Temerarious

Chapter 1

Sweat. Smoke. Heat.

Those were three things he noticed first. A little boy, couldn’t have been older than 6, watched the flames spread like wildfire. He hadn’t meant to do it. His father had left the matches in the kitchen though. He’d watched his father light countless matches, mostly to start the fire in the pit out in the backyard. Wanting to be a grownup like his father, the little boy had snatched the pack of matches from the kitchen, while his mother busied cooking supper, and figured the garage was the safest place to experiment. The first match had struck easy enough, a small flame igniting on the tip as it reflected in his pale blue eyes. He waited for it to go out, waving it like father had and proceeded to ignite another one.

Then another.

Becoming bored after the 10^th lit match, a dishwater blonde curly haired little boy looked around the garage and spotted some old rags. Father used them to change the oil on cars they owned, so he wouldn’t need them. He normally threw them away once used. Smiling, he trekked across the garage and grabbed a few of them, having the booklet of matches in his pocket. The little boy looked over his shoulder, making sure the coast was clear and grabbed one of the oil drenched rags. The fumes alone made him plug his nose, not wanting to breathe it in and decided to breathe out of his mouth until he finished what he wanted to do. Taking the match booklet out of his pocket, the little boy bit his bottom lip contemplatively and struck it to life, holding it under the rag.

Instantaneously, the rag engulfed in flames and scorched the little boy’s hand, making him drop it on top of the pile of rags. The match booklet went into the fire, spreading it more and the little boy could only watch as father’s workbench was swallowed by raging flames. Luckily the car wasn’t in the garage. The little boy could only watch in fascinated horror as the fire proceeded to engulf everything in seconds.

“Mom! Dad!” He finally found his voice, trying to run for the garage door since it was attached to the house, but the flames beat him to it. “Help! Someone help!” He cried out, backing out of the garage coughing, his hands burnt from holding the rag after setting it on fire.

Rushing toward the front door, the little boy flew back when an explosion erupted inside the house, his back hitting the lawn with a sickening thump. Dazed for a few minutes, the little boy managed to get to his feet and felt tears course down his face as the entire house became immersed in a huge inferno. All he could do was stand there completely helpless, hearing his parents screaming for help inside as they echoed in his ears.

“MOMMY!! DADDY!!” He shrieked, coughing as the smoke from the fire began surrounding him, forcing him to back up from his home.

The sirens could be heard in the distance as the little boy dropped to his knees on the sidewalk, burying his head in his hands rocking back and forth. The fire truck, ambulance and squad cars arrived before long, an officer guiding the little boy away from the house. All he could do was struggle, shaking his head back and forth frantically, screaming how much he wanted his mother…

~!~

The blaring fire alarm jolted Jon awake as his pale blue eyes flew open, sitting upright in the small cot. He was on duty that night and cursed, not believing he’d fallen asleep. Jumping out of the cot, Jon had his personal protective equipment –Most of the guys called it bunker gear- or turnouts because the clothes were turned inside out when they weren’t in use. Firemen could pull them on quickly without issues. The gear itself included a hood, cotton t-shirt, suspenders, insulated pants with Velcro, spring hooks and leather reinforcements, rubber insulated boots, a helmet with goggles and neck protection flap, an insulated jacket with Velcro and spring hooks, a radio, flashlight, insulated leather gloves, harness, pressure mask, PASS device, airline and pressure gauge, shoulder straps, air tank bottle and backpack frame.

The primary function of the gear, which was extremely heavy, was to protect a firefighter from the heat of a fire and allowed him to breathe safely while putting fires out and rescuing victims. It also had retroflective striping to make the firefighter more visible in the dark or through smoke. A pressure mask did not allow contaminants in by keeping continuous airflow, even when a firefighter wasn’t inhaling through it. The name of the firefighter was displayed on their helmet and air tank to try stemming difficulty of identifying individuals wearing so much gear. Finally, the PASS –personal alert safety system- was used to send out an alert whenever a firefighter was running out of air or not moving so the others could offer assistance.

Jon finished dressing in record time, hating the color yellow and wished he could wear black, but naturally he had no choice. It was the station’s decision to wear a school bus color, which made Jon wonder if the fire chief rode the special bus during his school years. The 70+ pounds he required to carry around with the gear didn’t bother Jon because of his massive size. He stood at 6’4 and weighed 225 pounds, most of it solid muscle. His unruly dishwater blonde curls were dry and hung to the side over his forehead, eyes a pale blue that looked pure ice most of the time. His left ear was pierced, a single silver hoop earring dangling from it and a silver chain hung around his neck. Currently, his mouth was surrounded by scruff, normally smooth due to his line of work.

“Jon, where the hell you at, man?” His friend and fellow firefighter, Joseph Anoa’i, called through the huge hole that had an escape pole in the middle of it, knowing his friend was up there. “We gotta go!”

“On my way, don’t get your panties in a fucking twist!” Jon grouched, grabbing the pole and snorted, simply jumping from the hole down to the floor landing on his feet like a cat. “Nice to see you too, Joe.”

Joe snorted, rolling his eyes heavenward. “Oh yeah sure, being woken up at the crack of fucking dawn is definitely enjoyable.” His tone dripped with sarcasm as they headed toward the fire truck, boarding it with the others.

Joe stood around 6’3 and weighed 265 pounds of muscle as well, a smidge more built than Jon. One of his main loves in life, besides being a firefighter, was lifting weights after a hard day’s work of saving people. He had grey eyes and long ravenous black hair. It was currently pulled back in a tight low tail at the nape of his neck, tucked under his helmet. He too had a perfectly trimmed black goatee around his mouth, always keeping it neatly trimmed. Both Joe and Jon grew up together in Tampa, Florida in the foster care system. Jon had lost his parents in a horrific tragedy that he refused to talk about and Joe’s parents perished in a car accident. Both boys were the age of 6 when they met, managing somehow to stick together and were practically brothers. Jon never had any siblings and neither did Joe, so they had promised to be each other’s.

In a nutshell, Joe was the only one who could push Jon’s buttons and get away with it.

“I was wondering if I’d have to come knock his ass out of bed again.” Colby Lopez crowed from the back, smirking when Jon told him he was #1 and did it right back. “You boys ready to go?”

“Born ready.” Jon grunted, eyes focused and ready for some action, rubbing his gloved hands with anticipation.

“Good, we’re heading out in a minute. Captain Layfield wants to give us the rundown on what we’re dealin’ with.” Colby explained, looking up when John Layfield walked from the front of the fire truck, nodding to all of his warriors.

“Alright listen up, only gonna say this once! Bell Elementary School caught fire in the cafeteria with some kids. Not sure if they all got out, so we’re gonna have to work quickly. The fire is contained so far, but it could get worse. So be on your game!” Layfield shouted over the sirens, feeling the truck drive out of the garage heading for Bell Elementary School.

“Christ…” Joe muttered, scrubbing a gloved hand down his face and glanced over at Jon, seeing he was in deep thought. “Hey man, you alright?”

Jon nodded, his lips pressed in a firm grim line. “Kids.” He rasped, cracking his knuckles through the gloves and hoped they made it in time.

There was no way a kid would die, not on his watch.

One thing about Jon was he had a hero complex and often put himself in dangerous situations that could potentially kill him. Joe knew it was his way of dealing with all the guilt and pain over his parent’s death he carried around with him. No matter how many psychiatrists and therapists told Jon it wasn’t his fault, the man simply didn’t believe it. So that forced Joe to watch over him whenever they did jobs, having saved Jon on more than a few occasions from potential death.

“Not just kids.” Colby put his two cents in, chocolate brown eyes filled with worry. “Trista works at the school too and I haven’t heard from her.”

Trista Lopez was Colby’s sister and only sibling, so naturally he was a little overprotective of her. She was a teacher at Bell Elementary School they were headed toward and Colby could only hope she was safe. Granted, the fire was contained in the cafeteria, at least according to Layfield. Still, Colby wasn’t taking any chances since he couldn’t check his cell phone to see if she called or texted.

“Alright men, we’re here!” Layfield crowed over the sirens, the fire truck lurching to a stop just outside of Bell Elementary School where the fire was. “Who-”

Jon didn’t wait for the Captain to bark orders on where to go, simply hopping out of the fire truck heading for the school. Joe grumbled something under his breath that sounded like ‘pompous ass’ and followed suit along with Colby. The rest of the firemen stayed put in case they were needed for backup, getting the long hose out to put the fire out. Several groups of kids with their teachers stood outside of the school, having escaped as soon as the fire alarm sounded throughout the building. Some kids looked terrified and others just stared in horrific awe, their little faces all blending together. Jon quickly scanned the crowds and frowned, not spotting Trista anywhere in sight. He’d only met her a few times, but Jon never forgot a face and hoped she wasn’t still in the school, hearing the ambulance sirens in the distance. Spotting flames licking at the windows, Jon headed in that direction, hearing people inside crying out. Pale blues narrowed as Jon went to one of the windows that weren’t blocked by flames and kicked it in, slipping through it. Even though he was a big man, Jon was very agile and could move quickly, kicking a desk out of his way. It was an empty classroom with no victims, thankfully.

“Jon, what the hell are you doing?” Joe growled, slipping through the window himself as they both headed out into the hallway.

“What the hell does it look like, Anoa’i?” Jon retorted evenly, seeing smoke filtering from the end of the hallway and knew that was the cafeteria. “There are people in there; we have to get them out.”

Joe nodded, having also heard the cries from outside of the building and stopped just outside the double doors. Fire licked up the sides and it completely blocked the entrance, making Joe curse. Jon wouldn’t let it stop him though, determined to get in there and suddenly kicked the doors open without hesitation, jumping straight through the flames.

“Aww fuck me!” Joe groaned, hating when Jon did this and took a deep breath before diving through the flames as well.

“Someone help us, please!!” A female voice resonated throughout the cafeteria.

A few of the tables swarmed with flames, though they weren’t coming up easily since they were metal. Jon went in the direction of the voice, already feeling beads of sweat caking his forehead and neck, refusing to let anything stop him. He could feel Joe behind him as Jon arrived at another pair of double doors, kicking them open as flames spit everywhere. He snorted, icy eyes scanning the room quickly and spotted a woman in the far corner holding onto someone.

“In here!” Jon called over his shoulder, once again diving through the huge flames like they were nothing and slowly made his way over to the victims.

“P-Please…” The woman stammered, her face smeared with black from sweat and smoke, tears streaming from her hazel eyes.

Jon nodded, his eyes moving to the older man she held noticing a deep laceration across his forehead, blood streaming down his face. “Trista.” He didn’t make it a question, already knowing this was Colby’s sister and reached out to lift her from the older man.

“No! What about him?” Trista struggled, not wanting to leave Cornelius alone, who was one of the cafeteria workers.

“We will.” Jon grunted, looking over his shoulder at a hesitant Joe. “There’s another here. Grab him and follow me out!” Water began spraying through the windows at that moment, knowing the other firemen were just outside waiting to assist.

Joe grunted, managing to make his way over to the older man and lifted him over his shoulder with ease, turning to face Jon with the woman. “Let’s get outta here!” He shouted, the flames slowly diminishing with the water as they headed toward one of the open windows.

Jon looked at Trista and then the window, hoping she could climb because that was the only safe way out for her right now. “I’m gonna lift you up and you gotta climb out.” He instructed in her ear, knowing it was the only way for Trista to hear him and felt her nod, glad she wasn’t fighting him on the matter. “Need someone at the far side window of the cafeteria!” He ordered through the radio clipped to his jacket, knowing that was the only way to contact the others.

“I’m on my way!” Colby’s high-pitched voice replied over the radio, the woman’s head snapping up as soon as she heard it.

Joe noticed what Jon did and looked at the double doors, wondering if their luck would ever change with this job. “Fuck.” He muttered, carting his victim over to the window and watched as Jon lifted the woman to climb out it.

“Trista!” Colby shouted, relief coursing through him as soon as he spotted his sister climbing out, pulling her the rest of the way carefully.

“Colby!” Trista cried out, clinging to her brother for dear life as soon as she was safely out of the cafeteria, relief flooding her own body. “Colby, Cornelius…”

“I got him. Get her back to the bus.” Another firefighter, Windham Rotunda, ordered and was thankful they saved Colby’s sister, squatting down to help the next victim. The old man barely slid through the window when an explosion erupted from the school, making all the kids scream out in terror. “Jon, Joe, get out of there!” Windham shouted, carting the second victim to the ambulance for immediate medical treatment.

Chapter 2

Her routine was the same every day.

The alarm clock blared at precisely 5 AM, forcing hazy azure colored eyes to slowly open staring up at the ceiling. Like clockwork, she stayed in bed until the second alarm blared 10 minutes later since it went off every 5 minutes. Cassidy heaved a sigh and slowly sat upright in her queen sized bed, stretching her arms in the air. The smell of coffee filtered through the air from her timed maker and that aroused Cassidy a little more, a long yawn escaping her lips. Slipping out of bed, Cassidy first padded into the bathroom and pulled a white band on top of her head to keep her hair from getting in the way. She had long beautiful strawberry blonde hair that reached the middle of her back, though it was in dire need of a cut. Brushing her teeth, perfect pearly whites shined and were straight, thanks to braces from the ages of 7 till 17. 10 years of hell had definitely paid off and Cassidy took very good care of her teeth.

Once she brushed and flossed them thoroughly, Cassidy proceeded to take the white band off of her head, picking up her hairbrush. Running it through her hair a few times, Cassidy pulled it up in a messy bun and exited the bathroom, heading straight for the kitchen for her morning cup of java. Pulling out the French vanilla creamer from the refrigerator, Cassidy proceeded to pour a healthy dose in the black liquid, watching it turn milky. As that old saying went: Cassidy liked a little coffee in her creamer. Walking over to her front door, Cassidy opened it long enough to retrieve the newspaper on the porch and shut it, heading into the living room to start reading. Or rather to beat herself up because of how ridiculous the article she wrote was. Cassidy worked for the Tampa Bay Times as a journalist, enjoying the investigative part of her job. However, when it came to writing out her findings, Cassidy struggled because she could never get it to sound the same as it did in her brain.

The 2 bedroom house was standard sized, one level with no basement, and had one bedroom bigger than the other. Of course, she had the master bedroom with a private bathroom. Living room, kitchen, dining area she never used and the other bedroom that had been converted into her office. Walls were painted an eggshell and the carpet was light brown, the same in every room except the bathrooms, kitchen and dining area. Living room had the standard coffee table and sectional couch, both black, along with her stand that held a 48” LG LED television. PlayStation 3, DirecTV cable box and surround sound/Blu-ray player set comfortably beneath the television on the shelves. A few pictures adorned the walls of family, mother, father, sister, brother along with their kids, mostly from major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, they were very outdated since she hadn’t seen her family in a couple years, having moved from Indiana to Florida to start her own life. Cassidy loved her family; she just wished to see them more often and planned on taking a trip up to Indiana for the upcoming holidays in a few months.

It was currently September.

Once Cassidy finished reading what she wanted in the paper, she folded it up neatly and set it on the coffee table, having finished her coffee. The clock struck a quarter to 6, which gave her just enough time to change for her morning run. In order to maintain her lean body, Cassidy ran for an hour every morning, unless she physically couldn’t, and then took an evening stroll every night. Things did pop up to where Cassidy couldn’t always stick to her routine, but she tried keeping it as consistent as possible. Slipping out of her lavender nightgown, Cassidy tossed it in the hamper and pulled out her running clothes. White tank top and shorts, though she had all different colors for them. Cassidy quickly changed, pulling a white band over the top of her head to keep hair from flying in her face during running and snatched her fully charged MP3 player off the charger. Pushing light blue ear buds in her ears, Cassidy clipped the MP3 player to her hip, along with her cell phone, slipped white socks and white running LA Gear shoes on, before heading out the door.

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon as Cassidy locked up her house and turned on Lady Antebellum, letting it carry her away, pounding pavement. Her neighborhood was safe for the most part, but occasionally there would be robberies and even the juvenile delinquent trashing a neighbor’s property. Luckily, Cassidy lived in between 2 older women, one married and one divorced, both very sophisticated and never bothered her. Every once in a while, the divorcee would have company over for the evening that resulted in a fight, but Cassidy ignored it. Annemarie, her other neighbor that was a happily married 50 year old, would always bring over pies and anything she baked for Cassidy to try. It made Cassidy wonder why she did it, knowing it wasn’t out of pity, at least she hoped not. Cassidy was a 28 year old woman with no relationship and no kids, preferring it that way. Yes, she became lonely on occasion when she saw her older sister, 33 year old Lindsey, with her husband and their two kids, but Cassidy was honestly exultant for them.

Lindsey married Matt Baker at age 23, being the first to walk down the aisle and had their first child 2 years later at age 25, beautiful Lucy. She had her father’s deep brown eyes and mother’s blonde hair, which she got from their mother, Judy. 3 years later, handsome Liam was born and named after Matt’s deceased grandfather. He had Lindsey’s hazel eyes and Matt’s black hair. Matt was an outstanding husband and father to their kids –Liam was now 5 and Lucy 8- treating her sister with the utmost respect. Matt worked for a construction company and brought home good money to support his family, refusing to let Lindsey work. So instead, Lindsey had found an in-home data entry job so she felt she contributed to the family. Matt didn’t mind as long as she stayed home with the kids, not wanting her to miss anything with them.

Cassidy’s younger brother, 21 year old Ryder, was a completely different story and didn’t have his life together at all. Being the baby of the family, Ryder got away with a lot growing up and now had the mindset that he could get through life the same way. He had no girlfriend, no job and currently lived with their parents, sponging off of them. Cassidy was convinced he was into drugs too, but of course her parents never listened to her, so she stayed out of the drama. They had to learn on their own and deal with Ryder their own way.

Judy and Terrence Irons were the best parents in the world and saints with everything they put up from their only son. Judy married Terrence at the tender age of 17, straight out of high school, and they’d been together ever since. By age 18, Judy became pregnant with Lindsey and had her shortly after her 19^th birthday, waiting 5 years before having Cassidy. Their son came 7 years later as a complete surprise, though Terrence finally had the little boy he always wanted. Cassidy considered that true love, admiring her parent’s devotion to each other. Their upcoming 34^th marriage anniversary was coming up in October and Cassidy really wanted to see them. Lindsey had called and told her about possibly planning a surprise party for them, but Cassidy wasn’t sure how soon she’d be able to get off of work. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to be there because it’d been a few years since Cassidy saw her parents.

After her run and watching the beautiful sunrise on the beach, which always took Cassidy’s breath away, she arrived home at 7, which gave her an hour until she had to be at work. Peeling out of her sweaty running clothes, Cassidy stepped under the hot shower sprays, letting grim and filth wash away from building up a sweat. Even though there was a lot of humidity in Tampa, it still sometimes stifled her, though Cassidy had adjusted for the most part. Shower done, Cassidy dried her hair with a blow-dryer and then twisted it up in a clip, a few tendrils framing her face delicately. She applied foundation to hide the few blemishes on her otherwise flawless skin, thin black eyeliner to make her eyes pop and clear gloss on her lips. Cassidy decided on a pair of black dress pants with a short-sleeved burnt orange baby doll top that had a black buckle attached to the middle of it. Since the material wasn’t sheer, Cassidy didn’t feel the need to wear a camisole underneath. She clipped the silver oval shaped locket around her neck –A golden birthday present from last year her parent’s sent her through the mail- that was surrounded by tiny citrine stones - her birthstone. Cassidy slipped black pumps on, plugged her MP3 player back in on the dresser and made sure everything she needed for the day was in her purse.

“Damn it, the report.” She grumbled, walking out of the bedroom into the office, flipping the light on and began sifting through some papers on top of the black desk. “There it is.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Cassidy shoved it in her folder she always carried around with her, which held all of her reports and information from investigations. Grabbing her purse that carried lip gloss, wallet and cell phone along with a few other personal items, Cassidy headed out through the kitchen to her garage attached to the house. She pressed a button to open the garage door, revealing her beautiful black 4 door Honda Civic and slid behind the wheel, ready to start her day at Tampa Bay Times. As soon as she pulled out of the driveway and pressed the button to close her garage, Cassidy’s cell phone rang in her purse. She pulled it out, slid her Bluetooth in her ear and plugged the cell in her dashboard, pressing the talk button. Cassidy knew who it was, smiling when she heard her best friend’s voice on the other end, Peyton Cox. They worked at Tampa Bay Times together and had been friends since Cassidy moved to Tampa about 3 years ago.

“Hey bitch!” Peyton chirped, driving down the road in her red Kia Soul, checking in with her favorite woman.

“Hey yourself wench.” Cassidy retorted, wondering how the hell Peyton could be so happy this early in the morning. “What’s up?”

“Oh nothing, just calling to check up on you and making sure you’re heading into hell with me.” That was Peyton’s nickname for the Tampa Bay Times because their chief editor, Adam Copeland, was a major dick. “Ready to deal with Dick today?” Also another inventive nickname Peyton enjoyed calling their boss.

“Oh yeah, can’t wait.” Cassidy snorted, stopping at a red light. “I really hope he doesn’t get on my case about my reporting again.” Adam made Cassidy extremely nervous whenever she was called into his office, which was at least 3 times a week. “I mean, is it my fault there’s nothing exciting happening around here or the neighboring cities?”

“You really need to stick your foot up his ass, Sidy.” Peyton stated, using her special nickname for Cassidy, grey eyes narrowing at the thought of Adam Copeland giving her best friend a hard time. “Want me to set him straight?”

“No thank you, I can fight my own battles.” Cassidy muttered, knowing she was a coward when it came to Adam Copeland, but honestly he WAS the boss and could fire her at a moment’s notice. “Anyway, I read my article in today’s paper and I already know I’m getting a lecture about it as soon as I walk inside that building.”

“How do you figure? I loved it!” Peyton exclaimed, wishing Cassidy wouldn’t be so hard on herself when it came to her work. It was fantastic and Peyton hated how much Adam Copeland, along with the rest of the company, took Cassidy for granted. “What the hell were you supposed to write about besides possible gang relations downtown? Like you said, nothing exciting has happened lately. He’ll get the fuck over it.”

“Yeah I suppose…” Cassidy decided a change of subject was in order as the light turned green, going through the intersection. “Anyway, enough about the boss, how was your date with Randy?”

Randy Orton was a police officer for the City of Tampa Police Department and actually went to school with Peyton. They were both born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, so they knew each other well. Randy finally got up the courage and asked Peyton out on a date a week ago when they ran into each other at one of the local bars downtown and she accepted. Secretively, Peyton had a crush on Randy for quite some time, but never thought he liked her as more than a friend.

He definitely proved her wrong.

“Good.” Peyton sighed dreamily, laughing when Cassidy began making gagging noises. “Oh shut up! You know what your problem is?”

“No, why don’t you enlighten me?” Cassidy remarked with a smirk, turning left at the next light and could see her destination a few blocks ahead.

“You need to get laid BADLY.” Peyton emphasized that word strongly, turning right into the parking lot and pulled into her normal space cutting the ignition.

“Oh yeah sure.” Cassidy pulled into the parking lot right after Peyton, shaking her head and ended the call abruptly, stepping out her vehicle to meet her friend at the doors.

“I mean it, Sidy. When’s the last time you got some?” Peyton demanded, swiping her card through the slot that allowed them access inside the building.

Shrugging, Cassidy hadn’t really thought about it that much because her job kept her busy. She worked until 5 or 6 PM, some nights later depending on what the topic of her article was. So by the time she got home, it was late and all Cassidy wanted to do at that point was soak in a hot tub with a glass of wine. Her life was boring; Cassidy knew it, but she couldn’t find that certain spark in someone that Peyton found in Randy Orton. So the way she saw it, a relationship was the last thing she needed because it would turn her life in disarray and that wasn’t something Cassidy needed nor wanted.

“Cassidy, in my office now.” Adam Copeland ordered as soon as the strawberry blonde stepped through the doors, storming back into his office.

“Good luck with Dick.” Peyton whispered, patting her friend’s shoulder and headed to her cubicle, running a hand through her long ebony tresses that had soft red highlights through them. Her hair looked almost blood red.

It really was just another day in the wonderful life of Cassidy Irons.

Chapter 3

One of the stoves exploded, sending both Jon and Joe flying back against the wall. Jon shook the cobwebs from his head, looking over at Joe to make sure he was alright and pulled himself up as the flames roared furiously. He could hear Colby shouting over the radio, along with Captain Layfield, both of them worried about his and Joe’s wellbeing.

“Joe, come on!” Jon shouted, feeling the man’s hand grasp his as he pulled Joe up, knowing that explosion had knocked the wind out of him.

The window was the only way out as Jon guided Joe over to it, looking up to see Windham and Colby waiting anxiously. Joe didn’t fight Jon because he honestly wanted to get the hell out of the school, even though the flames were being sprayed again. Once Joe was out safely, Jon proceeded to start climbing up to the window and suddenly stopped, hearing something.

“Help!”

“There’s someone else in here!” He bellowed up to Colby and Windham, immediately turning around to step through the flames, trying to find the owner to that voice.

“Jon, no!! Get back here!!” Colby growled, cursing when it was apparent Jon wasn’t listening and looked over at Joe, who had a hold of a hose. “Damn it!! He’s gonna get himself killed!!”

Joe kept his mouth shut, keeping his thoughts about Jon to himself.

“Where are you?!” Jon shouted, kicking debris away from him and narrowed ice blues at the sight of the flame engulfed double doors, squaring his shoulders.

With all of his force, Jon rammed his shoulder through the doors as the hinges broke off and slammed into the lockers, groaning. It didn’t matter if he survived this or not; as long as he saved one more life that’s all Jon cared about. Rushing down the hallway, he could hear faint crying, kicking open every classroom door he passed. Then he suddenly stopped, turning his head and watched as the lockers to his right vibrated.

Someone was in the locker!

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He growled, wondering who did this to a poor defenseless kid and stalked over to the lockers.

“HELLO? HELP ME PLEASE!” It was a little girl and she sounded absolutely petrified.

Jon was officially ticked off, anger surging through his body and proceeded to take his bare hand, wrapping it around the handle on the locker ripping it clean off. The little girl shrunk back instinctively, not expecting to see a giant, her big leaf green eyes wide and tear-filled. Her black hair looked as though it had something sticky in it and her clothes were tattered, her whole body trembling from head to toe.

“Come here, little one.” He ordered in a deep raspy voice, swallowing down his rage for the moment and extended a large hand to her. “I’m here to save you. Now take my hand and let me get you out of here.”

The little girl could tell just by his uniform he was a firefighter, having learned about them in school and sniffled, slipping her small hand into his. Jon cracked a small smile, trying to ease her fears a little and could see the uneasiness in her eyes, not blaming her a bit. Lifting her up in one arm, Jon looked down the hallway and saw the fire had finally escaped the cafeteria, spreading toward them.

“Keep your head down and close your eyes.” He ordered the little girl, not wanting her to see what was happening because it would only scare her more. “I got you.” As an afterthought, Jon took his breathing mask from his uniform, placing it over her nose and mouth, not wanting her breathing in the smoke. “Keep that on, little one.”

Nodding, the little girl obeyed and did exactly what he said, resting her small head on his shoulder while Jon headed for the exit down the hallway. She clung to him for dear life, still shaking, but knew she would be saved from the scary fire. Jon arrived at the exit and kicked the doors open without preamble, smoke filtering from behind him as kids began crying out.

“Thank god…” Windham whispered, spotting Jon coming out the other side of the school and rushed over to him, seeing he had a little girl in his arms.

“I’ll be damned…” Joe muttered, shaking his head and shoved the paramedic off of him to go help Jon, feeling perfectly fine besides a sore back.

“He was right.” Colby had no idea how Jon did it, but he always managed to find victims that none of the others could. “Jon, you alright man?”

“Peachy.” Jon grunted, storming past Colby heading straight for the bus with cold determined blue eyes. “Hey, she needs medical attention NOW. Joe’s fine.”

The paramedic swallowed hard, looking up at the trembling little girl and immediately took her from the raging firefighter, immediately laying her down on the gurney. “Sweetheart, you need to relax…” A new breathing mask was placed over her mouth and nose to help her breathe better.

“Wait!” The little girl shouted through the mask, directing that right at her savior and felt fresh tears slide down her cheeks, watching the giant slowly turn around to face her.

“They’ll take care of you now, little one.” Jon rumbled in a soothing voice, seeing her little hand reach out to him and took it very gently, not wanting to hurt her.

“T-Thank you, Mister.” She said in a soft wheeze, squeezing his big hand and cracked a small smile that barely curved her lips.

Jon nodded, feeling uncomfortable and released her hand abruptly, his eyes turning to the paramedic. “Get her to the hospital now.” He ordered, turning brusquely and stalked away toward Captain Layfield, blue eyes spitting icicles.

“Nice call, Good.” Captain Layfield praised, clapping Jon on the back and sighed at the angry look in his eyes. “What is it?”

“That little girl was locked in a fucking locker in the hallway right outside the damn cafeteria.” His voice remained deceptively low, which was never a good sign when it came to Jon’s temper.

Layfield’s eyes shot nearly out of their sockets and then narrowed, understanding why his firefighter was so angry. “I’ll have a talk with the principal and get the matter straightened out.” He assured, walking away toward the countless groups of children while the fire was finally contained.

Joe overheard the conversation and stood beside Jon, folding his arms across his massive chest. “Bullying is a bitch.” He muttered, cracking his knuckles and looked over at Trista, wondering if she had any idea what happened. “I’ll be back.”

Jon didn’t say a word and stood there, ripping his helmet off tossing it on the ground, not wanting to think about what could’ve happened had he not heard the little girl’s cry for help. Some punk ass kids had stuffed her into a locker and left her for dead when the fire alarms went off. Jon did not care about most of his victims, but that little girl with the leaf green eyes and angelic voice had broken through his ice barrier somehow. Whoever those punk kids were, he hoped they were severely punished because locking a poor defenseless girl in a locker at school was uncalled for.

Trista looked up when she noticed Joe heading in her direction, still breathing through a mask the paramedic gave her. “Hey Joe, thanks again for saving me.”

Technically Jon had, but Joe had been there too and that’s what Trista focused on. Truth was, Trista really liked Joe and wished she could tell him without sounding moronic. She had 2 jobs, teaching and bartending on the weekends to make a little extra money since her first job didn’t pay nearly enough to make ends meet. Joe came in almost every night after a hard day’s work and Trista always had a cold beer waiting for him. They would talk while she cleaned and made drinks for other customers, though her main focus was on the grey eyed Samoan Adonis.

“Not a problem, baby girl…” Joe tore a hand through his hair and took a seat beside her, having taken his helmet off. “Listen, I need to ask you a question about something, do you got a second?”

“Sure, what is it?” Trista blinked, taking a strand of her soot-filled fiery red hair and twirled it around her finger, something she did whenever she was nervous. “Joe, talk to me.”

“That little girl Jon saved, did you see him walk out with her?” Trista nodded and Joe continued. “She was trapped in a locker in the hallway where the cafeteria is.” He heard the gasp from Trista and nodded solemnly, hoping the little girl would be alright. “And something tells me she wasn’t there accidentally either.”

“Oh my god…” Trista whispered, taking her breathing mask off and glanced over his shoulder at Principal Shane McMahon, hazel eyes narrowing. “This kind of thing has been happening a lot lately and I’m about tired of it. What’s her name?”

“I-I don’t know…”

“Madelyn Stratus.” The paramedic, who had taken the little girl from the angry firefighter, stated from behind, his eyes filled with anger as well. “She’s Trish Stratus’s daughter.”

Trish Stratus was the Special Education teacher for Bell Elementary School and good friends with Trista. Today she’d taken off work to go to the doctor for a much-needed checkup. Trista knew about it, but kept it quiet because she felt it wasn’t her place to say anything. Apparently, with Madelyn’s mother away, the bullies decided to play and ended up shoving her in the locker. This was not the first time it happened to Madelyn either, but the little girl made Trista promise not to say anything. Now Trista felt ridden with guilt and lowered her head, feeling Joe take her hand.

“It’s my fault.” She whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

“How the hell do you figure?” Joe demanded, lowering his black brows. “Trista, what do you mean it’s your fault?”

“Maddie made me promise not to say anything.” Trista knew she was wrong to obey the child’s wishes, but at the time she didn’t realize how serious the situation was. “I have to tell her now though. Maddie could’ve died today.”

Joe’s eyebrows furrowed, his teeth clenching. “You mean to tell me this happened before?” He watched Trista nod and cursed, releasing her hand abruptly. “And you didn’t do anything about it? She could’ve DIED, Trista!”

“Hey! Don’t yell at me, okay? I didn’t know it happened more than once! She told me it hadn’t!” Trista defended, standing up from the ambulance and tossed the breathing mask away.

“For fuck’s sake woman! Did it ever occur to you that she wasn’t HONEST?” Joe really thought Trista was smarter than this and shook his head, glancing across the way at Jon. “You are going to the principal about this and telling him everything. Madelyn doesn’t deserve to be treated like that! No kid does!”

Trista folded her arms in front of her chest, not believing Joseph Anoa’i was lecturing her about this. “I’m not her mother, but I will be talking to Trish about it and letting her make the decision.” She looked up when Jon suddenly approached them, taking a tentative step back because of the murderous look in his icy eyes.

Jon had excellent hearing and moved close enough to overhear Joe’s conversation with Trista, also livid because she’d turned the other cheek when it came to the bullying. “As a teacher, you should put a child’s safety above any pact you make with them.” He stated angrily, keeping his voice low so they didn’t cause a scene. “So for your sake, you better hope that little girl is okay or her death will be on YOUR head.”

“Jon…” Joe held his hand up, knowing that statement crossed the line.

“You know what? Fuck both of you.”

Trista stormed past them toward the groups of children, coughing a little since she hadn’t breathed through the mask long enough to get her oxygen levels back on track. Colby watched the exchange go down between his sister, Joe and Jon, wondering what happened. She looked ready to rip someone’s head off. Scowling, Colby walked over to his friends, after being dismissed by Captain Layfield, to find out what the hell happened. He heard a little about Trish Stratus’s daughter, but not everything. Before Colby could open his mouth, Joe relayed the conversation and problem to his friend, watching his dark eyes ignite with fury.

“Now you know why we’re pissed.” Joe grunted, eyeballing the Principal Shane McMahon, who looked pompous as ever while watching over the students. “I really hope the Captain talks to that asshole because this shouldn’t be happening in his damn school.”

“Agreed.” Jon growled, fighting back the urge to storm over to where Shane McMahon stood and put a 6 inch hole in the middle of his forehead. “Is the damn fire out?”

“Yeah finally, there’s a lot of damage done.” Colby confirmed, sighing heavily and knew his sister would have to look for another job until the school was remodeled.

“Where are all the kids going then?” There were at least 400 children, grades 1^st-6^th, according to Trista.

“MADELYN!”

Colby spotted a platinum blonde practically fly out of her car in a panic and knew that had to be Trish Stratus, watching as Trista instantly rushed over to her. Trista told Trish what happened, crying the whole time because she felt horrible for Madelyn. Trish didn’t blame her thankfully and they both hopped in Trish’s car, peeling out of there to go check on Madelyn at the hospital.

“Time to go.” Jon grunted, eyeing a van with the WFLA Channel 8 News logo plastered on the side of it, knowing it was reporters coming to interview people about the fire.

Even though Jon saved countless lives, he did it for his own reasons and didn’t need to justify his actions or have them praised by the news. He was perfectly content staying in the dark, not wanting to be put in the spotlight for any reason. Jon walked past Joe toward the fire truck, not caring if his fellow firemen wanted their 15 minutes of fame, but he’d pass. Joe didn’t understand why Jon refused to take credit for the lives he saved, but chalked it up having something to do with his childhood and left him alone about it. He too didn’t want to be in the spotlight and followed Jon’s lead, both of them sitting on the fire truck waiting to be taken back to the station. All Joe wanted to do was track Trista down and apologize for scolding her, feeling horrible considering Madelyn wasn’t her kid. After his workout of course.

Just as the fire truck pulled out, countless reporters and journalists arrived at the scene to get their stories with Principal Shane McMahon at the center of attention.

Chapter 4

Stepping into Adam Copeland’s office felt like Cassidy was on her way to the electric chair. Her stomach clenched as his beady blue eyes locked on her, his hand gesturing for her to take a seat. Oh god, this wasn’t good, Cassidy thought, and did as she was told, not wanting to anger the boss any more than he already was. Cassidy knew her article was mediocre, but honestly she didn’t know what else to write about and her boss didn’t give her any ideas either.

Just wing it was all he said, so that’s what Cassidy did and now she would pay for it.

“Mr. Copeland…”

“Cassidy, I highly suggest you keep your mouth shut until I’m done talking.” Adam stated evenly, sitting in his chair across from her folding his hands on top of his desk. “Do you know why I called you in here?”

“I have a pretty good idea.” Cassidy murmured quietly, chewing her bottom lip and clasped her hands tightly in her lap, already feeling the sweat build on them.

“Really?” Adam leaned back in his chair, fingering a pen. “Inform me then.”

Cassidy swallowed hard, feeling a lump form in her throat and wished she had some water to drink. “My article in today’s paper.” She answered somewhat hoarsely and tried controlling her emotions. “I didn’t…”

Adam held his hand up, cutting her off and shook his head. “On the contrary, Cassidy, your article for today’s paper was one of the best I’ve read in months.” He smiled at the look of pure shock crossing her face and turned his chair, staring out the window at the city. “Do you not agree?”

Not knowing how to respond, Cassidy just remained quiet, azure eyes wide with perplexity. “Uhh…” She knew Mr. Copeland was waiting for an answer and honestly didn’t have one. “I-I suppose not…”

“Fair enough.” Adam spun back around, propping his feet on the desk and decided to get down to business. “I called you in here because I have another assignment for you.”

This was definitely not something Cassidy expected from her boss, so all she could do was nod. “What is it?” She asked quietly, hoping he finally had something decent for her to work on.

“Bell Elementary School caught fire today,” Adam began bluntly, blue eyes locking on his best journalist. “From what I’ve heard, it was in the cafeteria. Something about a grease fire. Anyway, that’s not the full story though, at least not the one I want you to go after.”

Cassidy had taken her notebook out of her purse, something she never left the house without and began jotting down everything her boss said. “Do they know what caused it?” She inquired, watching Adam shake his head and continued writing while he spoke.

“Not entirely, the school is being very hush-hush about it.” Adam sounded annoyed, rolling his eyes. “That’s not the story though, Irons. From what I was told, there was a little girl, age 6 or 7 somewhere around there, trapped in a locker in the hallway where the fire started. Her name is Madelyn Stratus.” That much he’d manage to find out. “She was saved and currently in the hospital downtown. I need you to go down there and talk to her, find out what you can about what happened to her. I feel there’s a story to be told here and you’re the perfect candidate to tell it.”

Her heart instantly broke for the poor little girl, not able to imagine the kind of fear she felt being seconds away from dying. “Tampa General?” Adam nodded as Cassidy jotted that down as well, already knowing where the hospital was. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s pretty much it. Most of the reporters have gone to the school because they’re more interested about covering the fire. That’s why I’m directing you to this little girl. Her story needs to be told if she’s being bullied.” Adam didn’t bother acknowledging the fact he’d known Trish personally for years and thought of her as family along with Madelyn. “Do you want a partner for this or do you think you can handle it alone?”

Cassidy chewed her bottom lip, thinking of Peyton and then remembered she had her own work to do regarding an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which was anywhere from a half an hour to an hour from Tampa since they were pretty much on the water. Peyton LOVED animals, to put it mildly and did whatever she could to help the poor creatures from hunters and whatnot. A tanker ship had gotten oil from Tampa, which was carted to Clearwater so it could be taken to South America for delivery. The tanker ship ended up traveling through shallow water and completely tore open the bottom of the craft, therefore causing an oil spill. Currently, Peyton was researching and investigating what exactly made the tanker ship go into shallow waters to begin with along with keeping track of how many dead ocean creatures the spill killed. It was an ongoing battle and, so far, Tampa Bay Times was the top paper in the city thanks to Peyton’s hard work and dedication.

“I can handle it alone, Mr. Copeland.” Cassidy decided, slowly rising from her seat and felt the biggest wave of relief wash over her when he extended his hand. “Thank you for this opportunity, I appreciate this.”

Adam shook her hand firmly, nodding. “If you need any help with this, Irons, don’t hesitate to ask. Now go, the little girl is staying overnight for observation, so you’ll have the perfect time to ask her some questions. Just don’t pressure the mother because she’ll be melodramatic over what happened to her daughter.” He knew that for a fact.

Cassidy briefly wondered how Adam knew so much about Trish Stratus, but decided not to ask. It was none of her business. “Yes sir, I’ll give you my first update before the day is out.” Regardless if Madelyn wasn’t up for talking to her, Cassidy would venture to the school and start her questioning there if need be.

“Good, off you go.”

Adam normally had a manila envelope full of information for the person he wanted investigated, but this time was definitely different. Cassidy would have to go in blind with no help and rely on her expertise, which was something new. If Adam felt she couldn’t do it, he wouldn’t have chosen her, but with her skills and kind heart, they would get the full story on what happened to Madelyn Stratus. Walking out of Adam’s office, Peyton was the first one to approach a still bewildered Cassidy, touching her shoulder gently.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” She asked softly, not remembering Cassidy looking so…stunned in the 3 years Peyton knew her.

“F-Fine.” Cassidy stammered, clearing her throat and accepted a cup of water Peyton handed her, downing it in one gulp. “I’m not in trouble.”

Peyton breathed a sigh of relief, deciding Adam Copeland could keep his balls for another day and smiled. “So what was the meeting about or is it confidential?” She was nosy and didn’t bother hiding it since the women told each other everything.

“Bell Elementary School caught fire this morning and he wants me to investigate one of the rescued victims.” Cassidy said in a rush of words, keeping her voice down and hoped she could pull this off. She didn’t want to disappoint her Chief Editor, not after getting complimented on her article.

“WOW, no I didn’t know…” Peyton’s heart went out to the children, knowing there had to be a horrific incident. “You’ll do great with it. I have no doubt. So does this mean you’re not sticking around today?” She smirked, grey eyes twinkling.

“No, I have to start investigating today and give Mr. Copeland an update by the end of the day.” Cassidy didn’t bother going to her cubicle because she already had her purse and everything in hand. “I was going to ask you to tag along with this, but I know you’re busy with the oil spill situation.”

Peyton nodded, keeping the smile on her face, though it didn’t touch her eyes. “Yeah, you know I’d love to tag along with you if I could.” She winked, looking up when Adam walked out of his office and sighed resignedly. “I better get back to work before you-know-who decides to give another lecture on socializing. I’ll call you later tonight.”

Cassidy chuckled, nodding and caught Adam’s eye, immediately turning to leave the office. She swiped her badge through the machine, hearing it beep approval and headed back to her Honda Civic, deciding to go the hospital first. Sitting in her car for a minute, Cassidy took a few deep breaths before looking over her notes, searing the little girl’s name to memory.

“Poor baby.” She whispered, shaking her head sadly and put the car in reverse, heading out of the parking lot toward downtown where Tampa General was located.

Arriving 20 minutes later, Cassidy parked in the visitor’s lot and headed into the hospital, walking up to the receptionist’s desk. The receptionist, Jennifer, smiled warmly up at her, putting her paperwork to the side. “How may I help you?” She asked politely, fluffing her grey curly bob a little.

Cassidy smiled back, pulling her badge from her purse and flashed it. “I’m a journalist with the Tampa Bay Times and I heard one of the fire victims from Bell Elementary School is here. I was wondering if I could have a word with her.”

One thing about Cassidy was she never lied when it came to investigating, not unless her life was in danger. So far, it never had been. The receptionist nodded, typing on her computer to see if the patient was accepting visitors.

“3^rd floor, room 383 in Pediatrics. When you get up there, you should see the mother and you’ll have to ask her permission, if you didn’t already know.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Cassidy walked off toward the elevators and took them up to the Pediatrics floor, swallowing down her nerves. There was a very good chance the mother of this little girl would snap and rip her apart verbally, but that was the life of a journalist. Turning the corner, Cassidy spotted the sign that pointed which way to walk to get to room 383, turning left. The nurse’s station came into view instantly and Cassidy took a deep breath before heading over, hoping this went well.

“How may I help you?” The nurse, Josephine, asked while looking over one of her patient charts.

“Yes, I know this may seem a little awkward, but…” Cassidy brought her badge out and showed the nurse, smiling tentatively. “My name is Cassidy Irons and I work for the Tampa Bay Times. I heard there was a victim in the fire today at Bell Elementary School and wanted to speak with her mother, Trish Stratus.”

The nurse eyed her shrewdly for a moment and opened her mouth to speak, clamping it shut when a voice sounded behind both of them. “What do you want?”

Cassidy turned around, spotting a petite platinum blonde standing in the hallway and knew instinctively this had to be the mother. “Miss Stratus, forgive me for the intrusion, but I heard what happened to your daughter and was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes.” This had to be a hard time for the mother, which Cassidy more than understood.

Trish looked back at her with narrowed brown eyes and lowered them to the floor, tears forming. “You’re the first reporter to come here.” She whispered heartbrokenly, wrapping her arms around herself. “My little girl…”

Frowning, Cassidy wrapped a comforting arm around Trish’s shoulders and guided her over to sit in a nearby chair away from the nurse’s station, not wanting them eavesdropping. “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now, but that’s why I’m here. Unlike the other reporters in the city, I care about what happened to your daughter and I want to tell her story.” There had to be one here; Adam wouldn’t have sent her if there wasn’t.

“Did you say the Tampa Bay Times?” Trish asked, wiping her tears away and watched Cassidy nod in confirmation, a very small smile curving her lips. “Damn you, Adam.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened, not sure she heard Trish correctly and immediately pulled her notebook out of her purse. “You know an Adam that works there?” Was it her boss? Did Adam send her out to do this story for personal reasons?

Trish nodded, brown eyes turning a little softer. “You could say that. We’ve known each other for years, since we were young actually. But that’s beside the point, what did you want to know about my daughter?” She wasn’t one to beat around the bush, especially when it came to Madelyn.

“Well, I heard that she’d been locked in a locker just outside of where the fire started. Is that true?”

Trish nodded. “Yes, the fire started in the cafeteria. They’re saying it was a grease fire that got out of control.”

Cassidy jotted that information down. “So do you know how your daughter got stuck in that locker? And do you know who saved her?” Of course whoever the firefighter was would have to be acknowledged in her article.

Lowering her eyes to her lap, Trish felt the guilt wash over her and clasped her hands tightly together, sniffling. “S-She was shoved in there…by some kids. She won’t tell me who they are, but I think I have a pretty good idea who did it.” Her brown eyes flashed as she looked straight ahead, taking a deep breath.

“Who?”

“Surana Levesque.” Trish’s voice sounded ice cold when she spoke the child’s name, not that Cassidy blamed her.

“The Mayor’s daughter?” Of course everyone knew who Surana was because her father currently ran the city of Tampa as Mayor and had for several years. He was a bloodsucking, money hungry corporate dick of the WORST caliber. “What grade is she in?” Cassidy continued writing.

“What difference does it make?” Trish snapped, tossing her hands up in the air. “She’s going to get away with nearly killing my daughter because everyone will turn the other cheek! This is bullshit! My daughter is only 6 and just started 1^st grade this year! Surana has picked on her relentlessly because I teach the Special Education classes! She’s in 5^th grade and 10 years old!”

Cassidy’s azure eyes narrowed as she set her notebook down, taking Trish’s hands in hers and forced the woman to look at her. “Listen to me, I don’t care if this kid is the Mayor’s daughter or not. What she did to Madelyn is wrong and it needs to be told. Bullying has gotten very serious over the past few years and kids have been killing themselves because they can’t deal with the pain and torture. Trust me, Tampa Bay Times will tell Madelyn’s story and there won’t be a force on this earth that will allow the Levesque family to weasel out of it. You just have to trust me.”

Trish hoped Cassidy was right and could only nod.

Chapter 5

“Colby, you’re lucky your woman stays home with the kids, otherwise they would’ve been there today.” Joe commented, sitting in the lounge area of the fire station.

They were having a celebratory beer since there were zero deaths in the fire. Colby nodded, heaving a sigh and drank his beer, thinking about his wonderful family. His beautiful wife, Elissa, was the best thing that ever happened to him and made him stop his bachelor partying ways. She was the tender age of 20, not even old enough to drink alcohol, when Colby asked her to marry him. He felt like he was robbing the cradle at age 25, but nothing could stop the love he felt for Elissa. She had amazing pale blue eyes that sucked him in and raven hair reminding him of black spun silk, though now it was a pixie cut. One year after they were married, Elissa announced she was pregnant and both were completely floored when they found out it wasn’t just one baby. Not two babies. Triplets. They kept the sex secret, not wanting to know until they were delivered and were again stunned with fraternal triplets. Two boys and one girl. The girl’s name was Elora and the boys, Caleb and Jacob. All 3 children had their mother’s pale blue eyes and black hair, complete dolls. Colby still couldn’t believe they were 7 already, the expression time flies zipping through his mind.

“Yeah, I was against the homeschooling at first, but Lissa convinced me it was for the best. She was right, like always.”

“Just don’t tell her that, right?” Joe chortled, both men laughing as they clinked their longnecks together. “Jon, you alright?”

Jon sat in the far corner with his own beer, leaning back against the chair staring up at the ceiling. He had no interest in the current conversation, not really the social type and simply shook his head, never peeling his eyes from the ceiling. They were all dressed back in street clothes, his consisting of all black as usual, all of his clothing neutral. Black, grey, white and the occasional brown and dark green, but rarely did he wear any other colors besides black.

Black jeans encased his legs, a black t-shirt with some kind of white lettering on it looking ready to bust from his chest, along with his leather jacket, a black bandana draped over his head tied in the back. Long ago, Jon had beautiful long blonde hair, but when he became a firefighter, he chopped it off not wanting to deal with it. He didn’t have a hounding woman, thankfully, telling him what to do unlike Colby, which Jon thanked his lucky stars for every second of every day and night.

“So, are you ever getting married, Good?” Windham quipped, walking out with a beer of his own, after having a conversation with Captain Layfield privately. “I could see you with some rug rats…” That was a blatant lie.

Windham really did love baiting Jon, Joe silently observed, though he was curious what Jon’s response was. “I could too.” There was no way Jon would kill him, so Joe felt safe enough to say those words.

“Never.” Jon shut his eyes and drained the rest of his beer, tossing it in the trashcan making it without looking.

“Showoff.” Joe muttered, standing up as well and stretched his sore limbs. “Man, remind me to never follow this lunatic into a burning building again.” He groaned good-naturedly, looking down at Colby. “Trista working tonight?”

Colby nodded, though he didn’t look happy about it. “The woman needs a night off, especially after nearly dying in a damn fire today.” He still couldn’t believe how stupid his sister was to go into the cafeteria after it caught fire.

“Did she tell you why she did it?” Windham asked, glancing over at the antisocial of the group and turned his attention back to Colby.

“She wanted to save Cornelius, that’s all she would tell me. She got the kids out and then heard a voice from the cafeteria, bolting in there like the foolish woman she is.”

Colby wanted to strangle his sister for pulling that stunt, though secretively he was proud of her for being so brave. Of course, he’d never tell her that. Joe wanted to kick Trista square in her beautiful ass for not taking the night off, keeping his opinions to himself.

“I think I’ll swing by and see how she’s doing.” He saw Jon finally rise from the corner, wondering if he should bother inviting the man along. “Jon, you wanna get a beer?”

“You are a hero.” Windham added, watching Jon’s icy eyes snap to him.

“Do not call me that.” He hissed, eyes flashing dangerously before pulling the black shades over them, slowly shaking his head in Joe’s direction. “No, I’m going home to get some sleep.” Jon lied smoothly, already planning on going out to a bar of HIS choice and it wasn’t going to be a hillbilly trash one either.

They watched Jon storm out of the fire station, each used to his cold shoulder attitude. Joe was the only one who knew about Jon’s past and how he looked at life revolved around it. He tried several times to make the boys back off, but they wouldn’t, so Joe was just waiting for the moment Jon finally snapped one day and annihilated them all.

“Why do you bother, man? You know he never likes socializing with us.” Windham muttered, already dressed for the night and decided it was time to head home to his own wife and kids. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Take care, Wind.” Colby called after him, using the man’s nickname everyone came up with. “So, going to see my baby sister, Anoa’i?”

Joe shot Colby a boyish grin, grey eyes twinkling mischievously. “Maybe, you gotta problem with that, Lopez?” He remarked, dressed in tight blue jeans that hugged all the right places and a royal blue beater, black shades on top of his head.

Colby eyeballed him for a few seconds, wondering what Joe’s true intentions with his sister were and decided to leave it alone for now. “Tell her I said hi and I’m gonna beat her ass if she doesn’t rest.”

He clapped Joe hard on the shoulder on his way out, the message clear: Don’t screw with Trista. Not fazed or dissuaded, Joe headed out to his black pickup truck, firing it up and headed down the road toward the bar Trista worked at. Colby and Windham headed home to their wives while Jon sat in the parking lot on his beautiful black Titan motorcycle. It was custom built especially for a man Jon’s size and added an edginess to his whole repertoire. It was time to leave the fire station and go find someone to take his aggression out on, Jon’s eyes growing colder at the thought.

There was a bar on the outskirts of Tampa Jon frequented, though it wasn’t often since he didn’t like going out much. Tonight was different though. The fire at Bell Elementary School and saving that little girl made his adrenaline skyrocket. It hadn’t settled down, not even hours later, and Jon only knew one way to lower it. The sun was just setting on the horizon and Jon welcomed the night with open arms, enjoying it far better than the day. He had his pager clipped to his belt in case the fire station needed him, always prepared to dive into danger. Cutting the ignition, Jon slowly turned his head toward the bar and squared his shoulders before dismounting the bike, heading inside.

The bartender was his instant target. Jon slid on one of the stools, ordering a beer in a low rasp. The woman was taken aback by his sheer size and girth, her brown eyes wide in wonder. She stood around 5’6 and had dyed platinum blonde hair that encircled her waist, hanging loose. Such a tiny thing, Jon thought, stroking his stubble thoughtfully studying her intently. Her breasts looked ready to bust out of the red corset top she wore, the black leather skirt barely leaving anything to the imagination. Her lips were painted a deep red that did not match the corset top at all, thick black liner caked around her eyes and she wore far too much jewelry for his liking. Still, Jon needed someone who could handle his aggression in the bedroom and had a feeling she could, deciding to give her a shot.

“What’s your name?” Jon inquired in a deep gritty husky voice, watching her brown eyes widen more while pouring him a shot of whiskey to go with his beer.

“Savannah.” The woman replied, trying her best to sound seductive and batted fake eyelashes at the gorgeous giant. “Yours?”

Jon shook his head, a smirk tilting the corner of his lips as he downed the whiskey in one gulp, chasing it with the beer seconds later. “That’s for me to know and you to find out, if you’re interested.” He made it sound nonchalant, as if talking about sports or the weather and slowly pulled the black shades from his ice blue eyes.

Savannah snaked her tongue out to wet her red lips, wiping some of the cheap lipstick away and nodded eagerly. “Definitely.” She whispered, pressing her breasts against the bar counter and leaned forward a little. “I don’t get off until 2 though.”

Did he really feel up to waiting that long to rid his aggression? “Now or never.” He rumbled assertively, standing from the bar and pulled his wallet from his back pocket, tossing a few bills on the counter. “You have 5 seconds.”

Savannah swallowed hard, knowing she would lose her job if she went with him, but the invitation was too tempting. “Give me 3 to grab my purse.” She purred, watching him nod approvingly and sauntered over to him, stopping when his large hand snapped up. “What is it?”

“You follow me. I don’t let tramps ride on my bike, understand?”

Jon didn’t wait for her to reply and walked out of the bar, the night air assaulting him. Women were all bitches in heat, so that’s how Jon treated the ones he brought to bed. He refused to take her to his home either, never taking any of his lays into his personal bed because that was his sanctuary. No woman was allowed in it except his stack of porno magazines and DVDs. Savannah slid into her beat-up Cutlass Sierra that sounded horrible and on its last leg, following the black motorcycle out of the bar’s parking lot. Her boss was going to be ticked off, but that was fine because Savannah could always sleep with him to get her job back. Right now, she wanted to know what this giant had to offer, licking her lips in pure anticipation.

Arriving at a motel a few miles down the road, Jon pulled into the back of it and parked his motorcycle, cutting the ignition. He rolled his eyes at the sight of Savannah’s car…if it could be called that…and pointed to a space far away from his precious bike. Jon really didn’t want to kill a bitch tonight for scratching his pride and joy, one of them anyway. He watched as Savannah sauntered over to him, trying to act sexy and heaved a sigh, holding his large hand up again to stop her.

At least she was trained well.

“I’m not paying to fuck you. You want to be fucked, we’re sneaking in one of these rooms.” He gestured to the row of rooms behind him at the rundown motel, watching her brown eyes light up and snorted. “No problems then?”

“None at all.”

“Good.” He suddenly wrapped one hand around her throat and dragged her against him, smelling the sudden fear, growling approvingly. “Until we’re done, my name is Sir to you, understood?” He refused to have his name spoken out of her filthy mouth. “You sure you want this?”

Savannah nodded, the anticipation soaking her panties. “Yes.”

“Yes what?” He whispered, his hand still around her throat and didn’t squeeze, just merely resting it there.

“Yes Sir.”

“Good.”

He scooped her up over his broad shoulder and smacked her backside firmly, squeezing it through the leather skirt. With ease, Jon broke into one of the motel rooms through a sliding glass door, the whole place abandoned for the most part. He dropped Savannah unceremoniously on the bed and stood there looming over her, wanting to see what she would do. Savannah’s mouth went dry, wondering what he wanted and decided to start removing her corset top, one clip at a time. Brown eyes never left electric blue as he watched her hungrily, his expression emotionless. Once it was off, Savannah dropped it to the floor at his feet. Growling at the sight of her slender body and full breasts, Jon stepped forward feeling her hands start running down his shirt covered chest, immediately stopping her. His hand wrapped around her wrist, shaking his head slowly and twisted her around without warning, making her land on all fours in front of him. He wasn’t getting undressed and didn’t want her touching him anymore than necessary. Savannah groaned when he slapped her backside again, this time on bare skin since she wore a black thong.

Grunting, Jon unzipped his jeans and pushed them down around his thighs, freeing his painful erection that had been constrained against the material. He then slid his hand up her rosy cheek to the waistband of her thong, ripping it clean off her body with little effort. Savannah moaned in acceptance, wishing she could touch him, but at this point she would give anything to feel him deep inside of her. Removing something from his jean pocket, Jon took the small foil packet between his teeth and tore it open, always packing. He slept around far too much not to use protection, not wanting to contact an STD. Jon slid it on with one hand, glad she stayed perfectly still. This bitch definitely got around and was probably used to being treated worse than this.

After Jon thoroughly screwed her in that position for 2 straight hours, his aggression had finally diminished. Savannah had left satisfied and on shaky legs with a bruised backside and hips, slipping him her number. Right in front of her, Jon took it and balled it up, tossing it right in the waste basket. If this loose bitch thought Jon would ever hit her up for another round, she was out of her mind or seriously diluted. Roaring out of the parking lot, Jon headed straight home to get some rest, arriving 20 minutes later. He lived on the other side of Tampa in a shady apartment building, enjoying the constant danger surrounding him. Collapsing in bed completely naked, Jon pulled the black sheet up to his torso and shut his eyes, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

Chapter 6

After talking to Trish a little more about what happened to Madelyn, including signs she noticed to come to the conclusion her daughter was being bullied, Cassidy had more than enough information to make this a cover story. It would revolve around bullying and expose the Levesque family for the true scumbags they were. Surana would be exposed as well for her bullying ways and hopefully Madelyn would gain some measure of justice for everything she’d been put through. The bullying had gone on for a month since school started in mid-August and now it was mid-September.

Enough was enough.

“I know this has been a very long day for you, Trish, but would you mind if I went in and talked to Madelyn for a few minutes?” Cassidy didn’t want to push the poor woman, seeing how frazzled she was already and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I promise, I won’t be long. I just want to see what her reaction is to a few questions.”

For some reason, Trish trusted this woman and blamed it on Adam sending her, standing up from the chair in the hallway. “Sure, I’m going down to get some coffee and make a phone call.” She walked away, having sat just outside of Madelyn’s room while having the discussion.

Cassidy stood up as well, smoothing her black dress pants down a little and walked over to the door, tapping her knuckles gently against it. Her heart gave a painful lurch at the sight of the small petite little girl lying in bed, leaf green eyes wide in both wonder and fear. It wasn’t surprising she was timid and Cassidy flashed a warm friendly smile, closing the door quietly behind her. The last thing she wanted to do was scare this little girl.

“Hi Madelyn, I’m Cassidy. Can I talk to you for a minute?” She asked softly, gauging the girl’s reaction and stayed by the door, wanting Madelyn’s permission before entering fully.

Madelyn eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds and finally gave a very small nod, chewing her bottom lip. “Okay.” She said in barely above a whisper, loud enough for the woman named Cassidy to hear.

“Do you mind if I sit beside you?” Cassidy asked, waiting until Madelyn nodded again and took the seat at her bedside, notepad in hand. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Tired.” Madelyn murmured, keeping her eyes locked on the woman, still somewhat untrustworthy. “Where’s my Mommy?”

Maybe Cassidy should’ve done this with Trish in the room, but then again, the little girl wouldn’t tell what happened in front of her mother. Cassidy had to know in order to make this an official story, having her tape recorder on in her purse so she didn’t miss anything. It was a sneaky thing to do, but Cassidy had a job and that was exposing the trash that nearly killed Madelyn.

“She’ll be back soon. She went to get some coffee and to make some phone calls. I’m a friend of hers.” It wasn’t a complete lie and Cassidy had to find a way to gain Madelyn’s trust. “I just came in here to talk to you about a few things, if you don’t mind.”

“Am I in trouble?” Madelyn croaked out, tears stinging her eyes and jumped a little when the woman took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Of course not.” This little girl was a heartbreaker, especially with her angelic voice. “Why would you think that, Madelyn?”

Madelyn sniffled, tubes up her nose to help her breathe and shrugged. “B-Because of what happened.” She stammered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek.

Cassidy could literally feel the pain radiating from this child in huge waves and was more determined than ever to make sure she was never bullied again. “None of this is your fault, sweetheart. Look at me.” She ordered softly, watching those tear-filled leaf green eyes lock with hers and smiled in reassurance. “You didn’t do anything wrong and you didn’t ask for what happened to you. Do you believe that?”

Madelyn didn’t respond right away, contemplating the woman’s words and reluctantly nodded. “I guess…” She mumbled, lowering her eyes back to her lap and exhaled a shaky sigh.

That was all Cassidy would get for now and she accepted it, knowing actions would have to be taken to make her fully believe she wasn’t to blame for what happened. “Now, that being said, I want to ask you a few questions. If you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer, okay?” The last thing Cassidy wanted to do was force Madelyn to talk about what Surana Levesque did to her.

“Okay.” Madelyn whispered, leaning back against the pillows and scratched her nose since it itched because of the tubes.

“Great, now can you tell me what grade you’re in?” Cassidy decided to start off with simple questions to make Madelyn a little more relaxed.

“1^st.”

“That’s a good grade to be in.” Cassidy commented, her heart swelling when Madelyn cracked a small smile at her. “And how old are you?”

“6.”

“Wow really? I didn’t realize what a big girl you were!” Kids ate up compliments, so Cassidy decided to go that route. “Do you like school?”

Madelyn hesitated for a moment before nodding, the smile fading from her face. “Sometimes.” She admitted softly, grabbing her brown teddy bear her mother got from the hospital’s gift shop.

Now they were hitting the ground Cassidy wanted to cover. “And why is that, sweetheart? What do you like about school?”

“My teacher.” Madelyn smiled at the thought of Mrs. Schultz. “She’s nice to me.”

“And what don’t you like about school?” Cassidy asked, jotting that name down and already made a mental note to pay this teacher a visit as soon as possible.

Once again, Madelyn hesitated and refused to look at Cassidy, her small body beginning to tremble a little. “T-The kids…are mean to me…” She stammered out in a whisper, fresh tears forming in her eyes and didn’t bother hiding them. “T-They put stuff in my hair, sticky stuff…”

“What else?” Cassidy murmured, reaching over to squeeze her small hand encouragingly. “It’s alright, you can tell me, Madelyn. You can trust me.”

“T-They push me down and…kick my books. Pull my hair…hit me…” Madelyn reached up to touch her head, as if it recalling the last time it happened.

“Okay sweetheart, I just have a few more questions and then I’ll let you rest.” Cassidy said, smiling at the little girl’s nod and shifted in the chair to get more comfortable. “How did you end up in that locker yesterday? Who did it?”

Madelyn squeezed her eyes tightly shut, crying openly now and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. “I-I can’t tell y-you…” She quivered on the bed from how scared she was. “I-I’ll get in t-trouble…”

Setting her notepad on the chair, Cassidy stood up and wrapped an arm around Madelyn’s shoulders, holding her close to try calming her down. Whoever had shoved Madelyn in the locker had threatened her and that angered Cassidy, azure eyes icing over. Surana Levesque would pay for this, Cassidy silently vowed, not caring that the child was only 10 years old. What she did and caused was wrong; there were no shades of grey in this situation.

“Madelyn, you won’t get in trouble for telling me who did this to you. You’ll actually help me by saying who it was because they are going to be punished severely for what they did. You don’t have to be scared anymore, sweetheart.” Cassidy coaxed soothingly, running her fingers through Madelyn’s ebony hair and could feel her slowly start relaxing, the trembling subsiding.

“Really?” Madelyn whispered, looking up at the woman with a glimmer of hope in her leaf green eyes, sniffling.

Cassidy nodded without hesitation. “I promise, and I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine.” When her eyes widened, Cassidy bit back a chuckle and didn’t stop stroking her hair. “When I promise to do something, I never break that promise. And I’m promising you right now that, if you tell me who hurt you and shoved you in that locker, they will get in big trouble. And it’ll never happen again.”

Feeling a little more confident from Cassidy’s words, Madelyn pulled away a little and took a deep breath, clutching her teddy bear tighter. “Surana Levesque did it.” She admitted quietly, confirming Trish’s suspicions and Cassidy felt a wave of both nausea and relief course through her. “P-Please don’t tell my Mommy…”

Cassidy frowned, tilting her head slightly. “Why not, Madelyn?”

“B-Because she’ll…lose her job…” Madelyn started crying again, feeling guilty for causing her mother so much turmoil.

That was something Cassidy never expected to come out of a 6 year old little girl’s mouth and felt her heart break a little more. “Who told you that?” It was no surprise when Madelyn murmured Surana’s name again, a new surge of determination flooding through Cassidy. “Well that’s simply not true, Madelyn. Your Mommy won’t lose her job simply because you tell the truth. Surana lied to you.”

“Do you promise?” Madelyn’s voice cracked, the sound squeaky and wiped her tears away when Cassidy nodded.

“Yes, so that’s 2 promises in one day that I’ve made to you. You must be a very special little girl.” Cassidy grinned, winking and felt gratified when Madelyn smiled fully up at her for the first time. “Now then, I just have one more question for you and then I’ll let you rest. Do you remember the man who pulled you out of your locker?”

Madelyn’s eyes lit up like stars as soon as Cassidy mentioned him, wishing she could see him again. “Yes, he’s my hero.” She stated, pure adoration and admiration in her small voice.

Cassidy smiled, agreeing with her. “Do you know his name? He was a firefighter, right?”

Madelyn nodded in confirmation, suddenly growing sad as her eyes lowered to her teddy bear. “I don’t know his name. He was HUGE and scary. He had blue eyes too, kinda like yours.” She sighed wistfully, looking like she was daydreaming about her savior.

It was the cutest thing Cassidy ever seen. “Anything else?”

“Oh yeah! He made me wear one of those over my face.” Madelyn pointed to the breathing mask hanging on the side of her bed. “He was very nice…and strong. Lifted me with one arm! I thought he was gonna drop me, but he didn’t. He had a really low voice too.” She was more animated now, waving her hands in the air as she spoke.

“You are very observant for a 6 year old.” Cassidy commented, writing down all the details Madelyn gave her and knew Adam would be very pleased with her progress. “Is that all?”

Madelyn tapped her chin thoughtfully for a second and nodded, once again looking sad. “I want to see him again. I said thank you to him for saving me. I hope I see him again one day.” She would give him the biggest hug and a kiss on the cheek if she did.

Whoever this firefighter was, Cassidy was determined to track him down for this story, refusing to leave him out in the cold. He deserved recognition for saving this precious child, possibly a medal or…something. Cassidy blinked, her thoughts becoming jumbled and took a deep breath to slow her racing mind down. One thing at a time, she mentally coached closing the notepad and slipped it in her purse, along with pressing stop on the recorder.

“Well sweetheart, it’s been a lot of fun talking to you, but I’m going to leave now and let you rest.”

“Will I see you again? I like you. You’re nice.” Madelyn stated, looking up when the door opened and smiled at her mother. “Hey Mommy.”

Trish smiled back at her suddenly bright looking daughter, wondering what Cassidy had said to make her so happy. “Hey honeybun, how are you feeling?” She asked, walking over to stroke her daughter’s hair.

“Better. Cassidy is a nice woman.” Madelyn snuggled against her mother as soon as Trish wrapped her in a warm embrace, sighing contently.

“Yes she is.” Trish agreed, kissing the top of her head and couldn’t help smiling back at Cassidy. “Did you guys have a nice talk?”

Madelyn nodded, letting out a long yawn and could feel her eyes becoming droopy. “She made promises to me. I’m tired now. I’m going to sleep.” Laying back on the pillows, Madelyn closed her eyes, not caring who was in the room at that moment.

Trish wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that, wondering what kind of promises Cassidy made and decided to talk to her privately in the hallway. “Let’s step out so we don’t disturb her.” She suggested, walking past Cassidy out the door and waited for the woman to close the door fully before blurting out her first question. “So what did she tell you? And what promises did you make her?”

“She told me everything and confirmed your suspicions. It was Surana Levesque.” Cassidy saw the stormy look come over Trish’s eyes and instantly placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling apologetically. “And I promised her that the person who did this to her would be punished and she’d never have to deal with this kind of problem again. I just dumbed it down for her a bit. I also promised her that you wouldn’t lose your job.”

That confused Trish, her eyes narrowing slightly. “What do you mean? What would make her think I’d lose my job?”

“Surana told her that, apparently. I’m going to safely assume it was a threat so Madelyn wouldn’t tell you or anyone else what was going on.” Cassidy concluded, shouldering her purse and could see Trish becoming more upset by the second. “Listen, you need to just focus on your daughter right now. You’re not going to lose your job just because we’re dealing with the Mayor’s daughter. I will handle this. Mayor or not, Mr. Levesque is going to have a lot of explaining to do to the press once this story gets out. He’ll lose a lot of respect unless something is done about Surana. And I plan on talking to Principal Shane McMahon as well because this kind of thing should not be tolerated in a school, no matter what.”

Trish swallowed hard, not believing this was actually happening and ran a hand through her blonde hair. “Look, if this is going to cost anything…” She began, struggling to find words because of how many different emotions coursing through her.

Cassidy held her hand up, shaking her head. “No cost, the public will pay for it enough by buying our paper and reading your daughter’s story. All you have to do is be prepared for anything and, if you do lose your job over this, you can fight it. I will help you in any way I can, Trish, please believe that.”

“I do.”

“Good, that’s what I like to hear. I’m going to leave you to be with your daughter now, but if you need me for any reason, here’s my cell and house number.” She handed over the slip of paper to Trish, placing it in her hand and closed her fingers around it. “Day or night, call me, okay?”

Trish nodded, slipping the paper in her jean pocket and suddenly hugged Cassidy around the neck, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Thank you for everything. This means the world to us.”

Cassidy hugged her back, feeling the woman shaking. “Thank me when this is all over.”

Parting ways, Cassidy headed out of the hospital and waited until she was on the road alone before letting her own tears fall, completely heartbroken over this situation with Madelyn.

Chapter 7

“So I talked to Trista last night.”

Why did Joe always try sparking up a conversation that didn’t interest Jon? Granted, the man was his only friend, but sometimes Jon felt like bashing his Samoan skull into the nearest wall. They walked inside the fire station together, heading straight for the weight room that also had a physical therapy section. Joe’s back took a hard hit in the fire, so Captain Layfield ordered him to use the back massager. It was a seat that completely massaged a person from head to toe and had helped several of the firemen if they were injured in the line of duty. Jon had black shorts and a black beater on with black tennis shoes on his feet, heading straight for the bench press.

“How’d that go?” Jon asked disinterestedly, setting his bag on the nearby ledge that had a change of clothes in it along with toiletries.

Joe noted the tone of Jon’s voice and ignored it, grinning. “Pretty good, after ripping me a verbal asshole and trying to kick me out of the place.” He shook his head, already feeling his body heating up at the thought of Trista. “Woman lights my fire, man.”

“Just be careful she doesn’t burn you.” Jon retorted, a small smirk curving his lips when Joe scowled and started picking out the amount of weights he wanted to lift. His max was 400, but Jon decided to push it a little today.

“You’re not kidding, though it’d be worth it to be burned by her. I think.” Joe chuckled, fixing the tie in his hair to pull it back tighter and eyeballed the massage chair, sighing. “My back isn’t bothering me. I’d rather lift with you.”

“So do it.” Jon lifted a few 50 pound weights and carted them over to the bench, starting to slide them on the bar. “You could spot me if you want.”

Joe snorted, rolling his eyes. “Funny, I was more thinking along the lines of a small competition between us.” He rubbed his hands together eagerly, deciding to ignore Captain Layfield’s orders to use the massage chair. That could happen AFTER he kicked Jon’s backside at weightlifting.

“Suit yourself. Just don’t blame me when you end up hurt worse than you already are.” Jon snorted, walking over to grab a few more and smirked when Joe arched a brow. “What?”

“You do realize you just put 500 pounds on that bar, right?” What the hell was Jon thinking? “You can’t lift that!”

“Watch me.” Jon grunted, straddling the bench and lowered himself down until his eyes met the bar, gripping it in his strong hands.

“Jon, seriously you’re gonna hurt yourself doing that shit.” Joe growled, not amused at how careless his friend was being lately. “If anyone should be in that damn massage chair, it’s you. You’re the one who was in the fire longer than me and hit your back just like me.”

“There’s a difference between us, Joey.” Jon stated, grunting a little as he began pressing the 500 pounds up and down, feeling the strain on his muscles already and loved it.

Joe absolutely hated being called that, grey eyes flashing. “And what is that, Jonny? I’m more sensible than you?” He smirked when Jon growled, reciprocating the nickname calling.

“I’m not a pussy when it comes to Layfield like you.”

Jon didn’t let anyone tell him what to do, not even the Captain, and proved it repeatedly by jumping into burning buildings without consent. Everyone else abided by what Captain Layfield ordered and said, which sickened Jon quite frankly. Half the time Layfield had no idea what the hell he was talking about and Jon ended up saving his backside by making ‘brash’ decisions when it came to the job.

“I am not!” Joe snarled, tempted to smash that bar over Jon’s head. “I just know how to follow ORDERS and…”

“Be a pussy.”

“Jon, I’m warning you…”

“What the hell are you two bickering about now?” Colby demanded, walking into the room with his gear in hand, wearing a pair of red jersey shorts and a white beater, his two toned hair pulled back in a low tail. A quarter of it was dyed blonde and the rest of it was black.

“Oh nothing, just calling Joey a pussy.” Jon did not cease the weightlifting and smirked when Joe stormed away toward the massage chair. “And now the pussy has to pamper himself because of Captain’s orders.”

“Jon, I swear to god…”

“Alright enough of you two. Acting worse than my kids.” Colby shook his head, walking past Jon toward the squats, deciding he would work on his legs today.

“How’re your kids by the way?” Joe asked, changing the subject while trying to figure out how to start the massage chair.

Colby beamed proudly, placing weights on the leg press machine sticking at his max of 300 pounds for now. “Growing like weeds, hard to believe they’re 7 already. Time sure flies.”

He positioned the seat accordingly and straddled it, pressing his feet up against the flat surface to test it out. There were safety bars on each side of the machine that prevented the weights from smashing down full force, locking them into place. Colby gripped both, pushing his feet up again and locked the safety bars to the side, his legs holding all 300 pounds now. Jon vowed right then and there never to invite Joe to lift weights again because it seemed as though this always happened. When it was just the two of them, everything was fine and he could tolerate Joe’s jabbering. But once other people intervened, Joe turned into a social butterfly and annoyed Jon to no end. Talking about girlfriends, wives, families, kids – anything of the caliber pissed him off and was the last thing Jon cared to hear about.

“Trista told me you stopped by the bar last night.” Colby commented randomly, changing the subject while pumping his legs up and down on the machine, already feeling the burning in his thighs. “She wasn’t happy about it.”

“I know.” Joe grinned, finally figuring out the massage chair and sat down on it, feeling the vibrations begin as little beads began running up his lower back. “She tried kicking me out, did she tell you that?”

Colby chuckled, not surprised considering what a spitfire his sister was. “She gave me a message to relay to you.”

“Yeah?” Joe perked up, trying not to groan at how incredible the beads felt against his back and melted in the chair. “Well?”

“She said and I quote ‘tell that son of a bitch to think before opening his Samoan trap about things he doesn’t know the full story on’. She was pissed. What the hell did you say to her at the school?” Colby demanded, never hearing so much vulgar language come from his sister’s mouth.

“Samoan trap?!”

Jon laughed openly, which sounded strange since he didn’t do it often, never stopping his workout. “Sounds like she’s got Joey pegged down.” He remarked, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and arms, starting his third rep of lifting.

“You heard me and I think you’re right about that, Good.” Colby conceded, leaning his head back trying not to laugh because he didn’t feel like having 300 pounds crush him.

