Page 134 of Twisted Temptation

Ten more minutes, and I’m heading back upstairs to see my wife. And damn if that doesn’t feel fucking nice knowing she’s up there waiting for me, hopefully not cooking, and hopefully wearing very little.

My phone vibrates in my jacket. I pull it out expecting John Marco because he's running a meeting with the Calabrese family downtown and should be wrapping up.

But it’s not John Marco.

It's Deno.

"Boss."

He sounds like he's talking through pain.

No, not just pain.

Blood. He's talking through blood.

The first curl of panic unfurls in my gut. Deno is with Sunny. Deno talking through blood means something violent has happened.

"Deno."

"They knocked me out." He coughs, and then I hear him vomit. "I didn't see them." He vomits again. "They shot Freddie. He's hit bad, boss. In his chest. He's⁠—"

"Where is my wife?"

"They took her." His voice cracks. "Boss, I'm sorry. They took her."

The glass falls from my hand, and the floor drops out from under me.

Sunny is gone.

Blood roars in my ears as the gravity of the situation hits me. My vision narrows, and the edges go dark as my hand grips the railing. My mind is already racing through what could have happened. Who took her? How am I going to find her? What the fuck am I going to do to the man responsible?

"How long ago?"

"Five minutes. Maybe six."

They have a five-minute head start.

“Tell me everything.”

"The dressmaker let Sunny in. I waited by the car and had a smoke while Freddie went inside. Next thing I know I’m hit from behind and out cold. Woke up with my face against the sidewalk. Inside, I found Freddie shot and everyone else gone. Including the dressmaker."

Irina is involved.

She called Sunny. She lured her to her shop.

I close my eyes.

"Boss? Boss, are you⁠—"

"I’m sending someone to your location. Get Freddie to St. Vincent's. Keep me updated on his condition."

I hang up and call my cousin, Tommy, but he doesn’t answer. I call him again, and when he still doesn’t answer, I growl a message into my phone. “What the fuck is going on, Tommy? Answer my fucking call.”

My hand is shaking.

I think about Sunny.

My beautiful wife.