Page 126 of Sunkissed Colorado

“So you showed up when Callum wasn’t here. To push me around and steal from my family.”

Sweat beaded at his temples. “The people I owe money to aren’t going to be sympathetic if I return to Chicago unable to pay them.”

The man had a trust fund, but had still sold his soul for more money, apparently.

“I already asked your parents for a loan,” he went on, “but after what happened the other day with you and your Neanderthal boyfriend, your parents want nothing to do with me. I’m going to pay this money back, Zan. I swear. I just need to buy some more time.”

I threw my hands up. “The safe has a time lock. It only opens at specified intervals, and otherwise we can just put moneyin. That’s how restaurant safes work. You think we just leave thousands of dollars lying around where anyone can get to it?”

Ian’s face twisted with frustration. “You have to know a code. Or you have a key.” He glanced around the office.

Moving fast, I tried to dart around him toward the door, reaching for the knob. But he grabbed my arm. Twisted. Ian’s fingers dug in hard enough to bruise, and I screamed.

“Let go of me!”

“Not until you help me.” He pushed me back toward the desk. “I’m not playing around here. These people willkill meif I don’t pay them back.”

Fear shot through me, cold and sharp. This wasn’t the Ian I’d known. This person was desperate. Dangerous.

I kicked him hard in the shin and managed to break free, yanking the door open. “Help!” I screamed as I ran toward the back door, though I knew no one else was here.

That’s when I smelled it. Smoke.

The smoke detector alarm started blaring, its shrill warning echoing through the empty restaurant. Panic seized my chest as I realized what was happening.

The building wason fire.

I could see the orange glow coming from the direction of the back storage room. My lungs burned as I inhaled the acrid air, and I started coughing uncontrollably.

“Ian!” I screamed, my voice hoarse. “Ian, help me! The fire extinguisher!”

I turned to see him stop in his tracks, horror on his face.

Then he turned andran. Saving himself.

Racing toward the kitchen, I grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall mount, my hands shaking as I pulled the pin.

Near the back of the building, the smoke was getting thicker, making my eyes stream and my chest tighten with each breath. But this wasn’t just any building burning. This wasHearthstone. My grandfather’s pride and joy. The place where he’d built his legacy. Where Callum and I had found our way to each other.

I couldn’t let it burn down. I wouldn’t.

I aimed the nozzle at the base of the flames. The chemical foam shot out, and for a moment I thought I was making progress. But the smoke was overwhelming now, black and choking.

Please, I thought, coughing as I crouched near the ground.Please don’t take this too.

THIRTY-THREE

Callum

It wasthe hardest thing to leave Zandra at Hearthstone and drive away.

But she’d basically told me she needed space, so I had to give it to her. Right? Even if it went against every damn instinct I had to keep her close. Not let her go.

Yet I also couldn’t go homewithoutZ. That would feel too much like admitting defeat. So I steered my truck onto a road that would lead toward the foothills instead. To my sister’s place.

I parked outside Grace’s house. It was only about eleven at night, and the lights were still on. I’d thought about texting on the way, but hell, this was an emergency, so Gracie would have to forgive me showing up like this.

There was so much I needed to say to my sister. So much I should have dealt with before, and being with Zandra just opened me up to that truth.