“Hell, is it my fault she kept a secret about a little girl being bullied?” Joe shot back in a grumble, shaking his head and knew he’d have to make amends with Trista somehow.

Colby sighed heavily, having talked to his sister about what happened. “She honestly didn’t know the little girl was being bullied. The kid made it sound like it only happened once. Trista has a lot of other kids to watch out for, Anoa’i. You gotta put yourself in her position.”

“And my point is she kept that one incident quiet when she should’ve went to the damn principal and chewed his ass like she did me.” Joe countered swiftly, feeling a little better now that he defended himself. “I don’t care who the hell you are, if you see a kid trapped in a damn locker, chances are it didn’t happen just once.”

“He’s got a point there, Lopez.” Jon thought back to the tiny leaf green eyed little girl he’d saved the previous day, the haunted look in her eyes something he couldn’t shake.

“I’m not trying to defend what she did as far as keeping the little girl’s secret. I agree with Joe on that. But I’m just pointing out she does have other kids to deal with and worry about.” Colby had to give Trista the benefit of the doubt because she did have her reasons for not going to Shane McMahon. “If you ask me, her damn mother needs to have her ass kicked for not noticing something wasn’t right with her kid.”

Joe agreed with that, the beads moving up his spine to his neck. “Trish and Trista are friends, right?” He remembered Trista leaving with Trish the previous day to go to the hospital to check on the little girl. “What’s her name again, the little girl?”

“Madelyn.” Colby answered, his voice low and gruff. “And apparently, last night a reporter from Tampa Bay Times went to the hospital to talk to both Trish and her kid about what happened.”

“Are you shitting me?” Joe groaned, not liking the sound of that. “When are those fucking people gonna keep their noses out of people’s lives? That’s not right.”

“Trista told me the reporter was gonna air Madelyn’s story to the news, not just the newspaper.” Colby scrubbed a hand down his face, not stopping his workout. “You’ll never guess who’s being accused with this either.”

“Who?” Now Jon’s interested was piqued, sitting upright after racking the bar, his body coated in sweat. “They found out who did it?”

Colby nodded, suddenly looking grim. “It was the Mayor’s daughter, Surana.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jon growled, standing up with blue ice frosting in his eyes, fist clenched tightly. “What the fuck did she do that for? That little girl could’ve DIED!” Normally, Jon wouldn’t care about a living soul he saved, but Madelyn was just an innocent kid. This was downright sickening!

“Nope, I was floored when Trista told me on the phone this morning.” Colby still couldn’t believe it. “The little girl spilled everything to the reporter, including the reason why she kept it a secret. It’s been happening since school started up.”

“A whole month?” Joe blinked, quickly figuring that out in his head and glanced over at Jon, swallowing hard at how dangerous he looked. “And NOBODY saw it happening?”

Jon snorted, gritting his teeth. “Of course not, she’s the fucking Mayor’s daughter after all. I knew that son of a bitch was no good. Damn it!” Storming over to his bag, Jon decided he was done lifting weights and began slipping his fingerless boxing gloves on, wanting to take some aggression out on the punching bag.

Joe couldn’t recall the last time he saw Jon get worked up because of what happened someone he saved, not blaming him a bit. “So let me get this straight,” He paused, resetting the massage chair to go over his back again. “This little girl, Madelyn, is bullied for an entire month and nobody notices it until Trista finds her one day locked in her locker.” It’d been a few days prior to the cafeteria fire. “Then she keeps Madelyn’s secret because she thinks it only happened once. So why the hell didn’t Madelyn tell somebody this was happening to her?”

“I was getting to that before Good interrupted me.” Colby stated, sweat beading on his own body and had a feeling Elissa would have to do most of the work tonight if she wanted to fool around. “Apparently, the reporter found out from Madelyn that Surana Levesque threatened Trish’s job if she told anyone what happened.”

“WHAT?!” It was Joe’s turn to explode, standing up from the massage chair with dangerous stormy greys. “What the fuck is wrong with that kid?!”

“Look who her fucking father is, Anoa’i.” Jon seethed, punching the bag as hard as he possibly could. He was downright livid and it showed in his thunderous expression, icy eyes locked on the bag. “Scumbag Mayor that runs the fucking show, of course she’s gonna think she can get away with it. And you know what? She will because she’s the Mayor’s brat.”

“If you ask me, that kid needs to have her ass beat.” Joe muttered, walking over to the military press and placed his max on the bar, needing to blow off some much built up steam.

“Couldn’t agree more with you. Trish broke down on the phone to Trista and made her cry. Trista doesn’t cry often. She started crying on the phone when she told me this shit today and I swear to you, I nearly drove to City Hall to ring Levesque’s neck.” Colby couldn’t handle hearing Trista cry, especially when it was something he had no control over making right. “Lissa had to get on the phone and calm her down because she’s so torn up over this. She thinks it’s her fault and it’s not. So that’s why I’m defending her and telling you to back off, Anoa’i. She doesn’t need to feel guiltier than she already does.”

Joe understood and began pumping the bar faster than Jon had, veins bulging out of his arms. “I wanna go there and beat the hell out of Levesque for allowing his daughter to do this shit. That Surana brat is bad news. Did you read what she did last week?”

Colby frowned, shaking his head. “No, what happened?” He rarely read the paper because the news was always depressing and not worth wasting his time on.

Joe snorted, feeling sick at the memory of the article he’d read in the Tampa Bay Times. “That fucking brat threw a party and invited high school boys to the mansion - HIGH SCHOOL BOYS. This girl is in GRADE SCHOOL and she’s inviting boys that are 16-17 years old to the Mayor’s mansion while the asshole is out of town!” He gritted his teeth as a new rush of anger flowed through him, not caring if his arms fell off at this point.

“How the hell did I miss that?” Colby muttered, wondering what else the Mayor let his precious brat get away with. He knew the answer instantly: Everything and anything, including attempted murder.

“The Mayor pitched a huge hissy fit and forced the article to be removed from the papers, all of them taken off the stands.” Joe still had his copy though, deciding he would let Colby have it so he could read it when they hung out privately again. “There’s something seriously wrong with that kid and her parents for letting her have parties and god knows what happening in them.”

Jon couldn’t hear anymore and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him so hard the hinges nearly broke off.

Chapter 8

Adam was very pleased and sickened by Cassidy’s first update regarding Madelyn Stratus, much to her relief. He was always hard to read whenever she turned an update in, but this time he verbally commended her for a job well done. They mulled over a few ideas on where Cassidy should go next, both agreeing Shane McMahon would be her next target. So many questions were unanswered and both knew Surana was also his niece since his sister, Stephanie, was the Mayor’s wife. Adam warned Cassidy that this would get ugly, but he refused to back down from telling Madelyn’s story, not about to let the Mayor bully him like his brat had done to Madelyn. Sure, Adam was forced to remove the article regarding Surana’s wild party she’d thrown a week ago, but that was child’s play compared to this. Surana Levesque committed attempted murder and didn’t even realize it when she sealed Madelyn in her locker.

Cassidy left work later that night and drove home, so many thoughts swirling around her head. Why would Surana do something so heinous to a sweet girl like Madelyn? Granted, Madelyn was less fortunate than her, but if anything that should’ve made Surana feel better about herself. Then again, being the Mayor’s daughter had to be very overwhelming because she had the constant pressure to maintain a certain image for the public. Maybe something wasn’t right in her own home that would force her to show supremacy. There had to be a reason for all the aggression and bullying. Naturally, Shane McMahon had gone out of town the following day, so Cassidy couldn’t question him. Adam suggested talking to a couple of the teachers regarding the incident, wanting her to stay on key point since all the others were covering the fire part of it. Cassidy agreed with him and went to Chime Junior High where all of Bell Elementary School students were sent until it was fixed. Half of the main hallway was scorched along with the entire cafeteria and would take time to be completely remodeled.

Bobbie Jo Shultz was a kind older woman, age 40 or so, who had been teaching for over 15 years. She had short cropped brown hair and hazel eyes, one of the sweetest women Cassidy ever talked with. Turns out Bobbie Jo had no idea what was going on with her student, the tears shining in her eyes after Cassidy told her what happened to Madelyn Stratus being all the proof she needed. She was appalled and felt awful for Madelyn, asking where she could send a get well soon card to the little girl, wanting to brighten her spirits. Madelyn was her favorite student, though Bobbie Jo made Cassidy promise to keep that secret. Once that meeting ended, Cassidy went back to the office to once again update Adam on the progress, basically reiterating what she found out. Adam wanted Bobbie Jo to be interviewed for the news on Madelyn’s behalf and Cassidy told him she would handle it. They were planning on airing the story as soon as Cassidy finished her investigation, which would take a few more days. She still had to meet with Shane McMahon and wanted to go to the Mayor’s mansion, but Adam strongly advised against it.

Pulling into her driveway, Cassidy parked her Honda Civic in the garage and closed the door, walking inside the house. It was just past 7 PM, which gave Cassidy enough time to make something to eat, shower and curl up with a book before bed. She had to do something to get Madelyn off her mind, though it wasn’t going to be easy. The little girl had touched her deeply and all Cassidy wanted to do was help her, to stop the bullying once and for all. Removing the clip from her strawberry blonde hair, Cassidy ran her fingers through it a little to fluff it out and walked into the kitchen, knowing she had to eat something. Madelyn’s situation made her appetite diminish, so Cassidy hadn’t eaten all day and knew if Peyton found out, she’d get a lecture along with a foot up her backside. Sifting through the freezer, Cassidy pulled out a frozen pizza and preheated the oven. It was a Canadian bacon one, her favorite, and only took about 20 minutes to bake.

Pulling out her notepad, Cassidy couldn’t resist and started reading through all the notes she made during the day, rubbing her temples. The oven beeped behind her, letting her know the pizza was ready to go in and pulled away from the notepad to pop it in. Just as she took the wrapper off and put it on the pizza pan, Cassidy’s house phone rang, wondering who was calling her at home. Everyone who knew her usually called her cell phone, unless it was an emergency or Trish Stratus.

“Hello?”

“Is this Cassidy Irons?” A low sinister voice asked, the tone blunt and even.

Cassidy felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, her hand clutching the phone instinctively. “Yes, who’s calling?” She asked, trying to keep the hesitation out of her voice.

“Walk away.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Cassidy blinked, confused.

“Walk away or else.” The sinister voice replied and she could hear heavy breathing as well. “This is your only warning.”

Cassidy felt a lump form in her throat, almost tempted to hang up on this lunatic. “I-I don’t understand…”

“Then die.” The phone went dead.

Cassidy stood there in shock for a good 5 minutes, holding the phone in her hand and could hear the busy signal echoing through it. She couldn’t move though. It felt like her feet were cemented to the tiled floor, every part of her body tensed. What the hell was going on? Walk away or die? Walk away from what? Cassidy snapped out of it, blinking and jumped out of her skin when the phone began ringing in her hand. Terrified, Cassidy didn’t want to answer it and let the answering machine pick up, dropping it to the floor instantly.

“Sidy, are you there sweetie? It’s your wench, pick up the damn phone already! I know you’re there! I called your cell and, surprise-surprise, it’s DEAD. So call me back already before I kick your ass for worrying me! Love you!”

It was Peyton. Cassidy frowned, not realizing her cell phone went dead and walked back into the kitchen to grab it from her purse. Sure enough, the power was completely dead and no life sprung from it when she pushed the END button to turn it on. Sighing, Cassidy walked over where her charger was and plugged it in, trying to stop shaking from the ominous phone call. Remembering the pizza, Cassidy finished sliding it in the oven and pushed the timer for 20 minutes, heading back into the living room to call Peyton back before she had a coronary. Sitting on the couch, Cassidy ended up staring at the phone for 10 minutes, not believing how scared she was to dial a single number, especially her best friend’s. Finally, Cassidy somehow found the courage to do it and wasn’t surprised when Peyton answered instantly.

“Where the HELL have you been?” Peyton demanded, sounding more worried than anything, sitting in her own living room pausing a movie she’d been watching. “And why is your cell phone dead?”

“Peyton, something happened.” Cassidy blurted out before she could stop herself, immediately regretting it and closed her eyes. “I mean…”

“What do you mean something happened? Cassidy, are you okay?” Peyton was on her feet already, slipping her shoes on and had her car keys in hand. “Do you need me to come over?”

Thinking it over, Cassidy knew she couldn’t ignore what happened, but also didn’t want to blow this out of proportion. Then again, what if her life was in danger? “I don’t know.” She whispered honestly, tears stinging her eyes and suddenly started checking her windows to make sure they were locked securely. “The weirdest thing happened before you called…”

“Okay…” Peyton dragged that word out, raising a brow and walked into the kitchen to grab her purse. “I’m coming over if you don’t tell me what’s going on, woman.”

“Is Randy working tonight?” She asked randomly, knowing that question came out of left field, but Cassidy had a reason for it.

That definitely caught Peyton off-guard. “Yeah why?”

“I don’t want to report this to the authorities, but talking to him might help. Can you possibly send him over here? You come too.” She didn’t want Peyton thinking she was trying to make a move on Randy, which most women would jump to that conclusion. “I know it doesn’t make sense…”

Cassidy asking specifically for Randy meant something really bad happened and Peyton felt ill, hoping her friend was alright. “Give me an hour. I’ll call him and see if he’s busy and then I’ll be over.” They hung up and Peyton didn’t waste a second calling Randy, trying to stay calm.

“Orton.” His deep voice resonated over the phone, answering on the 3^rd ring.

“Hey Randy, it’s Peyton.” That was such a moronic thing to say when she knew he had caller ID, but Peyton couldn’t just demand him to go over to her best friend’s house.

“I’m well aware of who it is, beautiful.” He chuckled, the sound sending shivers down her spine. “What can I do for you, Pey?”

“I need your help…”

Randy listened intently to what Peyton told him, immediately agreeing to go talk to her friend and said he’d be there in 15 minutes. Peyton was there in 10, knocking on Cassidy’s door and sighed with relief as soon as she opened the door. Cassidy grunted, being pulled into a tight embrace and knew she’d worried Peyton, honestly not meaning to.

“Are you alright?” Peyton demanded, pulling back to look down into Cassidy’s azure eyes that were full of fear and exhaustion. “What happened?”

“Let’s just wait until your boyfriend gets here. Then I’ll explain everything.” Cassidy walked back into the kitchen to finish cutting her pizza up reluctantly. She wasn’t hungry quite honestly.

“He’s not my boyfriend…yet.” Peyton amended, folding her arms in front of her chest and noticed the pizza on the counter, her stomach rumbling. “Do you mind if I steal a slice?”

Cassidy smirked, chuckling half-heartedly. “Since when do you ask permission to take food from me?”

“Well you know, didn’t wanna be rude…” Peyton shot back with a wink and snatched a slice from the pan, taking a big bite. “Oh my GOD, that is so good! I haven’t ate anything today!”

“Same here.” Cassidy muttered, taking a piece for herself and stared down at it, suddenly pushing it away with a shaky sigh. “I can’t eat this…”

Peyton frowned, feeling horrible she’d just gobbled a piece of pizza in less than a minute. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out, sweetie.”

She wouldn’t push Cassidy to eat, knowing the current story the boss had her working on wasn’t exactly a joyful topic. Cassidy opened her mouth to say something when a knock came at the front door, both of them knowing who it was. Randy had arrived. Both women walked over to the door as Cassidy answered it, staring back at a blue eyed police officer with buzzed dark hair, holding his hat in his hands. Peyton immediately shot forward, hugging him tightly around the neck and kissed his cheek, taking his hand guiding him inside the house.

“Thank you for coming…” Cassidy trailed off, having no idea what to call him considering he was her best friend’s boyfriend.

“Just call me Randy, Cassidy. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He requested softly, trying to set her mind at ease a little and could tell both women were riled up for some reason. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

Cassidy began fidgeting in her chair, all of them sitting at the kitchen table and looked down at her clasped hands resting in front of her. How the hell was she supposed to tell him what happened? She couldn’t just blurt out she’d received an anonymous phone call potentially threatening her life. That wouldn’t set well at all, especially with her overprotective mother hen, Peyton.

“Sidy, you can trust him. He won’t report this.” Peyton had already made sure Randy agreed to that stipulation before coming over, thankful he hadn’t put up a fight.

That made Cassidy feel a little better. “When I got home tonight, I received a call from someone I don’t know. They called the house phone and I’m almost positive they were using a fake voice. It was very short and to the point.” She started trembling at the memory, the words echoing in her mind flashing like a neon sign.

Peyton frowned, reaching over to take Cassidy’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “What did the asshole say?” She asked, pure malice dripping in her tone, wanting to kill whoever had scared Cassidy this badly.

“Walk away…or else.” She whispered that last part, shutting her eyes and swallowed hard, fighting back emotions. The last thing Cassidy wanted to do was cry in front of a police officer. “I told him I didn’t understand and he said…”

“He said what?” Randy pressed, already committing all of this to memory and planned on talking to his Chief as soon as he left here.

“Then die.” Cassidy felt Peyton’s hand tighten on hers and slowly looked up with tear-filled eyes. “I-I think it was a death threat…”

“Christ…” Peyton muttered, breathing a little harder and looked at Randy, seeing the knowing look in his mystic blues. “What do you think she should do?”

“I don’t want to report this, but…”

“Cassidy, if you want my honest opinion, you need to report this so it’s on file if you receive another one or something else happens to you.” Randy hated sounding so blunt, but he refused to lie or sugarcoat his answer, not when a death threat was involved. “Do you have the number?”

“I-I think it might be on the caller ID…” Cassidy hadn’t really paid attention, running a hand through her strawberry blonde hair and watched Randy retrieve her house phone. “I can’t believe this is happening…”

Peyton wrapped a comforting arm around Cassidy’s shoulders, hugging her. “We’ll figure this out, Randy knows what he’s doing. You have to trust him.” It wasn’t just because Peyton was dating him either, Randy was an amazing police officer.

Randy came back a few seconds later, tossing the phone on the table with narrowed eyes. “Number is unknown, so this is what I’m going to suggest. We’ll put a tracer on your house and cell phone, just in case you get another call like that one. Until we find out the source of where that phone call came from, it’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack. I’m going to talk to Chief Lawler when I get back to the precinct tonight. My shift ends in 2 hours and he’ll be there filing paperwork from a drug bust we did last night.” His eyes turned softer, looking at Peyton. “I want you to stay with her tonight and, if anything happens, you call my cell immediately. Fuck 911, got it?”

Peyton nodded, standing up from the table and walked Randy to the door, accepting a soft kiss from him. “Thank you for coming. You’re the best.” She tapped his nose, kissing him one more time and giggled when he growled.

“Beautiful, teasing an officer of the law isn’t a smart thing to do. I’m on duty right now and don’t feel like driving around the streets with a hard-on.” Randy grunted, yanking her against him and passionately kissed her, giving her something to remember him by. “See you tomorrow for our date?”

“You got it.” Peyton smiled, stepping away reluctantly and watched him walk back to his car, tilting her head to the side to admire his amazing backside in that police uniform. “Lord save me.”

Both women shared a bed that night, but sleep evaded Cassidy due to the fact her life was now officially in danger.

Chapter 9

“Did you do it?”

“Yes.”

“And her reaction?”

“Scared shitless, don’t really know much else. Don’t care. When do I get my money?”

“When this blows over or she’s dead, either way doesn’t matter.”

“Consider it done.”

The call ended abruptly as he snapped his cell phone shut, eyes narrowing at the thought of what he’d have to do. Granted, Cassidy Irons wasn’t the type he usually axed for money, but then again, no job was too big or small. Not in his profession anyway. People paid him to do a job and he did it, no questions asked. He kept hands from getting dirty by soiling his, which he didn’t mind for the most part. Still, she was quite the beauty and had a beautiful rack on top of it. The top showed exactly what kind of shape and size they were in this particular picture through the thin material of the top she wore. She had hypnotic azure eyes and hair that begged to be yanked, her beautiful body looking deprived of attention. He didn’t go after many women, a sadistic smile curving his lips at all the different ways he could kill her.

One week.

That was all he gave her to make her decision because, if Surana’s story aired on the news, Cassidy Irons would die. Her life was at stake and he meant what he said: Walk away or else. Then again, maybe the woman didn’t care about her own wellbeing, which would make his job that much easier. Stroking the scruff on his chin thoughtfully, eyes ran down the countless pictures of his latest target, licking his lips hungrily. He wouldn’t mind getting a little dirtier than usual with this, but it would determine just how serious she took his threat. Running his fingertips down her picture, his eyes drifted shut as it floated to the floor, his hand lowering to the zipper on his jeans. With Cassidy Irons on his mind and envisioning all the wicked things he wanted to do to her body, he proceeded to take care of his current physical problem, groaning her name as he came all over the pictures.

~!~

Joe made up his mind during the rest of his workout to talk to Trista about what happened and get their miscommunication fixed. He didn’t want her to hate him just because he said what was on his mind. Never one to sugarcoat how he felt to begin with, Trista should’ve considered herself lucky Joe restrained himself the way he had. As soon as he stepped into the bar she worked at, Trista immediately tried going to the back while the other bartender, Crystal, took over for her. Joe scowled, knowing she did that on purpose and stalked out of the bar, heading around the building where he knew Trista would be. Sure enough, she was leaning against the brick wall with a cigarette lit in hand, staring straight ahead. Joe didn’t mind that she smoked since he chewed tobacco, finding it sexy the way the smoke filtered from her lips into the air in a curl.

“Trista, that wasn’t very nice, gorgeous.” Joe rumbled, not moving toward her and folded his arms in front of his chest. “We need to talk.”

“No, we really don’t.” Trista shot back, taking a longer drag of her cigarette than normal, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark red bandana tube top that tied in the back in a knot.

Joe drank her in, his grey eyes starting at her black steel toed boots and worked their way up her jean covered legs. She had delicious legs that he craved to feel wrapped around his waist. His eyes landed on the bandana tube top that showed off her gorgeous sides and accented her breasts, already knowing she wasn’t wearing a bra. His heated gaze finally landed on her face, her fiery red hair pinned on each side of her head by small clips, the rest of it flowing over her shoulders down to rest on the middle of her back.

“Do you have a staring problem, Anoa’i?” Trista demanded, feeling his eyes practically devour her whole and tried maintaining her attitude.

Why did he have to be so gorgeous? Why was she crushing on a dick that let his mouth run away with him? Trista was hurt by what he said regarding the situation with Madelyn and refused to forgive him, wanting him to suffer for a little while. It was hard considering she did miss the long talks they had while she bartended in this dump, Joe being the only good thing about her job.

She missed him, period.

“Come on gorgeous, you can’t stay mad at me forever.” Joe coaxed, taking few steps toward her and smirked when Trista shot him a glare.

“The hell I can’t!” She snapped and flicked the cigarette right at him, missing by several feet. “Just leave, Joe. You’re not wanted here.”

Those words made something snap inside of Joe that he couldn’t describe, grey eyes turning to pure steel. Within seconds, Joe closed the distance between them, pinning Trista to the building with a hand on each side of her head, steely eyes piercing her. Trista swallowed hard at the look in his eyes, not sure if she should be aroused or scared, his whole face thunderous. For months, Trista denied how she felt for Joe and didn’t realize how exhausting it was to hide her feelings for someone. All because of big brother Colby. She didn’t want Colby and Joe’s relationship strained because of what they did, which was saving lives from burning buildings. It was dangerous work and the last thing Trista wanted was to cause a rift between her brother and Joe because they watched out for each other.

“Joe…” Trista tried like hell to keep her voice even and failed, her whole body trembling from head to toe.

She wasn’t pushing him away, not this time. Joe was determined as his hands left the wall to touch her bare shoulders, hissing at how soft her skin was. Trista bit back a moan at the feeling of his hands touching her, loving how calloused and rough they were yet gentle at the same time. His hands slid lower down her arms until he had a hold of her hips, touching her bare skin beneath the bandana tube top, massaging them with his thumbs in a circular motion. Leaning back against the building, Trista couldn’t help getting lost in the sensations Joe created as he touched her, every part of her igniting in one huge forest fire that threatened to engulf her whole.

Then Trista’s hazel eyes flew open when her jeans unsnapped.

“What are you…?” Damn it, her heavy breathing clearly told Joe she wanted him and Trista suddenly hated how her body betrayed her. “We can’t…”

“Why not?” Joe rumbled, his voice low and husky, stormy greys darkening while continuously caressing her sides and lower back. “You want me, I want you. I don’t see the problem here, Trista.”

“But…”

Trista was silenced by Joe’s mouth plundering hers and her hands instinctively grabbed fistfuls of his dark blue beater, ready to push him away. His lips felt so good against hers, too good, and Trista ended up pulling him closer deepening the kiss. Joe groaned from low in his throat when her mouth opened, giving him all the invitation he needed. The second their tongues touched, tasting each other for the first time, Trista shivered against Joe as her body exploded with a newfound height of heat. His hands slid from her slender waist to her beautiful pert backside, sliding them beneath the thick material to feel her panties. He pressed her against the wall, gripping her backside and smashed her against him, letting her feel exactly what she did to him every time he saw her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Trista stroked the back of his neck and pulled the tie out of his black tresses to let them fall freely, the kiss growing more passionate and eager.

Joe didn’t care where they had their first encounter, never a shy man and began pushing her jeans down her beautiful legs, his hands never stopping the caressing. Their kissing never stopped as Trista bent when he did, stepping out of her jeans kicking them to the side. The warm night air did absolutely nothing for her boiling blood, especially when Joe removed her panties next. Refusing to be the only one getting naked in the back of her job, Trista’s hands slid beneath the beater to feel Joe’s muscles ripple against her touch and pulled it over his head. Her breath hitched at the sight of his muscular chest in her hungry vision, hands instantly caressing the caramel smooth skin. The fact he had a sleeved tattoo covering his whole right arm and pectoral just turned her on further.

Then she replaced her hands with her lips, tasting his skin against her tongue and moaned, running her nails down his muscular sides feather lightly. Joe groaned, burying his fingers in her fiery red tresses and couldn’t take the teasing, capturing her lips with his in another explosive kiss. Trista managed to reach down to unsnap his jeans before Joe’s hands clamped on her backside, lifting her from the ground and wrapped her legs around his waist. Joe smirked, grey eyes dark and smoky, moving the bandana tube top to drape over her shoulder, groaning at the sight of her breasts. Pressing her back against the building, Joe captured one pert nipple in his mouth and groaned as it instantly hardened against his tongue, loving the moans spilling from her mouth.

Gripping his shoulders tightly, Trista’s nails bit his into his skin, feeling him thoroughly pleasure one breast before going to the other. She needed him now, didn’t he understand that? This scorching fire inside of her was worse than any inferno Joe faced at his job and Trista desperately needed it put out. Reaching between them again, Trista reached inside his open fly and felt the warm flesh, stroking it lovingly. Joe hissed out at the contact of Trista’s hand on his throbbing erection and knew the time for teasing had passed. It was time to make her his right here outside of her job of all places. Shoving jeans down almost to his knees, Joe freed his cock, which was still in Trista’s hand and covered it with his own, their eyes locking. Trista nodded, seeing the burning question in his greys and knew he was silently asking permission to continue.

Taking control of the stroking, Joe proceeded to glide the swollen head of his cock up and down her sensitive clit, both of them groaning at the friction. No words had to be said and Joe couldn’t hold back anymore, inching his way past her warm receptive folds. Trista felt her walls instantly cling to him like a vise grip and trembled, locking her ankles around him while he held her up. Refusing to let her be scraped to hell against the wall, Joe had to use brute strength to hold her up as he impaled her fully, completely sheathed inside of her. Trista cried out, her mouth right by his ear and didn’t want to wait to become adjusted to him. Joe’s eyes flew open when she began moving against him, gliding up and down on his cock while their tongues dueled. Soon, they had a rhythm down with Joe keeping a firm grip on her hips, snapping his hips back and forth at a fast, deep rate. Trista whipped her head back as his mouth sealed to her neck, dragging her nails across his shoulder blades, feeling the muscles undulate. It took a considerable amount of strength to hold a woman up the way Joe was and that just made Trista hungrier for him, the hot coil within her stomach forming.

It wouldn’t be long now.

Joe grunted, tugging lightly at her ear and increased the pace, his release building along with hers. This was going to be intense, he could feel it and knew Trista could too. Trista held on as long as she could, never wanting this moment to end, but it was inevitable. With a few more thrusts, Trista finally couldn’t hold back any longer and completely shattered against Joe, falling apart at the seams in his arms, her walls milking him for all they could. Pushing her back against the wall, Joe’s legs burned and threatened to give out as he kept thrusting, gritting his teeth when a second orgasm overtook her. That was all he could take. Joe sunk his cock as deep as he could inside of Trista’s receptive body, finally giving her what she wanted and exploded, filling her with his warm seed. Trista cried out his name, silenced quickly by Joe’s mouth and was thankful he did that, not wanting someone running back here to check on them. Growing limp inside of her, Joe finally stopped moving and just stood there holding Trista in his arms, burying his face in her neck. Trista had her eyes closed, massaging the back of his neck and started laughing out of nowhere. Raising a brow, Joe pulled back to stare in her beautiful hazel eyes, running a finger down her cheek.

“What’s so funny?” He asked in a hoarse voice, both of them coming down from their intense sexual high.

“I can’t believe I just fucked you in the back of my work.” Trista giggled, cupping his face in her hands and pressed her forehead against his, sighing in pure contentment. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You better not be.” Joe growled, kissing her softly and smacked her bare ass with his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Goddamn Trist, you’re gonna be the death of me.”

“That makes two of us.” Trista murmured against his lips, rubbing her nose gently against his. “So, what happens now?”

Joe smirked, knowing she was worried about Colby, deciding not to voice his opinion on that yet. “Now you tell me I’m forgiven and we stop this fighting and hiding shit. I want to be with you, Trista.” He stated bluntly, fingering her chin in his strong hand. “I want you to be mine, understand?”

“Joe…” Trista was about to say she couldn’t, but one look in those beautiful hypnotic greys and she found herself kissing him, agreeing to whatever he wanted. “You’re forgiven, but we’re still talking about what happened at the school later.”

Joe liked the sound of that, nodding and reluctantly released her so she could get dressed, pulling his jeans up snapping them in place. “Do you get off at 1?” He asked, pulling the dark blue beater over her head to cover his muscular torso.

Trista nodded, pulling her panties and jeans back on along with her shoes. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

Joe pulled her into his arms again, passionately kissing her to leave her something to remember him by. “Stay with me tonight?” He made it sound like a request, knowing Trista didn’t enjoy a man telling her what to do.

“Pick me up and I’m all yours.” She whispered, running the pad of her thumb across his lips and watched him walk away, knowing she had to get back to work.

Crystal was going to maim her for taking such a long break.

Chapter 10

This had to be the worst day in Jon’s life.

No, the 2^nd worst day.

It started the previous night when Jon decided to go for a ride on his motorcycle, something he did frequently. It’d been a week since the school fire and they had to put a few out at different houses, but nothing dangerous. It irritated Jon to no end because he enjoyed the adrenaline rush of putting his life on the line. Death was always welcome to take a shot at him because then Jon would finally be at peace instead of living with constant guilt and anger. The night air was crisp and cool, blowing across his face as he opened the motorcycle full throttle, speeding as fast as he could down the gravel road. No matter how many times he did this, the exhilaration was peaked off the charts, something he couldn’t experience any other way. The speed, the roar of the engine, the vibrations rumbling his body, the wind and world flashing by…this was as close to heaven as Jon would ever get.

Once he rode for a while, Jon turned and headed back into town, needing to get some rest because he didn’t know when his pager would go off for the fire station. The country road was one lane and narrow, so when a car started flashing their lights at Jon, it didn’t amuse him. He kept going, slowing down to 30 miles per hour deliberately and laughed when the car started blaring their horn. Glancing in the side mirror, pale blue eyes narrowed as the car started trying to pass Jon, making him swerve in order to block the driver. The horn blared again as the car tried moving to the opposite side, once again trying to pass. Jon didn’t see it coming this time, thinking he had the prick right where he wanted him and felt the car clip the back of his motorcycle.

“Shit!” Jon cursed, swerving out of control while the car managed to bypass him and refused to become road kill, jumping off his motorcycle.

He landed hard in the ditch, rolling a few times while his motorcycle skidded down the road, ruining the paint job and making sparks fly everywhere as metal screeched against pavement. The car just drove along, not stopping to check and see if he was alright, which pissed off Jon even more. If Jon ever found out who was the driver, he would beat the holy living hell out of them and possibly become a murderer. It was a good thing Jon wore a black hooded sweatshirt instead of his leather coat because it protected his upper body from being tattered. Slowly pushing himself up to rest on his knees, Jon spit grass out of his mouth and wiped the dirt from his face, coughing a little. Through being irate that he was run off the road by some prick in a beat-up car, Jon started laughing as he fell back in the grass, the sound bone chilling.

So death had finally come knocking on his door. This was definitely refreshing compared to what he’d been living with lately with little to no adrenaline rushes. Once Jon stopped laughing and got to his feet, his acid eyes peered down the road and could spot his motorcycle smoking a few hundred feet away. He winced at his aching muscles and pushed himself to walk, needing to check the damage. If it was still able to run and ride, Jon would take it home, fix it up on his off time whenever the fire station didn’t need him. Lowering himself, Jon surveyed the wreckage and could feel his temper rising almost to a boiling point.

“Come on baby.” He snarled, lifting the motorcycle upright and could see it was leaking oil, fueling his rage more.

It would be able to ride, though Jon would have to be gentle the entire ride home and wasn’t looking forward to it. An hour later, Jon finally arrived in his apartment and collapsed face first in bed, burying his face in the pillow. He was covered from head to toe in dirt and sweat, having pushed the motorcycle halfway home when it completely died. Jon had taken his black hooded sweatshirt off, which had fallen on the floor as soon as he walked through the front door. As angry as he was, Jon didn’t have the strength to take his clothes off and simply closed his eyes, letting the darkness consume him.

His hell continued the next day with a phone call from Joe.

“Jon, I hate asking this of you, but you do owe me for the time you ended up riding your bike out of town and couldn’t make it back for your shift.” Joe smirked over at a naked Trista that smacked his shoulder playfully. ‘Watch it woman.’ He mouthed, not wanting Jon to know his real reasoning for taking the day off.

Jon had exactly 2 hours of sleep when Joe decided blow his cell phone up, both annoying and infuriating him to say the least. “What the fuck, Joe?” He growled, scrubbing a hand down his face and looked at it, noticing the cuts on his hands covered in dry blood. “Damn it…”

“Come on Jon, you owe me. Now you gonna do it or what?” Joe pressed, sounding hurried and wrapped an arm around Trista when she went to pinch his side, giving her a silent kiss. “Colby’s working today, so you’ll have someone to hang out with and you gotta be there in an hour. Jon? Well?”

“FINE! FUCK!” Jon roared, snapping his cell phone shut and tossed it on the nightstand before he crushed it in his hand.

Falling back on the bed, Jon stared up at the ceiling with his arms stretched at his sides, his hands dangling off the side of the bed. He had an hour to get a shower and be at the fire station, remembering Joe’s schedule…and Colby. Jon and Colby didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, especially since the man talked about nothing except his family. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jon would have to learn a lot of self-restraint or else Colby wouldn’t make it home to his precious wife and kids by the end of the day. After a much needed shower, Jon dressed in dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt, black banana wrapped around his head. He didn’t feel up to dealing with his curly hair today, aggravated enough. There was no way he could take his motorcycle, already feeling the tick in his jaw tense at the thought of what happened the previous night. Luckily, Jon also owned a Chevy Silverado, black of course, so at least he had his own transportation. Pushing his wallet in his back pocket, Jon slipped black shades over his tired eyes, clipped his pager to his jeans, grabbed his cell phone and headed out, keys in hand.

“MOTHER FUCKER!!” Jon bellowed at the top of his lungs, veins threatening to split his neck and forehead in half as he stared at his truck, all four tires flattened. “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? GODDAMN IT TO HELL!!”

So that forced Jon to do the ONE thing he never thought he’d have to do. It physically hurt Jon’s finger to dial the number to call Colby, gritting his teeth the entire time, pacing like a caged animal. Who had a death wish? Jon was going to kill whoever flattened the tires on his truck, having a feeling it was some hoodlums since he didn’t live in the safest neighborhood. They had balls, Jon would give them that, his eyes closing when a female voice came over the line.

“Hello?” Elissa answered cheerfully, busy making breakfast for her family.

“Colby there?” Jon asked gruffly, cutting straight to the chase and rolled his eyes at the amount of bickering going on over the line from their triplets.

“Depends…” Elissa knew who it was and decided to screw with him a little, a smirk tilting her lips. “Who’s calling?”

Colby looked up from his paper, not minding his wife answering his cell phone and chuckled when she mouthed ‘Jon’. He grinned and leaned back in the chair, deciding to let Elissa have a little fun. She could be an evil woman when she wanted to be and Colby had to stifle his laughter when Elissa mentioned he was in the shower currently.

“Look, I really need to fucking talk to him. It’s Jon from the fire station.” He wished he owned a gun so he could blow his brains out and end the misery, feeling a headache forming.

“I told you he’s in the shower, Jon, and please don’t use that language with me. Didn’t your mother teach you how to talk to a lady?” Elissa blinked when the phone suddenly went dead and looked over at Colby with wide pale blue eyes. “Did I say something wrong?”

Jon had smashed his cell phone to pieces, stomping on them and looked madder than a raging bull. Colby’s wife was dead if Jon ever saw her, the mention of his mother piercing through him like a burning blade. Growling, Jon walked to the nearest gas station to use the payphone, feeling completely pathetic doing this and called Colby again, this time the man himself answering. Colby had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing as Jon ranted and raved about how crappy his morning was, finally getting to the point of the call.

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes, just calm down buddy.” He hung up when Jon started bellowing again and shook his head, whistling a tune under his breath.

Waiting at the gas station, Jon figured he’d go in and get something to eat since he hadn’t ate that morning. That was a mistake. He stormed out of the gas station cussing up a storm when some random lady walked into him, spilling her scalding hot coffee all over his shirt. He hollered, she screamed and now he was outside, hearing thunder rumbling in the distance. Of course, it started down pouring rain before Colby arrived, so Jon was drenched from head to toe.

“You look like a drowned rat, man.” Colby commented merrily, not minding that his leather seat was wet from Jon, having towels in the back to clean it up. “So, how’s your morning been?”

Jon promptly flipped him off, not saying a single word.

On the way to the fire station, Colby decided to be a complete smartass and came up with a song that revolved around Jon’s crappy morning. “Woke up this morning, got loving from my wife and kids. Then gotta call from my pissy friend, wanting a ride to work. Figured I’d help him out, since his motorcycle and truck got hurt. Now he looks like a drowned rat, looking like he needs to be clocked with a bat…”

“Colby, if you don’t shut the fuck up in 2 seconds, I will crush your throat so you can’t sing anymore.” Jon threatened, his voice dark and sinister, staring straight ahead. “Now be more productive and tell me what the fuck is going on today. Joe didn’t tell me.”

“He didn’t?” Colby cleared his throat, deciding the time for song and dance had ended because Jon was not going to like what they had to do today. “Not at all?”

“Out with it now.” Jon growled, feeling disgusting as he plucked his t-shirt from his body, only for it to seal right back to his chest. “I really hope I have a change of clothes at the damn fire station.”

“Because of what happened at Bell Elementary School, Captain Layfield wanted two of us to go over to the Chime Junior High and talk to the kids about fire safety.” Colby had to plug his ears and nearly rear-ended somebody when Jon snapped, looking like a 2 year old kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WE GOTTA GO TALK TO A BUNCH OF SNOTNOSED BRATS ABOUT FIRE SAFETY? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I’LL KILL HIM!!! MARK MY FUCKING WORDS, JOE ANOA’I IS ON MY FUCKING SHIT LIST!! THIS IS BULLSHIT!! I DON’T TALK TO KIDS, I HATE KIDS…”

Colby promptly turned the radio on full blast to drown out his ranting and rolled down both windows, not minding being splashed with some rain water. It was good for the skin and hair. Jon did not stop complaining, using his freedom of speech to use every cuss word in the English dictionary and even invented a few himself. Briefly wondering what a ‘cock-knocker’ was, Colby decided he would ask Elissa once he got home later that night, providing Jon didn’t knock his head off his shoulders. Pulling up to the fire station, Colby barely parked his truck when Jon hopped out storming into the building. He shook his head, wishing the man would take a chill pill and followed suit, grabbing his bag of clothes since he knew it would rain. Unlike some people he knew, Colby paid attention to the weather going on in Tampa and, if he missed it, Elissa made sure to have everything ready for him he’d need.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Captain Layfield demanded as soon as Colby walked through the doors, tossing a thumb over his shoulder at a raging Jon. “What did you do?”

“Nothing, just picked him up because some punks slashed the tires on his truck and then he was apparently run off the road last night, so now his motorcycle is fucked up.” Colby shrugged when Captain Layfield’s jaw dropped, walking past him to get his gear on for the fire safety speech at the junior high.

“Joe called me and I thought he was joking when he said Jon was covering for him.”

This wasn’t good, not at all, because Layfield knew better than anyone Jon was not a social butterfly. Hell of a firefighter, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to participate in anything. This was for Bell Elementary School though because a lot of parents had requested the Mayor to send the fire department to the junior high to talk to the students about fire safety. It would surely include a lecture about bullying and shoving children into lockers too. Jon decided he would let Colby do all the talking at the junior high and he would just stand there while the brats listened. One good thing about that day was he did have a change of clothes at the fire station, which Jon was thankful for, dressing in a pair of black jeans and another black t-shirt. He slipped his gear on, leaving his helmet off for the time being.

Then suddenly, an evil smirk curved Jon’s lips as he thought about the perfect way to get even with Joe, heading out toward the fire truck that would take them to the junior high. “Hey Colby?” He called out, hopping up on the vehicle and waited for the man to turn around. “Just thought I’d let you know the reason Joe called off today.”

Colby raised a brow, wondering why he would care since it was Joe’s business. “I’ll bite, why?”

“He’s too busy fucking your sister.”

That was why.

Chapter 11

A week passed before Cassidy was able to schedule a meeting with Shane McMahon.

Requesting it to be at his house, Cassidy agreed and stood in front of the mirror, wondering if she was overdressed. Shane was just an elementary school principal, someone definitely not at corporate level like her boss Adam Copeland. Still, Cassidy knew Shane was related to the Levesque’s, so therefore he posed a threat to Madelyn. She had to be on her game, having a promise to uphold and refused to break it, no matter what she had to do. Her outfit consisted of a dark teal pencil skirt with a white sleeveless buttoned up shirt, tucked in, the collar folded up neatly around her neck. Cassidy had pulled her strawberry blonde hair up in a high neat ponytail, gelling back any loose strands she found. Makeup remained the same as always – black eyeliner, foundation and clear gloss. Cassidy wasn’t a big fan of eye shadow, never had been and never would be, though she did add a bit of mascara to accent her lashes.

Slipping black pumps on, Cassidy glanced at the clock and saw she had an hour before she had to be at Shane’s. That gave her just enough time to run by the office to grab some batteries for her tape recorder. Madelyn’s story was nearly completed and, after this meeting, everything would fall into place. The little girl would be justified for what happened to her and the Levesque’s would fall, if all went according to plan. Cassidy suddenly thought back to the phone call she received a week ago, the ominous voice warning her to walk away. It didn’t take long to figure out what the caller implied and Cassidy refused to walk away from this story. Randy had a hunch the Levesque’s had hired someone to try scaring her because the same thing happened to Adam.

When Tampa Bay Times had posted the story about Surana’s partying at the mansion, the very next day Adam received a call warning him to remove it or there would be consequences. He called the police station and filed a report immediately, only to end up in a car accident on the way home later that evening. Cassidy remembered receiving that phone call that her boss was being hospitalized and Adam demanding the Tampa Bay Times to remove the article. Adam was a coward in Cassidy’s eyes and she wouldn’t be bullied into walking away from this story, determined to help Madelyn anyway she could.

If it meant her life, so be it.

Peyton had stayed with her a few nights after the phone call, but once Cassidy didn’t receive another one, she convinced Peyton to go back home. As much as Cassidy loved that woman, she enjoyed her own space and time alone, not afraid to admit she did have a selfish streak. Cassidy grabbed her purse, checking to make sure her trusty notepad, cell phone and wallet were in it. With keys in hand, Cassidy walked into the garage and slipped into her Honda Civic, pulling out of the driveway heading toward Tampa Bay Times. On the way there, she got a surprising call from Randy and flipped it open, sticking her Bluetooth in her ear before answering.

“Good morning, Officer Orton.” She greeted jauntily, knowing he hated being formal with her since she was Peyton’s best friend.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Randy?” He didn’t sound annoyed, just resigned.

“When you’re on duty, you need to be referred as an officer. Shouldn’t matter if we know each other or not.” Cassidy pointed out, turning her radio down since it was a little loud when a rock song blared through the speakers.

“Touché.” Randy grunted, not able to argue that logic.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?” Cassidy asked, already knowing the answer because Randy had called her every morning and night since the threat.

Randy snorted, rolling his eyes as he looked to his right, seeing a bunch of kids skateboarding, shaking his head. “Just calling to see if you heard anything. Apparently not though. I’ve been keeping tabs on who calls you too, along with your house. So far nothing.” Chief Lawler was very considerate to let Randy use two tracers from the precinct, especially after Randy explained to him why he felt she was being threatened.

“All clear, haven’t heard a thing.” Cassidy replied, stopping at a red light and looked in her rearview mirror, not seeing anyone behind her either. It was paranoia more than anything. “Though I feel I should warn you…”

“You have a meeting with Shane McMahon, I know.” Randy cut in, scrubbing a hand down his face and didn’t like it, but knew it had to be done for Madelyn’s story. Courtesy of Peyton, Randy knew everything that happened at Bell Elementary School and wanted the little girl to get justice for what happened like everyone else. “Just be careful.”

Cassidy chuckled, expecting to hear that. “He’s a principal for an elementary school, hardly worth worrying over.” Maybe she was naïve and a little too trusting, but Cassidy honestly didn’t see Shane as a potential threat.

“You keep forgetting he’s related to the Mayor.” Randy reminded her, trying to inject a stern tone in his voice and failed miserably.

“You know, if you keep talking in that low voice, I might ask you to talk dirty to me.” Cassidy joked, giggling when Randy growled and shook her head, driving forward once the light turned green. “Don’t make me tell Peyton on you.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. She’d have my balls in a vise grip if I even thought about talking dirty to you.” Randy had no romantic interest in Cassidy, but since she was very close to Peyton, he had taken a shine to her. She was very easy to talk and shoot the breeze with, reminding him a lot of Peyton. “Listen, I gotta go, but you stay on your toes and if you even suspect something is going on, you call me immediately. Remember…”

“Fuck 911, got it.” Cassidy finished, grinning and ended the call, pulling into the Tampa Bay Times parking lot a few minutes later. Naturally, Peyton was standing out by her car waiting for her. “You do realize I can walk into the building by myself, right?”

“Yeah well, you may not be worried about that threat, but I am.” Peyton linked her arm through Cassidy’s, both heading inside. “You look beautiful, ready for the big meeting?”

Cassidy nodded, hating that Peyton was so worried about her and wished there was something she could do to ease her mind. “Yeah, just need to grab some fresh batteries for my recorder. Hopefully Shane just gives me the answers I need, so I can get out of there quickly.” She wasn’t looking forward to this, especially since it was partially the principal’s fault for not noticing his niece was bullying Madelyn.

“Yeah well this might put a little kick in your step.” Peyton smirked, handing over a piece of paper with some information on it.

“What’s this?” Cassidy blinked, stepping on the elevator with Peyton as they rode up to the 3^rd floor of the building.

“That, my dear friend, is the name of the firefighter that rescued Madelyn.” Peyton did a little research and digging while waiting for more information to come in regarding the oil spill. “His name is Jonathan Good, age 28 and he fits the description Madelyn gave you.” She pointed at the picture she found; the annual fire station photo taken every year. “He’s right there.”

The picture was small and definitely didn’t do him justice, but Cassidy could clearly see he did fit the build as far as a huge man went. “Thanks Pey, you didn’t have to do this.” It meant a lot to her that Peyton had done this on top of her own story she was working on, both women embracing. “This will help a great deal. Now I’ll be able to set up an interview with the hero of this story.”

Peyton beamed proudly, the elevator doors opened as both women stepped off. “You’re welcome, I’m just sorry I couldn’t get a picture of JUST him though. Anyway, good luck with your meeting. I better get to work before Dick has my ass. I’ll call you tonight.” She walked away to sit at her cubicle, having a lot of work to get done.

Cassidy quickly grabbed her batteries, swapped them in her tape recorder and then headed right back out of the building, having 20 minutes to get to Shane’s. Adam wasn’t in the office and Cassidy suddenly remembered Chime Junior High had a special assembly that day for fire safety. He went to see if he could catch a glimpse of Madelyn’s hero and possibly snap a photo or two. Nearing forgetting about that, Cassidy shook her head and wished she could be there, but unfortunately Shane McMahon only had today open for the interview. Arriving at Shane’s house, Cassidy looked at the simple flat country home and smiled. She had nothing to worry about.

A Dalmatian sat in the front yard on a leash, the collar red with the name Pongo on it. He was a beautiful dog and looked well taken care of, putting Cassidy a little more at ease. Now if only Shane cared about his students as much as his animals, then there wouldn’t be a need for this interview. Cassidy knocked on the wooden door and stepped back when a man answered with friendly brown eyes and dark hair. This was Shane McMahon? He looked to be about her age, maybe a little older and had a pair of black slacks with a white buttoned up shirt on, holding a cup of coffee. He was attractive, though definitely not Cassidy’s type.

“Miss Irons, I assume?” He asked, extending his hand with a smile.

“Yes, hello Mr. McMahon.” Cassidy shook his hand briefly, pulling away. “Thank you for agreeing to talk to me about the school fire.” Of course she wasn’t here for that reason, but Shane didn’t know that yet.

“Of course, please come in and call me Shane. Would you like some coffee?” Shane offered cordially, gesturing her inside and shut the door behind him, guiding her to the kitchen. “Forgive the mess, my wife had to rush out this morning.”

“Not a problem and no thank you.” Cassidy replied, noting the blocks scattered on the living room floor while walking toward the kitchen, immediately registering that Shane was a father. Good. Maybe he would sympathize with Madelyn. “I just have a few questions for you and then I’ll be on my way.”

“No rush.” Shane waved her off dismissively, sitting at the table across from her and took another sip of his coffee. “What can I do for you, Miss Irons?”

“You can call me Cassidy, I’m not formal much like you.” She amended softly, already having her recorder going in her purse as she set it on the chair beside her, notepad in hand. “I know my boss informed you that I wanted to talk about the fire at Bell Elementary School, but that’s not exactly why I’m here.”

Shane raised a brow, remembering his conversation with Adam Copeland distinctively. “Alright…” He trailed off, wondering what she wanted to discuss then.

“You see, there was this little girl named Madelyn Stratus, a daughter of one of your teachers actually. She was the child that was saved by Jonathan Good because she was trapped in her locker.” Cassidy explained, having committed the firefighter’s name to memory.

Shane shifted uncomfortably in his seat, running the pad of his thumb around the rim of his coffee cup. “I see.” He cleared his throat, trying to gather his thoughts. “Well, as I told the press, I had no idea…”

“Shane, let’s be honest with each other about this. I’m not here to accuse you of anything. I just want to ask you a couple of questions regarding your staff and the child responsible for nearly killing Madelyn Stratus.” Her azure eyes turned somewhat cold at the mention of Surana, but kept the smile on her face. “Will you do that? Will you help me tell this little girl’s story?”

“O-Of course, absolutely.” Shane stammered, finishing off his coffee and set the cup aside, suddenly wishing he had a cigarette because this was nerve-racking.

“Thank you, I promise this won’t hurt a bit.” Physically anyway, Cassidy added in thought, having her pen ready to jot down notes. “My first question to you is: Is Surana Levesque your niece?”

Swallowing hard, Shane wasn’t sure if he was being set up for a trap and nodded. “Yes.”

“Did you notice any change in behavior from Surana prior to the fire?”

“I-I don’t understand…”

“Did she act different from who she normally is? Meaner, vindictive?” Cassidy smiled, trying to ease Shane a little because he began sweating and hoped he wasn’t trying to cover up what his niece had done.

Shane didn’t want to do this, not anymore, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Shouldn’t you be asking her parents these questions? Surana really has nothing to do with me…”

“On the contrary, yes she does, Shane.” Cassidy cut him off effectively, folding her arms in front of her chest. “She has everything to do with you because, not only are you related to her, but you were her principal at that school. You are responsible for overseeing your teachers and staff, to make sure every student in that building is safe from harm at all times. And you didn’t do that. Surana Levesque bullied an innocent girl, someone who would never harm a fly, and nearly killed her. Technically, she committed a crime. Attempted murder. Because the fire started right down the hall from Madelyn’s locker, where she was sealed away and, if Jonathan Good hadn’t heard her yelling for help, she would’ve been burned alive.” The part of the hallway where Madelyn’s locker was had been completely destroyed by the fire. “So now, are you really going to sit there and try to tell me this has nothing to do with you?”

“Look,” Shane paused, feeling his mouth drying out and raked a hand through his hair, trembling. “I-I didn’t know Surana was bullying that girl…”

“Madelyn. Use her name please.” Cassidy ordered in a cold even voice, trying not to let her emotions surface. “This was going on for a month straight and you didn’t know anything was happening? Really?”

“I-I’d heard something from a few of the teachers that Surana had acted up in classes. She was punished for it too with in-school suspensions and was even expelled for a day for breaking a window…” Shane knew he was digging himself a deep grave the longer he sat talking with this reporter and hoped Paul forgave him. “She’s had anger issues for a couple months now and…we have no idea where it’s stemming from. Her parents have taken her to see a few psychiatrists and counselors, but they can’t figure out what’s going on with her. She puts up an act, you see. In front of them, she’s a perfect angel, but once she’s home…she turns into a monster.” He whispered that last part out, remembering the last time he had dinner at the Mayor’s mansion with his family.

Cassidy mulled over what he said for a few seconds, jotting down some notes and nodded. “I see, so you think some of this anger was directed at Madelyn?” There was no point in denying what Surana did, so Cassidy wasn’t going to sugarcoat it with possibilities.

“Yes.” Shane admitted, feeling a big weight lifted from his shoulders. “She’s only 10, I’m sure this is just a phase she’s going through…”

“Right.” Cassidy didn’t buy that for a second and kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to upset Shane any more than he already was. “I just have one more question and then I’ll be on my way.”

“What?”

“Did you know Madelyn Stratus was sealed in her locker the day of the fire at your school?”

“No, absolutely not!” Shane was appalled to be asked such an absurd question, brown eyes wide. “I would never…”

“My apologies, I had to ask.” Cassidy didn’t sound sorry at all, meaning to ask every question that came out of her mouth and stood from the table. “That’s all I need, Shane.” She didn’t bother extending her hand, seeing how terrified the man looked and figured it had something to do with the Levesque’s. “If I were you, I would consider changing my profession or schools where you don’t wind up in compromising positions. Have a nice day.”

Shane could only watch her walk out of his house and buried his head in his hands, not believing he just spilled all of that about his niece to a reporter. “I’m fucked.” He whispered, standing and going to his minibar to pour a much needed drink that had a high volume of alcohol.

Chapter 12

Jon was in hell.

Colby had to slap on a happy face when all he wanted to do was go hunt down Joe and beat the hell out of him for touching his baby sister. That made Jon feel a little better, but not nearly enough to deal with an assembly full of kids. Why the hell would the captain force them to do this? Didn’t parents know how to teach their kids fire was bad?

“Alright you two, you need to put your differences aside for now.” Captain Layfield instructed, eyeballing Jon and Colby with arms folded in front of his chest, looking stern. “I mean it, these kids need to be taught about fire safety. Parents are worried about their safety and it’s our responsibility as the city’s fire department to ease their minds.”

“This is fuckin’ stupid.” Jon growled, glaring at the Captain and ignored the stern look, mimicking him by folding his arms in front of his chest. “Parents should be doing this, not us.”

“Good, I know you’re not a public speaker, but today you need to put on a smile and talk to those kids. You’re the one who agreed to do this, to take Joe’s place-”

“I didn’t KNOW about this or I wouldn’t-”

“I don’t give a damn.” Captain Layfield cut him off, angry he’d been interrupted the first time and shot Jon a glare. “Do this or else.”

Jon was tempted to say ‘or what’, but kept his mouth shut and just flipped the Captain off when he turned his back, wanting to bash his head into the fire truck. “Well…”

“You’re doing it.” Colby ordered, leaving no room for argument and walked off of the fire truck, slipping his helmet on.

“What do you mean I’m doing it?” Jon chased after him, holding his helmet with narrowed pale blues. “Hey don’t go blaming me because Anoa’i is getting his dick wet with your sister, alright? That’s not my business and has nothing to do with me.”

Colby suddenly shoved him, chocolate eyes lit ablaze and pressed his chest against Jon’s when the man came at him, their noses practically touching. “Don’t ever talk about my sister again, Good, or I swear to god I’ll lay you FLAT. I don’t know what the hell your problem is and I could care less. Don’t you ever talk about my sister like that again.” He warned, shoving Jon away from him with enough force to make his point and headed inside the building.

“Fuck.” Jon grunted, whacking his sore arm he’d injured the previous night on his motorcycle against the fire truck, his own rage temporarily forgotten and followed Colby inside reluctantly.

Standing in a gymnasium full of kids from ages ranging from 6-14 was something Jon never thought he’d do. Being a firefighter came with the unfortunate responsibility of catering to the public though. Until today, Jon had managed to avoid mostly everything, besides the annual fire station photograph, though he didn’t mind since he was with a group of people. A microphone had been attached to Jon’s jacket along with Colby, Captain Layfield standing off to the side with a grin on his face. Jon couldn’t believe Colby was forcing him to give this speech, not having a clue where to start. Colby loved kids; he was a natural with them, but Jon couldn’t stand the sight of all these brats and felt like vomiting. It wasn’t from stage fright either, at least that’s what he told himself.

“Good morning everyone!” Principal Foley greeted in his own microphone, holding it in his hand as he began walking across the polished floor, two tables set up behind the firefighters. “Due to an overwhelming response from parents and the school staff from both schools, we’ve asked the fire department to send over two of its finest to talk about fire safety. So, without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Firemen Colby Lopez and Jonathan Good!”

The gymnasium erupted in applause, showing respect. Jon watched as Colby waved to the kids while he just stood there, still as a statue, not sure what to do until the applause died down. He glanced over at Colby and bit back a scowl, seeing he was steadfast to doing this. Jon cleared his throat, wincing when the microphone squealed for a second and glanced behind his shoulder, seeing some of the props the school set up.

“Well,” Jon began, rubbing his hands together through the thick leather gloves he wore, sweltering in his gear. “Parents should be in control when it comes to their kids accessing fire…” He shut his eyes momentarily, those words reigning true to him more than anyone else in the gymnasium. “Such as matches. All matches and lighters need to be put out of reach and in locked drawers. Child-proof lighters are the best in case a parent forgets to lock it up from their kid. Remember, no product is completely child-proof.” Jon remembered his fire safety seminar he had to take in order to become a firefighter, so he decided to just go off of that, memorizing everything from it. “Children as young as 2 years old can strike matches and start fires…”

Colby could tell this was hard for Jon, especially when he trailed off and contemplated jumping in, but decided against it. He knew a little bit about Jon’s childhood, thanks to Joe, but not everything, only finding out it had to do with fire. Why Jon became a firefighter was beyond Colby, but then again everyone dealt with their pain differently.

“Never leave children unattended near burning stoves and candles, not for a second, because it only takes a second for the child to make a mistake…” Jon had to swallow down his own anguish and guilt to get through this, taking a deep breath. “And make sure to teach your kids NOT to pick up matches or lighters they find. They need to be taught to tell an adult if they find either item immediately.”

If he would’ve known that back then…Jon shook himself mentally, refusing to think about that right now and walked over to the table, picking up a match booklet and lighter, holding it up for the kids to see. The match booklet stared mockingly back at Jon as he held it up, gritting his teeth. It felt like the little object was burning his hand and Jon instantly set it down, turning his back to the assembly, breathing incredibly heavy. He shot a glare at Captain Layfield, pale blues filling with tears and immediately lowered his head, covering the microphone with his hand so the kids didn’t hear anything. Colby blinked, wondering what was going on with Jon and decided to take over, stepping forward with a big smile.

“Now then, let’s talk about fire safety in homes.” He suggested, hoping Jon pulled himself together so they could finish this without any delays. “Smoke alarms should be installed every level of the home, near sleeping areas preferably. They need to be kept clean because they can get clogged with dust and the batteries need to be replaced at least once a year, even if they’re not dead. Better safe than sorry. The unit itself needs to be replaced after 10 years of service due to it possibly malfunctioning after that.” To Colby, fire alarms were the most important thing to talk about as far as fire safety went. “Goes for schools too.”

Turning around after blinking his tears away, Jon moved to stand beside Colby and listened to what he said. He fought back a cringe at the mention of families planning and practicing escape routes from each room in their homes. Colby went on to talk about fireplaces in homes, parents who smoked, children cooking under supervision at all times and a few other things Jon didn’t care to listen in on.

“Now then, let’s talk about some of the warning signs when it comes to fire.” Colby moved on, wondering if Jon wanted to say anything more and placed a hand on his shoulder, letting him know he would handle this. For once, Jon didn’t shrug Colby’s hand off of him and nodded once in acknowledgement. “Some evidence a child is playing with fire is burnt candles an adult didn’t start, along with burnt matches, clothes, paper and toys; basically anything flammable. And that includes the smell of smoke in a child’s hair and/or their clothes.”

“Rags.” Jon piped in suddenly, looking at Colby and back at the assembly, surprised they remained quiet throughout this. “Don’t EVER light a rag on fire, especially oiled ones. They are highly flammable and can start a fire in seconds.”

Colby blinked, not expecting that to come out of Jon’s mouth and wondered where it came from, immediately plastering on a smile again. “That’s right, Jon. Children need to be kept away from oil at all times, no matter what. Now then, another warning sign is inappropriate phone calls to the fire station. You have to understand when we receive phone calls about fires, it’s not a joking matter. We have to put our gear on and get out the fire station within 60 seconds and, as you can see, that’s not an easy feat. So prank-calling the fire department can result in someone dying if there really is a fire elsewhere and we can’t get to it.”

“Don’t hesitate to ask your parents about fire safety. Most fires started by kids is due to a lack of communication within their home, their family. It’s not difficult, all you gotta do is sit them down and ask about the dangers. Try to get them to create opportunities to learn about fire safety in your home and tell them you want to help with things regarding fire.” Jon began pacing as he spoke, taking his helmet off and set it on one of the tables, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Cooking, using fireplaces, letting you bring them wood and tools, asking them if you can check candle holders to make sure the candle won’t fall out; things like that, so they understand what CAN happen if something goes wrong. Even when they change batteries in smoke alarms, ask your parents if you can help with it. Always keep the communication open and ask any questions you have. Because if you don’t and you end up doing something wrong, it could be the very last thing you do.”

That sounded a little too cryptic to Colby, so he took over the rest of the presentation while Jon stood there. They finished up with parents suspecting if children are playing with fire and what to do, the whole assembly applauding them for a job well done. Principal Foley grinned as he walked up with a microphone, having one more surprise for the fire department before they left, especially for one particular firefighter.

“That was very inspirational, thank you gentlemen. Now then, before we let these firemen mosey on back to keep doing what they do best, we have a little surprise for them.” He gestured his hand out and waved it forward, smiling when every head turned to look at a petite little girl walking toward him holding something in her hand.

It was Madelyn Stratus.

Her beautiful black hair was done up in a ton of a curls piled on top of her head, a few tendrils framing her face. She had a pretty green dress on with white tights and black shiny dress shoes, the dress shimmering with every step she took. Her mother had really made her look special and currently stood on the side in case Madelyn needed her, tears shining in her brown eyes. This was a moment Madelyn had waited for and she had the camera ready, thankful the firefighter who saved her daughter’s life had shown up today.

“Everyone, this is Madelyn Stratus, the girl who was saved in the elementary school fire one week ago.” Principal Foley smiled widely down at her, blue eyes twinkling and then turned to face the stunned firefighters, nodding at her. “Go on my dear.”

Madelyn swallowed hard, turning to stare back at the man who saved her life and beamed from ear to ear. She walked directly toward him with newfound life sparkling in her leaf green eyes and noticed Principal Mick Foley standing beside her. The microphone came to her mouth and she had to take a deep breath, extending a shiny black plaque to him.

“Mr. Good, on behalf of myself and everyone here, I want to thank you and the fire department for saving our school. This is for you.” Her voice was angelic just like it’d been the day she was saved and chewed her bottom lip nervously when the firefighter didn’t move at first.

Jon couldn’t believe this, wondering if the Captain had any idea it was happening and knew he didn’t by the stunned look on his face. Slowly lowering himself to be eyelevel with Madelyn, he could see the purity through her eyes along with unconditional adoration. He took the plaque from her, feeling choked up suddenly and hated how this day had brought emotions out in him Jon tried ignoring for years, staring down at the scripture for a second.

“Thank you, Madelyn.” He finally said in a deep raspy voice, blinking when the little girl wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“You’re my hero, Mr. Good.” She whispered in his ear, feeling him hug her back and then pulled back to kiss his cheek, grinning tearfully.

Trish couldn’t stop the tears flooding down her cheeks as she watched her daughter hug the man who saved her, snapping countless pictures while the assembly erupted in applause. Adam was so glad he came and had gotten some excellent shots of Jonathan Good and Madelyn together, knowing Cassidy would be extremely thrilled. She was supposed to come to this assembly, the Tampa Bay Times hearing about it a few days prior, but Shane McMahon had the worst timing and he was a key to finishing the story, so Adam had offered to come in her place. Madelyn hugged the other firefighter, Colby Lopez, and Captain Layfield before running back over to her mother, embracing her tightly. Trish could feel her shaking slightly and knew that took a lot of courage on Madelyn’s part to personally thank her savior. Colby could tell Jon didn’t know what to think or say, simply clapping him on the shoulder with the biggest smile on his face, his mood completely changed.

“That’s why we do this.” He pointed at the little girl who presented them with the plaque and took it from Jon’s hands, looking it over. “What a sweet deal, this is being hung up in the lounge area.”

All Jon could do was nod, shaking hands with Principal Foley and then headed out of the school, touching his cheek where Madelyn kissed him.

Jon’s day of hell had just turned into a little slice of heaven.

Chapter 13

BULLYING RESULTS IN NEAR-DEATH OF SCHOOL FIRE VICTIM

Everyone has covered the story of the cafeteria fire that heavily damaged Bell Elementary School early Monday morning on September 25^th. Countless interviews and reports all have us believing something different transpired. However, Tampa Bay Times has uncovered a different part of the story that hasn’t be told yet. A little girl, Madelyn Stratus, age 6, was victimized and nearly died in the Bell Elementary School fire because of bullying.

She was shoved inside her locker that morning and had been every day since school resumed in late August. Principal Shane McMahon did not know the girl was being bullied and neither did any of his staff, a few suspected though. Her hair was full of gum, bruises adorned her body and her grades have failed because of everything that’s happened to her in a month’s time.

Surana Levesque, age 10, the daughter of Mayor Paul and Stephanie Levesque, is the culprit to this story that could have ended tragically. Principal Shane McMahon, Surana’s Uncle, sat down with us for an interview to discuss Surana’s recent behavior in school. “I-I’d heard something from a few of the teachers that Surana had acted up in classes. She was punished for it with in-school suspensions and was even expelled for a day for breaking a window. She’s had anger issues for a couple months now and…we have no idea where it’s stemming from. We’ve taken her to see a few psychiatrists and counselors, but they can’t figure out what’s going on with her. She puts up an act, you see. In front of them, she’s a perfect angel, but once she’s home…she turns into a monster.” Shane McMahon was distraught when discussing his niece’s behavior and it’s not surprising to see the child definitely has psychiatric issues that need to be handled.

Currently, Surana has been taken out of school and the District Attorney has not disclosed if the family and child will be charged legally due to her age. Trish Stratus, victim’s mother and Bell Elementary school’s Special Ed teacher, is also planning on a lawsuit against the Levesque family. When we tried contacting the Mayor and his family for comments, they refused to give any. Makes you wonder what kind of Mayor we have running our city, right?

Bobbie Jo Shultz, Madelyn’s 1^st grade teacher, did not know about these heinous actions toward her student either. She wondered why Madelyn had always been late to class, but could never figure it out. Now she knows Madelyn was bullied, harmed and sealed in her locker so she couldn’t make it to class. “I never suspected anything was going on and I feel terrible about it. Madelyn is such a bright young girl and full of life. I can’t imagine how anyone, even another child, could hurt her this way.” Bobbie Jo Shultz commented when discussing the matter of what happened to Madelyn Stratus.

When asked how Madelyn escaped her locker, the little girl broke down in tears and explained how she would bang on the locker until someone heard her, much like she did the day of the fire. Thankfully, someone heard her. Local Fireman Jonathan Good, age 28, is the one who heard Madelyn’s pleas and cries as the fire inched closer to her locker that day. Bravely, he fought through the fire valiantly and rescued her, saving her from being burned alive.

“He’s my hero.” Madelyn stated wholeheartedly with a huge smile on her face at the thought of her savior.

We were not able to contact Jonathan Good for an interview for this article, unfortunately. However, Madelyn was able to properly thank her hero by presenting him and the rest of the fire department with a plaque at the fire safety assembly late Friday morning. Below is a picture of Madelyn embracing Jonathan Good, thanking him for everything he did for her and Bell Elementary School.

Parents and teachers, we implore you to pay closer attention to your children and students. Madelyn Stratus was bullied for only one month and nearly died because of an accidental grease fire. Can you imagine if it was for months or even years? Talk to your children, talk to your students and stand up against bullying. Because next time, this type of story might not have a happy ending the way Madelyn’s has.

Sitting back in her seat at Tampa Bay Times, the clock struck 10 PM as Cassidy rubbed her temples and finished reading the article. It was a week and a half since the fire at Bell Elementary School and most of the news regarding the fire itself had died down. Adam gave the approval for the article to be posted in tomorrow’s paper, leaving Cassidy to make final edits before sending it to the press. Madelyn had been interviewed earlier that day, which would be aired on the news tomorrow morning and evening. They really wanted to drive this story home and drill it into people’s heads the severity of this situation. Paul Levesque was about to get a very rude awakening and it was all because of his 10 year old bullying daughter. Cassidy had a feeling he would step down from office and let someone else take over as Mayor because his family would be castrated by the public for this.

What sickened Cassidy about Madelyn’s situation was Surana would get off with a slap on the wrist. They couldn’t put that in the article though because it would dash hopes that Madelyn would get the kind of justice she deserved. Because of Surana’s age, the courts would say Surana had no idea the school would catch on fire and they couldn’t prove when Madelyn was shoved in her locker, unless Surana confessed. Cassidy didn’t see that happening. They would chalk it up to schoolyard bullying with Surana getting suspended or possibly expelled and some reinforced therapy. That was it. It wasn’t nearly enough in Cassidy’s eyes because Madelyn could’ve died in that fire had Jonathan Good not heard her cries for help.

Setting the article on her desk, Cassidy sat upright in her chair and picked up the picture of Madelyn and Jonathan Good, azure eyes studying him. Both were staring into the camera with Jonathan holding the plaque and crouched down with his arm wrapped around Madelyn’s waist. She looked stunning and had the biggest smile on her face. Cassidy could almost see the life twinkling in her leaf green eyes. Then her gaze turned to the firefighter that saved Madelyn’s life, feeling something stir inside of her. He had beautiful pale blue eyes, just as Madelyn described, and short cropped dishwater blonde curly hair, some of it hanging over his eyes. They were still very vivid in the photo though. His face was rugged and handsome, scruff around his mouth and jaw. Adam had given these pictures to Cassidy earlier that day while she worked on the article, making sure she incorporated them with the story.

There was something in the man’s eyes, something Cassidy couldn’t quite pinpoint, but for some reason it made her chest constrict. There was raw anguish and pain in those eyes, the picture telling a thousand words. Now that Cassidy had Jonathan’s name, she planned on doing a phone interview with him in the next few days, wanting Madelyn’s story to be released to the public first. Hopefully he didn’t give her any problems as she set the picture down on her desk and leaned back against the chair, once again looking over the article. Turning the article in 10 minutes before deadline, Cassidy was finally satisfied and decided it was time to go home. She had to be back at the office early to make sure everything went well with the printing of the article and pictures. Pulling her keys out of her purse, Cassidy headed to her car and slid behind the wheel, completely exhausted from all the work she’d done that day.

It was worth every second though.

The 5 AM news came on while Cassidy busied getting herself ready to go to work, but she wanted to watch the interview on television first. Adam wanted her in the office by 6 AM, so she had an hour. Running on 4 hours of sleep, Cassidy had 2 cups of coffee thick with creamer and felt like she could run a marathon, her adrenaline high. Today was it and Cassidy was excited for Madelyn, having kept one of her promises to the little girl. Adam already said Trish could come work for Tampa Bay Times if she lost her job from Bell Elementary School. So far, Trish hadn’t been released and that had everything to do with her beautiful daughter. The public would be outraged if Trish lost her job once this story dropped, at least that’s what Cassidy counted on and she was normally right with hunches.

Wearing a light blue sleeveless jump suit, Cassidy wanted to wear something comfortable that day and clipped the black buckle with light blue stones in it around her waist. She had black pumps on her feet, her hair left down curled at the ends for style, her usual makeup on. Clipping a light blue stone around her neck that hung from a silver chain, Cassidy slipped her locket off since it wouldn’t match and then walked into the living room to watch the news. As soon as she sat down, the main news lady, Renee Paquette, came on the television and began talking, Cassidy turning the volume up to hear better.

“And now I want to direct your attention to a very special little girl by the name of Madelyn Stratus. She has an incredible story that we here at WFLA Channel 8 News could not resist telling. After the video package will follow an exclusive interview I had with sweet Madelyn.”

Renee smiled into the camera as it faded into a video package about Madelyn’s story, basically reiterating everything Cassidy’s article said. Cassidy felt tears sting her eyes and blinked them away because the video package truly was miraculous. Adam had a few friends at the news station that pulled some strings to get Madelyn’s story aired. He really wasn’t as bad as Peyton thought, but everyone had their own opinion and Cassidy couldn’t fault her for that. Once the 5 minute video package ended, the camera flashed to a warm inviting room as Renee sat across from Madelyn and Trish Stratus. She had on the same beautiful green dress she wore to present Jonathan Good with the plaque, which told Cassidy when this was filmed. Turning the volume up a little more, Cassidy leaned back against the couch and ignored her cell phone vibrating, knowing it was text message.

“So Madelyn, you do have quite a story to tell. 6 years old, sealed in a locker while your school is burning down around you. You must’ve been terrified.” Renee began, crossing one leg over the other and folded her hands in her lap, looking truly sympathetic.

“I was.” Madelyn nodded, speaking quietly and felt her mother’s arm tighten around her.

“I want you to tell me how you felt when you were first shoved in that locker and what was going through your mind when you heard the fire alarms going off.” Renee requested, her voice remaining soft and calm, not wanting to scare the nervous child.

Madelyn swallowed hard and looked down at her lap, smoothing her dress out nervously. “I was scared. Surana beat me up and told me I was nothing. She said the school would be better off without me…and then locked me in my locker, like she did every day.” Tears filled Madelyn’s eyes and she looked away from the camera, sniffling.

“That must’ve been frightening to experience all that abuse.” Renee sighed heavily and waited for Trish to wipe her daughter’s tears away with a tissue. “Take your time, Madelyn.”

There was more to say as Madelyn nodded, holding the tissue tightly in her hands. “I don’t know how long I was in my locker. Then I heard the alarms and I knew what they were. I thought it was just another fire drill our school was having, so I didn’t panic. But then I heard someone scream out that the cafeteria was on fire…then I started banging on my locker. I could hear the other kids going past me, trying to get outside away from the fire and nobody knew I was stuck in there. Surana had shoved me in my locker when nobody was around.”

“That had to be terrifying, I’m so sorry you had to experience something like this.” Renee took a sip of water, trying to blink her own tears back. It was obvious this story touched the woman, news anchor or not. “Now tell me about when you were rescued. What happened?”

Instantaneously, Madelyn’s smile stretched across her face and her eyes lit up at the thought of her savior, not afraid to show her adoration for him. “Mr. Good is the best. I remember being in the locker and hearing him shout, but didn’t know what he was saying. I could hear his footsteps and started banging on my locker. I shouted for help and he came and tore my locker door off. He’s very strong and it scared me, but then he held his hand out and told me he was going to get me out of there. He lifted me with ONE arm and put a mask over my face so I could breathe better. He told me to keep my eyes closed and keep the mask on, so I did. He saved my life and I will never be able to thank him enough. He’s my hero and I will never forget him. Thank you Mr. Good.”

Renee had to look away from the camera to dab her eye with a tissue because of how powerful Madelyn’s words were. They were sweet, innocent and she meant every word spoken, that much was clear. Turning her attention to Trish Stratus, Renee cleared her throat and once again smiled, reaching out to grasp the woman’s hand.

“You have an exceptional daughter.” She stated truthfully, staring back into the mother’s tear-filled eyes. “So I want to know from you, Miss Stratus, what do you want to get out of this? What do you want to happen to Surana Levesque for what she did to your daughter? What do you want ultimately?”

