Page 120 of Roses in Summer

I snort at her command, not surprised by the repetitious barb she throws out. “Will do, Di. Have a good night.” I knock once on the stainless steel counter before heading to the employee break room to shower and change.

—

I’m lucky I know exactly where I’m going.

My car is vintage, an homage to the classic muscle cars that riddled movies and televisions last century. It’s beautiful and restored. But it’s also old as fuck.

There’s no touch-screen navigation of any kind.

I weave through the narrow streets of West Elm, watching for pedestrians as I stop at a four-way intersection. Looking in each direction, I check the flow of traffic and start to press forward when a blacked-out Mustang blows the stop sign and speeds dangerously across the intersection.

“Pierdolic,” I curse, slamming on the brakes to prevent a collision. “Fucking assholes.” I watch the car fly down the road, disappearing around a bend as it races to God knows where. A vague memory tickles the back of my mind, something familiar about that car and the fast pace of the vehicle.

“Where the fuck have I seen that car before?” I murmur, sorting through my memories to try to pinpoint the vehicle. Shaking my head, I toss it from my mind and look at the four-way stop again, checking that no other vehicles are about to appear before I press on the gas and drive the final four miles to Seraphina’s apartment.

A block away from her street, I notice a swarming of cars, a heavy presence of vehicles that seems abnormal to the street. The dread I felt earlier, the one that tells me to never leave my fucking phone somewhere and be inaccessible, returns, this time with the gnawing realization that something is not right.

I sit in the suburban traffic, inching slowly down the street until I’m able to see the flashing red and white lights of first responder vehicles and wooden barricades preventing anyone from accessing the street I need to turn down.

“What the fuck?” My heart sinks to my stomach, and I lurch my car to the side, slipping into a narrow spot that will be a bitch to get out of later. I waste no time throwing open my door and running to the barricade. I slip behind it, not giving a shit that it’s stamped with the words “Do Not Enter” or that one of the police seems to call out after me to stop as I jog toward the collection of ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars lined up five hundred or so feet outside of Seraphina’s building.

I stop in my tracks, chest heaving at the scene in front of me. It takes me a moment to register the smoke coming from the building, the black cloud that seems to disappear into the early evening sky. Panic seizes me, and instead of standing around, watching the smoke dance into the air like a fucking moron, my feet start moving, running toward the collection of people being treated in a row of ambulances.

I look at each face as I search for Seraphina, praying to every god I’ve ever heard of that she’s here and safe. Because if she’s not, I don’t want to know what I’ll fucking do.

“You are the most annoying person I’ve ever had the displeasure of speaking to,” a familiar voice growls to my right, and I whip my head around to see Bianca glaring at a tall, dark-haired police officer.

“Listen, Ms. Gregori, I don’t know what hole you crawled out of, but go back. Because if saving your life after a goddamn fire isn’t good enough for you, I don’t know what is.”

“You didn’t save me after a fire, asshole. I walked outside and got pushed by some idiot. Helping me stand up doesn’t count as a rescue mission, Rambo.”

I watch the officer pinch the bridge of his nose, nostrils flaring as he seemingly tries to reel in his exasperation with Bianca. “I’m six seconds away from cuffing you and throwing you in the back of my squad car. Go find your brother.”

“How dare you! I’ll tell his boss there’s an asshole who doesn’t—hey, Jack, what the hell are you doing? Do not walk away from me.”

The officer, Jack, turns his back on Bianca, shaking his head as he retreats into the crowd. Bianca is left seething but alone, and it gives me the opportunity to figure out what the fuck is going on. “B,” I yell out, catching her attention. She looks around, trying to find the direction of my voice before she spots me.

“Linc.” She nods and walks over to me. As she approaches, I see the tiredness in her eyes.

“What happened? Where is Seraphina? Are you okay?”

She shakes her head, looking upward before responding. “Ava and I were in the living room when the smell of smoke hit us. At first, we thought there was a kitchen fire and that Ava left the burner on or something. But when we realized it wasn’t from our apartment, we opened our door and saw people panicking to get down the stairs. One of our upstairs neighbors told us there was a fire somewhere in the building. Ser was in the shower, and we grabbed her and ran outside. She’s in one of the ambulances getting checked out.”

“Where?” I grit out, needing to see her as soon as fucking possible to make sure she’s okay.

Bianca points to the left toward an ambulance parked parallel to the row of fire trucks. I nod and jog toward the vehicle, hitting people as I go. I don’t give a fuck about being courteous right now. I’m no more than two feet from the side of the ambulance when an officer stops me. “Someone is being treated in this vehicle. You’ll need to wait until they’re cleared or transported.”

“Like fuck I will,” I practically growl, wishing I could take the officer in front of me and toss him into the crowd of people behind me.

“You are unauthorized to approach a patient receiving treatment. You can go to another ambulance for emergency care, or you can—”

“Listen to me, asshole. My girlfriend is in the ambulance, and if you think—”

“Lincoln.” A voice interrupts me, stopping my tirade mid-sentence. I turn toward the voice and see Rafe approaching in full uniform.

“Steve, this is Sera’s boyfriend. He’s cleared to pass.” Steve shoots me a look, one that says he’s unimpressed, but steps to the side, clearing the way forward.

Rafe meets my strides, walking with me in silence as I approach the ambulance. For the hundredth time tonight, my heart stills in my fucking chest at the sight before me. Wrapped in a plush white robe, Seraphina sits on the back of the vehicle’s ledge, a paramedic swiping something across the bloody scratches on her face.

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