Eternal Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 6) (6 page)

Join an MC they said.

It’ll be fun they said.

They
left out I’d be summoned to kidnap a crazy Italian woman and her grandkid, or that she’d hit me in the face with a frying pan. It’s probably a good thing I had no idea the Bianci twister was headed straight for me, otherwise I wouldn’t have met my Kitten.

The feistiest pussy in all the land.

Ha!

I crack myself up.

All jokes aside, the day my president, Jack Parrish, ordered me to grab ‘Carmela Soprano’ and the boy, was the day my whole world changed. It was the detour I never expected but the one that led me straight to the girl of my dreams. Dreams I never knew I had until I had her.

When I first met Lauren Bianci, the mob guy’s little sister, she was dancing in a bar—a bar called the Pink Pussycat. See, my job was to bring Bianci’s mother upstate so she could stay with her daughter while the mob folk shot the fuck out of one another. If you ask me, they should’ve let mama Bianci stay behind—give that woman a kitchen appliance and send her after your toughest enemy. Anyway, I took the Italian nutcase to her daughter’s apartment only to find out little Miss Innocent was lying to mommy dearest and her big brother. Her roommate sent me to the Pink Pussycat, that’s when I came face to face with my Kitten for the first time. One look in her big, blue eyes, framed by black glasses, and I was gone. The Riggs everyone knew and loved was gone and the Tiger was born.

You heard me right.

Kitten and Tiger.

That’s us.

As much as I didn’t bank on her coming into my life, Lauren never saw me coming. I was just as much her detour as she was mine and together we would take each other on one hell of a ride.

At first I thought I was just chasing tail, going after something I couldn’t have—a guy just having fun. But the more time I spent with her, the deeper I fell into her, and as much as we flirted, as much I wanted to bang her brains out, she became my friend. I didn’t have any friends that were girls but I couldn’t stay away from her. I looked forward to the text messages we’d send one another and the few times she’d visit her brother—I even drove up to bumble-fuck New York again to see her face.

I was out of my mind and to prove so, I even invited her to my patch party. Yeah, I invited Kitten to my pussy party. Who the fuck does that? This guy right here. And you know what? Best fucking decision of my life. I can say that now, almost two years later.

Most brothers in my MC look back at the night they got their colors as a turning point in their life because they finally became one of the Satan’s Knights. I look back at that night and I forget all about the patch I received because that was the night I first took Kitten. I took her up against the wall of the Satan’s Knight compound and put Pea inside of her. Not intentionally of course, but yep, you heard me right—I knocked up Kitten.

I didn’t find out right away and if I’m being honest, I was a dick, both before and after I found out about the baby. I stopped talking to Kitten after the night at the clubhouse, and thinking back now, I have no idea why. The best I can come up with is I was scared. Yeah, scared, because I was feeling all sorts of shit I wasn’t used to and I was starting to think about Kitten, morning, noon and night.

I think I had a nervous breakdown after I found out we were having a kid and that she had already named it Pea. I was scared shitless to become a father, to be responsible for a little human—for eighteen plus years. But I wasn’t about to let Lauren do it by herself. I wasn’t going to be a deadbeat dad, nah, not me. I would own that shit.

Own it.

These are the two words my brother and my best friend, Bones, said to me after I told him I was having a kid. These are the two words I live by, and the two words I want scribed on my tombstone when I drop dead.

Kitten moved in with me and we played house for a while. I bought a refrigerator and she covered it with our baby’s sonogram photos. Life was good. I had my Kitten, and we were having a Pea.

The motherfucking Chinese had to go ruin my shit. Fucking Sun Wu and the Red Dragons, those motherfuckers threatened to take everything I loved from me—my Kitten and my Pea.

They would’ve succeeded too if it wasn’t for Bones. My best friend stepped into the line of fire when Sun Wu’s men shot at Kitten. He jumped in front of her saving her life. That bullet would’ve killed my Kitten and probably my kid.

