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First, the window rustles as the stranger tries to wedge it open. Just as soon as the sound comes, it’s gone, and a loud crash from outside rattles the TV mounted on the wall.
It continues for a few moments, and then my ears perk.
Aside from Alec, I hear two more voices, both males. A loud force hits my window, followed by a deep grunt of pain.
Alec. He’s outnumbered.
No!
I run from my closet to my dad’s room, quickly popping open his faux DVD player and grabbing the pistol that reveals itself. And I thought he was paranoid for having it.
With a deep breath, I run from the room, screaming when I slam into a hard figure and fall to the floor.
Terrified, wide eyes fly to the source, and I start to cry.
“What the fuck did I tell you?” Alec grits through clenched teeth.
But I ignore his anger and jump to my feet, wrapping my arms around him. “Are they gone?”
His breathing is ragged, wild. “I told you to stay in the closet.”
“There were two of them. I couldn’t … I had to help you.”
He’s quiet for a moment, and finally, his body starts to relax, his breathing returning to normal. His chin dips just the slightest, burying his face farther into my arms locked around his neck.
He takes one deep breath and then bends to lift me.
Cocooned in the safety of his arms, I close my eyes as he carries me into my room and lowers us onto my mattress.
“Are you okay?” I whisper into the skin at his neck.
A chuckle leaves him. “I’m good, princess.”
Reluctantly, I pull back to stare at him.
His eyes search mine, and the longer they do, the more I see. Wrinkles cover his normally smooth forehead and deeper creases cage in his bottomless green eyes. Worry.
“What’s going on, Alec?” I whisper, my grip on his arm tightening. “Why are these people breaking in? What do they want?”
Dark green eyes shift between mine. “You, Oakley. They want you.”
My head slowly pulls back. “I … why?”
“Blaze.”
“Blaze …” I look off and then back. “Where’s my dad, Alec? What’s he done?”
“Your dad is a good man, Oakley. So are the majority of the people who employ his crew.”
“Blaze.”
He nods, pulling me closer.
“Tell me everything, Alec.”
He sighs but gives me what I want. “Three years ago, a little girl was murdered in pure cold blood right in front of her mother. But no one believed the mom when she named the man who had done it, and somehow, once in court, the surveillance videos that had caught it all disappeared. The mother went to prison, and the man walked, scot-free.
“Just before your graduation, your dad was hired by one of the woman’s sons, a brother to the little girl. In their world, murder and chaos are normal, but he couldn’t touch this man without serious consequences. Your dad is a prominent man in these people’s worlds, Oakley. He was hired to take away the murderer’s power and pulled it off without a hitch. Blaze went in and burned down his hidden warehouse. His entire operation—black market dealing and street drugs, money—was burned to the ground. Blaze makes everything look natural, so all his investigators could find were electrical hazards.”
“So, how did they learn about my dad?”
“An insider leaked the information. Your dad heard someone had been asking questions about an academy on the West Coast that was training henchmen. He knew they’d eventually find him, which meant finding you, so I went in undercover to learn how close they were. I was only days away from exposing the person, but your dad got a call saying Blackline’s name was being thrown around. Immediately, he left to try to throw them off and fix what he could, and he sent me here to protect you.” He eyes me. “Nobody’s ever hurt in the work he does. He only takes jobs that guarantee nothing and no one else is affected by it. He’d never put the innocent in harm’s way.”
“This is insane. I can’t even wrap my head around it.”
“It’s a lot to take in at first, but once you talk with your dad, you’ll understand it better. The things he does, the people he helps—it’s all to serve justice where the government has failed. He researches everything, gets all the facts before anything. It’s a solid organization.”
“Yeah, I’ll deal with that bomb later, but what happens now?” I question, removing myself from his lap to stand. “We wait for them to show up again?”
He looks away as he stands as well. “It’s the middle of the night. Get some sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.”
He rushes out, heading back to his room before I have a chance to argue.
I stare after him for a moment before dropping onto my mattress.
I always knew Blaze was more than a sought-after title, but I never knew the true power behind the name.
