“I feel good. How about you? Done with the night shifts?”
“I’m recovering for now. Where are you headed off to?”
“Tasha and the girls want to go get their nails done and do some shopping. They’re dragging me along with them.”
He looked her over. “How is the shoulder?”
“Ugly.”
He appeared as if he bit the inside of his cheek.
“Well, it will take some time to heal. I’m just glad that Ice, Ace, and Bull were there. They were so pissed off about what happened.”
She lowered her eyes, felt her cheeks blush, and hoped Tyler hadn’t noticed.
“Hey, they were concerned about you. I got a call from Ace this morning asking about you. He also asked about your hand. How is that feeling, slugger?” he teased and then reached for her hand.
She cringed from the slight pain.
“Damn, Serefina. Maybe you should have gotten this checked out? It’s slightly black and blue on your palm and fingers.”
“Well, that guy was a big guy. I didn’t realize how hard I hit him until I already did it. Which is why he lost his grip and dropped me.”
“Don’t make excuses for that asshole, Keith. He shouldn’t have grabbed you in the first place. But I did hear that he is sporting a nice hand mark on his cheek and eye.”
“A hand mark?” she asked, feeling terrible.
“Oh, yes, fingers and all. He won’t be hooking up with any stupid chicks for a while. The guy is a serious jerk anyway. If you ever see him again, stay clear of him. When he drinks, he’s ten times worse.”
“Yikes.” Just then they heard loud music and Tasha pull up in her baby blue convertible Beetle. She pulled the car right up next to them. “Hey, sexy firefighter. Can I steal your sister for a while?” She flirted with Tyler just like always.
“I don’t know if I like you hanging out with my sister. I think you can be a bad influence,” Tyler teased as he placed his hands on the driver side doorframe.
Tasha flirted right back. “I can be pretty naughty, Tyler.”
Tyler smirked at her. “So I heard through the grapevine.”
Tasha gasped and Serefina chuckled as she climbed into the passenger seat then closed the door. It was just like old times. Tyler always teasing Tasha and Tasha drooling over her brother. Of course Tyler wasn’t interested.
“They’re lies, Tyler. All lies created by men I keep turning down. Now be gone. We have things to do to get ready for tonight.”
“What’s tonight?” Tyler asked as he stood up straight and crossed his arms over in front of his chest.
“Girls’ night out. We’re gonna party to the break of dawn. See ya.” Tasha cranked up the music and sped out of the driveway with Tyler shaking his head and looking none the happier.
* * * *
Angelina stood by her husband next to the window.
“Should she be going out? You said the bruises looked terrible,” Marty said. His big arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight. She loved her husband dearly, and worried about him and her sons all the time. It was tough being married to a fireman. After what her daughter went through with Matt, she worried about the possibility of her getting involved with the Sullivan men.
“I think she’ll be fine. Going out with her friends is a good thing.
“Are they going out tonight?” he asked.
“Maybe, Why?”
“I think that one of the boys should go with her. You know, to keep an eye on things.”
Angelina turned in her husband’s arms. “Marty, she’s a grown woman. She’s been living on her own for six years, I’m sure she can handle herself. She did give that boy Keith a nice smack to his face.”
“She shouldn’t have to do that though. Luckily Ace, Ice, and Bull were there.”
Angelina widened her eyes and then stepped away. She began to fix the cushions on the couch.
“Yes, it was good that they were there,” she added.
“Hey, what are you doing?” he asked her, stepping closer.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m fixing the cushions on the couch.”
“You were doing that when I walked into the room earlier as Tasha drove up.”
“So?”
He took her hand and stared down into her eyes.
“Spit it out.”
“Spit what out?”
“What you’re hiding from me.”
“Marty, please. Are you out of your mind? I’m not hiding anything.” She looked away and tried to pull her hand from his. He didn’t budge. Instead he pulled her into his arms, and placed his hand over her ass squeezing her against his body.
“You know something, or are thinking something. Now I said it was lucky that Ace, Bull, and Ice were there. What gives?”
“Okay, smarty pants, what do you think it means?”