“I want justice for what happened to my daughter.” Trish replied, her voice cracking slightly as she stroked the top of Madelyn’s hair. “I realize Surana is only 10 years old, but it’s obvious the child needs help. Something is going on in her home or in her mind to make her as cruel as she is. I feel sorry for her and wish there was something I could do to help her. But my daughter did not deserve the cruel treatment Surana gave her and I won’t back down from the Levesque family. I plan on slapping them with a lawsuit on behalf of me and my child, along with possibly enforcing some kind of therapeutic regiment on Surana. Mayor or not, Paul Levesque needs to do something about his child before she ends up really killing someone, since technically she nearly had my daughter killed in an accidental fire. I just hope the courts don’t throw this out because this happens in our world every day. Children are killing themselves because of the cruelty in schools and it needs to STOP.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Renee murmured in agreement, understanding why Trish was so emotional and handed the woman a tissue. “Thank you both for your time. This is Renee Paquette with WFLA Channel 8 News leaving everyone with something to think about. Have a great day everyone.”

Wiping her tears away, Cassidy stood up from the couch and turned her television off, heading out to start her day.

Chapter 14

Cassidy Irons was not the only one who watched the news special regarding Madelyn Stratus that morning.

Jon had as well.

He didn’t know how to feel about it because, to Jon, the news was nothing more than leeches creating drama. This special was different though and it was obvious why he was biased. The little girl, Madelyn, had truly touched him and he couldn’t deny it…at least privately. To everyone else, he would deny he cared about her until the day he died. Jon had a reputation to maintain after all. His mind traveled back to the previous Friday, 3 days ago, and could honestly say it was the best moment of his life being presented with that plaque. Colby did what he said he’d do and hung it up in the lounge area since it was for the entire fire department. Deep down though, Jon knew Madelyn meant to present him with it and him alone. He knew the truth and that was all that really mattered.

Sighing, Jon stood up from his bed and stretched, cracking his neck in several different places, shutting the small television off in his room. It was time to head out to work. Jon had the weekend off to recuperate from his motorcycle mishap and to cool his temper down, ordered by Captain Layfield. So Jon busied himself over the weekend fixing his motorcycle, thankful it was only a line that had to be replaced, which is why his oil leaked. Jon wasn’t taking any chances though and had ordered a new pan along with lines, wanting everything replaced regarding the oil pan. It would take a week for the parts to arrive and Jon would have to do everything at his favorite motorcycle shop his buddy, Sam, ran. Sam didn’t mind considering Jon gave him a lot of business, but Jon didn’t let anyone touch his motorcycle, just the painting part Sam would take care of personally.

All the tires on his truck were replaced and Jon had gotten a warranty on them just in case the hoodlums who struck did it again. He had Sam do them as well since his shop also fixed vehicles on occasion as long as it was simple. Jon had his truck towed to the shop and gave Sam the business, where he’d made the deal regarding his motorcycle. Because of everything Jon had been through lately, Sam knocked off the towing from Jon’s bill and changed the tires out within an hour. If Jon had to listen to Colby sing another made-up song with a country tune again, he would kill him without blinking. Showering, Jon dressed in his usual jeans and t-shirt with bandana, never changing the way he looked. He was out the door in 10 minutes and headed to the gas station, needing to fill his tank with gas. When he went in to pay the attendant for his service, Jon spotted the newspaper and immediately took it off the shelf, pushing his black shades up on top of his head. It was him and Madelyn spread across the front page of the Tampa Bay Times.

“What the fuck?” He muttered, immediately leaning against the counter and read the article in full, stroking his chin at the part where Madelyn talked about him being her savior. “Christ kid…”

“Here you are, sir…” The attendant suddenly froze, eyes widening as they moved to the newspaper the customer held and gaped. “Holy cow, you’re Jonathan Good aren’t you?! Hey look, Claudine, it’s the guy who saved that kid from the Bell Elementary School fire!”

Jon did not like when people began buzzing and swarming around him, suddenly hightailing it out of the gas station with paper in hand. He was going to kill the Tampa Bay Times newspaper for printing this article, snarling under his breath. Peeling out of the gas station parking lot, Jon headed straight to the fire station, already knowing he would be teased mercilessly for the article and picture. Madelyn had asked him to take a picture with her and Jon couldn’t refuse, suddenly wishing he did because now it was plastered all over Tampa.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Jon kept muttering, slamming his hands on the wheel and pushed the black shades over his eyes, knowing there was no way he could hide from the city. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

What the hell was he going to do? He’d watched the news, though they hadn’t shown his picture to the public, so Jon thought he was in the clear. Whoever took that picture at Chime Junior High had enough brass balls to send it to the Tampa Bay Times, possibly even worked for the place. Jon was screwed, he simply knew it and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop the public from recognizing him now.

“This is all Anoa’i’s fault.” He hissed, blaming Joe for everything because, if Joe hadn’t taken off work that day, Jon wouldn’t have covered for him. There would be no picture taken and he would’ve stayed out of the public eye. “I’m gonna kill him.”

Joe was having his own issues as he ducked another swing aimed at his head, stumbling back away from a very irate Colby Lopez. He’d taken the rest of the weekend off, using vacation days he had stored up and somehow Colby found out he was with Trista the whole time. Joe had tried denying it, but the fiery look in Colby’s eyes made him rethink that lie. Colby managed to connect one good punch to Joe’s jaw, but that was it.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!!”

“Come on Colby, listen man…” Joe tried reasoning, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. “You got this all wrong!”

“THE HELL I DON’T!” Colby roared, tossing a chair across the room in the lounge area, dark eyes deadlocked on Joe Anoa’i. “I’m gonna show you what it means to mess with someone’s family, BRO.”

“If you’d just hear me out…”

“I’d rather hear your bones cracking under my hands as I snap every part of your body.” Colby growled, completely serious and lost his focus for a second just as Jon stepped through the door. “Hey it’s the star of the show, boys!”

Jon pinched the bridge of his nose, already popping some aspirin in the truck and prepared himself for all the teasing. “I’m not a damn star.” He grunted, walking past Colby and Joe to grab some coffee, a smirk flitting across his lips. “So Anoa’i, tell me something, how was your days off with Trista?”

Joe’s grey eyes shot wide open and he lost focus in dodging Colby, ending up with a fist clobbering into his face. “FUCK MY NOSE!” He bellowed, stumbling back and landed on the small couch, groaning in pain.

Jon smirked, enjoying Joe’s agony considering what he went through Thursday night and Friday. “Need help snapping it back in place, Joey?” He asked, walking over and sat in his usual chair, crossing his ankles with a cup of hot coffee.

“YOU ASSHOLE!!” Joe roared, suddenly standing up from the couch and hissed out in pain as blood spurted from his nose. “YOU TOLD HIM?!”

“I assumed.” Jon corrected smugly, not moving when Joe came toward him and calmly drank his coffee.

“WHAT THE FUCK, JON? WE WERE GONNA TELL HIM WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT!” Joe’s entire face and turned a dangerous cherry red, looking as though steam would pour out of his ears any second. “WHY?!”

Arching a slow brow, Jon wondered if Colby’s fist to Joe’s nose caused the man to have temporary amnesia. “Do you really wanna know?” He suddenly rose to his feet when Joe spit blood at him, looking mildly amused with glacial blue eyes. “Anoa’i, you knew the fire safety class was THAT day you asked me to cover for you. You neglected to tell me that information when you called begging me to take your shift. So I had to stand in front of a gymnasium FULL of brats and talk about fire safety in homes…” His eyes spit pure ice now, watching Joe slowly back up. “And then I had to be presented with that damn plaque you see hanging behind you and my picture taken too…” He trailed off, suddenly thrusting the newspaper right in Joe’s face, trembling with barely contained anger. “AND YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I TOLD HIM? THINK ABOUT IT! BECAUSE OF YOU, THE WHOLE GODDAMN CITY KNOWS MY NAME AND FACE NOW!! Consider it fucking payback.” Storming past Joe, Jon started heading outside and was stopped by Captain Layfield walking out of his office.

“Jon, there’s someone on the phone for you. It’s a woman named Cassidy Irons with Tampa Bay Times. She wants to interview you about that little girl.” Captain Layfield put the woman on hold and only knew Jon was here because of his bellowing. “Line 2.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jon couldn’t believe this, shooting another deadly glare at Joe and wanted to ring his neck for causing all of this. “I’m not doing it.”

“Yes you are.” Captain Layfield clamped a hand on Jon’s shoulder, brown eyes full of determination. “You can’t back out of this now, Good. Your face is all over the damn Tampa Bay Times and everyone knows your name. The public is gonna want to hear what you have to say about the little girl. Now get in there and talk to the woman before I stick my foot up your ass.”

Apparently the captain had grown a set of balls as well, Jon thought disdainfully, as he was pushed bodily into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. This was insane, why did he have to talk to some bitch that had leeched a story off an innocent girl? Jon stared at the phone broodingly and back at the door, wondering if he had a chance in hell at escaping.

Not likely.

“Fuck.” He’d used that word a lot today and didn’t care, plopping down on the seat, noticing line 2 was blinking on the phone.

Then a thought occurred to him, an evil smirk spreading across his lips as he picked the phone up and pushed the flashing button. Just because he was forced to do a phone interview did not mean he would answer the questions asked. If the bitch didn’t like it, she could take a flying leap off a very short pier for all he cared.

“Good.” He rasped, leaning back against the seat and closed his eyes as soon as he heard the female voice respond.

“At last we meet, Mr. Good.” Cassidy replied in a soft voice, sitting at her cubicle at the Tampa Bay Times, pen and notepad ready. “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. My name is Cassidy.”

“Call me Jon.” He gruffly ordered, scrubbing a hand down his face and wondered if he could put the phone on speaker without the other guys eavesdropping. “What did you need from me…” Damn, he forgot her name already.

“Cassidy.”

“Cassidy…” The name rolled off his tongue smoothly, liking that name for some reason.

She physically shivered when he said her name, his low raspy voice forcing a rush of heat coursing through her body. “Correct, now I just wanted to talk to you a little bit, see if we can’t get to know more about Madelyn’s savior.”

“I’m no savior, woman.” Jon argued, his tone blunt. “All I did was my job, end of story.”

“Be that as it may, Jon, you are the hero of her story and the public wants to know more about you. I’ve gotten over a dozen phone calls already asking when we’ll be talking to you because they want to hear your side of the story and what you think about what happened to Madelyn” Cassidy didn’t appreciate his attitude and made her own tone clipped, making it clear she wasn’t backing down. “And my name is Cassidy, not woman.”

This lady had fire, Jon thought, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about her talking down to him. “What the hell do you wanna know then?” He just wanted to get this over with.

“Well where are you from?”

“Florida.”

“How old are you?”

“28.”

Peyton was right on his age, thankfully, because Cassidy had taken a gamble putting that in her article. “Tell me something about yourself besides the fact you’re a firefighter.” She requested, already planning on doing more digging on him.

“How about this, Cassidy? You ask me the questions and I’ll answer them.” Unless he didn’t like the question, then Jon would tell her where to stick it.

Cassidy smiled, tapping her pen on the table contemplatively. “Fair enough, what made you decide to become a firefighter?”

“None of your business. Next.” He refused to talk about his childhood and reason for taking this job, shaking his head.

“That’s very rude, Jon.” Cassidy chastised, her smile turning into a frown. “You told me to ask you questions and you’d answer them.”

“Yeah well, there’s no law stating I have to answer questions I don’t like, Cassidy. Next.”

This guy was a downright dick! Cassidy gritted her teeth, setting her pen down before she snapped it in half. “Well what questions can I ask you without getting that answer?” She retorted swiftly, raising an eyebrow and ignored her other line ringing.

“Stick to the damn story.” Jon suggested, rubbing his temples. “I’ll answer about the fire at the school and Madelyn. I just don’t talk about my past…with anyone.”

“Fine, do you have an opinion on what started the fire at Bell Elementary?” Cassidy couldn’t believe how this phone interview was progressing and wished she’d never agreed to this.

Jon snorted, wondering if she was serious. “Grease fire. Next.”

His short answers were getting on her nerves as Cassidy shoved the notepad away suddenly, her frustration building. “Do you consider yourself a hero?” She had to stay professional, even though this man deserved to be throttled.

“No. Next.”

“Were you surprised to hear about Madelyn being bullied by the Mayor’s daughter?” Cassidy popped some aspirin, feeling her head pounding and really wanted to hang up on this jerk. How could Madelyn think he was a hero?

“When a kid is sealed in a locker, it’s pretty damn obvious she’s being bullied and something is going on. The principal is related to Levesque, so he turned the other cheek and let his niece get away with torturing her. My opinion, do with it as you will.” Jon remained blunt, refusing to show any more emotion than he had. “Next.”

“Will you please stop saying that word?” Cassidy absolutely had it, gripping the arms of her chair so tight her knuckles turned white.

“No. Next.”

“Mr. Good, this phone interview is over. Thank you for your time.”

Jon laughed as he hung up the phone, not believing she hung up on him and shrugged, heading out of the office. Nosy bitch, he thought, nodding when Captain Layfield asked if he’d done the interview and headed to the weight room to take his frustrations out on the punching bag.

Chapter 15

Trista wanted to kill her big brother.

“Of all the ridiculous, asinine, pathetic, IMMATURE things you could’ve done, you had to sock him in the nose?!”

Colby kept his head lowered, knowing he was in deep water with both his wife and sister, hating they were making him out to be the bad guy. “Yeah…”

“Colby Lopez!!” Elissa was currently ripping him apart verbally, pale blue eyes pure ice as she stared at her husband, pacing back and forth. “Have you completely lost your MIND? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Joe has a broken nose because of you! He’s one of your best friends!!”

Cringing, Colby hated it when Elissa was mad at him and thankful the kids were currently at their grandparent’s house. “I wasn’t thinking…” He mumbled, not able to defend himself with two women seething down at him.

“You damn right you weren’t!” Trista snapped, clenching her fists tightly at her sides and had to step back so she didn’t strangle her brother. “All you did was piss me, your wife and one of your best friends off ROYALLY! How the hell could you do that to him? What is wrong with me dating one of your friends? Are you ashamed of me or something?”

Colby’s head snapped up, chocolate eyes wide in shock. “No, of course not!” He growled, grunting when Elissa smacked him upside his head and didn’t bother shooting her a glare because he deserved it. “I could never be ashamed of you, Trista.”

“Then what the hell is wrong with me and Joe dating? Seriously, I want to know right now. I want to know what possessed you to plow your big fist into his nose with so much force you broke it. I want to know what is so bad about him since you obviously don’t want us together!” Trista demanded, firing questions at him left and right, her temper at an all-time high.

Colby swallowed hard, looking down at the same fist he’d hit Joe with earlier that day and sighed heavily. “I thought he only wanted sex from you.” He closed his eyes, shame tearing through him. “That’s what most of the guys want that are single from the fire station, Trista. They’re just looking for a woman who is ripe for the picking. I don’t want you getting hurt and Joe isn’t exactly a saint.”

“Neither were you and I married you anyway.” Elissa reminded him coldly, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Hell, you were a bigger playboy than him, fucking anything that moved. So you can’t judge someone for doing something you used to. Sorry.”

Once again, Elissa had a good point he couldn’t dispute. “I didn’t fuck any of their sisters though.” He tried arguing, cringing when she smacked his shoulder next. “Woman, stop abusing me!”

“Call me woman again and I’ll shove my rolling pin up your ass.”

Trista tried not to crack a smile, but she couldn’t help it, enjoying watching Elissa put her brother in line. “Well if he’s just out for sex, then he got it last week behind the bar.” She watched Colby’s head snap up again, this time with a dropped jaw. “That’s right, big bro. He fucked me good and hard too. Confronted me, told me he wanted me and tore my clothes off. And I let him do it because I wanted him to fuck me and it felt so good. He held me up the whole time, didn’t use the wall for leverage and I can still feel his hard cock…”

“ENOUGH!!” Colby roared, standing up so fast the chair knocked to the kitchen floor, dark eyes blazing with fury. “I don’t need to hear that shit!! I don’t need to hear details!!”

“Oh really? Well you were all for getting in MY business when you decided to clock Joe in the face today!! So what’s wrong with hearing the details, bro?” Trista retorted, not backing down from Colby and planted her hands on her hips. “I’m a grown ass woman capable of making my own decisions and that includes who I decide to fuck! And right now, I want Joe and he wants me and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it! SO STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY BUSINESS AND THINK BEFORE YOU ACT NEXT TIME, ASSHOLE!!”

Elissa shook her head, watching Trista storm out of the house and stopped Colby from going after her, planting her hand against his puffed out chest. “Leave her the hell alone. You’ve done enough damage tonight, Colby. She wants to be with Joe and you need to get over it.” Trista had already confided in her about what happened with Joe and Elissa simply told her to follow her heart. That’s all she could really say.

“I was just trying to protect her.” Colby mumbled, staring out the window watching Trista peel out of the driveway and pressed his forehead against the cool glass. “Being a big brother sucks.”

Elissa smiled in spite of everything, walking over to place a hand on his shoulder and looked into those beautiful chocolate eyes, cupping his face gently. “You’re acting exactly how my brother did when he found out I was dating you. Do you remember that? Ben wanted to kick the hell out of you, even though you’re twice his size. He didn’t care because he thought he was protecting me.”

Colby had forgotten about that, feeling contrite for what he did to Joe and cupped Elissa’s face tenderly. “How did I get so lucky to find you?” He murmured, wrapping one arm around her waist and drew her close to him, those incredible pale blue eyes sucking him in every time. “I’ll talk to her after she cools down and apologize to Joe. I’ll make it right.”

“Good, you’d better. Now come here.”

The moment their lips met, a fire raged in both of them that couldn’t be curtailed. The kids were gone for the night, which meant they had the entire house to themselves. Colby refused to waste this opportunity, pulling his wife closer and lifted her with ease as her legs wrapped around his waist. There was no way he’d make it upstairs, needing to be inside of her now and sat down in the recliner, their kiss never breaking. Clothes flew in all directions as they hastily undressed, not remembering the last time they had sex and both needed each other badly. Elissa moaned when Colby filled her hot core, proceeding to ride him right in the recliner. They were completely naked with their hot bodies pressed together. It was over fast, both of them releasing together, but Colby was far from finished with his wife and carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

He was determined to make love to her for the remainder of the night until they passed out from exhaustion.

~!~

Arriving home, Cassidy had several messages on her answering machine, the first from Lindsey telling her to call when she had a chance. The second was from her boss wanting to know if she’d gotten the phone interview with Jonathan Good. The man’s name made her blood boil and Cassidy stormed away from the answering machine, tossing her purse on the table in a huff. She’d never met the man in person and already despised him, hardly believing he was the savior Madelyn made him out to be. Maybe they had the wrong guy. Maybe Madelyn didn’t remember who actually saved her because there was no way that pompous prick could be the one that did it. Growling under her breath, Cassidy pulled a bottle of sangria wine from the fridge and poured herself a large glass, needing a drink after a hard day’s work. Once the glass was empty, Cassidy went to take a bath to relax a little before calling her sister. It was only 6 PM and Lindsey was only an hour ahead in Indiana, so it was 7 PM there. She had time.

Peeling her jumpsuit off and garments, Cassidy started the bath water pouring some flower scented bubble bath in. She did everything humanly possible to get Jonathan Good off her mind, scowling at the mere thought of him. An hour later, Cassidy stepped out and dried off, changing into a pair of red cotton pajama pants and a spaghetti strapped matching camisole, leaving her feet bare. She brushed her hair and teeth before heading out to the kitchen to make something to eat, suddenly starving. Pouring herself another glass of wine, Cassidy heated up some leftover spaghetti she’d made over the weekend and sat down at the table to eat. Once that was done, Cassidy looked at the clock and realized it was going on 8:30 PM in Indiana, so she’d better give her sister a quick call, not looking forward to it.

“Probably has to do with Mom and Dad.” She muttered, sitting down on the couch with cordless phone in hand, her wine in the other and dialed Lindsey’s number.

She answered on the second ring. “I was wondering if you’d return my phone call, Cassie.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes, hating being called that. “What did you need, Linds?” She asked promptly, turning the television on and made sure the volume stayed low so her sister wouldn’t know she was doing something besides talking to her.

“About Mom and Dad’s anniversary party, of course.” Lindsey snorted, wondering if she should’ve bothered calling Cassidy because she sounded preoccupied. “I’m thinking it’s going to be at the lodge and I was wondering if you could chip in a few bucks to help out with expenses.”

“Is Ryder still staying with them?” Cassidy knew she shouldn’t make a decision not to go based on that, but honestly her brother ticked her off by mooching off of their parents. “Mom and Dad really need to kick him out and make him stand on his own two feet.”

“You know they won’t do that.” Lindsey reasoned, looking over at Matt somewhat worriedly. “We really want you to be there, Cassie.”

Cassidy snorted, setting her wine down and stood up, staring out the window into darkness. “No, you just want me to pay half of the damn party because we’re the only kids Mom and Dad has and Ryder can’t chip in because he doesn’t have a job. Right?” She knew her family well, feeling ill at the thought of her sister calling for this specific reason.

Lindsey hated when Cassidy became defensive because it was hard to settle her down. “Think what you want, I don’t care. Mom and Dad don’t need to have an anniversary party. I’m tired of this. I’m tired of constantly being in the middle of you and them. This shit needs to end and you need to be the bigger person. We all miss you, believe it or not.”

“Have a funny way of showing it.” Cassidy remarked coldly, not able to stop giving her sister attitude. “When do you want to have this damn party?”

“Even though their anniversary is in October, we can’t plan it until November 29^th, which is a Saturday. I really want you there for Thanksgiving too. We’ll have Thanksgiving dinner the following day before you head back to Tampa.” Lindsey looked down at the plans she had for the party, smiling. “So does this mean you’re coming?”

Cassidy walked over to look at the calendar to make sure she had no other plans going on, sounding resigned. “Alright fine I’ll be there. How much do you need for my half?” She pulled her checkbook out while Lindsey rattled off a number, writing it out. “I’ll mail this first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you so much, Cassie. This will mean the world to them and I promise they will know you helped.” Lindsey nodded over at Matt, giving him the thumbs up. “So how’s Florida?”

Cassidy talked to her sister a bit longer, both of them catching up since it’d been a few months since they last spoke. She hung up feeling a little better about seeing her family, especially when Lindsey told her Ryder was in therapy for his issues. That was probably the best decision he could’ve made since he was 21 and couldn’t keep a job to save his life.

Dialing Adam’s number, Cassidy grabbed a water from the refrigerator. “You rang, Mr. Copeland?”

“Smartass.” Adam grunted, rubbing his eyes since he’d been sleeping. “Did you get it done?”

“Oh you mean the phone interview from hell? Yeah, didn’t do much good.” Cassidy snorted, shaking her head. “He kept saying the word next to me, like he was in a hurry to get off the damn phone. I wanted to reach through it and strangle him.”

Adam chuckled, sitting up in bed and turned the lamp on. “Well did you find out any new information about him?” He pressed, letting out a loud yawn.

“He gave me his opinion about the fire at the school, said he wasn’t a hero and that was pretty much it. He was a dick.” Cassidy said in a matter-of-fact voice, turning the light off in the kitchen and headed into the living room, the television still on with a movie she didn’t recognize. “If you ask me, I think we’d better leave him alone and just focus on Madelyn.”

“Damn, I was hoping he’d cooperate.” Adam was amused by Cassidy’s annoyance regarding the firefighter. “Don’t let him ruffle your feathers, Irons. You’re just doing your job and he’ll get over it.”

“Yeah whatever. Listen, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Cassidy ended the call and hung the phone up on the charger, rolling her eyes when it rang a second later. “Mr. Copeland, I said I’m going to bed…”

“What makes you think this is Mr. Copeland?”

Cassidy gripped the phone tightly and closed her eyes, recognizing the voice instantly. “Who is this?” She demanded, looking out the window to make sure nobody was out there.

“That’s for me to know and you to find out. And since you didn’t take my threat seriously, you’ll be finding out very shortly.” The phone went dead.

Cassidy hoped Randy picked up on that call with the tracer on her phone and set it back on the charger, swallowing hard. Who the hell was after her? She went to turn around and suddenly her entire world went black, collapsing to the floor in a heap. Narrowed eyes stared down at her as his fingers ran across her cheek delicately, seeing a little trickle of blood slipping down the side of her face. He ran his finger across it and brought it to his lips, closing his eyes to savor the taste of her blood on his tongue. She was sweeter than he could’ve imagined. Slipping the club back beneath his coat, he lifted her unconscious body in his arms and carted her out of the house, heading to a destination unknown.

“Should’ve listened to me, baby doll. Sweet dreams.”

Chapter 16

Blue eyes slowly opened as a cell phone rang loudly on the nightstand, causing a groan to escape Randy. He smiled as another body shifted against him, his arm wrapped around her waist and let out a long yawn. Spooning with her, Randy snuggled more and growled when his cell phone went off again, glaring hatefully at the annoying contraption. Whoever was calling at this late hour had a death wish apparently.

“You better answer that.” Peyton murmured sleepily when his cell rang for a 3^rd time, slowly turning to look up at him through blurry grey eyes. “And stop growling, you know what that does to me.”

Randy chuckled, burying his face in her neck and intentionally let out another growl, loving the feeling of her shivering against him. “Mmm is that right?” He started tracing her ear with his tongue, gritting his teeth when his cell phone rang a 4^th time.

“That’s it, answer it or I will.” Peyton ordered, pushing him away and reached over to grab the cell phone, handing it to him. “Now.”

“Bossy woman…” Randy muttered, snatching it from her and answered on the 4^th ring. “Hello?”

“Orton, where the hell have you been?” Chief Lawler demanded, sighing with inner relief that his officer was safe and sound. “I’ve called you 4 times, boy! We gotta situation on our hands!”

Randy closed his eyes, hating when the chief was mad at him and ran a hand over his buzzed dark hair. “I’m sorry, sir. I was sleeping. What’s going on?” He slipped from the bed, listening to what Chief Lawler told him.

“I’ve been watching your friend’s home phone and she got a call from that damn unknown number again.” Chief Lawler sounded frustrated because there was no way to trace unknown numbers.

“Shit.” Randy cursed, knowing what that meant and pulled his jeans on. “Do you think it’s the same person that threatened her before?”

“More than likely, Orton. You need to get over there as fast as you can and check on her. I’m heading home, been here since noon.” Chief Lawler stated, rubbing his tired eyes and stood from the desk, turning his lamp off. “I want an update and, if anything is wrong, you call me immediately.”

“I will, sir. I’m on my way over there now.” Randy assured him, snapping his cell phone shut and knew Peyton wouldn’t like hearing this.

“What’s going on?” Peyton demanded as soon as he hung up, sitting on the bed on her knees with worried grey eyes.

Did he tell her or just take her home and deal with this alone? Randy knew if he lied to her it could end in relationship termination, especially when this was Peyton’s best friend. He just hoped Cassidy was alright, yanking a white t-shirt over his head. Not answering her at first, Randy flipped his cell phone back open and dialed Cassidy’s cell number, frowning when it went straight to voicemail.

“Fuck.”

Peyton stood on her feet in front of him, seeing the worried look in his blue eyes and swallowed hard. “It’s Cassidy, isn’t it?”

Randy nodded, his face grim. “We need to go to her house now. She was called tonight by another unknown number and it’s the only one she’s received since last time, so chances are she was threatened again.” His voice remained soft and low, trying not to scare Peyton any more than she already was.

Peyton immediately slid back into her black tank dress, stumbling to get her heels on while Randy slipped into his black shoes. Randy grabbed his wallet, keys and cell phone, snapping his gun holster around his waist as an afterthought, just in case. He checked his .40 Beretta to make sure it was loaded, sliding it into the holster securely and Peyton snatched her purse off the floor, both of them rushing out the door. She tried calling Cassidy again on the way out, cursing when there was no answer and it went to voicemail like it had Randy.

“I’m gonna kill her if she let her phone die again.” Peyton grumbled, stepping into Randy’s police car while he got behind the wheel, both of them buckling up before taking off.

“I probably should’ve told you I already tried calling her and she didn’t answer.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better, Randy.” Peyton snorted, tossing her cell phone in her purse and looked out the window, hoping Cassidy was alright.

They arrived 10 minutes later to a dark house, no lights on whatsoever. Everything was calm and quiet, which made Randy uneasy immediately. He knew there was no point in telling Peyton to stay in the car because she wouldn’t listen, not when it came to Cassidy. Having his gun drawn, Randy slowly crept up to the front door and made sure to keep Peyton behind him, intense blue eyes landing on the doorknob.

“Does she normally lock the house up before bed?” Randy asked, looking over his shoulder at Peyton, his voice low.

“Yes, why?”

Randy frowned and turned the doorknob, pushing it wide open. “Because it’s unlocked.”

“Oh.” Peyton felt her stomach tighten as they entered Cassidy’s house. “Cassidy?” She called out, ignoring Randy and flipped the switch flooding the living room with light.

Randy frowned when they didn’t hear a sound, immediately walking into the living room to the left and could see there were two bedrooms and a bathroom down a small hallway. He checked the first room, which was a standard looking office and then moved down to the next one. His heart dropped at the sight of the clean and pristine bedroom, not seeing Cassidy anywhere.

“RANDY!!”

He heard his girlfriend scream and rushed out of the bedroom, gun pointing straight ahead as he arrived back into the living room. “Don’t do that to me!” He hissed, seeing she was perfectly fine and frowned at the tears flooding down her cheeks, staring down at something on the carpet. “Pey, what is it?”

Peyton couldn’t speak and pointed with a shaky finger, her other hand covering her mouth.

Randy’s blue eyes lowered to the carpet and quickly found what had made Peyton scream, cursing. “Fuck.” He squatted down, pulling a set of gloves from his back pocket he brought with from his holster and snapped them on, running his fingertip over the red spot. “Shit.”

It was blood.

Within a half an hour, Chief Lawler arrived at the house along with a forensics team, ordering them to sweep everything. Cassidy’s house was an official crime scene. Randy showed them the spot on the carpet while Peyton was forced to stay outside because they wanted to preserve everything they possibly could. She did find the back window had been busted open that lead to the garage, which is how the attacker got inside Cassidy’s house. This was unbelievable; Peyton looked up at the starry night sky, praying Cassidy was still alive. Chief Lawler immediately sent some of his men to hunt for Cassidy, giving a brief description and ordered Randy to take Peyton home. Randy nodded, walking out of the house and wasn’t surprised when she ran into his arms crying her heart out against his chest. His arms wrapped around her trembling body, burying his face in her blood red hair and tried comforting her the best he could.

“I need to take you home and then go on the hunt with them.” Randy murmured quietly, pulling back to stare down in her tear-filled grey eyes. “We will find her, Pey, no matter what it takes.”

Peyton could only nod, not having the strength to argue or fight him as he lead her back to the police car, both of them driving away from Cassidy’s house.

~!~

Heat.

Jon’s eyes snapped open as he stared at the ceiling and frowned, not remembering having a ceiling fan in his room. His legs dangled off the small twin sized bed he slept in, not recalling that either and grunted. He was surprised the bed held his weight as well as it did and carefully sat up, blinking a few times. Looking down, Jon frowned at the sight of Spiderman bed sheets and looked around the room he was in, a sudden realization dawning on him.

He was back in his old room.

Lifting his arms, Jon saw he was in a long sleeved light blue nightshirt and pants, remembering them from when he was a boy. His back killed him from sleeping in that twin bed, scowling down at it and turned his eyes to the door, more important the light flooding beneath it. Then smoke began filtering inside the room, causing Jon to immediately rush toward the door and threw it open, coughing. The banister upstairs was lit on fire, the floor beneath feeling like hot coals on his feet as soon as Jon stepped out, hissing. He couldn’t stop though. Staying as far away from the fire as he could, Jon arrived at the stairs and sighed with relief when they weren’t on fire yet, flying down them as fast as he could. Jon arrived on the main floor, his eyes moving from left to right and slowly headed down the hallway, coughing more. Somehow, he managed to arrive in the kitchen and froze at the sight of his mother standing at the stove, flipping pancakes in the skillet she always used. She looked beautiful with deep auburn red hair and sparkling blue eyes –blue eyes that mirrored his-, a smile flitting across her face. She had on a white nightgown that went to her ankles, long sleeved, and her feet were bare as the fire surrounded her.

“M-Mom?” Jon croaked out, tears filling his eyes when she smiled at him sweetly.

“Good morning baby, are you hungry? Momma is making pancakes. They should be done shortly.”

Jon never thought he’d hear her voice again, eyebrows furrowing together. “Mom, w-we have to get out of here…” He spoke in a calmer voice that time, looking around as the ceiling engulfed in flames. How the hell did she not see this?

“Oh baby, did you have a bad dream?” His mother crooned soothingly, flipping another pancake on a plate. “Go get your father for me please.”

Jon noticed the flames licking at his mother’s feet, but she seemed unfazed by it, his heart rate speeding up drastically. “M-Mom…your feet…”

“Oh I know baby, my feet have been hurting lately, but I gotta get this breakfast done for your father. He’s in the living room.”

The flames traveled up her legs, igniting the nightgown and Jon instinctively reached out to try to pull her toward him, but his hands went right through her. “What the-?”

Tears slid down his face as he watched her helplessly turn into an inferno, her body nothing but flames, skin bubbling and sizzling slowly dissolving before his very eyes. He was shocked she still had the smile on her face, dropping to her knees in front of him crumbling into a pile of dust at his feet. Jon gripped his hair in his fingers, shaking his head and dropped to his knees before the ashes, the fire licking at his arms.

“Amanda, are you in there sweetheart?” Jon’s father walked inside the kitchen at that moment, completely lit from head to toe, his emerald green eyes reflecting the flames.

“D-Dad, no!! NO!!” Jon shouted, once again reaching out and trembled when once again his hands went straight through his father.

“It’s okay, Jon. It’ll be okay, my son…” That’s all he could say as his body crumbled just like his wife had at Jon’s feet, the fire completely engulfing the room…

~!~

“NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Jon bolted upright, his face drenched in sweat breathing heavily and his heart feeling like it would explode out of his chest any second. He looked at his arms, not seeing any burns and saw they were perfectly fine, his skin not seared. It felt so real, but Jon knew what happened. Another nightmare. Closing his eyes, Jon could still see his parents disintegrate right in front of his eyes and immediately snapped them open, ripping the sheet off angrily. He was in the fire station on-call in case there was a fire and looked at the clock. It was just past 6 AM. Jon had laid down around midnight, so he had 6 hours of sleep under his belt. Deciding to go take a shower to wash the nightmare away, Jon headed into the small bathroom with his bag in hand, slamming the door behind him with authority. He hated when he had nightmares of his past, of them…and tossed his bag against the wall starting up the shower. Halfway through his shower, the alarms began blaring throughout the fire station.

“Fuck!” Jon cursed, shutting the sprays off and didn’t bother drying off, pulling his socks, jeans and t-shirt on from his bag. There was no time to do anything else.

“Jon, hurry up! There’s a fire at Tampa Bay Times!” Joe shouted across the room, already in his gear and headed out to get to the fire truck.

Tampa Bay Times? What the hell? Wasn’t that the newspaper that had his face plastered all over Tampa? Jon narrowed his eyes, cursing again rushing out of the bathroom and went to get his gear, slipping into within seconds. Growling, Jon had a feeling this wasn’t accidental, especially since it happened right after Madelyn’s story came out and shook his head.

“JON!”

“I’M COMING, FUCK!” Jon bellowed back, wanting to bash Joe’s skull in for yelling at him and hopped on the fire truck as it took off, seeing Colby, Windham and a few others. “Nice nose, Anoa’i.”

Joe flipped him off, glaring over at Colby. “Fuck off, Good.” He wasn’t in the mood to be teased about his nose, looking up as Captain Layfield came from the front of the truck.

“Alright, we gotta call 10 minutes ago saying the Tampa Bay Times building was on fire. Don’t know any more details than that, so be on your game and be ready for anything.” Captain Layfield announced, turning his back to the men and headed back to the front.

“Great.” Jon muttered sarcastically, hating how the Captain told them things they were already aware of.

“That means no funny business, Good.” Windham pointed out, knowing how Jon was when it came to buildings on fire and shared a worried look with Colby. “Maybe you should-”

“Can it before I break your nose, Rotunda.” Jon ordered in a low voice, looking away while the scenery flew past them, sirens blaring loudly.

His adrenaline was up, already planning on going into the building regardless of what anyone said. Jon enjoyed danger, didn’t they understand that? After having another nightmare about his past, he needed something to take the edge off and looked forward to delving into flames, rubbing his hands eagerly. Anything was better than having the constant flashbacks from the nightmare of his parents burning alive searing through his mind.

Chapter 17

Her head pounded like a beating drum.

A soft groan escaped Cassidy as she slowly began waking up, not daring to open her eyes because of her throbbing head. She had no idea what was going on, every part of her body sore from head to toe. Happy whistling could be heard a few feet from her, along with the sound of splashing water, making Cassidy wonder what was going on. Cassidy went to move her hands and slowly opened her eyes when she couldn’t, frowning. Her vision was incredibly blurry, spotting a black blob a few feet away and tried blinking a few times to clear her vision. It was a person dressed from head to toe in black and, from the build alone, Cassidy could tell it was a man. She instinctively twisted her wrists, feeling something scrap against them and could tell it was thick rope.

Her body was bound to something metal and flat.

“Well good morning there, sunshine.” The man greeted jauntily while he continued pouring gasoline all around the room, wearing a black mask over his face to hide his identity. “How are you feeling?”

“W-What’s going on?” She asked weakly, slowly looking around trying to decipher where she was. “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m letting you go out with a bang, of sorts.” The man replied in the same tone of voice, whistling as he continued emptying the gasoline can on the floor. “You should thank me, I normally don’t give this kind of…send off.”

Cassidy didn’t understand, leaning her head back as tears formed in her eyes, the pain in her head excruciating. “W-What do you mean?” She coughed, the strong odor entering her nostrils at that moment and her eyes snapped open fully, realizing what the sloshy sound was.

Gasoline.

The man noticed her reaction and laughed, tossing the can to the side of the room walking toward her. “So beautiful…” He murmured, dropping his voice an octave and squatted down until dark eyes met fear-filled azure. “You really are a vision, such a shame I have to do this…”

Then it all came back to Cassidy, a wave of emotion crashing over her. Standing in her living room before being attacked was the last thing she remembered. The phone call she received after hanging up with her boss. It was him. This was the man that had called and threatened her to walk away. She hadn’t. Cassidy stood her ground and now she was about to die for it, just like he said she would.

“Why?” Cassidy could only whisper, twisting her wrists in the ropes more and tensed when his hand reached out, cupping her face delicately.

“Because you didn’t walk away.” He fingered her chin and scooted closer until his lips nearly hovered over hers. “Because you didn’t listen to me. I gave you a chance and you disobeyed. Now you must suffer the consequences of your decision.”

“All because I told a little girl’s story?” Cassidy gritted out, trying to block the pain as much as she could and felt dirty from this murderer’s touch. “I made a promise to her. I couldn’t break it, no matter what.”

“True.” The man conceded, heaving a sigh and slid his hand from her chin down her neck to the middle of her chest, a sick smirk curving his lips. “Though now I wonder what will happen when she realizes she’s the one who is responsible for killing you.”

Cassidy didn’t bother fighting against the restraints anymore, knowing it was no use and had been prepared to die the moment she sent Madelyn’s story through to be printed. “Do what you have to do, but at least tell me where the hell I am.” It was a final request and one this dick could give her since he was about to burn her alive.

“The place you will die for.” Was all he said, holding a lighter in hand and studied it for a moment, deciding he wouldn’t start the fire down here. He didn’t want this to end for her quickly, wanting her to suffer and think about what she did. “Goodbye Cassidy.”

Cassidy watched him leave up the stairs and looked around more, noticing the shelves with boxes on them, feeling her eyes widen. Tampa Bay Times. She was about to die at her JOB? Cassidy groaned, banging her head back against the shelf she was tied against and instantly regretted that when a sharp pain zipped through her head.

“How ironic…” She muttered, coughing from the potent smell of gasoline surrounding her.

In a few minutes, it would all be over.

“Forgive me, Madelyn…”

~!~

Jon hopped out as soon the fire truck came to a halt in front of the Tampa Bay Times, seeing the flames through the windows. They hadn’t broken yet. He looked over at Captain Layfield, hearing him barking orders and snorted, immediately heading toward the front doors. Adam Copeland stood off to the side, having been called to the scene with his badge so the firemen could get inside without breaking windows. Not bothering to use the elevator, Jon went straight for the stairs, taking two at a time and could hear Joe pounding after him. They were the usual ones that went into the burning building to make sure there were no victims. Joe had to watch Jon closely because the man was suicidal whenever they had a job to do and he refused to lose the closest thing he had to family. They arrived on the floor with the fire, both Jon and Joe stopping at the sight. The cubicles had caught fire along with an office kiddy cornered. They could instantly tell this was arson just by the way the fire spread, the smell of gasoline permeating the air. Joe looked up at Jon, seeing his eyes were scanning the room and kept his ears open in case they heard any victims screaming for help.

“Is anyone here?” Joe called out, stepping over the trail of fire, starting a search of the place and sighed with relief when he didn’t see anyone. “Jon, there’s nobody here! Come on, man!”

Jon wasn’t leaving just yet though, having noticed the trail of fire heading to a set of stairs in the back of the room and knew Joe hadn’t caught it. “I’m going down to check!” He called out, ignoring Joe’s muttering and headed down the stairs, staying close to the wall so his gear didn’t catch fire.

“Goddamn it!” Joe cursed, heading in the opposite direction down the stairs that didn’t have a trail of fire, shaking his head. “He’s gonna get himself killed doing this shit!”

“Where’s Good?” Chief Layfield ordered as soon as Joe came back out, brown eyes narrowed. “Any victims or not?”

“Not that I could tell, but Jon headed down to the next level to check…” Joe muttered, wondering what his friend was thinking and walked past the Captain to start rolling out the major hoses.

“Put the fire out! Jon is on the next floor!” Captain Layfield ordered, watching as Windham and Colby rose up on the ladder attached to the fire truck aiming their hoses at the building. “Be careful of the pressure buildup!”

Colby and Windham nodded at each other, giving signals as the water spouted out of the hoses breaking the windows instantly from the force alone. They ducked a little as the pressure caused a small explosion, shattered glass falling to the parking lot below. Water flooded the room instantly, putting the fire out in the cubicles and office, slowly inching its way near the back stairs Jon went down.

~!~

Cassidy could hear some kind of commotion above and knew the fire department had arrived, hearing the sirens faintly. She watched as the fire crawled down the stairs and began engulfing the entire archive room in a huge inferno. There was no way she could be saved now, not with flames that high blocking the only exit. Not to mention she was tied against the shelf, so the rope would have to be cut before she could move.

She was resigned to her fate, closing her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks.

People flashed through her mind, almost as if she saw her life flash before her eyes. Lindsey, Mom, Dad, Ryder, her beautiful nieces and nephews, Peyton, Madelyn, Trish…People that were important to her filled her mind and it put her surprisingly at ease. They were all safe and sound away from harm, Cassidy hoped anyway. She felt the smoke start filling her lungs, keeping her eyes closed. She would never again see her family, never be able to feel her mother’s loving embrace or a kiss on the forehead from her father. Never again would she be able to argue with her sister or pop her baby brother upside his head for all the wrong decisions he made in life. Cassidy laughed, the sound bitter and sad, at the thought of Ryder because look where she wound up. She was about to be burnt to a crisp all because she defended a little girl against the Mayor’s daughter.

Talk about a bad decision.

The flames inched closer to her, searing her skin just from the heat alone and Cassidy instinctively tried getting away from them, but it was no use. Nobody would come for her. Wherever the fire started, they would start there and work their way down until they found her charred remains. Cassidy hated that she’d been so engrossed in work she never took the time to enjoy life, to date and find someone to love her the way Lindsey had. Hell, even Peyton had found someone, but Cassidy would die alone because all she cared about was her job.

“Anyone down here?!” A deep gritty voice roared as footsteps pounded against the stairs, a man dressed in firefighter gear arriving in the room.

Cassidy felt her eyes snap open and widen at the sight of him, knowing he could see her through the blistering flames. It was too late, the flames were too high and he’d end up catching on fire if he tried saving her. Jon saw the woman look away from him, his eyes spotting her wrists bound against one of the shelves and backed up when a shelf suddenly fell right in front of him.

“I’m gonna get you out of here!” He shouted, looking around and ignored the fire, proceeding to push the shelf out of the way, his hands covered in thick leather gloves preventing burns.

“No! You can’t save me! Go back!” Cassidy did not want another life to be taken because of her and watched the shelf that fell crashed against the floor.

“I don’t think so, lady.” Jon grunted, watching the fire inch closer to her and knew her skin would already be burned just from the heat of the flames. He had to get to her NOW before it was too late.

“Don’t!!” Cassidy gasped, her mouth dropping open when he proceeded to leap across the flames, his gear having little embers on it and looked up at him. “You’re crazy!! You could’ve…”

“Shut up.” Jon ordered, squatting down to be eyelevel with the woman and could see the blood caked on the side of her face.

Head injury.

She needed medical attention straightaway and probably had one hell of a concussion. Whipping out a pocket knife, Jon cut the thick rope as fast as he could, blocking the woman from being burned as the flames licked as his feet, gritting his teeth. Once the ropes were freed, Jon unwrapped them from her body and lifted her without preamble, wondering how he was going to get them out of there without her being burned further. Spotting a sheet on one of the shelves that hadn’t caught fire yet, Jon ripped it off and wrapped it around her, ignoring her protests.

“What the hell are you doing?! You’re gonna get both of us killed!!” Her words were muffled somewhat since he’d put the sheet over her head and lifted her in his arms.

Jon shook his head, not believing how she was acting and advanced, leaping over the fire with ease before heading up the stairs as fast as he could. He spotted a door to his left and immediately went in that direction, kicking it open. Cassidy ripped the sheet off of her, scowling darkly when they arrived in the boiler room.

“Nice work, genius.” She muttered, folding her arms in front of her chest and heard him curse as he turned back to the stairs, taking two at a time.

“Woman, I’m gonna muffle your mouth if you don’t shut the fuck up.” Jon growled, not amused with her attitude and arrived at the office that was no longer lit on fire.

He progressed by taking the way down they came in, cradling the woman in his arms the whole time and arrived at the entrance. Joe looked up with wide grey eyes, relief flooding him at the sight of Jon walking out of the building and he wasn’t alone. He tapped Captain Layfield and pointed to Jon walking toward them, shaking his head in disbelief. No matter what, Jon always managed to find a victim and Joe suddenly felt horrible because the woman could’ve died had Jon not checked the lower level.

“GET A BUS OVER HERE NOW!!” Captain Layfield bellowed, waving his hand as EMT’s rushed over with a gurney, everyone murmuring at Jon’s discovery.

Peyton had arrived with Randy, getting a call from Adam that the Tampa Bay Times had been on fire. Randy kept her from going toward the building, calling into the precinct to try to get an update on Cassidy’s whereabouts. He froze midway through the order when he noticed the fireman, Jonathan Good, walk out of the building carrying someone in his arms.

“Holy shit!”

“CASSIDY!!” Peyton shrieked, shoving Randy away from her when he made a grab for her and ran as fast as she could toward the fireman, tears streaming down her face. “IT’S CASSIDY!!”

Jon stopped walking and looked down at the woman in his arms, icy blue eyes wide with shock. Her name was Cassidy…and she was in the Tampa Bay Times. This was the woman he pissed off on the phone interview the previous day, Jon simply knew it, and couldn’t believe he just saved her life. She’d bitched at him the whole time too, trying to stop him from saving her and Jon felt a surge of anger course through him because she hadn’t said a word to him since.

“What are you staring at?” Cassidy demanded irritably, looking away from the fireman and hissed out when he laid her down on the arriving gurney, shaking her head.

“Nothing.” Jon grunted, storming away from her before he ended up snapping her pretty neck in half and went to go help put the rest of the fire out. “Ungrateful bitch.” He muttered under his breath, for the first time feeling a bit put out because a victim hadn’t thanked him for saving them.

Chapter 18

Her skin felt like it was on fire.

Cassidy was taken to Tampa General and treated for several injuries. The doctor informed her she hadn’t been burned too badly and it would feel like a really bad sunburn, so they gave her some cream for it. Though her head was a different story. She had a severe concussion and would have to stay the night in the hospital overnight for observation. Not liking that a bit, Cassidy winced as the laceration on her forehead was stitched up. Luckily it wasn’t too deep, so there wouldn’t be a very noticeable scar. The blood caked on her cheek was cleaned off, which Cassidy was grateful for because it itched badly. Her wrists had rope burns on them and small lacerations, so those were treated with cream and heavy bandages.

“Are you done torturing me now?” Cassidy grumbled, annoyed by everything that happened and leaned back against the pillow when the nurse carefully checked her blood pressure.

It didn’t matter how gentle she was. Cassidy’s arms were burned and she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut while the cuff pumped on her arm. “110 over 90, that’s good.” The nurse, Mary, stated while checking the IV bag to make sure it didn’t need to be replaced. “Now you can rest.”

“Thank god.” Cassidy muttered, wiping tears away somewhat angrily as the nurse walked out and stared up at the ceiling, the cream working wonders on her blistered skin.

Her thoughts shifted from her burns to the firefighter that saved her life, Jonathan Good, wondering what his deal was. He literally went through fire that could’ve killed him to rescue her. Cassidy had seen the determination in his eyes as he stared at her through the flames, knowing she’d never forget them as long as she lived. He’d been a man on a mission and refused to leave her behind, even when it meant risking his own life. That didn’t settle well with her at all. Then Cassidy started thinking about the man who kidnapped her and set Tampa Bay Times on fire. He mentioned something about normally not doing things the way he had with her, which made an involuntary shiver rush down her spine. He killed people for a living - a hit man. Someone had sent a hit man out after her since she refused to walk away from Madelyn’s story. Her first suspicion was automatically Mayor Levesque since it was his daughter being attacked and crucified by the media. There were a limited number of possibilities because Cassidy didn’t have a lot of enemies, not to her knowledge anyway. She was friendly with everyone, even called a sweetheart a time or two, though she did have a smart mouth on her. Leaning further back on the pillow, Cassidy’s mind ran away with her as a few more thoughts flooded it, Jonathan Good front and center while drifting off to sleep.

Meanwhile, downstairs at the nurse’s station, Peyton demanded to see her best friend. She had come to the hospital in the ambulance with Cassidy and was forced to wait in the lobby while they examined her. It’d been over 3 hours and Peyton wasn’t waiting anymore. If she had to, she would storm through the doors and find Cassidy or until security tossed her out. Either way the lobby had seen the last of her.

“I want to see my friend.” Peyton demanded for the millionth time, slamming her hands on the desk when the nurse ignored her. “HEY! Did you hear me or do I have to reach through this window and strangle you?!”

“Ma’am, if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to call security.” The nurse picked up the phone to answer another call and turned her back abruptly.

Peyton went to say something else when a doctor walked through the doors, asking for Cassidy Iron’s family. “I’m her best friend, she has no family in Tampa. I’m the closest thing she has and I’m her emergency contact too. Peyton Cox.”

Doctor Anders looked over the chart and nodded, confirming she was. “Cassidy sustained severe burns on her arms, hands, neck, face and feet. Her legs and torso were protected by the clothes she had on during the fire, thankfully. Her wrists have severe burns and lacerations on them, so we’ve treated them and wrapped them in thick bandages to keep from being infected. She also has a severe concussion and needs to stay overnight for observation. We stitched up the cut on her forehead, which will leave a very small scar. Her wrists will also leave small scars as well. Your friend is very lucky to be alive.” He finished explaining, seeing the tears in the woman’s eyes and felt his heart go out to her.

“May I see her please?” Peyton whispered, feeling awful that she wasn’t there to protect Cassidy when the lunatic kidnapped her. “Please, I won’t bother her. I just need to see she’s alive with my own eyes.” Even though she had when the fireman carried her out of the building.

Doctor Anders nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Room 282 on the second floor in the burn center. Please don’t disturb her if she’s sleeping. She needs to rest after this ordeal.” He walked away to go check on his other patients.

“Peyton!” Adam called from behind, rushing through the doors and hurried over to her. “How’s Cassidy doing?”

Peyton swallowed hard and managed to tell Adam what the doctor told her, crying throughout the explanation. “I should’ve been there…” She let Adam pull her into his arms, hugging her in a purely platonic way.

Adam could only stand there holding Peyton, blue eyes wide at all the damage Cassidy suffered. Randy wasn’t there because he was stuck down at the precinct with paperwork, everyone thankful Cassidy had been found. She was alive and that’s all that mattered, though Adam knew deep down this happened because of him. He couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to.

“Let’s go see her.” He murmured, feeling Peyton pull back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, both of them heading toward the elevator.

As soon as Cassidy heard footsteps sound in her room, her eyes snapped open instinctively and instantly relaxed at the sight of Peyton and Adam. “Hey wench.” She greeted weakly, cracking a smirk when Peyton placed a hand on her blanket covered leg, being mindful of her burned hands.

“Hey bitch.” Peyton couldn’t stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks, wishing she could hug Cassidy. “You scared me to death, Sidy.”

“Didn’t mean to.” Cassidy replied wryly, her azure eyes moving to stare at Adam and could see the guilt on his face, sighing. “Don’t give me that look, Copeland. This isn’t your fault. I’m the one who ignored the threats and put Madelyn’s story out there. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Well at least she hasn’t lost her spunk.” Adam grumbled good-naturedly, taking a seat beside Cassidy while Peyton took the other, settling in comfortably.

“Like I would?” Cassidy snorted, wincing a little and closed her eyes as Peyton began carefully caressing the top of her head.

“Rest Cassidy, you need it. I’m not going anywhere.”

Randy would have to come see her at the hospital because, until Cassidy was back home, Peyton refused to leave her side. Cassidy nodded, letting out a long yawn and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly. Adam stayed for a while and left, promising to be back to check up on her later on. He had to go file a report on the Tampa Bay Times building and find out when repairs could be made, how long it would take and where they would set up shop to continue running the newspaper.

~!~

She was back in the archive room.

Surrounded by a circle of fire, Cassidy tried finding a way to escape. She swallowed hard, her airway constricting because of the smoke filling her lungs. Every time she moved toward the fire, the flames rose up stopping her from stepping over it. Cassidy finally looked up when she saw a figure walking down the stairs, her heart lurching in her chest. It was a little girl with dark brown hair that cascaded down her back and ocean blue eyes. She had a black dress on that went to her knees, her feet bare and a black band on top of her head. There was something about her that Cassidy recognized, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. The little girl’s face scrunched up a little as her lips curved into an evil smile, suddenly procuring a can of gasoline seemingly out of thin air.

“W-What are you doing?” Cassidy stammered, gasping when the little girl proceeded to douse her with gasoline, her entire body covered from head to toe. “Please…”

“You should’ve walked away.” The little girl stated sinisterly, blue eyes flashing maliciously. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I-I don’t understand…” Cassidy choked out, coughing and gagging since some of the gasoline entered her mouth, feeling sick to her stomach. “I-I was only trying to help…”

“Yes I know. You did it at the expense of me and now you must die for it.” The little girl didn’t sound like a child, more like an adult as she flipped the lighter in her hand.

“Please…”

“Goodbye Cassidy.” Without warning, the little girl tossed the lighter right at Cassidy and watched as the woman engulfed in flames.

Her evil laughter echoed around the room as Cassidy screamed out in horror…

~!~

“NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Cassidy screamed out at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks from her unopened eyes and bolted upright in the hospital bed.

Peyton fell to the floor from the chair she’d been curled up in and scrambled to her feet, seeing Cassidy curled up in a fetal position on the bed sobbing. The nurse on-call, Jean, rushed inside the room with wide eyes and frowned at the sight of her patient. Peyton could feel tears sting the back of her eyes, knowing Cassidy had a nightmare about what happened to her and it was only the beginning of many more to come. She shook her head at the nurse and started stroking Cassidy’s hair soothingly, trying to comfort her anyway she could. The nurse could do her checkup later on, her own heart shattering for the poor woman and hoped she could get through this.

“Sssshhhh it’s okay Cassidy, I’m here.” Peyton murmured soothingly, trying to calm her friend down and sat on the bed since there was enough room, being careful not to bump her arm.

“I-I wasn’t supposed to live…” Cassidy whispered out shakily, squeezing her eyes shut and suddenly felt incredibly cold. “I was supposed to die…”

Peyton didn’t know how to respond to that, confused. “What do you mean, sweetie?” She asked and Cassidy slowly shifted to her other side, looking straight ahead.

“I didn’t walk away, Peyton.” Cassidy sniffled, feeling the blanket being pulled over her body again and that just made her cry more. “H-He wasn’t supposed to s-save me…”

“Walk away from what?” Peyton still didn’t understand, remembering Cassidy’s first threat with that statement. “From the story?”

Cassidy nodded, shutting her eyes tightly. “I-It was a hit man…” She trailed off, trying to keep her voice steady, but it was pointless. She was scared to death. “S-Someone hired him to k-kill me…because I didn’t walk away…”

“My god…” Peyton whispered, furrowing her eyebrows and felt a surge of anger flood her, wanting to kill whoever ordered a hit man to kill her best friend. “We’ll figure this out, Cassidy, do you hear me? We will get whoever did this to you and whoever hired the piece of shit. You just need to rest right now and let your wounds heal.”

Cassidy didn’t sleep for the rest of the night though, not even when Peyton dozed off with her head resting on Cassidy’s blanket covered lap. All she did was stare straight ahead with bloodshot red-rimmed eyes, wondering why she was spared. Why did the firefighter have to save her from death? Maybe it was her time to go, maybe her last thing to do on this earth was to tell Madelyn’s story. Jonathan Good had risked his life, literally, to save her and Cassidy honestly didn’t know if she wanted to be at this point. First thing the next morning, while Cassidy was being examined by Doctor Anders, Peyton stepped outside to call Randy. She told him everything Cassidy said regarding the hit man theory, everything making sense. They both automatically assumed what Cassidy did, that it was the Levesque family. Surana Levesque was being targeted by the public for her actions against Madelyn, so it would make sense they would want to terminate the cause of it.

“I’ll look into it. I’ll talk to Chief Lawler once he comes in and we’ll be investigating the Mayor.” Randy was pissed, his voice low, and could feel his jaw tighten as Peyton cried on the phone about Cassidy having her nightmare.

“She hasn’t slept, Randy. She won’t eat either. I don’t know what we’re going to do. What if she doesn’t come back from this?” Peyton tore a hand through her blood red hair and tried taking a deep breath to calm down. “I don’t want to lose her…”

“You won’t.” Randy assured quietly, leaning against the chair at his desk at the precinct. “She’s just in a bad way right now, Pey. She was kidnapped and nearly burnt to death. She needs time to recuperate and heal. The nightmares are normal, the doctor will make sure she eats and sleeps before she leaves the hospital. They won’t release her unless they know she’s alright both physically and mentally.”

“I’m staying with her when she’s out of here.” Peyton informed him softly, hoping this didn’t put a rift between them. “I can’t leave her alone, I should’ve stayed with her until you caught that lunatic. She made me leave though, but not this time. I’m not leaving her side until she’s better.” Not just physically either, like Randy said.

Randy smiled in spite of everything, loving how big of a heart his girlfriend had. “We’ll see each other, Pey. You need to focus on Cassidy right now though. She needs you more than ever since you’re really the only family she has in Tampa. You should also try convincing her to call her family once she’s out of the hospital. They’re gonna want to know about this.”

Peyton knew that wouldn’t go over well, remembering Cassidy saying that she kept her life in Florida away from them. “I’ll try.” She wouldn’t make any promises and hung up with Randy a few minutes later, heading back into the hospital.

Come hell or high water, Cassidy would make it through this even if Peyton had to lead her every step of the way.

Chapter 19

It’d been a week since the fire at Tampa Bay Times.

A week since Jon had saved Cassidy Irons.

He heard nothing, absolutely nothing, from her. No gratitude or thanks for saving her life. Jon had a hard time believing this was happening considering he had women fall at his feet whenever he saved one from a burning building. It happened more often than not and Jon even slept with a few of them. They would come to him and beg for sex practically, wanting to repay their savior somehow.

Not Cassidy though.

Jon pumped the iron bar up and down, getting his usual workout in while he was alone. He hadn’t been able to get Cassidy out of his mind since he saved her, remembering the look in her eyes. She was resigned to her fate and didn’t want to be saved. Those azure orbs had told him clearly to get the hell out and leave her behind. He wasn’t sure if he was stumped or angry at her for giving up on life so easily because she was beautiful. Bitch or not, Cassidy Irons was a stunning woman with incredible eyes. Jon couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman with eyes that reminded him of aquamarine gemstones.

Her strawberry blonde hair contrasted well with her skin tone and her eyes, even her lips were the perfect size. Jon had also noticed while carrying her that she had a killer body too, the red clothing having lit something in his body he couldn’t explain. He had waited a week, a straight week, because he expected her to come crawling to him for sex. It was normal for a survivor to want sex from their savior, not uncommon at all and Jon obliged every single woman that came to him. Of course, he had standards and refused to screw any fat chicks, snorting at the thought. He wanted Cassidy more than any of the others and Jon couldn’t figure out why, never remembering having a woman on his mind for this length of time.

It puzzled him.

Growling in frustration, Jon racked the bar and decided he was going for a ride on his bike, having fixed it over the weekend. Everything was back in running order and he had Sam inspect it just to make sure. Sam recommended new tires, so Jon forked over the money for it along with the paint job. It looked brand new and Jon suddenly wanted to take it for a spin around Tampa. He had to find a woman to take his frustrations out on, preferably one with azure eyes and strawberry blonde hair.

“Damn it!” He cursed, storming over to his bag and ripped it open, pulling his clothes out for a cool shower.

The cold sprays did nothing for Jon’s boiling blood, his hands splayed against the tile wall with his eyes closed. She wouldn’t leave him alone. Gritting his teeth, Jon could feel his cock come to life and knew he’d have to get rid of it before going for a ride. That would be very uncomfortable, especially in tight jeans. Nobody was here thankfully, so Jon had to be quick, knowing the guys could pop in at any time. Wrapping his hand around his throbbing cock, Jon hissed out and began pumping it, going slow at first as visions of Cassidy flew through his mind. She didn’t have the gash on her forehead and wore a red negligee that left plenty to the imagination. Jon swore he felt her soft hands run down his chest, her azure eyes darkening to smoky sapphires.

“Fuck!” Jon growled, increasing the tempo on his thrusting and reached down beneath his cock to stroke his balls.

In his mind, Cassidy had lowered herself on her knees, nails running down his jean covered thighs and freed his painful erection from the confines of his jeans. Jon had quite the imagination, a smirk curving his lips as she proceeded to take him in her sweet mouth, grunting. His fingers delved into her soft silky strawberry blonde tresses, driving his cock in and out of her mouth snarling in approval.

“Cassidy!”

Jon felt his balls start to tingle and envisioned his cock swallowed whole by her mouth, which was his undoing. Just that one vision was enough to make Jon climax, his thighs tensed and his arm felt the burn from all the pumping he’d done. He hated how fast that ended, but at the same time Jon hadn’t exactly taken his time due to not wanting to be caught. Cleaning the wall off with the shower spray, Jon finished up and felt a little better now that his cock was limp again, no longer causing him discomfort. He dressed in jeans and a black beater, refusing to wear a regular shirt since it was 90 degrees outside. Bandana on, Jon slid his black shades over his eyes, tied his black boots and headed out of the bathroom with bag in hand. Joe, Colby and Windham walked in at that moment, all of them stopping at the sight of Jon, not sure what to say to him.

“Where you off to?” Joe was the first to break the silence, having left Jon alone after he saved the woman from Tampa Bay Times because his friend had been a complete bear.

“A ride. Need some air.” Jon replied evenly, knowing he would be covered if something happened. Not like he was going far anyway. Then Jon thought about it, deciding he would be taking a long ride today, possibly a couple hours away. “Tell the Captain I’m taking a few of my vacation days. Going out of town.”

Colby raised a brow along with Joe and Windham, all three of them staring at Jon like he’d just grown a second head. “You’re kidding me right?” Colby shot back, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Since when does the great and powerful Jonathan Good want a vacation?”

Jon shrugged, a smirk tugging the corner of his lips. “Need to recharge the batteries. You gotta problem with that, Lopez?” These morons didn’t need to know his reason for taking a vacation and had to inform Captain Layfield since the man wasn’t working today.

“Jon, don’t do anything stupid, man.” Joe didn’t like the idea of Jon leaving Tampa, having a feeling that’s exactly what was going to happen.

“Anoa’i, you worry too much. See you boys in a couple days.”

Jon walked past them out of the fire station, feeling them watching him and shook his head, tossing his bag in one of the saddlebags. He straddled his motorcycle and fired it up, his baby rumbling to life beneath him. Hoping this baby was ready to take a long ride, Jon would stop at home to grab a few extra things and then hit the road, wanting to get as far away from Tampa and Cassidy Irons as possible. Pulling out, Jon didn’t notice the white Honda Civic parked in the lot or the azure eyes watching him leave.

Cassidy couldn’t believe she was doing this and looked down at her wrists, which had healed for the most part. Her burns were gone, though the skin remained darker than normal and the laceration on her forehead was just a small scar. She had to stay in the hospital for 3 extra days until she agreed to sleep, thanks to a sedative, and eat. Of course, she’d agreed because Cassidy hated hospitals and wanted to go home. Peyton had practically moved in while Cassidy was stuck in hell. The nightmares hadn’t stopped, each one different than the last, but she had to get on with her life. Tampa Bay Times paper moved to a different building in the city until the old one could be repaired. It would take a few months, but luckily Adam made copies of every single story they were working on along with pictures and whatnot. He had his own office at home and gave everyone their work back to continue, refusing to let a hit man stop them from telling news.

Randy had done countless research on the hit man, though he didn’t have much to go on. Cassidy couldn’t see his face and he’d worn gloves, so there were no prints on her. At the hospital during her first examination, Cassidy had agreed to a rape kit because she didn’t know what the man had done to her while knocked out. It came back negative, thankfully, so that was one less thing for Cassidy to worry about. She’d just been kidnapped and nearly burned alive, not raped. For some godforsaken reason, Cassidy could not get Jonathan Good off of her mind. Even on her runs, where she usually felt tranquility, he was there prying at her. Madelyn had been right about one thing, the man had beautiful eyes. They reminded her of blue topaz stones and Cassidy had never seen eyes quite like them on a man before. She’d even had a dream about him, which was a nice change of pace besides the constant nightmares. Cassidy felt her cheeks flush at the memory of that dream and immediately shook herself, refusing to fall into bed with a pompous asshole like him. Even if he was possibly the most gorgeous man she ever laid eyes on.

Cassidy had watched him walk out of the fire station and could swear the jeans he wore were painted on, the black beater showing off his muscular arms. He looked menacing, dangerous and sexy all wrapped in one striking package. Scowling at the naughty thoughts filtering her mind, Cassidy wasn’t here to talk to him anyway and looked in her rearview mirror, deciding she would gain information on him through his fellow firemen. Stepping out of her vehicle, Cassidy wore a pair of blue skinny jeans and a yellow halter top, her hair swept up on top of her head since it was boiling outside. The sun beat down mercilessly as she headed inside the fire station, white shades over her eyes to block the light, yellow and black heels on her feet. Cassidy could only hope these gentlemen would talk to her because she wouldn’t be able to get a good night’s sleep until she cracked the Jonathan Good puzzle.

“Hello?” She called out softly, looking around at some of the pictures adorning the walls and spotted one with Jon.

Before she could walk over to get a better look at it, a voice cleared behind her, causing Cassidy to jump nearly out of her skin as she spun around to face another giant. He was slightly shorter than Jon with semi-long two toned hair, a quarter of it blonde and the rest black, and had confused chocolate eyes, standing around 6 foot or so. The grey tank he had on showed off his muscular arms, his hands wrapped in white tape. What the hell were they feeding these firemen was Cassidy’s first thought and she smiled tentatively back at him, praying he didn’t snap her in half.

“What are you doing in here?” Colby asked, recognizing the woman instantly and wondered what she wanted.

“I was looking for one of Jonathan Good’s colleagues to speak with.” She slowly removed the white shades from her eyes and extended her hand. “I’m Cassidy Irons.”

Colby nodded, shaking her hand briefly. “I know who you are. Jon saved you in that fire.”

Cassidy smiled more genuinely. “Yes he did. Are you a fireman?”

“Yeah. What exactly did you wanna know about him?” Colby could be a blunt man when he wanted and, even though Jon was a dick 99% of the time, he was still a friend.

Cassidy sighed heavily and could tell this man was protective of his fellow fireman, realizing it was a mistake coming here. “Never mind…” She went to walk away from him and tensed when he grabbed her arm, gritting her teeth.

Colby immediately released her, frowning. “Look, I didn’t mean to sound like an ass, but…you are a reporter and we don’t usually talk to people like you.”

“I don’t have a recorder on me and I’m not here on business.” Cassidy assured, slowly turning around to face him with tear-filled azure eyes. “I’m sorry for coming here and bothering you. Have a nice day.” Before the fireman could stop her, Cassidy flew out of the fire station, not wanting anyone to see her cry.

“What the hell was that about?” Joe asked, having watched the exchange between them and folded his arms in front of his chest.

“I don’t know. She wanted to talk about Jon.” Colby stroked his beard thoughtfully, feeling bad for making the woman cry. “She was timid too…”

“Well she was nearly burned to death, Lopez. Nobody can get over that shit easily. Did she say what she wanted to know about Jon?” Joe contemplated if he should go after her and decided against it. He was in hot water enough with Jon.

“Just that she wanted one of us to talk to her about him. Weird.” Colby turned to face Joe, knowing he had to make things right between them for Trista’s sake. “Look man, I need to talk to you about my sister.”

Joe raised a thick black brow, immediately narrowing his grey eyes. “What about her?” His nose hadn’t completely healed yet, but it was getting there.

“I didn’t mean to break your nose, Anoa’i. Hell, I don’t know why I was upset about you being with her. I just…I don’t want her getting hurt.” Colby walked over and sat down on the couch in the lounge area, where he’d found the woman snooping around. “I know what kind of man you are. I know you get your rocks off with different women when you need a release and I don’t want my sister being used like that.”

Joe didn’t take offense to that because Colby was right and just being honest, respecting his opinion. “I’m not gonna hurt her, man and I’m not using her either. I know she told you about our little...clash behind the bar she works at and I’m telling you that wasn’t planned. I care about your sister, have for a while. Just haven’t had the guts to ask her out until that night. I’m done fooling around and fucking different women. I only want one woman and that’s Trista.”

Nodding his approval, Colby stood up and extended his hand. “Good, then we’re in agreement if you do hurt her, I’ll make sure I break more than your nose.” He smiled, though his dark eyes held promise.

Joe took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “Believe me, if I hurt her, Trista will kill me. And I’d let her.”

The men had a mutual understanding and Joe sighed with inner relief. Trista would be happy about them reconciling. They went back to the weight room to do their workouts, ribbing each other like old times.

Chapter 20

“I’m going grocery shopping.”

Peyton looked up from the magazine she was reading, raising a brow at Cassidy. “I thought you did earlier?” She slapped the magazine down on the coffee table, grey eyes conical.

“I forgot a few things.” Cassidy pulled the notepad out of her purse and began jotting down a few things. “I’m thinking tacos tonight. Sound good?”

“Sure…” Peyton knew Cassidy was lying and folded her arms in front of her chest. “So where did you REALLY go earlier? And don’t try lying, you suck at it.”

Cassidy tensed briefly and then slumped her shoulders, slipping the notepad back in her purse. “Fine, I ran a few errands.”

That was another lie. “What kind of errands?” Peyton pressed, pursing her lips firmly.

“You know, errands…” Cassidy couldn’t look Peyton in the eye, mumbling and could feel tears developing, really tired of all the crying she’d done lately.

“Sidy…”

“I can’t talk about this.” Cassidy brushed past her toward the kitchen, needing to get out of the house.

Peyton wasn’t letting her run away though and stopped her much like the fireman did earlier that day, grabbing her arm. “Cassidy, please don’t walk away from me. Talk to me, tell me what’s going on sweetie. How can I help you through this if you constantly push me away?”

“You won’t understand and think I’m insane.” Cassidy took the clip out of her hair and let it cascade down her back, not caring how it looked right now. She could care less what anyone thought of her.

“You don’t know that until you give me a chance.” Peyton argued, keeping her voice soft because she didn’t want to upset Cassidy and pulled her back into the living room. “Come on, sit down and talk to me. I want to know what you did today too.”

Peyton was the only person Cassidy trusted fully, but she was also scared to be judged. She’d been through a hell of an ordeal and knew Peyton wanted to help her through it, but Cassidy didn’t even know how to start healing. Jonathan Good was constantly on her mind, an endless reminder of what almost happened and the scars on her body were also recaps. What if Peyton laughed at her or walked out the door because of how pathetic she was?

“I can’t get him out of my head.”

Frowning, Peyton tilted her head to the side and held Cassidy’s hand, not understanding. “Who? The hit man?” She swallowed hard, wishing there some way she could take away her friend’s pain.

“No.”

“Then who, sweetie?”

Blinking, tears slid down Cassidy’s cheeks as she took her hand out of Peyton’s and clasped them together, pressing them against her forehead. “I’m losing my mind…” She whispered, trembling slightly and felt Peyton’s arm wrap around her shoulders, crying harder. “Jonathan Good. I can’t get him out of my head. No matter what I do or who I’m with. Now he’s haunting my dreams and, granted, the nightmares have diminished, but they’re being replaced with…sexual fantasies. How the hell can I dream of him like that? This man had no disregard for his life when he saved me! He could’ve died and then I would’ve been responsible for getting someone else killed besides myself! I was ready to die and he…he…” Cassidy couldn’t go on any longer, her voice cracking under pressure trying not to start sobbing.

Peyton understood why Cassidy was so bent out of shape lately and couldn’t imagine going through what she did. To have a man save her life she already despised because of his rude remarks and attitude. Now she was having sexual dreams about him; of course it was confusing and bewildering! Hell, Peyton was proud of Cassidy for keeping it together as well as she had because, if the roles were reversed, Peyton would’ve been a complete mess.

“Where did you go today?” She asked once Cassidy calmed down a little, stroking her back soothingly.

“The fire station.” There was no point in lying to Peyton anymore, not after Cassidy just spilled everything she’d been feeling regarding Jonathan Good. “I didn’t go to see him before you ask. I went there to talk to some of the other firefighters.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know about him. And it’s not about work anymore. This is about me and the fact I can’t get this man off of my mind. Maybe if I know more about him…” Cassidy trailed off, shaking her head and wiped her tears away, taking the tissue Peyton handed her.

“You don’t have to say anymore, Cassidy.” Peyton felt horrible for insisting Cassidy talk about such a sensitive subject. “You do what you need to do.” Then she had a thought. “Maybe you should just talk to the source.”

Cassidy’s head snapped up with wide azure eyes. “What?!”

Peyton smiled, shrugging. “Just a suggestion, but since you want to know about him so badly, why not just go directly to him?”

“Have you lost your ever loving mind? Do you have any idea how he treated me when he saved me? Not to mention the phone interview! No thank you, I’ll pass.” The last thing Cassidy wanted to do was see a man who refused to leave her alone, even when she slept.

“Just a suggestion, like I said.” Though Peyton still had a smile on her face, glad to see the fire of life spark back in her friend’s eyes. “Tacos sound good, I’ll make them since you have to go to the store to grab the stuff.”

“That’s it?” Cassidy raised a brow, hardly believing Peyton was letting this subject drop. “You’re not going to pressure me anymore about talking to him?”

“Do I have to?” Peyton shot back, walking into the kitchen to grab a soda.

“No…” She stretched the word out, looking perplexed.

“Well there you go. Now get moving to the store. I’m hungry and you need to eat.” Peyton ordered, sifting through the refrigerator to see what ingredients they already had for the tacos. “You might want to get more sour cream since this is expired.”

Cassidy already had it written down on her notepad and grabbed her purse with keys, heading out to the garage. Her eyes moved to the freshly repaired window where the hit man came in through and Cassidy felt herself shiver, looking around cautiously. She really had to change out her windows to something thicker because the current ones she had weren’t safe. Anyone could break in. A few minutes later, Cassidy arrived at the super market and headed inside, having her list in hand. She had to get shells, ground beef, refried beans, cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce and tomatoes for Peyton since Cassidy couldn’t stand them.

Grabbing a cart, Cassidy started at the front of the store and worked her way to the colder items, always getting them last so they didn’t sour while she shopped. Of course, Cassidy saw a few other things that weren’t on her list she needed, so pretty soon she had half a cart full and hadn’t gotten half of what was on her list. Typical. Peyton had already sent her a text wondering where she was and Cassidy couldn’t ignore it or else the woman would race to the store to make sure she was alright. Shaking her head, Cassidy pulled her phone out while rounding the corner, texting Peyton back when she hit another cart.

“Shit!” Cassidy cursed, immediately covering her mouth at the sight of 3 children with a woman. “I am so sorry! Are you alright? Damn-Darn texting!”

Elissa laughed softly, waving the woman off dismissively. “We’re fine, honey; no harm done. Are you okay?” She eyed the woman, stroking her son’s head with her hand gently.

“Mom, that’s the lady you told us about!” Elora, the girl of the trio, exclaimed with excited pale blue eyes, jumping up and down. “Her picture was in the paper!”

Adam hadn’t told her that and neither had Peyton. Cassidy wasn’t surprised considering she was the only victim from the Tampa Bay Times fire. Still, it was unnerving knowing her picture was splayed across Tampa Bay Times because that meant the hit man knew she survived. He would have to. Would he come back to finish the job or simply leave her alone?

“I thought I recognized you.” Elissa stepped away from her cart and extended her hand to the strawberry blonde. “I’m Elissa Lopez. Jon saved you, right?”

“You know Jon?” Cassidy’s interest was piqued and she shook the woman’s hand, smiling a little. “Yes he did.”

