Page 14 of Flame's Fight

“No. I’m not. I need to file a report and contact our lawyers.” He says. “I’m so angry, I’m shaking.”

“Look, why don’t you go have some dinner and calm down before you get started?”

He glances at me. “You don’t think I should fire her, do you?”

I answer him honestly. “No, I don’t. I understand why you’re upset, but Tally is an amazing doctor, one of our best. You don’t know the history between her and her parents, so you don’t understand why his coming her has her so upset. Maybe you could just give her a couple of days without pay? Administrative leave?” I repeat Tally’s suggestion.

He looks at me, and I can see something in his eye that has me wanting to backpedal.

“I might be willing to listen if you keep talking while we eat.” He suggests with a grin.

Ugh. I was hoping he’d just see the advantage of following my suggestion without adding his own. But I want to help Tally. And since I’m not likely to fulfill my promise to care for Flame. I guess I could at least ensure Tally’s position at the hospital.

“Ok, let’s go.” I tell him, sending an eye roll to Ashlyn, who suppresses a smile just as Tony looks her way.

Thinking he might try to turn this into an actual date, I’m glad when he leads me to the cafeteria. After grabbing a salad, I find a table in the center of the room when I see him veering toward a booth.

“You know what I don’t understand,” He starts after he swallows a bite of his cheeseburger. “Why is Tally the golden child of this hospital? I’ve checked her record. In her first few years, she was diligent about covering her shift and would often volunteer to cover other doctors. But these past couple of months, she’s been unavailable almost as much as she’s been at work.”

“She had some family issues.” I tell him. Although I’m not sure how much I can share. I know that the same man who killed one of our nurses beat and raped Caitlin. But she didn’t report it. No one had. “Someone attacked her sister, mugged her. Tally took some time to care for her.”

“Doubt it was a mugging.” Tony mutters as he chews his food. Ew. He could at least swallow first. When he does, he continues. “I hear her sister is dating one of those bikers. He probably beat her.”

I choke on the bite that I just took and swallow some water before unloading on him. “Scar would never hurt Caitlin. He adores her.” I protest. “None of those guys would ever hurt a woman. That’s just not who they are.”

He looks at me with suspicion. “Are you dating one of them?”

I shake my head. “I used to, but we broke up. But I' know most of them and attended several parties. They’re good guys.”

“But you heard Dante threaten me?” Tony protests.

I glance at him and feel a little sorry for him because he’s an innocent. He’s a little dog who thinks he has a chance against the big dogs, the Demon Dawgs. He couldn’t be more wrong.

“Tony. Dante doesn’t make threats. He told you exactly what he would do if you hurt Tally. She’s carrying his baby, which is also Angela Westbrook’s grandchild. Do you really want to fight against them when you could be the better man and forgive Tally for having an emotional response to her estranged father showing up out of the blue?”

He looks a little green as he pushes his plate away. “What kind of precedent would I be setting? She crossed a line. How can I overlook that? What would be a good enough excuse?”

“Pregnancy hormones?” I suggest.

When I see his eyes light up and his shoulder snap back, I know I have him. Good. One crisis contained and one promise fulfilled. Now to see how to fulfill my second promise.

“Ok. I’ll consider it.” We continue eating in silence. “I appreciate your help with this. I know you are friends with Tally, but it seems like you also want to help me.”

I nod. “I do. You’re good at your job.”

“I am.” He says, smiling. “Maybe you and I could go out sometime away from here.” When I frown. He chuckles. “As friends, of course. We work together, we could never date.”

“Oh. Ok. Then sure. Dinner some time would be great.”

CHAPTER NINE: FLAME

“Since it’s just us here, I have a question for you.” Ashlyn says.

“I’m almost afraid to hear it, but go ahead.” I tell her.

“Are you happy working at Styx?” she asks.

Her question surprises me. Styx is our towing and storage business. We took it over when the previous owner couldn’t pay back a loan. He gave us the business and moved to Northern California to work with his son. Feral, our Road Captain, took over as manager using Reaper and Ghost to help run it when they were prospects. When they patched in, they took over the business. I kind of fell into managing it with them.

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