Page 16 of Flame
“If you’re good with it, I’m fine with it. It’s your house.”
“Make yourself at home.” He clears his throat and gestures to a doorway. “There’s a bathroom through the living room and down the hall. It’s the second door on your right. The third door is the guest room in case you want some privacy.”
Fabulous. “Sounds great.”
“I’ll give you a tour of the place later.”
I nod.
We watch each other for a few seconds. The room shrinks around us, and the air gets hotter. I can hear my heartbeat as it pounds steadily and feel my chest rising and falling rapidly as I work to keep myself calm.
“I’ll be back,” he says finally.
“I’ll be here.”
He dips his chin toward the floor and leaves through the garage door.
As soon as he’s gone, my knees buckle. I exhale a harsh breath and fall back against the counter.
How am I going to survive this? How can I possibly stay at Foxx Carmichael’s house for a few days and come out on the other side unscathed?
Lord, help me.
CHAPTER4
Foxx
“Back to square fucking one.”
I step onto the driveway and tip my face to the sun.
When I was a little boy, I was obsessed with the sun. Its size. Its power. The color and eclipses and the way it could light the sky with purples and oranges just before sundown—it all felt magical. I loved everything about it.
If only life were still that simple.
“How did I wind up here?” I ask, the question carried off by the breeze.
I did the right thing,the hard thing, and separated myself from Bianca. I ensured she had someone undistracted and focused watching her back.
Because that man couldn’t be me.
But here we are, six months later, and I’m not sure I made the right decision because it sure as hell doesn’t seem like anyone is watching her back.
Fury rolls through my veins again today. Only, this time, I’m alone. This time, I don’t have to hide it.
I’ve intentionally avoided having anything to do with Bianca since I left her security detail. If I hear her name, I tune out. If we’re in the same place, I ensure I’m the farthest away from her.
It’s for the best. For all of us.
But now she’s here, in my fucking house, and it appears it’s where she should’ve been all along.
Are these motherfuckers dropping the ball?
I massage my aching jaw from clenching my teeth all day.
We knew there was a threat to Bianca the day Rory left Reid. We also knew that threat grew when Rory appointed Bianca as Brewer Group’s Interim President—Reid’s former position. If that threat has continued to grow, and it appears it has, why in the fuck was she without security today?
Am I the only one that cares about her safety?
