Page 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Unblinking, I hitch a thumb toward the door. “Let’s take this outside,” My anger bleeds through my words.

Gunnar’s nostrils flare. I don’t miss the fact that his fists are huge, as big as mine and clenched tight.

“Good call.”

Avery’s off her seat, leaping toward the door in a wild flurry of nerves. “Wait! No one is fighting.”

I hold up a hand. “We’re not fighting. We’re going to have a talk. Man to man.”

Her eyes fly back and forth between us. “I don’t like the sound of that. You two look like lions that are about to fight over a carcass.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re grown men. We need to take care of this now.”

I step back and shove the door open. Gunnar strides out, slicing me with his glare as he goes.

Avery looks like she might throw up. I catch her in my arms and pull her to me. “It’s okay, sweetheart. We know each other from the fire academy. No one’s going to die.”

She’s shaking. Her arms wrap tighter around my waist. All of her fear is in her voice. “I might. I can’t take this kind of thing.”

I hug her tight, then slide her hands off. “Wait here. Trust me. I won’t let this get out of hand.”

The fear in her eyes makes my chest tighten. She begs, “Please. If anything bad happens, he could go back to prison.”

I kiss her, cupping her face in my hands, wishing I could take her worry away. “No one’s getting arrested. Just go start some water in the bath. Make yourself busy.”

When I turn and stride out the door, I know she’s still standing there. I can practically hear her pounding heart all the way down the steps.

Gunnar’s standing at the bottom on the landing. Neck straining. Big fists clenched. Laser beam eyes focused on me like two aimed weapons.

“Why her?”

“Because she’s amazing.”

He snorts and his jaw clenches. “So are seventy million other women.”

Working my own jaw, I stare at him, letting my anger simmer hot. “You might as well come to terms with this, nothing you do, Gunnar, is going to chase me off.”

He takes a stalking lunge toward me. “If you fucking hurt her, I will destroy you. I went to prison to protect her once. I’m not afraid to gut you like a fish and leave you in the lagoon.”

I let my own threat remain silent. He knows I’m dangerous too. The fight we had in the academy left us both bloodied and bruised. If six of our classmates hadn’t stopped us, who knows what could have happened.

“Let it go,” I say finally. “No one comes out a winner if we fight. Especially Avery.”

We breathe fire at each other, but neither of us moves. We’re an even match, it’s why we were head to head in school for top of our class. I won’t go down easy and he knows it.

Staring right into his angry eyes, I make a move to diffuse the situation. “Take it down a notch, brother.”

“Don’t brother me, you bastard. She’s over ten years younger than you. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Making sure she’s happy and taken care of.”

That really pisses him off. His lip curls back. “Fuck you. You have no right to ruin her life.”

“We’re in love. I know you might not know what that feels like, but let me tell you, there’s nothing that’s going to come between us. I won’t let it, so you and I are going to work this out. Tonight.”

For a long time, he seethes at me. Looking for any damned reason he can concoct that I should stay away from Avery. Good fucking luck, buddy.

“What about your damned wife and kid?” he snarls.

I hold up my left hand. “Divorced. And my kid’s fine, thanks for asking. He’s fifteen—got the usual problems that come with that—but he’s turning into a strong young man.”

The pulse in his temple throbs. All the veins there are standing out like he might blow one any second .

Intentionally, I keep my voice even. “Care to know any more about my personal life? Ask away.”

He doesn’t reply, just stares at me with eyes that are so much like his sister’s but are hardened from years in prison.

“So, what’s the real story of you getting locked up?”

“I beat some fucking scumbag whose son bullied Avery at school. The son held her against the lockers and kissed her while taunting her about being poor, making fun of her clothes while he manhandled her. She went to the Principal but the old man covered up for his son with his money. Then the old bastard had the nerve to gun his car and swerve it at her in the parking lot. If she hadn’t jumped out of the way she’d have been hit. Scared the hell out of her.”

Everything inside of me goes molten with anger. I’ve never wanted more to hunt someone down. “The son got away with sexually assaulting Avery?”

“Yep. She was sixteen. Dillon was a big kid, he was a senior. No one helped, but she beat him off and reported it to the officials. Of course, Dillon’s father was a major donor to the school and on the board, so…”

My breath is stuck, searing a hole in my chest. I’m barely able to speak. “Jesus.”

“They made her life hell for years. She didn’t tell me. I’m not sure why, at first, but later, because I was in the fire academy and she didn’t want to wreck my chances of finishing.”

The urge to throw up seizes me. An animal sound rumbles in my throat. Anger flares hot in my veins. Violent and dark. I’ve never felt more murderous in my life.

