Reckless Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 4) (6 page)

“Stay the fuck away from my sister.” Anthony’s voice loomed in my ears.

I pulled a pocket light from my key ring and shined the beam onto the screen, picking up her prints I typed her passcode into her phone and called my own.

Easy as pie.

I added my number to her contacts, grinning as I typed my name into the requested field before taking my phone and storing her as “Kitten.”

I placed the phone carefully onto the counter where she left it and laughed to myself.

Those Bianci’s were a pain in the ass but they sure were fun to fuck with.

I knocked on the door to my brother’s office. Weird. I never thought Anthony would get out of the mob. I’m still not sure he is, but at least now he’s like every other big-time
gangster, with a legit business to cover his ass.

“Come in,” he called from behind the door.

I opened the door and poked my head inside and instantly smiled. My brother was everything to me growing up. I knew he was a bad boy and although he scared all my boyfriends’ away with merely a look, he was my idol. My best friend. Some girls measured every guy in their life to their father—me, I measured them to Anthony.

“Look at you, the boss man himself,” I said with a smile, closing the door behind me.

He lifted his head from the papers on his desk and grinned at me.

“Hey you,” he greeted, while standing and walking around his desk to peck me on the cheek. “What’re you doing here? I thought you and Adrianna were going shopping with ma,” he said, leaning against the desk as I took a seat.

“Yeah, I skipped out on that.” I glanced at the security footage that covered every inch of Xonerated. “Everything looks great, Ant. I’m so proud of you,” I enthused.

“Thanks,” he said, crossing his arms as he stared at me.

Anthony had a gift at dissecting people with his eyes. I hated it and more so because I was lying to my entire family.

“What’s going on?” He questioned.

Shit.

I turned my gaze to him and met his worried eyes.

“Nothing,” I lied, as the pro I was at misleading the people in my life. After that first initial lie they seemed to drip from my mouth with no effort at all.

“Lau, it’s me you’re talking to,” he coaxed, gently. “School getting to you?”

“Well, since you brought it up,” I began, drawing out a deep breath. “We need to talk about Mom moving upstate,” I said.

“What about it? She told me last night she loves it up there,” he said.

“She’s driving me bananas!”

“I know Mom can be difficult,” he started.

“No you’re not getting it,” I interrupted. “She comes to the apartment when I’m not there. She’s walked in on Mia and the guy she’s dating. The other day she took my laundry with her and shrunk half my shit,” I explained. “It’s bad, Ant. She’s bored shitless and to be frank, I will never get my nursing degree with her up my ass,” I added.

I was going to hell for every lie I’ve told—that one right there, that’s the one that bumped my ass to the front of the line. No purgatory for this girl.

“I’ll talk to her,” he conceded.

I lifted my eyes to his.

“Talk to her? Do we have the same mother?”

“Okay, what do you suggest I do?” He asked with a hint of amusement laced in his voice.

“I think she would be better off coming back here to live. Just think how much alone time you can get with your new bride if Mom was around to watch Luca,” I suggested, nudging him with my elbow. “Possibly even get cracking on giving me a niece or another nephew,” I hinted.

His eyebrows drew together looking as if he was contemplating my words before finally responding.

“Anything else you want to tell me?” He questioned.

“Nope that’s it’s,” I confirmed cheerfully.

“Lauren,” he said skeptically.

“Okay, okay, fine,” I pouted, dropping back into my chair. “My car is fucked,” I blurted out.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“The thing starts when it wants, the tires are shot and the brakes squeak,” I rambled.

“I’ll take care of it when you go back home and send a tow for it,” he promised. “You need anything else? Money? Books?”

I shook my head. It was one thing for me to ask him for help with my car, a desperate plea on my behalf, but I wouldn’t take a cent from Anthony. After I quit the nursing program I had to give up the paid housing—a perk of having an all-expenses paid education. That’s how I became Mia’s roommate. I had to become an adult, and being an adult, well, it kind of sucked.

There was a knock on the door, pulling me away from my thoughts and Anthony away from his worried stare down.

“Come in,” he bellowed.

The girl who was crawling around the floor in front of Riggs popped into my brother’s office, waving my phone in the air.

“Sorry to interrupt Mr. Anthony,” she smiled. Oh, poor thing she obviously hasn’t met Mrs. Anthony yet. It might be worth extending my stay just to see Adrianna’s reaction to this girl. She turned her eyes to me.

“How’d you get my phone?” I asked, stepping toward her and snatching my phone from her hand.

“You left it at the front desk,” she bit her lip. “It keeps going off, someone named Tiger seems desperate to get in touch with you,” she added sweetly, before turning to my brother and flashing him a smile.

I felt Anthony come up behind me and peer over my shoulder at my phone.

“Who’s Tiger?”

I had no idea who Tiger was, but that was for me to find out not my overprotective, sometimes overbearing, older brother. I shoved the phone into my pocket, turned on my heel and rose on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“Glad we had this talk,” I said hastily, before turning and heading out of the office. “I’ve got to go.”

“Lauren,” he called out as I closed the door to the office and hurried through the gym. I made it out the door without a hitch, meaning no unnecessary run-ins with a certain hot biker. I didn’t pull my phone out of my pocket until I was halfway down the block and sure my brother hadn’t followed me.

My phone definitely was blowing up, eight unread text messages from...
Tiger
. I walked toward the train station as I opened the messages.

Tiger: Guess who?

Tiger: Do you need a hint?

Tiger: I’m a tiger in the bedroom.

Tiger: Not that you would know that. Yet. But you could imagine.

Tiger: Tell me Kitten, do you imagine the things I could do to you?

