Rialto (Unbreakable Bonds 8)

Hollis drew in a deep breath, his nose wrinkling while he turned toward the main restaurant area. “You don’t have anything cooking in the kitchen, right?”

“No, not right now. Everything is cleaned up, and they all left nearly an hour ago. Why?”

Hollis released him and turned toward the door. He’d closed it when he entered the office, and Ian was sure he’d done it out of habit since the man had to sneak kisses every time he got Ian alone. Not that his entire staff couldn’t guess exactly what was happening when it was closed.

“I smell smoke.”

“That can’t be right,” Ian said, but he was also jumping to his feet and following Hollis toward the door. But now that he’d mentioned it, Ian could swear that he was catching little hints of smoke as well.

Hollis grabbed the doorknob but instantly released it, jerking his hand away like he’d been burned. “Fucking hot!” he snarled. Looking around, he grabbed a thick linen napkin that was resting on a shelf and used it to wrap the knob so he could quickly open the door.

Waist-high flames met them, lighting up the dark restaurant. They both leaped back in shock and horror. Ian’s heart skipped a beat in his chest and then started zooming ahead in panic. His restaurant, his precious Rialto, was on fire!

Before either of them could move, smoke alarms started going off around the restaurant and the overhead sprinklers kicked on, dousing them in cold water. Ian turned to his desk and jammed his phone into his pocket before grabbing his laptop and shoving it inside the fireproof safe that was next to his desk. Everything was backed up on the cloud, but protecting the laptop would save them time.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hollis leap across the room and snatch up the small fire extinguisher that had been hanging on the wall behind the door. There were two more larger ones in the kitchen, but they had to be able to reach them first.

“You need to get out of here! I can get us a path out of the office!” Hollis shouted.

Ian wasn’t fucking going anywhere yet. But if he could get to the kitchen, he could help Hollis battle the flames. The smoke alarm and sprinklers were attached to the Ward Security system. The fire department would have already been notified of the fire and should be racing to their location.

“It’s clear! Get out!” Hollis shouted. His voice was growing hoarse and raw from the smoke.

Ian grabbed another spare napkin and covered his mouth as he rushed into the main restaurant. There he could see little mounds of his magazine had been spread about the room and were lit on fire. By the intensity of the flames, he was pretty sure that whoever had started the fire had doused them with something like gasoline first.

But he didn’t need to wonder who the culprit was for long. Max was standing in the open doorway leading to the kitchen. The light had been turned on, casting him in a strange mix of light and dancing shadows, but there was no missing the slightly maniacal grin stretching across his thin features.

“You deserve to fucking burn, Ian!” Max shouted at him. “This was supposed to be my life. You stole everything from me!”

“I didn’t steal anything from you, Max,” Ian called back. They couldn’t have this argument here. They’d all die of smoke inhalation. Hollis was making progress with the damn flaming piles of magazines, but his little extinguisher was going to run out of juice soon.

“You stole Jagger from me the day you arrived! And then that millionaire and his friends noticed you. It should have been me!”

“I can still help you.”

Max didn’t say anything. He just turned toward the kitchen and ran. He was escaping. Ian twisted around to find Hollis tossing his spent extinguisher. Soot and sweat were pouring down his face. His clothes were sticking to him in the increasing heat of the restaurant. He didn’t want to leave his husband to battle the flames, didn’t want to leave his restaurant, but he had to go after Max. Couldn’t let him disappear. There would only be more attacks.

Or worse, Max would die in the horrible life that he was trapped in.

“Go!” Hollis shouted, pointing toward the kitchen and the rear door. “I’ve got this!”

Ian was already confident that he couldn’t possibly love Hollis more, but the man continued to surprise him at every turn. With a quick nod, Ian darted after Max. He shot through the kitchen and out into the relative darkness of the night.

The cool air was a brutal slap to the face. He sucked in a deep breath and immediately started coughing as his lungs fought to expel the smoke. In the shadows, he saw a flash of movement as someone about Max’s size darted down an alley. Ian followed without hesitation, the hard soles of his shoes pounding on the uneven pavement.