Controlled Burn (Blackbridge Security 8)

He makes a sound of acknowledgment, but doesn’t give me anything else before walking away.

I leave my coffee sitting on the counter and follow him, not planning to give up on this.

Late last night or early this morning, however you want to look at it, I decided that Kendall is just too precious to let slip through my fingers. Maybe I was still riding the high of my orgasm, my body begging for more, but even after my shower and getting dressed it didn’t fade. In order for me to open myself up to more with her, I need to know what I’m facing.

The man has three kids with her, and although he’s a piece of shit that’s apparently no longer in the picture, I can’t imagine a man staying gone forever when he has children. I know I couldn’t, but I also never would’ve walked away from a woman who carried my child. I may not stay in a committed relationship with the mother of my child, but I sure as fuck wouldn’t disappear and leave him or her behind. I just don’t have it in me to do something like that.

Wren closes his door before I can get to it, and I growl my frustration when I turn the knob only to find it locked.

I call him a slew of names, pound my fist once on the damn thing, and walk away.

Kit, Brooks, Jude, and Quinten stare at me from the couch. It’s not like they weren’t there earlier, I just somehow managed to focus all of my attention on getting information from Wren.

“What?” I snap, glaring at them on my walk back to retrieve my coffee.

“You seem more surly than usual,” Brooks answers.

“I’m not in the best of moods,” I explain as I take a seat beside Quinten.

Kit grins at me as if there’s not a damn thing wrong in his world, and somehow it makes my hackles go up. I don’t want to be around happy people, and the urge to ruin his damn day swarms around me.

“Why are you fucking smiling?”

Kit’s smile doesn’t falter, and Brooks chuckles, clearly in the know.

“His wish came true this past weekend,” Brooks says.

“Weddings are always fun,” Jude says, reminding me that Kit’s sister Beth got married this weekend.

“Oh, I bet he had fun,” Brooks adds.

“You don’t know a damn thing,” Kit snaps, but that silly smile is still on his face.

“I know you disappeared from the rehearsal dinner, and the reception,” Brooks discloses. “And funny enough, Jules was absent during those times as well.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The smile grows wider as if Kit is remembering just how his weekend went.

“So, it’s a mystery why I saw Jules sneaking out of your room yesterday morning?”

Jude and Quinten chuckle.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Kit says, his attention suddenly on the magazine in his lap.

“You don’t have to tell, my friend. We shared a hotel room wall.”

I feel a smile tugging up the corners of my lips. Kit has been fawning over his sister’s best friend since high school, maybe even junior high. If he locked that in this weekend, then I’m happy for the guy, despite my girl going to work to show her body to other men.

Not my girl, I remind myself. May never be my girl at the rate things are going.

Do I even want a woman that has three kids? That’s a lot of responsibility, and although I kind of figured I’d end up married with children eventually, getting all of it practically overnight was never a consideration.

My cock kicks, remembering what she said about carrying my child, and I have no idea how to even work through any of it.

“I’m going home,” I say as I stand.

“Sudden illness?” Brooks asks, his tone teasing and light.

“Yeah,” I agree quickly, washing my cup in the sink before hauling ass from the office.

I spend the drive back to the condo, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and doing my best to drive the speed limit. There’s an urgency inside of me to get to her even though I have no idea what I’m going to do when I see her. The elevator ride is slow as fuck but ends, eventually. I prowl past two guys wearing leather cuts, praying they aren’t my new neighbors. They seem like the type to party hard, and shit will come to blows if they keep the kids up.

Thinking they came from my apartment, I hustle faster, debating on whether I should turn back around and beat their asses, or go to Kendall. The closing of the elevator doors makes the decision for me, and I fumble with my keys to unlock the door.

My heart caves in at the sight of Kendall sitting on the sofa with tears streaming down her face.