Tiger: I bet that’s why you aren’t answering me. Take your hand out of your pants Kitten, let Tiger do the job.

Tiger: Shit. I’m just joking.

Tiger: Sort of.

My lips quirked in amusement. Hot and funny…my dream guy. My fingers worked the keyboard of my phone to reply.

Me: How did you get my number and more importantly how did yours become saved in my phone?

The little gray cloud appeared, signaling that he was typing his reply and for some reason, unknown to me, that made me smile again.

Tiger: Wouldn’t you like to know. A man never tells his secrets. Where are you?

Me: Maybe the right woman was never around to try.

I hit send, looked up to see what street I was on before typing a text in reply to his second question.

Me: 86
^th
and 23
^rd
Ave. Walking to the train.

Tiger: Why no car?

Me: It blew up.

I wished it had, at least then I’d have an insurance check to buy another piece of crap car.

I glanced up, looking both ways before I crossed the intersection and stopped in my tracks when I looked across the street and saw Riggs leaning against his bike with his phone in his hand and a devilish grin on his face. I’m pretty sure my ovaries exploded.

My phone chimed, and I tore my eyes from that sinful grin of his and read the last text message he sent me.

Tiger: Want a ride, Kitten?

My teeth sank into my lower lip and I lifted my eyes to his, managing to ignore the cars passing that threatened to obscure my view of him.

I wanted more than just a ride on the back of his bike.

I crossed the street, tucking my phone back into my pocketbook and watched as he shoved his into his pocket.

“Are you following me?” I said, standing in front of him, realizing he saw every one of my reactions to each text. He saw me smile and knew he was the reason for it.

“Me? Never!” He scoffed. “I’d never invade someone’s privacy,” he insisted with a straight face. He took the helmet hanging from the handlebars and offered it to me.

“What do you say? It beats having to ride the train,” he said.

“Says who?” I replied, trying my best not to give away how much I wanted to take him up on his offer.

“Says any girl who ever wrapped their legs around me,” he stated, fitting the helmet onto my head and tightening the chin strap. “Looks good on you, “nurse make me feel good,”” he teased, before throwing his leg over his bike and glancing back over his shoulder at me. “Get on, Kitten.”

I stared at him for a moment, watching as he revved the engine of the bike and how easily his foot kicked up the kickstand. It was so tempting, something I always wanted to do. I could argue, going for a ride with Riggs was just a check off my bucket list, but the more I stared at the man and not the bike, the more I wanted to because of
him
and not some silly fantasy.

“Are you always this crazy?” I asked, walking closer to him.

“I prefer the term colorful,” he winked. “Place one hand on my shoulder and throw your leg over, then place your feet on the pegs but be careful of the exhaust pipe.”

“I have virgin written all over my face, don’t I?” I said, as I went through the motions. Once I was fully seated behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist. He tightened my arms around him and glanced over his shoulder.

“Not exactly what I think when I look at your face, Kitten,” he drawled. “Hang on,” he added before pulling away from the curb.

I’ve done a lot of stuff that one might consider exciting, like parasailing in Cancun and the time I took skydiving lessons but didn’t have the balls to jump out of the plane. But getting on the back of Riggs’ bike, not knowing where we were going, evoked an adrenaline rush quite like no other I ever experienced. The wind in my hair, the sharp turns and fast ride…it was everything. And I never wanted it to end.

I clutched the leather of his vest tightly with my fingers and laid my chin on his shoulder. The smell of his cologne tickled my nostrils and gave me one more thing to add to the memory. I’d go back home, to my shit job, and my upside down life but when I was alone and trying to figure out where I went from there, something told me I’d remember the feel of the leather beneath my fingertips and the way he smelled so fresh.

He pulled into L&B Spumoni Garden’s parking lot and killed the engine of the bike.

“I’m hungry,” he declared, as we climbed off the bike. “And I hate eating alone,” he added, taking my hand and dragging me toward the pizzeria so we could stand in line and wait our turn.

“So you’re not going to tell me how you stored your number in my phone?” He grinned in response. “Okay, then are you going to tell me anything about yourself?”

“That depends,” he said thoughtfully.

“On?”

“Are you going to tell me why a girl like you works in a place called The Pink Pussycat and not off saving lives?”

“Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”

“Not really,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders then holding up his hands in defeat. “Don’t look at me like that, just a concerned friend,” he explained.

“A concerned friend?” I questioned.

He threw his arm over my shoulders and brought me closer to him. The same way my brother used too. What a blow to the ego.

“Of course, Kitten. It’s a bitch living two lives,” he declared, stepping up to place our order.

The girl at the counter was a fan of Riggs’, batting her eyelashes and scowling at me before she promised to bring our pizza to the table for us. She probably would poison me so she could slide into the booth with him.

I shook my head and dismissed her, bringing myself back to what Riggs last said.

“You speaking from experience?” I asked him, as we sat down across from one another. He took his hat off for a second to run his hands through his hair before he pulled the knit skull cap down again.

“Maybe,” he said, leaning over the table. “You tell me your secrets and I’ll tell you mine,” he teased.

“You know my secret already. Which makes this friendship unfair as you have an advantage over me. We should be on common ground, so for the sake of our friendship you need to tell me some deep dark secret of yours,” I said coyly.

His eyes dipped to my lips, and I reached out, lifting his chin with my index finger so our eyes could meet.

“Fine, what do you want to know?” He spread his arms wide in emphasis. “I’ll give you anything you want,” he grinned, glancing down at his crotch. “Anything,” he confirmed.

The waitress dropped off our slices and Riggs went to work heavily shaking red pepper flakes all over his pizza. So he liked things spicy. Me too.