Page 151 of Set Me On Fire

Was it the pain meds or the afterglow, I didn’t know, but I nodded as my eyes fell closed. Right now, that’s what this felt like. One long moment of ecstasy stretched out far beyond sex, beyond orgasm. Love was a fire that flickered between us, and it’d keep us safe and warm away from the cold of the world, and at that thought, I fell into sleep.

Chapter 65

Knox

“Dave’s here.”

I’d had a lot of conversations with Gareth over the years, but there was nothing else he could’ve said that would get my attention faster. I dropped the sponge I was using into the bucket of soapy water, Charlie and Henry doing the same as they clustered closer.

“Here?” I knew that wild grin of Charlie’s, and for the first time felt no compunction to tell him to rein himself in. “Well, well, that’s a way to make the day a lot more interesting.” He looked at me. “Don’t try and stop me from belting that prick into next week.”

“You’ll have to get in line.”

Henry’s growl took us all by surprise, but I guess it made sense. Firefighters could be gossipy pricks, so I felt the best strategy was to get in front of that and tell people the real story. Millie left the office job because Dave went through her private emails, reading one from her obstetrician about the genetic profile of her baby.

And one of us was the bio dad.

There were some grumblings when I first delivered the news, but when I made clear all three of us would do right by Millie and the baby, the animosity was redirected towards the real villain: Dave.

“Behind me,” I assured them all. “He must be here for his disciplinary hearing, so that means we’re needed.”

“That’s what I came to tell you,” Gareth said. “I was a witness, so were a bunch of the others. Noah’s gonna give his side of the story via video link, and then we’re booting that prick from the service, once and for all.”

By the time we walked inside the station, pretty much every person that worked there lined the halls. Blokes nodded to us as we passed, but I knew Dave had entered the building. Seeing the men around me stiffen, their eyes trained further down the hall had me turning around.

I didn’t hate many people, but fuck, I hated Dave. Wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire, the need to do something far worse burning inside me. I was glad Noah was at home, because Charlie came to stand beside me, letting out an animalistic growl.

“Just give me ten minutes alone with this prick…” he muttered.

“I could get the job done in five,” I replied, my head filled with murderous fantasies.

But instead of walking up to us, the stupid arsehole turned to his so-called mates, Brian and Mick.

“How’s it going, fellas?” He sauntered over in their direction, but both guys took a step backwards, ignoring his outstretched hand. “Must be pretty boring without me around.”

“You’re not here to catch up.” Brent appeared, looking Dave up and down with an expression of thinly veiled disgust. “You’ve been stood down on full pay until the disciplinary hearing couldtake place. Go to the conference room so we can get this over and done with.”

“And I can get back to the business of saving people’s lives?” Dave smirked, my hands forming fists at the sight of it. “Looking forward to it.”

Because that’s how stupid he was.

“Where’s your union representative?”The bloke from the department who was conducting the hearing said to Dave.

“Figured I’d represent myself,” Dave said, taking a seat.

The lawyer representing the service snorted, shaking his head as he shuffled his papers.

“You won’t get any complaints from me,” he said with a shark-like smile.

“Well then, let's get started,” the chief officer said, taking a seat and starting the process.

“So, if I have this straight.” The chief officer looked stunned by what he was reading, and that was gratifying. I wanted, needed, someone else to be just as fucking pissed by this idiot’s bullshit. “You attempted to sexually assault a colleague.”

“There’s no evidence of that,” Dave spluttered. “The little bitch is lying.”

“The signed statements by your team members say otherwise,” the officer said, rolling his eyes. “Then there’s the breach of the same woman’s privacy when you went through her emails?—”

“Personal emails,” Brent corrected.

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