Elissa rolled her eyes. “I don’t KNOW him, but he works with my husband. His name is Colby Lopez. They are about the same height, though Jon is a bit taller.” She held her hand up to emphasize her point. “Though between me and you, my husband is just a tad more muscular. Don’t tell Jon though. He’d probably try ripping my head off.”

“Does he have two toned hair and brown eyes?” That was probably a little personal to ask, but if he was the same man who practically chased her out of the fire station earlier that day, Cassidy didn’t know how she felt about meeting his wife. “I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, that’s my strong Colbs.” Elissa wasn’t fazed by the fact this woman knew what her husband looked like. “Colby called and told me what happened today, said you were asking about Jon.”

Cassidy swallowed hard, lowering her eyes to the kids all looking up at her. They were beautiful munchkins. Elissa and Colby had a beautiful family. “Yes well, that was a mistake. I wasn’t trying to find information out for my job and that’s what your husband thought. I just walked out because something told me he wouldn’t have told me anything anyway.” She kept her voice low and quiet, not wanting others in the store to overhear their conversation.

“I see.” Elissa understood that, but also construed why Colby didn’t want to talk about Jon either. The man was extremely private and Cassidy was a reporter. “Well, I think I might know someone who can get you some information on Good.”

That was the last thing Cassidy expected to hear, especially from a fellow fireman’s wife. “Really? Do you mind if I ask who?” She was a little timorous, not knowing this woman from a hole in the ground, but the huge diamond ring on her left hand told Cassidy she had to be telling the truth about being married to the fireman.

Elissa tapped her chin, pretending to think about it and giggled. “Sorry, I like messing with people sometimes. Honestly though, my sister-in-law Trista, she’s dating one of the firemen named Joe Anoa’i and he’s the closest thing Jon has to a friend. Possibly even family. If anyone can get information for you, it would be her.”

Trista had been talking about getting revenge on Jon for running his mouth to Colby about her and Joe. She couldn’t figure out how to do it though, not wanting to anger him to the point where he killed her. Jon was a very volatile man, but Trista was determined to get some kind of revenge on him and Elissa just found the perfect way through Cassidy Irons.

“Do you think she’d really do it?” Cassidy asked, both of them moving over so other people could get down the aisle with their carts, the kids being surprisingly quiet.

Elissa nodded, no hesitation in her pale blue eyes. “Leave it to me, honey. I’ll talk to her. Here.” She held her hand out and handed a pen over to Cassidy, smiling. “Write your number down on my hand and I’ll do the same so we can keep in contact. I’m visiting with Trista tomorrow and I’ll be able to talk to her about this then.”

“Are you sure?” Cassidy really didn’t want to cause a rift or tension between this woman and her husband, reluctantly jotting her number down on Elissa’s hand.

“You worry too much, you know that?” Elissa laughed, patting Cassidy’s shoulder and proceeded to take her hand, jotting her number down. “There - now we can keep in contact and maybe even become friends. You look like you could use a couple.”

Did Cassidy really look that bad? She frowned, not sure how to respond to that and simply nodded, not believing how sweet this woman was being to her. “Thank you, I’d like that. And I promise this isn’t about my job at all. I know I’m a journalist, reporter, whatever you wanna call it, but this isn’t about my work. I swear on my life. I just - I want to know more about the man who risked his life to save mine, that’s all.” Why she felt the need to justify her reasons to Elissa was beyond her, but Cassidy thought it was necessary.

“Sweetie, I know what you’ve been through - well whatever the papers say anyway.” Elissa quickly corrected herself, pure sympathy and understanding in her eyes. “I get it. You want to know about your savior. Believe it or not, it’s very common. I feel I should warn you about Jon though.” She sighed heavily, looking down at her children. “When I say he’s volatile, I mean he’s VERY volatile and mean, cruel, vicious and doesn’t care about anything or anyone in his life. Joe is about the only thing he does care about, if you want my honest opinion. He’s very sanctimonious and thinks every woman should fall at his damn feet. So it’s fine that you want to know more about him, but I’m telling you to stay away from him. He’s dangerous and he’ll only use you up and spit you right back out.”

“He’s really that bad?” Cassidy wasn’t sure what to say to all of that or how to react and just let it digest for a minute while they started walking down the aisle together, the kids trailing behind.

“Yes. I’ve heard enough stories from Colby and some of them would probably give you nightmares.”

“Mommy, I’m hungry.” Jacob whined, one of the little boys, finally speaking up as he yanked on her pant leg.

“Okay sugar.” Elissa smiled apologetically at Cassidy. “Looks like our time has ended for now, but I’ll call you after I talk to Trista. So keep your cell on. Come on guys, we gotta make it home before Daddy gets off work.”

Cassidy could only watch them walk away and looked down at her hand, seeing the phone number scrawled on her hand. What did Elissa mean Jon was a volatile man? Vicious – cruel - there had to be more to him than that; there just had to be. Cassidy couldn’t dream about someone like that unless she saw some kind of good in them, right? Shaking herself mentally, Cassidy turned her cart around and headed down the aisle with the taco stuff, wanting to get out of the store to go back home as quickly as possible.

Chapter 21

“Hey Maddie, can you come help me in here for a second sweetie?” Trish Stratus asked her daughter, smiling as she came bouncing in from the living room.

“Yes Momma, what do you need?” She asked politely with sparkling leaf green eyes, her black hair pulled back in a braid.

“Trista is coming over to have dinner with us tonight. Can you help me wash some of the vegetables?”

Trish proudly watched her daughter pick up her Cinderella stepstool and placed it in front of the sink, climbing up to reach it. She handed Madelyn a bowl of vegetables full of carrots, broccoli, peas and green beans, all plucked from the garden outback. They lived in a quaint 2 bedroom house on the friendly side of Tampa, down the street from Colby and Elissa. Trista had recently gotten a small apartment on the other side of Tampa, so it would take her a while to arrive.

“Hey Momma, I was thinking…” Madelyn trailed off while rinsing the vegetables, wearing a pair of blue jeans with a pink tank top.

“About?”

“Can we send Miss Irons some flowers or something?” They had visited Cassidy in the hospital, after reading about what happened to her in the paper the day after the fire, and Madelyn wanted to do something nice for her. “I want to make her feel better.”

Trish loved her daughter’s heart of gold and kissed the top of her head. “I think she’d like that very much, sweetheart. We can buy some tomorrow and have them delivered to her house. How does that sound?” She didn’t want to bother Cassidy, knowing the woman had a lot on her plate right now.

Madelyn nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “That sounds awesome. Thanks Mom!”

She hugged her mother around the neck, kissed her cheek and went back to rinsing the vegetables. After they finished, Trish asked her to help set the table and handed over plates along with silverware. Madelyn did this a lot and expertly set it, remembering the forks went on the left and the spoons on the right. Her mother was brought up by people that believed in certain traditions. Trish did some of them, like eating at the dinner table, instead of in front of a television like 90% of the population these days. Some of their best conversations were made at the dinner table. Just as Trish popped the rolls in the oven, deciding on some fried chicken for dinner that evening, the doorbell sounded through the house.

“I’ll get it!!” Madelyn squealed with excitement, flying out of the kitchen and opened the front door, laughing when Trista pretended to scare her before they embraced tightly. “Tristy, you know that doesn’t work with me!”

Trista smirked, kissing the top of Madelyn’s forehead and set her back on her feet. “Yeah well, I tried kiddo. How’re you doing?” She asked, letting Madelyn guide her into the kitchen where Trish was busy cooking away. “Damn woman, what’s the occasion?”

Trish smiled up at her, taking the oven mitts off. “Nothing, just figured we could have a nice dinner and talk.” She also had news from her lawyer regarding the lawsuit against the Levesque family.

“Good thing I brought my appetite then.” Trista remarked, tickling Madelyn and watched the little girl fly back into the living room to play with her toys. “How is she doing?” She asked quietly, not wanting Madelyn to overhear.

“Fine actually, no more nightmares. We finally figured out what caused them, but after what Tampa Bay Times did for us, she hasn’t had one since. I think she knows everything is going to be alright now.” Trish replied softly, walking over to sit at the table since everything else had to finish cooking. “We really owe Cassidy Irons a lot. It was her idea to continue with the story even after she was threatened.”

“You knew about that?” Trista sat down as well, raising a brow.

Trish nodded, looking solemn as a wave of guilt crashed over her. “Adam told me about it and I tracked her down, begging her not to release the story. I didn’t want her to get hurt because of us. She looked me square in the eye and said she refused to break a promise to Madelyn. I couldn’t argue with her and now look what happened.” Her brown eyes lowered to her lap, blinking tears away. “I just hope she’ll be alright.”

Trista had no response since she didn’t know Cassidy Irons well, only that she was the woman responsible for revealing Madelyn’s story to the public. “I know you visited her while she was in the hospital. I should’ve went with you, would’ve liked to meet her in person.”

“Yeah, I did it for Madelyn. She was determined to see Cassidy after hearing about what happened at school.” They were still at Chime Junior High, the repairs for Bell Elementary going slow. “I couldn’t deny her and Cassidy seemed really happy when we stepped through the door.”

“That’s good. The woman was kidnapped, did you read the paper? Unbelievable. She was taken from her own house and tied down in the basement of Tampa Bay Times.” Trista let out a low whistle, shaking her head. “Whoever did it is still out there too. Makes you wonder if he’ll be back. They’re calling him a hit man. Apparently, someone hired him to kill Cassidy.”

Trish blinked, brown eyes wide. “I didn’t see that in the article. Or was there another one printed that I missed?”

Trista snorted, rolling her eyes. “It came out yesterday and also mentions that Jon saved her. They’re starting to wonder how this fireman is saving all these people and suspicion is starting to arouse.”

“They think he did it and then saved her?” Trish started laughing, the sound full of sadness. “That’s such a crock! Jonathan Good is a hero and saved my daughter when he didn’t have to. These people seriously need to get lives and leave the man alone.”

“I hear you. I’m not disagreeing, but just telling you because I know you’re gonna ask him to testify against Levesque in your case.” Trish told her everything and Trista had one hell of a memory. “Speaking of that, what did Johnson have to say?” Dwayne Johnson was one of the best lawyers in the Tampa area and jumped at the opportunity to represent Trish and Madelyn against the Levesque’s when he heard their story.

Trish smirked, brown eyes turning from sad to malevolent. “He said Levesque is going to pay for everything he’s done to me and Maddie. Good enough for me. He sent me some stuff in the mail, papers to sign and whatnot. I’m going through it tonight after Maddie is in bed.” It was bad enough her little girl would have to testify in court about what Surana did to her, according to Dwayne anyway.”

“Good, that bastard Mayor of ours needs a wakeup call.” Trista growled, having plenty of hatred for the Levesque family because of what their kid did to her goddaughter. “If I ever see Stephanie Levesque on the streets, you can bet your ass I’ll be kicking the holy hell out of her.”

“Geez, tell me how you really feel.” Trish laughed, standing up from the table when the oven beeped and went to retrieve the rolls before they burned. “You might have to testify too since you were a teacher at Bell Elementary School.”

Trista shrugged, not bothered with it. Wouldn’t be the first time she dealt with the courts and probably wouldn’t be the last. “Just tell me when and where, you know I’ll testify against those pieces of shit any day of the week.”

“Good, go get Maddie and tell her dinner is ready.”

Trish set the basket of rolls on the table and checked on her fried chicken, glad it was still hot. She made mashed potatoes, a vegetable dish and corn on the cob boiling on the stove. Everyone sat down at the table and Trish made Madelyn’s plate, letting her help. Trista waited until they had their food before making her plate, knowing Madelyn wasn’t eating very well while enduring Surana’s bullying. Now that it was over, she’d been eating Trish out of house and home, proving it by loading her plate enough to feed a small army.

~!~

Elissa sat in front of Trista, explaining her idea and sipped some lemonade, calmly waiting for her to say something.

“You are a fucking genius.” Trista avowed, after mulling over everything Elissa told her regarding her encounter with Cassidy Irons. “What exactly does she want to know?”

“I honestly have no idea. So whatever you can get would be helpful. I’ve called and set up the time with her to meet with us on Thursday. We’re meeting at Jack’s restaurant at 7 PM, so keep your calendar and schedule open.” Elissa felt proud of herself for coming up with the perfect revenge scheme for her sister-in-law. “Joe should have some juicy details and enough to satisfy Cassidy.”

Trista suddenly became a little worried, knowing she was about to play with serious fire regarding Jonathan Good. “You don’t think this is for her job, do you? She is a reporter after all.” She had to point out the obvious.

“No, she assured me of that before I had a chance to ask her. She promised this had nothing to do with her job. She just wants to know a little about the guy who risked his life to save hers. It’s common.” Elissa remembered saying those exact words, or close to it, to Cassidy in the super market the previous day. “How do you plan on getting Joe to talk?”

Smirking devilishly, Trista shook her finger at Elissa and leaned against the chair. “I can’t give away my secrets, dear sister. I will tell you this much though…” She leaned forward, waiting for Elissa to do so with gleaming hazel eyes. “He won’t know what hit him.”

Elissa did love her sister-in-law’s evil streak, having a feeling her plan included some serious pillow talk. Honestly, that was the best way to get any information out of a man. Colby had spilled some deep secrets from the fire station he promised to take to the grave after a nice satisfying romp. She wasn’t looking for the information either, but refused to stop her husband from sharing if he wanted to.

“Gotta go. Hey bro.” Trista greeted as soon as Colby walked in and exited through the door, closing it behind her in a hurry.

Colby shook his head, already knowing where Trista was headed. “Hi to you too, sis.” He muttered and smiled when Elissa sidled up to him, running her hand up his t-shirt covered chest. “And hello, sweetheart.” His voice had dropped an octave at the darkened look in his beautiful wife’s eyes. “Where are the munchkins?”

“Out with the neighbor. They’ll be gone for a few hours.” Elissa purred, already moving to stand in front of him and pulled his shirt from being tucked in his jeans. “What on earth should we do for the next couple hours?”

Colby could think of a few things, flaring his nostrils and groaned at the feeling of her hands against his bare chest. “I’m sure we can figure it out, Lissa…” He planted his hands on her jean covered clad backside and felt her legs wrap around his waist. “Mmm definitely have an idea…”

“Mmm why don’t you tell me about it?” Elissa suggested seductively, rubbing against him teasingly and giggled when he carted her upstairs to show her what he had in store for the next few hours.

~!~

Cassidy had gotten a call from Elissa that morning, telling her that they were planning on meeting Thursday at a downtown restaurant. She hadn’t told Peyton about her encounter yet, wanting to wait to see if she actually heard from Elissa. The woman didn’t disappoint her and sounded amused about the whole thing, which confused Cassidy. It seemed like these women enjoyed tormenting the men in their lives. Jotting it down on the calendar, Cassidy proceeded to pull out leftovers for dinner that night since Peyton made enough to feed a small crowd. Peyton was currently out running a few errands to pay bills and to check on her apartment, wanting to make sure everything was in order. She had told Peyton to go back home shortly after being released from the hospital, but the woman was resolute. Deep down, Cassidy knew Peyton felt guilty for not staying with her until the hit man was caught the first time, but honestly nobody knew what this lunatic was thinking.

She refused to live her life in fear of him.

After heating up the meat, Cassidy cut up some fresh tomatoes and cooked a few of the shells on the stove, wanting everything done when Peyton got home. Just as the last shell cooked, Peyton stepped through the door and smiled at the sight of Cassidy cooking. That was definitely a step in the right direction to recovery, Peyton thought, and inhaled the air as her stomach rumbled demanding to be fed. While they sat down and ate, Cassidy decided now would be the time to bring up the meeting.

“So, I have something to say and I don’t want you getting mad at me for keeping it from you.” She watched as Peyton slowly rose a brow and set her taco down, sighing. “It’s not bad…”

“Then why did you keep it from me?” Peyton tossed her napkin down on the table. “I thought we agreed not to keep anything from each other, Cassidy?”

“Trust me, I did it for a good reason, now shut up and listen.” Cassidy ordered, starting at the beginning where she encountered Elissa Lopez at the super market.

Peyton listened intently, not saying a word and finally blinked when Cassidy finished, slamming her hand on the table. “Are you fucking kidding me? You actually trust these bitches?” She demanded, grey eyes lighting on fire and could see the hesitance in Cassidy’s eyes. “What if they’re just yanking your chain?”

“They’re not because of what Good did to Trista. She’s Colby’s sister and she wants revenge on him. She’s dating one of the firemen named Joe Anoa’i. He was there the day the behemoth rescued me.” Cassidy argued, defending Elissa and folded her arms in front of her chest with determined azure eyes. “I’m doing this, Pey. I want you to come with me, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just kept it hidden until I knew for a fact Elissa was serious about the meeting.”

Peyton didn’t like the sound of this, wondering why Cassidy was so hell-bent on finding out information about this fireman. He was vicious, cruel and volatile, three words Elissa had used with Cassidy. Why would she want to be near a man like that? This was a bad idea, but Peyton would tag along because she refused to let anything to happen to Cassidy again.

Not if she could help it.

Chapter 22

“Oh yes! Harder!”

Joe growled, loving the sound of Trista’s demands and gave her exactly what she wanted, driving himself as deep, hard and fast inside of her as he possibly could. She currently sat on his bed on all fours while he plummeted in and out of her, the sound of his balls slapping against her pussy lips echoing through the room. No matter how many times he felt her tight pussy wrapped around his pulsating cock, it always felt more explosive than the last. Trista arrived earlier that night, wearing a purple robe tied and proceeded to give Joe an impromptu strip tease. He nearly lost it when the robe came off, revealing absolutely nothing but soft flesh. Trista hadn’t been ready for him to touch her yet though and shoved him back on the bed with her foot, shaking her finger at him. It was possibly the sexiest thing Joe ever saw in his life. Then she went to pleasure herself and Joe completely snapped, not able to handle witnessing his girlfriend give herself an orgasm.

He turned her around, positioning her the way he knew they both wanted and took control of the situation, which brought them to the present. Trista groaned in pure satisfaction, loving the feeling of Joe sliding in and out of her, driving her closer to that razor edge. She knew the teasing had thrown him for a loop, but Trista loved his reaction and planned on doing it again in the future. If she had to tie Joe up in order to fully pleasure herself in front of him, just once, then she would do it without thinking twice. Digging her nails into the black comforter, Trista finally couldn’t take anymore and could feel her walls closing in around Joe. He gritted his teeth, trying to maintain control and managed to ride out her first climax without giving into his body’s demands, wanting to make this last as long as possible. When a second earth-shattering climax ripped through her body and Trista screamed out his name, Joe couldn’t hold back any longer. Pumping a few more times, Joe erupted inside of her, filling Trista with his seed until she could hold no more, both of them collapsing in a sweaty heap in bed.

Trista couldn’t wipe the smile from her face, swiping some hair away that stuck to her perspired forehead. Joe held her close to him, pressing soft kisses along the back of her neck while they both came down from heights only they could reach together. This was definitely unexpected, but Joe would be a fool to question or complain about it, his calloused hands running down her sweaty arms. Once she could move without trembling thighs, Trista managed to roll over on her back, staring up into his content greys becoming lost in them.

“See something you like?” Joe rumbled, keeping his voice low and dropped a kiss on her lips, savoring their afterglow.

“More than you know.” Trista replied truthfully, reaching up to caress his face with the back of her hand and smiled when he kissed it. “How’s your nose?”

“Fine, it’s nearly healed.” Joe honestly forgot about it during their sexual encounter and proved it by rubbing his nose gently against hers. “See?”

Trista giggled, nodding and suddenly became serious glancing down at his chest, stroking the intricate tattoo on his right pectoral linked to his ink covered arm. “I want to know more about you, Joe. I know you had a rough childhood. I just feel like I don’t know that much about you.” She turned on her side, tracing his tattoo with her fingertip.

Arching a brow, Joe wondered what brought this on suddenly and tried ignoring how good her hand felt against his skin, shifting to lay on his side facing her. “What do you wanna know, baby girl?” He asked, sounding somewhat confused, already prepared to tell her anything she asked. Joe could not deny Trista anything.

“Well…” Trista hesitated, thinking how to go about asking him this. “Is anything off limits?”

Joe thought it over for a fraction of a second and shook his head. “Nope, ask me anything you want and I’ll tell you.”

He hadn’t talked about his childhood in years, but if Trista wanted to know about it, he would tell her. This was like taking candy from a baby, Trista thought, not believing how much Joe trusted her and felt a twinge of guilt develop, ignoring it. If he could talk about their sex life to Jonathan Good of all people than she could trick him to tell her about their childhood together. Trista knew it involved Jon a great deal, so if she played her cards right, she would get the information Cassidy Irons wanted.

“Start at the beginning then.” She decided, after a few moments of silence between them, settling in comfortably against the pillow. “Where did you grow up?”

“Pensacola, Florida.” Joe answered, running his fingertips over her arm while he spoke. “Born and bred actually. Lost my parents in a car wreck of all things. They were drug addicts and drunks though, so I don’t miss them that much.” Taking in a shaky breath, Joe felt a lump form in his throat at the memories washing over him. “My Dad was an abusive prick and beat my Mom on a daily basis. I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember when he used a belt on me a few times…”

Trista frowned, feeling her heart constrict painfully and wondered if this was a good idea after all. “Joe…”

He smiled sadly, patting her hand gently. “You wanted to know and I’m not gonna keep it from you, Trista. You deserve to know if you plan on sticking with me for a while. Just kinda hard for me to talk about, so bear with me.”

“Of course, take your time.”

Joe nodded, continuing. “When I was 6, I was next door at the neighbor’s house where I normally stayed whenever my parents wanted to take a trip without me. Probably to get more drugs.” He snorted derisively. “Don’t really know honestly. I just remember a cop coming to the door and telling the neighbor my parents had died. Drove their car right off the bridge in town into the lake, drowned. I was standing there at the door when the cop told her and she didn’t realize because I was a little boy back then.”

Trying to picture Joe being 6 years old, Trista couldn’t imagine what he must’ve been through considering she still had both of her parents. They lived in Davenport, Iowa in a small house and she went to visit them once a year with Colby, Elissa and the kids. Of course, if everything went well with Joe in the coming months, she would definitely be inviting him along, wanting to show her parents she did have the capability of loving a man. They were always on her about getting married and settling down, things Trista did not want to ever do. However, she already knew if Joe wanted to marry her, she would do it in a heartbeat and demand they go to Vegas because a big wedding was out of the question.

“Anyway, I ended up in the foster system where I met Jon.” Joe smiled a little at the memory of them meeting for the first time. “He refused to talk to me at first because of what happened to him. And I still don’t know the full story on it.”

“What do you know though?” Trista asked, truly sympathetic for both men considering they were so young when both ended up in the foster system. “His parents, right?”

Joe nodded solemnly, closing his eyes. “Fire. They burned to death and Jon had to watch it happen. That’s all I know about it. I don’t know how it got started or any of those details.” He scrubbed a hand down his face, laying down against the pillow and pressed Trista’s hand against his chest over his heart. “Jon wouldn’t talk for months after it happened. I remember trying to get him to say something, anything, but he would sit quietly in a corner staring straight ahead. Rocking back and forth sometimes, though I still don’t know why. Jon doesn’t talk about it and, if it’s mentioned, he walks away, so I don’t bother bringing it up.”

“So what finally snapped him out of his shock?” Trista pressed, thinking that was the reason 6 year old Jon wouldn’t talk to anyone in the system.

“Damnest thing, but we were watching some kinda program on television. Think it was Looney Tunes.” Joe shrugged, keeping his eyes locked on those beautiful hazel orbs of his girlfriend. “There was a character lit on fire and Jon suddenly screamed out at the top of his lungs ‘FIRE!’ and everyone looked at him like he was crazy. It was the first time I’d ever heard him say something. After that, he went to a few therapists and whatnot, but Jon was firm not talking about what happened. He finally told me when we were released at age 18. Nobody had adopted us.”

Trista frowned, feeling tears sting the back of her eyes. “He told you about what happened to his parents?”

Joe nodded, remembering that day. “He said he’d never bring it up again, but since we’d known each other for 12 years, he felt I deserved to know. And right there while we waited for a bus to come grab us up he told me what happened. Not in so much detail, but the basic gist of it was his parents had burned to death in a house fire at his childhood home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sad really. I’d heard different rumors about it, but wanted to hear it with my own ears, you know? Then he said ‘don’t ever ask me to talk about this again because it won’t happen’ and that was it.”

Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully, Trista leaned forward and brushed her soft lips against his, her way of thanking him for trusting her with the truth. “So what made you two decide to become firefighters?” She already knew Jon’s reasoning; it was obvious, but she was curious since Joe’s parents had drowned in a car accident.

“I followed what Jon wanted to do. All he talked about from the first time we had an actual conversation was how much he wanted to save people from fires. So we made a pact to stick together and become firefighters as soon as we were out of the foster system.” Joe looked down at his hand, seeing the faint scar he’d had since age 6. “We sliced our hands open one night when everyone was sleeping and sealed our blood together, promising to always watch each other’s backs. He’s my blood brother. That’s why I can never stay mad at him because we’ve known each other so goddamn long. Hell, I wanted to kill him when he told Colby about us, but that was my fault too. I never should’ve told him about what happened with us and I’m sorry for that, Trista. You gotta understand though, I tell that man everything because he’s all I know. I have no actual family, no siblings…he’s the closest thing to family I have.”

Turning his hand over, Trista gently ran her fingertip along the scar and honestly hadn’t noticed it until now. “You love him.” It wasn’t a question; she could see all the love and adoration in Joe’s eyes whenever he mentioned Jon’s name. “So that means I have to accept him too.”

“Would help me a lot, yeah.” Joe chuckled, cupping her chin with his fingers and kissed her lips softly. “You don’t have to like him, but if we ever tie the knot or whatever, he’s my Best Man. I won’t choose anyone else. I refuse.”

Trista blinked, hazel eyes wide in shock at the mention of marriage and sat upright. “I think it’s a little too soon for that kind of talk, Joe.” She barked out a nervous laugh, swallowing hard.

Sitting up as well, Joe frowned and could see he’d frazzled Trista, lacing his fingers with hers. “Why do you say that, baby girl? Hell, I’d love to marry you right now, but I know you need time for us to be together and I understand that. But you will marry me one day, Trista Lopez. You’re stuck with me.”

The look in his deep greys took her breath away as Joe drew Trista in his arms and lead her back on the bed, letting him claim her body once more, officially ending their talk.

~!~

“So did you do it?”

Trista heaved a sigh, driving back home after spending the night with Joe. “Yeah, it wasn’t easy at all, Elissa.” She wanted to make it clear she regretted tricking Joe.

“What do you mean?” Elissa frowned, her stomach tightening slightly. “What happened?”

Suddenly pulling the car over, huge tears slid down Trista’s cheeks and she let the emotion overtake her. “His past is horrible - both of theirs. I finally get why Jon is the way he is, sort of. He has every right to hate the world and be the dick he is. And the way Joe talked about him was completely heartbreaking and adorable too.”

“Okay Trista, calm down sweetie. You’re not making much sense here.” Elissa’s head was swimming while she graded some of her children’s papers, all three outside for their recess. “Take a few deep breaths and talk to me.”

Trista did as she was told and wiped her tears away. “Joe’s parents died in a car wreck when he was 6 years old, the same age Jon lost his. Joe’s parents were drug addicts and…he was beaten by his father, Elissa. He had to find out from a cop that his parents had driven their car off the bridge in his hometown and drowned. How horrible is that?” It really made Trista realize just how lucky she was to have warm caring parents that loved her and Colby unconditionally, even if they lived in different states. “I’m sorry. I just did not expect to hear half the shit that came out of his mouth last night.”

Elissa covered her mouth with her hand, feeling ghastly for Joe and couldn’t believe he turned out to be the great man he was today. “My god that’s awful. Now I just wanna give him a big hug the next time I see him. What about Jon?” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know, having caught the fact his parents had died. Trista hadn’t elaborated.

“His parents apparently died in a horrible fire when he was 6 and he didn’t talk for months. I’ll talk about it more tomorrow at the meeting. I’m home now. Bye.” Trista couldn’t talk about any of it and walked inside her apartment building, wanting to take a hot soothing bath.

Tomorrow’s meeting was definitely going to be emotional and Trista hoped Cassidy Irons was ready for it.

Chapter 23

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Cassidy looked up from her coffee cup, both waking up to start the day. “Yes, you don’t have to come, Peyton. I can do this on my own.”

For the past few days, Peyton tried everything in her power to convince Cassidy not to go through with the meeting, but she was resolute. Peyton didn’t understand what the big deal was about Jonathan Good, wondering what was going through Cassidy’s mind. Granted, the woman was having sex dreams about a man she didn’t know. Hell, Peyton had quite a few about Jason Statham, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get to know the guy personally!

“No, I’m not letting you go by yourself for the millionth time.”

“Then for the millionth time stop asking me that question.” Cassidy shot back, standing up from the couch with a pair of white cotton shorts and tank top, strawberry blonde hair swept up on top of her head. “I’m going for a run. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Peyton could only watch her walk out the front door and plopped down on the couch, knowing she upset Cassidy again.

~!~

“So where are you going tonight?” Colby asked, standing in front of the bathroom mirror in the master bathroom brushing his teeth with his wife.

Elissa spit out some toothpaste and smiled in the mirror. “Just out with a few friends and Trista. I need a girl’s night, babe. You’re okay with watching the kids, right?” After some thought, Elissa and Trista both decided to leave Colby out of the loop with this meeting because he had too big of a mouth.

“Of course.” Colby always enjoyed when he had the kids to himself, already planning on ordering a pizza. “What time are you leaving?”

“Around 6, gotta swing by and pick up Trista and Trish.” Elissa finished brushing and rinsed her mouth out with water, dabbing her face. “Thanks honey, I owe you one for this.” She kissed his cheek and bounced out of the bathroom, laughing when he growled back at her.

Colby shook his head, trusting his wife wholeheartedly and wondered what Trista had planned. He shrugged, refusing to worry about it because then paranoia would set in, which was never a good thing. Rinsing his mouth out, Colby stepped into the bedroom and could hear Elissa downstairs with their kids, gathering them up to start homeschooling. He had to be at the fire station in an hour for a mandatory meeting - one Jon would be missing since he was still on vacation.

~!~

Trista sifted through her closet, trying to figure out what to wear and smirked when Joe walked into the room, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist. “Hey you, rough day at work?” It was going on 5 PM and Trista had exactly an hour to get dressed for the meeting, feeling nervous about it.

“No, just boring as fuck.” Joe grumbled, burying his face in her neck and smirked when she giggled against his goatee brushing her skin. “Where you going tonight? I thought we could stay in together, preferably in bed.”

Shaking her head, Trista laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, smacking his chest. “You really need a better memory, Anoa’i. I already told you countless times I’m going out with a couple friends tonight. Elissa needs a girl’s night out.” They were using her as a decoy, which was Elissa’s idea and Trista was grateful for it.

Joe groaned, slapping his forehead. “Shit, I forgot all about that. So Colby is staying home with the kiddies?” He stroked his chin thoughtfully when Trista nodded, contemplating if he should pay his buddy a visit. “Then fuck it, I’ll go play some cards and knock back a few beers with your brother. We need to bond after all.”

“Bond, really?” Trista snorted, wondering if Joe was serious and finally pulled out a pair of black jean shorts and a purple tube top, pulling her hair up in a high ponytail. “Whatever you say. Enjoy your bonding time.”

“You too. Wanna come over after you’re done?”

Joe watched her dressed and kept his distance because he knew if he touched even a fraction of Trista’s skin, she wouldn’t be leaving. Trista could feel his eyes devouring her and pulled the jean shorts on, buttoning them before slipping her strapless nude bra and tube top on, deliberately shaking them in his direction. She decided to leave her hair down for the evening, though brought a holder just in case she changed her mind later.

“If you want me too.”

“Damn tease.” Joe snarled, closing the distance between them and laid a toe-curling kiss on her lips, giving her something to remember him by. “And I always want you to come over, don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.” Trista smiled against his lips and pressed her hand against his chest, shoving him back a little. “Now get out of here so I can finish getting ready. You’re distracting me.” She ordered, turning her back to him and slipped her purple flip-flops on.

“Yes ma’am.” Joe reached out to smack her ass first, then walked out laughing from Trista’s squeal because she hadn’t expected it.

“Dick!” Trista heard her front door shut and shook her head, turning to stare in the mirror as the smile deteriorated from her face. “I just want to get this over with…”

~!~

When Trista called Trish inviting her out for a girl’s night at Jack’s restaurant, she couldn’t pass it up. She had no idea what was really going down that night because Trista had been very vague with the details. It didn’t matter. Between dealing with the lawsuit against the Levesque’s and fearing losing her job at any given moment, Trish needed a break and felt she deserved one. She asked her neighbor lady, Claire McBride, to watch Madelyn for a few hours and the lady immediately obliged. Claire had a little girl named Annabelle; both girls got along famously and were the same age, though Annabelle went to a different school. Trish didn’t blame Claire, not after what happened to Madelyn and thought about transferring her daughter to Annabelle’s school, not caring if it was on the other side of Tampa.

“So where are you going tonight?” Madelyn asked, standing in the doorway of her mother’s room and watched her get ready.

“Out with some friends and Trista.” Trish replied patiently, wearing a black skirt and baby blue halter top, busy curling her blonde hair. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, me and Annabelle are gonna play dress up! Her Mom got her all the Disney Princess dresses and she said I can be Jasmine!” Madelyn sounded excited, clapping her hands together with sparkling eyes.

“Oh yeah? And who is she gonna be?” Trish played along, sounding as excited as Madelyn.

“Umm I think Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Not sure though.”

Madelyn looked deep in thought about it, tapping her chin and then walked out of the room to grab her overnight bag. The simplest things made Madelyn happy and it did Trish’s heart good to see the life back in her daughter’s eyes. It’d been gone for a month. Trish looked back and kicked herself repeatedly for not seeing the signs of the bullying sooner. If she would’ve just paid closer attention, she could’ve stopped Surana a lot sooner instead of Madelyn nearly dying in the school fire. Sighing, Trish knew she shouldn’t beat herself up over it, but it was easier said than done because Madelyn was all she had. Her lifeline. She didn’t know what would’ve happened had Madelyn died in that fire and Trish shivered at the thought. Shaking herself out of the mental abuse, Trish finished getting ready and walked Madelyn across the yard to the McBride’s, knocking on the door.

“Hey Maddie!” Annabelle chirped, being the first to answer the door. She had short light brown hair cut just above the shoulders and brown eyes that had little golden speckles in them. “Let’s go to the basement!”

“Okay! Bye Mom, love you!” Madelyn zoomed inside as both girls disappeared downstairs, causing both Trish and Claire to laugh at them.

“Kids.” Claire giggled, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about a thing, Trish. Just go out and have fun. Maddie is in good hands.”

“Oh I know, I’m not worried. She usually gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek though.” Trish looked genuinely saddened, the smile remaining on her face and appreciated Claire’s hand patting her shoulder. “She’s growing up so fast.”

“They both are.” Claire amended softly, her own light brown hair swept up on top of her head and crystal blue eyes sharing the same feelings Trish did. “It has to happen though. Anyway, I got cookies in the oven for the girls. I’ll have Maddie call you tonight before bed, if you want.”

Trish nodded, blinking tears away. “I’d like that. Thank you again, Claire.” They embraced briefly and Trish walked away across the yard toward her car, having her purse in hand already.

~!~

Peyton was a big ball of nerves as she sat in the passenger seat with Cassidy, hating the twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t a good idea at all, but Peyton finally resigned to whatever Cassidy wanted to do. The amount of determination in Cassidy’s eyes was scary, something Peyton had never seen before. Something told her that, even after Cassidy heard more about Jonathan Good, it would only fuel her curiosity more instead of extinguish it. Listening to the classic rock station, Cassidy wore a pair of magenta capris with a black short sleeved baby doll that had a magenta swirl design up the sides of it. Peyton had French braided her hair to keep it out of her face and her usual makeup was on. Having the same outfit, Peyton’s was blue instead of magenta, her blood red hair pulled back in a twist with a clip. Jack’s wasn’t the place for casual dress, but because of how hot it was outside, the girls were determined to be as comfortable as possible.

“Here we go.” Cassidy murmured quietly and pulled into Jack’s 20 minutes later, seeing it was just a little past 7 PM. “Hopefully they don’t think we stood them up.” She’d called Elissa the previous night and told her about Peyton tagging along.

“Yeah, sure.”

Peyton took a deep breath and stepped out, both of them heading inside asking for a reservation under Good. Elissa made it under that name since that’s what the meeting revolved around. Not saying a word, Peyton followed Cassidy when the hostess guided her to the back of the restaurant, keeping her grey eyes peeled for any signs of danger. She was paranoid; Peyton admitted it, but it wasn’t every day Cassidy had a surprise encounter the way she had at the super market. Something was fishy and Peyton couldn’t put her finger on it for the life of her. Arriving at a table, everyone else was there and all heads looked up from their menus as Cassidy smiled tentatively at all the women, accepting a hug from Elissa.

“I was hoping you didn’t ditch us.” Elissa whispered in her ear and turned to gesture to her sister-in-law. “This is Trista, the woman I told you about and of course you know who Trish is. This must be your friend, Peyton right?”

Peyton forced a smile, shaking the woman’s hand and felt an easiness wash over her, still keeping her guard up. “Nice to meet you both.” She shook Trista’s hand as well, both of them taking their seats.

“Likewise.” Trista nodded at them both, too busy trying to pick what she wanted to eat and decided a steak sounded good. “So, you’re the one who wants to know about Jonathan Good, huh?”

Cassidy swallowed hard, fighting back the urge to lower her eyes. “Yes.” What if Trista wasn’t able to get any information out of her boyfriend? What if this was a big waste of time?

“Mind if I ask why?” Trista ignored Elissa’s warning look, folding her hands on the table. “Because what I’m about to tell you is very personal and I want to make sure you’re prepared for it.”

Her mouth suddenly felt like a scorching desert and Cassidy had to take a deep breath, nodding in understanding. “Do you mind if I get something to drink first?” She took the glass of water in front of her and downed half of it, feeling her hand tremble setting it back down.

Trista raised a brow, seeing how nervous Cassidy was and reached across the table taking her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound ominous about it, but I didn’t know how else to warn you without just coming right out and saying it. You have nothing to fear with us. I’ve known Trish for years and I’m actually Madelyn’s godmother. Not a lot of people know it though.” She winked, watching Cassidy’s eyes grow wide and giggled, sipping her beer.

“Wow really?” Cassidy glanced at Elissa, suddenly realizing the women were all connected somehow and felt very out of place, though she squeezed Trista’s hand back gently. “That’s one special little girl. Thank you for the flowers, by the way, Trish. That was incredibly sweet of you and Madelyn.” She’d received them yesterday afternoon, loving the yellow, pink and white tulips and had them currently set in her window for the world to see in a glass vase.

Trish beamed, glad she’d received them without any problems. “You’re welcome and I’ll be sure to let her know. It’s the least we could do since you pretty much put your life on the line in order to tell Maddie’s story.” She meant that, brown eyes full of gratitude.

Cassidy waved her off dismissively and directed her attention back to Trista. “Whatever you’ve found out will help me greatly. I know Elissa told you this wasn’t for my job and I just want to reiterate it’s not. I’m just genuinely curious about him. I want to know why he risked his life to save me that day. Because I honestly thought I…was done for.” She whispered those last three words and Peyton squeezed her hand, smiling sadly.

“What do you mean?” Trista frowned, raising a brow. “You do realize it’s his job to save civilians from fires, right?”

“Yes, but…I can’t explain it. The look in his eyes. He didn’t care. He honestly looked at the fire as if it wasn’t there and the amount of fortitude in his eyes was frightening. I just - how could someone have such a small regard for life? He should’ve died that day. We both should’ve.” Cassidy kept her voice low and soft, not wanting everyone else around them to overhear, even though they were at a corner table. “Something must’ve happened to him to make him not care about his own wellbeing. And it’s morbidly fascinating to me, I’ll admit it.”

Peyton felt terrible for trying to convince Cassidy as much as she had not to attend this dinner after hearing those words, digesting them. So that’s why she wanted to know about Jonathan Good. He had saved her life and nearly got both of them killed doing so. It was understandable how she felt, though Peyton hated that Cassidy blamed herself for the man’s actions. He chose to jump through fire to save her and all she could do was question why.

Sometimes occurrences didn’t require an explanation.

Trista nodded, believing every word that came out of Cassidy’s mouth and waited until the waitress came to take their order, making sure to add a bottle of wine to it. They would all need a drink after hearing what Trista was about to say. She still couldn’t believe what Joe told her, especially about his childhood, but Trista had to push that aside for now. She’d deal with it in her own time.

“Something did happen to him to make him the kind of man he is today.” Trista took another sip of beer and felt Elissa take her hand, lending her courage to her sister-in-law. “And it also explains why he chose the profession he’s in - why he chose to save lives.”

“Why?” Cassidy didn’t hesitate, her curiosity feeling as though it would burn a hole through her abdomen.

“When Jon was 6, his parents died in a fire. They burned to death in his childhood home in Cincinnati, Ohio.” Trista lowered her eyes while every eyeball at the table shot open, jaws dropping in shock.

Cassidy left the restaurant that night with a new goal and that was to find out everything she could about Jonathan Good’s parents and the fire that killed them.

Chapter 24

Cassidy lay in bed that night staring up at the ceiling, sleep evading her. She couldn’t get what Trista told her out of her mind and it frustrated the hell out of her. Finally gaining some kind of background information on Jonathan Good did nothing except make her want to know more. How did the fire start? Why didn’t his parents escape? Why wasn’t Jon in the house with them? Was it accidental? Premeditated? So many questions raced through Cassidy’s mind and she finally couldn’t take it anymore, tossing the covers off with a soft growl.

Peyton was out on a date with Randy, after assuring Cassidy would be fine alone and made her promise to keep her cell phone close by. Cassidy wasn’t sleeping, so she pulled her laptop out and fired it up, going to a search engine. She typed in Jonathan Good in the bar and clicked the search button, waiting for the results to pop up. Several pages later, Cassidy hadn’t found anything besides what happened recently with Madelyn and a few other people he’d saved from fires. She tried again. This time Cassidy added the words ‘house fire’ to the search bar with Jon’s name and once again came up empty. He was 6 when it happened, so Cassidy figured out the year of his birth and typed that in. Once again nothing. The internet was supposed to have this type of information, right? Shaking her head, Cassidy finally gave up and closed the laptop, laying back on the pillows with a sigh.

“Looks like I’ll have to go to the library tomorrow.”

If it was a house fire, surely the media would’ve covered it and there had to be old ads hidden somewhere. Then Cassidy had a thought. What if it didn’t happen in Tampa? Trista did mention where the house fire happened. Cincinnati, Ohio. Before she could stop herself, Cassidy made a few phone calls. One was to Peyton letting her know she was going out of town for the day and the other to the airport booking a flight to Cincinnati. Hanging up, Cassidy collapsed on the bed and hoped she was doing the right thing. She rolled over on her stomach, burying her face under the pillow and tried getting a few hours of sleep. Cassidy would need it since she planned on going digging all over Cincinnati, Ohio to try to find the answers to this house fire mystery.

Cassidy was up at the crack of dawn, only getting 3 hours of sleep before finally giving up. Her flight wasn’t until 8 AM and it was just 5 AM, so she decided to go for a quick run before starting the day. Peyton wasn’t back yet, which told Cassidy she’d stayed at Randy’s, smiling at the thought. She hadn’t left Cassidy’s side since she came home from the hospital nearly 2 weeks ago, so it was nice having the house to herself for a change. An hour run and shower later, Cassidy dressed in simple blue jean capris and a burnt orange baby t-shirt, sweeping her hair up on top of her head in a messy bun. She didn’t care about makeup, skipping it and headed out, planning on grabbing something to eat on the way to the airport. She ate in the parking lot, having a small bag sitting on the passenger seat and took a deep breath before exiting her vehicle.

~!~

“Good morning.” Cassidy greeted, pushing her black shades up on top of her head.

“Hello dear.” An elderly woman with the name Cheri on her nametag smiled warmly, folding her hands on top of the counter. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for an old article.” She flashed her badge from the Tampa Bay Times, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to let them know she was a journalist. “It would’ve been from 1986.”

Cheri arched a slow brow, wondering what the young woman wanted with an article that old. “What’s it regardin’?” She asked, mildly curious.

“House fire.”

“If we have anythin’ from that year, it would be down in the archives. Take the elevator and go down to the basement floor. They’re all boxed up with dates. Good luck.” She slipped her glasses on and went back to stamping books, watching the young woman walk away.

Cassidy followed the receptionist’s instructions and gaped at all the boxes when she arrived in the archive room. They were on shelves, much like the Tampa Bay Times archives had been. This was going to take a while, Cassidy thought, as she set her purse down on a nearby table and began going down aisles starting in the 1980’s. Running her fingertips over them, Cassidy couldn’t believe how many articles Cincinnati had and finally found the box marked January 1986-July 1986 in bold print. Slipping it off of the shelf, Cassidy carted it back to the table and set it down, wiping the dust off the top of it. This was it. If the article wasn’t in here, then the house fire hadn’t happened in Cincinnati. Taking a deep breath, Cassidy flipped the box open and set it to the side, seeing the neat pile of articles standing upright. Unfortunately, the library didn’t label them by date, so Cassidy would have to look through every piece of paper and hoped something jumped out at her.

It took an hour to get through January to March and Cassidy hadn’t found anything, rubbing her eyes. She really regretted not getting a coffee, stifling a yawn. Being a journalist had its advantages though because Cassidy had gone through them pretty fast, already knowing what to look for. The title was key, so every article she found with the word ‘fire’ in it, Cassidy skimmed it to see if she saw the last name Good. Another hour passed and Cassidy was on the last month, July, as she began sifting through the papers. She got halfway through the stack and suddenly stopped, azure eyes widening. Her heart broke at the picture displayed, which was a house on fire with a little boy standing in front of it, the police beside him.

HOUSE FIRE KILLS 6 YEAR OLD BOY’S PARENTS

Early in the morning hours on July 15^th, the Tampa police department was notified of a fire on the outskirts of the city. They responded to a 911 call that had been made from an anonymous source, stating they could see black smoke rising in the sky. The authorities rushed to the scene as fast as they could, along with the fire department, only to witness a horrible tragedy. 6 year old Jonathan Good stood in the front yard of his childhood home in tears, watching it burn to the ground, with his parents inside. He had screamed for help, prompting the anonymous caller to inform authorities on what happened. The firemen worked diligently to put the fire out on both the house and attached garage. The little boy’s parents, Amanda and William Good’s, remains were found inside the house once the fire was extinguished. Authorities have ruled tragedy accidental and will not be investigating further. Jonathan Good has been taken into custody by the state of Ohio. Such a tragedy and a sad day for the city of Cincinnati.

Huge tears slid down Cassidy’s face as she set the article down and looked away from it, not able to imagine losing her parents at such a tender age. Jon had been given to the state, having no other relatives apparently. Everything Trista had told her was the truth, but it didn’t make Cassidy feel any better. If anything, she felt worse after reading that article and seeing the picture of a 6 year old boy watching his childhood home and family burn alive. It still didn’t answer any of her questions either regarding where the fire started or why his parents hadn’t been able to escape. Only Jon knew those answers and there was no way Cassidy would ask him. She meant what she said to Peyton, she did not want to see him. Elissa’s words rang through her mind, reminding her what kind of man he was, though Cassidy didn’t blame him. He’d lost everything at such a tender age and had a lot of emotions built up to make him do the things he did.

Such as having no regard for his own life if it meant saving another.

Shaking her head sadly, Cassidy stood up from the table and sniffled, putting the articles back inside the box in the exact order she found them. Part of her wanted to take that article and hide it somewhere so nobody would be able to find it. Cassidy suddenly understood why Jon had been short with her on the phone during the interview, having a feeling he’d been grilled thoroughly regarding what happened to his parents. Slipping her purse over her shoulder, Cassidy left the library and decided it was time to get on with her life. She would have to find a way to get Jonathan Good out of her mind, no matter what it took. Cassidy owed him for saving her life, but at the same time she had told him to leave, to get out and leave her behind. It wasn’t Cassidy’s fault the fireman didn’t listen to her. Putting the car in drive, she headed to the airport to catch a flight home and decided she’d be sleeping for the remainder of the day, completely drained physically, mentally and emotionally from everything she discovered.

~!~

The Tampa Bay Times.

Why was he back here? Hadn’t Jon left Tampa and taken a week’s vacation to get away from everything? So why the hell was he standing outside of the Tampa Bay Times in his gear? It was just him, there was nobody else around and usually Joe trailed him whenever they had a job to do.

No fire truck, no ambulances, no police, nothing but silence.

The building wasn’t on fire and looked in pristine condition. Jon narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do and suddenly watched as the fire erupted through the windows on the 2^nd floor. Not thinking about it, he rushed inside the building and stopped at the front doors, remembering it had a keypad. A keycard was required to get in. He blinked when one suddenly appeared in his hand and Jon swiped it without preamble, rushing inside up the stairs as fast as he could. A trail of fire once again lead down the back staircase and Jon headed in that direction, a sense of déjà vu erupting with him. Cassidy. He had to save her. It didn’t matter if he died, just as long as she survived or he went down trying. Jon once again stood on the steps, staring into the room and the wall of fire that separated him and her. Those azure eyes drew him near once more, hypnotic and he could see the tears streaming down her bloody face.

Then Jon realized something was wrong. Cassidy hadn’t gotten away from the fire fast enough, hadn’t been released from the ropes that held her still, and her legs were on fire! Her screams echoed throughout the room and Jon tried jumping over the flames like he’d done before, but it was no use. It was almost like a force field was blocking him from getting to her. Making him watch her burn to death. The fire crawled up her legs to her torso and arms, feeding away at her flesh as it melted. The life in her eyes vanished and her body lulled back against what she’d been bound to. Jon had to watch helplessly as the fire engulfed her face and hair, her body turning into ashes. He stumbled back and held his chest, tears streaking his face and started pounding on the force field that had prevented him from saving her. Dropping to his knees, Jon put his head in his hands and gripped his hair, not believing it happened again. Just like his parents had burned alive because of him, so had she.

“CASSIDY!!!!”

~!~

Jon ended up rolling off the bed while he thrashed in his sleep, hitting the floor with a loud hard thud. His blue eyes snapped open, sweat caking his face and arms, trying to learn how to breathe again. Slowly looking around, Jon sighed a huge breath of relief and scrubbed a hand down his face, remembering where he was. Jacksonville, Florida. He left Tampa a week ago, needing to get away for a while to mull things over and to try eliminating Cassidy Irons out of his mind. Jon lost count how many women he took to his hotel room and screwed them until they were raw. They were all strawberry blondes or blondes with some kind of blue eyes, but none of them compared to Cassidy. Every time Jon climaxed, all he thought about was that damn woman he saved and had gotten a cold shoulder in return.

His dreams had been all sexual with Cassidy…until now.

“Fuck.” He grunted, slowly getting to his feet and cracked his neck, thankful the flooring in the hotel room he stayed in was carpeted. “What the hell was that about?” He wondered aloud, walking over completely naked to stare out the window, seeing the sun rising over the horizon.

Why had he dreamt of Cassidy burning alive? It was usually his parents, but not this time and Jon didn’t understand it. What was the universe trying to tell him? Taking a long shot of whiskey from what was left in the Jack Daniels bottle, Jon tossed it in the trashcan and sat down, putting his head in his hands. He could not get the image of Cassidy Irons burning alive out of his mind, making his hands tremble slightly. What if something was wrong? What if this dream was a premonition of some kind? Jon hated that he cared so much for this woman who had been a complete bitch to him, but he couldn’t help it. He’d ignored her pleas to leave her behind, seeing the resignation in her eyes and something had snapped inside of him. She was prepared to die in that fire and Jon had prevented it - bottom line. So why the hell was she constantly on his mind?

“I need to talk to her.” Jon looked up with intense ice blues and already knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation. “Tough shit. It needs to be done before I lose my goddamn mind.”

Standing, Jon didn’t bother showering and dressed in his jeans and shirt, pulling his socks and boots on. Cassidy didn’t want anything to do with him or else she would’ve come to him like all the others. As far as Jon was concerned, the woman had outright tested him and he never backed down from a challenge. Smirking, Jon slid his black shades over his eyes and headed down to check out of his room, ready to head back to Tampa.

It was time to stop running.

Chapter 25

It was a warm Saturday afternoon when an unexpected visitor knocked on Cassidy’s door.

She woke up after sleeping for 12 hours straight, feeling rejuvenated and more alive than she had in weeks. After her morning run, Cassidy showered and changed into a pair of blue checkered shorts and a plain blue spaghetti strapped camisole. Her poor house had been neglected for the past couple weeks and Cassidy planned on cleaning it from top to bottom. She did the windows first, then dusting and took a break to do the dishes. All of her blankets and sheets were also washed, Peyton’s as well, along with the spot on her carpet where she’d been attacked. Cassidy was in the middle of vacuuming when she heard the doorbell ring throughout her house, blasting Lifehouse from her stereo and smiled, turning the vacuum off.

“Hold on a second!” She called out over the music, dancing over to turn it off and answered the door.

She did not expect to see Jonathan Good standing on the other side.

Oh god, had Trista told him about the meeting? Cassidy swallowed hard and stood her ground, trying to learn how to breathe. He had on skintight black jeans and a grey sleeveless shirt that stretched across his muscular chest, tucked in neatly. A black bandana covered the top of his head, tied tightly at the nape of his neck and he had black sunglasses over his eyes. All those assumptions about Jonathan Good, now that she knew a little more about him, were officially tossed out the window.

“What are you doing here?” She hadn’t meant to sound so blunt, but it was all she could think to say to this man, looking genuinely confused.

Jon couldn’t believe he was doing this and slid the shades from his eyes slowly, revealing blue topaz gemstones, tucking them in the pocket of his jeans. “We need to talk.” He rasped gruffly, having given her a blatant scan and could already tell this woman had an incredible body.

“What about?” There was no way Cassidy would allow him to step foot in her house, not without knowing his reason for coming.

“Let me in and I’ll tell you.” He retorted, watching her azure eyes narrow and smirked.

“Tell me and I’ll let you in.” Two could play that game, Cassidy thought, and blinked when Jon brushed past her small frame, letting himself in. “I didn’t invite you inside.”

“I’m aware of that.” Jon grunted, looking around her house and was surprised by her rather…boring taste, nothing really standing out that told him what kind of person she was. “I also know you won’t kick me out.”

“Oh really?” This guy was arrogant and already had her on edge, feeling her temper slowly rising. “And how do you know that?”

Jon chuckled, slowly turning his head to look at her. “You would’ve slammed the door in my face if you didn’t want me here.” It was a fact, there was no point denying it.

Cassidy blanched, not believing the audacity of this pompous asshole and wanted to kick him between his legs, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Fine, you’re inside. Now tell me what you want, so I can get back to my cleaning.” Her tone was clipped and even as Cassidy folded her arms in front of her chest.

“You.”

It was one word and rocked Cassidy to her very core, the embers she’d felt for Jon for the past week sparking inside of her. “I’m sorry - what?” She took a step back when he took one forward, doing it out of pure instinct and was thankful for the vacuum blocking his way to her temporarily. “I don’t understand…”

“No? Judging by the way your breathing has accelerated and your shaking hands, I think you do. In fact, I KNOW you do.” Jon radiated with confidence and cockiness, icy eyes daring her to deny it.

He was dangerous, Elissa had been right, but not in the way Cassidy originally thought. This man could read her very easily, her body language practically screaming out for him to rip her clothes off. Cassidy had to think and fast, deciding she would force him out of her house by sparking his temper. It was the only way she saw to get out of this predicament and derail his reason for coming here.

“You’re daunting and barged into my home uninvited. Forgive me for being a little shaken up over it.” Cassidy snapped, furrowing her brows together and watched his every move, ready to bolt if she had to. “And why don’t you elaborate a little instead of talking in riddles?”

Jon could tell she was serious and stroked his chin thoughtfully, deciding to humor her. “I could always show you what I mean instead of telling you, Cassidy.” He suggested lasciviously, taking another step toward her and found it entertaining how she thought a vacuum would stop him from advancing.

“I’d rather hear it, thanks.”

Cassidy took another step back, her heart rate speeding up at his suggestive voice. That voice could honestly melt ice in seconds. Jon was fed up, crossing over to yank the vacuum out of her hands and tossed it to the side, grabbing her upper arms. He yanked her flush against his rock hard body, hearing her soft gasp and could see the distress in her eyes. That’s not all he saw though. Behind the distress was raw desire and want - almost a need for him. Had she been having dreams about him as well?

“You’ve been driving me crazy.” He growled, waiting for her to fall into a puddle at his feet and buried his fingers in her strawberry blonde hair, lowering his head slightly. “Now tell me honestly, do I really need to keep talking?”

“Why did you save me?” Cassidy asked in a rush, the tremor in her voice heightened as his lips hovered over hers, barely touching.

“What?” Was this woman serious? He was putting the moves on her, seducing her and she was STILL questioning his actions! “Because I wanted to.”

“Why?” Cassidy refused to give up, seeing the frustration building in his frosty eyes and knew her plan was working.

“Because it’s my damn job.” Jon grunted, once again trying to kiss her, but Cassidy blocked him again.

“That’s not good enough.”

Cassidy broke away from him, surprised his hands slid from her upper arms and shook her head. He had to leave. She was in no condition to talk about this and could feel tears sting the back of her eyes. Because he wanted to, because it was his job, was not the answers she wanted to hear. Jon wouldn’t give her the answers though, the truth, because he didn’t want to face his past. In all honesty, Jon was still that same scared little boy watching his entire world burn to a crisp.

“Get out.”

Jon’s eyes shot open then narrowed, gritting his teeth. “No.” He refused to leave without getting an explanation since she obviously didn’t want him to sex her up the way all the others he saved had. “What the hell do you want me to say, Cassidy? What exactly do you want to hear?”

“The truth.”

“But that IS the truth! Damn woman!” Jon growled in frustration, suddenly taking his bandana off and tossed it across the room, blue eyes turning from ice to fire in seconds.

“No it’s not.” Cassidy wasn’t fazed by his temper tantrum and merely stood there, planting her hands on her hips. “Either tell me the truth or get out. It’s as simple as that.”

“You know what? Fuck this. You’re an ungrateful bitch!” Jon snatched his bandana from the floor and started for the door, pissed beyond belief.

Before he could walk out the door, Cassidy decided she wasn’t done with him and figured this was the only way to make him talk. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.” Her voice was low and soft, azure eyes never leaving him.

Every part of Jon’s body tensed to the point where the veins in his neck began popping out, his hand tightening on the door frame. What the hell was she talking about? This woman was perplexing him by the second and it was irritating to the say the least. Stepping back inside the house, Jon slammed the door shut with authority and slowly turned his head until blue ice locked on the woman negating to give him an ounce of armistice.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He ordered gravely, eyes narrowing at the sympathy she developed.

“I know, Jon.” Cassidy murmured, slowly walking toward him and knew he would probably snap her in half for this, but she had to take the chance - the leap.

“You know what exactly?” Jon demanded, for once taking a step back and could feel his stomach tightening, fists clenched at his sides.

“About your parents.”

That was it.

Jon had to leave now before he killed her, his jaw ticking with every passing second that went by. His eyes spewed icicles at her, the hatred burning mixed with want of his own, every part of him coiled. This bitch had balls of steel to actually look up his family history and then try to give him pity over it. If she only knew the truth about what happened, of what he did…Jon shut his eyes and that was the opening Cassidy needed. Reaching up, she brought Jon’s mouth down to crash against hers, feeling all of his pain and anger radiating from his big body. It didn’t scare her. Somehow, she knew Jon would never hurt her and Cassidy was tired of fighting what she wanted, what she needed from him. Jon hadn’t expected her to do this, thinking she wanted nothing to do with him, and felt the roaring fire inside of him overshadow all other feelings, including his rage.

His strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling Cassidy closer to him and slid his hands down to her perfect pert backside, lifting her up with ease. She weighed lighter than a feather and was soft to the touch, her lips pure ambrosia against his. Jon growled, forcing her mouth open as his tongue delved in the deep recesses, searching and reaching every crevice. Cassidy shivered, legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he held her against him, her hands never leaving his face. Once the kiss broke, Cassidy’s eyes were smoky sapphires and Jon’s had turned from icy blue to an ocean smoldering with barely contained desire. He wanted her and she wanted him. There was no grey area and Cassidy didn’t care what the consequences held after this. If Jon wanted to use her body to get his aggression out, he could, but it would on her terms. Jon set Cassidy on her feet, immediately whipping her around until her stomach bit painfully into the couch.

“W-What are you doing?” Cassidy asked breathlessly, hearing him remove the belt from his jeans and the zipper sliding down, shivering.

“What the fuck does it look like? Just stay still.” Jon ordered gruffly, the anger evident in his tone and growled when she didn’t obey him. “If you want me to fuck you-”

“No.” Cassidy shook her head breaking away from him and proceeded to remove her tank top, flipping the lock on the front door so Peyton couldn’t barge in if she came back before Jon left. “Give me your hand now.”

Jon blinked, his attention immediately averting to her beautiful white lace bra that covered her breasts, wanting the offending material gone. “What are you-?”

“Take my goddamn hand!” She shouted, shoving him and could see the shock register in his eyes, fire erupting in her own. “You’re going to fuck me on MY terms, not yours. Now take my hand or get out.”

Completely bewildered, Jon could only take her hand and let her guide him over to the couch, falling back on it with her straddling his lap. Cassidy hastily pulled his shirt from his jeans and pushed it over his head, wanting to feet his skin against her fingers. Jon hissed out when her nails dragged roughly down his chest, leaving red lines in their path and looked up at Cassidy, knowing exactly what she wanted.

“All you had to do was say so.” He muttered, tearing the bra clean off her body, the material giving under his brute strength and power.

Cassidy moaned in satisfaction and hopped off of him long enough to remove her shorts, once again straddling him. “Do it again.” She ordered, taking his hand and felt it bunch the material of her panties, tearing them from her just like he did with the bra. “Good, now fuck me until we both can’t see straight.”

Snarling with flared nostrils, Jon lifted her up and planted her on the couch on all fours, smacking her backside hard enough to leave a red handprint on it. He removed his jeans, boxer/briefs and boots, gripping her hips roughly in his hands, not remembering the last time he touched a woman this much. The way she ordered him around and knew exactly what she wanted turned his world upside in more ways than one.

And he liked it.

“Spread those thighs so I can check to see if you’re ready for me, Cass.” He rasped low in her ear, smirking when she obeyed and slid his finger all the way inside of her, groaning at how tight she was. Fantastic, she wasn’t a loose bitch like the others had been. “Mmm perfect…”

“Shut up and fuck me already.” She ordered in a rough voice, gasping when he slammed inside of her without warning, not giving her time to adjust to him. “Yes!”

Jon dug his nails into her sides slightly as he plummeted in and out of her receptive body, loving how tight her pussy was. It’d been quite a while since he found a tight pussy that blew his mind the way hers did. Her words about his parents suddenly flooded Jon’s mind and he increased the speed, thrusting relentlessly balancing on one foot. He nipped her side and back, his finger pounding her from the front while his cock took care of business in the back. Cassidy had never felt anything like this before as her body wracked with both pain and pleasure, enjoying the roughness of it all. She’d had so much aggression and frustration built up over the past week because Jon wouldn’t leave her mind. Having sex with him was the last thing she ever expected to happen, but Cassidy couldn’t deny it’s all she could think about. His balls slapping against her lips made her head spin and Cassidy whipped her hair back, meeting him for every brutal thrust he produced inside of her.

The sound echoed off the walls as Jon grunted approvingly, suddenly ripping her up by her hair and bit into her neck, hearing her cry out. His finger reluctantly left her pussy to grab her breasts, tweaking her nipples painfully while he continued drubbing her. Cassidy went with everything and anything he wanted, hissing out as the hot coil deep within her threatened to spring free. Not yet, she held back with everything she had, even when Jon ordered her to let go, defying him every step of the way. Shoving her back down, Jon was done playing games and grabbed the back of her neck, thrusting as hard, deep and fast as he could muster, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Their bodies were coated in a thin sheen of perspiration and Jon could feel his balls tingle, his cock begging to just release inside of her. Cassidy couldn’t take it anymore and finally let the hot coil spring open, every part of her quivering and shattered against Jon, her sweet essence milking his throbbing cock.

“Jon!!” She screamed out when she felt his seed fill her completely.

Not stopping meeting him thrust for thrust until he slowed to a final stop, both of them sagged against each other breathing raggedly and tried to slow their racing hearts. Cassidy was the one to pull away first, not waiting for Jon’s goodbye speech and snatched her clothes from the floor on shaky legs. Jon watched her, seeing what she was doing and almost slapped his face, standing there stark naked while she dressed silently.

“There, that’s out of our systems finally. You can leave now. Thanks.” Cassidy didn’t wait for a response and walked past him down the hallway, slamming her bedroom behind her with authority.

All Jon could do was dress and leave the house, riding back to his apartment with only Cassidy on his mind, wondering if he’d ever see her again.

Chapter 26

Cassidy wasn’t the only one who had an unexpected visit from Jon that day.

Joe had just gotten home after a long shift at the fire station and barely cracked open a beer when a knock sounded at his door. He lived in a 2 bedroom apartment that was in walking distance to the fire station, wanting to be close to work. It wasn’t Trista because they’d been together for a couple weeks and she knew better than to knock. The woman would walk right in and make herself comfortable.

“I’ll be damned, he finally returns!” Joe crowed at the sight of Jon, extending his hand and smiled when Jon took it, grey eyes twinkling. “About time man, come on in!”

He would never admit this to anyone, but Joe missed Jon, hating when he took impromptu trips. Jon rarely visited Joe at his place, but after what happened with Cassidy, he had to talk about it with someone. The apartment looked like it always did, clean for the most part with a little clutter, some things still in boxes and clothes scattered on the floor. Jon cleared his throat and bent down, picking up a pair of purple lace panties arching a brow at Joe.

“Been busy, Anoa’i?” Jon smirked, tossing them at his friend and accepted the beer Joe pitched him in return. “Trista, I’m guessing?”

Joe grinned, not mad at Jon for touching Trista’s panties because, honestly, he’d forgotten she left them. “Yeah, I’m done with the sleeping around. She’s the one I want.” He wasn’t ashamed to admit that, always telling Jon the truth even if he didn’t like it or agree.

Not sure how to feel about that, Jon cracked open his beer taking a long swig of it. “Well good luck with that, she’s a firecracker. I’d hate to be in your shoes.” His tone was friendly, not condescending like normal.

“I know it, but I love a fiery woman.”

Jon noticed how close Joe and Trista were, wondering how he did it without resisting temptation. “You know this isn’t a social visit, right?”

“Yeah, just waiting for you to tell me why you’re here.” Joe settled down at the small kitchen table across from Jon, seeing something was on the man’s mind.

What the hell was Jon doing? Granted, Joe told him everything about his life, but that didn’t mean Jon had to do the same thing. What happened with Cassidy was a onetime deal, so why couldn’t he get the wench out of his mind? He had her, felt her, touched her, done everything his dreams of her practically screamed at him to do. She should’ve been out of his system, but she wasn’t. If anything, Jon’s onetime with Cassidy had only made him want more and that did not set well.

“I did something I shouldn’t have.” Jon finally came clean in his own way, rubbing his temples. “God I sound like a fucking chick right now. Look, I went to Cassidy Irons after I got back into town and I fucked her.” He crushed the beer can in his hand, not caring that the liquid spilled out. “But it wasn’t - it was different, man. She took control and knew exactly what she wanted.” He sighed almost wistfully. “When we were done, she threw me out! She said we both got it out of our systems and told me to leave. That’s NEVER happened to me before and now I have no idea what to do about it. Just fucking shoot me. I need something stronger than beer, got any whiskey?”

Amusement shined in Joe’s greys while listening to Jon talk about Cassidy Irons, the woman he saved from the Tampa Bay Times building, and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jonathan Good liked a woman? Jonathan Good was talking about a specific woman? Joe had to wonder where the hell his blood brother was because this wasn’t him. This was a man who was unsure, fidgety and looked confused about a woman.

“Sounds like she rocked your world.” Joe joked, sounding simplistic and laughed when Jon shot him a dark look. “What do you want me to say, bro? This isn’t you. In all the years I’ve known you, never once have you come to me talking about a woman. Sure, you’ve talked about your conquests, but not one particular woman. Look at you! You just crushed your beer all over yourself because of how pissed you are.”

“I’m not pissed.” Jon grumbled, wiping some beer off of his jean covered thigh and sighed, tossing the can in the nearby trash, missing. “Son of a bitch!”

“Sit down before you hurt yourself.” Joe ordered, standing up and walked over to clean up Jon’s mess. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face though. “And yes you are pissed. You’re so pissed off you can’t think straight. This woman has you all wound up in knots, bro!”

“Maybe. Possibly. I don’t fucking know.” Jon hated this, banging his fist against the table, though he made sure to hold back his strength. “Damn it! It was survivor sex for Christ sakes! I fucked so many women while I was gone, I lost track after 20. None of them compared to her. And I even tried finding replicas. Maybe I hit my head too hard in my accident and I’m in a coma, so this is all a dream.”

“Sure, if this is all a dream, do you feel this?” Joe popped Jon upside the head, something Jon did to him a lot and smirked when Jon growled at him. “Nope you felt that, not a dream.”

“I’ll kill you if you do that again.” Jon threatened, glaring at his friend and rubbed the back of his head.

Joe finished cleaning up the beer off the kitchen floor and then took his seat at the table again, this time carrying two fresh beers sliding one over to Jon. “Let me ask you something. Are you pissed off that you went to her or are you pissed off she tossed you out on your ass after you two were done?”

“What kind of fucked up question is that?” Jon shot back angrily, cracking open his beer and drained half of it, trying to do something to cool his boiling blood.

“A legitimate one, now answer.”

Jon honestly didn’t know. He never went to a woman. They always flocked to him and fell at his feet. But not Cassidy. What was so different about her compared to the others? He knew the answer as soon as the question popped into his head and scowled. Cassidy had taken control and dominated him, told him exactly what she wanted and Jon did it. He submitted to a woman and loved every second of it.

“She beat me at my own game.” Jon sighed heavily, taking his bandana off and tossed it on the table. “She turned everything around on me and I let her. I fucking let her do it. I’ve never done that before.” He sounded in awe, the anger gone for now. “I didn’t try turning it around on her either, Joe. I would’ve forced any other woman to submit and make them do things my way, but not her. For the first time in my life…”

“She made you feel.” Joe finished for him, his voice low and even, staring at his can thoughtfully. “Just like Trista did to me.”

“Now hold on a goddamn minute! This is nothing like you and Trista. You’re WITH Trista, fucker. I’m not with Cassidy.” Jon amended coldly, blue eyes flaring at the thought of being in an actual relationship.

“Yet.” Joe smirked, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Jon, let me tell you something about a woman. When she’s in your head like Cassidy is, there’s no getting rid of her. You can fuck countless women, every other woman in Tampa besides a select few if need-be, but Cassidy will always be there. And eventually, she’ll take over that.” He pointed directly at Jon’s heart. “And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. It’s inevitable.”

Jon felt sick and looked green around the gills, hating all this mushy talk Joe was spewing. “No, no! I won’t let it happen. All I have to do is track her down again and make her submit like the others. I have to fuck her on MY terms and then she’ll be history.” He drained the rest of his beer, crushing the empty can and tossed it over his shoulder, this time making it in the garbage.

“She already has, Jon…”

“That little bitch is nothing more than another sex hungry slut that wants my dick. She doesn’t want me. What woman would? I’m good for a one night stand or someone to cheat with, that’s it.” Jon’s voice grew colder with every word spoken, gritting his teeth at the memory of what Cassidy said to him. “She’s a reporter, someone who will do whatever it takes to get her story, even if it means using her body. She knows about…them.” He looked away from Joe, trying to reign his temper in. “She told me it wasn’t my fault. That means she’s already done her digging or somebody told her.” Now his eyes were locked on Joe. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Do I look like a man who is ready to die?” Joe retorted with a snort, though he frowned at the mention of Jon’s past. He knew what ‘them’ stood for – his dead parents. “You’re right. She’s a reporter, so she could’ve gotten her information from anywhere.”

Jon thought it over for a few seconds, curling his upper lip in a snarl. “Did you tell Trista about it?” He saw Joe’s face pale considerably and had his answer. “That cunt…”

“Hey! That’s my woman, Jon.” Joe couldn’t deny telling Trista even if he wanted to, swallowing hard. “She asked me while we were in bed the other night about my past. Said she wanted to know more about me. So I told her about my parents dying and then mentioned meeting you in the foster system.” Then Joe remembered Trista asking him about Jon and felt like slapping his face for being so gullible. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe she did that…” Joe stood up from the table, pacing back and forth. “What the fuck-”

At that moment, Trista decided to walk inside the apartment and froze at the sight of two thunderous looking men. “Umm…is this a bad time?” She asked, wondering when Jon rolled back into town and tossed her purse on the couch.

“You could say that.” Joe had to keep his temper in check or else he would end up saying a lot of things to Trista he’d regret later. “We were just talking about a few things. Jon, I think it’s time for you to go.”

Trista didn’t like the sound of that, frowning. “Uh oh, what did I do now?” She asked resignedly, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Don’t bother leaving, Jon. Whatever Joseph has to say he can say in front of you.”

Fine, she wanted to be humiliated in front of his best friend, then Joe wouldn’t deny himself the satisfaction of watching her squirm. “The other night when you asked me about my past, why did you want to know?” He decided to start out friendly and see if she lied to him, grey eyes pure steel.

Trista raised a brow, glancing at Jon and knew she’d been caught, smiling. “I honestly wanted to know more about you, but I did have another motive as well. I’m not gonna lie to you about it, especially when you look ready to rip my head off. Both of you.” She eyed Jon, walking over to sit at the table in front of him. “You had no right telling my brother about me and Joe, Good. You nearly destroyed my relationship with him and I wanted to get even. So I asked Joe about his childhood since I know you’re a huge part of it and found out what happened to you.” Her voice remained soft and low, actually reaching out to touch his hand.

Jon instantly recoiled, but Trista held onto his hand tighter and he had to fight back the urge to physically remove her touch. “Let go of my hand, cunt.” He ordered gravely, wanting to rip her heart out of her chest for the things she just confessed.

Joe thought she was brave not only talking to Jon like this, but also touching him. “Why did you trick me to tell you?” He demanded, clenching his fists at his sides. “And who the hell did you tell?”

“Damnest thing really.” Trista released Jon’s hand, after patting it almost affectionately and leaned back in the chair. “Elissa ran into the woman you saved at Tampa Bay Times. The reporter, Cassidy Irons? Apparently, she went to the fire station the day you left for vacation to talk to Colby and yours truly.” She directed that at Joe.

“SHE WHAT?!” Jon exploded, not able to hear anymore and glared at Joe. “I’ve been sitting here going on like an idiot and you didn’t bother to TELL ME SHE VISITED YOU?”

“Are you done acting like a 5 year old yet?” Trista asked sweetly, ignoring the deadly glare Jon shot her. “Just cool your damn jets and listen for 5 seconds, okay? Colby scared her off when she asked about you. She ran out of there completely terrified. Then she ran into my sister-in-law, Elissa, at the super market, later that day. Elissa said she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Cassidy hasn’t been doing well since the attack, but she somehow confided to Elissa about wanting to know about you. She said it wasn’t for her job or anything, even promising. So Elissa called, asked if I could get some information out of Joe and I did. We all met Thursday at Jack’s downtown and I told her what Joe told me.”

“Son of a bitch, you met her that night I came to your place?” Joe felt like his head was spinning and had to sit down, setting his beer on the table. “What the fuck, Trista? She’s a reporter! She’ll post that story quicker than shit!”

Trista shrugged, standing up and held her hands up in the air. “It’s been a few days since we had that meeting and I haven’t seen anything in the paper. Not one word about you, Jon, besides the upcoming lawsuit Trish has filed against the Levesque’s. There will be a trial on what happened to Madelyn.” She chewed her bottom lip, sidling up to Jon with glittering hazel eyes. “I agreed to the meeting because, if Joe can flap his gums about our sex life to you, then I can damn sure flap mine about anything he tells me.” Her eyes moved to Joe, narrowing them. “So be mad at me all you want, but Cassidy is a very nice woman and she’s not gonna post that story in the paper all to get a story. That’s not who she is.”

The men could only watch Trista walk out of Joe’s apartment and looked at each other, completely flabbergasted.

Chapter 27

After Cassidy’s encounter with Jon, she decided it was time to move on with her life and get back to work. Adam had a lot for her do regarding the upcoming trial between the Levesque’s and Trish Stratus. So much coverage had to be done, especially with the sudden disappearance of Shane McMahon. Nobody could find him and Cassidy was hoping to get another interview regarding his feelings about the trial.

Professionally, Cassidy’s life was booming, but personally, it was in complete shambles.

All Cassidy thought about was Jonathan Good and couldn’t believe she’d actually had sex with him. She was just like every other tramp he saved and gave him what he wanted. He came for sex that day; there was no denying it and Cassidy laid down for him like a bitch in heat! Cassidy was angry at herself for allowing it to happen. Hell, she had kissed him first and initiated everything, egging him on! The delicious ache between her thighs throbbed slightly and Cassidy ignored it, knowing Jon would never come see her again. Even if he did, she would tell him to take a flying leap off a very short pier. He wasn’t going to use her for sex. She wasn’t that type of woman…or so she thought. What was wrong with being with someone she wanted? Why couldn’t they just have sex without all the feeling crap added?

Because Cassidy would eventually want more and have her heart broken.

