Page 765 of The Tempted

“He’s alive.”

“And?”

“He did it.”

“How?”

“With a pair of scissors and apparently a riot.”

“Thank you,” I say, closing my eyes briefly.

“He’s in solitary. Give the media twenty minutes and that shit will be all over the news,” he sighs. “It’s over, that’s it, Bianci. Vic ain’t going to see the light of day anymore. The next call is the one we’re dreading.”

“I know.” I clear my throat, lifting my eyes to the room and the expectant glances of the people who loved Victor Pastore. “Thanks for calling,” I say, ending the call.

“Well?” Grace croaks.

“He’s alive.”

“Thank God,” she cries, grabbing a hold of her daughters and hugging them to her. “He’s alive,” she smiles, closing her eyes.

A phone rings; I glance at the one I’m holding not realizing the sound is coming from across the room. Riggs lifts his phone to his ear, walking toward the kitchen and away from everyone to take the call.

Mike turns the television on again and the scene outside the prison fills the screen. The SWAT team pulls correctional officers and medical personnel from the building before charging in with machine guns. It didn’t take twenty minutes for the media to get the information and the reporter’s voice booms over the images.

“We can now confirm that the G-Man is one of the casualties. Wait a minute,” he pauses, lifting his hand to the earpiece, he remains silent until his eyes widen and he tells the world what we already know. “We can also confirm that mob boss, Victor Pastore, is alive. I repeat, Victor Pastore is alive. However, we don’t know what started this riot here in Bennettsville or the cause of death of the G-Man.”

“Kitten, give me a kiss, I gotta’ go,” Riggs announces, tucking his phone into his cut before lifting his eyes to mine and tipping his chin. “You coming, Bianci, or what?”

Adrianna pulls out of her mother’s arms, spinning around to pierce me with a worried look. I avert my eyes to Riggs, watching as he squeezes my sister’s ass in front of everyone, kissing her quickly before lifting his head and snapping his fingers.

“Chop, chop, bro, Jack’s waiting,” he orders, pausing in front of Grace. “Keep the cannoli’s.” He winks at her.

“Be careful, Riggs,” Lauren calls, biting her lip nervously as her eyes find mine.

“Mike,” I ground out. Frustrated, I ran my fingers roughly through my hair, torn between sitting vigil like I probably should and running with Riggs to see where Jack was at with this.

“Yeah,” he says, stepping beside me.

“You got this?” I question pinning him with a stare, watching intently as he glances over his shoulder at the women I was asking him to watch over.

“I’ve got Grace, Nikki, Adrianna and your sister but I ain’t making promises about Gina.” He narrows his eyes glancing around. “Where’d the old lady go?” he shrugs his shoulders and meets my intense gaze. “I’ve got this, they’re just as much mine as they are yours,” he declares.

“Good answer, Mike,” I tell him, patting him on the back as I brush past him and pull Adrianna toward me.

“You still going to deny wanting a Harley and a leather jacket?” she whispers, staring up at me, cocking one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“I’m going to tell Jack what he’s been waiting to hear then I will take you home.” I covered her mouth with mine. “Make sure the kids are sleeping when I get back and I’ll give you a better ride than any Harley ever could.”

“Promise?”

“Reese’s, I swear it.” I promise her.

“You mob folk move too slow,” Riggs complains, rolling his eyes as he waits for me by the front door. I let go of my wife, turn my gaze to Riggs and stab him with a glare.

“Let’s go, badass,” I hiss, slapping him upside the head as I walk past him.

It wasn’t until we were in Riggs’ truck, peeling out of Grace and Victor’s driveway, when he broke the news to me.

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