Illicit Temptations (Tempted #1)
Janine Infante Bosco
Prologue
Present Day
It all happened so quickly. I was just chasing the sound of her desperate cries. I hear her cry out begging someone to help her. I turn the corner of the abandoned warehouse careful not to make my presence known. I breathe through my mouth because the stench in the air is so vile smelling like piss, death, and filth. There is silence. I can’t hear her cry anymore. The only sound I hear is the water dripping from the leak in the roof onto the concrete floor.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
“Help me. Dear God, please help me.” She cries out. Her cries sound weaker than before, it’s as if she’s giving up resolving that no one will hear her plea for help.
I step in something sticky forcing me to glance down at my foot that is now covered in blood. My eyes follow the trail of crimson to the dead body that is decomposing in the corner. I want to scream. My gut clenches thinking of all the things my girl was exposed to and how it’s all my fault.
I failed her.
I won’t fail her now.
Not ever again.
I take a few more steps, hiding behind a palette of wooden crates. I peek in between the crates and I see her. My girl. She’s sitting in a metal chair. Her wrists are tied behind her back and her ankles are tied together. She has her head down so I can’t see her face. She is still in the same clothes as she was the day she was abducted. I silently will her to lift her head. I need to see her face. I need to see that she’s okay.
“No one’s here to save you sweetheart.” I hear a taunting voice say to her. I’m here to save her you fuck. His body comes into my view as he stands in front of her, slowly bending to be eye level with her. I watch, struggling not to do anything stupid, hearing Vic’s voice in my head reminding me not to be a cowboy. Patience. Her life is at stake. He cups her face not so gently and forces her to look up at him. He blocks my view of her so I shift to my right hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
“My father will kill you.” She shouts. “Do you hear me? He’s going to kill you! Just let me go.”
He laughs. “Your father can’t save you little girl just like he couldn’t save his best man. And when you’re dead, he won’t do anything either just like he didn’t after I killed Val. Daddy’s not in control anymore, you’re at my mercy.”
I freeze for a moment at the mention of my father. The man, who has his back to me, the man torturing my girl, is the same man who killed my father. I didn’t even have a chance to process the information because his hand reared back and slapped Nikki across her face. He takes a step backward and she comes into my view, lifting her head slowly. Her face is streaked with her eye make-up running down her face, one of her cheeks is red branded from that son of a bitch’s hand, and yet she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
Something inside of me triggered and I know it’s time to end this nightmare. I straighten my posture, my hand secure on my gun that’s facing the ground. Slowly I lift my hands, my gun cocked aiming the barrel of it straight at the back of the enemy’s head. I look at Nikki once more, she’s all the strength I need to pull the trigger. She turns her head, her dull brown eyes meet mine, and for the slightest moment, I see life reborn in them.
I take one hand off my gun and lift a finger to my lips, signaling her to remain silent. I want the motherfucker to be surprised when I riddle him with bullets. I hold her gaze and hope that she trusts that I won’t let anything else happen to her.
I’m here Princess
You’re safe now.
I slowly step around the pallet that I was hiding behind and creep up behind him, keeping a steady eye on my girl. I wrap my finger around the trigger. This is it. I’m about to kill a man. I’m about to put someone else’s blood on my hands. I am about to walk in my father’s shoes.
I avert my eyes to the back of my target's head, tearing my gaze away from Nikki. I lift the gun and then it happens…
“Mikey watch out!!” She screams.
I pull the trigger.
Suddenly my gun isn’t the only one going off. I hear gunfire erupt as I watch my bullet pierce my victim. I look at Nikki, hurrying to make my way to her. My victim falls face forward onto the floor, a single shot to the head killing him instantly. Nikki screams out as his blood splatters onto her. She’s shaking her head screaming no as I struggle to make my way to her.
“Mikey Get down!!” She screams through her sobs.