourself, man, you paid your dues. Now, take a step back and don’t let that girl doubt she has you because whenyoudon’t have her anymore you’re going to feel it,” I promised as the words got stuck in my throat.

And when you feel it you’re going to wish you were dead.

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