Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Don jumps back, effectively putting him on the other side of the fire. Rivin tries to lunge for him again, but the fire is between them. There’s nowhere for me and Rivin to go as the flames immediately begin to spread. Within seconds, another puddle goes up, and then another.
We’re trapped between the counter and the kitchen…and the keys to the kitchen door are still in my car.
Panic rises like bile in my throat as the walls begin to catch, the fresh paint acting like kindling.
"Please!" I cry, my eyes stinging from the smoke already billowing through the bakery as Don stumbles toward the front door, limping as quickly as he can.
He glances over his shoulder at me, his expression blank, and then unlocks the door before disappearing through it.
My eyes water, and I cough.
"What are we going to do?" I whimper, my voice trembling as Rivin whines, nudging his way under my hand.
I crouch beside him, wrapping my arms around him as the flames dance higher, consuming the counter and creeping even closer. The heat of them sears me, so hot I feel them licking at my skin.
I’m going to die here…all because I trusted the wrong person.
“I’m sorry, Alessandro,” I whisper, tears pouring down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter Eleven
Alessandro
The siren on my dashboard wails as I race through the streets, my heart pounding out of my chest.
“Pick it up, Heidi. Please fucking pick it up,” I growl, my phone clenched in my hand like a fucking lifeline connecting me to her. I nearly had a goddamn heart attack when I picked up the phone and heard what was happening—her at the bakery, Don threatening to burn it down and blame her.
I haven’t heard her voice in a good five minutes, not since she sobbed an apology to me. That nearly fucking broke me. She sounded so scared, so small.
“Pick up the phone again, angel. Please.”
But she doesn’t pick it up again. And I don’t hear her voice. Instead, the line just beeps and then goes dead.
Fear claws at my throat. I can't get the image of flames devouring her bakery out of my head. Of Heidi trapped inside, choking on smoke.
Oh God.
I throw the phone, gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white. If she's hurt, if that bastard... A groan rips from my lips at the thought of her trapped inside, helpless.
I know exactly how bad fires can get. I fight them every damn day. The thought of my angel caught in one, scared and defenseless, has bile rising in my throat.
As soon as I turn the corner, I see the black smoke and vicious orange flames pouring from the bakery.
No. Oh, fuck no.
I hit the gas, racing up the block as my squad turns the corner behind me in the engine, Dillon and half the fucking Sheriff’s Department only seconds behind them in their cruisers.
I screech to a halt outside the bakery, tires burning rubber, too goddamn afraid to think, to breathe.
"Heidi!" I roar, launching myself out of the truck and sprinting for the building. Heat sears my face, but I don't care. I have to get to her.
"Alessandro!" Emmett comes out of nowhere, grabbing me. “You can’t go in there, brother.”
I wrench myself out of his grip, refusing to listen. I can’t listen. I can’t stop.
"She needs me!" I shout, shoving past him as I stumble toward the flames pouring from the building.
And then I see her. She’s on her knees, her arms clutched around Rivin, both of them covered in soot. Outside. Alive.
Relief slams into me so hard that I almost drop to my knees.
“Heidi!” I roar, racing toward her as my goddamn heart threatens to crack in half. I scoop her trembling body into my arms and race away from the inferno, Rivin bounding beside us.
She clings to me, her cheek pressed to my chest. Smoke clings to her hair, her skin, her clothes. "He s-saved me," she sobs, her voice muffled against my throat. "Rivin saved me. Out the office w-window."
A coughing fit seizes her, and fear lances through me again. I need to get her away from here now. She needs oxygen and a doctor. God only knows how much smoke she inhaled in there.
"I've got you, angel," I murmur into her hair, my voice shaking as I sprint toward the ambulance pulling in beside Dillon’s SUV. "You're safe now."
Tears blur my vision as my words register. She's safe. Thank God she's safe.
“Alessandro!” Dillon shouts.
I lift my head, glancing at him. “I’ve got her.”
Relief sears his expression. He jerks his chin in a nod. “I’m going after Don,” he growls. I was in his office when she called. He knows exactly what happened.
“Good. Find him before I do.” If I find him, I’ll kill him. There won’t be any stopping me. Not after this. Not with the way I feel right now.