It killed Bones.

He saved them and I didn’t even get a chance to thank him. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t look at my son or Lauren and think of the brother God didn’t give me but the one I chose. We named our son, Eric after Bones, and both Kitten and I tell him stories about the uncle he never got to meet.

Join an MC they said.

Take the detour.

Find your heart and own that shit.

I pause, pushing the carriage passed the park gates and pull off my sunglasses to check out our surroundings. There are a couple of kids playing in the sandbox but the little kid with the fisherman’s hat looks like he has that shit on lock down, claiming the three babies with dresses all for himself.

His parents need to teach him how to share and spread the wealth.

I turn my attention to the sprinklers, ready to introduce my son to the love of bikinis but the bigger kids run that part of the playground.

“All right, Eric, time for you to learn how to woo the women,” I say, eyeing the empty swings before looking down at my son who’s rockin’ a pair of sunglasses just like mine. “Don’t look at me like that, I know they’re empty but give it a few minutes and they’ll be lining up to swing with us,” I promise. “Just follow my lead and I’ll have you ten play dates by the time your mom’s finished getting her nails done.”

He leans forward grabbing a fistful of Gerber Puffs and throws them at me.

All right, he’s not a believer—but he will be.

I push the carriage to where the swings are and unlatch Fort Knox. I swear you need to be a brain surgeon to take a kid out of a carriage. Forget about opening this fucking thing—I had to watch a YouTube video just to unfold it. Thank God, Kitten is meeting us here, otherwise I would strap this fucking thing to the roof of my truck.

I place Eric in the swing, tighten the seat belt, see now, this one isn’t so bad, one click and my boy is set. Watching as he curiously looks around the playground I push him. After a few pushes a smile makes its way across his face.

That shit never gets old.

Watching your child’s eyes widen in wonder, smile in joy as he decides he likes the new experience—it’s fucking incredible. Something I almost didn’t get the chance to experience.

“You like that, don’t you?” I grin as he giggles. That sound is contagious, causing me to laugh as I watch him cheer with every high the swing takes and clap his hands with the lows.

A mother walks up next to us and places her daughter in the swing next to ours.

“Showtime,” I whisper into Eric’s ear. “Now, the trick isn’t getting the girl…it’s keeping her once you’ve got her. You need to keep it fresh, excite her when she least expects it and always make her know how much she means to you. I’m not saying you have to marry the first girl you nab, but if she’s the one you love, always make sure you tell her. Never let her wonder—that reminds me,” I say, pulling back the swing for a second to whip out my cell phone. I swipe my thumb across the screen and compose a new text message.

Me: Roar.

I grin watching as the little gray cloud appears and two seconds later my phone chimes.

Kitten: Meow. XOXO

It chimes again when I’m about to put my phone away.

Kitten: I just finished drying my nails. Where are you guys?

Me: By the swings.

Kitten: Did Eric get any dates?

Me: Still working on it.

Kitten: LOL. See you in a few.

I pocket my phone and lean close to Eric.

“Mommy’s on her way,” I say, giving him another push and watch him eye the girl on the swing next to him. “That’s my boy! Get her Tiger!”

The girl squeals and Eric doesn’t take his eyes off her. Her mom pushes her higher, and she turns to Eric and sticks her tongue out at him.

“Oh, the little vixen is playing hard to get,” I hiss, pushing Eric a drop higher.

“How old is he?” The mother asked.

“He’ll be one next month,” I reply, biting back the cringe as I ask her how old her daughter is, preparing myself for the math equation. “How old is she?”

“Seventeen months and three days,” she replies proudly.

See, math equation. Why couldn’t she say the kid was one?

“Nice,” I reply, leaning into Eric’s ear. “She’s a cougar.”

“There are my boys!”

I turn around at the sound of Lauren’s voice and smirk as she completely brushes passed me and goes straight for our son.