She couldn’t help there was a strong magnetic attraction to him and Cassidy thought she’d gotten rid of it after sleeping with him. Instead, after he left, Cassidy cried and took a shower scrubbing his prints off her body. She had deep fingerprint bruises from how tight he held her hips while they had sex. Her head hurt from him ripping on her hair, but damn if she didn’t want to feel that pain again. Maybe Cassidy had a secret dominatrix inside of her that only came out with Jon. Peyton had no idea what happened because, after Cassidy jumped out of the shower, she proceeded to clean the living room up. Her friend would kill her to find out they had sex on the place she slept every night. That was definitely one event Cassidy planned on taking to the grave. There were some things a best friend just didn’t need to know and having sex with a volatile sexy fireman was definitely one of them. No doubt Peyton would track Jonathan Good down and castrate him without blinking for even stepping foot on her porch. Arriving at her car, Cassidy pulled her keys out and slid them in the door, jumping out of her skin when a deep raspy voice spoke behind her.

“You didn’t print the story.”

It’d been a little over a week since Cassidy heard that voice and felt her insides begin to quake, trying to keep calm. “I promised I wouldn’t.” He must’ve talked to Trista and Cassidy felt guilty because Jon had probably torn her to shreds. “What are you doing here?” This felt like déjà vu.

Heavy deliberate footsteps echoed around the parking lot as Jon stepped out of the shadows and headed toward her, noting she hadn’t turned around. “I wanted to talk to you.” He said in a matter-of-fact tone, standing right behind her with his mouth lowered to her ear. “Scared?”

“I have no reason to be scared of you, Jon.” Cassidy remarked softly, fighting back a shiver at the feeling of his hot breath puffing against her ear. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Jon had thought about it over the past week and decided he would simply sex Cassidy up until she was fully out of his system or until one of them died. Either way worked for him at this point. Cassidy snorted derisively and shoved his hands away when Jon went to grab them, finally turning around with her back pressed against the car door.

“You’re lying again. I know why you’re here. You want to see if I’ll have sex with you again and the answer is no.” She pressed her hand against his chest when Jon advanced, looking firm. “I said no.”

“But your eyes and body don’t.”

“Oh really? Then what is my hand doing pressed against your chest? It’s not there for looks, honey.” Cassidy retorted swiftly, azure eyes full of determination to resist him, no matter what she had to do. “Walk away. You got what you wanted from me. You should be happy. Now you can go screw some other woman’s brains out.”

Jon’s upper lip curled in a sneer, not appreciating her attitude and brushed her hand away to grab her upper arms, pressing himself against her. “I don’t want to fuck any other woman. I want to fuck you, Cass.” He’d come up with that nickname for her during their first encounter, his tongue snaking out to wet his lips. “And you can’t deny you want it again too.”

“Actually, I can and I don’t. I let you use me once and that was a moment of weakness. I’m not the type of woman who falls at your feet, Jon. And I’m certainly not the type who uses sex as an escape.” Cassidy stated defiantly, setting her mouth in one thin line.

“But you do.” Jon argued, moving his hand from her upper arm to run a finger down her cheek, still having a hold of her other one. “You did a week ago when I took you on your couch. You submitted to me and-”

Cassidy shook her head, smiling sadly. “You have it backwards, Jon. I made YOU submit to ME.” She ripped her arm out of his grasp, feeling tears sting her eyes. “You tried it your way and I wouldn’t let you. So you did things the way I wanted them. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You want to have sex with me and make me submit to you because I hurt your ego with what I did.” Snorting, Cassidy felt sick and shoved against him with her shoulder, enough to slip away from her car. “Just leave me alone and go away.”

“Why did you want to know about me, Cassidy?” Jon was tired of the cat and mouse game, advancing on her, though she started circling her car. He would catch her eventually. “Did you enjoy reading about my poor family tragedy? Is that why you chose to fuck me? For PITY?” His voice rose slightly, cracking on that last word.

“Of course not! God! You honestly think I would have sex with you because of what happened in your PAST? Are you really that deluded and sick in the head? I wanted you, okay? I wanted to be with the man who risked his own life to save mine! And it wasn’t a ‘thank you’ and it wasn’t for ‘pity’. For once, a woman wanted just you because of who you are, not what you did or what your past holds and you can’t STAND it!”

Cassidy hadn’t realized she was shouting at him while maintaining a safe distance, knowing she’d touched several nerves with the things she said. That was the biggest load of drivel Jon ever heard in his life. He didn’t believe a word she said, growling from low in his throat. In lightning speed, Jon caught her around the waist and planted her on the trunk of her car, standing between her legs. She tried breaking away from him, but Jon wouldn’t let her and forcefully wrapped her legs around his waist, trapping Cassidy against his body.

“Let me go right now.” Cassidy ordered through gritted teeth, pushing her hands against his chest. “I don’t want you.”

“Why not? If you didn’t have sex with me because of my past or the fact I saved your damn life, then what’s the problem now?” Jon demanded, his voice dropping an octave and stared in those azure eyes, trying not to get lost in their depths.

Cassidy was having a similar issue with ice blue pools. “I won’t be used for your amusement and I won’t submit to you either.” Leaning forward, Cassidy pressed her forehead against his chest, her hands instead gripping the shirt he wore. “Why did you save me that day? Why did you risk your life to save me, knowing there was a good chance you’d die doing it?”

He could feel her shaking against him, not sure if it was from fear or the fact she was trying to hold back her desire. “Because I wanted to.” He rasped, running his fingers through her strawberry blonde hair, pleased she left it down. “Because I couldn’t watch you burn to death when there was a chance to save you.”

“Jon…”

“Don’t say it.” He whispered, closing his eyes and could already tell what she was about to say. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Cassidy pulled back to look up at him, seeing the anguish and raw guilt on his expression. “Look at me.” She requested, reaching up to cup his face with her soft hand and watched as those blue topaz gems met hers. “You’re not as bad as people portray you to be. You need to have more respect and self-worth because life IS worth living. I don’t ever want you risking your life to save someone when it could mean your own demise.”

“Stop it.” Jon growled, trying to pull away from her suddenly and felt her ankles lock around his waist, knowing this was his own fault. “Cassidy…”

“No, you need to hear it.” She cupped both cheeks now, refusing to let him walk away when he’d been the one to pursue her. “Do you feel this? Do you feel what I’m doing to you? It’s called emotion and feeling. It’s natural to feel and want both. You can’t be cold as stone all the time because, believe it or not, you DO have a heart. You would’ve let me die that day if you didn’t.”

“Stop…” Jon whispered pleadingly, resting his forehead against hers and could feel his inner demons battling within. “I-I can’t feel…”

“Yes you do. At least with me.” Cassidy slid her hand from his face to cup the back of his neck, bringing his mouth down on hers like she had a week ago. “Let me help you feel, Jon.” She whispered against his lips, lacing her fingers in his short haphazard dishwater blonde curls.

Jon’s hands trembled as his thumbs stroked her sides gently and kissed her back, not able to resist. Her words were soft, angelic and Jon began experiencing emotions he didn’t know he had. He didn’t kiss her hard and rough like before, Cassidy wouldn’t allow it. Instead, his hand remained over her rapidly pounding heart as their mouths caressed each other slowly, sensually, taking their time to thoroughly taste each other. As soon as Cassidy parted her lips for him and felt Jon’s tongue clash with hers, a soft sigh escaped her and pulled him closer to her, their chests pressed together. She could feel his heart thundering along with hers, the kiss making her toes literally curl in her pumps. Jon groaned, feeling a shiver course through him and couldn’t remember a woman ever forcing this type of reaction from him in the sweetest way. Slowly pulling away from his mouth and breaking the kiss, Cassidy opened her eyes smiling softly up at a dazed looking Jon.

“Now that was a kiss.” She stated in a breathless laugh, running the pad of her thumb across his bottom lip and tapped his nose affectionately. “So much better than your tongue being shoved down my throat.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining when I did it.” Jon retorted, no malice in his tone, and caressed her face with his knuckles, not understanding what this woman was doing to him. “And I think you just went back on your vow not to fuck me again, darlin’.”

“No I didn’t.” Cassidy kept the smile on her face and unwound her legs from his waist since he wasn’t holding her in place. “I haven’t removed any of my clothes and I haven’t made a move to undress you either.”

Jon did not appreciate being tormented. “Then what the fuck was that kiss about?” He demanded, sounding irritable and could feel the strain in his jeans begging for some kind of relief. “Were you just teasing me?”

Cassidy blanched, the smile gone from her face. “No of course not, but I already told you I’m not having sex with you again and I meant it! Not until you show me that you can feel like a normal DECENT human being!” She slid off the trunk, feeling genuinely hurt he would say something like that to her. “You’re just angry because you enjoyed what we did and it’s not something you’re used to!”

“Woman, I am seconds away from showing you just how indecent I can be.” Jon threatened, shooting her a dark look over his shoulder and tore a hand through his hair, pissed at himself for falling for her trickery again. “I’m NOT a decent normal human being! You have no idea who you’re dealing with, sweetheart! I don’t need you. There are plenty of other women in this city who would love a crack at me! I’m not a one woman man!”

Shaking her head sadly, Cassidy was done with this conversation and headed toward the passenger door of her car. “You have such little regard for yourself and the lowest self-esteem I’ve ever seen. You think those women can give you the same thing I can? Go for it. See how far you get. But when you want to actually FEEL, when you want to stop being this uncaring and callous asshole everyone thinks you are, track me down. Until then, I want nothing more to do with you. Believe it or not Jon, you are worth a lot more than you realize. So much more.” She whispered that last part and didn’t give him a chance to reply, getting in her car speeding out of there with tears streaming down her face.

Jon gritted his teeth and could only watch her go, clenching his fists at his sides. “DAMN IT!” He roared, kicking an invisible object on the ground several times and banged his fists against the seat of his motorcycle, shuddering.

No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Jon knew Cassidy was trying to help him and he honestly wasn’t ready for it. He wasn’t ready to feel because, if he felt, that meant he had to face what happened to his parents. Jon had locked that pain away in the back of his mind the moment he turned 18, refusing to deal with it. That’s what his dreams were for, to release his pain and agony over his family tragedy. Then he met Cassidy, saved her life and now she wanted him to open that box - to feel again.

“I won’t do it…” Jon croaked painfully and hopped on his bike, peeling out of the parking lot heading to his apartment.

Whether Jon liked it or not, Cassidy Irons was changing him and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it.

Chapter 28

“I have to tell you something.”

Peyton quirked a perfectly shaped brow while eating her cereal, both women sitting down together for the first time in over 2 weeks. She’d been spending all of her free time with Randy, staying at his place, but still called to check up on Cassidy frequently. Cassidy assured her she was fine and Peyton started believing her, especially when Randy asked her to start staying the night. He assured Peyton that Cassidy was perfectly safe because Chief Lawler had her street patrolled at least 10 times every night. Not to mention both of her phones had tracers, so even if Cassidy was attacked again, it wouldn’t take long for the police to arrive. As much as she hated the idea of leaving Cassidy alone, Peyton couldn’t resist Randy and knew she was falling hard and fast for him.

“Do I even want to know?” Peyton asked resignedly, pushing away her cereal.

“Yes and no.” Cassidy answered truthfully, already finished with her own bowl and stood up from the table to set it in the sink. “I still don’t believe it happened.”

“So out with it. Stop stalling.” Peyton ordered, not moving to take her bowl to the sink, grey eyes locked on her best friend. “What did you do, Cassidy?”

Cassidy’s cheeks flushed at the memory of her encounter with Jon, letting her gaze wander over to the couch briefly and then lowered it to the floor. “I sort of…slept with someone.” There was no sort of about it and Cassidy wanted him again.

Peyton blinked, not quite sure she heard that and pretended to clean her ears out with her pinky. “Repeat that.” She commanded, pointing to her ear. “Because I know I didn’t hear you right.”

“I slept with someone.” Cassidy repeated sarcastically, not believing it’d been a week since she last saw Jon and felt his lips against hers. She missed him and hated herself for it. “And you’re going to flip when I tell you who it was.”

“That sounds really portentous.” Peyton remarked, leaning against the kitchen counter. “So lay it on me, who was it and when did it happen?” She wanted details, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Shutting the water off from rinsing her dish, Cassidy opened the dishwasher and slid her bowl in, suddenly regretting bringing this up. She had to confide in someone though. Elissa Lopez was out of the question, along with Trista, because they would tell Jon’s fellow coworkers. Peyton was her best friend and, even though Cassidy vowed to take this to the grave, she simply couldn’t keep it bottled up inside. The only detail she would leave out was where they had sex, even though Peyton hadn’t been sleeping at the house lately.

“3 weeks ago.” Cassidy couldn’t believe it’d been that long and grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, filling it with water. “And it was-” She was cut off when a knock sounded at the front door.

“I’ll get it, this conversation isn’t over.” Peyton informed her, walking out of the kitchen to answer the door and blinked when a single white envelope was slid into her hand from the mailman. “Thanks. Sidy, you got a card from someone.”

“What?” Cassidy had followed her to the front door and took the envelope, raising a brow. Who the hell would send her a card?

Opening it, Cassidy smiled at the bouquet of red roses splayed on the front with the words ‘Get Well Soon’ beneath it. She opened the card and saw one word in deep red lettering, the smile vanishing from her face. DON’T. Shaking her head, Cassidy closed the card instantly and let it float from her hand to the coffee table, wondering who would send her that.

“What did it say?” Peyton asked, eyeing the card suspiciously.

“It’s from Madelyn. Such a sweet girl.” Cassidy lied smoothly and sat on the couch, feeling Peyton take the seat beside her. “It was Jon.”

Peyton was instantly confused. “What was Jon? Jon who?” For some reason, her mind wasn’t registering who Cassidy was talking about and blamed it on lack of sleep.

“Good.” Cassidy shut her eyes and flopped back against the couch. “The guy who rescued me. The guy I told you I just wanted to know a little more about. He paid me a visit 3 weeks ago while you were out with Randy. We exchanged harsh words and then…we had sex…”

Realization hit Peyton like a ton of a bricks and her mouth dropped open, staring at her best friend like she’d completely lost her mind. “WHAT?! Cassidy, are you INSANE? Did you not hear what Elissa and Trista told you about him?! Did he hurt you? I swear to god, I’ll rip his balls off and feed them to him if he did!!’

“No he didn’t, but I was a completely different person with him. I’m the one who kissed him. I’m the one who initiated everything. Hell, I even gave orders and he did them, no questions asked. I was a dominatrix in a way and…I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t get HIM out of my head.” Cassidy took a breath, having said all of that in a rush of words so Peyton would calm down. “When we finished, I told him we’d got it out of our systems and to leave. Walked in my room and slammed the door shut. Didn’t give him a chance to say anything back and he did.”

“Wait a minute, back up a second…” Peyton had a hard time believing any of this considering she’d never seen Cassidy give an order to anyone. “You’re actually telling me you dominated a volatile asshole who is possibly 3 times your size? And then you sent him packing when you two finished?”

“Pretty much.”

Peyton couldn’t help it and burst out laughing, holding her stomach. That was the funniest thing she’d ever heard! Peyton had only seen a picture of Jon, never meeting the man in person, but just his picture alone intimidated her. So to picture a petite woman like Cassidy dominating a well over 6 foot monster was hysterical. Her laughter slowly died down when Peyton noticed Cassidy wasn’t laughing with her, seeing the troubled look in her azure eyes.

“There’s more.” It wasn’t a question.

Cassidy nodded, lowering her eyes. “He confronted me a week ago at work. It was the night I stayed late and you had to take that trip to the Gulf for your story.” Peyton had been gone the whole week and had only returned a few days ago.

“What happened?”

“He wanted to know why I hadn’t posted his story. He found out somehow that Trista told us about his past and figured I’d drag up the past to make it a big story along with Madelyn’s.” Cassidy shook her head sadly. “I would never do something like that. He was just a little boy when his parents were killed…and I could feel the pain coming from him. I could see it in his eyes. He treats people like crap because it’s all he knows. He tried getting me to have sex with him again and I told him no - repeatedly. I told him I would not be one of those women who bow down to him and just let him take me. And then I completely contradicted myself by kissing him.”

Peyton could tell this was eating away at Cassidy and didn’t know what to do for her, what to say. It was obvious Cassidy cared a great deal for Jon, which was understandable since he did save her. All Peyton wanted was for Cassidy to be happy, but she also didn’t want her friend waking up one morning with a broken heart.

“Why did you kiss him?”

“I don’t know.” That was the truth. “I saw all the sadness in his eyes and told him to let me help him feel. It was the best kiss I’ve ever experienced in my life. But he wanted more and I wouldn’t give it to him. So he got pissed, told me there were other women out there who wanted him and I told him go for it. Then I left. Haven’t seen him since.”

“Sounds like a real winner.” Peyton muttered sarcastically, raising a brow when the doorbell rang again and looked at Cassidy. “The mail already came…”

“Maybe it’s FedEx or something. I’ll get it.” Cassidy stood from the couch and walked over to see who it was. This time she had to sign for a white thin package from FedEx. Something wasn’t right, she thought, eyeballing the package and decided to open it later on, slapping it on the coffee table returning to her conversation with Peyton. “I wasn’t going to tell you about Jon, but you’re my best friend and I can’t keep anything from you. So tell me what to do about this because I feel like I’m losing my mind. And I really don’t want to lose my mind over a guy.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already done that, Sidy.” Peyton said frankly and curled her legs up beneath her to sit on them. “I mean, first you dream about him, then you want to know more information about him, then you have sex with him…and the kiss you two shared. Sounds like you’ve already went too deep with this to back out.”

Cassidy sighed, not liking what she heard and couldn’t disagree. “So I’m just supposed to sit here with my thumb up my ass and wait for him to come to me again? Or for us to run into each other? No.” She refused to do that. “I’ll find a way to stop it because I won’t give my heart to someone who will crush it.”

“What if you already have, Cassidy?” Peyton murmured quietly, reaching over to take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “There is no what if about it. You already have.” She corrected, pulling Cassidy into a tight embrace as soon as tears slid down her friend’s cheeks. “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m so sorry…”

“I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s invading my dreams and I can’t shake him, no matter what I do.” Cassidy cried, needing some kind of comfort and silently wished it was Jon holding her instead of Peyton. “What am I going to do, Pey?”

“I don’t know, Sidy. I honestly don’t know.”

They talked for a little while longer and Peyton had to leave to meet up with Randy since they hadn’t seen each other in over a week. That trip had been hard for Peyton, but she’d gotten through it and was on the verge of saving the poor creatures in the Gulf of Mexico. Donations were being made to contribute to save them, which Peyton was also part of when she had a pause in the story or simply needed a break. Cassidy decided on making some chicken wings from the freezer for lunch -She had plans to have dinner at the Lopez’s later that night- and popped them in the oven, not really having an appetite lately. She knew she had to eat though or else Peyton would jump down her throat about it. Sitting down on the couch, Cassidy picked up the white package she’d gotten earlier and furrowed her brows together, wondering who sent it. The ‘Get Well Soon’ still troubled her, especially since it held such a simple one word message.

Shaking her head, Cassidy proceeded to tear open the FedEx package and reached inside, sliding out two more cards. This was too weird. Flipping the first baby blue colored card over, Cassidy slid it out and smiled at the words ‘Thinking of You’ on the front in calligraphy black writing. Just like earlier with the ‘Get Well Soon’ card, as soon as Cassidy flipped it open to read what it said, there was one word in bold lettering. THINK. A gnawing feeling formed in the pit of her stomach as Cassidy set it aside, starting to wonder if this was Jon’s doing. Who else would be thinking of her? With burning curiosity, Cassidy hastily ripped open the third card with slightly juddering hands and felt tears sting her eyes. The words ‘Missing You’ were in the middle of a big red heart in the middle of this card. The single bold word YOU’RE was the writing in this one, just like the others.

“Don’t think you’re…” Cassidy muttered, saying all of them together completely mystified. “Don’t think I’m what?”

Tossing the cards on the coffee table on top of the ‘Get Well Soon’ one, Cassidy stood up to walk in her kitchen when the doorbell rang again. Muttering under her breath, Cassidy ignored it for the moment and pulled her wings out of the oven, the smell alone making her nauseous. If this was Jon, he really had a bizarre sense of humor by sending her cards of all things. After Cassidy ate while watching a movie, she went to take a shower to get ready to head over to Elissa’s. It was a little past 4 PM when she stepped out, having an hour to get ready and sifted through her closet, wondering what to wear. Halloween was a few days away, so she decided to go with something in that spirit and wore a long sleeved shirt since it was chilly at night nowadays. Pulling the orange top on, it was outlined in black pumpkins, something she’d gotten on clearance at a clothing store last year. Cassidy hadn’t worn it yet and decided there was no time like the present. She pulled on black slacks, wearing her black and orange flats that had pumpkins adorned all over them. Another clearance item she snagged up along with the top.

Looking in the mirror, Cassidy decided not to wear makeup and left her strawberry blonde hair down, putting two pumpkin clips in on each side to keep it out of her face. Walking out with a black jacket, Cassidy slipped it on and stopped when her gaze caught something out of the corner of her eye. There was something leaning against her door INSIDE the house. Frowning deeply, she walked over and saw a black rose with another card leaning against it, immediately turning around in case someone was behind her. Who had opened her LOCKED door and placed this against it while she was in the shower? Shaking again, Cassidy picked up the card and ignored the black rose, tempted to rip it up. Then she thought about the other three cards and knew this had to be the final word that would finish the message. Opening it, Cassidy felt her knees weaken as the words ‘My Condolences’ flashed before her eyes. She flipped it open and immediately dropped the card, stumbling back covering her mouth with her hand.

FORGOTTEN was the bold word.

Chapter 29

Cassidy was one big ball of nerves as she pulled into the Lopez’s driveway, trying to slow her racing heart. It thumped so hard and fast, she was positive it would leap out of her chest at any moment and land on the steering wheel in front of her. She had to calm down, especially with the triplets around and swallowed hard.

“Maybe I should’ve cancelled.” Cassidy whispered, trying to keep the tears in her eyes and slammed the car in park, cutting the ignition.

As tempted as Cassidy was to call Randy about the cards and message, she wouldn’t disturb his date with Peyton. Her poor friend had missed him fiercely while she was gone and the cards weren’t going anywhere. They could definitely wait until tomorrow. Looking up, Cassidy cursed at the sight of Elissa smiling at her through the front window, waving her inside and knew she couldn’t leave now. She forced a smile back and stepped out of the car, heading up to the front door.

“Hey Elissa.” She greeted as soon as the door opened.

Elissa could tell something bothered Cassidy just by the fearful look in her eyes, but didn’t comment, simply stepping aside. “You’re not afraid to come in here, are you? I know Colby scared you, but trust me there’s nothing to worry about.”

That was actually the perfect cover-up for her nervousness. “A little.” She lied, looking around the cozy home and could feel the love surrounding it. “Thank you for having me over.”

“Not a problem, dinner will be ready soon. How about something to drink?” She suggested, already heading into the kitchen and didn’t mind that Cassidy followed her, tossing her a beer. “Colby will be here soon. He had a few things to wrap up at the fire station.”

Cassidy cracked hers open and took a sip, hoping it took the edge off of her nerves. In truth, she was a little leery about Colby Lopez, but also trusted Elissa. He really didn’t have to do anything to be intimidating, just like Jon, and that gave both a lot of power over people. She would be making things right with Colby because Elissa was a sweet woman and Cassidy didn’t want to lose her friendship.

“So, what are we having for dinner?”

“Ribs on the grill, though Colby has to do those. He’s the griller between us and makes them perfect. I made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and green beans. Does that sound good?” Elissa smirked when Cassidy nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad. You’re tense sweetie, everything okay?”

Lying was one thing Cassidy couldn’t do to save her life, even if she had a decent cover-up. It wasn’t right or moral, in her eyes, and she really didn’t want to start this friendship off on a lie. It was bad enough they were brought together because of Jon. Just another reminder of him, though Cassidy wouldn’t stop hanging out with Elissa for anything in the world.

“I wish I could say yes, but I’d be lying.” Cassidy sighed heavily. “It has nothing to do with your husband either.”

Elissa pulled a chair out, gently but firmly pushing Cassidy to sit down and took a seat in front of her. “Start talking. The faster and sooner you get it out of your system, the faster and sooner you’ll feel better. You can trust me, Cassidy.”

“I do.” Cassidy assured her quietly, taking another slip of her beer. “I just-” They were interrupted by Elissa’s daughter, Elora, walking into the kitchen.

“Mom, when is dinner gonna be done? I’m hungry and the boys are being mean to me.” Elora complained with a pout, stomping her foot. “They turned my movie off!”

Elissa sighed, rolling her eyes. “Kids. I’ll be back, just relax and take a couple deep breaths, sugar.” She stood and exited with Elora to go punish her sons.

It didn’t take more than a minute before Cassidy heard the boys yelling to play their video game.

“Mom it’s not fair!”

“Elora started it!”

Cassidy had respect for any woman who could have twins and not completely lose their minds.

“Sorry about that.” Elissa walked in a few minutes later, looking mildly irritated and sucked down a few large gulps of beer. “I swear, I’m gonna hogtie them to a tree if they don’t stop their crap.” She muttered and directed her attention back to Cassidy, forcing a smile. “You were saying?”

“It’s not important, really.” Elissa had enough on her plate and Cassidy didn’t need to add to it with her personal issues.

“Cassidy, this is what having a friend is all about. Being able to confide in each other. Now if you don’t wanna tell me, that’s fine, but I don’t want you thinking you have to keep it bottled up just because my kids decided to act up.” Elissa was a blunt woman and rarely beat around the bush or sugarcoated anything she said, no matter how short amount of time she knew someone.

She made several points Cassidy couldn’t argue with. “I think - I might’ve received another death threat tonight.” She finally admitted, slowly looking up into Elissa’s bewildered pale blue eyes. “And I’m going to the police about it tomorrow. I didn’t want to ruin Peyton’s time with her boyfriend, who is the officer on my case.”

Elissa didn’t say anything for a minute and mulled that over, knowing there were other police officers at Cassidy’s disposal, but didn’t voice her opinion. “What exactly were the threats? What did they involve?” She was curious, hoping it wasn’t something disgusting since they were getting ready to eat as soon as Colby got home to grill the ribs.

“You’re not gonna believe this, but they were cards. 4 of them. At first I thought they were from someone else because of how they started, but - Now I’m almost positive it’s…the hit man.” She whispered those last two words, trying to stop her hands from trembling.

“What did the cards say, sweetie?” Elissa pressed softly, pure concern in her tone and eyes. “What were they of?”

“The 1^st card was delivered by regular mail and it said ‘Get Well Soon’ on it. I opened it up and it had one word. Don’t. In bold letters. The 2^nd package I got from FedEx had two more cards in it. One said ‘Thinking of You’ and it had the word ‘Think’ in bold letters just like the 1^st. The 3^rd said ‘Missing You’ and inside the word ‘You’re’. So if you put those together…”

“Don’t think you’re…what?” Elissa looked as confused as Cassidy felt when she first received the cards.

“That’s exactly what I said. Someone rang my doorbell and I ignored it because I had to take a shower to get ready to come over here.” Cassidy thanked her lucky stars she hadn’t opened the door because the hit man could’ve been waiting for her on the other side. “Anyway, I walked back in my living room and against my door was the 4^th card with a black rose.” She shivered, not bothering to pick it up. “The card said ‘My Condolences’ and inside the word ‘Forgotten’. So the message was clear – Don’t Think You’re Forgotten. That means he’s coming back for me and I don’t know when.”

“That’s sick and twisted.” Elissa felt ill, setting her beer on the table and took both of Cassidy’s hands in hers. “Nothing is going to happen to you. If you want, you can stay here and-”

“No. Thank you, but I can’t live my life in fear of this asshole anymore.” Cassidy was tired of constantly having to look over her shoulder and the exhaustion was clear on her face. “I’ll be fine. My phones have tracers on them and Chief Lawler is having my house patrolled 10 times a night.” Randy had given the rundown on the precautions they were taking to assure her safety. “Not to mention Peyton is staying with me.”

That wasn’t good enough, not in Elissa’s eyes, but she decided not to press the issue. Colby would be hearing about this later and hopefully he could come up with a better plan than what Cassidy just told her. This woman had nearly been burned to death in her own work building, after being kidnapped, and the best the police could do was patrols? Some system they had! Elissa looked up when the front door opened and smiled at the sight of her handsome husband, walking over to greet him with a kiss. Colby smiled and could tell something was bothering his wife, kissing the top of her head.

“Everything alright?” He murmured quietly, his mouth right by her ear.

“I’ll tell you later after Cassidy leaves.” She whispered in reply, swatting his backside to make it seem like they were teasing each other. “Now get in there and start the ribs before your poor wife starves!”

“I’m going, I’m going bossy wench.” Colby growled playfully, flashing a friendly smile at Cassidy and suddenly stopped when she just nodded at him. “Look, I know I scared you the other day and I’m sorry about it. We just try to protect each other from the news because most of them like to twist a story to their liking, even if it’s not true. We honestly thought you were gonna print whatever we told you about Jon, so that’s why we were so short with you. But now that you’ve proven yourself, I owe you an apology. Joe and Trista are coming over tonight, too.” He directed that at his wife.

“I know, Trista called me earlier and asked if they can mosey on over. I said fine. Told them you were coming.” She glanced at Cassidy, hoping she didn’t mind since Elissa forgot to tell her about Trista popping in with Joe.

That put Cassidy a little more at ease, a genuine smile flitting across her lips. “Sounds good to me. And there’s nothing to apologize for, Colby. Though it is nice to officially meet you.” She extended her hand, giggling when he practically swallowed it whole. “Wow you are a big boy.”

“You have no idea.” Elissa wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, both of them giggling while Colby walked away grumbling under his breath. “He’s shy when it comes to talking about the sack.”

Cassidy spit the sip of beer she’d taken out and immediately covered her mouth with her hand, azure eyes wide as saucers. “I-I didn’t…” She coughed, taking the napkin Elissa handed her. “Thanks…” Now her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“You look like one big cherry!” Trista exclaimed, spotting Cassidy as soon as she stepped through the front door and laughed when the woman lowered her head more. “What the hell did you say to her, Elissa?”

“She said Colby was a big boy and I said Colby gets shy talking about the sack.” Elissa smirked, clapping Cassidy on the shoulder gently. “Though I know she wasn’t talking about Colby’s penis. I just love screwing with people on occasion.”

“So mean.” Trista shook her head, giving Cassidy a hug around the shoulders and shook her head when Joe refused to come in, standing outside with Colby. “I swear, can they be any chummier?”

“Considering Joe was talking to you about tying the knot, you shouldn’t be shocked by seeing it. He’s sucking up to Colby, it’s cute.” Elissa laughed when Trista gaped at her, waving her off. “Please, you didn’t think Joe kept that from your brother, did you?”

“I hoped.” Trista grumbled, wanting to kill Joe for opening his mouth. “And they call us gossipers. Men are bigger gossipers than women. There’s proof right there!” She pointed outside to Joe and Colby. “And please don’t mention marriage. I feel sick every time he brings it up.”

“Why?” Cassidy raised a brow up at Trista. “He loves you, that much is obvious.”

“God don’t drop that L word on me either!” Trista groaned, plopping down in a chair and put her head in her hands. “This is why I hate getting into a relationship. Men want to stake their damn claim on a woman with that poisonous word and marriage. We’ve only been together a month, I think…”

“A little over.” Elissa amended cheerfully, wrapping the corn on the cob in tinfoil so Colby could grill them as well.

Waving her sister-in-law off, Trista turned her attention to Cassidy and decided it was time for a subject change. “So, what were you talking about before I arrived?” She asked, being completely nosey and had no qualms about it.

“The upcoming trial with Madelyn.” Cassidy answered before Elissa could. “Levesque isn’t going to know what hit him once they finally go to court. In the meantime, we’ll just keep interviewing people and drawing out the attention as long as possible. I’m trying not to incorporate J-Mr. Good too much.” She caught herself, knowing it would be pretty obvious something was going on between her and Jon if she used his first name.

Trista smirked, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Hmm, Mr. Good huh? No longer Jon? And what changed that?”

Cassidy swallowed hard, lowering her eyes to her lap and could feel her cheeks flame up again. “Nothing, I found out what I wanted to know and that’s it.” She really was a terrible liar.

Trista didn’t believe her, especially with how wound up Jon was at Joe’s and arched a brow. “From what I’ve heard, you got to know him on a personal level, if you know what I mean.” She smiled sweetly when Cassidy’s head snapped up, laughing. “Don’t worry about it honey, nobody else knows.”

“H-He told you?”

“No, but I did walk in on him and Joe having a pretty intense conversation a week ago. Jon visited him at his place, which never happens, and I ended up coming clean about telling you about Jon’s past.” She shrugged, not fazed by Cassidy’s bewildered look and popped a chip in her mouth Elissa set out. “I would’ve found out eventually. Jon tells Joe everything and he doesn’t keep anything from me. So, how was he?”

Cassidy ignored that question deliberately, thankful when Colby and Joe walked back in with the food. She didn’t want to talk about what happened between her and Jon, especially in front of Elissa. They had a nice dinner, talking about other things that mostly related to each other’s lives. The kids were well-behaved surprisingly and they had ice cream for dessert. Leaving the Lopez residence, Cassidy promised to come over for dinner again one night and slid in her car, driving back home with so many thoughts rushing through her mind. So Jon found out what Trista did, which would explain why he confronted her in her work parking lot. Sighing, Cassidy had to do something about this Jon situation before she went completely insane and checked herself into a mental institution.

Chapter 30

He was on fire.

His hands slid up her sides as Randy pressed Peyton against the door to her condo, wanting her badly. They’d gone to dinner and halfway through Peyton began touching him feather lightly, driving him insane. He hadn’t seen her in over a week and missed her like crazy, dying to feel her naked body against his. Peyton sighed against him, moaning when his mouth covered hers and felt him grinding against her, making her head spin.

“I think we’d more comfortable inside.” Peyton mumbled against his lips, really not wanting to give her fellow neighbors a free show.

“Hurry up and get the damn door unlocked.” He ordered in a low voice, feeling her turn around and pressed his hard erection against her backside, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Mmm I love it when you wear these skirts…”

Peyton bit her bottom lip, fumbling to get the door open and felt Randy’s arms encircle her as they both stumbled inside. Randy pushed Peyton right back against the door, effectively slamming it shut and plundered her mouth with his again, undoing the buttons of her short sleeved blouse. Her soft hands slid down his shirt covered chest, yanking it from being tucked in his black slacks and pushed it up over his head. Randy growled, cupping her breasts through the thin lace material of her red bra and unsnapped it.

“Some foreplay is required this time, baby.” He grunted, loving how her grey eyes swirled and darkened to a different shade, looking almost stormy.

“Whatever you say.” Peyton purred, unzipping her skirt and pushed it down her hips along with her panties, feeling him draw her into his arms again.

Randy lowered on his knee in front of her and took her leg to drape it over his broad shoulder. His hand ran up the length of her smooth tanned leg, loving the feeling of her soft skin and pressed smoldering kisses to her inner thighs. Peyton shivered, lulling her head back while burying her fingers in his short dark hair, glad he grew it out a little. It was long enough to grab onto while Randy tortured her with his hot mouth and tongue, soft mewls spilling from her lips. Nipping at her soft inner thigh, Randy’s hand slid further up to cup her cheek and loved how pert it was, her body beautiful to him from head to toe. Randy ran his tongue all around her wet sex, smelling her intense arousal and growled from low in his throat. He looked up at her through cloudy dark blue eyes and slid a finger inside of her, checking to see just how wet she was. She was soaking and Randy enjoyed the soft cry he forced out of Peyton, adding a second finger to see her reaction. Pulling both fingers out, Randy licked them completely clean and decided he was through with teasing her, ready for his dessert.

Pulling her closer to him, Randy’s tongue slowly slid up the length of her quivering pussy and kept her perfectly still when she tried bucking against him. Not yet. He was just getting started. Methodically, Randy slid his tongue inside of her and loved her sweet inner flesh tightening instantaneously, lapping at it. Peyton gripped his shoulders, remembering Randy saying something about having a snack once they were finished with dinner. She did not realize he meant her until they arrived back at her place with the smoldering look in his eyes.  It always took her breath away. Peyton gasped as he began thrusting his tongue in and out of her body, enjoying every second of it. He was an excellent oral lover and even better with his dick, which Peyton wanted more than anything. Randy parted her folds with his fingers and flicked his tongue repeatedly against her swollen bud, wanting to drive her over the edge. He wanted to taste her, craved it. Peyton cried out his name and could feel her release building rapidly, knowing it wouldn’t be long before she gave Randy what he wanted. It’d been over a week and her body was sensitive, on overdrive from not getting the attention it normally received.

“Mmm…” Randy growled in satisfaction, Peyton’s thighs tensing up and her essence flowed, the orgasm tearing through her body.

He proceeded to drink every last drop she gave him, covering her pussy completely with his mouth and didn’t let any of it go to waste. Peyton wrapped her arms around his neck when Randy finally pulled away, drinking his fill and kissed the top of his head, breathing raggedly. Randy wasn’t done with her yet, not by a long shot and slid his tongue between the valley of her breasts while rising to his feet, yanking her flush against his body. Without preamble or giving Peyton time to cool down, Randy swept her up in his arms and headed to the bedroom to finish what he started.

~!~

Joe’s apartment looked like a cyclone went through it.

Besides working at the bar, Trista had a lot of time during the day to burn and she could only sleep so much before her body forced her to get up. Joe gave Trista a key a week ago and she’d been at home lying in bed staring at it, bored out of her mind. Being a teacher meant a lot to Trista, so being laid off really didn’t set well with her. Sitting on her backside collecting unemployment didn’t either. Trista decided to go over to Joe’s and make herself useful. He was out for the day putting a fire out at a gas station on the outskirts of town and wouldn’t be back for a while. The first thing Trista started on was laundry, piling it up and taking it over to Elissa’s to do, after asking permission of course. Elissa didn’t mind, though she’d been busy homeschooling her kids and preparing them for her final exam. Homeschooled or not, Elissa was a tough teacher and didn’t let her children lapse, wanting to instill morals and values into them. It was Halloween and the kids were anxious to fly out the door with their costumes on, but homework always came first in the Lopez household.

After taking 4 hours to do Joe’s laundry, Trista bid Elissa farewell and headed back to his apartment, putting his clothes away in the closet and dresser. She then started the pile of dishes in the sink, breathing through her mouth since some of them had mold. Trista was going to kick the snot out of him as soon as he walked through the door for letting them sit this long. It was mildly surprising how the smell of mold hadn’t permeated the apartment already. Once the dishes were done, Trista dusted with Pledge, coughing at all the dust that blew in her face. She was halfway done with dusting when Joe walked through the door and didn’t hear him since she’d blared his stereo with rock music. Trista jumped when the music turned down, whipping around holding the can of Pledge in one hand and a dusting rag in the other, breathing heavily.

“Thanks for scaring me half to death, jackass.” She growled, tossing the dusting rag at him and quirked a brow at the sight of her brother stepping through the door after Joe. “Seriously? I knew it. I knew you two were seeing each other!”

Joe recoiled, grey eyes wide. “What?! Woman, I’m gonna kick your ass if you say that again. We’re not ‘seeing’ each other in that way. What are you doing here?” He demanded, closing the distance between them and laid a promising kiss on her lips. “And why the hell does my place smell like flowers?”

“Oh you mean this?” She held the lavender scented Pledge spray to his nose, smirking. “That smell is cleanliness, Anoa’i. You should try it sometime.” Trista dodged Joe’s swat to her backside and skipped over where her brother stood. “What are YOU doing here, bro?”

“You’re cleaning his place because?” Colby questioned, chocolate eyes narrowed slightly. “Bored?”

“Out of my mind, yes. And since I’ve been sleeping here almost every night, I figured I’d make the place halfway decent.” Trista didn’t appreciate her brother’s attitude and looked back at Joe. “You don’t approve?”

“No! No I didn’t say that!” Joe exclaimed, shooting a glare at Colby and pulled Trista into his arms, wrapping them around her waist. “It’s very nice of you, gorgeous. I appreciate it.”

“Pussy whipped!” Colby coughed, covering his mouth halfway and smirked when Joe snarled.

“No more than you are with the wife.”

“God you two sound like an old married couple.”

Trista shoved Joe away, sounding disgusted and went back to dusting. Colby was actually glad Trista was here because he had something to talk to both of them about, not sure how to bring it up. It really wasn’t his place to say anything, but at the same time, he was legitimately worried. His wife had been too when she told him and Colby honestly had no answers to give. It was frustrating, so Colby thought Joe might have the answer on what to do with this situation.

“I came over here to have a beer with Joe and talk to him about something, but since you’re here, you might as well be filled in as well.” Colby informed her while Joe grabbed the beers, tossing one to Trista first.

“What about?” Trista stopped cleaning for the moment, seeing how serious her brother looked and sat on the arm of the couch. Joe sidled up to her and slid his arm around her waist, leaning against him. “Is Elissa and the kids okay?”

Colby nodded, a small smile curving his lips at how protective Trista was of their family. “Yeah, it has nothing to do with them. It’s about Cassidy Irons, actually.” He sighed wearily, scrubbing a hand down his face. “She confided in Elissa last night at dinner before we arrived and…it’s not good. She’s in danger.”

Trista frowned, not liking the sound of that. “What do you mean?” She knew whoever had kidnapped Cassidy and nearly killed her in the Tampa Bay Times fire was still out there. “Did she get another threat?”

“Several of them, all at once.” Colby could feel anger welling inside of him, wishing the police would catch this sick lunatic before Cassidy Irons really did end up dead. “They were cards. Sick cards with little sayings on them. ‘Missing You’ , ‘Thinking of You’, ‘Get Well Soon’, but the sickest one of them all was ‘My Condolences’. Each card had a word in it and the message said ‘Don’t Think You’re Forgotten’. And do you know what the fucking police are doing?”

Joe felt ill and could see Trista was green around the gills as well, tightening his arm around her. “Do I wanna know?” He was angry too, grey eyes steeling over.

“They’re patrolling her house 10 times or more a night, just going down her street to see if they see anything and tapped her phone to monitor the calls that come in. That’s IT. This poor woman was kidnapped from her home and NOBODY knew about it! Sure, they had a hunch with the phone call from the psycho, but that’s all.” Colby tore a hand through his hair in frustration. “That woman is gonna end up dead because the people who are supposed to protect us aren’t doing shit to find whoever is doing this.”

“My god…” Trista whispered, not able to think of what to say because she was at a loss for words. “And she told Elissa all of this?”

“She wanted my opinion on what to do and even offered Cassidy to stay with us, which I wouldn’t mind. Cassidy told her she’s done being scared of this asshole and she’d be fine. Brave woman or just stupid, either way she’s gonna end up dead before long.”

“Death threats can only go so far before action takes over.” Joe muttered, stroking his goatee thoughtfully and tried thinking of something they could do. “Okay, so she won’t stay with anyone right?” When Colby nodded, Joe suddenly had an epiphany and snapped his fingers. “What if someone stayed with her?”

“Peyton already is.” Trista piped in, remembering the women mentioning it at their meeting a few weeks back at Jack’s restaurant. “But she’s just a small petite thing like Cassidy…”

“Exactly, she’s not gonna be able to stop a hit man from entering the damn house. But I think I know who might.” Joe smirked when Colby raised a brow, both of them suddenly on the same wavelength.

“Do you think he’d do it?”

“Mind cluing me in here, morons?” Trista demanded, looking back and forth between her brother and Joe, glowering.

“One way to find out.” Joe knew it was a long shot, but they had no other choice. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow at the fire station. I’m sure he won’t have a problem once I explain what’s going on.”

~!~

“Have you lost your fucking mind, Anoa’i?”

Jon had been bombarded by Joe as soon as he entered the fire station, especially when Joe mentioned it had to do with Cassidy. In spite of how he currently felt about the woman, Jon decided to hear him out due to pure curiosity. At least that’s what Jon told himself. Listening to everything Joe had to say regarding what happened to Cassidy, Jon briefly wondered if the man had a screw loose.

“Look, I know this is a long shot, but you can’t tell me you don’t care about her.” Joe dared Jon to deny it. “I can tell just by looking in your damn eyes that you’re worried about her.”

“You don’t know shit.” Jon growled, really wanting to deck Joe in the jaw for that comment. “I don’t care about any woman.”

“Oh really? Then why do you look like you’ve been getting shit for sleep? And why did your fists clench when I mentioned the damn hit man threatening her again? Jon, the more you deny this, the more it’s gonna eat you up, man.” Joe shook his head, suddenly regretting coming to Jon with this situation. “Maybe I can ask Rotunda or Cena if they’ll go watch over her for a few days.”

“WHAT?” Jon roared, suddenly grabbing Joe by the front of his shirt and slammed him hard against the wall, nostrils broadening. “Don’t even THINK about it.” He snarled the word think, blue eyes spitting frost. “Those assholes won’t be able to protect her any more than her little friend.”

“They’ll be a hell of a lot better than her petite friend, who could be squashed like a bug in seconds.” Joe shoved Jon back with cold eyes of his own, not able to be pushed around. “You need to get your head out of your ass and just admit how you feel about her before you end up losing her for good, bro. Think about that.” He stormed away, needing to get his workout in, not wanting to talk to his best friend a second longer.

Jon couldn’t believe this. Didn’t Joe understand that Cassidy hated him? She hated the person he was and told him not to look her up until he was willing to ‘feel’. Jon curled his upper lip at the memory of their last conversation and wanted to wring Joe’s neck for forcing it back in his mind. Shaking his head, Jon had finished his shift at the fire station and left, hopping on his motorcycle heading home. The thought of the hit man who had nearly killed Cassidy made his blood boil and Jon suddenly felt the urge to rip someone’s head clean off their body, preferably the hit man’s.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Chapter 31

It was dark.

The silky fabric beneath him felt wonderful against his heated skin as Jon’s eyes slowly opened. He adjusted them to the darkness easy enough, frowning at the outline of another person lying in bed with him. It was a general rule of his to never bring whores to his place, but apparently Jon had. He was tempted to roll her out of his bed to wake her up so she’d get angry and leave, whoever she was.

That was until she spoke.

“What are you doing up?”

Jon felt his breath hitch and immediately grabbed the woman’s bare shoulder, rolling her over as azure eyes met his. It was Cassidy. He was in bed with Cassidy. How the hell did this happen? Jon could only stare down at her, admiring how her beautiful strawberry blonde hair surrounded her and splayed on the pillow. Her skin glowed in the darkness and Jon found himself getting lost in her eyes while she smiled up at him.

“You’re here.” He finally rasped, closing his eyes at the touch of her hand against his cheek and sighed contently. “What changed your mind?”

“I don’t know.” It was a breathy laugh, her fingers moving down to trace his jawline, not minding him hovering over her. “Maybe I finally realized you are who you are and I can’t change you.”

“So wouldn’t that make you want to stay away from me?” Jon asked, lowered his mouth to hers with every word he spoke, one arm snaking around her waist to make sure she didn’t get away from him. “Or are you here for another survivor fuck?”

That didn’t faze her. “I’m here to let you do whatever you want to me, Jon.”

Her fingers slid from his jawline down his Adam’s apple to his chest, eyes never leaving his. Jon growled, his eyes darkening instantly and decided they’d done enough talking, capturing her mouth in a rough passionate kiss. Her fingers gripped the back of his neck, sliding up into his curly hair while returning everything Jon gave her in the kiss. It was all lust, pure and simple. There was no love, no other feelings other than want, greed and hunger. Cassidy felt his tongue swipe across her lips and instantly opened her mouth for access, both sighing out at the taste of each other. His lips left hers after thoroughly exploring the crevices of her mouth, trailing down her own jaw to her neck, his fingers tweaking her nipples. A moan spilled out of her mouth as her body arched against his touch, wanting and yearning for more. Jon would give it all to her, not able to deny her anything and nipped her collarbone lightly. Cassidy gasped when his hungry mouth took one of her nipples, feeling his teeth nip it as well before soothing it over with his sinful tongue.

“I’m missing you.” She breathed out while Jon teased her other breast, gripping his strong upper arms. “Do you miss me, Jon?”

“I’m right here.” He looked up at her briefly and didn’t bother answering her question, his tongue gliding from the valley of her breasts down her stomach.

Cassidy wasn’t fazed, parting her thighs for him once he arrived below her belly button. “I’m thinking of you…” She slid her pink tongue out to wet her dry lips, smiling when he looked up at her with an arched brow. “Are you thinking of me, Jon?”

“I’m getting ready to fuck you, Cass. No need to think of you when I have you here in the flesh.” He murmured against her soft skin, becoming intoxicated by the scent of her arousal and groaned, nipping her soft inner thigh.

“Is that all you want to do with me? To fuck me? Don’t you feel anything for me?” Cassidy pressed, shivering when his tongue slid up the length of her wet sex and quivered against him.

“Stop talking.” He ordered, not wanting to discuss feelings or anything of that magnitude while he was about to give her the best oral of her life. “Just lay back and relax, enjoy this…”

“I can’t!” She shouted, suddenly pressing her feet against his shoulders and shoved him away, breathing heavily. “No!”

“What the hell?” Jon recoiled and narrowed his eyes at her, starting to advance when something flashed through the darkness. “Cassidy, what the hell are you doing?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as the bed suddenly disappeared, the room brightening a bit. The background looked like it was melting until everything became focused again. They now stood outside of what once used to be a loving home filled with laughter. Jon recognized it instantly, blue eyes wide and Cassidy stood before him, wearing the same red pants and camisole she’d been in when he saved her.

“What the fuck is this?” He demanded in a croak, the emotions taking over his body and snarled at her tears. “Stop crying!”

“You don’t miss me. You don’t care about me. You don’t love me.” Her voice was a painful whisper as she bent down to lift a gasoline can up.

“Cassidy, it’s not…” Jon’s voice faltered at the sight of that can and felt his heart rate speed up a little, not spotting it at first when they arrived here. “What are you-?”

“It is that simple, Jon.” Cassidy finished his original thought and took a step back when he took one forward, shaking her head. “You don’t want to protect me. You don’t want anything from me except to use my body.”

“That’s not-”

“But it is. Do you want to feel? Do you want me to help you feel again?”

“No.” It was too painful, didn’t she understand that?

“Then this has to end. For both of us. With me gone, you can go back to being who you are instead of the man you don’t want to be - the man I want you to be.”

It felt like Jon’s heart was being ripped from his chest as Cassidy proceeded to douse herself with the gasoline and he couldn’t move. His feet were cemented to the grass, every part of him wanting to stop her, but he couldn’t. He suddenly felt like he had when he was 6 watching his childhood home burn with his parents inside. His mouth opened to speak, to plead for her to stop, but it was almost as if Jon’s vocals had stopped working.

“My condolences, goodbye Jon.” Cassidy lit a match from a matchbook she procured from her pocket and dropped it on herself, her entire body igniting in a blistering inferno.

“CASSIDY!!!!” His vocal cords decided to work at that moment.

~!~

Jon sat upright in bed, breathing heavily and immediately looked around, trembling from head to toe. Sweat caked his entire naked frame, remembering going to bed as soon as he took a shower earlier. He was in his bedroom, in his bed with the moon shining through the window, not on his parent’s old plantation with a woman burning alive before his eyes.

Cassidy.

She was in trouble. Jon ripped the sheet from his body and stood up, the sweat slowly drying on his skin. He would shower later; he had to get to her. Glancing at the clock, it was just past midnight. The hour didn’t matter. Jon had been stupid not to check on her when Joe told him about the death threats. He wanted to kill whoever was after Cassidy, to rip their heart out of their chest and feed it to them. Cassidy wouldn’t like this, but Jon was the only one who could protect her from something happening. Joe had a great idea suggesting someone stay with her, though Jon would never admit it, and hoped the Samoan bastard hadn’t sent someone else over to Cassidy’s. Even if he completely blew his best friend off, Joe should’ve known Jon needed time to think and that dream was a wakeup call.

He went through too much trouble to save Cassidy and he’d make sure she stayed alive. Tossing some clothes in a duffel bag, Jon grabbed his toiletries and slipped into his boots, yanking his black leather coat on. Grabbing his keys to the motorcycle, Jon stomped out of his apartment and slammed the door shut behind him, not bothering to lock it. He really didn’t have a lot of valuables, so if someone broke in they wouldn’t find much. Thundering down the stairs, Jon headed straight to his motorcycle and placed his luggage in the saddlebag, mounting it.

Within seconds, he peeled out of there heading toward Cassidy’s, hoping she was alright.

~!~

Pounding against her front door and incessant ringing of the doorbell made Cassidy’s eyes snap open, her vision temporarily blurred. Who the hell was banging at her door at…MIDNIGHT? Shaking her head, Cassidy slid out of bed wearing a pair of red cotton shorts and a camisole, having replaced the one that was destroyed at the hospital, after being rescued. She reached for the metal bat on the side of her bed, just in case it was the hit man coming to finish the job, and carefully crept out her room down the hallway. It was pitch black in her house except for the moon shining through the window, though that didn’t give her enough to see. She didn’t want to flip the light on either just in case she had to make a run for it. Cassidy’s heart beat a furious tattoo against her chest as she arrived in the living room, azure eyes glued on the front door.

If it was another death threat, Cassidy would be ready and tightened her grip on the bat, ready to go down swinging. She’d sent Peyton home earlier that day, wanting her best friend to start living her life again instead of constantly watching over her. Peyton had put up a fight, but in the end Cassidy got her way and promised to keep her phone charged at all times. Cassidy had contacted Randy about the cards and they both agreed to keep it from Peyton, not wanting her to worry any more than she already was. When Randy suggested having a bodyguard, Cassidy declined and told him the same thing she’d told Elissa. She was done fearing for her life and wanted to live as normally as possible.

“Cassidy, open the goddamn door before I break it down!” A deep gritty voice sounded through the wood and Cassidy recognized it instantly.

“Jon?” She didn’t drop the bat and rushed over to the front door, opening it to stare into a pair of crazed electric blue eyes.

The sight of her not only took Jon’s breath away, but made his entire body flood with relief, glad she was alright. “Thank god.”

He didn’t care if she held a bat and yanked her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Cassidy blinked, not expecting this and could feel how fast Jon’s heart pounded against her ear, wondering what the hell happened. What was he doing here? They stood in the doorway for what seemed like hours as Jon stroked her hair and back, trying to soothe himself until he felt like he could let her go. That dream had scared him and Jon didn’t scare easily, knowing he’d never get the image of Cassidy lighting herself on fire out of his mind as long as he lived.

“Jon, are you okay?” Cassidy finally broke the silence between them, feeling him pull back with pure concern etched on her face.

“Don’t you EVER kill yourself, do you hear me? Don’t even think about it.” Jon ordered gravely and picked his duffel bag up, walking past her inside the house.

Cassidy stared at him like he was insane and shut the front door behind her, following him as he proceeded to flip a light on. “What are you doing?” She demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest, the friendliness in her voice gone. “And why do you have a bag?”

“Because I’m staying here for a while.” He answered over his shoulder, looking out the windows and surveyed her kitchen, wanting to get himself familiar with her house.

“No you’re not.” Had Jon completely gone off the deep end? “This is my house and I-”

“Cass, you’re in danger.” Jon watched her eyes widen and raised a brow. “What?”

“Who told you?” Cassidy was going to kill Elissa and suddenly remembered she hadn’t sworn the woman to secrecy, cursing. “Let me guess, Elissa?”

“Joe, actually. Elissa told Colby and he told Joe. Joe doesn’t keep anything from me.” Jon stated, finally moving toward her and eyeballed the bat still in her hand, a smirk curving his lips. “You honestly think a bat would stop a man from hurting you?”

Cassidy didn’t appreciate his condescending tone considering he woke her up in the middle of the night. “I don’t need you here.” She remembered him telling her that in the parking lot, setting the bat against the wall. “I can take care of myself.”

“Really?” Jon didn’t believe it for a second, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Want to put that to the test?”

“What-?”

Cassidy gasped when Jon suddenly closed the distance between them and shoved her against the wall none too gently. He trapped both of her wrists in one hand behind her back, his chest pressed against hers. She moved to deliver a knee between his legs and grunted when his thigh pressed between hers instead. The hit man wasn’t as big as him, Cassidy recalled that much, and she began twisting her wrists in his grasp, trying to break free somehow.

“Get out of this and I’ll leave.” Jon challenged, already knowing she couldn’t and that was how fast the hit man would be on top of her, possibly faster. “You can’t and you know it.”

“Shut up.” Cassidy snarled, azure eyes flashing dangerously and struggled helplessly against him, his face lowering until their noses practically touched. “Why do you care if I’m in danger?”

“Because I refuse to let you die. How many times do I gotta say it?” Jon growled, wishing she’d show him just a little gratitude since he would never do this for anyone else. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“Why?” Cassidy pursed her lips tightly together. “You made it clear you don’t care about me. You don’t want to feel anything, remember? So why the hell are you wasting your time protecting me?”

“Goddamn it, woman!” Jon pressed his forehead against hers and had to hold back his anger so he didn’t hurt her. “Would you stop questioning everything and just go with the flow? I’m here and I’m not leaving until that mother fucker is caught. You’re stuck with me until then.”

Cassidy didn’t want to give in and admit how amazing it felt to be this close to Jon again, so she just stood against the wall with their eyes locked. “I don’t have a guest room.” She whispered finally, feeling Jon release her wrists and brought them up to rub them, not believing she was going to let him stay here.

“Fine, I’ll sleep with you then.” He held his hand up before Cassidy could protest, shaking his head. “No sex, I know. You made yourself clear and I won’t force it. Now stop fighting this, you won’t win.” Jon walked down the hall away from her and found the bedroom easily, setting his bag by the dresser.

All Cassidy could do was follow, trying to cognize these sudden turn of events.

Chapter 32

“THAT BITCH!!” He tossed the paper on the table and downed half a tumbler of bourbon, throwing it in the roaring fireplace. “Why the hell isn’t she dead yet?! I paid you to do a damn job and YOU FAILED!!”

“I’m sorry, but…I didn’t expect Jon Good to get involved, sir.” The hit man stated, cold dark eyes focused. “I won’t miss again. I’ve already sent her a message letting her know I’m coming for her.”

His boss stared a hole through the hit man, wanting to rip his throat out. “See that you don’t because, if you miss again, I’ll have to rethink your services. Now get the hell out.”

The hit man left without a word, already having the perfect plan in mind to shut Cassidy Irons’ mouth once and for all.

~!~

The first week Jon stayed with Cassidy was surreal.

Cassidy had never slept with a man in her bed, at least not in Florida. She had one serious relationship in Indiana that ended in complete catastrophe. So Jon sleeping in the same bed as her took Cassidy a little time to adjust. She had a queen sized bed and still, somehow, she woke up wrapped in Jon’s arms every morning. Cassidy found herself skipping her morning runs just to stay in his arms for that extra hour, not wanting to be anywhere else. After 2 days, Jon had Cassidy’s morning ritual down and tried not to interfere with it much. Though he was surprised when she made him breakfast, setting a plate at the kitchen table with hers. She guessed he liked his coffee black, filling hers with creamer. Jon had stared her like she’d grown a second head, not believing how much creamer she put in her coffee.

“Christ woman, you might as well skip the coffee altogether.” He muttered, running his tongue along his teeth because of how much sugar was in creamer.

“You are not the first person to tell me that.” Cassidy had smiled genuinely and dug into her breakfast.

They ate in companionable silence, took separate showers and headed out to do their jobs. Jon had to remember to make a left instead of a right when leaving the fire station every day, refusing to tell anyone, not even Joe, where he currently resided. Cassidy was home every night with some kind of dinner prepared since Jon was always later than her. He wasn’t used to all the home cooking, wondering why Cassidy was being so nice to him when he basically forced himself back into her life. When a week passed with zero death threats, phone calls or any news from the police, Jon decided he’d have to do something Cassidy would have a problem with. It was necessary though, but he would ask her permission first, trying to be as civil as possible. The past week had been peaceful with no fighting or arguing, though Cassidy basically kept to herself while Jon watched television in the living room. So when he got to her house that night and saw Cassidy on the couch with a book in hand, Jon figured now was as good a time as any to have a little chat.

“I’m giving the fire station your number.”

Cassidy slowly looked up from the book she was reading, quirking a slow brow. “Why? Don’t you have a pager or a cell phone?” She closed the book and set it on the coffee table, giving him her undivided attention.

Jon smirked and lifted her legs with ease, sitting down on the couch beside her and set them back on his lap, something he’d done frequently since staying with Cassidy. “Because I don’t know how long I’ll be here. The pigs aren’t any closer to finding this hit man that’s after you or whoever it is. Pagers and cell phones die. They need a house number with a landline.”

“Oh okay.” Cassidy shrugged, picking her book up and resumed where she was, sighing when Jon plucked it out of her hand. “I’m reading that, Jon.”

“I’m aware, darlin’.” He studied it momentarily and snorted, tossing it over his shoulder, absentmindedly caressing her leg with his fingers. “But I’m not done talking to you yet.”

Cassidy scowled, trying to ignore the feeling of his fingers gliding across her smooth legs since she had jean shorts on and finally pushed them away. “Enough. I know what you’re trying to do.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Not going to work.”

Jon chuckled, not fazed and continued doing it, enjoying how soft her skin was. “So you keep saying, Cass.”

He looked over at her, noticing how her head rested gently against the cushion with her damp hair piled up on top of her head. No makeup on. She was a natural beauty, the most stunning woman Jon ever seen. The fact Cassidy had a heart of gold by risking her own life to tell a little girl’s story just made his feelings for her grow. She’d been wrong in the dream he had. Jon missed and cared about her far more than he was willing to admit, which is why he was her pushy protector.

“Why is that? Thought you wanted to help me feel?”

“You made it clear that you don’t.” Cassidy retorted swiftly and pulled her legs from his touch, not able to handle it anymore. “I’m going to bed.”

Jon’s hand shot out to stop her, pulling her back to straddle his lap and rested his hands on her hips. “Cass, I’ve been here a week and have had you in my arms every morning when I wake up. It’s not enough. I want more. I want you.” For what he didn’t necessarily know, but it was more than just sex.

“For sex.” Cassidy could feel her temper rising, having kept it in check for the past week, but Jon had finally crossed a line by doing this. “You don’t want to feel. You can have any other woman in the city, remember? You don’t need me. So go out and get your rocks off with someone else. I’m not interested.” Cassidy tried breaking free from him, but Jon’s hands held her still, preventing her from escaping. “Jon, I’m warning you…”

“I’m sorry.” That left a very bad taste in his mouth because Jon never said those words to anyone. “Look, what I said that night was out of line and-”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. I’m not sleeping with you again, so if that’s the only reason you’re here…”

“It’s NOT!” Jon growled, sitting up more and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, their lips and noses practically touching. “I’m here to make sure you don’t end up dead…and because I want to be. I want to be here with you, Cass.”

Tears formed as Cassidy averted her gaze from his, not knowing if he was telling the truth or not. Granted, Jon hadn’t made one move toward her for the week he stayed there, not even when he held her in his arms at night. Cassidy waited for him to do something like this and he finally did, but she was terrified of the consequences. She didn’t want just a few encounters with him – it was all or nothing. Jon lifted her chin with his strong hand and sucked in a sharp breath at the tears in her eyes, leaning forward to brush them away as soon as they fell.

“Come here.” He whispered, taking her arms and wrapped them around his neck, comforting her the only way he could. “Don’t cry, darlin’. I didn’t mean what I said that night. I swear it. I haven’t thought about another woman except you. You know I’m not here just for sex. If I was, I would’ve gotten it already.” That was another healthy dose of arrogance, but it was also honest.

Cassidy should’ve slapped him silly for saying that, but she couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. He was right. Jon could’ve easily seduced her if he wanted sex and it wouldn’t take much considering she’d already given her heart to him. And now Cassidy was showing weakness and vulnerability in front of him, giving him all the ammunition he needed to take her however he wanted if he chose. Yet, all Jon did was hold her close and stroke her hair, apologizing for the things he said the night at her work in the parking lot.

“I just don’t understand…” She whimpered in his ear, hot tears coating his neck and breathed him in as much she could, feeling completely content in his arms.

“I don’t either.” Jon murmured, loosening his arms a bit when she pulled back to stare in his eyes, immediately reaching up with one hand to wipe her tears away from each cheek. “You’re changing me, Cass.” Not once did he try to caress her ass, keeping his hands above the waist just to prove he wasn’t here to get laid and leave. “This is all new to me. You gotta understand that, so I don’t know how to respond when it comes to feelings.”

“You’ve never had a girlfriend? You’ve never had any feelings for a woman whatsoever?” Cassidy had a hard time believing that, frowning when Jon shook his head and felt her heart ache for him. “Then before you can start caring about me or any woman for that matter, you need to care about yourself first.”

“I do care about myself.” Jon argued, his voice remaining soft and raspy.

“No you don’t or else you wouldn’t intentionally jump into dangerous situations that could kill you.” Cassidy remarked, pressing her finger to his lips. “You need to forgive yourself for what happened to your parents. When you do that - when you can finally let go and move on, then you’ll start caring about yourself. About life along with everything else it has to offer. About me. Right now, you may think you care about me, but the truth is you have no idea what you feel inside because of how jumbled up you are.”

Jon snorted, pulling away from her finger and was tempted to storm out the front door, the anger erupting in his eyes as soon as she mentioned his parents. However, he reigned it in and listened to what she had to say, knowing deep down she made sense. Through all the psychiatrists and counselors, Jon had refused to talk about what happened that fateful day he lost his entire family and they all gave up on him. He had to wonder if Cassidy would do the same thing once they hit a certain point or keep pushing him until she completely broke through.

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Jon grunted, thankful he didn’t see an ounce of pity in her azure eyes, just pure understanding. “You don’t know what happened or you wouldn’t be saying this…”

“Then tell me.” Cassidy said simply, finally brushing her lips softly against his and rubbed their noses together feather lightly. “You have to let someone in and I sit right here telling you that I do care about you, Jon. I can see the pain in your eyes and all I want to do is take it away. You don’t have to be alone anymore and I swear to you I won’t walk away, no matter what happened. But you have to trust somebody at some point to open up. Because once you do that, the healing can begin and you can finally start feeling like a normal human being instead of this arrogant, pompous asshole that you make everyone believe you are.”

Jon shook his head, suddenly standing up and growled when Cassidy locked her legs around his waist. “Yes you will. Everyone does.” He whispered painfully, trying to extract her from his arms, but he was powerless against her. “Cass…”

She kissed him passionately, clinging to him for dear life and felt him pull her closer, feeling her back hit the soft couch moments later. Jon settled a knee between her thighs, holding himself up with one elbow so he didn’t crush her. Cassidy kept one leg hooked around his waist, the other bent on the other side to keep him boxed in. Her fingers slid over the bandana covering his head to remove it and delved in his soft curls, dropping it to the floor. He inwardly smiled, knowing that was another first for him. No woman had ever done that. His hands slid up her camisole to caress her sides while her hands tugged at his muscle shirt, running her hands up his chiseled chest. He was in tremendous shape. They wouldn’t have sex, but Cassidy had to prove to Jon somehow that she wasn’t walking away from him. Surprisingly, Jon maintained control and kept his hands away from her private areas, not wanting to torture himself any more than he already was. Kissing her, feeling her body against his was enough for now and he’d take what he could get, what Cassidy was willing to offer.

“I won’t walk away.” She whispered against his mouth, cupping his face in her hands and heard him mutter something incoherent, burying his face against her neck nipping her tender flesh.

Jon understood, but didn’t want to talk about anything, simply taking his time exploring her body. He’d never made out with a woman because, normally, they couldn’t get their clothes off fast enough. Cassidy was special, someone who challenged Jon in every way and deep down he knew she was his other half. Every time he saw her, touched her, kissed her…something erupted within him and all he wanted to do was be with her…in any capacity. Whether it was laying on a couch kissing and caressing for hours on end or simply sitting watching a movie together with his arm draped over her shoulders, he just had to be with her. Eventually, they stopped to catch their breath and laid on the couch with Cassidy curled up against Jon, his back pressed against the cushions. He pressed soft kisses against her neck while caressing her side up and down while she kept their fingers laced over her heart with his free hand. Jon settled his chin on her shoulder, looking down at her and couldn’t believe how great he felt. It wasn’t the animalistic feeling he normally got whenever he had sex with a random woman. This was something entirely different. He felt a warm sensation course through his body that started directly from his heart.

A heart Jon didn’t know he had.

“How about some dinner?” Cassidy asked softly, brushing her mouth over his knuckles and looked up at him with sparkling eyes, accepting a kiss from him. “I’ll cook. You worked all day.” It was Saturday and Jon looked exhausted from working at the fire station all day, so she didn’t mind doing it. “You stay in here and watch something on TV. Pick a movie if you want.” Extracting herself from his arms, Cassidy straightened her clothes a little and headed into the kitchen, not surprised when Jon followed.

Jon simply sat at the kitchen table watching her and, at the same time, they got to know each other better.

Chapter 33

“I’m going out tonight.” Cassidy announced as soon as she walked inside her house and spotted Jon on the couch, watching ESPN.

Jon immediately shut the television off and followed Cassidy down the hallway to the bedroom. “What? Where?” He demanded, leaning in the doorframe.

“A friend’s.” Cassidy replied, taking the clip out of her hair as it cascaded down her back, fluffing it out a little. “I don’t know what time I’ll be home.”

Jon growled, moving to stand directly behind her while she sifted through the closet of clothes. “You’re not going alone.” He ordered, his mouth right by her ear and planted his hands on her hips. “This isn’t a…date, is it?” He tried like hell keeping the suspicion out of his voice.

Cassidy smirked, hearing the jealousy in his voice and slowly shook her head. “No, just a friend.” She felt Jon turn her around and looked up in his frosty eyes, caressing his face with the back of her hand. “Why would you think I’d go out on a date?”

Closing his eyes as soon as her hand connected with his cheek, Jon pulled her closer and covered her hand with his, lacing their fingers together. “Darlin’, we haven’t established what this is between us.” He reminded her, stepping back a few feet to sit on the bed and Cassidy followed willingly, standing between his legs.

“I’ve told you how I feel and what I want. You’re the one who is still trying to figure everything out.” She pressed a finger to his lips, moving to straddle his lap and kissed him softly. “And there’s no rush. You take as much time as you need. I’m not walking away, I told you that. That means I’m not going on any dates and I’m not the least bit interested in anyone else except you.”

Jon knew he still hadn’t opened up to her about his parents and she’d been very patient, his eyes shining with appreciation. He would tell her everything, but hadn’t found the right time yet. Not even Joe knew the truth and he’d known the man since age 6. That was a very long time and it might take Jon that long before coming clean. Then again, he didn’t want Cassidy being in a half-assed relationship for the rest of her life. It wasn’t fair to her.

“You’re not going alone tonight.” He returned to the main reason for following her in here, stroking her sides. “I can’t protect you if you’re not with me.”

Cassidy smiled, running her fingers through his hair soothingly. “You want to come with me?” She didn’t mind and had a feeling, even if she denied Jon, he would follow her anyway.

Jon quirked an eyebrow and tried not getting lost in the feeling of her fingers running through his hair. “That allowed?” Nobody knew about him staying with her, so if he accompanied Cassidy to her friend’s, they would know and probably talk.

“Sure, my friend won’t mind.” Cassidy kissed him again and slid off his lap, heading back to pick her outfit out. “I’ll shower, change and then we can leave. We have to be there by 7 and it’s already going on 6.”

This woman mystified Jon every day he stayed with her, not believing she wasn’t fighting him about tagging along. “Should I…change?” He had showered when he arrived an hour ago and Jon had his usual jeans and black muscle shirt on. Nothing special.

Cassidy looked at him over her shoulder, frowning at all the black. “Would it kill you to wear a little color? I mean you look good no matter what you wear, but I wouldn’t mind seeing you in something other than black.” Pulling out a colorful tunic with ¾ quarter sleeves and black leggings, Cassidy set them on the bed.

“Cass, I don’t really own a lot of color…” Jon rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, eyeballing the outfit she picked out and felt like a regular fish out of water.

“Where’s your bag?” Cassidy demanded, walking past him to grab it from the corner and squatted down to unzip it, sifting through his clothes for a second. “Here.” She tossed a pair of light blue jeans over her shoulder along with a long sleeved blue short sleeved polo, zipping his bag back up. “And I’ll be cleaning out the closet in the office so you can use that to hang your stuff up. I don’t know how long you’ll be here and you deserve better than living out of a duffel bag.”

Jon blinked, looking down at the clothes in his hands and then back at her, eyes narrowing. “Where the hell did these come from?” He demanded, seeing the tags dangling from them, which meant they were brand new. To his knowledge, Jon hadn’t bought brand new clothes in ages.

Smiling serenely, Cassidy shrugged and pulled out some garments from her dresser, feeling Jon standing behind her again. “I bought them for you, okay?” She leaned back against him. “I looked at your jeans to get the size along with your shirts and decided to add some color to your wardrobe. Now go change, I need to shower and get ready.”

“Cass…”

“Go now, stop distracting me.”

She winked at him through the reflection and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Shaking his head, Jon proceeded to change in the bedroom while she showered, fighting the urge to join her. He’d made a lot of progress with Cassidy and didn’t want to ruin it with a stupid decision. Looking down at the polo shirt, Jon ripped the tag off of it and slipped it over his head, the material instantly molding to his arms. It stretched across his chest, defining his muscular form and brought out his eyes more. Of course, he was completely oblivious to all of that and changed into the light blue jeans, which fit perfectly. Jon swapped his black bandana out for a blue one he carried with him as a backup. It felt weird wearing color. Jon glanced in the mirror, admitting only to himself that Cassidy had excellent taste.

Stepping out of the bathroom a little while later, Cassidy wasn’t surprised that Jon had left the room and quickly dressed, slipping black flats on. The tunic was white splashed with turquoise, orange and pink colors. She towel dried her hair, applied some gel in it to have a crimped look and then did her usual makeup. Clipping her silver locket on, Cassidy finally walked out of the bedroom down the hall and had to stop at the sight of Jon sitting on the couch. He was breathtaking in the outfit she bought for him, the polo and jeans looking practically painted on. Cassidy had to learn how to breathe again, every part of her wanting to jump him and void her clause of no sex. Jon felt eyes on him and looked up from the television, immediately turning it off at the sight of Cassidy. The turquoise in her top made her eyes pop, along with the thin black liner.

“So, is this better?” He asked, closing the distance between them and could see the desire swirling in her eyes.

“Very.” Cassidy slid her hand down his shirt covered chest, eyes never leaving his. “Thank you.”

“I’ll admit right now, I’ve never had a woman buy me clothes, but since it’s you, it’s cool.” Jon extended his arm, meaning that wholeheartedly and cracked a small smile when she accepted it. “And you look radiant if it wasn’t obvious. What vehicle are we taking?”

“Well…the only thing I have is my white Honda Civic, but I don’t know if you’d fit in it honestly.” Then she remembered giving Jon a ride the other day to his apartment, on the bad side of town, to retrieve his truck. “If you want, we can take your truck so you’re not scrunched up in my little car?”

Jon agreed, both of them heading out and helped Cassidy up in his pickup truck, jumping up behind the wheel. He pulled out a few minutes later and headed in the direction Cassidy told him, classic rock music floating through the speakers. Cassidy made small chatter on the way there, asking Jon how his day was and launched into hers. The trial was due to start in March, so Adam made that Cassidy’s #1 priority. She managed to print another article with a little background history on Surana Levesque, basically detailing and recalling all of the times the little girl had the press on her. Unfortunately, Cassidy wasn’t allowed to interview Surana directly, thanks to the Mayor forbidding it.

So she was forced to do research and come up with her own story that she felt best described Surana, even going so far mentioning possible family trouble within her life. When a black truck pulled into the driveway Cassidy directed a little while later, Jon was confused where they were and slipped out, walking around to help her down. He didn’t want her getting hurt. Cassidy smiled, grabbing Jon’s hand and laced their fingers together, hoping he wasn’t upset when he found out exactly where they were. She honestly hadn’t expected him to want to tag along and these were technically her friends.

“Hey girl, what-Jon?” Elissa blinked, opening the door to greet Cassidy and felt her jaw drop at the sight.

“I brought an extra, hope you don’t mind.” Cassidy said by way of greeting, looking up at Jon and could see the baffled look on his face. “Jon, say hello, it’s rude to simply stare.”

THIS was the friend Cassidy had plans to visit? And she neglected to mention the fact it was Colby Lopez’ wife? Jon cleared his throat, feeling very awkward and felt Cassidy squeeze his hand, looking down at her. He wasn’t angry so much as puzzled, wondering when this all happened and then suddenly remembered Trista saying something about the meeting at Jack’s restaurant.

“Hey.” He muttered, letting Cassidy guide him inside the house by the hand, immediately groaning at the sight of Joe and Trista sitting in the living room. “Shit.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” Joe crowed, grey eyes wide along with Trista, both of them staring at Jon in complete shock. “What the hell, bro?!”

Cassidy beamed brightly, feeling how tense Jon was and rubbed his arm up and down affectionately. “Calm down, he’s just shocked to see you here. I think they all are.” So Jon hadn’t come clean to any of the boys at the fire station either. “Hey Trista.”

“Hi, do you two mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Trista demanded just as Colby entered the room and his eyebrows rose at the sight of Jon.

“Umm…” He saw Elissa’s warning look and nodded, clearing his throat. “Hey Good, didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah, same here.” Jon was going to paddle Cassidy’s backside when they were alone, not believing she did this and blinked when Colby extended his hand. They rarely shook hands, what the hell was the fool thinking? “Uh…”

“Shake his hand.” Cassidy ordered sweetly, pinching his side and giggled when Jon jumped, azure eyes full of mischievousness.

