Carter's Flame: A Rescue Four Novel

by Tiffany Patterson

  “Until me.”

  Her eyes slowly rose to meet mine. “Until you,” she agreed just above a whisper.

  I looked to stare out the window again. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” My voice was low, deathly low and calm. I turned back to Michelle when I heard her breath hitch.

  “Carter, you can’t.”

  My frown deepened.

  “I’m serious.”

  “I am too.”

  “He’s Diego’s father.”

  “He forfeited that title a long time ago.”

  She closed her eyes. “I went to a lawyer this week. I’m done with Gabriel’s bullying tactics. It took me too long to learn to stand up for myself to him. But when he took Diego the other week … and then he made me tell you we were through … I just. I won’t sit by and let him run my life any longer.”

  I gritted my teeth and then shook my head. “It’s too late for that. You won’t spend one goddamn dime paying for a lawyer to get out from under that fucker.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  I slow blinked. “Probably best if you don’t know.”

  “Carter.” She moved so that she was now straddling my legs.

  My hands went to her hips, gripping them tightly.

  “Don’t hurt him. As much as I hate Gabriel, he is Diego’s father. The lawyer thinks I have a good chance, even with …”

  “Even with what?”

  Her shoulders deflated. “My record.” Her eyes rose to meet mine.

  My face remained placid.

  “You knew?”

  I cupped her face in my hands. “You think I spent this last few days radio silent for nothing? I meant what I said at your doorstep the last time I was here. I’m not letting anyone or anything in between us. Not even you. So yeah, I’ve been doing my research. You want to tell me about it?”

  She sighed. “Not much to tell. I was living with my mom. She was still into the drugs. I was working but still in high school. We needed food and I couldn’t afford it. It was one of those times I’d gotten sloppy and left the money from my cashed paycheck in my room. My mom had come home before me and found the money. She used it to get high. I went to a local grocery store and tried to steal some food but got caught. The owner had a strict policy about prosecuting shoplifters. I’d just turned eighteen so it went on my adult record. I’d never been in trouble since but because I was considered an adult it was never expunged and it’s one of the things Gabriel held over me. Saying any judge would take a look at my record and side with him.”

  Yeah, he’s definitely going to die painfully.

  “Carter? Are you listening?”

  I blinked, and looked up realizing Michelle had been talking. The rage that had moved throughout my body had drowned out everything except the ways in which I imagined I was going to take Gabriel’s life.

  “I’ll handle it.”

  She stared at me cautiously. “You can’t kill him. You’ll go to jail.”

  I scoffed. Apparently, my woman didn’t know I was well versed in taking a person’s life and not raising a single eyebrow of suspicion. That was a secret best kept to myself.

  “I won’t go to jail.”

  “Please,” she begged.

  That thoroughly pissed me off.

  “Don’t beg me for his life.”

  “I’m not begging for him. I’m asking for you. For us. I won’t let Gabriel keep us apart. I’d already made that decision when I went to the lawyer. I just needed some time.”

  “No. He doesn’t get anymore of your time.”

  She actually smirked, and when she did, some of the rage that had been boiling up in my chest began to cool down. When she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips, my cock twitched. My hands moved back down to her plush hips, squeezing.

  “I’ll handle Gabriel from here on out.”

  She pulled back and looked at me curiously. “Wha–”

  I cut her off with a hard kiss before I rolled our bodies so I was now on top of her. “No, sugar. No more questions. I’ll handle him.”

  “You won’t kill him?”

  I closed my eyes and when I did I felt her lips on my neck.

  “I won’t kill him,” I agreed. Maybe.

  “Thank you,” she whispered at the same time I entered her sopping wet pussy.

  I was done discussing her shithead ex. He was going to pay the consequences of his actions. For the time being, I was going to get reacquainted with the woman I’d missed so much in the time we’d spent apart.

  ~ Chapter Twenty-Two ~

  Carter

  You promised not to kill him. I had to keep reminding myself of the promise I’d made to Michelle just that morning before I finally left her apartment. Again, it’d taken every fiber of my being not to explode at hearing her beg that this jackass’ life be spared. I knew it was for Diego’s sake. She didn’t want his father killed, but my furor was close to overruling my common sense.

  I stepped into the family elevator of Townsend Industries and pressed the code only known by family. Instead of rising, the elevator began descending to the basement where very few people had access. My heart rate quickened and my fingers twitched as I contemplated the way I wanted to wrap them around Gabriel’s throat.

  Seconds later, the elevator stopped and the door slid open. I walked out to a pair of metal double doors. I entered another code and waited for the click to push the door open. That opened to a long hallway, at the end of which stood a lone room. The door to this room was slightly ajar.

  “This is an odd location to do business, Mr. Townsend.”

  My eyes narrowed.

  “Only free space in the building while my office is being reconstructed due to the fire,” Aaron answered Gabriel’s inquiry.

  “Oh, well, thankfully none of your employees were harmed in the fire.” Gabriel’s voice held a hint of nervousness.