Marty held her gaze. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head, and then his cheeks reddened and he squinted at her.
“She likes one of them?”
Angelina shook her head.
“She doesn’t like one of them but one of them likes her?”
“Ummm—”
His hold tightened. “The three of them like her?”
Angelina nodded her head.
“Oh shit.” He began to release her when she pulled his arms around her again.
“I agree, it’s shocking, but not because we don’t agree with that type of relationship. We know people involved with ménages, and they seem very happy.”
“Oh fuck, I don’t think I can handle this conversation. It was enough knowing that Serefina had a boyfriend she was obviously intimate with.”
He had turned away and looked so concerned and then he stared back at her. She held his gaze. She didn’t want to say it, to tell him what to realize, and she knew her husband and his big heart would understand. He wasn’t so oblivious to his daughter’s sadness.
“Jesus. Poor Serefina. She’s going to fight them on this, isn’t she?”
Angelina nodded her head. “She feels guilty, Marty. Guilty for feeling an attraction to each of them. Do you know that she met Ice last week on the beach? Then she met Ace in Sullivan’s yesterday, and he called Bull to meet her. All three men were there when the incident happened. She admitted to being attracted to them, and then admitted the guilt she felt. This is so hard for her, Marty, and maybe I’m wrong in saying this. But I kind of hope she gives Ace, Ice, and Bull a chance. That she opens up her heart again and they can help to heal her loss. Florence told me she had never seen her sons react to any woman like that. She said they were drifting apart since Marco’s death.”
“They sure have been. Eddie had expressed concern just last week over their behavior. But honestly, Angelina, I don’t know how I feel about this. Well, I do know initially how I feel and that is I don’t want to think about it. She’s my daughter, my baby. It was bad enough knowing that we could have lost her in that fire.”
“That’s something else.”
“What? What more can you hit me with now? It’s going to take some serious time to recover from the idea of three men with my daughter.”
She chuckled. “Serefina didn’t exactly tell us everything about that fire that Matt died in.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was caught in there, too. She nearly died, and was burned. Matt saved her.”
“What?” She heard the word in an echo and realized that both Marty and Tyler asked.
She turned toward her son. She wondered how long he was standing there, and how much he heard. Serefina would freak out if this were how her brothers found out about the Sullivan men.
“Don’t worry, Mom, I know about Ace, Ice, and Bull being interested in Serefina.”
“How?” she asked.
“Well, the three of them threatened to kill Keith and his buddies if they ever went near their woman again. So I’d say they were staking a public claim to her.”
Angelina gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand. The tears stung her eyes.
“What were you saying about Serefina being caught in the fire and Matt saving her?” Tyler asked.
“She still wouldn’t give all the details, but she admitted that she had gotten burned. She has scarring on her neck by her hairline. I’m afraid that things were a lot worse than she explained. She didn’t want us to worry and she still refused to talk about it.”
They were all silent.
“Well, maybe that’s why there’s an attraction between her, Ice, Bull, and Ace. They suffered a terrible loss when Marco was killed in the fire, and Serefina lost Matt in a fire.”
“But all four of them are stubborn, unwilling to confide in anyone about their feelings over their losses,” the chief added.
“Fate is a powerful thing, Marty. It just might have the power to heal all four of them. Hopefully, they can open their hearts and accept one another.”
“Oh God, why do I feel like I need a drink of scotch?” Marty asked.
“For the same reason I do, Dad. Eddie and Lance are going to need one, too.”
Chapter 9
Denis watched them through the binoculars. Two of the five survivors were together, a couple who made it out of the building before the final explosion. They were fine, and he was disappointed to learn that they had sustained minor injuries. Just smoke inhalation and bruises, but no burns, no torn flesh, no symbols of fight against his master. It was disappointing, but his desire to burn, to destroy two possible threats to his master and their existence fed his infatuation. He held the black device in his hand. Small, compact, but with just the touch of a button, the entire house, most importantly the two people inside would die. But even that hadn’t been enough. He wanted them to know. He wanted them to realize before they died why the master was taking them.