Page 183 of The Tempted

“Inside the envelope are graphic photos. You may not even want to look at them but the proof you’ve been chasing is in that envelope.”

Jack stared at me for a moment, knowing very well that when he opened that envelope he’d see photos of his brother’s remains and he’d be counting his fingers. He reached for the envelope but I laid my hand over it first.

“There was a woman, she came home to find him dead, but before she could call for help the house went up in flames. She survived but was badly burned. Her address is in the envelope too. The information is yours to do whatever you want with.”

“You know exactly what I’m going to do.”

I nodded.

“We all gotta go sometime, someway.” I lifted my hand from the envelope so that Jack could take it. He didn’t open it in front of me, he tucked it into the back of his jeans before tapping the palm of his hand on the table.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely, pushing back his chair and standing up. “I’ve got Bianci, no worries,” he took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair before meeting my gaze. “And I’ll make sure no one fucks with your daughters either. We’re even now.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Take care, Vic,” he said before walking away. I watched on as he left the visitor’s room, dismissed my attorney, and asked the guard to escort me back to my cell.

The metal bars slid closed, the key was turned, locking me inside the confinement of these walls. I used to be the king of New York, now I was nobody. I sat down on the edge of my cot and lifted my pillow, pulling out the photograph I kept underneath it. I stared down at the smiling faces of my two daughters, wiping away the tear that fell from my eye and laid my head on the pillow.

I have done a lot of things in my life that will eat away at my conscience until the day I die but at least I did one thing right. I gave my children the chance to have a happy future. I will never walk either of them down the aisle on their wedding days. I’ll never spin them around a dance floor and whisper I love them in their ears. They’ll always be my little girls, the two girls who stole my heart. They may never know how much I truly loved them but when I leave this earth, it will be their smiling faces that lead me to my maker.

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