Eternal Temptations (The Tempted Series Book 6) by Janine Infante Bosco Page A

suddenly he’s in charge.”
    He twists the ends of the towel in his hands as he stares back at me.
    “You want the truth? I’ll give you the truth, Reese’s. I should be the one in charge, not your cousin,” he confesses.
    My eyes widen as I stare back at him.
    “What are you saying?” I question, taken aback by his confession, trying to understand him and control my own feelings at the same time. Was he telling me he regrets our life? Did he regret choosing me and Luca over the lifestyle he grew accustomed to?
    “Don’t look at me like that, Reese’s,” he says, reaching for me and pulling me between his legs. “This is why I didn’t come home, I needed to make sense of what I was feeling so I could better explain myself.”
    “I never asked you to choose,” I blurt. “I accepted you for who you were. You were the one who insisted you couldn’t be with me, you insisted Luca shouldn’t grow up the same way I did, and while I agreed, it was never me who made you choose.”
    “You want to let me explain?” He argues calmly, brushing away the strands of hair that had fallen from my ponytail.
    “It was my choice, and it was the best decision I ever made in my life. If given the chance, I’d always choose you and our kids over that life. But, that life was a part of me for so long, A. It’s all I knew, all I know. Until now, since your father turned himself in, there has been one situation after another pulling me back in—keeping me in the game even if it’s just sitting on the sidelines waiting for Jack to call me and tell me he needs information or for me to rough someone up for him. I thought your father’s organization was being phased out, I didn’t know the whole time he was preparing Rocco to take the reins. There is no place for me in that world anymore and it got me thinking about how I don’t know life without the mob. I’ve always had my hand in something and now there isn’t anything left.”
    He pauses, letting his hands travel down my arms, lacing our fingers together as he continues to stare at me.
    “Even Jack’s been reminding me I don’t have a place within that life anymore. The only reason I made a move when the Red Dragons attacked the MC was because that shit was personal. They shot my sister and forced my nephew to be born before his time, if it wasn’t for Riggs coming to me, well, I wouldn’t have been involved in taking them down either.”
    Lifting my fingers to my temple, my head pounds from all he has laid out for me and I begin to knead my fingers against my skin.
    “Are you telling me you want a patch now? That you’re going to buy a Harley? Because I’m telling you right now I will not be called an old woman. I am not okay with that,” I insist, dropping my fingers from my head. “That’s Lauren’s gig, not mine.”
    He grins at me.
    That wicked grin of his that makes my insides melt every single time. All these years later, I’m still a sucker for that cocky grin and those eyes. Man, those eyes, so cold and uninviting to everyone else, but to me they were home.
    “I’m pretty sure they call them old ladies,” he corrects, taking hold of my hands again. “And no, I’m not buying a Harley although I wouldn’t mind seeing you on one.” he Winks, smiling faintly before his face grows serious. “I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t know life outside the mob.”
    He leans his head against mine.
    “You married a criminal, baby, that shit don’t fade,” he whispers, pressing his lips to mine fleetingly. “And while I’m not proud of it, I’m not sure I know how to be an upstanding citizen.” He lets out a breathy laugh before glancing around the gym. “I mean is this it?”
    Cocking my head to the side, I wrap my arms around his neck and absorb his words. I understood that. The uncertainty of who you are. I feel it all the time and never voice it.
    “I feel like a fucking pussy for even saying this,” he admits, before leveling me with a