Page 2 of Ignited Heat

"Then maybe your papa should have a word with Brandon as well."

That's the last thing I wanted to happen. Chen Lee is a strict man, but he loves his children fiercely. Mama and Papa couldn't have any children of their own, so they fostered many children and then adopted eight of them. I was the only girl, which sometimes felt like my own little hell on earth, especially growing up. But foster care was worse, so I put up with my dear bullies—brothers, I mean.

"No, please. Papa's been looking for reasons to close the card games for the longest time. He'll get into it with Brandon and start pushing again. I don't want to cause a battle between family members."

My mother looks at me and purses her lips. She doesn't like it, but she'll go with it. She knows what a blessing it is to have a fight-free zone in her home.

"Oh look, there's your security detail now,” she says with a smirk.

"Mama!"

"Just remember, your father is an intelligent man. Soon, he'll start asking questions. You'll have to tell him the truth."

The truth is that I made a huge mistake letting this man I thought was charming and attentive into my life, only to discover he's a monster.

Tuck enters the kitchen and sees the packages in front of me. We split them in half and then leave for Midnight Heat. We walk in silence for a bit, and he clears his throat.

"Sorry for being late."

"That's okay, Tuck."

"Don't tell the boss, please."

I nod and keep walking. I’m focusing on what I will say to Jason when we get to the club. Whatever few words I get to say to him have to be carefully chosen. He's always so serious and focused on his job, but when I deliver the food, he usually asks me to stay with him. Doesn't want to eat alone, I guess. I wish he asked me because he wanted to spend some time with me. But there's always this tense silence that I keep trying to break to no avail.

We enter the club through the back, and most of the people who ordered are waiting in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I'm late," I say.

"Don't worry, we know it's Tuck's fault," Anne says with a smile.

Anne is the nightclub's social media manager, and we've become a bit close since she started working here. She's dating the CEO, Maxwell Lewis, who is very scary in person. I mostly just try to stay out of his way.

"Hey," I bump her with my hip and whisper, "we should hang out soon."

"You got it."

She takes the containers labeled with her name and waves me goodbye. I take a deep breath and go in search of Jason. Security has a mid-sized office that holds all the video surveillance equipment, and that's where I can usually find the heads of security, Jason and Althea. I knock softly on the door, and Jason says it's okay to come inside.

I stay in the doorway and just lift up the food so that he knows it's dinnertime. He nods, and then I retreat and head to a small office where Jason prefers to eat. I brought some food for myself as well, so it's not awkward. Jason said it was okay, and now we've gotten into a routine. I place everything on the table and sit down. Jason comes in after a minute or so and sits in the seat across from me.

We eat in silence, but after a few minutes I remember my mother's comment about the security.

"Um, my mom has noticed Tuck following me around. She thinks my brothers should be taking care of me, not you."

He looks at me for a few seconds, his icy stare making me shiver, but not in fear. Never in fear.

"What do you think?" He asks.

"I think you're using the club's resources to take care of me, and I'm not sure I'm completely fine with that."

"I talked to the owners."

"You don't have to take care of me."

"Are you going to get your brothers to protect you?" He raises a dark eyebrow.

"I…"

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