  He should’ve been fucking nervous. I pushed the door all the way open, coming to stand in front of it. Aaron turned his head, staring at me from behind the wooden table where he sat.

  I turned my attention to the man who sat across from my brother. His dark eyes turned to me and squinted, confusion marring his face.

  “This him?” I asked without removing my eyes from Gabriel.

  “Yes,” Aaron’s bored response came.

  I didn’t need his confirmation. I knew this was Gabriel Garcia. I’d studied image after image of him that I’d gotten from my security guys. But as soon as Aaron confirmed it was him, I was charging Gabriel.

  “Wh–AHH!” he bellowed when I grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face against the table. Blood spurted from his nose.

  “Carter!” I heard Aaron’s voice as it broke through my angry haze.

  “What!?”

  “You promised not to kill him.”

  “I fucking lied!” I slammed his head again, feeling a satisfying thrill run through me at the sound of cracking bones.

  “That’s enough.” Aaron tugged at my shoulder half-heartedly. I could tell he didn’t really give a shit if I killed this lowlife or not.

  “I’m going to have to get someone to clean up this blood.” He shook his head, frowning. “Let’s make this quick.”

  “Oww!” Gabriel howled, now from the floor, holding his face.

  “You’ve got the papers?”

  “You think I would’ve forgotten them?”

  I sighed. “Just give me the damn papers,” I insisted.

  I took the forms from Aaron’s hand and placed them on the desk before walking over to Gabriel and crouching down in front of him.

  He frantically looked between myself and Aaron.

  “Don’t look at him. Look at me.”

  “Wh-what is th-this?”

  “You like bullying people. Preying on people you perceive to be weaker than you. Especially on women.”

  “N-no. Is that what Michelle told y-you? Oww!” He howled again when I stood and kicked the shit out of him. I bent
low and picked him up with my hand firmly around his throat.

  “Don’t say her fucking name!”

  “O-okay,” he answered in between pants and gagging.

  “You’re a piece of shit. You know that?”

  His eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.

  “Say it. Say I’m a piece of shit.” I watched as his pleading eyes moved to look at something behind me. “Don’t fucking look at him!” I insisted again, shaking him by the throat. “Say it!”

  “I-I’m a p-piece of shit.”

  “Good.” I loosened my grip and watched as he slid to the floor again. “Like I was saying,” I started, as I made my way back to the desk to grab the forms and pick up a pen, “you like controlling and manipulating people who have less than you. Michelle’s not the first woman you’ve scared into silence to do what you want. Your wife is also a decade younger than you. Has no family to speak of. You impregnated her when she was just sixteen years old and married her a year later. Her entire adult life has been wrapped up in being controlled by you. Of course, she would have no qualms if you brought a child by another woman home. But you’ll never get that chance. Diego is no longer yours.”

  I stooped low in front of him. I watched as his eyes opened wide.

  “This,” I held up the paper in front of me, “is relinquishment of parental rights. Since you’re so familiar with custody documents, I assume you know what one of these is. Sign it!” I thrust the paper and pen in his face.

  His eyes ballooned again and his mouth opened and closed a few times as he stared at the form.

  “I’m not fucking around, Gabriel. I promised Michelle and my brother that I wouldn’t kill you but my patience is running very thin.”

  “You-you can’t do this,” he protested.

  “It’s already done, you shitbag!” I bunched the collar of his shirt in my hands and pulled him so that we were nearly nose to nose. “Let me tell you a little secret the world doesn’t know about the eldest Townsend brother. Today, I save lives for a living. But before I did this, before I ever thought of training to be a Williamsport Firefighter, I took lives. I was trained by our own government’s military to be one of the best to seek out my enemy’s weak spot to assassinate him with it. Since I’m a man of my word, I won’t kill you. Not physically. But any control or power you think you have over Michelle or Diego ends today. Sign the fucking forms before I really lose it!” I growled and shoved him away from me.

  Hesitantly, with a shaking hand he reached up and grabbed the form from my hand along with the pen. I watched silently, still seething, as he signed and dated the document.

  “Careful not to get your blood on it,” I snarled.

  I snatched the paper from him once he was finished and then moved away from him. I began walking to do the door without another word.

  “Th-that was signed under d-duress you know. No judge would approve it.” He wiped blood from his nose and spat some more out on the floor.

  “You think you have judges in your back pocket, Garcia? Who the hell do you think you’re fucking with?” Aaron fumed, surprising me. “You think it’s amateur fucking hour?”

  I grinned at the shock written all over Gabriel’s face. He obviously wasn’t expecting that outburst from Aaron.

  “What my brother means,” I began, “is no judge in this fucking city … hell, this state is going to utter a word against this signed document. And that cushy job you have down at your law firm won’t mean shit, especially since you don’t have it anymore.”

  Again, Gabriel’s eyes looked as if they would pop out of his skull.

  “I decided to inform the partners down at Williams & Brodsky that your being at their firm was a problem for Townsend Industries and we had no problem taking our business elsewhere if you weren’t dealt with immediately,” Aaron informed. “The board met, and as of,” he paused to look at his watch, “two hours ago you are no longer employed with the firm.”

