Page 50 of Burning for the Truth

I’m about halfway around the building when I see her running toward me, tears streaming down her beautiful face as she smiles and jumps into my arms. She wraps herself around me completely and I hold her close as she buries her face in my neck. Alex and Slade and the rest of their shift run past us with tools, a stretcher, and hose line.

She pulls back to look me in the eye and places her hands on either side of my face. “I love you, Dean. I should’ve told you before. I love you!”

She turns to glance behind us where all the guys have gathered and are at work on the back of the building. “Are they getting him out?” she asks concerned.

“Whatever it is, they’re going to handle it. We need to get you to the ambulance so they can check you out,” I tell her, still not putting her down.

“But Michael’s hurt—” I cut her off.

“And so are you. They’ll get him out and he’ll be treated. Then you can tell me what the hell happened in there,” I say calmly even as anger courses through me at the mere thought of Michael being the arsonist.

Sterling rushes over but I still don’t let Briella go. “Bree! What were you thinking?” he almost shouts as he hugs her even as she’s still in my hold. She leans into him but keeps her arms and legs around me.

“I was answering the call we all do. When someone calls for help, we go. And I was ending this.” He gazes at her with his eyebrows raised in question. “Listen, I’m worn out. Michael is the arsonist and it’s not as cut and dry as you want it to be. I promise I’ll tell you all about it, but give me a few minutes, okay?” she says in only the way she can and seems to get anything she wants.

He nods, kisses her forehead and watches as they pull Michael out of the building. I don’t even glance over because my only focus is Briella.

She rests her forehead against mine with her hands on either side of my face. “I didn’t let go, Dean. We still need to talk, and we will, but right now all you need to know is I love you. And it’s always been you who saves me.”

As we approach the waiting ambulance, I kiss her lips. “I love you, Briella. And I’ll never let you go.”

Aweek has passed since the fire at Wally’s Gym. It started there and ended there. Briella has stayed with me almost every night since she was released from the hospital. They kept her a couple days for observation. She had some scrapes and bruises, and she had a few stitches from a flesh wound in her arm after her gun went off during the second explosion. But even though she’s been in my bed, we haven’tslepttogether intimately since the night she found Drew’s letter.

She walks out of my bathroom, dressed and ready to go. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” I ask her again.

“I’m sure.” She smiles as she leans over and kisses my lips.

“I don’t know how you can look him in the eye after what he did. I know you had to tell him what he wanted to hear when you were trying to survive the fire, but you don’t have to do what you said and try to be his friend,” I say sharply.

She smiles softly. “I know I don’t. But I’m not a cheater or a liar. I didn’t promise we’d be BFFs, Dean. I promised I’d forgive him and try to be a friend to him. He got swept away by his grief. I know something about that, although I handled mine in a much different way. No one’s grief will ever be the same.”

She starts to walk away, and I grab her by the waist and pull her onto the bed with me. “Don’t go,” I mumble in her ear. She giggles and turns to kiss me.

“I’ll be back, I promise. This is something I need to do. Trust me…and then”—she cups my face gently—“we can talk.”

Ienter GVPD and make my way toward Chief Trudeau’s office. I take a deep breath before knocking. I raise my hand to knock, but he opens the door before I can.

“Briella,” he greets me, “come on in.”

I walk in and he shuts the door behind me. He doesn’t sit behind his desk; he leans on the front of it and crosses his arms. “Briella, I want to start by saying how proud I am of you and how you handled the situation. And then I need to apologize for taking you off the case,” he says softly, and I can tell he’s remorseful by the way he stares at me and the stiffness of his spine.

I laugh. “Come on, Chief. You and I both know I wasn’t ever off the case.”

He smiles brightly. “I suppose you’re right. But I never wanted you to turn in your badge and gun. I only wanted you safe. I’m sorry. There were other ways we could’ve handled the situation without totally pulling you off.”

I nod. “I appreciate that, Chief.”

“Thank you for doing the right thing even if it was the hardest thing to do in the moment. And thank you for…” He rubs a hand down the stubble covering his jaw.

“For saving Serena?” I finish for him.

He glances back up at me. “Yeah, she’s definitely the heart of this place. The heart of all first responders I’d say. That’s one thing he got right.”

“I think she may be the heart of someone else too,” I say knowingly.

He looks at me in surprise, but I put a finger to my lips signaling I won’t tell. “You don’t have to admit it, but we all see the way she and Chief Holden look at each other. I know you know because you and Ryan are close. Just saying,” I tell him with amusement.

“Between you and me, while we’re talking about secret relationships, I also see the way you look at a certain therapist,” I add quietly, a smile tipping up my lips.

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