Grumbling, Jon did it and ignored Joe’s gaping face, wanting to punch a 6 inch hole in his forehead. “Stop staring at me like that. It’s creepy.” He dropped a kiss on the crown of Cassidy’s head and wished he could keep that big smile on her face for the rest of his life permanent. “Happy?”

“Immensely.” Cassidy accepted a side hug from Colby and sat down on the couch with Jon, their hands remaining attached. “So, what’s up?”

“I think we should be asking you that.” Elissa sat on her husband’s lap in the recliner. “When did you two-?”

“We’re not together.” Cassidy immediately regretted saying that and covered Jon’s hand with her other one. “What I mean is he’s staying with me until the hit man is caught and we’re taking things slow.”

“Right.” There was far more to the story than Cassidy let on, Joe surmised, deciding to keep his mouth shut for the time being. “When did you start staying with her?”

“2 weeks ago.” Jon smirked, shrugging when Joe’s eyes narrowed at him. “She already knows you told me about the death threats, Anoa’i. Now get that stupid look off your face.”

“So I’m assuming she told you she was coming here…”

“No, I told him I was going to a friend’s house and he insisted on tagging along. I wasn’t going to say no. I just didn’t tell him it was here.” Cassidy answered nonchalantly, leaning her head against Jon’s arm and didn’t mind that his wound around her waist, their fingers instantly lacing together again. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Well honey, Jon isn’t exactly a social butterfly, so that’s why we’re so shocked he’s here…with you, of all people.” Trista felt Joe squeeze her side and smiled. “Not that we mind it or anything, just shocking is all.”

Jon sighed wearily, wondering if this was such a good idea and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Colby, you got beer? I really could use one.” That was the nicest he’d ever been in recent memory to the man.

“I got it.” Elissa kissed Colby’s cheek and scooted off his lap, heading into the kitchen to grab a few cans for everyone, handing Jon his with a soft smile. “So have you gotten your plane ticket yet, Cassidy?” A change of subject was definitely in order.

Cassidy coughed on her beer, not expecting Elissa to bring that up and nodded. “Yeah, 2 weeks ago…” She ignored Jon’s blatant stare down and knew she was in trouble since she hadn’t told him about her upcoming trip to Indiana.

“What plane ticket?” Jon had drained half his beer and seared holes through Cassidy, blue eyes intense. “You’re going out of town?”

Cassidy nodded, sinking back further into the couch. “For my parent’s anniversary party and Thanksgiving. I’m leaving a week from Wednesday. The party is on Saturday and Thanksgiving on Sunday before I catch my flight. I won’t be back until Sunday night since Adam is giving everyone a long weekend for the holiday.” She explained, looking apprehensive about her trip and felt Jon’s arm tighten around her.

Cassidy had parents? A family? Of course she did. Why wouldn’t a beautiful woman like her have what he didn’t? Jon could barely remember the last Thanksgiving he had with his parents before their untimely demise and felt pain lurch in his chest. What the hell was Jon supposed to do with the entire weekend to himself without Cassidy around? What if the hit man followed her and finished the job while she was out of town? Jon crushed the empty beer can and abruptly excused himself, walking outside for some much needed fresh air.

“Joe, leave him alone.” Cassidy ordered when it looked like the man might follow Jon, shaking her head. “He needs space and we need to give it to him. Now then, what’s your plans for the holidays, Elissa?”

Narrowing his eyes, Joe went to mouth off and saw Trista agreed with her, deep down knowing Cassidy was just trying to help his best friend.

Chapter 34

Elissa talked about her plans with the family over the holidays, both her and Trista planning on having it together since Joe had no family. They didn’t say that part out loud obviously, but Cassidy understood the jist of it. When Jon hadn’t returned 20 minutes later, Joe decided he wasn’t listening to Cassidy about ‘giving him space’ anymore and headed outside. He had a lot of questions and wanted to know what Jon’s true intentions with Cassidy were.

“Hey man, you alright?” Joe asked, stepping out on the back porch and closed the sliding door, holding his beer.

“Fine.” Jon stared out into the darkness and gripped the ledge of the patio with his hands, doing what he could to keep his temper in check. “What do you want, Joe?”

“I wanna know what the hell is going on.” Joe moved to stand beside Jon with concerned eyes. “I haven’t talked to you in 2 weeks and now I know why. So why the hell did you keep the fact you’re staying with her a secret?” Jon had never kept anything from Joe, so this was a little disconcerting.

Jon snorted, finishing the rest of his second beer and crushed the can, almost forgetting he had it in his hand. “Do I have to tell you everything I do, Anoa’i?” He retorted, tossing the can in the nearby trash by the grill.

“You damn right you do!” Joe snapped, grabbing Jon’s arm and twisted him around, anger flashing in his stormy greys. “I’m your best fucking friend, man. I’m the one who’s always there for you - ALWAYS! I’ve never turned my back on you – NOT ONCE! I even told you about me and Trista fucking behind the bar she works at when I shouldn’t have! And now you think it’s right keeping something like this from me? We’re supposed to be brothers, Jon.”

No matter how much Jon didn’t want to admit it, he knew Joe was right and honestly didn’t know why he kept it a secret. Cassidy had gotten under his skin, especially after Joe told him about the death threats. He tried ignoring it, but then he had that dream with Cassidy lighting herself on fire in front of his childhood home wreckage and something inside of him snapped.

“I know, Joe.” He murmured, the anger gone from his voice and replaced with remorse, something Joe rarely heard, if ever. “To tell you the truth, I don’t even know why I’m staying with her. I keep saying it’s to protect her, but…goddamn you were right, okay?” Jon growled, hitting the ledge in frustration and closed his eyes, letting out a hiss through his teeth. “I do care about her…I might even…” He couldn’t say it, feeling his stomach clench violently.

“Like her?” Joe finished for him, seeing how much Jon was battling with himself and sighed heavily. “Damn, you do.”

“Just shut up. Don’t.” Jon ordered brusquely, hands trembling a little and swallowed hard, hating how much emotion he currently displayed to his only friend in the world. “She told me - she told me in order for me to start feeling anything for her, I have to – I mean you know – Fuck, I have to tell her everything. EVERYTHING.” He emphasized that word in a raspy whisper. “She told me she wouldn’t walk away, no matter how long it took me to come clean. She’s gonna run in the opposite direction when she finds out what I did. I’m gonna lose her and…I can’t. I can’t lose her.”

Joe had never seen Jon this worked up before, shaking the way he was and the tremor in his voice was frightening. He didn’t know what to do for his best friend, feeling completely helpless. That’s what love did to a man though. It crippled them and broke through even the strongest barriers, which was happening to Jon currently with Cassidy. She was breaking through his barriers and changing him into a different person.

“Jon, are you blind or just stupid?” Joe asked bluntly, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Because that woman in there likes you, a lot. She’s not gonna walk away easily, no matter what you tell her.”

Not sure about that, Jon went back to staring into the darkness again. “I used to be able to turn my emotions off like a light switch. I used to never care about anyone or myself. Maybe that’s why this isn’t sitting well with me because I’m having trouble remembering how to do it. How to turn them off.” His voice sounded far away as he spoke, plucking at the sleeve of his shirt absentmindedly. “It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

“Sounds like it, but I’m not an expert. I don’t know what’s going on in your head. All I know is guys like us don’t get very many chances in life. We gotta make our own way and finding two women like Trista and Cassidy come once in a lifetime.” Joe still couldn’t believe Trista gave him a chance; now they were together and Joe was the happiest he’d ever been. “Your choice though, I can’t tell you what to do. Never could.”

Jon felt his lips curve in the barest hint of a smile, agreeing with that. “True.”

“I do have to ask you one thing though.”

“What?” Jon didn’t bother looking at him and had a feeling what he was going to ask. “Out with it, Joe.”

“What are your intentions with her? Sure you like her, but what if she wants something you can’t give her?” Joe hated wording it that way, but it was the frankest way to ask and he couldn’t repel.

“What do you mean?” Jon turned his head slowly to look at Joe, frosty eyes narrowed.

“Marriage and kids.” Joe already knew he wanted 3 kids with Trista and they would have them. She just didn’t know it yet. They would also be married as soon as Joe felt the time was right to pop the question. “Do you think you can give that to her?”

All Jon could do was stare at Joe, wondering if he was insane. How the hell could a man like him have a kid? Jon hated kids with a passion, always had. Probably because every time he saw a happy family, he felt the urge to kill someone. They had what he didn’t. Marriage was a possibility, though Jon had a feeling Cassidy wasn’t the type of woman. At least that’s how she seemed. Before Jon could respond, he heard the sliding glass door open and closed his eyes at the familiar angelic voice resonating through the air.

“Are you guys okay out here? We were about to send a search party.” Cassidy joked, trying to lighten the mood a little and kept her concerned eyes on Jon.

“We’re fine.” Jon answered before Joe could, keeping his voice low.

Joe could tell there was tension between them and decided to head back inside, knowing his conversation with Jon had come to an end. He gave his friend a lot to think about, but it was for good reason and Joe hoped Jon made the right decisions when it came to Cassidy. She was a sweet woman who deserved to be treated well and not another one of Jon’s floozies. Cassidy smiled at Joe as he slid the glass door shut behind them and went to see what Trista was doing.

“You’re not okay, are you?” Cassidy did not bother questioning it and walked over to stand where Joe had, looking out into the darkness. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” Jon refused to get into the whole marriage and kids talk with her right now, hoping Joe was happy for planting doubts in his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about your trip to Indiana?”

“I honestly forgot about it. I got my plane ticket before you came along wanting to protect me.” Cassidy answered, placing a hand on his arm and sighed when he pulled away. “Jon, I’m sorry…”

“No reason to be sorry. I’m just not in the mood to be touched right now.” He knew that sounded harsh even as the words came out of his mouth, but it was veracity. “Had I known you were coming here tonight, I would’ve let you come alone, Cass.”

Cassidy chewed her bottom lip, wondering what Joe said to Jon to make him sound so resentful. “Jon, I want you here with me.” She grabbed his arm, ignoring his growl and forcefully turned him around, reaching up to cup his face in her soft hands. “Look at me, I want you here. Please don’t push me away. Whatever Joe said to you, forget about it. It doesn’t matter. We can leave if you want. We can go back to the house and pop in a movie or something and talk, if you want.”

“Damn it.” Jon cursed and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close kissing the top of her head, burying his face in her hair. “I don’t want you to go to Indiana without me, Cassidy. You’re not safe right now. It’s not a good idea.”

“I’ll be perfectly safe on a plane.” Cassidy assured him quietly, contesting cancelling the trip to go see her family. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

“Part of it.” Jon admitted and inhaled her intoxicating scent, trying to relax his body. “I’ll work through the rest though. Don’t wanna burden you with it.”

Cassidy didn’t press him further and slowly pulled back to stare up in his eyes. “You ready to get out of here?” She’d had enough time with Trista and Elissa for the night and just wanted to spend the rest of it with Jon alone.

Jon nodded, feeling emotionally drained and lowered his head to cover his mouth with hers, wrapping one arm around her waist. “You have no idea how much I want you.” He stated bluntly, voice harsh with passion against her lips.

“Me too, but not yet.”

Cassidy stepped back to give them some breathing room and took his hand, guiding him back inside to say goodbye to everyone. On the ride home, Jon caressed her knuckles with the pad of his thumb with a slight smile, staring down at their laced hands. She had to wonder just how much longer she could hold out before saying to hell with his past. It was the only way for him to not only prove that he fully trusted her, but to start the healing process. Cassidy wanted him to care about her and eventually grow to love, which would take a lot of time and effort to achieve. Once they arrived at the house, Cassidy went to change into some comfortable pajamas while Jon did the same in the bathroom. She chose a movie and popped it in, deciding they could fall asleep with the television on. It was a comedy; something to lighten the mood hopefully.

Jon walked out and slid into bed with Cassidy, immediately pulling her into his arms. Snuggling up against him, Cassidy rested her head against his chest and heard his steady heartbeat against her ear. It eventually lulled her to sleep. Halfway through the night, Cassidy snapped her eyes open and felt like something was wrong, frowning. She reached behind her and felt an empty space, wondering where Jon was. Feeling her stomach clench violently, Cassidy tossed the covers off and slipped out of bed, heading out to see where he was. She found him sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, rocking back and forth.

“Jon?” She hesitantly approached, not turning a light on for fear of scaring him and lowered herself on the couch, her heart breaking at the sight.

“Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go.” He kept muttering under his breath and, through the darkness, Cassidy could see tears sliding down his face.

“Jon, it’s me.” Cassidy took one of his hands from his face, or tried to, but Jon overpowered her easily, shaking his head. “Jon, its Cassidy. Look at me. You don’t have to be afraid, I’m here.”

No matter how hard he tried, Jon couldn’t do it and kept his eyes squeezed shut, continuously rocking. He did it when he was a little boy before he spoke for the first time in front of Joe. It was a sort of comfort, but Jon didn’t feel the urge to do it often. Tonight, he had another dream of a pregnant Cassidy being set on fire from a masked man, which made him sick to his stomach. He’d emptied the contents in the bathroom and then came out into the living room to try to calm down, not wanting to disturb her slumber. Cassidy stood up and shoved Jon back against the couch, forcefully straddling him and tore his hands from his face, replacing them with hers.

“Open your eyes now.” She ordered, ignoring the tears that kept falling over her fingers and focused on getting his eyes to open. “Jon, its Cassidy. You’re alright, you’re right here with me.”

“Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go.”

Growing frustrated, Cassidy finally did the only thing she could think of to snap him out of his apparent trance and pressed her lips against his. It took a few seconds, but Jon suddenly returned the kiss, responding and Cassidy felt his arms lock around her waist, her hands gripping his broad shoulders. Her tongue traced his lips and immediately delved into his mouth as soon as it opened. Cassidy gripped the back of the couch to keep him from tossing her off his lap if he got startled, not taking any chances. Only when they both needed air to breathe did Cassidy pull back, slowly opening her eyes and stared back into red rimmed cool blue orbs, sighing with relief.

“Hi.” She whispered, running her fingers down his face in a gentle caress. “Are you alright?”

Jon opened his mouth to say something and instantly crushed her against him, burying his face in her neck, openly weeping. Cassidy had no idea what brought this on and stroked his hair, trying to calm him down as much as she could, doing the only thing she could think of. His shoulders shook violently, along with the rest of his body, as he held her tight against him not saying a single word. Just the sound of his heart wrenching sobs echoed throughout the living room and in Cassidy’s ears, breaking her heart. What did ‘don’t go’ mean? What had Jon dreamt of? He’d been in some kind of trance when Cassidy found him and it was a miracle she found a way to snap him out of it. She didn’t think it was weak of him to cry, knowing it had to be done in order for him to open up. To start feeling again. Tears were a sign Jon was ready to heal - ready to open up. When he finally did fully, Cassidy would be right there every step of the way to help him through it.

Chapter 35

Before long, the day of Cassidy’s trip arrived.

Cassidy packed the previous night and had to be at the airport 2 hours early to go through security clearance. So she had to get up at 5 AM, leave the house by 6 and arrive at the airport by or at 7 to make her 9 AM flight. Surprisingly, Jon hadn’t asked her once to cancel the trip and also didn’t bring up his crying jag. Deciding he would bring it up when he was ready, Cassidy pretended it never happened and didn’t treat Jon any differently. He’d been insistent on driving her to the airport, wanting to keep Cassidy in his vision as long as possible. Cassidy going away on a trip with a psycho hit man after her wasn’t the brightest idea and Jon didn’t like it. They had talked about what kind of measures she’d taken to insure her safety in Indianapolis and, as usual, her answer was vague.

“I’m not telling them what’s going on here.” She didn’t want to bring her family into this mess.

Jon had a different outlook on the situation, thinking that if the hit man showed up to kill her, her entire family would be blindsided. “If you say so.”

That was the end of it and they didn’t speak about her trip again. Jon had a plan of his own on how to deal with this, already making the necessary arrangements behind Cassidy’s back. If she knew or suspected what he was going to do, she would stop him without thinking twice. As much as Jon hated keeping this from her, he knew it would benefit him in the long run because at least Cassidy would be able to enjoy her trip with her family.

“I’m driving you to the airport.” He informed her the previous night while she packed, sitting on the bed. “Not taking any chances. That fucker could strike at any time.”

“I know.” Cassidy understood; she still wasn’t used to having a protector. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”

Jon shrugged, placing his hand over hers with a heavy sigh. “Work, work, miss you and more work.” He answered simply, smirking when her brow rose at him. “Okay fine, I’ll miss you every second you’re gone. Sound better?”

Cassidy chuckled, setting a pair of pajama pants in her suitcase and walked over to stand between his legs, placing her hands on his broad shoulders. “Elissa and Colby said you’re more than welcome to go over there for Thanksgiving.” She felt guilty for leaving him here, especially during a major holiday, but until they established whatever they were, Cassidy didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring Jon around her family. “And I’ll miss you too.”

Already knowing that, Jon slid his hands down her sides to her cotton short clad backside and pulled her to straddle his lap, kissing her softly. “I’ll think it over going to Lopez’s, but right now I’m more curious about you showing me how much you’ll miss me.” His pale blues gleamed wickedly, not surprised when Cassidy pushed him away in a playful manner.

“Stop or I’ll never get this done.” She castigated teasingly and went back to packing, knowing Jon was very close to a breakthrough. Cassidy had to stay strong for just a little while longer and hoped this break away from each other pressured him more to open up to her.

Breaking out of her thoughts from the previous night, Cassidy dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a long sleeved red shirt with silver swirls all over it. She did a quick scan of herself in the mirror, making sure to have the silver locket on her parents got for her. Her hair had loose banana curls all throughout it for style, having spent nearly an hour doing it and makeup was the same as always. Cassidy smiled as Jon walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and slid the cup of coffee in her hand, kissing her temple lightly.

“Stop looking like your dog got shot.” She chided softly, trying not to let her emotions peak and sipped her coffee while he held her close. “It’s only a few days.”

“I know, sorry.” Jon breathed her in as much as he could and kissed her neck. “I’ll go put your things in the truck and then we can go.”

It was a quarter to 6 and it took roughly around 45 minutes to get to the airport, depending on traffic in the morning. Cassidy watched him walk out with her suitcase in hand and waited until the front door shut before letting a few tears slide down her cheeks. This was harder than she ever thought it could be. She couldn’t let her family down though, especially her parents who were looking forward to seeing her. Still, Cassidy regretted not asking Jon to come with her and knew she wouldn’t get much sleep being away from him while away.

It would be hell on earth.

On the way to the airport, Jon noticed Cassidy was unusually quiet and turned the radio down, reaching over to take her hand. “What’s on your mind, Cass?” He asked, knowing she’d been crying prior to leaving the house.

“Family issues. It’s boring, you don’t want to hear about it.” Cassidy patted his hand, cracking a small smile to reassure him she was fine.

“Nothing you say is boring, darlin’.” Jon assured her softly, trying to ease her nerves a little. He could feel the apprehension exuding out of her pores in waves. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, I won’t push you though.”

Cassidy sighed resignedly, figuring it might be better to vent with Jon instead of her family. “It’s my brother Ryder. He’s 21 years old and thinks the world shines out of his ass. He’s been in a lot of trouble with the law since the age of 16. Drinking, smoking, drugs…you name it, he’s done it. And now my parents are supporting him by letting him live with them. It’s just frustrating watching my youngest sibling fall through the cracks and there’s nothing I can do about it. I hate it and, naturally, Mom and Dad think he’ll grow up in the next couple years. He’s going through his ‘party’ phase right now is what they say. You know what I say to that? Your party phase ends when you can’t support yourself and have to live with your parents at age 21.” She felt mildly better and looked out the window, letting Jon process all of that.

Sounded like Ryder needed a swift kick in the backside and a lesson in tough love, Jon thought, stroking his chin pensively. “How many siblings do you have?” He never bothered asking Cassidy about her family history because part of him was jealous for what she had.

“Ryder is the youngest, I’m the middle rebel and Lindsey is the oldest. She’s married to a man named Matt and they have two children, my niece and nephew, Liam and Lucy. They are adorable.” Cassidy pulled a picture of them out of her wallet and handed it over for Jon to see, smiling. “It’ll be good to see them. It’s been a couple years, so I have a lot of Auntie time to make up for. And spoiling.”

Jon studied the picture while sitting at a red light and nodded in agreement, handing it back. “Cute kids. I can see the family resemblance.” He pressed his foot against the gas pedal when the light turned green, swallowing down his own pain. “You sound like you have a beautiful family, Cass. What is the party for again?”

“My parents’ 34^th wedding anniversary surprise party. It’s tomorrow and then of course Thanksgiving the next day.” She answered, slipping the picture of Lindsey’s kids back in her wallet. “It’s going to be hectic and I just know I’m going to be stuck being the only one without a date.” Cassidy shrugged, feeling Jon squeeze her hand. “It’s fine though, didn’t have a date for Lindsey’s wedding either and I had a pretty damn good time that night.”

The rest of the drive was made with small chatter, Cassidy changing the subject back to Jon finding out more things about him. His favorite color was green, his favorite band was L7 or AC/DC, depending what type of mood he was in and his favorite food was anything edible, including her. Cassidy laughed at that one, slapping Jon’s arm playfully and finally acquired the truth. He loved greasy cheeseburgers, which wasn’t much of a surprise since he’d ordered quite a few while staying with her. Jon growled when she started making fun of him about getting clogged arteries if he didn’t stop with the cheeseburger intake, pinching her side and Cassidy laughed, the sound reverberating through the truck. Arriving at the airport, the laughter died as Jon put the truck in park and turned to look at Cassidy, seeing her simply staring at the huge building.

“I don’t want to go.” She whispered, tears filling her eyes and frowned when Jon released her hand, only to walk around to open her door seconds later pulling her into his arms.

“It won’t be that long, darlin’.” Jon murmured soothingly, holding her up with ease so she could bury her face in his neck, closing his eyes.

“I know I’m being a crybaby about this, but…damn it, I’m going to miss you. I just wish you could come with me. I know I didn’t invite you…” Cassidy sniffled, feeling Jon’s arms tighten around her body and refused to let him go.

“Maybe next time.” Jon rasped, stroking her silky soft hair as it glided through his fingers, trying to do what he could to calm her down. “I’ll be here when you get back. I’ll pick you up from the airport, if you want.”

Cassidy agreed, liking the sound of that and suddenly became serious, cupping his face in her soft hands. “I know you haven’t opened up to me yet and it’s fine, but you need to promise me something right here, right now.” Her azure eyes were slightly panicked, confounding Jon.

“Anything, Cassidy.”

“Promise you won’t do anything reckless while I’m gone. Promise you’ll think of me whenever you jump into a dangerous situation, if there’s one. Promise you’ll be safe and in one piece when I return.” Her tone became more demanding because she did not want anything happening to Jon. “Care, please.”

She pressed her forehead against his and enjoyed the friction from his bandana against her skin. Jon wasn’t angry with her words and understood why she felt the need to say them - to make him promise. He was a reckless man and didn’t care if he lived or died…until he met Cassidy. Now, whenever he looked at her, he had so many plans and things he wanted to experience with her. None of them would happen if he ended up dead by doing something stupid to get himself killed.

“I promise, Cassidy.” He whispered, cupping her face and passionately kissed her, feeling her arms tighten around his neck.

They stood there for 5 minutes kissing profoundly and Cassidy finally pulled back, looking extremely flushed. “I’ll see you in a few days.” She felt Jon set her on her feet, not realizing he’d lifted her up against him off the ground and took the suitcase he handed her, sharing one last lingering kiss. “I really have to go. Remember your promise and try to have a good holiday.”

“I will.”

Cassidy kissed her fingers and pressed them against his lips, fresh tears shining in her eyes. “This isn’t goodbye, so don’t say it. I’ll see you soon.”

Before she convinced herself to stay and say the hell with her family, Cassidy walked inside the airport, setting her bag on the conveyor belt to be scanned. It took an hour for her to get through security, answering questions and whatnot, before she could go to her terminal. While sitting in the lobby alone, all Cassidy could think about was Jon and hoped he kept his promise to care.

Her cell phone suddenly rang, jolting her out of her thoughts. “Hello?”

“Hey sweetie, are you at the airport?” Peyton asked while driving to work, doing their morning ritual call.

“Yeah…” Cassidy sniffled, dabbing her eyes with a tissue she’d pulled from her purse. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Why is that and why are you crying? Did Jon do something to you?” Peyton demanded, grey eyes narrowing and relaxed somewhat when Cassidy cleared his name. “Then what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” Cassidy felt so lost and jumbled, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a month and now that I’m here, all I want to do is back out and go after Jon. I’m scared, Pey. I’ve never felt this strongly about someone before.”

“Sidy, you can’t back out on your family. Your parents haven’t seen you in a couple years because of your ongoing feud with Ryder. You need to go there and straighten things out, to be there for your parents. They’ve supported you and now you need to do the same. I’m sure Jon would agree with me too considering he lost his parents at a very young age and will never get the opportunity you are to throw them a surprise anniversary party.” Peyton reasoned calmly, her heart breaking at the sound of Cassidy’s sniffles. “Look at me, I had to leave Randy for an entire week and survived. Believe me, you can survive a weekend without Jon. And before you know it, you’ll be back with him.”

Cassidy smiled, appreciating Peyton talking her down and knocking some verbal sense into her. “I knew I loved you for a reason.” She barked out a watery laugh and wiped her tears away, taking a few deep breaths. “Thanks Pey.” They talked for a while longer until Cassidy’s flight was called, promising to keep in touch while she was in Indianapolis.

~!~

Jon stayed in the parking lot and waited until 9 AM passed, a plane launching in the air a few minutes later and knew somehow it was Cassidy. Hopping in his truck, Jon fired it up and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back into town. He pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number, smirking when his best friend answered.

“Hey man, everything taken care of?”

Joe sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Are you sure you wanna do this, Jon?” He had asked Jon this several times, glancing over at Trista somewhat anxiously. “What if…?”

“No what if about it. I know what I’m doing.” Jon had his mind made up and nothing would deter him from it. “Joe, I have to do this. You would do it if the roles were reversed and don’t try bullshitting me either.”

He had a point. Joe would and he hated that Jon called him out on it. “Just be careful, that’s all I’m gonna say. Keep me updated.”

“Will do. I owe you for this, Anoa’i.” Jon hung up and dropped his cell in the cup holder, gripping the steering wheel in both hands tightly. “I’m out of my goddamn mind to do this.”

Chapter 36

Arriving at the Indianapolis International Airport a little after noon, Cassidy grabbed her suitcase and headed toward the car rental place. Lindsey was at work, so she couldn’t pick Cassidy up like originally planned. Her parents didn’t know she was coming either, both sisters deciding it would be a nice surprise for them. So Cassidy acquired a black Ford Focus, went through airport security and was on the road an hour later headed to her parents. Cassidy sent Jon a text message to let him know she made it safely, along with Peyton, Elissa, Trista and Trish, so nobody worried about her. She missed Jon, deciding it would be best to mostly text with him because Cassidy wasn’t sure if she could handle hearing his voice. Jon texted her back not even 30 seconds later, making her smile at his message.

Fine, miss you.

I miss you more. Don’t forget your promise. Cassidy texted back and turned the radio up when a good song came on. ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica instantly reminded her of Jon. “Christ, I need help.” She muttered, picking her phone up at a red light when it buzzed back with another message.

I won’t.

Cassidy had to put her faith and trust in Jon, already noticing the changes within him, hoping this time away didn’t put a dent in his progress. Her thoughts turned to Ryder, wondering what she would say to him when they saw each other for the first time in a few years. Lindsey hadn’t wanted to talk about him when she called, only saying that he’d gotten a job. Hopefully he started growing up and started saving it to support himself instead of mooching off their parents. Around 1 PM, Cassidy pulled into the driveway of the 2 story house she grew up in and put the Focus in park, staring up at it. So many fond memories, she had missed her family and would always consider this to be her true home. Sighing wistfully, Cassidy stepped out of the car and barely retrieved her suitcase when a scream echoed behind her.

Turning around, Cassidy watched her mother run out of the house toward her, arms outstretched with tears streaming down her cheeks. Cassidy couldn’t stop her own from falling, no matter how hard she tried and instantly enveloped her crying mother in her arms, both of them sobbing openly. Burying her face in her mother’s neck, Cassidy felt all the guilt rush out of her for staying away so long, hoping her parents could forgive her. Judy couldn’t believe her daughter had come all the way from Florida, having gotten a text message from Lindsey saying they had a surprise coming between 1 PM and 2 PM that day. She’d asked Terrence if he knew anything, knowing how Lindsey and him enjoyed giving her surprises on occasions. Terrence had no idea what their oldest had planned…until now. He stood in the doorway of the house with tears burning his own eyes at the sight of Cassidy.

“It’s so good to see you, sweetie pie.” Judy whispered, finally pulling back and cupped Cassidy’s face, the brightest smile lighting her features. “This is the best gift you could’ve given me.”

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Cassidy hugged her again, feeling her mother run her fingers through her hair and cried harder, appreciating her parents a lot more since meeting Jonathan Good. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“You too, Cassie.” They were the only ones allowed to call Cassidy that since they were responsible for giving her life. “Come on, your Daddy is standing over there and I know he wants his shot at you.”

Cassidy laughed, not surprised when her mother took her suitcase and headed toward the front door, stopping on the porch in front of her father. “Hi Daddy.” She murmured, apprehension glittering in her tear-filled azure eyes and slammed them shut when he hugged her tightly against him.

“Good to see you, Cassie.” He whispered, not trusting his voice at the moment and looked up at Judy, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Judy smiled, walking over to discreetly wipe his tear away because he didn’t like crying in front of the children, no matter how old they were. “If I had known you were coming, I would’ve prepared something for lunch.”

Cassidy pulled away from her father and waved her mother off dismissively. “You don’t have to go to any trouble, Mom.” She felt her father wrap his arm around her shoulders, guiding her inside.

“Nonsense, I’ll prepare something right away.” Judy wasn’t easily dissuaded and swept into the kitchen to start cooking while Terrence guided Cassidy upstairs to her old bedroom.

“You know how your mother is.” Terrence rumbled softly, opening the bedroom door and smiled. “She refused to change anything, left it exactly the same.”

Cassidy laughed, not surprised a bit and stepped inside, inhaling the scent of home. The walls were still plastered with her favorite bands and pictures of all her friends throughout high school. She was very popular in school, graduated with high honors and pursued college shortly after, always wanting to be in journalism. Being the Chief Editor for the high school’s newspaper, which still printed to this day, was an accomplishment Cassidy always cherished. Walking over, Cassidy picked up a photo of her, Lindsey and Ryder, sighing deeply, wondering when life decided to screw everything up between them.

“Forgive yourself, Cassie. It’s in the past and we don’t resent you for leaving.” Terrence said from behind, remembering that photo well.

He’d taken his children to a baseball game downtown and Ryder caught a homerun ball with his new baseball glove he’d gotten for Christmas that previous year. The girls were so proud of him and lifted him on their shoulders, bouncing him up and down carefully so he wouldn’t fall. Terrence had captured a spectacular moment with his children, wishing he would’ve done more things with them when they were younger.

“Where is Ryder?” Cassidy asked softly, setting the picture down and turned to face her father.

Terrence grinned, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes. “He’s working at the mill with me now. We got him sobered up and he’s doing grunt work, but enjoys it. We opened up a savings account for him too, so all of his money is directly deposited into it and only Mom and I have access. So far, he’s saved every dime.” He explained, placing a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “Remind me to congratulate Lindsey on a job well done with this surprise.”

“Will do.” Cassidy walked out of her room with her father, both of them going downstairs. “So how are you doing?” She asked, sitting down at the kitchen table while her mother made some sandwiches.

“Good all things considered. Got a little thing going on with my heart, but with medication it’s controllable.” Terrence sounded indifferent, not letting a little heart condition bring him down. “What about you?”

“What heart thing, Dad?” Cassidy demanded, refusing to let the subject drop and looked up at her mother worriedly. “Is everything okay?”

“Terrence.” Judy scolded gently, wishing he wouldn’t have brought that up. “Everything is fine, sweetie pie. Daddy just has to eat a little better and take some medication for his heart.”

“What do you have, Dad?” Cassidy ignored her mother for the moment, placing her hand over his. “Please don’t keep it from me.”

Terrence sighed, knowing he couldn’t keep anything from his youngest daughter. “I have heart valve disease. In a nutshell, one of my valves isn’t working properly and causing me to have a heart murmur. It’s not serious right now, but if I don’t change my diet and take these medicines the doctor prescribed, it will get worse.”

“And it won’t because he’s been taking medication every day and has laid off the fatty foods.” Judy chimed in cheerfully, winking at Cassidy while cutting up some fresh fruit to add to her husband’s salad, deciding on low-fat turkey sandwiches and salads for lunch. “Cassie, what do you want on your sandwich? I had some ham in the fridge and gave that to you since you don’t like turkey.”

“Just the usual, Mom.” Cassidy replied absentmindedly, not believing Lindsey hadn’t called her about father’s condition and wanted to ring her neck.

Then again, it was her own fault for staying away as long as she did. Cassidy hoped her parents weren’t sugarcoating his condition because, if there was something seriously wrong with him, she had a right to know. Accepting the sandwich and salad, Cassidy watched her father drizzle a little fat-free ranch dressing on his salad, trying to focus on eating her own food. She suddenly grabbed the fat-free ranch when he was finished using it and drizzled her own salad, ignoring the regular ranch.

“So, what’s been going on with you, sweetie pie?” Judy asked, taking a bite of her sandwich and knew a change in subject was in order.

“Nothing much, just working really hard on this story about a little girl that was bullied.” Cassidy had no reason to lie to them, though she refused to mention the hit man after her. That would send her father into cardiac arrest.

“Oh dear, how old?” Judy frowned, hating hearing stories of children bullied because it really was a serious problem the country faced.

“6 and her name is Madelyn Stratus. Her mother is a teacher at Bell Elementary School and has become a dear friend of mine. The cafeteria had a grease fire about 2 months ago and the little girl was trapped in her locker during it. A fireman heard her screams for help and saved her.” Cassidy smiled at the thought and mention of Jon. “It’s been a big deal. They’re talking about putting her story on 20/20 or one of those other major programs.” She explained, taking a bite of her sandwich and was just thankful Madelyn was sparred because she was possibly the sweetest little girl on earth…aside from Lucy.

Both Judy and Terrence blinked in shock at their daughter, their hearts going out to Madelyn and her family. “Her mother didn’t notice she’d been bullied?” Terrence had to ask, his curiosity too strong to ignore. “And is her mother changing schools for the little girl?”

“Trish has talked about it because Madelyn’s best friend that lives next door to them goes to another school in the Tampa area. I think she’s going to do it and I know the school won’t give her problems because of what happened. Madelyn’s story is all over the news and newspapers, so they would be pretty foolish to deny the Stratus family anything.” Cassidy said matter-of-factly, taking a bite of her salad and waited until she swallowed before continuing. “And no, Trish didn’t know anything about Madelyn’s bullying. She suspected something was going on, but couldn’t figure it out because Madelyn wouldn’t tell her.”

“So who did it? Or they don’t know?” Judy questioned next, sipping her lemon iced tea thoughtfully.

Cassidy swallowed another bite of food, nodding. “It’s the Mayor’s daughter, Surana Levesque. She’s 10 years old and has a really bad reputation for throwing parties and getting into trouble. We’ve been covering a lot of her history in it, which dates back to the same age as Madelyn. Sad. This little girl has a lot of problems, both mental and emotional. And something tells me there are problems going on in the home behind closed doors, but they refuse to give me an interview.” She was also convinced it was Mayor Levesque that sent the hit man after her, not having any other people in mind wanting her dead.

“That is awful, my god. This world is going down the tubes fast. It just goes to show you there’s no safe bet when putting people in office.” Judy shook her head, dabbing her face and stood up, placing her dishes in the sink. “I just hope that little girl gets some sort of justice from this. I know the Mayor’s daughter is only 10 years old, but she is definitely old enough to understand that bullying is wrong.”

Terrence had listened to what his daughter said, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Why didn’t Madelyn go to her mother about the bullying?” That hadn’t been touched on, his cool azure eyes mirroring Cassidy’s slightly narrowed. “Most kids would cry to their parents.”

“Right and there’s a reason for that. Turns out, Surana threatened if she told anyone about what was going on, Trish would lose her job. So Madelyn didn’t want her mother losing her job and kept her mouth shut. It’s sickening, really. Makes me wonder what the Levesque’s are teaching their daughter.” Shaking her head in disgust, Cassidy stood up and waved her mother off when she tried taking the dirty dishes away, kissing her cheek. “I got it, Mom. I’ll do them, you cooked.”

“No you will not.” Judy snatched them with a sweet smile, brown eyes twinkling while her strawberry blonde hair remained in its same beehive style. “Why don’t you go upstairs and unpack? Your father needs to take his medicine and then lay down for a nap. You look like you could use one too, sweetie pie.”

Not able to argue with her mother, Cassidy just nodded and hugged her, kissing her father’s cheek on the way out of the kitchen. “Get some rest, Daddy. I’ll see you guys for dinner.” She then walked out and headed upstairs, a nap suddenly sounding like a fabulous idea.

After dinner that night, Cassidy played a game of cards with Ryder, both of them getting reacquainted with each other. He looked a lot healthier, the dark circles gone under his eyes and genuinely happy. Maybe leaving had been the right decision because Ryder started getting his life together after Cassidy moved to Tampa. Ryder didn’t resent her, both of them ending up crying over what happened and her little brother pouring out apologies left and right for chasing her off. Cassidy told him it was over and done with, wanting to move on with the rest of their lives so they could become a family again. Nothing more was said about it. Around midnight, Cassidy was asleep peacefully in her old queen sized bed like hers back in Tampa, when a knock sounded at her door. Rolling over, she ignored it and waved her hand when the door opened, not wanting to be disturbed. She’d been having the greatest dream about Jon and tried hanging onto it with every fiber of her being.

Then Cassidy heard her brother’s voice.

“Cassie, there’s a huge man downstairs asking for you. Dad is holding him off with a shotgun.”

“What?!” Cassidy jumped out of bed, wearing midnight blue cotton shorts and a matching camisole, flying past Ryder down the stairs. “Dad, what’s-” The words died on her lips instantly.

“Cassie, do you know who this is?” Terrence demanded irritably, eyes never moving from the large man standing on their porch.

It was Jon.

Chapter 37

Snapping out of her shock, Cassidy blinked and placed a hand on top of her father’s shotgun, eyes never leaving Jon for a second. “Dad, put the gun down. I know him.” What the hell was he doing here? “H-He’s…”

“I’m her boyfriend, sir.” Jon supplied with a straight face, pale blues holding truth and extended his hand. “I’m Jon Good.”

Azure eyes shot open as soon as that word spilled out of his mouth and Cassidy could only cover her mouth with her hand to hide her slacked jaw.

“Cassidy, is this true?” Terrence demanded, refusing to shake the man’s hand until he confirmed what he said with his daughter.

“Y-Yes.” Cassidy stammered, clearing her throat and moved to stand in front of Jon. “Yes Daddy, he’s my boyfriend.” That felt and sounded strange, but Cassidy had to stop Jon from being blown away. “I-I meant to tell you both he was coming in late tonight and completely forgot with everything else going on.”

“Terrence, what’s going on down there?” Judy’s voice called as she headed downstairs, yawning loudly. “Who’s at the door?”

Cassidy swallowed hard, looking at her mother and wasn’t surprised when her brown eyes shot open like everyone else’s. “Mom, this is Jon Good. My boyfriend.” She laughed nervously. “I forgot to tell Lindsey about him coming with me when we planned to surprise you guys.” She really hoped her parents bought the lies otherwise Cassidy would have a huge problem on her hands.

“I see…” Judy walked over to stand beside her daughter, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders. “For god’s sake Terrence, put your gun down and shake the man’s hand before his arm falls asleep!”

Terrence blanched at his wife with wide eyes. “But…”

“He’s her boyfriend, dear. We don’t want to be rude.” Judy’s tone held warning and managed to sound deceptively sweet at the same time. “Invite him in.”

Sighing, Terrence eyed the large man named Jon suspiciously and set his gun to the side, taking his hand firmly shaking it. “I’m Terrence Irons and this is my wife Judy.” He gestured to her with his free hand. “Come in, sorry about the gun thing.”

Jon cracked a small smile and stepped through the door, immediately locking his gaze on Cassidy. “Not a problem, sir.” She looked beautiful with haphazard strawberry blonde hair and stunned eyes, the midnight blue sleepwear only fueling his desire for her. “Sorry I didn’t call sooner, darlin’. I just got in.” Literally, Jon had driven 15 straight hours, only stopping for gas and something to eat.

“It’s okay…” Cassidy had to force herself to move toward him, still not believing he was here in the flesh and let him envelope her in his arms, closing her eyes. “I’m glad you made it safely.” He had a lot of explaining to do when they were alone.

“Me too.” He murmured quietly, kissing the top of her head and stepped back, not wanting to make her parents uncomfortable. “Long drive.” Jon would explain more later; right now he looked ready to keel over from exhaustion.

He DROVE here? Cassidy barely hide her shock at those words and nodded, letting him know she received his message. “Why don’t you guys head to bed? Especially you, Daddy.” She eyeballed her father sternly, still worried about him because of the heart condition he had.

“I don’t think…”

“Alright sweetie pie, you two get some rest.” Judy cut her husband off, wrapping an arm around his waist and guided him toward the stairs. “It was nice meeting you, Jon.”

“You too, ma’am.”

Jon already felt the resentment pouring from Cassidy’s father and merely shrugged it off. He didn’t care if her father approved of them or not because he was there for Cassidy and nobody else. Cassidy noticed her brother had stuck around for the show and pointed at the stairs.

“You too, busy day tomorrow.” She ordered, pushing him gently but firmly toward the stairs.

Ryder snorted, eyeballing Jon suspiciously just like his father had and reluctantly went back up to his room. Cassidy waited until she heard two doors close before turning her full attention on Jon, cool eyes narrowing to slits. She wasn’t sure if she was angry or relieved he was here, deciding they would be having a talk on the porch where nobody could eavesdrop on their conversation. Jon showing up had completely knocked her for several loops and Cassidy had to recover, the night air assaulting her helping.

“It’s cold out here, Cass.” Jon tried to reason and sighed when she just kept her back to him, following her lead.

“What the hell are you doing here, Jon?” Cassidy demanded, staring straight ahead and knew her boiling blood would keep her warm. “Have you completely lost your mind? You just called yourself my boyfriend to my parents. Do you realize that?”

Jon nodded stiffly, having expected this kind of attitude from her. “Could you think of a better way for me to protect you?” He asked honestly, raising a brow down at her. “I wasn’t about to leave you alone for an entire weekend, family or not, Cassidy.”

“So that’s what this is about? Your need to protect me?” Cassidy scoffed, clenching her teeth and felt the sudden urge to kick him in the genital region, tears stinging her eyes. “I would’ve been perfectly fine here.”

Jon knew he’d upset her with what he said and sighed, turning her around by the arm. “Cass, I didn’t mean that. Look, I called myself your boyfriend because…that’s what I am.” He cupped her face in his warm hands, forcing her eyes to meet his. “I came here because I want to tell you everything. I’m ready. When your plane lifted in the sky and took off, I knew I was ready then, but you were gone. So I came to you. I came to prove to you that I do have feelings for you and I care about you.”

“What?” Cassidy’s voice cracked on that one word, stunned at the words coming out of Jon’s mouth and blinked, huge tears cascading over his fingers. “Jon…”

“Before we leave Indianapolis, I will tell you everything and open up completely. Because I refuse to go back to Tampa until you’re officially mine in every way.” Jon sounded powerfully determined, pulling her closer to him and brushed his mouth against hers. “I’m ready to let you in, Cass, and start caring…because you are worth caring about.”

“You came all this way for that?” Cassidy’s heart exploded with newfound love for this man and she kissed him back passionately, feeling him lift her up with ease wrapping her legs around his waist. “I’m so glad you’re here.” She whispered against his mouth after the toe-curling kiss broke, both of them breathing heavily.

Jon chuckled, having missed her like crazy for the past 15 hours and knew he wouldn’t have handled being away from her for nearly an entire week. “Now that’s the reception I was hoping for.” He smirked when she smacked his arm lightly, nuzzling her neck. “I’m glad I’m here too, Cass.”

“What about the fire station?” Cassidy suddenly asked, pulling back to stare in his devious pale blues. “What did you do?”

“Joe. I explained that I wanted to follow you here and asked if he’d take my shifts. I have a lot of stored vacation time, so they can’t say shit.” Jon yawned loudly, pressing his forehead to hers and suddenly felt bone-weary tired, his eyes drooping.

Cassidy noticed it instantly and slid out of his arms, her feet hitting the porch. “Come on, you need some rest. The party is tomorrow and, since you’re here, you’re coming.”

He didn’t have a choice since he’d announced, in front of her parents, he was her boyfriend. Cassidy laced her fingers with his, guiding him back inside the house and locked the front door, both of them quietly ascending the stairs. Jon had swiped his bag from the front door, where he’d dropped it at the sight of Cassidy, having everything he needed in it. Jon already planned on attending the party with Cassidy, remembering her comment about not having a date for her sister’s wedding. Well, she would have a date for this and he even went shopping, with Elissa, to pick out proper attire for the event. In Elissa’s words, Jon in nice dress clothes would make Cassidy’s head spin, which is exactly what he wanted.

“Are you sure it’s alright I stay in here with you?” Jon asked, wondering if he’d wake up in the morning with a shotgun pointed at him again from her father. “I can always-”

Cassidy pressed her finger against his lips, smiling. “You’re fine, now shed your clothes and get into bed with me.” She winked, keeping her voice low so nobody overheard them.

Jon smirked at her command and set his bag on the bed, sifting through it pulling out a pair of black pajama bottoms. “Turn your head. If I can’t watch you dress, then you can’t watch me.”

Cassidy giggled softly and turned her head to shield her gaze from him. She didn’t dare peek because, if Jon caught her, she would be in trouble. However, the sound of his zipper sliding down made Cassidy do a full body shiver, wanting nothing more than to beg him to take her. She wouldn’t though, not in her parents’ house. He was here to tell her the truth about his past and Cassidy wouldn’t let her lust overshadow her goal. A few minutes later, Jon pulled the comforter back and slid in the bed beside Cassidy, wrapping strong secure arms around her body.

“Heaven.” He murmured in a raspy voice, nuzzling her neck again and could feel himself fully relax now that she was safely in his arms.

“Couldn’t agree more. Good night, Jon.” Cassidy whispered, turning to brush her mouth against his before they both snuggled tighter against each other, falling into a deep slumber.

The next morning, Cassidy slowly pried her eyes open, thanks to the sunlight streaming through the window. It was a good thing the bed was against the wall furthest from it. Still, the light made her eyes hurt as she rubbed them, letting out a long yawn. Cassidy suddenly froze when a pair of arms tightened around her and instantly relaxed, already knowing it was Jon. Turning over to lay on her side facing him, Cassidy studied his face and still couldn’t believe he was here. She thought it was a cruel dream, pinching herself for reassurance. He’d actually driven 15 hours or more just to be with her, to make sure she was alright and to finally open up about his past. To start the healing. Cassidy reached her hand up caressing his face tenderly and couldn’t stop smiling.

“What are you staring at, woman?” Jon rasped out, his voice gruff with sleep and slowly opened his eyes.

“You, who else?” She shot back impishly, leaning forward to brush her mouth tenderly against his. “Good morning.”

“Yeah it is. What time is it?” Jon felt a little more awake after that kiss and so did the rest of his body.

“Just after 9, we’ve got a little time before my Mom forces us to get up.”

“Is that right?” Jon suddenly rolled over and pulled Cassidy with him, making her lay on top of him. “So what should we do until she comes knocking?”

“I can think of a few things.”

Cassidy captured his mouth in a passionate soul searing kiss and could feel her entire body responding to his gentle touch, wanting him more than the air she breathed. Jon growled, rolling Cassidy back on the bed with him hovering over her, never breaking the kiss. He loved the feeling of her fingers running through his curly hair and groaned when her leg hooked around his hip. Gliding his hand up her creamy leg, Jon massaged her thigh, feeling Cassidy deepen the kiss as their tongues touched. Taking a chance, Jon dipped his hand from her thigh to her short covered crotch and began rubbing, wanting to drive her just as crazy as she made him. Thankful Jon’s mouth covered hers, Cassidy’s moans were muffled and arched her body against him, not able to push him away.

If he tried taking her at that moment, Cassidy would go with no complaints. Her body lit completely ablaze as he began rubbing harder, the combination of the material of her shorts rubbing against her sensitive clit with his fingers and his mouth devouring hers enough to make her head whirl. Cassidy slid her hand down his muscular bare chest to his pajama bottoms, not stopping until she felt flesh. Hissing out, Jon didn’t stop his administrations and was determined to make Cassidy climax for him in some way. Apparently she had the same idea, her thumb running across the tip of his fully awakened cock and Jon felt his eyes roll in the back of his head. His sinful lips left hers; Jon trailed his mouth and tongue down her jaw line while she began stroking him beneath the pants and boxer/briefs, freeing it fully.

“Jon, harder…” She breathed out in a whispery gasp, her heart pounding furiously.

When Jon’s hand stopped rubbing her through the shorts and slid beneath them along with her panties, Cassidy slapped a hand over her mouth, bucking against him. Jon groaned in her neck, using her skin to muffle his own sounds of passion and wished they were completely alone. He could have her right now if he wanted, but honestly Jon didn’t want to have sex again until they had a talk. Hand jobs would have to do for now and Jon definitely didn’t mind, especially when Cassidy began fondling his balls.

“Damn Cass!” He grunted, thrusting his finger in and out of her, tempted to tear them off and barely refrained. “Faster, darlin’, make me cum for you…”

Cassidy was determined to do it, working her arm and hand faster just like he wanted, loving how his cock hardened against her touch. With Jon’s free hand, he slid it up her tank top and growled softly, realizing she wasn’t wearing a bra. How the hell had he missed that? Suddenly pushing it up fully, Jon’s mouth descended on her right nipple hungrily, flicking it with his skillful tongue. Cassidy kept her mouth covered, knowing what he was doing and muffled her cries as she felt her walls begin closing around Jon’s finger. It didn’t take long, especially when Jon added a second finger to her wet folds and Cassidy began pumping her arm into a frenzy, knowing Jon was close.

This would make a mess. Jon glanced over while suckling on her left nipple, noticing she had her own bathroom. Good, they would need a hose down after this was over. His mouth closed around Cassidy’s breast and felt her climax against his finger, her sweet hot essence flowing over his hand. He couldn’t hold back any longer, her release triggering his and exploded against the bed and her legs, tightening his hold on her. When they finished and calmed down a little, Cassidy finally removed her hand from her mouth, looking down at Jon with a lazy smile. Her hazy azure eyes were screaming at him for more attention, but they would have to wait until later, especially when a knock sounded at the door. It was Judy checking on them to make sure they were up since breakfast was being served.

“We’ll be out in a minute, Mom! Just woke up!” Cassidy called through the door, shaking her head at the devilish smirk curving Jon’s mouth and smacked him blithely.

“Until later.” Jon promised huskily, kissing her heatedly and stood up from the bed, both of them heading into the bathroom to clean up before going downstairs for breakfast.

Chapter 38

After a fantastic breakfast and lunch with the family, Cassidy glanced at the clock, knowing they had only a few hours to get ready for the anniversary party. Judy and Terrence thought they were going out for a fancy dinner with the family and didn’t suspect anything. Lindsey made sure to text Cassidy to let her know the banquet hall was ready to go. When Jon told Cassidy he had to get ready privately, she didn’t question it and directed him to one of the spare bedrooms. She tried convincing him to go shopping for clothes for the party that evening, but Jon assured her it wasn’t necessary. Cassidy just hoped he had something in his luggage that was attire appropriate because the dress code was semi-formal.

Staring in the full length mirror, Cassidy chose a simple navy blue dress that had a lace overlay over it. The sleeves went to her elbows and were see-through, along with the hem of her dress. It had a hoop neckline, very simple yet elegant for tonight’s festivities. Cassidy parted her hair to have an angled style that flowed mostly over one shoulder, curling it at the ends for a little bounce. Matching navy pumps and Cassidy decided to change her makeup a bit, using navy eyeliner instead of black. She applied foundation to hide blemishes and painted her lips with peach gloss, having went with her mother earlier that day to get their nails done. It was one of her mother’s anniversary gifts from Cassidy. She decided on navy blue tips to match her dress while her mother stuck with the usual French manicure.

A knock sounded at the bathroom door as Cassidy looked away from her reflection. It was Jon. She still couldn’t believe he was going to be her date for the evening, informing Lindsey of that fact earlier in the day as well. Lindsey didn’t mind, warning Cassidy she would be grilling her boyfriend to make sure he was sincere. Hopefully Jon would take it like a man and answer any questions Lindsey had, as long as it didn’t have to do with his past. Cassidy opened the door and felt the breath leave her body at the sight of Jon standing in the middle of her room. Her jaw hit the floor and Cassidy had to slap a hand over it, eyes nearly falling out from how wide they were. Jon had a long sleeved buttoned up white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the collar was folded neatly around his neck. He left the top two buttons undone, exposing just enough chest to drive Cassidy insane and any other woman who would lay eyes on him that night.

His legs were encased in dark grey charcoal dress pants, the shirt tucked in neatly with a black thin belt and black dress shoes on his feet. Jon had a silver watch on his right wrist and a silver chain around his neck. His hair was slicked back and Cassidy fixed that, closing the distance between them to ruffle his hair a little. She preferred his hair haphazard curls instead of slicked back for some reason. Other than that, a completely different man stood before her. While Cassidy undressed him with her eyes, Jon was busy devouring her whole and fought back the urge to pull her into his arms. He didn’t want to screw up the stunning vision, not believing how the dress hugged all of Cassidy’s curves. Even the shoes she wore were sexy and Jon didn’t normally pay attention to that detail. With Cassidy however, everything from head to toe was exquisite and he loved how the dress made her azure eyes stand out.

“I don’t have words.” Cassidy finally spoke, locking eyes with him. “Is this really you?”

Jon nodded, extending his hand to her with a tentative smile and slowly turned her around in a circle, completely drinking her in. “I don’t either.” He admitted, not able to come up with a word to call her that would efficiently describe how she looked. “You’re stunning, Cass.” It was the best compliment he could think of.

“Not as stunning as you. Though I think handsome or gorgeous would be more appropriate.”

Jon backed up to sit on the bed, pulling Cassidy to stand between his legs and held both of her hands in his, eyes never leaving hers. “Tonight after everything settles down, I wanna have that talk with you, if you’re up to it, darlin’.” He ran the pad of his thumb across her knuckles, trying to calm his own nerves. “I’m glad you approve. You’ll have to thank Elissa since she’s the one who helped me pick the clothes out.”

Cassidy made a mental note to buy something for Elissa, wholeheartedly appreciating what she did for Jon. “Oh don’t worry, I plan on it.” She leaned forward, brushing her mouth against his and carefully straddled his lap when Jon deepened the kiss.

“Sorry.” He muttered as soon as they broke for air, pressing his forehead against hers and kept her hands locked in his. “Come on, we should get going. I got my truck outside unless you wanna take the Focus?”

“Your truck is fine.” Cassidy didn’t move just yet, running her hands down his neck and shoulders, massaging them soothingly. “You’re going to do great and, as for the talk, consider it done. Just let me know when you want to leave and we will, no questions asked, okay?”

Jon hated how nervous he felt and pulled her hands away to stop the caressing because it felt too good. If she kept it up, something would happen and neither of them would make it to the anniversary party. There was plenty of time for caressing and talking later, but right now Cassidy had a very special evening planned for her parents and Jon would make sure she didn’t miss it.

“Mom - Dad, you guys about ready?” Cassidy called down the hallway, her arm looped through Jon’s.

“We’ll be right behind you, Cassie!” Judy called back, dressed in a red long sleeved dress that went to her knees and had a hoop neckline with a silver chain around the waist.

Cassidy smiled at that response and walked down the stairs with Jon, heading out to his Chevy Silverado. A few minutes later, they headed to the banquet hall and Cassidy never released Jon’s hand, knowing she would need to stick beside him. She could feel the anxiety pouring out of his big body and hoped once her parents arrived he would relax a little. Part of his anxiety stemmed from their upcoming talk, that much Cassidy knew, but the other part had to be because Jon never had a girlfriend before. Arriving at the banquet hall 20 minutes later, Cassidy beamed at all the beautiful decorations Lindsey put together the previous night. Red and green were their parents wedding colors, so there were red and green twisted streamers hanging from all corners of the hall. The tables had alternate red and green table cloths with toppers in the middle that had the number 45. In the far corner of the room was a dance floor with a DJ, the colorful lights already pooling and reflecting off the walls.

“Cassie!!” Lindsey called out in the sea of people, most of them family with a few of their parents’ dearest friends. She wore a deep grey long sleeved top that shimmered with black dress pants, hair left down. “Is Ryder bringing them then?”

“Yes. I made sure they were still getting ready when we left too.” Cassidy assured her, not fazed by the fact Lindsey hadn’t hugged her and gestured to her date. “This is Jon Good, my boyfriend. Jon, this is my sister Lindsey Baker. Her husband Matt is over there.” She pointed to a black haired man that was busy consoling a little boy, her nephew Liam.

“AUNTIE CASSIE!!!” Lucy shrieked out, running away from her father in a beautiful hunter green dress, brown eyes completely lit up like stars.

Releasing Jon’s hand, Cassidy laughed as she caught Lucy in her arms, spinning her around in circles. Liam was the next one to run over, both of them having missed their Aunt fiercely, though Lucy knew her a little more than Liam did. It didn’t matter though. Cassidy loved both equally and bent down to hug them tightly. Tears instantly stung her eyes, feeling how much love radiated from both children and managed to blink them away, kissing their heads.

“I missed you, Auntie!”

“Me too, me too!!” Liam added excitedly, waving his hands in the air and suddenly shrank back at the monster standing beside his Aunt.

“Who is that?” Lucy had absolutely no fear, pointing at Jon with curious eyes, tilting her head slightly.

“That’s my boyfriend and his name is Jon.” Cassidy supplied with a smile, winking over her shoulder at him. “Liam, it’s okay buddy. He won’t hurt you.”

“He’s HUGE.” Liam emphasized that word and stretched his arms out as extensive as they’d go, hazel eyes wide. “And scary…”

Lucy suddenly walked toward Jon, showing her little brother she wasn’t afraid of the giant and peered up at him. “Hi.” She grinned, waving her hand since he was extremely tall.

Jon smirked and carefully lowered himself to be eyelevel with the little girl, resting his forearms on his knees. “Hello.” He replied in a deep rasp, raising a brow when she extended her tiny hand.

“You are huge, but not scary.” Lucy surmised, glancing over her shoulder at Liam with a soft smile. “Come here Li-Li, he’s really nice. I won’t let him hurt you.” She was protective of her little brother and it made everyone’s hearts swell.

Liam chewed his bottom lip, looking up at his mother for silent permission and bounded over as soon as she nodded, standing beside his big sister. “Hi.” He extended his hand like Lucy did, causing Jon to use just his forefinger and thumb to shake it. “You were right, Luce!”

“Told ya!” Lucy ruffled Liam’s hair and giggled when he growled, both of them taking off running around the banquet hall.

“Now THAT was adorable.” Lindsey commented, nudging Cassidy, which was her way of giving silent approval.

“I agree.”

Cassidy watched Jon stand up to his full height again and felt his arm wrap around her waist, pulling her against his side. A few minutes later, Lindsey instructed everyone to prepare for their parents arrival, shutting the lights off. Ryder had told them Lindsey had a private dinner set up for them to avoid distractions, wanting it to be strictly family. Smiling when Jon snuck a quick kiss in while they were in darkness, Cassidy felt his fingers glide down the side of her neck.

“Ryder, where are we?” Judy’s voice could be heard behind the double doors.

“Dinner, now come on.” Ryder hoped his sisters were ready and opened the doors, the lights flicking on.

“SURPRISE!!” Everyone shouted, causing Judy to jump while Terrence shook his head, a huge smile crossing his face.

Judy burst into tears as she hugged her children one by one, finally coming to Cassidy and cupped her face in her hands. “Thank you, sweetie pie. This is amazing.” She kissed her forehead and hugged her again, immediately spotting some old friends that had been at her wedding.

“How did you do all of this?” Terrence asked, still shocked by what his children set up and how much trouble they went through just to give them a party.

“Strategically.”

Cassidy hugged her father close and kissed his cheek, turning him around just as one of his old friends, Roy, approached. She walked over and sat down at the table with Jon following, smiling while watching her parents reminiscence with their old friends. The sheer joy on their faces was the sole reason Cassidy made the trip, knowing she would’ve regretted missing this. Her father looked very dapper in a crisp hunter green dress shirt with black slacks, a green and white tie around his neck and his black sports coat hanging on the back of his chair. Her mother never looked so beautiful, wearing diamond jewelry that clashed well with the red dress. After a little while, Cassidy excused herself from the table and kissed Jon’s cheek, heading over to the DJ for a microphone.

“Hey everyone, may I have your attention please?” She called out with a grin and everyone turned to face her, the talking dying down immediately. “Thank you. Now, as you all know, tonight is my parents’ 45^th wedding anniversary.” Cassidy paused, letting an applause emanate around the room before continuing. “So, as one of our many gifts to the greatest people on the planet and the best parents a girl could ever ask for; myself, Lindsey and Ryder managed to scrounge up the song they danced to at their wedding. So Mom and Dad, come on up here and dance to it again.”

Judy was blubbering again while Terrence held her close, tears shining in his own eyes. ‘Earth Angel’ by the Penguins filtered through the speakers as Terrence extended his hand to his beautiful wife of 45 years and smiled when she took it, gathering her in his arms. Cassidy discreetly moved to the side and felt Jon behind her, his arm wrapping around her waist as she leaned back against his chest. She wanted that one day - that kind of love and devotion, hoping it was with the man standing behind her. Lindsey dabbed her eyes with a tissue, leaning against her husband while Ryder had his arm wrapped around a skinny blonde by the name of Penny, his new girlfriend. Nobody said a word as Terrence and Judy danced to their song, his head gently resting against her temple while they swayed to the music.

Even after 45 years, he was still one of the best dancers Judy ever knew, her smile lighting up the entire banquet hall. Once the dance ended, the DJ played some more upbeat classic music while the food was brought out of the back. Cassidy helped set everything up with Lindsey, both of them laughing and joking. Jon watched them and couldn’t believe what a wonderful family Cassidy had, though he wasn’t surprised either. She was a beautiful woman and deserved all the love in the room, wishing he could have that with his parents. After eating and sharing a huge cake, Cassidy was floored when Jon stood up extending his hand.

“What is it?” She asked, wondering if he wanted to leave to go have that talk, but all Jon did was smile at her and gestured with his free hand to the dance floor.

“Dance with me, darlin’.” He requested, pulling her out on the floor with a few other couples.

He closed his eyes as a slow Metallica song flowed through the air. The song was called ‘Nothing Else Matters’, the same song Cassidy had listened to alone in the car after her first encounter with Jon. This was their song; Cassidy simply knew it and rested her head against Jon’s chest while he swept her away, hardly believing he was the dancing type. Jon sighed, never wanting this moment to end, but he knew it would have to because the waiting was over.

“Ready for that talk, Cass?” Jon asked in her ear, once the song ended, keeping his voice low and felt her nod in response.

“Meet me outside, I want to say goodbye to everyone.” Cassidy whispered, kissing his cheek and walked away before Jon could say anything, needing to get her nerves under control.

“Everything okay?” Lindsey asked, hugging her little sister and could see the apprehension in her eyes. “Cassie…”

“It’s fine, just leaving to spend some time with Jon. Wonderful party, I’ll see you tomorrow for Thanksgiving.” Cassidy said in a rush of words, hugging her briefly and then proceeded to make her rounds to everyone else.

20 minutes later, Cassidy finally managed to walk out of the banquet hall and could see Jon waiting in his truck, taking a deep breath. This was it. He was ready to finally open up and feel again. Preparing herself to hear absolutely anything, Cassidy headed toward the truck and swallowed down the butterflies suddenly erupting in her stomach.

Chapter 39

The drive was made in complete silence as Jon drove to an unknown destination, both of them staring straight ahead. They weren’t holding hands either. Cassidy could feel the tension in the truck and it couldn’t be cut with even the sharpest blade. Jon finally pulled over on the side of a deserted road and slammed the truck in park, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned ghostly white.

“I’m a murderer, Cassidy.” Jon said out of nowhere, his voice barely above a whisper, and refused to look at her.

That was something Cassidy hadn’t expected to hear. “What do you mean?” She asked quietly, clasping her hands in her lap and could only look at him, waiting with bated breath.

“I can’t.”

Jon slipped out of the truck and slammed the door harshly, berating himself for pushing to do this. It was too soon. He wasn’t ready. Cassidy frowned, wanting to go out after him, but knew it wouldn’t do any good. So she sat there and watched as he paced back and forth like a pissed off bull, shaking her head sadly. She told Jon not to push himself to tell her, that it would happen naturally, but he hadn’t taken her advice. Sighing, Cassidy honestly didn’t know if hearing Jon’s past with his parents was the greatest idea anymore, deciding if he never told her she would be fine with it. He’d already changed immensely and proved he did care about her, so as far as she was concerned, the healing had already began. Stepping out of the truck, Cassidy ignored the cold air assaulting her and grabbed Jon’s arm, stopping him from pacing like a caged animal.

“You don’t have to tell me.” She pressed her finger to his lips, shaking her head. “I don’t need to know, Jon. I know you care about yourself and me. And that’s all that matters.”

“But you said…”

“Forget what I said. I was wrong to demand what happened in your past. It shouldn’t matter because it doesn’t affect what’s happening in the present and future. And I am your girlfriend, no matter if you tell me or not. I’m yours.”

Cassidy cupped his face in her hands and brought his mouth down on hers, pouring everything she felt for him and more in that one kiss. Jon instantly clung to her like a lifeline, lifting her up with his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her against him. He could sense every emotion and feeling in this kiss. It was different from the others. It made his head spin, but Jon managed to keep his balance, his heated blood keeping them both warm enough against the cold air. He didn’t want Cassidy getting sick though, especially since her legs were nearly bare.

“Cass…” He breathed against her mouth, forcefully breaking the kiss and felt her fingers once again delve in his curls. “Are you sure? If you give me a little more time…”

“You tell me when you’re ready, Jon. Don’t push yourself. Just know that I’m not going anywhere. I want you and only you, just the way you are.” She meant that, not caring if he started wearing all black again. Cassidy’s feelings would not change unless he did something completely unforgivable.

“You’re incredible.” Jon whispered, wondering how he got so lucky to wind up with a woman of this caliber. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes you do. Don’t say that.” Cassidy forced his eyes to meet hers by grabbing his chin gently but firmly. “You deserve to be happy. Whatever happened in the past can’t be changed. Yes, it’s tragic your parents were taken away from you at a young age, but you’re still alive. That has to mean something. You have to make your life mean something and you have by becoming a firefighter. By saving lives and giving people second chances. You’ve done so much good and, even though you did it for your own reasons, it’s still amounted to saving lives and protecting people.”

This was the time to tell her with her in his arms and Jon could feel the words bubbling up inside of him, threatening to break free. “Even if I’m the one responsible for my parents death?” He whispered, not able to keep this bottled up any longer and set her down on her feet, tearing a hand through his hair. “Do I still deserve good things when I’m the one who killed them?”

“W-What are you talking about?” Cassidy stammered, feeling her knees weaken and had to hold onto the truck, her stomach doing flip-flops. “I don’t understand…”

Jon snorted, feeling the same dark edge return that he’d kept in control around Cassidy. “Of course not. You know why? Because the newspaper said it was unknown what lit those rags on fire. They didn’t do an investigation because the adults were dead and the kid was alive…me.” Jon stopped pacing, his frosty eyes flashing through the darkness. “They don’t know what really happened.”

Cassidy swallowed hard, not sure how to handle this information and simply stood there, tears shining in her eyes. “What did you do, Jon?” She jumped when he slammed a hand down on the hood of the truck and cringed at the small dent.

“My father left a book of matches on the counter in the kitchen and I’d watched him light shit on fire all the time. He always burned wood and old shit in the backyard in our fire pit he built. I wanted to see what it was like to light something on fire. So I took them without my mother realizing and went out to the garage, figuring it’d be safe. I was wrong.” His voice was cryptic as he talked about the past, anger and guilt twisting his face along with his insides. “I lit one match and held it until my finger began to burn from the flame, then shook it and dropped it. Did that 10 times and then got bored. I figured I was ready to light an actual object on fire and spotted some oily rags in the corner. My father used them to change the oil on the car and any other work that came his way. He was a mechanic and had a whole stack of them. So I took a couple,” Jon paused, using his body to reenact what happened that day. “And I tossed them in the middle of the garage, which happened to be right beside my father’s work bench. I lit the son of a bitch and dropped it on the rags. The fire spread so fast, I’d never seen anything like it in my life. Flames engulfed the work bench since it was wood and, within minutes, the garage was lit up in a fiery inferno.”

So that’s how the house caught fire, Cassidy thought solemnly, blinking as huge tears slid down her cheeks. “Matches started it.” She whispered in complete disbelief and wondered what kind of parent left an open matchbook lying around the house for their son to snag. Not responsible at all.

“I was in shock by what was happening that I waited too long to warn them.” Jon gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly shut and suddenly unbuttoned his white shirt, needing to feel the cold air on his chest. “I ran around to the front door and it was engulfed in flames. I couldn’t get in. I heard my mother’s screams…and knew my father had fallen asleep in his chair in the living room. My mother had been cooking supper, so she didn’t…” He suddenly dropped to his knees in front of Cassidy and let the tears flood down his cheeks, not caring about showing weakness anymore. The memory of that day seared him to this day, no matter how much time had passed by. “She – They didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. My mother liked listening to the radio while she cooked and the television was up so damn loud because my father was deaf in one ear.” He remembered that because he had to tag along on quite a few trips to the ear doctor with his father.

Cassidy dropped down in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and tautened her hold when Jon tried pushing her away. “No, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” She stated defiantly, resting her cheek on top of his head as he buried his face in her neck, crying his heart out while she did it silently.

“T-They wouldn’t let me go in…” Jon sobbed, releasing all of his pain in one guttural growl and pulled Cassidy closer, scared to death of losing her. “I had to stand there and watch as they burned to death along with the house. I could do nothing to help them. All because I decided I was big enough to light a fucking match.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Jon.” Cassidy held him tighter, wishing there was something or some way she could do to prove it. “You were just 6 years old, you didn’t know any better. Your father should’ve had those matches put up to where you couldn’t grab them. I’m not saying it’s his fault, but…you have to believe it wasn’t your fault. Their death was an accident. You didn’t mean to burn the house down. You were curious and that’s normal for a little boy.”

Jon couldn’t believe it though, shaking his head disagreeing with her. “Father told me not to go near them, that they were dangerous. I didn’t listen. I thought I knew everything and it turns out I didn’t know jackshit.” He croaked out, bitterness lacing his voice. “If they would’ve just let me go in…”

“You would be dead too.” Cassidy whispered, closing her eyes and couldn’t handle the thought of Jon dying, of not being here with her. “You were meant to live, don’t you understand that?”

“No…” Jon suddenly sat back on the cold grass and kept Cassidy close to him, needing to keep her warm. “I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why I had to have my parents taken away all because I made a fucking mistake. A MISTAKE! Billions of people make countless mistakes every day and yet, somehow, they still have their parents. I’ll never have what you do, Cassidy. I’ll never have a family that loves and adores me the way you do. And it kills me every day. Whenever I dream, it’s of them burning to death all over again. And lately, I’ve been dreaming about you dying the same way.”

Cassidy raised a brow, pulling back to stare in his red rimmed swollen blue eyes and saw only actuality in his words. “What about?” She whispered, wiping his tears away with her thumbs gently.

“You burning to death. It always has something to do with fire. But lately, it’s been strictly you and it’s made me realize that I care a lot about you. I tried fighting how I feel, Cass. I tried my damnest to stay away from you after we had sex, but damn it I couldn’t.” Jon was glad he hadn’t and took the signs his subconscious sent him to heart. “Then Joe came to me and said you were in danger. Something snapped inside of me and I had to do what I could to protect you. It wasn’t just about sex; it never has been with you. Any other woman, yeah I wouldn’t have thought twice about. But you…you’re different and that’s the best way I can describe it. You make me want to be a better person and I’ve never felt that before.”

How could Jon put up with having dreams about people he loved and cared about being set on fire? It completely shattered Cassidy to pieces because she could hear all the agony and torment in his voice. His words both broke and pieced her together, especially since he’d been having dreams about her being on fire. She took pride in knowing she’d been the only woman who made Jon feel the way he did, hoping she remained the only one for the rest of their lives.

“For 28 years, you’ve been completely alone and have never felt what it’s like to be cared for. To be cherished. To be wanted. And I’m going to give that all to you and more. Just tell me what to do, Jon. Tell me what I can do to take your pain away. I’ll do it.” She started crying, suddenly wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and let her own emotions loose. “Tell me what to do.”

Jon could think of only one thing that would take his pain away and forced Cassidy to sit back up, staring into her beautiful tear-filled eyes. “Don’t ever leave me.” He murmured, wiping her tears away. “Keep your word that you’ll never walk away from me. I know I’m a volatile asshole, darlin’. I know I’m rough around the edges, but I’ll do the best I can to give you everything you want.”

“That’s it?” Cassidy sniffled, resting her hands on his shoulders and smiled when he nodded. “I’ll never leave you, Jon. I’m with you as long as you want me. Just don’t - don’t hurt me, okay?” She knew he had a reputation for sleeping around and hoped temptation didn’t come knocking at his door. “It’s me and only me or nothing at all.”

“Only you, darlin’. Haven’t even looked at another woman.” Jon assured her, leaning forward to capture her mouth. “I’ll cherish this chance, Cass, you just wait and see. And I’ll be more careful at work. I won’t be reckless anymore now that I have you. You’ve given me something to live for. Before you, I had no reason to live and figured one of the fires would take me out. That’s the reason I saved Madelyn. It wasn’t that I heard her screams; it was a dangerous situation and there was a chance I’d go down trying to rescue someone.”

“And because of your recklessness, Madelyn is a vital and healthy little girl that thinks of you as her hero.” Cassidy reminded him, pointing out the obvious. “If you ask me, that’s not a bad thing, but I am glad you’re going to think before acting at work from now on.”

Jon smiled in spite of everything and stood up with Cassidy against him, carrying her back to the truck. “Your legs are freezing. You need to warm up before you end up catching cold.” Jon opened the passenger door and groaned when Cassidy gave him another heart stopping kiss, cradling her closer to his chest.

“One for the road.”

Cassidy grinned, tapping his nose gently with her finger and felt him slide her into the seat, closing the door. As soon as Jon slid behind the wheel, Cassidy instantly took his hand and laced their fingers together, needing to use her actions instead of words to make Jon believe she wasn’t going anywhere. She was here to stay. He wasn’t a murderer and made a mistake when he was 6 years old like a lot of other children did. Only this was a mistake that cost the lives of his parents and he’d been living with so much guilt and anger for 28 years. It was time to let go of the past and look to the future - look to what he had right in front of him.

It was time to move on.

Chapter 40

The following morning, Cassidy carefully slid out of bed and went downstairs to start helping her mother prepare Thanksgiving dinner. She wanted Jon to sleep as much as possible, knowing last night had been horrendous for him emotionally. Lindsey would arrive around 8 AM with the kids and Matt, so Cassidy had exactly 2 hours alone to catch up with her mother. They had a nice talk, mostly about how Cassidy and Jon met, what their plans were and if they’d ever consider getting married. Typical mother. Cassidy took it all with a grain of salt, skating by some of the serious questions and simply told her when the time was right, things would fall into place. Her mother seemed to take that answer as the end of the conversation and the subject was effectually changed.

Lindsey arrived and took over helping their mother while Cassidy spent time with her niece and nephew. They watched a movie in the living room, the heavenly smell of food permeating throughout the house. Jon joined the family a little after noon, apologizing for sleeping in longer than he planned. Cassidy assured him it was fine while Lucy and Liam merely scooted over on the couch to make more room for Jon to join them. It was nice to sit down with the entire family, though Cassidy noticed Jon stayed quiet. She didn’t try including him in the conversation either, knowing he needed time to recover from their intense conversation the previous night. Nobody seemed to mind and, if they noticed, it wasn’t pointed out much to Cassidy’s relief. She simply squeezed his hand and thigh a few times under the table to let him know everything was fine.

After dinner, Judy and Terrence were presented with a set of plane tickets to the Bahamas from their children, all of them pitching in for it. Cassidy informed her mother that, before she’d come down to help cook dinner, she snuck into their bedroom to pack their things for the trip. So all they had to do was grab their car keys and head to the airport since their plane left that night. Once they were gone, Lindsey and Matt left with the kids, making Cassidy promise they would get together soon. Cassidy and Jon decided to leave tomorrow on Monday instead of today since they both had vacation time to burn at work. It would take about 15 hours to drive back to Tampa, so neither had to be back until Wednesday morning to resume their normal lives. Ryder made plans to stay over at his girlfriend’s house, not wanting to be in the house alone with Cassidy and Jon, so they had the place to themselves. Cassidy took care of the mess and put all of the leftovers away, making sure the dishes were done too.

Her parents wouldn’t be back from the Bahamas for a week, so she didn’t want to leave their house in complete disarray. Jon tried helping, but Cassidy sent him away to the living room to watch television, wanting him to relax. She felt guilty for basically forcing the truth out of Jon about his past and wished there was something she could do to bring him out of his morose mood. It took everything inside of Jon to roll out of bed that day. He didn’t want to face anyone besides Cassidy, the pain still fresh from the previous night. Had he really told her the truth about his parents? Jon sighed, flipping idly through the channels trying to find something to watch, but all he could think about was the woman in the kitchen. She hadn’t run when she heard the truth and it still baffled him, knowing any other woman would’ve hit the bricks.

