Page 10 of Up in a Blaze (Polished P & P #4)

CHAPTER TEN

BLAZE

F inally, I could fucking breathe again. My heart slowed, and the anger ebbed as soon as Henri nodded. He understood where my mind had gone. Why I did what I did.

“Sawyer, since we don’t have answers, maybe you could help us out?” Country asked.

Henri tipped to his toes and kissed my jaw. “Love you, mon amour. Nothing will change that,” he said softly.

Grunting, I tugged him in and tucked him under my arm. With a kiss to his temple, I nipped at his earlobe. “You’re mine, firecracker. Always got my love.”

Our attention shifted to the kid when he said, “The man’s dead?”

“Da, that is what he said,” Adrick said.

“Adrick,” Saint warned. “How about you go see your injured men?”

“Why? They did their job. They will get paid well for it.”

That man only had an inch of emotions inside him, and they went to his husband, West.

Saint sighed. “Fine. Then how about you keep any comments to yourself?”

The Russian glared at Saint but crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a look, as if to say “Well, keep going.”

“What was his name?” Sawyer asked.

“Bernard Simpson,” Country supplied.

Sawyer paled.

Shit. What the fuck had that motherfucker done?

The kid gulped.

“Sawyer, what is it?” Henri asked.

The kid shook his head.

“Sawyer, you gotta tell us,” Country said softly.

“S-Sorry, I will…. I just didn’t expect it to be him. He’s been hinting for me to live with him. Telling me he can take care of me. Saying he doesn’t want me with anyone else.” Tears welled. “I-If I’d thought he was serious…. He never got angry with me. Never hurt me.”

Henri shook his head as he tapped at my arms trapping him.

I dropped them, and Henri moved over to Sawyer.

“It matters not if he never hurt you or got angry, chéri.” He curled an arm around Sawyer’s shoulders, which meant Loyal had to drop his hand from the kid’s neck.

He didn’t look happy about it but stayed silent as Henri went on, “Did you tell him you would like to live with him? That you wanted to be with him outside of Polished?” The kid was already shaking his head.

“Exactly. You are not at fault for his actions. He wanted someone he could not have, and he didn’t handle that well. ”

“I-I would have come to you if he was… if he was mean to me.” He wrapped his arms around his waist. “I felt like I was being watched, but….” He shook his head again.

“You get attention like my West.” Sawyer glanced over at the Russian. “You are used to people looking at you. You probably thought the feeling of being watched was just that, the attention you get. You wondered if you were overreacting,” Adrick said.

Sawyer’s gaze widened, but he nodded.

“Adrick, can I be the one to tell West you think Sawyer’s good-looking?”

Adrick advanced on Loyal, but Saint stepped in front of Adrick with a laugh to hold him back, and Sawyer moved closer to Loyal.

Looked like the kid might have something for the biker.

Henri glanced over to me and widened his eyes, silently asking me if I saw that.

My lips twitched. He was the only reason I relaxed, and he made the anger dim enough to think straight.

“I will kill you,” Adrick shouted.

“Man, it was a joke,” Loyal said.

Country pinched the bridge of his nose. “Brother, we don’t joke with the Russian. He has no sense of humor.”

Adrick stopped trying to step around Saint and crossed his arms again. “I have humor.”

Everyone stared at him.

“I only give it to West.”

Henri smirked over at me, one brow cocked up.

Wait. Was my little firecracker trying to tell me I was like the Russian?

What the fuck? I wasn’t cold or…. Fuck me. Maybe I was like Adrick since Henri was the only one who saw all sides of me, like West did with the Russian.

Not that I cared that we were similar. If anything, it made me understand Adrick more and his need to protect West in any way he could.

“Sawyer,” Country intervened. “Loyal can give you a lift home if?—”

“No!” He slapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head. Slowly, he dropped the hand, fisting both at his sides to hide them shaking. “I-I mean, I don’t need a lift. Thank you, though. I should go.” He nodded. “I need to go.”

Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious at all.

“Thank you—not that I’m thanking you for the—” He made a strangled sound and shook his head as he headed toward the door.

He turned back and added, “Just that, I’m glad it’s been dealt with.

” He groaned low, running a hand over his face.

“Not that I wanted anyone dead.” He flicked his gaze to me and back to Henri before he quickly said, “And not that I don’t appreciate the issue being dealt with.

He held her hostage. The outcome was inevitable. ” He was near panting now.

Henri moved over to him. “Relax, chéri. We understand. Are you sure you don’t want to ride Loyal home? Loyal will be good with it.”

Loyal dropped his head, eyes to the floor, hiding his expression.

Fuck me. Did Henri understand how that sounded?

Saint choked on his laugh.

“What?” Adrick asked.

Country snorted. “Henri, want to check how you said that?”

“Sorry, I am French. Sometimes I get things wrong.”

Fuckin’ bullshit. But God, I loved that man.

Sawyer blushed. “N-No? I… I’m not far. I should go.” He reached out and patted Henri’s arm awkwardly before he spun around and slipped out of the room.

Henri spun on Loyal. “Maybe you should check on him before he leaves?”

Loyal looked at Country, who nodded, which had Loyal moving out of the room quickly.

Saint let out a long whistle. “Everyone can see the sexual tension between those two, right?”

“We are not standin’ around gossipin’ when we have shit to do,” Country stated.

Henri ignored Country and said to Saint, “They would be amazing together, but I fear little Sawyer is way too shy or there is something else holding him back.” His brows drew together before he lifted his gaze to me.

“I’ve looked into the kid, but there’s nothing that stands out as troublesome.”

“Then again, we did not know about this client stalking him,” Henri commented.

Goddamn, that was true.

“Not like we can track all employees outside of work,” Saint said. “They need to come to us for help.”

