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Risen To The Top CHAPTER 128
* * *This was the part of relationships Sean couldn’t handle. He’d gotten involved sexually, and was now looking at the woman he was going to have to hurt, and he hated himself. Part of him looked for a way out, any way to allow him to spend more time in her company. But, as much as he wanted it, signals were coming to him loud and clear like those damned red extraction flares. Part of him wanted to be rescued. The other part wanted to fall down a hole and take Tori with him.That was no way to live. No way to treat an innocent. And he knew better, had told himself to watch out for this very thing.You dumb son-of-a-bitch.He needed to think. While Tori was anywhere close to him, when he could see her hot with arousal, hear her moaning—even the sound of her breath as she lay sleeping or the taste of a quick kiss—he was distracted. That part of him, the part that always figured everything out, was grossly disabled.
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 129
* * *Sean was grateful at first that Tori didn’t want to talk as he drove her car back to her parents’ house. But soon the thickness of the dark space between them pressed against him and raised his hackles. It was always like this when he was ready to walk into harm’s way. He’d learned to pick up the hotheads—people with strong emotions and the weird energy emanating from the insanity of life under extreme pressure. His training gave him the instincts to recognize when those around him were overwhelmed and would do things they normally wouldn’t do.He’d asked her if she wanted to go somewhere for breakfast, but she politely declined. Part of him was grateful for that.As the blocks leading up to the Hoades family home passed, he began to relax. He was getting more and more confident a major scene had been averted. She was a strong girl. God, how he loved that about her. She bore her pain silently, didn’t go bringing down the whol
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 130
* * *A half hour later, Sean was devouring a large crab omelet at the Scupper. He saw the familiar stubby shadow of Duke at the doorway, walking into the ever-dark restaurant bar. Duke sniffed the air right in front of his table.“I don’t smell dog,” he said.“Fuck you, Duke. phoenix’s at home. He figured he wasn’t exactly welcome here.”“Oh, he’s okay. It’s his dog hair and salt water-smelling pelt that isn’t,” Duke said with a wince. He hailed the waitress for some coffee, and sat down across from Sean.“So, you want to hit Bunny’s after breakfast, or you get enough exercise this morning?” Duke looked up at Sean under his bushy eyebrows. Creases on his forehead made him resemble a Shar Pei.Sean knew he deserved the ribbing. He’d neglected his best friend and constant companion. They commonly introduced themselves as twins. It never ceased to draw laughter from the fairer sex since there
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 131
Sean, Alex, Lucas, Duke and Bunny rode over to Tori’s house in Duke’s four-door salvage beater. Sean discovered he’d been rocking back and forth as he stared out the passenger side window.Looking for what?He wondered about so many things. The Team gave him a silent, wide berth as he thought about Tori and what they were going to face.No. He just couldn’t bring himself to think anything serious or permanent had happened to her. What if she’s—?”When they arrived, he noticed Alex giving him the long look. Sean had jumped out the door before their truck stopped rolling. Alex, right behind him, slammed the rattling door of the old beater. Duke and everyone else exited the other side.Sean was on his way to mounting the front steps two at a time to meet the yellow crime scene tape when Alex grabbed his arm. “We wait for the Team, Sean,” Alex reminded him.Of course. This isn’t a single soldie
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 132
The guys sauntered through the entryway to the foyer, doing a double-take at the tall ceilings and intricate metal staircase leading to the second floor, as Sean pushed by them on his way toward the kitchen and rear yard. He heard the squawk of police and fire radios.Duke ran to catch up to him. He didn’t need a nursemaid or a witness to whatever he was going to say to her, but a part of him was grateful Duke had his back. As they passed by Dr. Hoades’s office, three large yellow-clad firemen had their arms filled with boxes of smoldering papers, which they dropped on cue and began spreading out on the floor. A dark black streak went up the side of one wall of the study, originating from the opened window to the backyard. Dr. Hoades was absent-mindedly wandering around the room, looking at various piles of manila folders and paperwork, generally making himself a nuisance to the firemen.Detective Dole appeared out of nowhere, his little noteboo
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 133
Tori wanted to run to Sean, to collapse in his arms, but that was just substituting one problem with another. She was so scared of the escalating situation that she was about to do something she promised herself she wouldn’t do. She was certain her fear was what was driving her to his arms. Well, that and the great sex, of course. No denying that chemistry they shared.But the sex wasn’t a relationship, and wouldn’t be the reason for their relationship. She’d studied this in college, couples who got together at a particularly low point in their lives, and later, when they healed, when they grew up, they couldn’t keep it together. They grew apart.No. She wanted a relationship with someone when she was healed. When she was whole. Besides, she needed to get her life back on track. This delicious detour was just that, a detour. Although his kisses were scorchingly hot, his moves made her bones turn to rubber, she knew better than to think a relatio
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 134
Sean didn’t say anything as they maneuvered around the police cars and groups of onlookers on their way down the street. His heart was pounding in his chest, sending vibrations all the way to his toes. He thought the tips of his ears were on fire. Back in the truck, he stared blindly out the dirty window as he sat in the second seat. He felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. He knew the guys would give him a little space, but then they’d be all over him. Alex would be the one to indicate when that would be. It was up to Sean to make the adjustment, and he was going to put all his effort into doing that. He didn’t want them thinking he was anything but whole.Alex’s phone rang. He was sitting next to Sean on the second seat.“Hey there, Joanne.”Sean could hear his wife’s voice on the other end of the line. He’d forgotten they were supposed to see some houses today for Luca and Mia.“Sorry, honey, but we got caugh
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 135
Tori’s dad closed the front door behind their insurance adjuster. That left them alone with Detective Dole. All the other police and fire crews were gone. A pungent burnt smell permeated the house. Even with the opened windows and fans, provided by the adjuster’s emergency crew, the house smelled unbearably toxic.The family waited while Aaron Hoades slowly walked across the living room to sit beside his wife on the couch. Dole sat on a cranberry overstuffed chair, identical to the one Tori sat on, with a coffee table between them. She was holding her breath, until she realized it. No matter how much she scolded herself, she couldn’t escape the fact that she was afraid, and she was very much alone.It was a scene right out of a horror movie, Tori thought. Black streaks of smoke covering one wall in the foyer giving off a thick acrid smell. Water and large quilted moving blankets to sop it up were strewn all over the entryway. And her parents sat