Cassidy watched him from the doorway, seeing the different emotions cross his face and made her presence known by walking over to shut the television off. Jon looked up at her, wondering what was going through her mind and blinked when her hand extended to him. Not thinking about it, Jon took it and stood up from the couch, letting Cassidy lead him wherever she wanted. Once upstairs, Cassidy lead Jon inside her bedroom to the bed and pointed to it, smiling when he sat down. They didn’t have to talk tonight. Cassidy brushed her lips against his while pulling the light blue polo shirt he wore from the black slacks, pushing it up over his head. She wanted to make Jon feel better, to feel good and insure him she wasn’t going anywhere. He still had that fear in his eyes and Cassidy wanted it extinguished, having an idea how to achieve that goal.

Climbing into the bed behind him, Cassidy began to gently rub his shoulders and smiled when a groan escaped his lips. His head fell forward, eyes drifting shut as Cassidy’s magical hands worked over his tense body, every part of him turning to putty. Cassidy moved her hands from his shoulders down his arms, rubbing and kneading gently but firmly at the same time. Jon had to relieve some of this built-up tension before he did something reckless. After both arms were thoroughly massaged, along with his neck and shoulders, Cassidy began working on his back. She loved the feeling of his muscles rippling beneath her fingertips and all Jon could do was sit there, the massage too marvelous to stop her. He grunted a little when she reached his lower back, having strained it a little on the last job he did. Cassidy worked that area longer than any of the others, adding her lips as they began sweeping across his heated skin.

As soon as Jon felt her mouth against his back, he couldn’t handle the torture anymore and reached behind him to force her arms around his sides. He was too wide and muscular for her small arms to wrap completely around him. Cassidy got the message and kissed his back one more time, slipping from the bed to stare at him. When Jon opened his mouth to say something, Cassidy stopped him by pressing her finger to his lips, gently shaking her head. Jon could only watch her step back and removed her red shimmery long sleeved top she wore for dinner. His pale blues darkened and smoldered, Cassidy moving back between his legs, only she wasn’t facing him. Her back was. Gripping her hips in his hands, Jon ran the pad of his thumb over the zipper on her skirt and felt her nod, silently telling him to remove it.

Refusing to deny this beautiful woman anything, Jon leaned forward and took the zipper between his teeth, slowly lowering it, the material slacking against his strong hands. So many questions flooded Jon’s mind; he was curious to know why Cassidy was doing this, but immediately locked them in a tight box, negating to question this. If Cassidy wanted him, Jon would not deny her and pushed the black skirt down her smooth legs. Cassidy stepped out of it and kicked the clothing aside, sighing in contentment when Jon’s hands slid up her legs until he cupped her panty clad backside. Instead of turning around, Cassidy took Jon’s hands and planted them on her hips again, feeling him hook his thumbs in the waistband of her panties. They were gone a few seconds later and Jon turned Cassidy around, his hand moving up the middle of her back until it came in contact with the clasp of her bra. Smirking, Jon unfastened them with ease and let the offending material fall to the floor, leaving her completely bare naked in front of him. Cassidy took Jon’s hands and he stood from the bed, towering over her.

Without hesitation, Cassidy skimmed her fingers across his pant covered erection and could feel how hard he was as it strained against the material. Cassidy would take care of it, not wanting to tease him any more than she had and unfastened his pants, pushing them down his muscular legs. She then pressed chaste hot kisses down his chest and stomach, slowly lowering herself in front of him. Jon noticed what she was doing and felt his eyes widen, actually feeling a lump form in his throat. All thoughts flew out of Jon’s mind except one as soon as Cassidy slid her tongue down the length of his hardened shaft, shivering. No woman had EVER had the type of intense effect on him Cassidy did. Jon instantly buried his fingers in her strawberry blonde hair, being mindful of his strength so he didn’t tear it out of her skull. He didn’t want to hurt her. Cassidy experimented and raked her nails down his thighs, flicking her tongue against the tip while fondling his balls.

She loved the feeling of his fingers in her hair and leaned up a little, proceeding to wrap her hand around his throbbing cock, gently stroking. He hardened even more if that was possible. Cassidy looked up at him, smoky blues of different shades mixing together and finally took him in her hot inviting mouth, shutting her eyes. Jon nearly lost it right then and there at the feeling of her sweet mouth coating him with her saliva. There was no way she’d fit all of him; Jon was well-endowed. It pained Jon to do this, but he didn’t want to release in her mouth and stopped her, pulling away. Cassidy blinked and gasped when he lifted her up in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist instantly. His mouth found hers and Jon turned guiding her down on the bed, their tongues caressing each other lovingly. It wasn’t about getting down to business tonight. Jon planned on showing Cassidy just how much he cared about her through actions. No words were spoken that night as Jon proceeded to make love to Cassidy, both of them completely spent and passing out in the early morning hours.

Around noon, Cassidy finally pried her eyes open and stretched, enjoying how her body ached deliciously. The things Jon made her feel was indescribable and Cassidy would never forget it, not even when she was old and wrinkled on her deathbed. Yawning, she rolled out of bed while Jon slept deeply, heading into the shower to wash up. As much as she enjoyed smelling of Jon and sex, she really didn’t want other people experiencing the same odor. Halfway through her shower, Cassidy had her eyes closed while washing her hair when a pair of muscular arms encircled her waist, making her jump out of her skin.

“Christ, you scared me!” She was still trying to wake up and smacked his arm lightly. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t.” Jon enjoyed her soaking wet naked body gliding against his and buried his face in her neck, the scent of mangos pervading around them. “I was up, but wanted to see if you’d notice.”

“Ass.” Cassidy leaned further against him, enjoying the moment with just the two of them standing under hot shower sprays. “What time did you want to head out today?”

“Whenever darlin’, we have 2 days to get back.” Jon informed her, kissing the top of her head and began helping wash the shampoo out of her hair. “Mind if I get a turn?”

“Not at all.”

Cassidy smiled, stepping aside and poured conditioner in her hands, running it through her hair while Jon washed his own. They finished up in companionable silence and Jon wrapped a towel around her body, enjoying having her in his arms. If Jon could do this for the rest of his life, he would die the happiest man alive. How corny was that? Cassidy had broken through every barrier he put up, shattered and left them in a pile of dust. This one petite woman in his arms had challenged him in ways Jon never expected. It started the day they first had sex, only for Cassidy to dismiss him by tossing him out on his backside after it was over. Dressing in simple skinny blue jeans and a long sleeved pink top, Cassidy watched Jon slide a grey muscle shirt over his head with skintight black jeans, shaking her head. They had 15 hours before his attire was weather approved, but Cassidy didn’t say anything. She simply walked over and sat him down, tying a black bandana over his damp curly head, kissing him softly. Jon smiled, pulling her to straddle his waist and could see the trouble brewing in her eyes, wondering what she was thinking about.

“I didn’t - I didn’t push you to tell me about your parents, did I?” Cassidy had to ask, the question burning on her tongue the entire night, but they’d been too busy to talk. “I honestly didn’t mean to if I did, Jon…”

Jon sighed heavily, shaking his head. “No Cass, you didn’t. I had to tell you. At first I tried convincing myself it’d be best for you not to know, but then you told me I didn’t have to. That pretty much sealed the deal so to speak.” He stroked her sides gently, brows furrowing a little. “I’m sorry about yesterday too. I shouldn’t have been so quiet around your family.”

“No, don’t apologize. I completely understand and nobody seemed to mind. If they did, tough.” Cassidy grinned, kissing him again and extracted herself from his arms. “Enough talking, we need to pack up so we can leave and go home.”

“Home…” That one word sounded wistful coming from Jon because he couldn’t wait to get back to Tampa and show Cassidy off.

To show all the guys at the fire station he had what it took to have a girlfriend. Joe had said a while back he’d never be able to settle down and Jon proved him dead wrong. Jon smirked, knowing Joe would have a field day when he found out everything that happened, including asking Cassidy to dance with him. Then again, Cassidy would probably have her girl talk with Elissa and Trista, so Jon decided to just let the women notify Joe for him. They packed up and headed out of the house just as Ryder pulled up in the driveway. Cassidy told Jon she’d be right with him, wanting to say goodbye to her brother privately. Jon understood, kissing the top of her head and took both of their bags to the truck, placing them in the back. He then slid behind the wheel and turned the radio on, waiting patiently and was glad Cassidy had brought up the topic of driving back to Tampa instead of traveling separately.

“Leaving so soon?” Ryder joked with a smile, meeting his sister halfway across the lawn.

“Yeah, time to head back.” Cassidy replied, wearing a black winter coat since it was lightly snowing outside. “Listen Ry…”

“Don’t say anything, Cassie.” Ryder cut her off and simply pulled her into a warm embrace, his eyes instantly locking with the truck. “I understand why you did what you did. Let’s just move on and forget what happened, okay?”

Cassidy nodded, tears stinging her eyes and held her little brother for a minute, wishing they had more time together. “Take care of yourself and keep up the good work. I’ll see you guys really soon. I have some stored up vacation time left. Just need to find out when Jon has some more time off so we can come together.”

Ryder nodded in understanding, wiping his sister’s tears away. “Love you Cassie.”

“Love you too, Ry.”

“Call me when you get home.”

“I will.” They hugged again and parted ways, Ryder heading into the house while Cassidy hopped into the truck.

“Ready to go, darlin’?” Jon asked, noticing the tears on her cheeks and immediately grabbed her hand, their fingers lacing together.

Cassidy nodded and looked out the window as they drove away, heading toward the highway that would lead them back home.

Chapter 41

“If I have to stay in this truck with you another second, I’m going to open the door and jump out!”

Jon had gotten on Cassidy’s last nerve, both of them on edge since he insisted driving the entire 15 hours back to Tampa without stopping except for gas. Cassidy wanted to stop at a hotel halfway through to rest, but Jon assured her he didn’t need it. So for the past 7 hours, Cassidy tried getting comfortable to try to sleep and simply couldn’t, wishing for a bed. He refused to stop, not wanting to spend money on a grungy motel room just so Cassidy could catch a few winks.

“Relax, we’re almost there.” Jon spat back, feeling his own aggravation rising because of her attitude.

Cassidy opened her mouth to say something and clamped it shut when they passed the sign that said The City of Tampa Welcomes You, sighing with inner relief. “Smartass.” She muttered, folding her arms in front of her chest and couldn’t wait to collapse in her own bed.

“I may be a smartass, but I’m also right.”

Jon slowed down a little for the speed limit and was in desperate need of a thorough stretch. Another massage from Cassidy’s magical hands didn’t sound bad either. Pulling into Cassidy’s driveway, Jon put the truck in park and stopped Cassidy from exiting, cool eyes glaring back at him.

“I don’t wanna start this off with you pissed at me, Cass. I’m sorry I didn’t stop for you, but I didn’t think it was necessary or logical to pay out the ass for a room. We’re here now; you can relax and sleep as much as you want.” It was a little after 3 AM on Tuesday and they had the rest of the day to recuperate from the long trip.

It was obvious Jon had been in a hurry to get back to Tampa and, for the life of her, Cassidy couldn’t stay mad at him. “It’s fine. I’m just really tired and cranky. I haven’t been on a long drive like that in years.” The last time had been when her father decided to take the whole family to Disney World and they drove the entire way, only stopping for bathroom breaks and food. “Grab the bags and crawl into bed with me.”

She kissed him briefly and hopped out of the truck, heading straight up the stairs to unlock the door. Jon could tell Cassidy was bushed and didn’t argue, just did what he was told. He set the bags by the front door and headed straight for the bedroom, peeling off his shirt. Cassidy hadn’t bothered changing out of her clothes and laid on her stomach in bed, eyes closed. Smirking, Jon kneeled on the bed and slid his hand up her leg until he reached the button on her jeans, unsnapping them. She didn’t move an inch and let Jon peel them from her body, arms remaining at her sides. Even if she wanted to fight him off, there was absolutely no strength in her to do so. As tired as Jon was, the sight of Cassidy was too tempting and he could already feel his jeans tightening. She sighed when Jon lifted her shirt up to run his tongue up the length of her back, smiling gently. She couldn’t believe after a 15 hour drive he wanted a round and wondered if she had enough strength to give it to him. His warm hands slid down her sides, causing instant goose bumps to develop on her body and Jon felt them. He continued licking and kissing up her back, nipping her neck through strawberry blonde tresses.

“Jon…”

“Ssshhh…” Jon's mouth hovered over her ear, hot breath caking it and felt her shiver against him. “Just relax and enjoy this, Cass…”

Obeying, Cassidy stayed exactly where she was until Jon wrapped one arm around her, lifting her up until her back pressed against his chest. He whispered a command to lift her arms and Cassidy did, her shirt disappearing moments later. Then her bra followed as Jon pushed her gently back down on the bed, his hands massaging her outer thighs while teeth nipped her lower back. Her panties joined the rest of her clothing moments later, followed by the sound of Jon’s zipper on his jeans sliding down resonating around the room. Climbing behind her, Jon pulled Cassidy to spoon against his body, moving her leg to drape over his and arched her body slightly. Cassidy gasped at the feeling of Jon filling her with his throbbing cock and it pulsated against her walls as they expanded to accommodate his size. Jon had to fight to maintain control, gritting his teeth and buried his face in her neck, wrapping one secure arm around her waist. Brushing her hair to the side, his mouth sealed to her succulent flesh and Cassidy completely melted against him.

Jon was in no hurry and wanted this to last, his hips methodically thrusting up to delve deeper in her wet sex. Satisfying moans spilled from her lips and Cassidy slid her hand down Jon’s arm until their fingers entwined together, his thumb stroking her swollen nub feather lightly. It drove her crazy and he knew it. Every thrust Jon produced was slow and sensual, making Cassidy’s world spin off its axis. Turning her head, Jon’s mouth found hers briefly before going back to attacking her neck, never increasing the pace of his thrusts. Cassidy had tried pushing back against him to make him go faster, but Jon was unwavering and moved his hand up her flat stomach to her voluptuous breasts. Her body arched as soon as he lightly tweaked her nipples, alternating between them while his mouth found the spot below her ear.

All the sensations and heightened amount of ecstasy flowing through her body was too much for Cassidy’s tired body. She had no reason to fight off her climax and reached behind her to bury her fingers in Jon’s curls, her entire body tensing. Jon could feel it, increasing the pressure slightly to give his thrusts more power. Before long, Cassidy completely fell apart in his arms and cried out his name, the one sound Jon would never tire of hearing. Jon continued rocking his hips, riding out her first orgasm and sank his teeth in the back of her neck, wanting to leave some kind of mark on her. She was his. She belonged to him and nobody else. It would take a while, but Jon would eventually claim every part and piece of Cassidy, including her heart. That’s what he wanted most. Growling, Jon delivered a few more thrusts and finally exploded inside of her, triggering a second orgasm to ripple through her body.

“Mine!” Jon snarled, hoping Cassidy realized what she’d gotten herself into the moment she agreed to be his.

With sporadic breathing and a pounding heart, Jon went completely limp inside of Cassidy and reluctantly slid out of her body, immediately pulling her against him. Their bodies molded together perfectly; it honestly felt like Cassidy was specifically made for him. Cassidy just laid there trying to regulate her breathing and heart rate, both coated in a thin sheen of perspiration. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this satisfied or had this much sex in her life, suddenly realizing she never had. Cassidy wasn’t a virgin by any means, but the few men she had slept with hadn’t measured up to her standards. Jon was turning her into a sex fiend and Cassidy enjoyed it; if it was possible, she wanted Jon buried inside of her 24 hours, 7 days a week. His appetite was insatiable and slowly but surely, he was heightening Cassidy’s sex drive that’d been low for quite some time until he came along.

“NOW we can sleep.” Jon informed her in a husky rasp, nipping her neck and chuckled when all Cassidy could do was nod.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything, but sleep does sound wonderful.” Cassidy murmured, managing to turn her head and accepted a soft kiss from Jon. “Get some rest and I’ll pay you back later on.”

“Looking forward to it.” Jon inhaled her scent as his eyes closed, his entire body relaxing after that workout. “Good night, Cass.”

“Night Jon.”

12 hours later, Cassidy finally pried her eyes open as the sound of shuffling and yawned, managing to look at the blurry clock. It was 7 PM. “Jon, what’s going on?” She murmured, rubbing her tired eyes and her vision came into focus at the sight of Jon dressing hastily.

“There’s a fucking fire and I gotta go.” Jon sharply informed her, sitting on the bed to put his boots on. “I just got the call. And they need me. There are hamburgers on the counter that I made earlier.” He’d been up for a while and let Cassidy sleep in, knowing she needed it.

“How long have you been up?” Cassidy asked quietly, slowly slipping from bed and felt like she could sleep another 12 hours. This was worse than jetlag.

“A few hours, 4 I think.” Jon shrugged, standing up once his boots were tied and turned to face her, eyes darkening slightly at the sight of her naked body. “When I get home tonight, be prepared for another round, darlin’.”

Cassidy giggled softly, nodding and stood up to grab her robe, tying it around her body. “I’ll be naked in bed waiting for you.” She grabbed Jon’s hand before he could walk out of the room, azure eyes full of concern. “Please be careful.”

Jon nodded, pulling her into his arms and kissed her passionately, giving her something to remember him by. “Just be ready for me.” He ran his finger down her cheek and sighed, knowing he had to leave before the Captain had his balls in a vise. “Make sure you eat too.”

“I will, now get out of here.” Cassidy shoved him gently but firmly toward the bedroom door. “See you tonight.”

Jon gave her one last lingering look, hating his decision to inform Joe he was back a day early and headed out. All he wanted to do was spend time with Cassidy, but that wasn’t meant to be. Lives were at stake and Jon knew he wouldn’t have been paged unless the fire was dangerous. Hopping into his truck, Jon pulled out of there and raced to the fire station as fast as he could, hoping this wasn’t an all-night ordeal. The first thing Cassidy did was hop in the shower, desperately needing one to wash away all the grime from the trip. After that, she stepped out and brushed her hair and teeth, dressing in a pair of comfortable white cotton shorts and a matching camisole before heading out to eat whatever Jon made. Once she was done with dinner, Cassidy cleaned up and felt drained, deciding she would head back to bed until Jon returned.

Only, she never made it.

“Going somewhere?”

Cassidy whipped around with wide eyes at the sound of that voice and swallowed hard at the sight of the black masked man who tried shish kebabing her. The hit man. Not thinking twice about it, Cassidy made a run for the home phone and barely dodged the hit man when he leapt at her. She didn’t waste time and jumped over the couch speed dialing Randy, hearing the phone ring in her ear. That was as far as Cassidy got as the hit man tackled her to the kitchen floor, the phone sliding out of her hand under the kitchen table.

“You stupid bitch!” The man growled, backhanding her across the face and ignored her squirming body, enjoying the feeling.

“GET OFF OF ME!!” Cassidy shrieked, twisting and torqueing her body, trying to buck the hit man off of her, but it was no use.

He was a lot bigger than her, but that wouldn’t stop Cassidy from fighting until her dying breath. Burying his gloved fingers in her wet strawberry blonde tresses, the hit man proceeded to rip her up on her feet before backhanding her again. Cassidy hit the floor with a hard thud, rolling over while holding her cheek and cried out when the hit man nailed her right in the stomach with his steel toed boot. She lost count how many times he kicked her, every blow harder than the first and Cassidy tried curling away from him, trying to get some kind of reprieve. Lifting her up by the hair again, the hit man’s cold eyes locked with hazy azure as he twisted her around, pressing her back against his chest.

“It didn’t have to be this way, Cassidy.” He grunted in her ear, pulling something sharp out of his black leather jacket.

Somehow, Cassidy sensed what he was going to do and saw the flash of silver out of the corner of her eye, immediately reacting out of instinct. “Fuck you.”

She then slammed her head back against his face as hard as she could and cracked him in the nose, falling to the floor in a heap. Her face was puffy from the backhands and Cassidy could feel blood seeping into her mouth, from internal injuries no doubt. It was hard to breathe as she clutched her stomach, trying to crawl away from the hit man, tears flowing from her eyes. Then a searing pain ignited in her lower right side and Cassidy screamed out, more blood pooling in her mouth. Her body was yanked up roughly against the hit man and he twisted the dagger in her side. Cassidy couldn’t scream out, darkness slowly enveloping her.

“Wrong move, sweetness.” The hit man snarled angrily, ignoring his throbbing nose and ripped the dagger out of her side, shoving her body harshly to the kitchen floor.

A pool of blood formed around Cassidy as sirens sounded in the distance, causing the hit man’s eyes to widen. He looked over at the phone she had in her hand and grabbed it from beneath the table, cursing. The bitch had managed to speed dial someone and they’d listened to the whole attack or heard most of it! Refusing to leave without a souvenir to remember Cassidy by, he proceeded to rip a strand of her strawberry blonde hair from her head and placed it in a napkin he grabbed from the kitchen island, slipping it into his pocket. With his job completed, the hit man had to get out of there fast, dropping the phone and kicked Cassidy one final time before exiting, leaving her there. The front door burst open moments later as Randy had his gun drawn and paramedics stood right behind him, but he had to make sure the coast was clear first. He didn’t want any of them getting injured. The hit man was right. Randy had heard every word of the attack and called 911, rushing over here as fast as he could. Cassidy was smart; she had him on speed dial and had done exactly what she was supposed to do.

“Cassidy!!” Randy shouted, waving his hand over and the paramedics instantly got to work on her while he checked the rest of the house.

The paramedics covered the stab wound on her right side so no more blood could leave her body before lifting Cassidy on a gurney, blood filling her breathing mask. “We have to get her to the hospital NOW!” One stated, all 3 lifting her onto a stretcher and wheeled her quickly out of the house.

Randy immediately called Chief Lawler to explain what happened and then Jonathan Good, leaving him a voicemail to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

Chapter 42

Who the hell would light a gas station on fire?

Jon felt drained after spending the majority of the night battling a fire, barely stopping the place from exploding. Luckily, the only person that needed saving was the late night attendant. He’d been tied down in his chair with thick rope, the same rope Jon had to cut to free Cassidy during the Tampa Bay Times’ fire. Not thinking anything of it at the time, Jon now had a minute and realized just how similar the two situations were.

“Everyone did good tonight. Go home and rest now.” Captain Layfield headed into the fire station to do some paperwork, one of the many joys of his job.

Joe noticed a change in Jon tonight and couldn’t keep his mouth shut about it. “You didn’t rush into the building without thinking and took the Captain’s orders. What gives?” He demanded, both of them walking up to change out of their gear.

Jon quirked a brow slowly at his best friend and wasn’t sure if he should take offense to that. “It was a gas station and I had to make sure I wouldn’t be blown sky-high.” He said simply, shaking his head.

“No, there’s something else and I have a feeling it has to do with a certain strawberry blonde you’ve been ‘protecting’.” Joe didn’t buy that lame excuse for a second, knowing exactly who was responsible for Jon’s attitude adjustment.

“And what if it is?” Jon shot back scathingly, fighting the urge to plow his fist into Joe’s smug face. “You gotta problem with that?”

“Not at all. I just hope whatever she’s doing, she keeps it up. I like this version of you much better.” Joe clapped him on the back. “So how was the trip?”

Jon took the gear off, not answering at first and hung it up on the racks provided, finally sagging down on the cot. “I told her everything.” He admitted quietly, sliding the bandana from his head. “She told me I didn’t have to tell her if I wasn’t ready and she’d be with me regardless. So I told her. Still can’t believe I have a girlfriend now.” He sounded dumbfounded, always believing he would never be good or strong enough for just one woman.

Apparently he was.

“So it’s official then?” Joe grinned from ear to ear, suddenly hugging Jon tightly around the neck in a brotherly embrace. “I’m happy for you, Jon. Trista is gonna be thrilled and so is Elissa.”

Jon didn’t shove him away like he normally would have, instead hugging him back and broke the embrace a few seconds later, clearing his throat. “Yeah well, she’s worth it. So if you’re wondering why I wasn’t gung-ho to put my life on the line tonight in that fire, she’s the reason.”

“I know.” Joe chuckled, hanging up his own gear and couldn’t wipe the goofy smile off his face for nothing.

Once dressed in jeans and a muscle shirt, Jon whipped his cell phone out to see if he had any messages, seeing he had one. It wasn’t from Cassidy though. The number was unrecognizable, so Jon was mildly curious who it was and pressed the voicemail button, hearing shuffling followed by Randy Orton’s voice.

“Jon Good, this is Officer Randy Orton and…” He sounded saddened and angry at the same time, his voice shaking a little. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…something happened tonight. You need to get to Tampa General immediately.” His voice cracked on the last word and the voicemail ended.

Jon stood there completely stunned and stared at the phone, wondering if this was some sick joke. It wasn’t and he knew it. Joe noticed the look on Jon’s face and immediately told Trista to hang on, having called to let her know he was on his way home in a few minutes. Turning stark white, Jon trembled from head to toe, his hand squeezing the cell phone almost to the point of breaking it.

“Jon, man what’s going on?” Joe reached out to touch him, but Jon stepped back instantly and he could see tears in his best friend’s pale blues. “Jon?”

“I-I have to get out of here.” His voice was a whispery rasp, finally snapping out of his shell-shocked state and headed for the door, growling when Joe stopped him. “LET GO OF ME!!”

“Jon, what the hell is going on?” Joe called, following Jon out of the door just as Colby and Windham walked up, both of them concerned. “You’re not driving like this! Think of Cassidy!”

“I AM!!” Jon roared, suddenly driving his fist full force into the nearest wall and felt every part of him fill with indescribable agony. “I have to get to the hospital.” His voice had lowered to a bone chilling tone, deceptively calm. That was never a good sign with Jon.

Colby looked at Joe, both of them agreeing silently he wouldn’t be driving to the hospital alone. “Come on, Good. We’ll drive you. We’ll all go.” He coaxed, hoping Jon didn’t fight them on this and watched as the man merely nodded, heading toward the exit.

Joe sent Trista a message to get to Tampa General while Colby did the same thing with Elissa, knowing the girls would want to check on Cassidy. He refused to leave Jon’s side and took him to his truck, guiding him into the passenger seat. Colby and Windham followed in Colby’s red Escalade, heading toward the hospital with grim faces. Just from the way Jon reacted as soon as Joe mentioned Cassidy’s name, they all knew she was the reason for going to the hospital. Jon was completely silent the whole ride there, sending silent prayers above that Cassidy was alright. He hopped out before Joe could stop the truck completely and ran inside the emergency room doors, heading straight for the nurse’s station. The nurse, Candy, looked up at the infamous fireman named Jonathan Good coming toward her and swallowed hard, hoping she had the answers he was looking for.

“I’m looking for Cassidy Irons.” Jon stated in a rush of words with panic-filled eyes, staring a hole through the woman. “Where is she?”

“I - umm…”

“WHERE IS SHE?”

“Jon, calm down.” A voice ordered from behind, making Jon whip around and locked eyes with a dark haired man with mystic blue eyes.

“Who the hell are you?” Then it dawned on Jon who left him the voicemail about Cassidy. “Randy Orton?”

Randy nodded, walking over and extended his hand, looking solemn. “Nice to meet you finally, though I wish it was under better circumstances.” He noticed several other men enter the hospital and could tell they were all firemen, recognizing them.

“Likewise, where’s my girlfriend?” Jon demanded gruffly, pulling his hand out of Randy’s and felt Joe walk up to stand beside him. “I want to see her.”

Randy sighed heavily. “Walk with me. All of you.” He added, turning away from the nurse’s station and held his hand up to the nurse when she went to open her mouth. “Cassidy was attacked tonight by the hit man, Jon.”

That was obvious, Jon thought bitterly, kicking himself for answering the fire call. “How bad?” He braced himself for the worst and that included hearing the word dead come out of Randy’s mouth. The officer would be socked in the jaw if it did.

“She’s alive…barely.” Randy informed him, keeping his voice low and scrubbed a hand down his face. “She managed to call me from the house before the hit man got his hands on her. So I heard everything, including his voice. She fought hard.”

“Get to the fucking point.” Jon didn’t want to hear any of that, his primary focus being what kind of condition Cassidy was in.

Randy didn’t take offense to his tone, knowing Jon was worried. “According to the doctor, she was taken into emergency surgery to repair her liver. She was stabbed and there was excessive damage done. She was beaten to the point of having broken ribs. 3 as far as the doctors can tell and one of the ribs snapped almost completely off, puncturing her lung. Her lung collapsed during surgery, so they had to perform a thoracotomy to help her breathe again. They also had to intubate her for the surgery and she’s been put in a medically induced coma so her body heals from the injuries. She has contusions, her face is heavily bruised along with the rest of her body. She’s lucky to be alive, Jon.”

Jon could hardly breathe and swayed a little, feeling Joe’s arm wrap around his waist to steady him. “Where is she?” He whispered, feeling sick to his stomach and just wanted to see Cassidy was alive for himself, refusing to take anyone else’s word for it.

“Jon, there’s something else you need to know before you see her.” Randy really hated being the one to tell him this, but the doctor had to rush off for another surgery. Not to mention he hadn’t left Cassidy’s side since he arrived at the hospital, which was close to 12 hours ago.

“What do you mean?” Jon wasn’t sure if he could handle hearing anymore and let Joe push him down to sit in a chair, Randy taking the seat beside him. “What else could there be?”

Closing his eyes, Randy lowered his head and hated this part of his job, even though Cassidy was a personal case because of Peyton. “When she was brought in, they examined her and did a rape kit. She wasn’t raped, thankfully. But…they did a pregnancy test and…”

Jon’s head snapped up as soon as Randy said those two words, paling even more and shook his head, cutting him off. “No.” He stood up, trying to wrap his mind around everything that happened to Cassidy. “Don’t say it. Don’t you DARE say that shit.”

Joe gaped along with Colby and Windham, all of them staring at Randy with wide eyes, immediately piecing it together. “She was...?”

“DON’T SAY IT!!” Jon thundered, picking up the nearest trashcan and hurled it down the hallway, pure rage radiating off of him.

Tears streamed down his face as Jon dropped to his knees, banging his closed fists against the floor. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true! There was no way Cassidy could’ve been pregnant, not this soon! They’d only had sex a couple of times and…Jon felt the bile rise in his throat and immediately vomited all over the floor, not able to hold it back. Randy called for help and some nurses helped Jon from the floor, sitting him down while they cleaned up the mess. All Jon could do was sit there staring straight ahead, trembling violently and let the tears flow. He was grieving for the loss of his unborn child and for what happened to Cassidy. The guilt immediately swallowed him whole, just like it had when his parents died because of a fire he started. No matter what anyone said, this was his fault for choosing work over protecting the woman that had shown him what happiness was.

“I have to see her.” Jon wiped his tears away angrily and stood up from the chair, walking away from everyone down the hallway. He would find her room without any help.

They were on the ICU floor and Jon found Cassidy soon enough, staring through the window at her. She looked horrible and Jon had a feeling she wouldn’t make it. She wouldn’t survive this. Who could? Lowering his head, Jon stepped into her room and paused in the doorway, sucking in a sharp breath. Peyton sat at Cassidy’s bedside holding her hand with tears sliding down her cheeks silently. She looked up when the door opened and immediately looked away at the sight of Jon, her eyes locking back on Cassidy.

Jon didn’t care who was in the room and slowly walked toward Cassidy’s bed, staring down at her with silent tears of his own. Her face was painted black and blue, bottom lip cut. She had tubes in her nose and throat, chest rising and falling very slowly while a heart monitor beeped every few seconds. An IV was in her hand attached to a bag of water to keep her hydrated, taped heavily. The rest of her was covered with blankets, her body propped up slightly because sleeping completely flat wouldn’t be good since she had surgery.

“Cass…” Jon whispered, reaching out to run a finger very lightly down her bruised cheek and felt his heart shatter in his chest, slowly dropping to his knees again. “I-I’m so sorry, darlin’…”

Peyton witnessed this and didn’t say a word. Nothing could be said. She couldn’t believe Cassidy had been pregnant, already knowing Jon had been the father. Her heart broke for both of them because Cassidy had told Peyton how strongly she felt for this volatile man that saved her life. She finally saw how much Jon cared for her friend as well just by the way he reacted to seeing her in this condition, his hand covering hers.

“Jon, can I talk to you for a second?” Randy asked from the doorway, hating to pull him away from Cassidy, but he had some information he knew Jon would be interested in.

“I’m not leaving her.” Jon stated in a rough voice, taking a seat beside her and couldn’t pull his eyes away. “We can talk in here.”

Randy nodded, respecting his wishes and closed the door. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but…the doctor found some blood in Cassidy’s hair and it’s from the hit man. We finally have a DNA sample and should have some answers very soon. Whoever did this to her is not getting away with it, not this time. You got my word on that.”

“Good because, if you don’t find him and I do, I’ll be going to prison for murder.” Jon vowed darkly, making it clear to Randy that he had one chance to catch the hit man or else he’d be going hunting with his friends.

Randy got the message loud and clear, walking over to place a hand on Peyton’s shoulder. She was broken up about this. “How about we go get some coffee and give him a few minutes alone with her?” He suggested quietly, already pulling her up from the chair by her hand. “Come on Pey, just a few minutes…”

Peyton went to argue with him, but the heartbroken look on Jon’s face made her clamp it shut. “Fine.” She grunted, storming out of the room with Randy following, closing the door behind him gently.

“I swear to you, Cass, we will find who did this to you and our…baby…” Jon broke down, burying his face in her lap and to the silence, not sure how he’d get through this if Cassidy died. “Just hang in there for me, darlin’. Don’t leave me, Cassidy…please…”

Chapter 43

Rubbing temples, Randy stared down at the photos he’d gotten from the crime scene at Cassidy’s house, trying to piece this annoying puzzle together. It’d been a week since the attack and Cassidy was healing beautifully, though she hadn’t woken up yet. The doctor stopped the medically induced coma and wanted to see if she would wake up on her own. He did warn everyone Cassidy could stay in a coma for a while until her body fully healed from everything that happened to her. Peyton was a complete mess and stayed up at the hospital whenever she didn’t have to work, so Randy didn’t see much of her. He tried going up there to be with her as much as he could, but his primary focus was finding the hit man and stopping him.

The DNA testing hadn’t come back yet from the lab regarding the blood found in Cassidy’s hair, which frustrated Randy to no end. He put a rush on it, but apparently the forensics were ignoring him and doing it on their own time. Pushing the pictures away, Randy stood up and had to walk away from them before he let his frustrations takeover all rationality. They would find the hit man. It was just a matter of patience. He couldn’t let Chief Lawler know this case was personal to him, even if he already knew. Randy had to keep everything professional. If he didn’t, he’d be taken off the case and that couldn’t happen. He’d let Peyton and Cassidy down twice, a third time was not an option. Randy broke out of his thoughts when a knock sounded at his office door and Chief Lawler stepped inside.

“Hey chief.” He greeted evenly, walking back over to sit at his desk with pictures strewn all over it.

Chief Lawler glanced at the pictures and then at his Officer. “Orton, came to tell you that we’ve hired a detective for Miss Irons’ case.” He moved to the side as a huge bulky man stepped through the door, causing Randy to instantly stand. “This is Detective Dave Bautista. Bautista, this is Officer Randy Orton. He’s been on Cassidy Irons’ case since the first attack.” That was his way of introducing them to each other.

“Who is this, Chief Lawler? How come you’re putting him on Cassidy’s case?” Randy had to ask, trying to not to sound demanding, but he was cranky and irritable, the guilt eating away at him.

“Dave knows who we’re dealing with.” Chief Lawler said with a smirk, not fazed by Randy’s tone and knew the man was exhausted in all forms. “I want this son of a bitch found and I want him found yesterday, do you both understand?”

“Crystal.” Dave’s deep baritone resonated around the room and he peered down at the pictures on Randy’s desk.

Randy wasn’t sure if he liked this, but really had no choice as Chief Lawler left the room, leaving both of them alone. “So cut to the chase, what did he mean you know who we’re dealing with?” He demanded, already picking the pictures up and putting them in a neat pile.

“Because he killed my sister.” Dave stated, brown eyes darkening slightly at the memory of Savannah and gritted his teeth angrily. “He murdered her much the same way Irons was attacked, only she didn’t get medical attention fast enough. I’ve been after him for a while.”

“He’s a hit man, so why did he go after her?” Randy pried, not caring if it was personal to this man or not. “Because if you’re just here for your own personal agenda…”

“I assure you I’m not. That’s just part of it. This bastard has to be stopped once and for all before any other innocent women end up dead.” Dave stated somewhat heatedly, his tone warning this police officer not to test his temper. “Now then, I also know several other murders linked with my sister’s. All of them were young women and had been part of a strip joint in town called Shady’s. Is Irons associated with that place at all?” Dave hadn’t fully looked over her file when he’d gotten the call, just packed up and left Orlando, where he currently resided.

“No, she’s a journalist for the Tampa Bay Times.” Randy informed him, handing over the file with all of Cassidy’s information in it. “Why do you ask?”

“Because the owner is a real scumbag and I fully believe he sent this hit man after the girls who refused to fuck him.” Dave’s voice filled with disgust, the mere thought of that asshole lighting his blood on fire. “His name is Cody Rhodes. I’ve heard that he’s been visiting the Levesque’s frequently because they help fund his…business.”

This was new to Randy. “So you’re saying the Levesque’s have a hand in the strip joint?”

“More or less, why else would Rhodes visit the Mayor’s mansion?”

Randy didn’t have an answer, blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Cassidy had a theory a while back, but I ignored it. I’m wondering if she might’ve been right.”

“About?” Dave pressed, raising a dark black brow.

“She believes Mayor Levesque hired this hit man to come after her.” Randy wished he hadn’t brushed that detail off because it could’ve saved them all, including her, a lot of misery and pain. “You don’t think-”

“Let me read over her file and get back to you, Orton.” Dave left without another word, keeping everything he said in the back of his mind.

~!~

“Do you think Cassidy will ever wake up?” Trista asked Joe while they sat on the couch watching a movie, just trying to get their mind off everything for a little while.

“I don’t know.” Joe answered honestly, frowning. “If she doesn’t, I don’t know what Jon is gonna do. She was the reason he came out of his funk and started feeling again for the first time in 28 years. If she…”

“She’s not going anywhere.” Trista pressed a finger to his lips, shaking her head. “Don’t think like that, Joe.”

Joe stared into her beautiful hazel eyes and ran a finger down her cheek, kissing her finger. “I don’t know what I’d do if something like that happened to you, baby girl.” He meant it and suddenly cupped her face in his strong hands, forcing their gaze not to break. “I love you, Trista.”

Trista blinked and immediately tried pulling away from him, simply closing her eyes. “Joe, please…”

“No damn it, look at me right now!” Joe ordered in a growl, watching as her eyes snapped open again. “I LOVE you. I’ve waited long enough to tell you. I’ve been in love with you since before we had our romp behind your bar.” He smirked at the memory. “You mean everything to me and I refuse to keep my emotions bottled up.”

“But…”

“Do you love me or not, Trista?” Joe demanded, releasing her and grabbed her hands in his, squeezing them firmly. “Because if you don’t, then what the hell are we doing here?”

Trista opened and closed her mouth several times, but no words would come out. Did she love Joe? Trista had questioned herself multiple times since Joe told her they’d be married someday. That was a few months ago. Now here she was, staring into his amazing warm greys and automatically knew what her answer was.

“Yes.” She whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Yes jackass, okay?” Trista ripped her hands out of his and buried her face in them, hunched over.

“You don’t sound happy about it…” Joe pointed out, feeling his stomach clench and hoped he hadn’t just lost the best thing that ever happened to him. “Trista…”

“Give me a minute, please.” Trista had never said the L word to a man before, so this was a little daunting and she had to wrap her mind around it.

Joe gave her exactly 5 minutes and then pulled her to straddle his lap, resting his hands on her hips. “Now say it.” He ordered, gently gripping her chin in his strong hand while kneading her side with the other one. “I want to hear you say it, Trista.”

Trista felt her mouth go dry, her heart pounding a furious tattoo against her chest and heaved a sigh. “I love you, Joe.” She whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment and let him capture her mouth with his in an explosive kiss.

~!~

Elissa finished cleaning up the dinner dishes from the kids, having sent them all to bed for school in the morning, when the front door opened. It was Colby. He had gone to the hospital to visit Jon after working at the fire station to check up on him. The guys had all pitched in to take over Jon’s shifts until Cassidy decided to wake up. All Elissa wanted was for Cassidy to open her eyes and let everyone know she would pull through this, but only her body knew when that time would come.

“Hey Lissa.” Colby greeted tiredly, walking into the kitchen to kiss the top of her head.

“Hey handsome.” She greeted softly, both of them saddened over what transpired recently. “How are Jon and Cassidy?”

“Same.” Colby grabbed a beer out of the fridge, needing one after the visit with Jon. “He won’t leave her side.”

Elissa understood that, nodding. “He loves her.” It wasn’t a question and, even though that word was foreign to Jon, Elissa wasn’t afraid to say it with just her husband present. “And she loves him too.”

Colby couldn’t disagree with those sentiments, seeing all the determination and devotion in Jon’s eyes. “Yeah, I just hope she can pull through this.” He didn’t know how strong Jon would be if Cassidy died. “He’s one tough son of a bitch.”

“She will. Don’t go pulling that ‘what if’ shit on me, Colby Lopez.” Elissa scolded softly, wiping the counter down with a towel. “Cassidy is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. She will pull through this. Her body just needs time to heal and, with Jon beside her, that asshole won’t be able to finish the job.” She’d kept in contact with Peyton over the past week while Cassidy remained in a coma, getting updates making sure to ask if there was anything she could do.

“Sorry.” He muttered, taking a long swig of his beer and shook his head when Elissa offered some food. “Not hungry.”

“Colby, I know you and Jon are friends, but that gives you no right to not take care of yourself.” She set a plate of food in front of him even if he didn’t want it. “Now eat.”

Rolling his eyes at his wife’s imperiousness, Colby chomped down on the Italian beef sandwich, barely tasting it. As wonderful as his wife’s cooking was, Colby just didn’t have an appetite, not after seeing Cassidy laid up in a hospital bed. Still, he knew Elissa was right and the fire station needed him along with his family, suddenly pulling her to sit sideways on his lap.

“I love you, you know that right?” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and held Elissa close, never wanting to lose her. “I don’t know what I’d do if…”

“Don’t finish that statement because nothing will.” Elissa cut him off immediately, bringing his face up until their eyes met and brushed her lips against his. “I love you, Colby. Never forget that.”

“I won’t.” Colby proceeded to let Elissa feed him the rest of the sandwich, knowing she was worried about him maintaining good health.

After he ate, Colby carted his wife upstairs to make love to her, deciding he would be spending a lot more time with her in the future.

~!~

Peyton sat at home alone looking at pictures of her and Cassidy, trying to keep the faith and hope alive that her best friend would wake up. It was hard though as the days went by. Adam had given her a few weeks off to get her head on straight and so she could help Jon with whatever he needed. Nothing major was going on with the Gulf situation currently, so Peyton didn’t feel guilty for taking that time off. A knock sounded at her door, causing Peyton’s head to snap up and immediately grabbed her small gun, scared to death after what happened to Cassidy. She was on edge and paranoid; two things that didn’t set well with Peyton. Peyton would blow a head clean off before being brutalized the way Cassidy was. Clicking the trigger back, Peyton slowly crept toward the door with a rapidly beating heart and swallowed hard.

“Who is it?” Peyton called through the door, immediately lowering her gun as soon as Randy’s voice was heard. “Oh thank god…”

Randy blinked at the sight of a gun in Peyton’s hand when she opened the door, immediately pulling her into his arms and could feel her shaking from head to toe. “Relax.” He whispered, prying the gun from her hand and knew she was scared out of her mind right now. Not that he blamed her. “You’re perfectly safe, Pey.”

“For now.” She muttered against his chest, inhaling his scent and slowly pulled back to look up in his blue eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you and make sure you were alright. Is that a crime?” Randy retorted with a small smile, running a finger down her cheek. “Or do I need a better reason to come see you?”

Peyton couldn’t laugh or smile back, tears swelling in her eyes and hated feeling the way she did. “I’m terrified he’ll come for me next, Randy. I’m associated with the Tampa Bay Times. What if…” Randy pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her instantly.

“I will NEVER let anything happen to you.” He assured her, his tone firm and final, meaning every word that came out of his mouth. “You know what? Fuck this. Pack your stuff.” Randy walked past her into the apartment toward the bedroom.

“W-What?” Peyton stammered, following him after bolting the door shut again, wondering what he meant. “Randy…”

“Peyton, I love you. I know I haven’t said it, but I do. And I refuse to let you sit at home night after night terrified that someone is gonna hurt you. I have a 2 bedroom house with a state of the art security system. And it’s empty because I’m constantly at work. It needs a woman’s touch.” His blue eyes met hers, hoping she received the message. “Now pack.”

Peyton gaped, her mouth dropping open. “Y-You-Are you asking me…?” She was having a hard time forming a coherent sentence, breathing a little heavier.

“I’m not asking you anything. You’re leaving this shitty apartment and moving in with me because I love you and I’m not taking no for an answer. If you want to get married, we’ll get married. But one way or another, you’re coming with me tonight.” Randy took a breath, having said all of that in a rush without taking a breath. “Now, do you have a problem with any of that or not?”

Peyton answered by walking over and brought his mouth to hers, passionately kissing him. “I love you too.” She whispered, releasing him and proceeded to pack up her things.

An hour later, Peyton was on her way to Randy’s house, both of them deciding to get the rest of her things later.

Chapter 44

Jon would never forget the day Cassidy opened her eyes again as long as he lived.

Day 10 is when it happened. Jon sat in the chair he occupied since finding out about Cassidy and rarely left it. The staff was kind enough to bring him sustenance from different fast food places since he refused to leave. Colby and Joe alternated bringing him clothes from Cassidy’s, not wanting to go to his apartment because it was on the dangerous side of Tampa. Jon didn’t blame them and was grateful to have friends willing to help when he needed it most. After 5 days of Cassidy being intubated, she was finally able to breathe on her own and the doctor didn’t waste time extubating her. It was a good sign everything was healing as it should. The doctor stopped forcing the medically induced coma, wanting Cassidy to wake up on her own. They kept the IV in to keep her hydrated and a nurse came in every day to give her a small rubdown, keeping the circulation going.

All Jon could do was watch her, feeling completely destitute and wondered if he’d ever see her beautiful eyes again. Cassidy had the most unique shade of blue eyes he’d ever seen on a woman. They were one of a kind, just like her. He hadn’t heard anything regarding finding the hit man that murdered their unborn child and nearly killed Cassidy. Jon was growing increasingly impatient. He slept when he could, though Jon hadn’t gotten a solid 8 hours of sleep since the cot the hospital provided was too uncomfortable. Jon managed to get 4 if he was lucky, no nightmares thankfully. That was contributed to him finally opening up and confessing the past to Cassidy, he was sure of it. She was his savior just as he’d been hers, both of them saving each other in different ways. Cassidy had to make it through this or Jon wouldn’t make it, not this time.

They had visitors, including Trish and Madelyn, who brought a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Madelyn sat and talked with Jon for a while, managing to pull him away from Cassidy momentarily. She was a very intriguing little girl, especially with how animated she spoke. Trish felt terrible for what happened and still blamed herself, but Jon assured her it wasn’t her fault. He was more conversational these days, another change Cassidy was responsible for. It was a cool Wednesday afternoon in the second week of December, the temperatures mild. The window was open to let some fresh air throughout the room and Jon had dozed off in his chair, his hand over Cassidy’s. His head was lulled back against the seat, ESPN on the television and suddenly the heart monitor began picking up speed more than normal.

Cassidy’s hand twitched slightly against Jon’s, though it wasn’t enough to alert him of anything happening; her eyelids moving slightly. Her body felt like it’d been hit by a truck, especially her sides and abdomen. Most of the bruising on her face had faded into yellow patches along with her split lip. She hissed out a breath and finally managed to pry her eyes open, vision incredibly blurry at first. The first thing Cassidy noticed was the IV in her hand heavily taped, gaze moving up to see the bag of water and then the huge hand covering hers. A small curve of her lips that could’ve been a smile formed as Cassidy looked over at him, tears instantly stinging her eyes. He was here with her and looked terrible, dark circles around his eyes very visible. She wanted to wake him up, but decided against it, knowing Jon needed to rest and continued looking around the room.

Just by the beeping machines, IV in her hand, tubes up her nose and the sterile smell that filtered her nostrils, Cassidy knew she was in a hospital. She had no idea how long though. Grimacing as a small stab of pain shot through her side, Cassidy swallowed hard and let a groan escape her mouth, throat feeling drier than a desert. Even though water flowed into her body from the IV bag, it did nothing to stem the burning in her throat currently and Cassidy would’ve killed for a glass of ice water at that moment. Being a light sleeper these days, as soon as Jon heard that groan, his eyes shot open and he sat upright in the chair, gaping at Cassidy. She was awake. Her beautiful azure eyes locked with his as soon as she turned her head and Jon couldn’t breathe suddenly, his heart threatening to explode out of his chest. She’d come back to him.

“Thank god.” He breathed when he found his voice, immediately standing up to tower over her with concerned eyes. “Cass…”

“Hey.” She croaked out, immediately regretting that and coughed, grimacing since her abdomen gave her another reminder of her severe injury. “W-Water…”

Jon did one better and immediately rushed to the door, nearly ripping it off its hinges. “I NEED A DOCTOR IN HERE!!” He bellowed at the top of his lungs. “AND WATER!!”

In spite of her pain, Cassidy couldn’t help chuckling very lightly at Jon and wheezed a little, leaning back against her pillow staring up at the ceiling. The doctor walked in moments later and grinned at his patient, immediately doing the examination. Jon retrieved the water she requested, helping her sip it slowly without getting in the doctor’s way too much. He honestly couldn’t believe she woke up and knew he had a billion calls to make as soon as Cassidy was up for visitors.

“So how is she?” Jon demanded once the doctor finally finished, holding Cassidy’s hand.

“You’re healing well, Cassidy.” Doctor Magma stated, reaching over to pat her leg gently. “You still have a long way to go though, at least another week possibly 2 in here.”

“What happened to me?” Cassidy asked quietly, wincing when the nurse administered some pain medication that would help. “I remember…being attacked and kicked…repeatedly.” She took in a sharp breath, wishing the pain medication would kick in. “I also remember a searing pain in my side, but I don’t know what caused it…”

Doctor Magma nodded, suddenly looking grim. “Cassidy, your injuries were extensive and severe when you were brought in. You had 3 broken ribs and one of them ended up puncturing your left lung. You were stabbed in your lower right side, which went through your liver and that required emergency surgery to repair. Other than that, there was heavy bruising, which is starting to clear up since your face looks mostly normal again.” He looked up at Jon, wondering if he wanted to tell her about the baby, eyes silently asking.

Jon received the message and felt his heart clench painfully, not sure if he could tell Cassidy about the baby. How the hell was he supposed to do that? Then again, Jon would want to hear news from her if the roles were reversed and he was laid up in the hospital bed. Granted, he could never have a baby, but there were other things that could happen to a man that would feel like a miscarriage.

“Leave us.” Jon ordered softly, his eyes never leaving Cassidy.

Cassidy didn’t like the look that came over Jon’s eyes and could only watch Doctor Magma walk out, leaving them completely alone. “Jon, what’s going on?” She asked, a hint of fear in her voice and frowned when he kissed her hand, caressing it.

“Cass…” Jon could feel his throat closing up, wondering if now was the best time to tell her and knew Cassidy wouldn’t let it go until he told her. “Darlin’, when you were brought to the hospital…” He trailed off, trying to find the right words to say, but there were none. “They did a few tests on you…”

“Such as?” Cassidy pressed, eyes slowly widening with every word he said.

“A rape kit. Came back clean. But…there was another test they did…and it was protocol, so they didn’t expect to find anything with it…” Jon could feel tears stinging his eyes, still not believing Cassidy had been pregnant with his child. “It was a…pregnancy test, Cassidy…”

Every part of Cassidy suddenly went numb from head to toe, a cold chill rushing through her as tears formed in her own eyes. “W-What?” She stammered, pulling her hand out of his instantly and shook her head. “W-What are you saying, Jon?”

“Cass…”

“No.” Cassidy looked as though she might have an ample breakdown, covering her mouth with her hand when Jon just lowered his head and blinked, a waterfall of tears falling down her cheeks. “I-It can’t be…We…”

“You were about 2 months along.” Jon informed her gravely, refusing to look at her because he felt the guilt and shame flood through his big body again. “So if you date it back…”

“The first time…” Cassidy whispered while crying her heart out, placing a hand on her flat stomach and couldn’t believe a living being had been inside of her.

It was ripped away by the hit man, murdered.

Burying her face in her hands, Cassidy ignored the pain her body was in and drew her knees up as far as she could. How could she have been so stupid? Cassidy hadn’t been on the pill and Jon hadn’t used a condom all the times they had sex. She’d been meaning to start birth control, but everything was so hectic with her life being in danger, it honestly slipped her mind. Now to find out she’d been with child and it was Jon’s baby…Cassidy felt completely broken as she sobbed, eventually falling asleep from pure emotional exhaustion. Jon could only sit there and let the silent tears fall from his eyes, letting his own pain out only when Cassidy slept. He didn’t want her seeing him cry; it was bad enough he hadn’t been able to hold her while she cried for fear of hurting her. Every time Cassidy cried, it tore Jon apart and he had no idea how to take away this kind of pain considering it was a loss to both of them. Until the hit man was caught, Jon wasn’t returning to work and he would quit if he had to in order to protect Cassidy.

The next day, Jon managed to make the phone calls and the first visitor to show up was Peyton, letting her know Cassidy was awake. He didn’t bother telling her when it happened because Peyton would’ve tore him a new one if he told her it was the previous day. Cassidy needed time to grieve over their unborn child though and, if Peyton couldn’t understand that, she wasn’t a true friend. Peyton arrived 10 minutes after Jon called, having been down the street working on a potential new story. Cassidy’s face instantly lit up at the sight of Peyton stepping through the door, both girls carefully embracing.

“You scared the hell out of me, woman.” Peyton sniffled, cupping Cassidy’s face in her hands and was thankful the feeding tubes had been removed from her nose. Cassidy could eat on her own now so there was no need for them.

“Didn’t mean to do it.” Cassidy replied, feeling Peyton take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping, Pey.”

“I haven’t.” She admitted, knowing there was no point in hiding the truth from Cassidy. “But now that you’re awake and healing, I can rest easier.”

Cassidy frowned, hating that people weren’t taking care of themselves all because of what happened to her. “If you don’t start sleeping, I’m going to beat the hell out of you as soon as I’m better and that’s a promise.” She stated sternly, meaning every word that came out of her mouth.

“Yes MOM.” Peyton snorted, rolling her eyes and both girls softly laughed, though Cassidy winced every time she did it. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It feels good to laugh again.” Cassidy looked up at Jon, who simply stood at the window looking outside. “Before you ask, yes he told me about the baby…”

Peyton frowned, trying not to get emotional over it. “Sidy, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be.” She held her hand up, shaking her head. “It wasn’t meant to be right now and Randy is in the process of nailing who did this to me.” He’d visited earlier that morning and informed her the DNA results would be back in another week.

“Good, he won’t talk to me about it. Though…” Peyton cleared her throat, suddenly looking sheepish. “He did ask - no, more like demanded me to move in with him and…I did.” She laughed humorlessly, sounding more nervous than happy. “Do you think it’s too soon?”

Cassidy merely smiled brightly, eyes sparkling in spite of everything that happened. “I hope you said yes. That man is crazy about you.”

“I know.” Peyton sighed happily. “I did and he dropped the L bomb on me too.”

“Shut up! Are you serious?” Cassidy clapped her hands together several times, showing her excitement. “So when’s the wedding and I damn well better be your Maid of Honor.”

“As soon as he pops the question, you’ll be the first to know.”

Jon snorted at the girl chatter going on, though it did his heart good to hear Cassidy’s laughter again. He never thought he’d hear it again, drinking it in. That was until Elissa and Trista arrived with their respective men, all to see Cassidy. He had to step out of the room when Trista started talking about Joe, not needing to hear the mushy crap. He stood outside with the men, all of them looking very relieved.

“How are you holding up?” Joe asked quietly, still worried about his best friend. “Rest easy, she’s up now.”

“That son of a bitch still hasn’t been caught though.” Jon growled, clenching his fists at his sides and had to take a few deep breaths to keep his temper in check. “I told her.”

It took a minute for Joe to understand what Jon referred to, a frown marring his face. “I’d ask how she took it, but that’d be a stupid question. So how is she holding up?”

“Yes it would.” Colby chimed in, watching through the windows as the women chattered away, shaking his head.

“She cried and sobbed, then woke up this morning with a smile on her face. I don’t understand it. I think I’m more broken up about it than her.” Jon hated being bothered by something so trivial. “Maybe it’s just me…”

However, Jon couldn’t stop pondering if Cassidy wanted the baby to begin with since she didn’t seem as heartbroken as him. Joe and Colby could only nod, not having anything to contribute to that topic because they honestly didn’t know what to say. Colby had triplets that were perfectly healthy besides being premature and Joe hadn’t had the pleasure of being graced with fatherhood. Jon suddenly needed some air and walked away from his friends, heading outside to give Cassidy some alone time with her friends.

After everything she’d been through, it was the least Jon could do for her.

Chapter 45

A week and a half later, Cassidy was finally released from the hospital just 3 days shy of Christmas. Cassidy could eat and drink on her own with no significant memory loss. Her injuries were healing well, so Doctor Magma didn’t see the need to keep her under observation any longer. Doctor Magma had her mending ribs bound tightly and gave specific instructions on how to do it at home. Cassidy had to come back for respiratory therapy 3 times a week as well, especially since she had a collapsed lung. She couldn’t do any heavy lifting for another month and a half at least, depending how fast her ribs healed. That meant no strenuous activity of the sexual nature either and Cassidy still had to heal from her miscarriage as well. Thankfully, Colby covered Jon’s shift at the fire station the day Cassidy was released so he could take her home. As much as Cassidy appreciated everything Jon did for her, there was something off about him and she couldn’t put her finger on it. He refused to talk about the death of their unborn child, so Cassidy didn’t bother bringing it up.

When and if he was ever ready, she would be too, just like his parents death.

Jon had barely spoken to her since she woke up, which unnerved Cassidy because she really needed him. She needed him to take her in his arms and hold her close, to assure he wasn’t angry at her for losing their baby…something. Cassidy felt helpless and alone, though she tried not to show it and cried at night only after Jon fell asleep. What if they couldn’t fix this? It wasn’t that Jon didn’t want to take Cassidy in his arms and comfort her. That was far from the truth. Jon didn’t want to hurt her though, knowing she had to heal from the broken ribs before any physicality could happen between them. The death of their unborn child still bothered him, but Jon wanted to deal with that on his own, refusing to hurt Cassidy by discussing something that couldn’t be changed. Talking about it wouldn’t help. If anything it would make the rift between them bigger, so Jon kept quiet about it.

“Thanks.” Cassidy whispered, allowing Jon to carefully remove her from the truck and slowly headed toward the house.

Then Cassidy froze, tears shining in her eyes and knew she couldn’t walk into the house she’d been attacked in twice. First kidnapped and then brutally mauled…Cassidy already planned on moving, blinking as a few tears slid down her cheeks. Jon looked at her with concerned pale blues, wondering what stopped her from walking inside the house and placed a hand gently on the small of her back.

“I can’t.” Cassidy took a step back and swallowed hard, reaching up to wipe her tears away. “I can’t stay here...”

Then it dawned on Jon why Cassidy was so terrified and honestly didn’t blame her. “Darlin’, where do you wanna go then?” He asked, knowing he couldn’t take her back to his place because it was on the dangerous side of town.

“Your place.” Cassidy looked away from the house and moved back to the truck, not able to look at it any longer. “I know you told me where you live and, if I can survive 2 near deaths, I think I can handle anything the other side of Tampa has to offer.”

Jon couldn’t believe she actually said it. She wanted to go to his apartment and Jon didn’t know how to react to his girlfriend’s request. Cassidy was scared out of her mind and would rather stay in his grungy apartment than her pristine clean house. This wasn’t a good idea, though Jon didn’t know if he’d be able to convince her the house was safe.

“Jon, please.” Those simple words made all of his doubts melt away. “Take me to your place. I’ll call Peyton and have her gather me some clothes and other things, but I can’t go in there.” For all she knew, the hit man was in there waiting on her to finish the job.

“Cass…” Jon sighed wearily and opened the passenger door, though he didn’t lift her in the truck yet, turning her around to face him. “My apartment isn’t exactly…lady friendly, darlin’.” He had to warn her somehow, not wanting her to walk into any surprises. “I’ve never…brought a woman there.” It was his sanctuary and Jon was about to break yet another one of his rules by bringing Cassidy into it - into his bed.

Cassidy merely smiled, reaching up to caress his face tenderly with the back of her hand. “Take me there.” She requested softly and Jon lifted her up in the truck moments later, shutting the door.

Jon had officially lost his mind. He drove away from Cassidy’s house toward his apartment, noticing Cassidy had grimaced shortly after they left. Her ribs were bothering her, but Cassidy was too stubborn to admit the pain and Jon hated it. He hated seeing her pain, still fully blaming himself for all of this, including their dead unborn child. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Jon hoped he had some hard liquor at the apartment because he’d need a drink when they arrived.

~!~

“Orton, you got a second?” Dave called through the door, looking over the information the Chief gave him and stepped into the office. “You’ll never guess what came in.”

Randy’s head snapped up, mystic blue eyes wide and immediately snatched the paper from Dave’s hand, reading over the information. “Whoa, this asshole was in the military?” He demanded, keeping his voice low.

Dave nodded, cracking his knuckles. “He went AWOL after serving for a year in the Marines and went off the grid. Nobody could find him. He made sure to make himself disappear completely because the Marines want to toss him in prison for going AWOL. And now this sick bastard has been doing dirty deeds for people who don’t want to get their hands filthy.” He sounded disgusted with every word that came out of his mouth.

“So how do we find him?” Randy demanded, already making a mental note in the back of his mind to pay Cassidy a visit. He promised not to keep anything from her and wouldn’t let her down. “There’s an address on here, but it’s in Orlando…”

“Feel up to a drive?” Dave smirked, snatching the paper back to glance over it again. “Unless you want me to handle this alone?”

Narrowing his eyes, Randy deliberated if Dave was on drugs and immediately strapped on his holster. “The hell you are, I’m going. I just need to make a quick call to Cassidy and tell her we finally found the sack of shit.” He didn’t wait for Dave to protest and walked out of the office, heading outside whipping his cell phone out.

~!~

Cassidy looked down at her cell phone while riding to Jon’s apartment and felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of Randy’s name on the caller ID. “Hello?” She immediately answered, wincing slightly. “Randy, what’s going on?”

“We got him, Cassidy.”

“Oh my god, what?!” Cassidy cried out, immediately signaling for Jon to pull over and put the phone on speaker, tears stinging her eyes. “S-Say that again, Randy…”

Randy smiled, hearing the pure relief in her voice and felt Dave walk out of the precinct, standing beside him. “We got him, Cassidy.” He repeated, closing his eyes when she began crying. “We don’t have him in custody yet, but we finally got the DNA results back and know who’s been doing this.”

Cassidy looked at Jon, both of them worried. “Who is it?” If it was Shane McMahon, Cassidy vowed to castrate him and display his balls on her wall with a nail right through them.

“His name is Tyler Black.” Randy informed her, walking to the car with Dave so they could head out to Orlando. “The only thing I can tell you is this guy is lethal. He’s an ex-Marine turned bad and something tells me he’s doing contract killings for people that don’t want to get their hands dirty. So he’s been hired to kill you, Cassidy.” That was his theory and Randy refused to change it, especially after everything they’d read about Black.

“Levesque.” Cassidy whispered, trembling slightly and felt Jon grab her hand, their fingers lacing together. “It has to be him, Randy. It’s his daughter we’ve been attacking with the articles. There’s nobody else that I know of that would want me dead.” So how the hell were they supposed to nail the Mayor for this?

Randy silently agreed, listening to everything Cassidy said this time. “We’re on it. As soon as we have him in custody, we can question him.” However, Black wouldn’t be coming back to the police station in cuffs. Randy and Dave already made a pact about that. “I’ll find out who hired him, no matter what it takes, Cassidy. Just lay low. Where are you now?”

“I’m with Jon. We’re on our way to his place.” Cassidy informed him softly. “I can’t go back to my house, not after everything that’s happened.”

Randy didn’t blame her, pulling a pack of smokes out of his pocket and handed Dave one, both of them lighting up. “Great, that’s a smart idea. It’ll be a lot harder for this prick to get you if you’re not only with Jon, but in an apartment building.” He hoped. “Jon, do not leave her for anything. I’ve already informed Captain Layfield what’s going on and he said Colby is covering your shifts until this is resolved. Your primary focus needs to be protecting Cassidy. I’m going to Orlando. Got a tip the mother fucker might be residing there. And even if he’s not, it’s one step closer.”

“Keep us informed, Orton.” Jon grunted, running a hand through his short curly hair. “And don’t be late for the Christmas dinner or else Peyton will have your ass.” They had grown closer ever since Cassidy’s attack, so Jon had yet another friend.

“Thank you for everything, Randy.”

Cassidy ended the call and stared down at the cell phone, a huge lump forming in her throat. Tyler Black. They finally had a name and now Cassidy could start doing research on him of her own, the journalist in her kicking into high gear. If Randy couldn’t solve the mystery on who had hired Tyler Black to kill her, then Cassidy would have to do it.

“Just let them handle it, Cassidy.” Jon advised, already seeing the wheels turning in Cassidy’s mind and didn’t want her doing something irrational.

“I am.” Partially, Cassidy added in thought as they pulled away from the curb, heading to Jon’s apartment.

Arriving 20 minutes later, Jon wasn’t happy to find the elevator in his apartment building was out of service, which meant they had to take the stairs to the 3^rd floor. There was no way he would let Cassidy walk up all those stairs and lifted her very carefully in his arms, with their bags in hand from the hospital, taking two at a time. He tried not jostling Cassidy too much in his arms and felt his heart quench painfully every time she grimaced. Once they arrived at his apartment, Jon gingerly set Cassidy on her feet and unlocked the door, guiding her inside. Blue eyes studied Cassidy’s expression carefully as she looked around the rather empty apartment. There wasn’t much here. A simple couch, small television with a DVD player, small kitchen with microwave, stove and refrigerator and hallway that had a bathroom and bedroom. It wasn’t much, but Jon didn’t see the need to purchase a house when he spent most of his time at work.

Though lately, it’d been with Cassidy.

After surveying the place, Cassidy smiled softly and looked back at Jon, azure eyes full of curiosity. “You could use a little…décor, but other than that it isn’t bad.” The floor was wooden, no carpet anywhere throughout the whole place. “Why were you so afraid to bring me here?”

“I wasn’t AFRAID…” Jon snorted indignantly, wrapping an arm gently around her shoulders. “Just never brought a woman to my place before. Kind of nerve-wracking.”

“No reason to be nervous. You still think I’m going to run away, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question. “When are you going to get it through your head I’m not going anywhere?”

“Never.” Jon replied truthfully, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers and could smell her intoxicating scent already filtering through the apartment. “Because the second I finally feel happy and I think you won’t leave, that’s when you will.”

“No I won’t.” Cassidy frowned, reaching up to cup his face like she had so many times and stopped, biting back a cry of pain. “Damn it…”

Jon knew she was in pain from her broken ribs and guided her down the hallway to his bedroom. This was another first for him. He sucked in a sharp breath as soon as Cassidy stepped through the door, a single king sized bed with a dresser and small closet staring back at her. The bed had white sheets on it, the only time Jon felt like he could have some kind of light in his life was in bed, until Cassidy Irons came along.

“Nice.” She murmured quietly, limping over to the bed and slowly sank down on it, tears forming. “I’m alright…”

“No you’re not, stop downplaying it.”

“Jon…”

“I’ll go get your pain medication.”

He stood up and walked out of the room, already planning on sleeping on the couch that night. If Jon rolled over and pulled Cassidy in his arms like he had whenever they slept together, he would make her ribs worse. Cassidy wasn’t surprised when Jon walked back in a few minutes later with pills and a glass of water, handing both of them to her. She took them without preamble, seeing the guarded look in Jon’s blue eyes and merely laid back to shut her eyes. He wasn’t sleeping with her in the same bed. Cassidy already knew it and felt his mouth brush against her forehead. Jon hadn’t kissed her lips since the attack, which made her believe further she would lose him.

Blinking, tears slid down her cheeks as Cassidy stared up at the ceiling in the cold empty room, trying to figure out what she would do now. Her laptop was back at the house, so Cassidy decided to call Peyton before the pain medication fully kicked in. She wouldn’t make Peyton bring her things to this side of town, but maybe Colby or Joe could do it since nobody would mess with them. After Peyton assured her she’d get her things, Cassidy finally snuggled further into the bed and closed her eyes, deciding to take a small nap until her laptop arrived.

She never felt more vulnerable and alone in her life.

Chapter 46

The house was abandoned and looked like it hadn’t been touched in years.

Dave pulled up in the gravel driveway and put the car in park, keeping the engine running. He looked over at Randy, drawing his .357 Magnum Automatic while Randy had his .40 Beretta, both of them stepping out of the car. It didn’t matter if the place looked abandoned. That didn’t mean it was. Nodding at Randy silently, Dave headed to the back while his partner took the front, both of them having strategized during the drive. Swallowing hard, Randy wrinkled his nose at the rotting wood on the outside of the house, shaking his head. Black definitely stayed in grungy places that was for sure, he thought, curling his upper lip in a sneer. Black would pay for everything he did, every woman he killed, and Randy hoped this place gave them either the man himself or clues to his whereabouts.

Already having gloves snapped on, Randy tried the doorknob and frowned when the door swung open, a cloud of dust flying in his face. Coughing, Randy waved it out of his face, still keeping his hand on the gun and cautiously stepped inside, blue eyes peeled. All the windows were boarded up heavily, a staircase was off to the left leading up to the next floor. Randy didn’t know if it was smart to go up there, having a feeling he might fall through the ceiling from the rotting wood. He heard the backdoor open and knew it was Dave. Randy moved down the hallway toward what he could only assume was the living room. There was dust everywhere, a thick layer of it over everything and the mold was horrible too. They couldn’t stay in this house long or else they’d end up breathing that nasty gunk in. Quickly scanning the living room and kitchen area, they found nothing and Randy groaned in exasperation.

“What?” Dave grunted quietly, just in case someone was upstairs.

“I guess we have to check up there…” Randy muttered, heading in the direction of the staircase and tested one of the steps to see if it would hold his weight. He wasn’t a small man by any means and Dave was bigger than him. “Looks safe, just be careful.”

Dave nodded, shoving Randy and smirked when the man scowled back at him. “Get moving.” He ordered, waving his gun somewhat threateningly and followed Randy up the stairs to the next floor.

Instantaneously, the strong stench of what Randy could only describe as being a dead animal permeated the air. He looked at Dave, both men sharing a look and knew what that meant. There had to be a dead body up here unless Black enjoyed keeping dead animals around his place. Somehow, Randy and Dave doubted it, spotting 2 bedrooms.

“Take the left, I’ll take the right.” Dave stated, not waiting for a reply and immediately went to the right door, breathing out of his mouth only since the stench was unbearable.

How they hadn’t smelled it from downstairs was beyond him.

Pushing the door open, Dave immediately sucked in a sharp breath at the scene before him, feeling his temper rise slightly. It was a woman tied to the bed, completely naked, and slit from her mouth all the way down her body to her private area. If that wasn’t bad enough, all of her major organs were removed from her body and placed in jars that were on a nearby shelf. Dave gritted his teeth, seeing all the blood coating the walls, bed, floor and her face looked like a crimson mask.

“Sick fuck.” He hissed, shaking his head and walked around the room, spotting something out of the corner of his eye.

“Dave!”

Before Dave could move toward the desk in the far corner, he heard Randy’s shout and immediately rushed out of the room into the other one. “What the fuck?” He demanded, brown eyes wide at the sight of a man tied to a chair with thick ropes, his head hanging down. “Is he alive?”

“No, but I know who he is.” Randy sounded bilious, busy cutting the ropes off of the man’s wrists, neck, ankles and abdomen.

“Care to enlighten me?”

“Shane McMahon.”

He’d been missing for a few weeks and apparently had been brought here by the hit man to be tortured to death. His throat was slashed from ear to ear, dry blood coating the front of his once crisp buttoned up white shirt. He also had burn marks all over his body along with contusions and a laceration across his forehead that also poured an obscene amount of blood. Shane turned up missing and the authorities were notified by his wife, Marissa, even going as far as filing a missing person’s report.

“That means he’s been here recently.” Dave observed, refusing to let the deaths affect him because he’d seen a lot more in his days then Randy had. “There’s a woman in the other room and…I wouldn’t go in there unless you have a very strong stomach, Orton.”

Randy swallowed hard, deciding to avoid that room at all costs. “Did you finish searching it?”

Suddenly, Dave remembered what he’d been doing prior to Randy calling him in here. “Not yet, I’ll be back.”

He left while Randy called in the deaths to the Orlando police, reporting them. Walking back inside the room, Dave moved past the victim toward the desk he’d spotted earlier and felt his blood boil at what he found. The desk was an older version that had the lid lift up to place things inside instead of the flat desks schools used nowadays. Tons of notes were strewn all over the place and one name in particular caught Dave’s eye as he picked the piece of paper off the desk, reading it.

Cassidy Irons

Age 28

Reporter for Tampa Bay Times

Hired by Paul Levesque

Kill by any means necessary

So the Mayor had been the one to hire Black after all. Cassidy had been right, remembering Randy telling him about her suspicions. Dave pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket and slid the piece of paper in, having gloves on because he didn’t want to erase the fingerprints. He took all the notes he found and placed them in the bag as well, not wanting to leave anything behind. Something told Dave to lift the desk, so he did and felt his stomach twist violently at his discovery. Little locks of human hair were in separate plastic see-through containers with the names of who the hair belonged to on each one. Dave shook his head and closed his eyes briefly, reaching a trembling hand toward the container marked Savannah Bautista, fighting back tears. He opened the container and took the lock of his sister’s hair out, examining it, knowing it was ripped directly from the root. That meant Black had done the same thing to all of his other victims and they could be DNA tested to confirm it was indeed the name of the person on the containers. Placing the lock of hair back in Savannah’s container, Dave took another bigger plastic bag out and stuffed the containers inside of it, storming out of the room with rage filled brown eyes.

“Orton, did you call it in?” Dave asked, standing in the doorway of the other room with Shane McMahon’s body.

“Yeah, they’re on their way.” Randy replied, eyeballing the plastic bags and felt sick. “What the hell is that?”

“Evidence. Locks of hair from the victims. This guy is truly demented.” Dave grunted, draping it over his broad shoulder. “Forensics is going to hate us, but all of them should be able to be tested. And I also found this.” He held out one of the containers, having spotted it while collecting them all.

Randy took it cautiously and read the name on top of the container, sucking in a sharp breath. “That son of a bitch.” He hissed, blue eyes flaring and ran the pad of his thumb over the tape with the woman’s name on it.

Cassidy Irons.

~!~

Christmas Eve arrived and everyone planned on meeting up at the Lopez’s for dinner. Trish and Madelyn were invited along with Peyton and Randy, who had made sure to take the day off. The DNA results hadn’t come back on the locks of hair they found in Orlando, so Chief Lawler told Randy to enjoy the holidays with his friends and worry about the investigation after Christmas. Cassidy was still incredibly sore from her ribs, but nothing was stopping her from spending the holidays with her close friends. Peyton had to do the Christmas shopping for Cassidy since she wasn’t allowed out of the apartment, thanks to strict bed rest orders. Jon didn’t want to go to Christmas dinner with the Lopez’s, but Cassidy was insistent on it.

For Peyton’s gift, Cassidy forced Jon to pick her up something from the store, refusing to leave her best friend out. Wearing a short sleeved red shimmery dress that Peyton picked up for her from the store, Cassidy stared in the bathroom mirror, frowning. The bruises on her face were gone, remembering the gash in her cheek from Tyler Black’s lethal backhands. The dress went just a little past her knees and Cassidy had to wear black flats since the heels would’ve hurt her ribs. Jon helped her wrap them earlier that day after her shower and Cassidy was thankful the dress covered her bondage. She didn’t bother with makeup, just applied some clear gloss and fingered the silver locket around her neck.

Cassidy missed her parents, wishing she could’ve been with them for the holidays. If she would’ve stayed in Indianapolis another day, maybe Tyler Black wouldn’t have attacked her. Then again, it was a big if. Jon had barely spoken to her since bringing her to his apartment, maintaining his distance. He slept in the living room, leaving her all alone in the big king sized bed. Cassidy gave up after trying to reason with him he wouldn’t hurt her in his sleep and Jon was resolute. She definitely wasn’t in the holiday spirit and blinked tears away from her eyes just as a knock sounded at the bathroom door.

“You almost ready?” Jon asked gruffly, poking his head in and had to learn how to breathe again at the sight of his girlfriend. “You look beautiful, darlin.’”

“Thanks.” Cassidy murmured quietly, walking out of the bathroom and tried not to notice Jon wearing a dark grey buttoned up shirt with black slacks, the sleeves rolled up. “Yeah I’m ready.”

Jon nodded, lifting her up in his arms without preamble and ignored her protests, walking out of the apartment shutting the door behind him. He had her purse in hand already because Cassidy never left without it. Once they were outside, Jon set her down on her feet gingerly and opened the door, lifting her up carefully inside the truck. A few minutes later, they were off toward the Lopez’s with Cassidy wishing she was anywhere except in this truck with a man who clearly didn’t want her.