“There’s my little guy,” she coos, reaching for him.

Knowing the drill, I pull my baseball hat off my head and run my fingers through my hair. It’ll take Kitten a good ten seconds of lovin’ on our boy before she even realizes I’m here. She takes him out of the swing and brings him against her chest, showering him with kisses—totally ruining his game.

Her blue eyes zero in on me and her grin widens as she leans forward, covering my mouth with hers. I wrap my arm around her waist, slide my hand into the back pocket of her jeans and press her against me, sandwiching Eric between us as I kiss her until he wails.

“Hi baby, how was your afternoon?” She asks me, setting Eric down on his wobbly feet and taking hold of his hand. He just started walking and takes more falls than he does steps but he’s determined.

Determination is something our kid has in spades.

He was a fighter from the day he took his first breath.

“It was good. We went for lunch, had some pizza, a few beers and now here we are.”

I grab the carriage, follow her out of the swing area as she and Eric lead the way. My eyes dip down to her ass, which has gotten slightly rounder since Eric was born, her breasts are bigger too—not that I’m complaining. I’m an ass and tits kind of guy, well, not really, I’m just a Kitten kind of guy. Anything she’s selling, I’m buying.

“I saw a pretzel stand over there. Why don’t we go feed the ducks?” She asks over her shoulder, running after Eric as he found his groove and has taken off toward the pond.

“I’ll grab the pretzel,” I offer, pushing the empty carriage along to the pretzel guy. I order a pretzel and two hotdogs, one I scoff down before even making my way back to Lauren and the baby. I hand her the hotdog, but she shakes her head, taking a bite of the pretzel instead. Breaking off a piece of pretzel, she crouches down next to our son and hands it to him, showing him how to feed it to the ducks waddling around them.

Watching Lauren with Eric was like watching a dream come true. We talked a lot about dreams, it was Lauren’s thing, and I might sound like a pussy but it was becoming my thing too. I loved the nights we lay in bed after screwing each other senseless where Lauren would tell me all her dreams. Her dreams became my dreams, and I vowed to make our dreams come true. Every last one of them, and after all her dreams come true, I’ll make her dream some more.

“Let’s have another,” I blurt.

“Another what?” She asks as she breaks off another piece of the pretzel. “There is plenty here,” she adds, naively holding up half of the pretzel.

“Let’s make another baby,” I clarify, pulling off my sunglasses and turning my hat around so when she lifts her head and stares into my eyes she’ll see I’m serious.

Eric tugged on her hand, wanting to go closer to the ducks and she lost her footing for a second. She lifts Eric into her arms as she rises to her feet and pins me with her wide baby blues.

“Are you serious?” She questions, Eric on her hip, trying to lean down and feed the ducks some more. I swear my heart fucking threatened to explode.

I nod, clearing my throat before flashing her a grin and wiggling my eyebrows in suggestion.

“Come on, Kitten, let’s make another Pea,” I coax, stepping closer to her and taking her hand, pulling her against me. “Think of all the fun we’ll have trying.”

“We didn’t have to try too hard for Eric,” she reminds me. “What if we get pregnant right away?”

“Even better,” I say, bending my head to kiss her neck. “I love it when you’re pregnant, you’re fucking insatiable.”

She swats my shoulder.

“Watch it,” she warns.

“Right, I forgot. You’re ducking insatiable,” I correct, appeasing her of no cursing in front of the baby rule. We duck a lot around here.

She laughs.

Best ducking sound ever.

What do you say, Kitten?” I ask, pulling back and bending my knees so we’re eye level. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip as she stares back at me silently for a few moments.

“I hope you got enough sleep last night, Tiger,” she teases, her lips spreading into a smile. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Cupping her chin with my hand, I bring her mouth to mine, smiling against her lips as I kiss her.

“Bet your ass it is.”

Yeah, there was going to be a whole lot of ducking going on for Kitten and Tiger.