Riggs (Arizona Vengeance 11)

After we eat, we mingle. Some of the guys engage in conversation with Janelle and Veronica, but mostly the women end up huddling and talking about God knows what. By the sly grins of Veronica’s current posse—Janelle, Clarke, Mollie, and Brooke—they’re likely talking about her taming the confirmed bachelor.

Of course, those who know Veronica know that I had to tame her right back.

What they don’t know, although she might tell them, is that we took a collective step onto a new path, and we would have never done it with anyone else. That I know to be the truth.

I move back and forth between our team area and the fans outside the ropes. Posing for pictures, signing autographs… it’s part of the job but one I’ve never minded. The fans are everything, and even if I’ve been closed off from my teammates, I’m always fully present for the people who cheer us on.

A hand comes down on my shoulder as I give an autograph book back to an older gentleman, and I crane my neck to see Legend standing there.

He leans in so he can’t be heard by anyone but me. “Hey, man… I was on my way out and wanted to let you know, your sister is outside talking to the reporters.”

“What?” I snarl in surprise, jolting so violently, I knock his hand free.

He nods solemnly. “Came right back in to tell you. Caught Veronica, and she’s on her way out there but told me to come get you.”

“Fuck,” I mutter as I spin toward the door, calling back a thanks as I practically run out.

My sister… Jesus.

She’s just beyond the doors to the right, a cluster of reporters before her. She stands placidly, her hands clasped before her and Veronica to the side but standing back a little. Her eyes cut to me as I come to a skidding halt.

My first inclination is to charge into the group to disperse it, but Veronica gives me a subtle shake of her head and I hold my spot, grateful I haven’t been noticed.

And I listen.

“—time to set the record straight because my mother’s lies cannot be ignored.”

Christ, she’s going all in.

“What lies?” a young woman asks, holding out a handheld recorder to capture Janelle’s response.

“I was never kidnapped by my brother,” she says, chin lifted high. “He rescued me from an awful situation because the man my mother married—Shep Mergeron—tried to assault me. My brother came and took custody of me to keep me safe, and my mother signed papers giving me up.”

There are gasps and murmurs of dismay in the crowd. From behind me, I hear curses, and I glance back to see a big chunk of my hockey team standing behind me, listening to Janelle.

“If there was any kidnapping going on, it was yesterday when my mom and Shep came to Phoenix in an attempt to use me to extort money from my brother. When I wouldn’t go with them, Shep tried to physically take me. He’s in jail now, facing charges.”

Questions are now furiously shouted at Janelle, as this is far more exciting than what my mother told the media.

“What about your brother stabbing your stepfather?” someone calls out. I try to search the crowd to see who lobbed that question, but Janelle answers and my eyes cut back to her.

“My mother is twisting the facts and not providing context,” Janelle says assuredly. “When I was four and Riggs was fifteen, my father, Bruce Adamik—Riggs’s stepfather—assaulted my mother and broke her jaw. He hit me and then attacked Riggs. My brother defended himself, me, and my mother, and ended up stabbing my father with a knife to protect us. Riggs was never charged as it was deemed self-defense. In addition, my father is the one who did jail time for assault. I find it in horrible taste that my mother would bring our painful past out in public like this, but you wanted the truth… now you have it.”

“Riggs,” a reporter shouts, and I jerk, my eyes going to the source. “Will you be making a statement? Do you corroborate your sister’s statement?”

Before I can respond, a flurry of activity happens that I’m helpless to prevent. Several of my teammates swarm past me, while others grab my arms and pull me backward. I see others move to Janelle and Veronica, surrounding them and cutting them off from the reporters.

Bishop steps before the cameras. “Riggs Nadeau obviously corroborates his sister’s statement, but this now concludes any further comment on the matter by Riggs or his sister. The team will be issuing a press release.”

And with that, we’re ushered back inside—to the roped-off area where the remainder of our team awaits—and Kane presses a beer into my hand.

I turn to Janelle, Veronica right behind her. “Are you crazy?” I ask blandly. “They could have eaten you alive.”