Page 652 of The Tempted

Chapter Forty-one

I strode pass the barbed wire fences; the sun beating down on the worn leather jacket on my back and I spotted Riggs leaning against his truck. He pulled his sunglasses off and smirked at me, spreading his jacket wide and revealing a t-shirt that readFree Blackie.

“How fucking great is that? Wolf had them made,” he said, pushing off the car and taking a step toward me.

I glanced down at the writing on his shirt and then back at his face.

“They sent the pretty boy to pick me up?” I said, reaching for him to pat him on the back and do the manly hug thing.

“Yeah, it’s your lucky fucking day,” he quipped, pulling back to take a better look at me.

“Heard through the grapevine you got yourself a little boy,” I smiled as his whole face lit up at my mention of his son.

Wow, that was a change.

He whipped out his phone and pulled up a photograph when I spotted the ink that covered the knuckles on his right hand spelling out the two words…Own it. He turned the screen around, displaying a photo of a baby boy with a Harley Davidson onesie and a sideways Yankee cap on his tiny head.

“That’s my Eric,” he beamed, proudly. “Pretty fucking awesome, huh?”

“Amazing,” I said, taking the phone out of his hand to get a better look at the kid.

Truly amazing…God takes but God gives.

“So what do you say? You ready to blow this popsicle stand or what?” he asked as I handed him back his phone.

“Yeah,” I said, grabbing a hold of his forearm before he turned around. “Hey…I’m sorry about Bones.”

“Yeah, me too,” he rasped, drawing in a deep breath. “But he’ll always be with me,” he added as he made a fist and brought it against his chest. Like the other hand each knuckle had a letter only this hand was dedicated to his best friend, our brother…Bones.

He dropped his hand and his eyes darkened before he placed his sunglasses back on his face. “I took care of that cocksucker,” he growled. “Made sure that motherfucker never gets to hurt another person I care about.”

He tipped his chin toward the car signaling for me to get inside as he walked around and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“What about you?” he asked as he started up the truck.

“What about me?”

He shrugged his shoulders, placed one had on the steering wheel and with his other hand he opened the console. I leaned over and saw my gun sitting pretty inside.

“Thought you might want to take care of business before you go off and get the girl,” he said, closing the console with his elbow.

“Who said I’m going to get the girl?”

“You better go get the girl after how many times I put my ass on the line,” he warned.

I smiled.

I couldn’t wait to go get the girl.

But Riggs was right.

First things first.

I reached over, opened the console and took my piece out. I checked to see if it was loaded before dropping the safety on it and opening my jacket to tuck it back where it belonged.

“My man! Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Riggs enthused, grinning. “Blackie’s back…back again,” he rapped, mocking the Eminem song, Back Again.

Yeah, I’m fucking back.

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