Nathan shrugged with a frown as Liv and Emi entered the room. They hadn’t been there when AJ arrived, and both wrapped their arms around him, bringing back the emotion he’d been so overcome with back at the hotel.

“We were so scared,” Emi said, a bit teary-eyed.

Livi nodded, wiping tears away from the corner of her eyes. “I heard about it on the news,” she said, taking a deep breath. “When they said several firefighters had been injured and what area they’d been in, I thought I might pass out.”

“He’s gonna be fine,” Nathan said, rubbing her back. “You should go home, Liv. We’ll keep you posted. Being around here all tense and stressed can’t be good for you in your condition.”

Livi rubbed her big belly. “Yeah, we’re leaving soon. I don’t want to impose too long on Rosie. She’s watching Enzo for us.” She turned to AJ. “Romero and Uncle Manny are here again. They were here the moment they heard about it. And the Morenos have come by too. But Romero, Manny, and Max left once they cleared Isaiah of any spinal injuries and he fell back asleep.”

Since it appeared Isaiah would be out for a while, they all stepped out to walk Livi out and talk to their cousin and uncle. The waiting room was abuzz with family members and firefighters still in uniform, all there waiting to hear more about Isaiah and their other fallen comrades.

Manny looked to be wiping tears away as he spoke to Lorenzo. “I tell you ever since these kids moved out here from Dallas it’s felt like they’re my kids. God damn scare this one gave us today.”

AJ swallowed back the emotion as he greeted his cousin and uncle. The family had had their share of tragedies already, but this one had hit AJ harder than any of the others. Ever since his parents had divorced when he was still just a kid, Isaiah had stepped up as the man of the house, and AJ felt an extra-special bond with him. He was their rock. When his mother passed away so suddenly,  Isaiah kept it together for all of them. Then when their dad passed, he was the one that got it all together for them and moved them all to California.

Looking back now, the pressure to keep the family together and assure them everything would be fine must’ve been huge for such a young guy. Even now that things were all good—his sisters were happily married and money was no longer an issue—AJ had no idea what they’d do without Isaiah. He didn’t even want to think about it.

Nathan explained to them what they knew so far then mentioned what he’d told AJ in the room about how maybe this was it for Isaiah. AJ pecked Addison when she excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.

“Well, maybe this was a blessing then,” Manny said, raising his voice. “It probably is better if he quits before something worse happens. If anything, you twos are gonna give me fucking heart attack one of these days. Every God damn time I see something on the news about a fire—”

“Hey, man!” Romero said, motioning his hand downward. “Bring it down a notch. We’re in a hospital.”

Uncle Manny continued in a slightly lowered voice that only got louder again with each word about how his heart wasn’t able to take too much more of this shit.

“Alright, Drama, relax,” Romero said with a soured face then turned back to Nathan. “Didn’t he used to do security before he got into the academy?”

“Yeah,” Nathan said. “He was a bouncer at a few different clubs in Dallas.”

“And he’s way bigger now that he was then, right?” Romero said with a gleam in his eyes, as both AJ and Nathan nodded. “There you go. Worst-case scenario he can come work for me.”

“Hell no,” AJ protested immediately. “He ain’t going from fighting fires to putting his life in danger protecting someone else. No offense, but I got a much safer job for him, handling all my publicity and merchandising shit. That’s a full-time job right there.”

“Your brother just said Isaiah would rather quit than sit at some desk, paper pushing.”

“It’s not just paper pushing,” AJ began to argue but was distracted at the sight of Addison plodding back from the ladies’ room then stopping to finish the conversation she was having on the phone.

Romero continued explaining how most of the jobs he had were harmless, something about his clients being more high-end now. AJ only caught bits and pieces of Romero’s attempt to sway him about his security position for Isaiah.

Addison had since turned around and walked away from them again. The memory of the conversation she’d been having just when he got the text about Isaiah suddenly came to him. With the scare he’d had, AJ had forgotten all about it.

Taking a deep breath, AJ shoved away the thoughts the old AJ had already begun having. He replaced the initial thought of who the fuck is she talking to that she can’t do it in front of me with there’s probably a reasonable explanation.

There was no reason why he shouldn’t remain calm, even in the wake of his remembering the call she’d been on back at the hotel room. His face must’ve said otherwise because, when he turned to face Romero again, Romero must have mistaken his frown to be in reaction to whatever he’d just said.

“I’m just saying,” Romero said, shaking his head, “it’s something to think about. It really isn’t as bad a gig as you’re thinking.”

“It’d be safer; that’s for sure,” Manny added, holding a hand to his chest.

Addison’s giggling got all their attention, and they all turned in time to see her hurry even further away.

“I’ll be back,” AJ said, feeling new tension cramp his every muscle.

Chapter 17

Addison

Addison felt the smile on her face flatten the moment she saw AJ’s dark expression as he turned the corner and came face to face with her. “I’ll call you to say goodnight in a bit, okay?”

She hung up and started toward AJ, meeting him halfway down the long corridor. “Is Clair okay?” he asked, staring at her.

“She’s fine.” Addison smiled, slipping her hand into his as soon as she was close enough. “That was her, actually. Sorry I took so long you had to come searching for me. But you know Clair. She was telling me all about her evening with her cousins. Sometimes I forget how young her little heart is since she expresses herself so beyond her years. It’s so refreshing when I hear how excited she is about something a little girl her age should be excited about. Like how well she did on the whack-a-mole machine. Poor thing is so uncoordinated like her mother that she’s never done well with physical challenges. Her very animated blow-by-blow had me cracking up.”

“No worries and you didn’t have to get off the phone with her,” AJ said, stepping in front of her and stopping in the middle of the hallway. He cradled her face, staring deep in her eyes. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I know how worried you’ve been.”

He kissed her gently, softly, making her close her eyes and sigh against his lips when he was done. “That call you were on,” he said as her eyes opened and stared into his, “back at the hotel room, just when I got the text from Nathan about Isaiah. Who were you talking to?”

Addison blinked a few times, not wanting him to notice the anxiety she was suddenly feeling. She hadn’t realized AJ had heard her on the phone and wondered just how much he’d overheard. “My co-worker,” she said, chiding her spiked heartbeat when she saw his eyes narrow.

“Your co-worker?”

“Yeah, subordinate actually,” she said, hoping he didn’t notice how deeply she inhaled. “He had questions about a project we’ve been working on.”

“He?” AJ’s brows narrowed further. “You told him you couldn’t talk to him right then. Why?”

Addison gulped in an effort to keep her composure, remembering his attitude when it came to Kelli. She understood his not liking shady women, but did he really expect Addison to explain every one of her phone conversations? Some parts of her life she was determined would forever be private. As hard as she tried, she wasn’t able to keep her own brow from rising. “Because I didn’t have my laptop or any of the information he wanted to discuss.”