~!~

“You look very pretty, Cassidy.” Madelyn was the first to greet her as soon as Jon and Cassidy stepped through the door, accepting a gentle hug from the little girl.

“Thank you, sweetheart. You look very pretty too.” Cassidy forced a smile, waving Peyton off when she started to help sit her down. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me.”

“Sorry not happening.” Peyton wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her away from Jon toward the couch, noticing there was tension between them. “Everything okay?”

“I’ll tell you about it later.” Cassidy whispered, not wanting to ruin everyone else’s holiday.

They had a wonderful ham dinner with all the trimmings and Cassidy had eaten a little more than normal, feeling stuffed. She sat beside Jon, but they might as well have been a million miles away from each other. Everyone noticed it, but didn’t say anything and simply kept the conversation going. Joe had tried questioning Jon about it, but he brushed it off and assured him everything was fine. Gifts were exchanged soon after dinner; Madelyn was showered with toys and some clothes from her godmother Trista. Cassidy had gotten her a special journalist Barbie doll she found on EBay and everyone had laughed at how excited Madelyn was about it. Elissa and Colby had gotten her a Rapunzel Barbie doll and Peyton had chosen a Monster High doll.

Madelyn loved dolls of all kinds, so she had quite the Christmas thus far and didn’t include what her mother got for her. The triplets had gotten different toys, a new video game as well and some clothes from Trista, which they needed. The kids had made out like fat rats, though Elissa and Colby refused to let them open a gift from them since everyone else had gotten them something. The adults were different and opened their gifts after helping the kids open theirs. Elora led them downstairs to the play area so the adults could have some time alone, getting along famously with Madelyn while the boys started playing their new video games. Everyone enjoyed their gifts for the most part, though Joe had one more for his girlfriend and clapped his hands, getting everyone’s attention.

Trista looked up at him confused. “I thought you gave me yours already?”

Joe smirked, shaking his head and pulled something out of his pocket. “You only thought I did, baby girl.” He then lowered to one knee in front of Trista, watching her hazel eyes widen. “And now I’m assuming you know what I’m about to ask.”

“In front of everyone, really?” Trista couldn’t believe this and knew he’d done it on purpose so she couldn’t deny him in front of their friends. “You are unbelievable.”

“I told you we’d end up married one day and, in light of what’s happened recently, we never know what’s gonna happen down the road. So before I leave this place and pass on, I wanna do it with you as my wife. I love you, Trista. You love me, so just say yes and don’t overthink it.”

This wasn’t the typical proposal that every other man on the planet gave the woman they loved on a daily basis, but Joe wasn’t like other men. Trista shook her head, tears stinging her eyes and snatched the box from him, popping the lid. It was a beautiful ruby stone with black tiny diamonds surrounding it, her favorite color, set on a silver band. Slowly looking back up at him, Trista could only stare in his intense greys and took the ring out of the box, sliding it on her left ring finger without a word. Joe beamed from ear to ear, lifting her up from the couch and spun her around in circles, planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

“Jon, you’re my Best Man!” Joe announced instantly, looking over at his best friend and hoped he didn’t lose Cassidy because of his stubbornness.

Jon just nodded, letting him know he understood and glanced over at Cassidy, seeing tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. Witnessing Joe propose to Trista made him realize what a fool he’d been for the way he treated her, but Jon couldn’t help it. He knew they would have to talk soon about the baby, about what happened and about how he truly felt for her or else their relationship wasn’t going to last.

One thing was certain, for the first time since meeting Cassidy, Jon admitted to himself that night he was in love with her.

Chapter 47

Before long, New Year’s passed with no word on the whereabouts of Tyler Black. The DNA results on the locks of hair came back a lot faster, thanks to Dave, and sure enough every single victim was confirmed. Tyler Black had killed over 20 women and snatched a lock of hair from Cassidy because he thought he killed her. He had left her for dead in her home, but Cassidy was one step ahead of him by speed dialing Randy. Black’s notes were the start of many search warrants because he documented all the people who had hired him to do a job. There were so many different reasons for killing these women. Cheating, stealing, hell there was even a woman killed for being boring to her husband. Dave had been right about Cody Rhodes paying off Black to kill the women from Shady’s, the reasoning being they were ‘teasing whores’. So he immediately had a warrant drawn up and they ended up raiding Shady’s, arresting Cody Rhodes to bring him in for questioning.

Cody ranted and raved about how he didn’t do anything wrong, that was until Dave slapped the notes on the table in front of him in the interrogation room. It didn’t take long for Cody to crack under pressure, admitting that he did send Tyler Black after the women, but only to scare them. He never meant for them to die. Dave didn’t buy it for a second considering every single scumbag that hired Black for a job knew exactly what they were asking for. Cody Rhodes was locked up instantly with no hope for bail and currently waited for his trial to determine his fate. Thanks to the documentation from Tyler Black on what his orders were from Mayor Levesque, Randy had no problem issuing a warrant to search his mansion. However, when they arrived, Mayor Levesque was nowhere to be found, just his wife Stephanie and child Surana. Randy was livid and ordered both of them to be brought in for questioning, refusing to let Paul Levesque get away with what he did to Cassidy and Shane McMahon.

When Stephanie found out about her dead brother and the fact it was her husband that had him killed, she sobbed violently, not believing he could do something so heinous. They grilled her for hours on Paul’s whereabouts, but Stephanie honestly had no idea where he’d gone. The only thing she told them was he took off in the middle of the night and left behind a note saying he had business. Coincidentally, he left the day Randy and Dave found Tyler Black’s hideout in Orlando along with all of the evidence. Nobody had seen or heard from him since. Surana was taken into custody by child protective services immediately and Stephanie was released, though she couldn’t leave the state. She still had to go on trial for the murder of her brother and charges for the attempted murder of Cassidy Irons. Both Randy and Dave wanted to also use her for bait to try to lure Paul back to Tampa, which Chief Lawler had no problem with. She was guilty by association and they weren’t convinced she didn’t know what her husband had planned.

Cassidy healed up for the most part, still having small twinges in her ribs every once in a while, but the doctor said that was normal. Her respiratory therapy helped with her collapsed lung, which was fully healed now as well. Her liver was as well, only minimal scars left behind from when they had to slice into her body. They were battle scars from a war that Cassidy barely managed to survive, but somehow she knew it wasn’t over yet. Doctor Magma cleared her to resume her normal life, which included activities of the sexual nature. As happy and thrilled as Cassidy should’ve been, she was the opposite because Jon hadn’t shown the slightest interest in her. A week after New Year’s, Cassidy found a small two bedroom house that was close to the Tampa Bay Times, which was still being remodeled. It wasn’t far from the temporary building where her job was located, so Cassidy put a bid on it. Within another week, she got the approval for it and didn’t mind it was rent only, though there was potential for rent-to-own after she stayed there for a straight year.

She immediately swapped everything over to the new house, bid her old owner farewell and began the process of packing. The women did most of it while the men worked at the fire station, but Jon did do what he could on his days off. Cassidy could never be in her old house alone and it took Peyton holding her hand before she was able to step foot inside of it again. It took another week to pack everything up and haul it over to the new place, though Cassidy still couldn’t lift anything heavy at the time. She could lift small things and snapped at Jon when he tried berating her for doing so. Cassidy wasn’t an invalid and could do small things for herself, getting permission from the doctor just to ease Jon’s mind. Once they were settled in the house, Cassidy busied herself with stories at Tampa Bay Times and decorating, trying to do whatever she could to keep her mind off of Jon. Of course, he moved in with her temporarily until both Levesque and Black were caught, refusing to leave her alone. Cassidy had no opinion on it, though it broke her heart when Jon moved into the spare bedroom instead of the master with her.

It was mid-February, marking 3 months since Cassidy’s attack and a month since she’d moved into her new house. Jon wasn’t home from work yet and Cassidy had a long talk with Peyton that day about her relationship. They went for a walk on their hour lunch, eating sandwiches and Peyton laid down the law with her to talk to Jon. They were both miserable and it was time to set things right, to find out what made Jon keep pulling away from Cassidy.

“Go home, cook a nice dinner and make sure you have something sexy on when he walks through the door. Show him what he’s been missing, Sidy. Find out what makes him tick and attack, that’s the only advice I can really give you.”

Taking Peyton’s advice wholeheartedly, Cassidy arrived home earlier than usual, showered and changed into wine colored one shouldered dress, if it could be called that. She had to go big or go home. It covered all the intimate parts of her body, but clung to every curve, which she’d gotten back after packing on some weight. The dress crossed over her chest, leaving her right side exposed through lace and then wrapped around her hips and thighs barely. On the skirt part of the dress, lace outlined it, making it pass for mid-thigh high. It showed off her smooth tanned legs, left one shoulder and arm bare yet still left plenty to the imagination. Cassidy left her hair down and curled it, brushing through it to give her a winged look as it pooled down her back in strawberry blonde waves. She didn’t bother with the jewelry, keeping her silver locket on and did her makeup with black eyeliner, clear gloss and foundation, no shoes. Dinner was spaghetti, something quick and simple, though Cassidy took her time with the sauce. She had her own special recipe Jon hadn’t tried yet and hoped he enjoyed it. This was it. If she couldn’t get Jon to open up to her or at least touch her tonight, Cassidy was done. She promised not to walk away from him, but a woman could only take so much rejection and Cassidy had reached her breaking point.

A little after 6 o’clock, the front door opened as Jon walked into the house and was immediately hit with a mouthwatering aroma. The house layout was similar to Cassidy’s old residence, only things were swapped around. So instead of going left to go to the bedrooms, one went right and to get to the kitchen, it was left instead of right. It was confusing at first, but Jon had gotten used to it. He walked past the living room toward the kitchen, letting his nose lead the way. Only to stop in his tracks at the sight of Cassidy. Slowly starting at the tips of her freshly pedicured toes, Jon’s eyes slowly slid up her beautiful tanned legs to the dress that seemed to seal to her body. Blue eyes darkened slightly and Jon felt his body come alive at the sight of her, especially all the exposed skin. Her hair looked silky soft and Cassidy appeared to never been attacked; Jon’s mouth turned dry. He was a man dying of thirst and she was the only source of water, the only one who could quench his hunger.

“Smells good, Cass.” Jon tried like hell to keep the huskiness out of his voice, but it was impossible, especially with the way she looked.

Cassidy smiled over her shoulder at him, azure eyes glittering. “Thanks, it’s almost ready. Take a seat.” The table was already set up with plates, silverware and wine glasses. “Want something to drink?”

“A beer.” He requested, slowly settling in a chair at the kitchen table and couldn’t remember the last time they sat down for an actual meal. They normally ate separately, Jon retreating to his room whenever he came here.

Cassidy retrieved it for him, cracking it open and set it down on the table while she busied finishing dinner. “How was your day?” She asked, trying to spark some conversation and was surprised Jon hadn’t run off to his room already. Peyton was a genius.

“Fine, had a small fire at a warehouse, but nothing dangerous.” Jon couldn’t stop staring at her, devouring her repeatedly with his eyes and suddenly stood up from the table, crossing over to stand behind her. “So, what’s with the dress? Going somewhere?” Hell maybe she had a date, Jon thought bitterly, fighting the urge to rest his hands on her hips.

“No, just felt like wearing it.” Cassidy replied nonchalantly, a smirk curving her lips that was hidden from Jon while she stirred the sauce. “Will you taste this for me? I need a second opinion.”

“Sure.” Jon stepped back as Cassidy dipped the spoon in the sauce and turned to face him, holding her hand beneath it in case it dripped.

“Blow first, it’s hot.” She cautioned softly, feeling her heart rate increase at the smoldered look in his eyes, butterflies erupting in her stomach. “Taste.”

Jon obeyed, opening his mouth to take part of the spoon and groaned at the euphoric taste, falling in love instantly. “Delicious.” He purred, taking the spoon from her and placed it back in the pot, tensing when Cassidy reached up to swipe a little sauce from the corner of his mouth. “I-I’ll be in my room, let me know when it’s done.” No matter how much he wanted to take Cassidy in his arms and claim her, Jon couldn’t do it.

“I want you to eat out here with me, Jon.” Cassidy stopped him, grabbing his arm and forced him to turn around to face her. “Please don’t run away from me.”

“I’m not.” Jon growled, not meeting her eyes. “I just-”

“You just what? You feel guilty for what happened to me? You feel guilty about our dead baby? You feel guilty about your parents? When are you going to just STOP with the guilt and start feeling something else?” Cassidy wasn’t backing down, not this time, having spent the past 3 months living this way with them as strangers. Enough was enough. “Do you want to end this, Jon?”

Jon narrowed his eyes and ripped his arm out of her hand, shooting ice daggers. “Of course not! Do you?” He shot back, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“If you keep treating me the way you are, yes.” Cassidy stated truthfully, planting her hands on her hips and could feel tears forming. “I can’t keep doing this. I’ve had to sleep alone for the past 3 months with you right in the next room, silently hoping you would come to me. I didn’t bother coming to you or having a confrontation because you were so hell bent on staying away from me. So tell me right now what you want or just get the hell out. Because I know what I want.”

“The way I’ve been treating you?” Jon clamored, not believing the poisonous words she spewed at him currently and could feel his temper rising. “I stayed away from you because you were HURT and you needed to HEAL, Cassidy. Goddamn woman, I’m a big man if you haven’t fucking noticed and one wrong move in the same bed together would’ve resulted you back in the damn hospital!!”

Cassidy didn’t believe him, not for a second and knew that was a lame excuse to cover up why he’d really distanced himself. “Try again.” She ordered evenly, pursing her lips tightly together. “This is because of the baby, isn’t it?”

“Our dead baby you mean.” Jon corrected her wryly, blue eyes freezing over by now at the memory of Randy telling him about the miscarriage. “Did you know, Cass?”

“No.” Cassidy answered, wondering if that’s where all this distance had stemmed from and stepped toward Jon, eyes shining with truth. “I had no idea, Jon. I didn’t even have symptoms, which Doctor Magma said was normal because pregnancy affects women differently. Is that what this is about? You thought I knew about the pregnancy and didn’t tell you? Because let me tell you something right now, I would NEVER do something like that.”

“You acted like…you didn’t care. You cried for a bit and that was it. You were laughing with your friends the next day and…” Jon shook his head, trying to walk away again because he was never good at talking about his outlooks. “Never mind.”

“NO!” Cassidy snapped, chasing after him to the bedroom and stopped him again, this time jumping right in front of him. “You’re not running away from me again! Not this time! Do you seriously believe I wasn’t heartbroken over losing our baby? Hell, the fact I didn’t know about the pregnancy to begin with still tears me apart! But I can’t let it get me down and run my life! I have to keep living and moving forward because what happened CAN’T BE CHANGED!!”

“Cass…”

“NO, JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Cassidy shrieked, tears spilling down her cheeks and shoved past him toward her bedroom. “I can’t believe I let myself fall in love with an ASSHOLE LIKE YOU!!” Slamming the door shut behind her, Cassidy collapsed on the bed and buried her face in a pillow, letting her tears soak into it.

Peyton’s idea had just gone up in flames.

Chapter 48

Jon just stared at Cassidy’s bedroom door completely shell-shocked, wondering if he’d heard her correctly. Did she just call him an asshole and admitted she was in love with him all in the same sentence? No matter how hard he tried moving toward the bedroom door, Jon couldn’t and felt like his feet were super glued to the wooden floor.

She loved him.

Cassidy Irons was in love with him.

Turning his eyes away from the door, Jon was finally able to move and walked into the kitchen to turn the stove off, putting the lid on the sauce to cover it. They would eat later. Jon had to stop running away and make things right with Cassidy. Joe had given him the verbal beating of a lifetime at work earlier that day, tired of seeing Jon mope around. Cassidy was still here and Jon had acted as though she died, which was the truth.

Not anymore.

Heading down the hallway, Jon stood outside Cassidy’s bedroom door and could hear her heartbreaking sobs flowing through it, shutting his eyes painfully. His fingers slid down the wood, hating himself for causing her this much agony and didn’t know how to make it right. So moving on instinct, Jon twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, staring at her from the doorway, his heart shattering at the sight. Cassidy was curled up in a fetal position in the middle of the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest. Her shoulders shook, trying to muffle her crying so Jon didn’t hear her, not realizing he’d opened her door. Nothing else mattered, Cassidy just felt like dying at that moment because she’d given her heart to someone who didn’t want it.

Jon closed the distance between them and crawled into bed behind her, pulling her into his arms. Cassidy resisted, trying to get away from him, but Jon’s arms locked into place and he ignored her struggles. Burying his face in her hair, Jon knew he didn’t deserve to have her in his life and still couldn’t believe she loved him. Cassidy was the sweetest woman Jon ever met, accepted him fully for who he was with his past and all, only for him to shun her. Instead of talking to her about the pregnancy, he’d just made up his own assumptions and accused her of keeping it from him. When she needed him most, Jon had pulled away and wasn’t there to comfort her, to make her feel loved and wanted.

He really was a dick.

“I’m sorry, darlin’…” He rasped, mouth right by her ear and didn’t know what else to say to make this right. This was not Jon’s forte.

“Just go away.” Cassidy sobbed out, trying not to react to the feeling of Jon’s arms around her, something she hadn’t felt in 3 long months. “You don’t want me anymore and I get it.”

“Cass, that’s not true.” Jon argued softly, breathing her in and knew he’d have to open up if he didn’t want to lose her. “You mean everything to me.”

“Have a funny way of showing it.” Cassidy shot back, her sobbing subsiding and changing to soft crying, barely audible.

Jon sighed, pulling her closer to him until her back completely connected with his chest, brushing his lips against her neck. “I do want you. I’m sorry for being a dick, I just didn’t know how to handle everything. I admit I thought you kept the pregnancy a secret from me because…I keep thinking I’m gonna get screwed over. I keep thinking I’ll end up hurt out of this deal, but instead I did the hurting. I hurt you and made you feel unwanted, everything I’ve feared would happen to me I did to you.”

“I would never…”

“I know.” Jon cut her off, keeping his voice low and ran his fingers down her sides. “I should’ve been here for you and I wasn’t. There’s no excuse for it. It was my own fucked up mind coming up with all negative scenarios because that’s all my life has been filled with. Negativity, hurt, pain…until you came into my life. And suddenly I started experiencing all the good things I’d been missing out on all because of my guilt. You’re right; I do need to start feeling something else besides guilt and pain. And I do when I’m with you, Cass. I feel like I can breathe - that I can hope and actually live. You make me want to be a better man.”

Cassidy remained quiet for a few minutes, mulling over everything Jon said and felt her heart slowly mend back together. “Prove it then.” She challenged, feeling Jon tense behind her and ran her nails up and down his forearm, staring straight ahead. “If you mean everything you just said, prove it to me.”

“How?” Jon would do anything for her, even if she asked him to walk on hot coals and glass shards. “Whatever you want, Cass.”

Slowly rolling over to lie on her back, red-rimmed azure eyes locked with aquamarine gems, so much emotion swirling through both. Cassidy reached up to gently pull his on his chin, bringing his mouth down on hers and instantly melted against him. Jon knew what she wanted and he couldn’t deny her, having to trust her judgment that she healed enough to do this. He missed her soft lips, not believing it’d been 3 months since he thoroughly kissed Cassidy and vowed to never go a day without doing it as long as he lived. His tongue searched and reached every crevice of her mouth while Cassidy did her own exploration, both of them becoming reacquainted with each other’s bodies. Cassidy caressed the back of his neck while bunching the material of his muscle shirt in her hand, pulling it from his jeans.

Jon groaned in her mouth when he felt her soft hand come in contact with his bare chest, every part of him igniting in flames. The kiss broke only when they both needed air to breathe and Jon immediately started the assault on her jaw, moving down to her neck. Cassidy was in heaven, arching her neck up to give Jon full access and ran her nails lightly down his chest and abdomen. Just her touch drove him insane. Jon pulled away and sat up enough to remove his shirt, yanking it over his head before going right back on the attack. Cassidy moved her hands down his muscular arms and kneaded his shoulders, her entire body flooding with insurmountable heat.

“Jon…” She sighed out, fighting the urge to reach down and unsnap his skintight black jeans, not wanting to end this anytime soon.

His mouth finally moved from her neck to her shoulder, pulling the offending material of the dress down to expose her flesh. Cassidy lifted her arm until the material bunched at her side, fingers delving in his soft curly hair. Jon continued his journey down her shoulder to the collarbone, doing the same thing to the other side, not leaving an inch of her body untouched. He could tell this was a stretchy material and proceeded to bunch it in his strong hand, lowering it enough to expose her breasts. Cassidy lifted up, her eyes locking with Jon’s briefly before his head dipped down, taking one of her pert nipples in his mouth. A moan spilled from her mouth as Cassidy arched her body, continuously slipping her fingers through his hair. Jon smirked at her incredible response and lightly grazed her nipple with his teeth, loving how it instantly hardened before smoothing it out with his hot tongue. He did this process several times before consuming the rest of her breast hungrily, finally shifting over to the other one.

“Jon, please…” She couldn’t take much more teasing and felt her heart stop for a split second when dark ocean hazy blues locked with hers. “I can’t…”

“I’ve barely begun with you, Cassidy.” He promised in a husky rasp and went back to pleasuring her, gliding his tongue down the valley of her breasts to her ribs.

One by one, Jon brushed his lips against them and felt Cassidy shiver, nuzzling lovingly. He had to be gentle with her, knowing it could take longer than 3 months to heal broken ribs. While traveling lower, Jon’s hands grabbed the dress and pulled it down along with him, inching it little by little to expose her gorgeous body. Cassidy’s breathing turned erratic along with her thundering heart and racing pulse, slowly climbing to heights only Jon could make her reach.

“Lift up.” Jon ordered, wanting the offending material completely gone so he didn’t have to deal with it.

Cassidy obeyed, licking her lips as her body quivered with pure anticipation, reaching out for him. Jon slid the dress down her legs and completely off, tossing it over his shoulder, lowering his head to her stomach. He took in a shaky breath, not believing just 3 months ago she’d been pregnant with his child. Feeling his apprehension, Cassidy caressed his hair to let him know everything was going to be fine. If he stopped now, her body would go on strike. Cracking a small smile up at her, Jon nodded and kissed all around her flat stomach, vowing to impregnate her again. Jon had never been one for kids, but the thought of Cassidy carrying a child of their own, something they created together…he suddenly yearned to be a father more than anything in the world.

Nuzzling her stomach, Jon reluctantly pulled away from it and massaged her outer thighs, arriving at her panty covered crotch. He could smell her arousal through the thin black lace material, growling at the hunger burning within him. Instead of ripping them off, Jon hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her panties and removed them. Cassidy gasped at the feeling of his hot breath against her smooth shaven pussy lips and bodily shivered, gripping his curls tighter in her fingers. Jon teased a little more, kissing and licking all around what he really wanted, starting at her inner thighs. He nipped the tender flesh and pulled Cassidy closer to him, draping her smooth soft legs over his broad shoulders.

“Oh god…” Cassidy whimpered, gripping her own hair and tried bucking her hips, but Jon held her down with his forearm.

After assaulting her other inner thigh, Jon finally slid his tongue along the creases of her pelvic region and felt his mouth water at the sight of her glistening pussy staring him in the face. He couldn’t hold back any longer and glided his tongue up her outer lips, finally going in for the kill. Cassidy cried out when his tongue flicked her sensitive clit, arching her back to try getting closer to him. Spreading her lips apart with his fingers, Jon flicked his tongue against her swollen bud repeatedly and emanated some deep moans from Cassidy. He lapped at her, suckling and even grazing her outer lips with his teeth, strong hands moving down to caress her beautiful backside. Cassidy was breathless, her world spinning and felt the hot coil within her threaten to spring free. Jon was an evil tease and proved it when he stopped right before Cassidy fell over the edge, knowing she was teetering. In record time, Jon shed his jeans and boots, hovering over her and captured her mouth with his, letting her taste herself on his tongue.

“Take me.” She ordered breathlessly, feeling the heat from Jon’s throbbing cock against her pulsating sex and spread her thighs wider.

Jon gave Cassidy what she wanted, what she desired, for the past 3 months and positioned himself at her entrance, rubbing against her swollen clit. He knew Cassidy wouldn’t last long from being so riled up, but a woman could have more than one orgasm luckily. Groaning, Jon carefully slid his massive shaft inside of her, not stopping since he knew it would hurt her more and gritted his teeth. She was tighter than before, though 3 months without sex would do that to a woman. Another vow he made at that moment was to never let Cassidy go more than a couple days without sex, his forehead pressing against hers. Once fully sheathed inside of her, Jon waited for Cassidy to become fully acclimated to his size, refusing to hurt her. Even though Doctor Magma had given the approval for sex, Jon wasn’t taking any chances and pressed soft kisses all over Cassidy’s face, his body trembling along with hers. This was going to be explosive. The scorching subsided and Cassidy could feel herself wrapped around Jon in a warm tight cocoon – a vise grip that he might not be able to escape from.

Snapping his hips forward, Jon plunged fully inside of her once he felt her walls give way, groaning. He slowly began thrusting, finding his rhythm and Cassidy met him for every lunge. Their bodies molded together as one, time ostensibly halting. Cassidy pulled Jon on top of her, wanting to feel his weight and kept her eyes locked on his, gripping his burly arms. Jon held himself up enough to where he didn’t fully crush her, never stopping the thrusting. Cassidy’s foot dug into the comforter, her other leg hooking around his waist to make him drive deeper and cried out when the pace picked up. Before long, they were spilling over the edge together in a downward spiral of ecstasy, bellowing each other’s name. The sheer intensity rocked their foundations and Jon had to use every bit of strength left in his body not to collapse on top of her. Cassidy released his arms, simply slumping back on the bed trying to catch her breath with the biggest smile on her face, glowing from head to toe. Shifting to lay on his side, Jon draped one arm around her waist and tried getting his heart rate to slow down, both of their bodies coated in perspiration.

“Do you want kids?” Jon asked out of nowhere, staring down into Cassidy’s beautiful eyes. “We’ve never discussed it.”

“I want as many kids as you do, Jon.” Cassidy replied truthfully, reaching up to caress his face with the back of her hand. “I just want to make you happy. Kids or no kids.”

Jon sat up a little to lean on his arm, caressing her stomach gently. “I’ve never been a kid person, but…the thought of you carrying my kid is incredible. I want it. I want to be a father so I can do what my old man didn’t. So I can rectify his mistakes.”

Cassidy rubbed her nose gently against his and suddenly pushed him on his back, straddling his waist. “Then I guess we should keep going until I end up pregnant, huh?” She giggled at his wide eyes, ready for another round. “I love you, Jon.”

Jon didn’t respond and simply captured her mouth with his, making love to Cassidy until they both passed out from enervation.

Chapter 49

After another month of no leads to Tyler Black’s whereabouts or Paul Levesque, Randy and Dave were surprised to get a call from the county jail. It was Stephanie. She wanted to trade information that she knew in exchange for full immunity and promised it would lead them to Tyler Black. Randy talked it over with Chief Lawler and Dave, not surprised when full immunity was immediately taken off the table. However, they did decide that, since Stephanie wasn’t the one who hired Tyler Black directly, they would be able to get her lenience at her trial.

Randy also pointed out withholding information from authorities was against the law and Stephanie could be put in prison for that alone. She immediately agreed to the lenience deal and was transported to the precinct later that day. Stephanie sat at the table with her hands in cuffs, wearing a grey jumpsuit that all the prisoners wore, her brown hair tattered. She had a few lacerations and a split lip from getting into a few fights during ‘recess’. Her daughter had been placed in a juvenile house that specialized in helping troubled kids, according to her lawyer. He couldn’t tell her a lot and Stephanie knew, if it wasn’t for the money she paid him to represent her, he would’ve walked away long ago.

“Where is he?” Dave cut to the chase, sitting across from her with narrowed brown eyes and made sure their conversation was recorded.

Stephanie sighed, tears stinging her eyes. “Answer me this first: Is my daughter alright?” Surana was all she thought about since child protective services ripped her out of her arms.

“You know where she’s at and she’s not our concern. She nearly had a little girl killed because she decided it was perfectly acceptable to bully someone much younger than her. I see where she gets the bully instincts though.” Dave didn’t care if that sounded harsh or not, keeping his voice low and neutral. “Now, answer MY question or the deal is off.”

Feeling her mouth go dry, Stephanie couldn’t believe she was about to do this and knew Paul would kill her someday for it. “He’s at the mansion. Black. He’s been staying there, but I swear to you I didn’t know what for. All my husband told me is he’s a special client that needed protection. I never got into his business.” Her blue eyes shined with truth from the words she confessed.

“So why didn’t you come clean when you were first brought in for questioning?” Dave demanded, standing up so he didn’t reach across the table to throttle this heartless woman. “You technically harbored a fugitive, you realize that right?” Stephanie had played them well, Dave gave her that, but there was always loopholes around deals.

“I know.” Stephanie whispered, lowering her head shamefully. “I was scared…”

Dave snorted, feeling disgusted for talking to her and had almost all of the information to go after Tyler Black. “We swept the mansion and didn’t find anything, so something tells me Black is hiding out in a secret room.” He wanted to go back to scour the place one more time, but Chief Lawler found it redundant. “So where the hell is he inside?”

“When you walk inside the front door, go to my husband’s study and there’s a bookcase behind his desk. The book is called ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis. It’s Surana’s favorite story. Go down the stairs in the passageway and you’ll find him in the bowels of the mansion. There’s a grate in there he crawls out of leading directly to the stream in the backyard and that’s how he’s been getting out.”

Stephanie blinked as tears slid down her cheeks and hoped this man kept his word about the lenience or else she’d possibly go to death row for association with all the deaths, including her own brother’s. Now Dave felt sick to his stomach, not believing a father would actually use his daughter’s favorite book in order to hide a killer. He had to get out of this room, already feeling his temper reaching the boiling point.

“Anything else?”

Stephanie flinched at the sharp tone of his voice. “Yes, the room is sound proof, so he won’t hear you coming. The agreement was he stayed down there because he’s got everything to live off of for at least a year. That’s it. That’s all I know.” She already agreed to give Trish Stratus whatever she wanted in a settlement that would let the woman live comfortably along with her daughter.

“Good.” Dave went to the door and opened it, gesturing Randy inside. “Have her escorted back to county.” He handed over the piece of paper with all the information on it. “Let’s go get him.”

Randy looked over the information while Stephanie was escorted out of the room, blue eyes widening. “Are you shitting me?” He blurted out, looking up at Dave completely befuddled. “But we swept that place…”

“Not all of it.” Dave snatched the paper from him, folding it up and slipped it in his back pocket securely. “I tried telling your damn Chief, but he didn’t want to listen to me. He’s hiding in the mansion and has been all along right under our fucking noses.”

That angered Randy since he’d been the one to lead the charge into the mansion, having asked the officers he’d been with if they’d missed anything. Of course they had. Shaking his head, Randy knew they didn’t need a warrant and took his .40 Beretta out, loading it up with fresh bullets. Dangerous brown met determined blue, both men having an understanding on how this went down. Tyler Black would leave the mansion in a body bag, regardless if he tried surrendering. There would be no following protocol with this and what the precinct didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Tyler Black deserved to be killed with everything he’d done - all the people he killed and that included nearly killing Cassidy. Dave had to gain retribution for his sister, which was the whole reason he’d taken this particular case in the first place. If it wasn’t revolved around his sister’s murderer, Dave wanted nothing to do with it. Taking out his own gun, Dave loaded it up and made sure to bring extra bullets before both of them headed out. All the running for Tyler Black was over. It all ended for him today and Randy planned on having a huge celebration once they took down Black. Sliding inside his vehicle, Dave took the passenger and Randy peeled down the street toward the Mayor’s mansion.

“When we get there, just follow my lead since I know what to do.” Dave instructed, looking out the window and suddenly rolled it down to let the air blow through his dark hair. “You ready for this, boy?”

“More than you know.” Randy replied tensely, completely focused on what they had to do to bring down Tyler Black. “After what he did to Cassidy, I want him gone as badly as you do.”

He thought of Cassidy like a little sister since being with Peyton because those girls were closer than family to each other. Dave understood that, having read over the report on everything Black did to the poor woman and wished he’d been there for Savannah. He couldn’t think about it right now, pushing the guilt in the back of his mind to feel later. Right now, Dave just wanted to lodge a bullet in between the bastard’s eyes so his sister could finally rest in peace. Before he did it though, Dave would find out what Black did with Savannah’s body, even if he had to torture the information out of him. 20 minutes later, Randy pulled up to the mansion and wasn’t surprised the gates were still open from when Stephanie had been arrested. Just in case Black decided to come out of his hiding room, Randy left his vehicle parked by the gate and stepped out with Dave.

They both nodded as Dave lead the charge toward the mansion, guns drawn while keeping their eyes peeled for any sudden movement. It was around 10 o’clock in the morning, so more than likely the murderer would be asleep in his bed dreaming of different ways to slice and dice women. A small trek later and they stood in front of the huge double doors with the key in Dave’s hand, retrieving it from Stephanie before leaving the precinct. He slipped it in the lock and pushed the door open, both aiming their guns, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Dave crept inside with Randy following, heading straight for the study like Stephanie instructed. When Dave started looking over the books, scanning them with his eyes, Randy became confused and opened his mouth to question what Dave was looking for, only to clamp it shut when the bookshelf opened.

“I’m sorry, Randy.” Dave sounded regretful, confusing Randy for a second and suddenly the bookshelf closed behind him, separating them. “I have to do this alone.” Sure enough, it was a secret passageway with stairs just like Stephanie explained.

“SON OF A BITCH!!” Randy bellowed, immediately starting to pull books out because he hadn’t noticed which one Dave pulled to open the bookshelf. “DAVE!!”

The corridor was dark, almost pitch black, but Dave had excellent vision and headed down the stairs, pointing his gun straight ahead. He froze when he heard movement in the next room, finally arriving at the bottom of the steps and could hear music blasting through it. Mentally counting to 3, Dave reared his foot back and kicked the door, watching it explode off the hinges. Dave ignored the musty smell and stormed into the room, pointing his gun to the right and then left, not seeing anything. There was a simple bed with blood stains on it, a dresser with pictures strewn all over and a pile of clothes in the far corner.

“Where are you, Black?” Dave shouted, knowing either the bastard sensed them coming or he wasn’t here. “SHOW YOURSELF!”

“I’m right here, Bautista.”

He’d been hanging upside down on the ceiling, hanging onto pipes and landed right on Dave’s shoulders, a dagger in his hand. Dave growled, shooting his Magnum up to try to lodge a bullet in Black, but his aim was poor. Tyler smiled maniacally, flashing his white teeth and blinked when Bautista overpowered him, landing on his back with a sickening thud.

“Get up you piece of shit!” Dave roared, kicking Black in the stomach several times and saw pure red. “I SAID GET UP!!”

Black kept rolling away from him, trying to dodge as many kicks to the ribs as he could, groaning every time a boot connected. “I see you didn’t bring your partner.” He taunted, dark eyes flashing while his two toned hair hung down to his shoulders, a sick smile crossing his face. “Wanted to do this by yourself, huh Davey?”

“Where is she?” Dave demanded, stopping the kicks momentarily and towered over Black, having his hand coiled ready to shoot. “Where’s my sister’s body?”

Tyler smirked, licking his lip and laughed malevolently, getting to his knees. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He shot back, groaning when another boot lodged in his stomach.

“One more chance to tell me where Savannah is or I end you.” Dave threatened, brown eyes flashing and pressed his boot against Black's throat, applying pressure. “WHERE?”

“Go to hell.” Tyler wheezed out with gasping breath and drove his dagger right into Dave’s thigh, causing him to roar out in pain.

Dave hadn’t realized Black still had his dagger in hand, so when that searing pain exploded in his thigh, he stumbled back landing on the floor. Black was on his feet instantly, ignoring the pain in his ribs and ripped the dagger out of Dave’s thigh, the smell of his blood permeating the air. He swiped his finger against the blade and popped it in his mouth, tasting Dave’s blood closing his eyes briefly.

“Just like your precious sister.” Tyler growled lustfully, chuckling at Dave’s feeble attempt to try reaching for his gun and kicked it away, wiping the blood off on Dave’s shirt. “She was such a tight fuck and quite the fighter. It was a pleasure to slit her from head to toe while I fucked her. Did you know the body can still have an orgasm even after being dead within the first 24 hours? Me either. So I fucked her after I killed her, just to test that theory out. I must say, her body reacted beautifully.” He sounded as if he didn’t just describe what he’d done to Dave Bautista’s sister, his voice cool and calm, almost friendly.

“Shut up…” Dave grunted out, blood pouring out of his thigh and attempted to scoot back, a streak of red left behind on the floor. “Shut the fuck up about my sister, you sick bastard!”

“Her blood tasted good too. Send her my love, will you?”

Tyler plunged the dagger right into Dave’s chest, through the bulletproof vest he wore, hearing him gasping for air. Randy arrived at that moment and didn’t think twice about what to do, unloading his gun into Tyler Black. The man stumbled back and finally landed on the floor on the opposite side of Dave, several bullet holes in his chest. Shaking his head, Randy stormed over to where Tyler lay prone and unloaded one more bullet right between his eyes, not taking any chances. Then, Randy immediately turned to Dave and closed his eyes, lowering his head. He’d been too late. Not touching him, Randy pulled his phone out and dialed the precinct, calling in what happened. It wouldn’t take much to piece together Dave had acted out of self-defense. Randy wouldn’t tell them Dave left him behind purposefully to come down here, already having the story in mind he’d put in the report. He would take that with him to the grave, understanding why Dave wanted to do this alone.

“Did you get him?” Chief Lawler demanded over the phone, hoping this mess was finally over.

Randy nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah chief, he’s dead. So is Dave.”

“Mother fucker.” Chief Lawler muttered, scrubbing a hand down his face. “What the hell happened?”

Randy explained and then hung up, immediately calling Cassidy to let her know she could rest easy because the hit man was dead.

~!~

Receiving the call from Randy around noon that Tyler Black was dead, the biggest wave of relief crashed over Cassidy. She thanked Randy for the information and hung up, immediately planning on celebrating with Jon as soon as he got home that night. It wouldn’t happen though because, as soon as Cassidy walked out to her garage to pick something out to cook for dinner that night, a tingle suddenly zipped up her neck that felt like a bee sting. Her body collapsed in the attacker’s arms and Cassidy was carted out of her garage to the backyard, leading to an alleyway. Placing her body in the backseat of the getaway car, the attacker slid behind the wheel and peeled off down the road, heading to a destination unknown.

Cassidy wasn’t as safe as she thought.

Chapter 50

Captain John Layfield sat in his office going over some documents, scrawling his signature on a few reports and catching up since it was a slow day at the fire station. Not all of the documents pertained to them though. John was about to make a life altering decision and hoped his boys understood why. It required leaving the fire station, which meant his 2^nd in command, Windham Rotunda, would take over as Captain. Now that the Mayor position was vacant, John Layfield planned on going for it because he would be a better Mayor than Levesque ever thought about. Sighing, John heard the dispatch radio come on and raised a brow, listening intently.

It was a police officer reporting a casualty of some kind and John listened closely just in case they were needed. When the name ‘Tyler Black’ came over the radio, he immediately stood up from his chair and walked out of the office, heading outside. That name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Jon was outside with Joe washing fire trucks since it was a slow day at work. Shirtless, Jon wore a pair of skintight light blue jeans while Joe had blue jean shorts on, bare from the waist up. He currently washed while Jon rinsed, little trickles of water sliding down their arms and chests. The sun shined brightly and glinted off the cherry red machine, the weather in the mid-70’s with a warm breeze.

“Hey, before I forget, Trista told me to tell you something.” Joe called out from the other side of the truck while standing on a stepstool to reach the windshield of the fire truck.

“What?” Jon raised a brow, black shades covering his curious blues.

Joe smirked, wearing shades of his own. “She said if you even think about trying to back out of being the Best Man at our wedding, she’ll castrate you.” He laughed, knowing Jon wouldn’t take it to heart. “I told her you wouldn’t ruin it since we’re practically brothers.”

“We are brothers, Anoa’i.” Jon corrected him, not liking to hear the word practically when it came to their relationship. “I know I’m a dick to you a lot of the time, but you are my brother regardless. Tell her not to get her panties in a twist, I’ll be there. She ever hurts you though and I’ll make sure her ass is buried 6 feet under. You can send THAT message back to her.” It wasn’t a threat and they both knew it.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” Joe snorted, refusing to say those words to his fiancée because Trista would make him eat the ring he gave her. “She wants an August wedding, just letting you know.”

Jon waved him off, rolling his eyes. “So you’re really gonna do it, huh? Gonna settle down with Trista Lopez of all women?” He wished Joe well because that woman was a spitfire and a half.

Joe grinned, shrugging. “I love her. Can’t help it. And don’t deny how you feel about Cassidy. I can see it. You just haven’t dropped your balls and told her yet.” He knew Jon better than anyone and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind when it came to their personal lives.

“I’ll tell her when I’m damn good and ready, Anoa’i.” If Joe only knew what was really going on between Jon and Cassidy, he’d probably keel over from a heart attack. “I’m waiting for the right time. So just zip your lip.”

“Jon - Joe, you guys got a second?” Captain Layfield asked from behind, brown eyes full of concern.

Jon could hear the uneasiness in Layfield’s voice, wondering what was going on and tossed the hose to the side after Joe turned them off. “What is it?” He demanded, Joe joining him seconds later.

“First off, I’m gonna ask you a question because I’m not gonna say anythin’ unless I know for a fact it’s worth sayin’.” Captain Layfield knew that didn’t make sense, but it was the best way he knew how to start this conversation off.

“Out with it.” Jon ordered, folding his arms in front of his chest and peered over his black shades at Layfield.

“Jon, this is the Captain…” Joe reminded him somewhat sheepishly, immediately looking away when a glare was shot his way.

“Then he needs to stop beating around the fucking bush and ask his damn question.”

“Alright Good, I get it. Now pipe down.” Captain Layfield ordered, used to Jon’s attitude over the years he’d worked for the fire department. “What was the name of the prick who attacked your girl?”

Jon knew that was directed at him and felt every part of his body tense. “Why?” His voice went from low to a raspy gravelly tone and fought back the urge to bolt out of there to go check on Cassidy.

“Just answer the damn question, Good.”

“Tyler Black. Why?” Jon commanded through gritted teeth, ready to throttle the Captain if he didn’t get to the point. “Did you hear something?”

Suddenly, Captain Layfield had the biggest smile on his face and clapped Jon on the shoulder, nodding. “It just came over the radio. He was killed this morning.”

Joe beamed, grey eyes gleaming and grabbed Jon’s arm, blinking when he collapsed on his knees. “Jon? Jon, are you okay?” He squatted down to be at Jon’s level, voice full of concern.

Slowly pulling his black shades off, Jon had to learn how to breathe again, the news temporarily knocking the wind out of him. Tyler Black was dead. He would never bother Cassidy again. They could finally live the rest of their lives without constantly looking over their shoulder. Jon swallowed hard and looked at Joe, pale blues full of intense robust emotion as relief coursed through his muscular frame.

“Go see her.” Joe read the silent question in Jon’s eyes and clapped him on the shoulder. “I got you covered. Go.”

“Thanks.” Jon whispered, slowly rising to his feet and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on while jetting out to his motorcycle.

“He’s got it bad, doesn’t he?” Captain Layfield commented, not remembering the last time he watched Jon Good sprint out of the fire station that fast. “Damn.”

“You have no idea.” Joe headed back outside to finish washing the fire truck and decided to give Trista a call to tell her the good news.

~!~

Jon arrived at Cassidy’s in record time, glad her new house was closer to the fire station and pulled in the driveway. Dismounting, Jon ran up to the front door in long strides and unlocked the door, tossing it open. It was a Saturday afternoon and Jon planned on spending the rest of the day making love to his girlfriend, his way of celebrating the fact Tyler Black was out of their lives for good.

“Cass, darlin’, you here?” Jon called out, pushing black shades up on top of his head and did not see her in the living room.

His eyes moved down the hallway, a smirk curving his lips as he headed toward the bedroom, seeing the door was closed. That meant Cassidy was more than likely taking an afternoon nap. He wasn’t scheduled to get off until 5 that night, so she was in for a surprise. Pushing the door open, Jon frowned at the sight of an empty perfectly made bed, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He didn’t hear the shower running, so she wasn’t in there either, but Jon checked just in case she decided to take a bath.

Nothing.

“Where the hell is she?” He tore a hand through his haphazard hair and walked back out into the living room, suddenly feeling a cool draft coming from the kitchen. “Cass?” He called out again, heading around the corner from the kitchen and felt his heart rate increase at the sight of the open garage door.

Cassidy never left it open and had yelled at him several times for doing so. It was one of her pet peeves in the house. Jon swallowed hard, feeling a lump form in his throat and saw the light was on as well. What the hell was going on? Walking into the garage, Jon spotted the white Honda Civic and moved his gaze to the open freezer chest. Something wasn’t right. Walking over to it, Jon didn’t touch anything and simply looked around, finally spotting something shiny on the garage floor. Squatting down to get a better look, Jon felt his blood boil when he realized what it was and immediately whipped his cell phone out.

It was an empty syringe.

~!~

Randy groaned, rubbing his tired eyes and had taken the rest of the day off after witnessing David Bautista’s brutal death. It was a little after 12:30 in the afternoon and Randy hadn’t been asleep for more than 10 minutes when his cell phone blared on the nightstand. Peyton was out shopping for a new dress because Randy wanted to take her out on an ‘unforgettable’ date. It was going to be a night they’d both never forget.

“Yeah?” He answered gruffly, wishing he could get a few hours of sleep so he wasn’t lethargic on the date.

“Orton, its Jon Good.”

Randy sat upright in bed instantly, hearing the strain in Jon’s voice. “What’s up, Jon?” He asked, feeling his stomach twist slightly. “I thought you’d be celebrating with your lady love.”

“She’s gone.” Jon stood outside of the house, pacing back and forth away from his motorcycle so he didn’t kick it over. “Her car is here and the garage door was open. She NEVER leaves it open and the light was on. The freezer chest was open and I found…” He had to take a breath, saying everything in a rush and pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily.

“Jon, calm down.” Randy instructed, already slipping on his shoes and grabbed his keys. “Where are you and what did you find?”

“An empty syringe.” Jon couldn’t believe this was happening again, blue eyes spitting ice. “I’m at the new house.”

Randy knew where it was since he helped move Cassidy along with Peyton. “I’m on my way. Stay put.” He hung up the phone and dialed the precinct, hoping Chief Lawler hadn’t left for the day.

“Lawler.”

“Chief, it’s Randy. We have a problem.”

Lawler sighed heavily, draining a glass of bourbon. “I know. I was just about to call you. Cassidy still has the tracer on her cell phone. I can tell you where she’s headed, but the battery might die if she hasn’t kept it charged.”

“Fuck.” Randy cursed, flying down the stairs and hopped in his car. “I thought this was over with!”

“We both did, son. Now calm down, take a breath and listen to what I tell you.” Lawler ordered, giving him the information he needed to find Cassidy’s whereabouts.

Randy jotted them down on a pad of paper, using his police car and peeled out of the driveway, calling Peyton to let her know he had an emergency. Peyton understood and asked him if everything was alright. Hating to do it, Randy lied to her and said it was just a mandatory drug sweep and he’d be home soon. She seemed to accept that and they hung up, Randy immediately regretting lying to her, but he didn’t want to upset Peyton about Cassidy’s disappearance. 10 minutes later, Randy pulled into the driveway of Cassidy’s new house, spotting Jon sitting on the porch with his head down. He blared the horn, getting the man’s attention and unlocked the door so Jon could slide in the passenger seat. Not saying anything at first, Randy didn’t waste time with a greeting and drove away, heading toward the destination Chief Lawler gave him from the tracer on Cassidy’s phone.

“Do you know where she is?” Jon had gotten tired of the silence, glaring at Randy with frosty eyes.

Randy nodded, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Go in the dashboard and pull the gun out. Load it up. You’re gonna need protection.”

Jon obeyed, for once not questioning anything and filled the .40 Beretta, clicking it in place. “Where are we going?”

“Outskirts of Tampa. There’s an abandoned warehouse. That’s where Cassidy’s phone is directing us. We don’t have much time.”

~!~

Azure eyes slowly fluttered open and Cassidy touched the side of her neck, feeling incredibly dizzy. The last thing she remembered was being in the garage trying to decide what to have for dinner to celebrate Tyler Black’s death with Jon. Then it was nothing but darkness. Blinking, Cassidy swallowed hard as she managed to get to her knees, the nausea hitting her like a ton of a bricks.

“Don’t get up too fast.”

Cassidy recognized that voice, trying to ignore the pounding in her head and turned to look at someone, though their face was blurry. “W-Where am I?” She asked weakly, immediately sitting on her backside and felt like she could sleep for 10 straight years.

“Cass, it’s me.”

The person came toward Cassidy, suddenly coming into full focus as worried brown eyes pierced her. “Trish?”

Trish breathed a sigh of relief and blinked tears away from her eyes. “Thank god you’re safe.” She whispered, ignoring her own throbbing head.

Now that Cassidy could see her clearer, she noted the bruises on Trish’s face along with her split bottom lip, thick deep burns around her neck. She had one black eye and dry blood caked the side of her face. Cassidy covered her mouth with her hand, reaching out with the other one and Trish looked away instantly, blonde hair hiding her face.

“Trish…my god, what happened?” Cassidy sat up a little more and forced her friend to look back at her. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know.” Trish murmured quietly, her hope dashed that Cassidy might know their whereabouts. “We were brought here against our will. I know that much. I was beaten into unconsciousness, but you look perfectly unscathed.”

“What do you mean we?” Cassidy looked away from Trish as a sniffle sounded from behind them and she turned her head, eyes wide at the sight of Madelyn. “Christ…”

“Mommy, I’m scared.” Madelyn whimpered, walking toward them now that she knew it was Cassidy with them, feeling a little better. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart, but everything will be alright.” Trish assured her softly, pulling Madelyn into her arms and hugged her close while giving Cassidy a worried look. “We have to get out of here.”

Cassidy agreed, placing a hand on Madelyn’s back and looked around the warehouse, trying to see if there was a way out. As long as Madelyn remained safe and unharmed, that’s all that really mattered. Trish could take care of herself. Cassidy was more focused on the little girl she’d gotten close with ever since Jon saved her from Bell Elementary School.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” A dark voice sounded behind them, causing all 3 captives to turn and stare into cold unforgiving brown eyes. “Let the games begin, ladies.”

It was Paul Levesque.

Chapter 51

“So it really was you.” Cassidy immediately moved to shield both Trish and Madelyn, not wanting them to get hurt.

Paul smiled warmly, though it didn’t touch his cold eyes. “Technically yes, but I expected Black to take care of you so I wouldn’t have to do it.” He sighed, already hearing about Black’s death and could care less. “I guess it’s like that old saying goes: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

“What can I say? I don’t die easily.” Cassidy retorted, the nausea and dizziness dissipating.

“I’ve noticed.” Paul replied gruffly, pulling a gun out of his back jean pocket and stared at it almost lovingly for a moment. “But I will be sure to rectify that today.”

Cassidy didn’t like the dangerous look that flashed in his eyes, wondering if he would actually kill all of them in cold blood. “Look, you have me right where you want me, so why are they here?” She gestured to Trish and Madelyn. “They have nothing to do with this.”

“On the contrary, Miss Irons, they have everything to do with this.” His cold eyes locked on the little girl that singlehandedly turned his world upside down. “Especially the brat.”

Trish tightened her hold on Madelyn, feeling how hard her daughter trembled against her and didn’t say a word. It was obvious why they’d been brought here because Paul’s daughter had nearly killed Madelyn. The family was called out on so much and opened up can after can of worms, everything snowballing because of Surana’s rebellious attitude.

“No they don’t because I’M the one who tracked them down to write the article on your brat.” Anger flooded Cassidy the moment Paul called Madelyn a brat, refusing to let that slide. “Madelyn simply defended herself against your precious daughter and you were called out on it. Is that why you had your own brother-in-law killed? Because he told me about Surana’s problems?”

“SHUT UP!” Paul roared, pointing the gun directly at Cassidy with a shaky hand and had to take a deep breath to calm down. “He opened his mouth when he should’ve kept it closed and put family first. The things he told you in that interview disrespected Surana, so yes he had to pay for it.”

“With his life.” Cassidy snorted, shaking her head and knew the more she baited Paul, the more likely he would take his anger out on her instead of Trish and Madelyn. “You are one sick demented bastard. What would you do if the roles were reversed?”

“What do you mean?” Paul didn’t understand, raising a brow.

“What if Surana had been the one bullied and trapped in her own locker during a school fire? What if YOU were the worried parent that could’ve lost your child because of another? Would you kill anyone who messed with Surana?” Cassidy taunted, folding her arms in front of her chest with narrowed eyes. “All I did was my job by telling Madelyn’s story. Not my fault you can’t hack it as a father.”

Paul had enough of this, closing the distance between them and backhanded Cassidy across the face with his hand, watching her hit the dirty floor with a sickening thud. His murderous brown eyes turned on Madelyn and Trish, suddenly getting an idea in his head. If Cassidy wanted to run her smart mouth, he would make her suffer the consequences.

“Cassidy!”

“Both of you over here now.” Paul waved his gun directing them, smirking at his handiwork when it came to Trish’s face. “Don’t make me use this.”

Trish immediately moved along with Madelyn to where Paul wanted them to stand, trembling from head to toe. “Please…”

“Unless you want another beating, shut your mouth, Stratus.” Paul growled, taking a threatening step toward her and was pleased when she immediately lowered her head. “Good girl, now then…”

“Leave them alone, you prick!” Cassidy spat out blood, having cut the inside of her cheek with her teeth and slowly got to her knees. “Your issues are with me, not them. Just let them go.”

Paul considered her plea, tilting his head slightly and decided he would somewhat give Cassidy what she wanted. A last request and even people in prison got those before being slaughtered by the justice system. “Stand up.” He ordered, burying his hand in her strawberry blonde tresses and yanked her up when she didn’t move fast enough, chuckling. “Before I kill you, I think I’ll give you a last request and let you decide their fate.”

“W-What do you mean?” Cassidy stammered, grunting when Paul proceeded to pull her over to where Trish and Madelyn stood, facing them with his grubby hand still buried in her hair.

He forced Cassidy to lean back against him, burying his nose in her hair and groaned audibly, pointing the gun at Trish and then Madelyn. “Choose one.” He tightened the hold on Cassidy’s hair, his voice lowering. “For your dying request, you can save one of them.”

Cassidy felt her whole body go numb, her blood cold as soon as Paul uttered that ultimatum in her ear, feeling sick to her stomach. How the hell was she supposed to choose between Trish and Madelyn? She didn’t bother asking what he meant because the message was clear. He was going to kill one of them and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

“Please…” Cassidy hissed out, clenching her fists at her sides and could feel tears sting her eyes. “D-Don’t kill them…”

“Pick one or I’ll end both of them.” Paul had no problem killing Madelyn, though he knew Cassidy wouldn’t choose the child over the mother, a sick smile lighting his face. “And then the survivor can watch as I slowly torture you and make you pay for everything you’ve done to my family.”

Cassidy swallowed hard and looked at Trish, not believing it had come down to this. There was no way she could let Madelyn be the victim of Surana’s father, not after everything the lunatic child had done to her. But Trish was all Madelyn had for family, so to lose her would be completely devastating. Blinking, tears slid down her cheeks as Paul squeezed the trigger a little more and knew all of them would probably end up dead anyway.

“Take care of Maddie.” Trish whispered, stepping away from her daughter to block her from being shot, brown eyes resigned.

“I’m sorry.” Cassidy whispered solemnly, closing her eyes when Trish was shot in the chest a second later and the sound echoed throughout the warehouse.

“MOMMY!!” Madelyn screamed, watching horrified as her mother fell to the ground in a heap and dropped to her knees, tears rushing down her cheeks. “MOMMY NO!!”

“You bastard!!” Cassidy snarled out, beginning to struggle against him until she felt the gun press against her side, immediately freezing.

“Good, now walk and do as your told, cunt.” Paul sneered, walking away from the sobbing child with Cassidy and shoved her against a huge wooden pillar. “With that taken care of, we can finally have a little time together.” He ran the gun down her chest, brown eyes never leaving icy azure. “You know, I don’t have a family of my own anymore. Maybe we can make an arrangement to where I don’t have to kill you. The beautiful woman that you are would definitely grant me a new child to corrupt.”

His words made her ill. Cassidy looked away from him, trying to block out Madelyn’s sobbing and couldn’t believe Trish was dead. Gone. All because of her need to find a story, thanks to Adam Copeland. Cassidy knew deep down she also did it because she wanted Madelyn’s story told - to open people’s eyes and make them realize bullying was a serious threat to the school systems. Now she would pay for it with her life.

“Just kill me now and get it over with because I’ll never agree to any kind of ‘arrangement’ you have in mind.” Cassidy made it clear she wanted nothing to do with this psycho that made her life miserable because of his bullying daughter.

“Oh Cassidy…” Paul sighed wistfully, pressing himself against her and made her feel the bulge that formed in his jeans. “What makes you think I won’t take what I want anyway? And the beautiful part is I’m going to make that little bitch watch.” He roughly cupped her short covered crotch, hearing her gasp out in surprise and chuckled. “We’re going to have SO much fun together. I can already tell.”

“Go to hell.” Cassidy hissed, knowing she couldn’t fight him off with a gun pressed against her abdomen, which is where it currently rested. “You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t make her watch. It’s bad enough you killed her mother in front of her, Levesque.”

“Tough.” Paul was doing things his way and suddenly grabbed Cassidy’s hair, shoving her down on the dirty floor roughly, grabbing her ankle before she could scramble away from him. “Come here, you little cunt!”

“Maddie, don’t watch this!” Cassidy groaned when she received another backhand across the face, refusing to keep her mouth shut as the child looked back at her. “Look away, don’t watch this, sweetheart.” Another blow to the face had Cassidy’s head reeling while Paul made short work of her shorts, tossing them over his shoulder.

“Madelyn, watch this or I’ll kill her.” Paul threatened, pressing the gun right into Cassidy’s temple while straddling her, making sure she couldn’t escape him. “Watch and learn.”

“NO! Madelyn, don’t!” Cassidy began struggling against Paul, knowing she had his full undivided attention and hoped the little girl listened to the next set of instructions that came out of her mouth. “RUN!! Get out of here!”

Not thinking twice about it, Madelyn took off through the warehouse and managed to dodge several bullets that whizzed past her, crying her little heart out. Cassidy smiled in spite of everything, looking up at Paul and laughed when he struck her again, starting to push her tank top up. Whatever happened to her now, at least Madelyn would be safe and wouldn’t watch whatever Paul Levesque did to her.

“I’ll get her. Don’t worry about that. But I’ll take care of you first.” Paul was not amused by the little girl’s obedience toward Cassidy and pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, proceeding to cut through the thin material of the tank top she wore.

~!~

Madelyn made it outside of the warehouse, the sun momentarily blinding her vision, tears blurring it even more and could see a car coming her way. She stumbled, not knowing how long she’d been in that scary place and had to find a way to help Cassidy. Dirt smeared her face and arms along with the blood from her mother. When the car stopped in front of her, Madelyn had to wipe tears away in order to see who it was.

“Maddie?!”

It was Jon.

“M-Mr. Good?” Madelyn immediately began crying and ran to him as fast as she could with all the strength she had left in her little body and felt him sweep her up in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck tightly. “C-Cassidy…”

“Where is she?” He demanded, looking over at a shocked Randy and set the little girl back on her feet. “In the warehouse?”

Madelyn nodded, looking positively terrified. “H-He’s hurting her…” She stammered out through sobs, trembling so hard her teeth chattered. “H-Help her please!!”

Jon pulled his gun out, immediately making a beeline for the warehouse. “Jon, wait!” Randy shouted, knowing he should go after him, but the little girl needed help as well. “Damn it!”

He immediately snatched the radio from his police car and requested backup at the location they were at outside of Tampa along with an ambulance, wrapping a protective arm around Madelyn’s shoulders. Randy was out of his mind if he thought for a second Jon would let this bastard hurt Cassidy. He arrived at the warehouse doors and could hears her screams resonating, feeling his chest clench painfully. Whatever Levesque was doing to Cassidy, Jon had to stop it and kicked the door in, holding the gun out. He hadn’t gone shooting in a while, but Jon knew he still had a pretty good chance of nailing Levesque if he remained focused.

“GET OFF OF ME!!” Cassidy screamed, fighting with everything she had while Paul assaulted her chest, biting her nipples harshly. “NO!!!”

“Shut up, slut, and enjoy this!!” Paul ordered gruffly against her soft supple skin, rubbing her through her panties. “Get wet for me, damn it!!”

Jon could hear all of this and his blood boiled, temper shooting up vowing to kill Levesque the first chance presented. Turning the corner, Jon saw complete red at the sight of Paul straddled on top of a pugnacious Cassidy, her face heavily bruised from being struck and blood caked her mouth. Jon didn’t think twice about it and fired the gun, piercing the man’s shoulder. The force of the gun made Paul fly off of Cassidy, a bellow echoing around the warehouse.

“WHAT THE FUCK?”

Cassidy turned her head and felt relief course through her at the sight of Jon, not believing he found her. Then she remembered the tracer on her cell phone, which she had because Randy called to give her the good news about Tyler Black. She lay there in just her panties, the bra, shorts and tank top shredded, thanks to Paul’s switchblade and she had bruises developing on her chest.

“Cass…” Jon rushed over to her while Paul held his shoulder, his eyes focused solely on her and immediately pulled his shirt off, covering her with it. “I’m here darlin’, I’m here now.”

“W-Where’s Maddie?” She stammered, letting Jon help her up to her feet slipping the t-shirt over her head and closed her eyes, wrapping his strong arms around her. “T-Trish…”

“I know.” Jon whispered, noticing Trish’s dead body as soon as he turned the corner and stroked her hair, hearing sirens in the distance. “Everything is gonna be fine now, Cass. It’s over.”

“So you think.”

They had both taken their focus off of Paul, who had recovered from the bullet wound in his shoulder and had his gun in hand. Jon noticed him before Cassidy did and immediately traded places with her, feeling the bullet lodge in his right shoulder blade. Searing pain exploded through his body as Jon stumbled into Cassidy’s arms, hearing her scream and felt the breath leave him. Before Levesque could fire another shot, he was suddenly blown away by a bullet, the shot whizzing past Cassidy right into Levesque’s chest. It was Randy. The authorities had raced to the scene and he’d left Madelyn with the ambulance that followed, rushing into the warehouse to back Jon up as fast as he could. Cassidy held Jon tightly and pressed her hand over the bullet wound to hopefully stem the blood flow, tears streaming down her face.

“Jon, please…” She begged, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hold him up much longer and sighed with relief when Randy rushed over to help. “Jon, hang in there…”

“Cass…” He sounded weak, coughing a little and looked over at Randy, grunting. “Nice timing, Orton.”

Randy shook his head, knowing Jon had been shot. “Come on, Good, you were shot this isn’t time for jokes.”

Together, they headed out of the warehouse to get both Jon and Cassidy medical attention.

Chapter 52

Cassidy stared at Doctor Magma in shock, the same one who treated her after her attack from Tyler Black and felt her mouth drop open. “Are you sure?” She managed to ask in a whisper, tears filling her eyes.

Doctor Magma nodded, placing a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “Yes. I know it’s sudden, but you’ve healed well from the previous injuries, including your ribs. You should have no issues with this.”

Covering her mouth with her hand, Cassidy silently hoped he was right and winced while the doctor proceeded to treat a small laceration across her cheek. “This feels like déjà vu, only I was unconscious the last time.” She half-joked, staying still and hissed when he applied some cream to her split lower lip. Once patched up, Cassidy walked out of the examination room to the waiting lobby, instantly being clobbered with a hug from Peyton. “Damn Pey…” She grunted, holding her best friend close and could feel her shaking. “I’m alright.”

“You’ve got to stop doing this!” Peyton cried, pulling back to stare into Cassidy’s eyes. “You’re going to end up giving me a heart attack!”

“Well geez, not like I planned on being kidnapped again.” Cassidy retorted wryly, feeling Peyton’s arm wrap around her shoulders to guide her to a chair. “Has anyone heard anything about Jon?”

Jon was taken straight to emergency surgery to remove the bullet from his back while Cassidy was treated and examined. That was over an hour ago and Cassidy hadn’t heard anything, hoping the doctor would’ve at least given them an update. Looking around the room at everyone, Cassidy suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion and covered her face with her hands, crying. Jon was loved by everyone in this room, even with his overbearing ways and attitude.

“He’s gonna be fine.” Joe walked over to sit beside Cassidy and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Jon is a tough son of a bitch. He’s not gonna let a bullet bring him down or end him, Cassidy.”

“I know that, it’s just – he doesn’t realize how loved he is. He doesn’t comprehend he has people who care about him. Take you for instance. You should be with Trista comforting her over…her brother’s death.” Cassidy had a hard time saying those last few words for obvious reasons and hated how raw her emotions were. Given everything that happened in recent months, she had a right to have a small breakdown.

Joe still had a hard time wrapping his mind around what happened with Colby – Tyler – whoever the man was. “She needs time alone and I’m giving that to her right now. But you’re wrong about what you said and let me tell you why. Earlier this morning, I had a talk with Jon and he called me his brother. I said we were practically brothers and he corrected me. He said we ARE brothers, even with how he treats me. Jon has never said something like that before and I know it’s because of you. Ever since he’s met you, he’s changed and it’s a good thing. I think he’s starting to realize he does have a family, even if it’s not blood. Don’t have to be blood to be family after all.”

“Have – um – you heard anything from Trista about…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say his name and felt Peyton squeeze her hand, lending as much support as she could.

“No.” His deep voice was somber and remained low, grey eyes lowering to the floor. “I’m sure the story will come out and everyone will know the truth. I’m just…I’m glad he didn’t accomplish what he wanted to with you, Cassidy. I don’t know where Jon would be right now without you in his life.” As worried as he was for Trista, Joe had to be there for the only person who had been there for him through thick and thin since they were kids.

“Everything will be fine, Sidy. You just have to hang in there and try not to think about anything or anyone besides Jon.” Peyton piped in softly, wrapping an arm around Cassidy’s shoulders and held her close. “I’m always here for you.”

“I know…”

“When you and Jon get married…” Peyton decided a change of subject was in order, feeling nauseous at the mere thought of Colby Lopez/Tyler Black.

Cassidy shook her head, eyes growing wide. “We’re not even CLOSE to ready for that.” Though, if Jon did propose to her, Cassidy already knew she would accept and demand they elope.

Everyone in the room suddenly grew silent as Cassidy felt fresh tears sting her eyes, the memory of Trish’s death hitting her full force. She hadn’t chosen between Trish and Madelyn, but Trish had sacrificed herself to save her daughter. Madelyn was currently with child protective services until they either contacted Trish’s relatives or Trista decided to step up to the plate to take care of the little girl. She was the godmother and Trish had no siblings, just a decrepit mother living in the Rocky Mountains.

“Trish was supposed to be a bridesmaid…”

Everyone looked up at the sound of Trista’s soft voice, her face one big blotchy red mess and Joe instantly stood up to pull her in his arms. All she could do was break down against Joe, burying her face in his chest and felt his fingers slide through her hair, trying to calm her down. He couldn’t imagine how hard this was for her, not to mention Elissa and the kids. So much death had happened along with finding out what kind of person Colby really was, if Colby was even his real name since the news referred to him as Tyler Black. It was all very confusing and a huge investigation would have to be done before anyone received the truth.

“Trista, have you decided?” Peyton asked quietly a little while later, after Joe managed to stop her from crying. “If you can’t…”

“I haven’t talked to Joe about it yet.” Trista looked up at Joe with tear-filled hazel eyes and knew there was no time like the present.

“Talk to me about what?”

Trista explained the situation to Joe, having spoken to the caseworker responsible for placing Madelyn in a home. Randy contacted her immediately and Trista did her best not to break down at finding out that, not only was her only sibling and brother a murderer, but her best friend had been shot to death. They couldn’t waste any time, not when it came to children though and Trista understood that. Joe listened intently, not saying a word and could tell how much Trista loved Madelyn. Even though they hadn’t discussed it in depth about having children in general, Joe wouldn’t deny anything Trista wanted to do.

“I’ll start looking for a house.” They both had one bedroom apartments, which wasn’t efficient for Madelyn and Joe had been thinking about getting a house for a while anyway. “I have one in mind, just waiting to hear back from the guy if it’s available and then they have to run my credit.”

“You already checked into it?” That was news to Trista, though she knew they needed a bigger place since they were getting married. “We’re really doing this?” Trista whispered, not sure if she’d be able to take care of a 6 year old, but she couldn’t let Madelyn go into the foster care system either.

Joe laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand up to kiss the back of it. “Yeah, we’re doing this.”

He couldn’t wait to make Trista his wife and start knocking her up with a bunch of munchkins to run around. Unlike Jon, Joe knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to show emotion. Madelyn was a sweet little girl and Joe would be proud to be her adopted father. They would have to go through the hoops of child protective services to make that happen, but Joe already knew they would win hands down. Trista was a brilliant teacher and had known Trish for years, so she already had a personal investment in Madelyn’s life, especially being the little girl’s godmother.

“Thank god.” Peyton breathed a huge sigh of relief, wiping a few stray tears away. “She can always be homeschooled if you want, Trista.”

Trista didn’t want Madelyn attending public schooling after everything that happened to her. “I think that’d be best.”

She’d have to start planning Trish’s funeral since they were all the family she had. Adam and Joe already offered to chip in to pay for it, wanting all of Trish’s savings and whatnot to go into a college fund for Madelyn. Cassidy would chip in as well, though she hadn’t told them about it yet, her mind too focused on Jon to worry about anything else. The fact Trista and Joe were taking Madelyn into their home warmed Cassidy’s heart more than words could say. Trish had told her to take care of Madelyn right before Levesque pulled the trigger, so she already planned on taking the little girl if they didn’t. An hour later, a woman with chestnut colored hair stepped into the waiting room with a white coat on, a stethoscope around her neck.

“Family of Jonathan Good?” She called out, smiling as every head turned to face her.

“I’m Jon’s girlfriend.” Cassidy said instantly, standing up to walk over to the doctor and glanced at the nametag on her white coat, swallowing hard. “Is he…okay, Doctor Hughes?”

Doctor Hughes nodded with sparkling brown eyes. “Yes, the surgery was a success. Luckily, the gun Levesque used wasn’t very powerful and the bullet lodged in Jon’s right shoulder blade. The bone was thick enough to where it didn’t pierce any major organs. He’s resting comfortably in his own room and has asked for you.” She assumed Cassidy was Jon’s girlfriend, finding it sweet how worried he’d been about her when he’d been the one needing surgery.

“Thank god.” Cassidy whispered, relief flooding her and hugged the doctor, tears spilling from her eyes. “Thank you so much.”

Doctor Hughes chuckled, patting the woman’s back affectionately and pulled back. “He needs to rest for a few weeks. No strenuous work or activity and his arm needs to be kept in a sling to alleviate the pressure in his shoulder. Other than that, he’s good to go. We’re keeping him overnight for observation since it was a bullet wound.”

“What room is he in?”

Cassidy had to see Jon with her own eyes and walked away as soon as Doctor Hughes gave her the information. A few minutes later, Cassidy stood outside of Jon’s room and pushed the door open, frowning at the sight of him lying in the hospital bed. His right arm was in a thick white sling and his eyes were closed, chest rising and falling evenly with a heart monitor beeping behind him. Somehow, they managed to fit a hospital gown on him and Cassidy knew he’d hate that, already planning on having Peyton run to the house to grab him some clothes to change into.

“What are you standing there for?” Jon’s deep voice resonated around the room, eyes slowly opening to stare back at the beautiful strawberry blonde. “Come here, darlin’.”

“I thought you were sleeping.” She murmured quietly, walking over to take his outstretched hand and immediately pressed it to her cheek, tears falling again. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore as fuck.” Jon replied gruffly, frowning at the sling and shifted a little to get more comfortable. “What about you? Your face…”

“I’m fine.” Cassidy assured him, pulling his hand away from her face to hold it on the bed and stroked his hair tenderly with her free one. “Everyone is out in the lobby. Joe, Trista, Peyton…Randy said he’d stop by later after the slew of paperwork he has to fill out.”

Jon raised a brow, wondering why everyone was here and looked genuinely confused. “Why are they here? What about the station?” Besides Windham, there were a select few at work who knew what the hell they were doing.

“Isn’t it obvious, Jon?” Cassidy shook her head, not believing he still didn’t see it and leaned down to brush her mouth against his. “They care about you and love you. They’re your friends and family, people who will be there for you no matter what. Just like me.”

Jon hated seeing her cry, wishing he could pull her into his arms, but the sling prevented that from happening. “Cass…”

“There’s something I need to tell you and I need to do it before I lose my nerve.” Cassidy carefully sat on the space available on the hospital bed, never releasing his hand.

Jon didn’t like the sound of this. “What’s wrong, Cassidy?” He demanded, not sure he could take any more horrible news today. It was bad enough he’d have to do grunt work at the fire station until his shoulder blade healed. “Out with it, woman.”

Looking up at him with tears shining in her eyes, Cassidy simply placed his hand against her flat stomach and let out a shaky breath. “I’m pregnant.” She whispered, still not believing it happened so fast, but then again they’d been sexing it up worse than bunnies ever since Cassidy was medically cleared. “Doctor Magma said I’m about 6 weeks along and so far, everything looks fine. He’s scheduling me to have an ultrasound sometime next week.”

Jon could only stare at her with wide eyes, his warm hand not moving from her stomach and had to learn how to breathe. Cassidy was pregnant again with his child and could’ve lost it had he not arrived at the warehouse when he did. It was obvious what Levesque planned on doing and that made Jon’s blood boil all over again, his heart rate picking up forcing the machine to start beeping faster in the room.

“Jon, say something please.” Cassidy pleaded, hating that he’d gone completely silent with just heavy breathing and an apparent rapid heartbeat.

“I love you.” Jon finally admitted, eyes meeting hers and ignored his shoulder, sitting up in the hospital bed. “And I swear to you, nothing will ever happen to you or this baby as long as I’m alive.”

Cassidy couldn’t believe what she just heard, staring at him in complete shock and covered her mouth with her hand, crying openly squeezing his hand. He said it. He actually admitted how he felt and said he loved her. Her heart completely melted and Cassidy brought Jon’s hand up to rest over her heart, smiling widely. Not caring what the doctor said, Jon scooted over as much as he could and pulled Cassidy to lay beside him in the hospital bed, wanting her in his arms. His left arm wrapped around her awkwardly, splaying his hand against her stomach and nuzzled her neck lovingly.

“I love you too, Jon.”

~!~

Trish’s funeral was morbidly beautiful with the whole city of Tampa coming out to celebrate her life. Madelyn had remained quiet throughout the ceremony, only speaking when she had to give a eulogy for her mother, with surprisingly Jon’s help. She didn’t want anyone else to do it and Jon stood beside her the whole time, holding her hand while the little girl friend over talking about her mother. The burial followed with everyone tossing colorful carnations on top of the casket and saying goodbye to their fallen friend. Cassidy and Jon had a small gathering at their house with food afterwards, but only their circle of friends showed up while everyone else gave the family time to grieve. Trista and Joe took Madelyn to their new place they’d moved in the previous day before the funeral, wanting her to relax as much as possible.

The day after Elissa found out who Colby Lopez really was, she packed her things along with the triplets and took off to stay with her parents for a while. Elissa did not have the heart or mindset to stick around and nobody blamed them. Tabloids tried blaming her for not knowing her husband well enough, for not noticing what he was doing and basically castrated her in every way possible. They couldn’t even have a proper funeral for the man they had called husband and father. Elissa was broken and she couldn’t face anyone, her life being solely for her children – nobody else.

Months passed as Cassidy blossomed into a beautiful pregnant woman with Jon’s child growing inside of her. It took 6 months to figure out the truth regarding who Tyler Black/Colby Lopez was. Turns out, Colby Lopez had been murdered by Tyler Black and Black took his identity for his own. He was an ex-marine gone rogue and needed a fresh start. They never found Colby’s body, Tyler did his job well for sure, but it all changed after Tyler was killed by Randy Orton. He went back to the abandoned house and found an unmarked grave in the backyard that ended up belonging to Colby Lopez. They had no idea how long he’d been buried there, but testing from forensics proved it was him.

3 months after finding out the truth regarding Colby Lopez/Tyler Black, Cassidy went into labor, delivering a beautiful healthy baby girl named Holly Stratus Good. Cassidy wanted her daughter to have a piece of Trish with her always and figured making the middle name Trish and Madelyn’s last name, was the best thing to do. Holly Trish Good didn’t sound appealing, but Stratus certainly did. Jon had no qualms about it, doing whatever made Cassidy happy and held his daughter close to him while his beautiful wife slept peacefully. Jon had proposed to Cassidy right after the news broke about Colby/Tyler and they eloped to Las Vegas, where they currently lived now. After everything that happened with the Levesque’s and Colby/Tyler, they needed to get away and start the next chapter of their lives together. Joe remained in Tampa with Trista and Madelyn, though they still kept in contact, talking on a daily basis. Looking over at Cassidy, Jon pressed a soft kiss to her mouth and then one to Holly’s forehead, setting her down in the bassinet by the bed the hospital provided.

Somehow, this woman had brought him out of the temerarious place he’d been in and into a life worth living. He owed Cassidy everything and more, vowing to give her whatever she wanted until they both passed on. Even in death, he would never stop loving her.

Simply put, Cassidy was his cold fire.

Cold when she had to teach him a lesson.

Fiery because of how strong and penetrating her unconditional love was for him.

The End.