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“No! I need to come!” She resisted being moved behind him, digging in her heels and pulling away toward the door.
“You’re safer here.” Plus, he didn’t want her to see him kick her dad’s ass. Don might be an abusive, mostly-absent asshole, but he was still her dad.
“You couldn’t get the kitten out of the bush earlier. What makes you think you can get him out of my trailer while dealing with my dad?” Emily shoved at him, trying to squirm around him.
Fuck. She made sense, and Damian would hate for the kitten to be hurt.
“Fine. But you have to do exactly as I say, okay? You get the kitten, then come right back here, no matter what’s going on with me and your dad.”
“Fine.” Her lower lip trembled, but she was no longer trying to push past him.
Damian’s chest clenched.
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
Giving her a short nod, Damian turned around to head out the door… which was when he heard the shouts. They weren’t very close. They were coming from a couple blocks away… then he saw the orange glow lighting up the dark night sky. Right where Emily’s trailer was.
“What’s going on?” she asked from behind him, then gasped in shock.
They both went running.
I’m going to fucking kill him.
It wasn’t an idle thought anymore. He didn’t mean he’d beat Don up. He didn’t mean he’d hurt him. If he could get his hands on the man right now, he would put him in the ground without a second thought.
Emily’s trailer was on fire.
Damian knew it before he reached the street, where the neighbors were swarming like ants—everyone was out of their homes. A few were just watching, but only because most of them had already advanced on the trailer, fire extinguishers in hand and were putting it out.
“Fire department is on its way!” someone called out.
The truth was, they probably wouldn’t be needed to put the fire out. The many fire extinguishers on hand had already seen to that. But Damian didn’t stop running because he knew what most of them didn’t—there was a kitten inside there.
“Stay here!” he yelled at Emily over his shoulder. She still tried to follow him, but someone grabbed her and held her in place as he reached the open door. Was the kitten even inside? He didn’t know, but he needed to at least check. Dropping down to the floor, he crawled forward. Small remnants of the fire still flickered in places where the powder hadn’t reached from the outside, and smoke hung heavy in the air.
“Here, Damian.”
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Teddy, one of the guys who lived on Emily’s street, holding out a fire extinguisher. Damian took it with a nod of thanks, then crawled forward, deeper into the trailer.
“Here, kitty kitty,” he said, looking under the table and chairs. He coughed. He wasn’t going to be able to stay in here long. He wasn’t even sure the kitten was in here. It could have run out the open door. If it was smart, it would have.
A tiny mew caught his attention, and a little furry body came pelting out of nowhere to hit him square in the chest. Where had the damn thing been hiding? He didn’t know, but at least it was alive. It purred, even as it shook against him, and Damian cupped the little guy gently in his hand, cradling him against his chest.
Apparently, it wasn’t smart enough to run out the open door, but it was smart enough to know he was there to help.
Emily
“Let me go!” Emily struggled against Rio’s grip as she watched Damian disappear into her husk of a trailer. Black streaks marred its sides, the windows were covered in soot and powder, and she was sure everything inside was ruined.
“Absolutely not, Emily. You are not going in there. You’ll just be a distraction.” Rio cursed in Spanish when she tried to pull away again. “Let Damian do his thing. There’s not enough room in there for both of you, and he told you to stay here.”
And everyone did as Damian asked.
Well, not everyone, but almost everyone.
Emily pressed her lips together, tears sparking in her eyes. It was dangerous for him to be in there… but then it would be doubly dangerous for her to join him. Rio was right. She would be a distraction.