  “That’s just the beginning of your downward spiral, Garcia,” I added. “I told Michelle I wouldn’t kill you, physically. But I have every fucking intention of destroying every aspect of your world.” I pulled the door open, and two security guards, who had been waiting in the hall, walked in and made their way to Gabriel.

  “These men are going to quietly escort you to your home, where your wife will be waiting with some lawyers of her own. Get him the fuck out of my sight,” I instructed the guards to do.

  Gabriel was as white as ghost as he was dragged past me. And I could tell for the first time in a very long time, he had no words. Nothing to respond with.

  “Fucking prick.”

  I chuckled as I turned to Aaron.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “That’s what I called you once to Michelle.”

  My brother actually looked insulted.

  “Right after you tried to have her fired.”

  His usual scowl shifted to a look of contriteness but it lasted only a second before his scowl was back in place. “I thought she was just another conquest for you. A firefighter bunny or whatever the hell they’re called.”

  “She was never that,” I stated sharply.

  He held up his hands. “I know that now.”

  I nodded.

  “We make a pretty good team.”

  I snorted. “When your head isn’t inserted too far up your ass.”

  It was his turn to snort. “I know Mother and Father would love to see you come help run the business, especially Father,” he stated.

  “I’ve already got a job.”

  He shrugged. “Figured you’d say that.”

  “Thanks for helping me out with this.” It would’ve taken me longer to piece together what Gabriel was doing to Michelle had Aaron not have called me with what he overheard. He never hesitated when I asked for his help in dealing with Garcia.

  “He messed with a Townsend. You don’t ever have to thank me for going to bat for you.”

  I grinned. This was the side of Aaron most people weren’t privy to. He was viciously loyal. Not just to the family business, but to the family. He may have had a strong distrust and even a hatred for other people, but when it came to family, he was all in, right or wrong.

  “She’s going to be family soon anyway,” he stated.

  A genuine smile touched my lips. “She damn sure is.”

  ****

  Michelle

  “Thanks for knocking this time.” I grinned at the tall, handsome man leaning against my door frame. He simply stared at me. Typically, I would find such staring unnerving, but I’d become used to it with Carter. He stared, drinking me in and then digesting every facet of my being.

  “You should’ve put the chain on,” he stated with a serious face.

  “Would that’ve stopped you from entering my apartment while I was sleeping?” I questioned, folding my arms across my chest.

  A slow smile hit his mouth and I knew the answer before he spoke.

  “Probably not, but it would’ve made it a little more difficult.”

  Giggling, I shook my head. It’d been three days since he’d shown up out of the damn blue in the middle of the night and he still wouldn’t tell me how he so quietly entered my apartment. It both unnerved me and turned me on. My guy was a badass.

  “You want to come in?” I finally asked.

  “Yeah, but first …” Before I knew what was happening, a strong arm banded around my waist, pulling me into him, and his lips had captured mine. The tiny hairs of his beard tickled my chin, but when his tongue swept over mine, it was no longer a laughing matter. To say I was swept up would’ve been the understatement of the year. All the questions I wanted … no, needed to ask him fell away. And what was left was just us, two people caught up in the heat, the passion, the flame of love.

  When he finally released me, we both were panting uncontrollably. My entire body felt ignited and my nipples strained painfully against the lace bra I wore. I peered up into Carter’s eyes, and the way they had
darkened made my belly quiver.

  “Where’s Diego?” His voice was strained from his need.

  “My mom’s.”

  He nodded and moved through the door, forcing me to back up to let him in. Without looking behind him he closed the door and locked it before taking my hand and pulling me toward the couch in my living room.

  “You want to know what happened with Gabriel,” he stated, not a question.

  I closed my eyes and inhaled. I didn’t want to know anything about Gabriel but I did need answers.

  “Yes.”

  I opened my eyes to see Carter giving me a hard look.

  “He’s gone.”

  I inhaled sharply and covered my mouth.

  “You promi–”

  “Not dead,” he informed me as if he regretted even having to say those words. “He’s alive. But he’s out of your life for good. And Diego’s. He can’t do anything to either one of you now.”

  “How did you make that happen?”

  “Nope. You’re done asking questions. Come here.”

  “Hey!” I screamed when he grabbed me by the waist and brought both of us down on the couch. I sighed in contentment when he nuzzled his face against my neck, the hairs of his beard now tickling me. I shivered as goosebumps raised over my arms.

  He sighed into my neck and squeezed me tighter around the waist. I could almost feel his thoughts although my back was to him.

  “You’re worried about Corey.”

  He pushed out a warm breath. “Yeah. He’s not taking the news well.”

  A shadow of guilt felt over me. Carter had told me about Corey the morning after he’d come to me in my room. I felt terrible for Corey, his family, and the entirety of Rescue Four. All of those guys were as close as any family could be. Just seeing Carter talk about Corey losing his leg and essentially his career broke my heart. I hated even more that he hadn’t been back to the hospital because he was dealing with my mess with Gabriel. It made me despise my son’s father even more.