“But it is as I said,” Adrick stated.

That Sawyer got a lot of attention.

“Henri, check in with Sawyer when he comes into work tomorrow,” Country said. “For now, we’ll have to table this and get Polished back open. The cleanup should be done by now.” He turned to me. “I was heading to your office earlier. Any updates?”

“One. We hacked a satellite to check all boats in the ocean against their routes heading to the US. There are two that started from Australia who never logged their trip. Two we’ll keep an eye on and see where their destination could be.”

“We need that information before they even port so we can get onboard.”

As if I didn’t fucking know that. But instead of saying anything, I clenched my jaw and nodded.

“There is a month to follow their trail. Blaze and Tech will figure it all out, and we will help these people,” Henri offered.

Country sighed. “I know, Henri.”

“You are stressed. You should go see your Dusty and Seth.”

His lips lifted in the corner, but I could still see the tension in his gaze. “Yeah, I’m headin’ home as soon as Wreck arrives.” He turned to me again. “Keep me updated.”

With a grunt, I tipped my chin up.

Henri’s phone rang when Country walked out of the room. He glanced at the screen and over to me then Saint. “The agent. Cross your fingers.”

I didn’t move, but Saint humored him by crossing them on both hands.

“Bonjour, Nathaniel.” Henri looked down as he bit his bottom lip, listening, and then grinned, his gaze seeking mine.

“Oui, that is fantastic news. We will be in touch to sign the papers tomorrow and get a wire transfer organized. … Oui, see you then.” He tucked his phone away and ran at me.

He jumped, and I caught him in my arms. “We have the warehouse, mon amour.”

“Good.”

He kissed me hard and quick before dropping his feet and spinning to Saint. “The Playhouse is a go. We need to see the bank to open a new joint business account between us all managers and organize the money for the seller.”

“Then let’s take a trip to the bank,” Saint said.

There were some daylight hours still left. I wasn’t sure it’d get done that day since we’d have to register the new business, but it could be sorted soon.

Henri faced me. “Mon amour, are we staying here tonight too? If so, Tech failed to bring the right bathroom items. I will need a trip home. Saint could take me while we are out seeing the bank people.”

For me, he was willing to sleep on the couch again.

But I could tell that he’d woken with a stiff neck. Not that he’d said anything.

“We’ll go home.” In fact, I wanted to go there now. “I’ll drive us to the bank to meet Saint there and then take us home.”

Henri’s head cocked to the side.

Fuck.

He’d figure out what I didn’t want to say since it’d just end in a fight.

“Mon amour?”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

His gaze widened. “You don’t want me back here to work.”

“How the fuck did you read that from his look?” Saint asked.

“Da, he always looks like this.”

Henri’s hands slapped to his waist. “He is willing to come with me when I know he wants to work on his computer. That told me he will take me home in hopes of never letting me out again.”

“Henri—”

His hand cut through the air. “Non, Blaze. I understand where you are coming from. I know the fear you feel, but I won’t allow this to put a stop on our life.

Just think, mon amour, would I have allowed some stranger to grab me by my precious hair?

Non. Only you get to tug on it. I am strong, mon amour.

I can protect myself until you come along to save the day. ”

Saint snorted.

“But—”

“Non, buts, mon amour. I have not many days left working here since I will, no doubt, move over to the Playhouse full-time eventually. You won’t stop me working there either.

I will be up on the third floor in my own corner office where no nasties can get to me.

I will have people we trust working in the other offices at each side.

I won’t be alone. Plus, there will be security on the same level watching the live feeds.

I will be surrounded and safe, which means you do not upset your friend by moving all your toys again.

I will only be next door, and we can make sure we work the same time so we’re coming and going from work with each other.

But for now, we will make sure the desk downstairs is more secure so no one can reach around. ”

“It’ll be a brother on the door from now on, no outsiders, so the customers will be searched before enterin’ the buildin’,” Saint added.

Henri waved a hand toward Saint. “See, mon amour. Things will be safer.”

I ground my teeth together, eyeing the man I loved with every fucking fiber. Snapping my gaze to Saint, I demanded, “The desk had better be reinforced by the time he starts his shift.”

Saint’s lips twitched. Sensibly, he said nothing and just nodded.

Henri got close to slide his hands up my chest. “Thank you, mon amour.”

Gripping the front of his neck, I pulled him even closer. “You’d better fuckin’ stay safe at that desk.”

His eyes sparkled. “I will.”

“Saint will take you to the bank and back here for your shift. But we’ll sleep at home tonight.”

“I like that plan, mon amour.” He rolled up to his toes and kissed my jaw. When he went to pull away, I dragged him back in and claimed his mouth. After breaking the kiss, I stared down at him. His damn eyes were still glittering, knowing he was getting what he wanted.

“Eyes on him at all times,” I said.

“Saint, he is speaking to you,” Henri informed him.

“Right, yep, got it. Don’t stress, Blaze. It’ll be me and Gun takin’ him.”

I drew in a deep breath and straightened, nodding.

“See you soon,” Henri said.

When I grunted, he kissed my chest and walked out the door with Saint, asking, “How is Elle after all that?”

When I looked at the only person left in the room, Adrick smirked.

Fuck me.

“What?” I asked.

“You are like me.”

Shit . Even he figured that out.

“So?”

He chuckled. “It is good to know I am not the only one who has to deal with a stubborn partner. If only they’d listen and do as they are asked.”

“Would you change it if you could?”

He grinned. “Nyet. Never.”

Yeah, me neither.

“They ground us in ways no other can. It is good, even when it drives us crazy.”

Snorting, I nodded. We really were on the same damn page.

“Got shit to do.”

“Da, I will leave you to it. West’s shift has nearly finished, and I must speak with Rule.”

Good luck to the brother.