Forbidden Temptations (Tempted Series Book 2) (24 page)

“You’re pretty good at this,” I said.

“Yeah well, I learned from the best, I learned from my brother,” she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my cheek before pulling away. “He always tried to give me the best advice.”

“Hey you kids about ready for dinner?” Our mother asked from the doorway and I turned to my sister and smiled at her.
     

“Yeah, we’re ready,” I replied as I rose to my feet and tugged on my sister’s ponytail. I walked over to my mother and slung one arm around her shoulders, bending down slightly to kiss the top of her head. “Merry Christmas, Ma.”

Why the fuck was I still here? I must like being tortured because there’s no other way to describe what it’s like watching Anthony playing on the floor under a Christmas tree. Torture. I had barely made it through dinner, sitting across from him feeling his eyes on me as I took turns feeding Luca and myself. It would’ve been rude of me to run the fuck out the door the moment the dishes were clean so I stayed out of respect for Maria.

That was two hours ago.

Two cupcakes later and four glasses of wine, I couldn’t even drive home now if I wanted to, so I poured myself another glass and damned myself, Anthony and Christmas to hell.

“There was something I’ve been trying to tell you guys since dinner but I kept putting it off,” Maria announced as she took a seat beside me on the couch. Oh good, a distraction from the hot piece of ass rolling around the floor with a baby. What was it about men and babies? It was such a turn on I thought as I licked my lips and continued to stare at Anthony.

Anthony sat up, pulling Luca onto his lap and gave his mother his undivided attention. The universe was playing some cruel joke on me by giving me this taste of the family I could’ve had.

“I’m moving,” Maria declared softly. I quickly took a detour and left Fantasy Island, turning around to stare mindlessly at Maria.

“What do you mean you’re moving?” Anthony asked calmly.

“I’m going to move upstate, not too far from Lauren.”

“Riverdale. It’s a town over from where I am now,” Lauren added.

“How far away is that? You know what never mind, a better question is, why are you moving all of a sudden?” I asked, placing my wine glass down on the end table.

“I think it’ a great idea,” Anthony said slowly, and I pierced him with a look filled with annoyance.

“Of course you would,” I laughed in his face. “One more person who cares about you out of your hair,” I looked around the room, eyes wide with sarcasm, and turned back to him. “Looks like I’m the only one left. Sorry I’m not moving anytime soon but I bet if you talk to good ole’ daddy dearest he can send you up the river again.”

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have brought it up tonight,” Lauren said to her mother.

“Lauren, take the baby,” Anthony requested, fixing his eyes on me.

“No.” I protested.

“No?” Lauren asked, not sure who she should listen to.

“Take the baby,” he demanded, his tone becoming increasingly more irritable. Lauren lifted Luca from Anthony’s lap and in one swift motion he was on his feet. Show off.

“Maybe I should’ve waited until New Year’s,” Maria mumbled beside me.

“Adrianna, a word,” Anthony said in a gruff tone.

“No,” I said defiantly.

“A word. Now.”

I was way passed drunk and teetering on the edge of obliterated because I stood and followed him into the kitchen.

“You want to talk about it?” He asked and I turned around at the sound of his steady voice and accepted the challenge.

“Sure, let’s talk,” I said, crossing my arms under my breasts. “Where should we begin?”

“How about we start with why you sneaked out of my bed and left my apartment?”

“Oh, so we’re going to do this?” I shook my head and laughed sarcastically before my eyes angrily peered into his. “You’re just pissed I beat you to the punch.”

“You didn’t give me a chance,” he said raising his voice, taking a step closer.

“You’re right I absolutely didn’t give you a chance to break my heart again. Come on, Anthony we both know that wasn’t going to be our happy ending,” I spat.

“Our happy ending,” he repeated my words as he took another step closer, backing me into a corner, the edge of the counter top digging into my back. “I wasn’t so sure you wanted one with me anymore Reese’s,” he said softly, brushing my hair away from my face. I closed my eyes momentarily basking in the soft caress of his hand against my cheek.

“That’s all I ever wanted,” I whispered.

His lips curved and his eyes melted for me the way they used to before our love became tainted. “Good to know, Reese’s.” He leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to mine. “Don’t give up on happily ever after,” he whispered against my mouth before pulling away.

I stared at him blankly not knowing how to process his words but knowing I would only be wasting my time giving them any thought. Anthony glanced down at his watch briefly and then back to me.

“Merry Christmas, Reese’s.”

Before I could answer him, he turned around, grabbed his leather jacket from the back of one of the chairs, and strutted back into the living room. He bid goodbye to his mom and sister as I remained in the kitchen. Actions spoke louder than words and Anthony’s screamed that we were nothing more than a thing of the past. I wiped the tears from my eyes, realizing how many years I had wasted pining for a love that would never work and decided that getting over Anthony was going to be my New Year’s Resolution.

I lifted the Styrofoam cup of coffee to my lips and took a sip as I stared at the darkened house I had parked in front of. I had been sitting in this fucking car for six hours, driving nearly three hours to get here and the rest of the time spent parked across the street from Maryanne Valente’s house. It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so, fucking cold and dreading the trip back to Brooklyn. It had started to snow a little after I got here and now the snow turned to ice. People barely knew how to drive in the rain much less sleet, at this rate I’d be home tomorrow some time.