My hands burn to rip that fucker and his father apart. Expose and destroy the school and leave a wake of destruction like a tornado.

“Did you destroy that fucker, Dillon? ”

“I didn’t get a chance. He went off to college in Italy by the time she told me. Listen to this, the bastard got arrested in Italy for assault and is now serving time. The father tried to get him cleared again, but that time, it didn’t work.”

He shakes his head. “She kept everything from me until the last day of our final evals. That’s why you beat me out as the top of the class that day. I went on a bender the night before because I couldn’t deal with it.”

Our entire class wondered what happened to G.S. Ellis. We were neck in neck the entire time we were in the academy, a testosterone cauldron of competition at its worst. Now, I know.

“How long before you beat up the old man? I don’t remember the timeline.”

“A year after I got out and started working.”

“How did you control yourself so long?”

He grunts, rubs his face. The twisted scars catch the light. Gunnar’s knuckles have seen more than a few fights and some walls, looks like. “I broke two arms, and dislocated another in my MMA gym. I beat people half to death if they dared spar with me.”

“Then you snapped.”

He nods, his expression hardening, his eyes going distant. “I saw him one day. Out in the open. No one around except the two of us. We were at a gas station. Scared the fuck out of him. I slammed his head in his Jaguar door.”

“And kicked him until someone pulled you off,” I finish for him. “I saw the news clips. I thought you had a hair-trigger temper the whole time we were in the academy. I guess I know why now. Your life was hard as fuck.”

“I was raising Avery. Working any job I could get while I was taking classes. Trying to keep an apartment. She needed a safe place. I was the one who had to give it to her.”

Slowly, Gunnar unclenches his hands. He paces across the grass that borders the parking lot. “Then I got sent to prison. And she was all alone.”

“She’s done okay. She’s fine.”

“She shouldn’t have had to do it alone.” There’s pure agony in his voice.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know. You might not believe this, but if I’d have known I would have helped you both.”

He shakes his head, looks toward the sky. “I can’t believe I just spent five years in prison. I feel like I’m a thousand years old.”

What do you say to a person in his shoes? I have no idea. “What do you need now?”

“Fuck if I know,” he admits. “Time.” He paces more. His energy simmers, ebbs and flows. “A job.”

“I’ve got a lot of contacts.”

Like a switch has been flipped he’s agitated again. “What’s your deal?” His tone is full of accusation as his eyes drill into me again.

“Deal? I’m not clear what you’re asking.”

“You’re a firefighter, how do you have this building, how can you let Avery live rent free? What kind of dirty business are you into?”

I shake my head and remind myself that Gunnar’s been locked up with some of society’s worst. “Well, that’s a far stretch.”

“That apartment is worth a mint.”

“For your information, this was my grandfather’s building. I remodeled it with my own hands. I’ve been flipping real estate and have owned investment property for twenty years. I’ve got a solid income from it. ”

“Lucky you. Everything’s going just as you planned. Kid’s doing well. Got a girlfriend that obviously adores you.”

He curses, paces away.

“You know your life isn’t over because you’ve got a record.”

He laughs harshly. “How would you fucking know? Have you walked a mile in these shoes? Have you seen the shit I’ve seen? Lived in a cell block with murderers trying to wait on you to drop your guard so they can shank you? Do you have a felony conviction for assault? No? That’s what I thought. So don’t think you know that my life isn’t over.”

A creak on the steps above draws both of our eyes. Avery’s peering down, her knuckles are white where she’s clenching the railing.

Gunnar makes a rough sound, drawing my eyes back to him. He takes a step back, turns. The grass under his feet rustles in the dark silence as he walks away.

Avery flies down the steps and chases after him. “Gunnar, wait! Please don’t go. ”

Slowly, he turns. A dark cloud of energy crackling over him. His eyes are filled with angry hurt. “Don’t follow me, Pip. I need to be alone right now.”

“You can’t just go storming off in the night…”

He steps back, putting more room between her and him. “I will. I’m a free man. I can go any damned where I want.” He throws an angry glance at me. “I won’t stay under his roof tonight, that’s for certain.”

“Please. Let’s talk this out,” she says, her voice cracking with emotion.

Looking at me over her head, he says, “Pipsqueak, I just hope you know what you’re doing. But if you’re truly happy. That’s what matters. ”

“I am, please just listen.”

“I’ve heard enough. Don’t follow me. I’ll be in touch.” Then he turns, with his shoulders tight, and disappears into the darkness.

Avery, spirit broken, posture sagging, stands staring after him. I can feel her heartbeat from twenty feet away.

When I wrap my arms around her, she lets out an angry sob.

“I’m sorry, baby.”