I placed the cold cup of coffee in the cup holder and reclined my seat a little, trying to make myself more comfortable. I don’t even know why I’m here. Victor has ordered me to check in on Val’s wife and son and I always come back with nothing to report. It’s been going on for years and frankly, this shit is getting old. I didn’t like sitting there and spying on Maryanne or Mike; it made me feel like an asshole. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Mike acting like a belligerent drunk and wanted to get out of the car and smack some sense into him. The guy needs a friend. I used to be his friend. But Victor doesn’t want them to catch on that I’ve been peeking in from time to time on them, keeping Victor in the loop.

Maryanne had the sense to banish Victor from their lives after Val was murdered and shockingly Vic has obeyed her wishes. Well, except for my little visits, but other than that he doesn’t show up and try to sway her to his side. Some people might say Victor should’ve taken care of Val’s family after he died but he took care of them by letting them go.

I had to give credit where credit was due and Maryanne deserved it; she escaped the mob, it’s a shame she had to lose her husband to be free. I’ve sat here many nights and watched as she struggled to reign Mike in, hoping that he would turn a corner and straighten out his life and found myself comparing her to Adrianna. It would’ve been so easy to come home and take back my girl. So easy to make a future with her and Luca but then I’d come here, and I’d see how lonely Maryanne looked and how lost Mike was. I knew that I didn’t want that for Adrianna and Luca. There were no guarantees in this world and I’d likely succumb to the same fate as Val, leaving behind a wife and kid probably even a few more kids.

After spending Christmas Eve with Adrianna and Luca, it became even clearer that pairing up with Jack to take down Victor was the right way to go. That little taste of what life could’ve been like with her fucked me up. I couldn’t go on pretending I didn’t want her or Luca in my life. I wanted them to be mine. I never thought I’d love another man’s child but what I felt for that little boy was real and something I craved more of. It was amazing how one night could make me want so much more than I ever thought I’d have or I deserved.

I had to square things away so I knew undoubtedly that I could be what Adrianna and her son needed. I wanted to be the man in her life that provided her with stability and security. A man she didn’t have to worry wouldn’t come home to her because he was shot at or because he was caught up in some bad shit that would put him away. I wanted to be a father to Luca, teach him all the shit my old man never taught me, the things I had to teach myself because he wasn’t around. And I wanted to give him a brother or a sister, maybe both, who knows. I never got to see Adrianna through her pregnancies, neither one of them, and they both weren’t anywhere near as memorable and joyous as they should’ve been. I wanted to change that for her, to take the ugly memories away and replace them with beautiful ones.

I sighed heavily, tapping my hand against the steering wheel. If I didn’t get to the bottom of this and find out who killed Danny I had no shot of any of those things happening. It all could be a pipe dream especially if Victor wasn’t responsible. It was a stretch to believe that a forensic report had been tampered with. It was more likely the case Jack was just so distraught that he was looking for someone, anyone to blame. However, just like he couldn’t shake the feeling that his brother’s death was foul play I had a gut feeling the fire wasn’t just a coincidence.

I played the facts over and over in my head, desperate to find something linking Victor or someone in the organization to Danny’s death but it felt like I was chasing something that didn’t exist. The report said the fire was caused by a faulty attic fan and cited that there had been no evidence of foul play. However, just because Danny died didn’t necessarily mean that the investigation he was working on against Victor died with him. If things had gone the way Vic had planned for them to go, Danny’s evidence against Victor would’ve been destroyed. That was assuming the FBI probably didn’t have hard copies of everything they had on him.

What I did know was that the body that had come into play, creating this mess, was the remains of someone Jimmy had killed. I didn’t have a name or anything but whoever they had dug up, had Jimmy shaking in his boots. The man was manic when he showed up at the compound the night of the fire. I couldn’t tell if he was scared because he did a shit job of burying the body or if he was nervous about them identifying who he killed. It could’ve also been the fact that he had been sloppy and by being sloppy, Victor had heat on him. Either way I couldn’t help but keep going back to the way Jimmy acted that night and how out of character it was for him. Jimmy was an eccentric asshole, but he was always calm, cool and collected, a controlled man who knew his limits but that night he acted as if he didn’t have any.

It made sense that if anyone were going to tamper with the fan it would be him. He’d cover his tracks and save his own ass. I know that if it were my crime being investigated I’d want to be the man who made it all go away, leaving no room for error. The more I thought about it, the more I saw Jimmy’s face and I tried to wrap my head around all the possible scenarios. The bureau wasn’t looking into Jimmy they were more interested in taking down Victor. If the Fed went missing or ended up dead, the first person they were going to think was responsible was Vic. Even if Danny’s evidence disappeared, they’d work to drum up more evidence against him determined to take down the mob boss, especially if they think he killed one of their own. So if my theory was right that would put Victor in jail and with him in jail the only one to gain something would be Jimmy. He was next in line to command the family as the underboss.

Still, he didn’t have the time to fuck with the fan after leaving the dog pound that night. I was missing something else. If I was right and able to find the proof I needed to confirm my suspicions it would all be for nothing. If Victor’s hands were clean in all this, I had no bargaining chip. I made the deal with Jack hoping I’d blackmail Victor into letting me leave the mob but if Jimmy was the one responsible, I had nothing. Vic would whack Jimmy and move me up in the organization desecrating my chance of reclaiming my relationship with Adrianna all together. I’d roll over and die before I took her and her boy back into my life only for her to end up like Maryanne and Mike.