Teddy said goodbye to Elsa, didn’t apologize, and ignored Slash completely. Fortunately for her, she’d developed a thick outer skin, and she didn’t give a damn.
While she was concerned Elsa had a longer road to recovery, she felt confident she’d make it. She was a strong, healthy woman.
Top of Slash’s mind… had the fire been intentionally set?
Carrera
The family cleared out,and Elsa fell asleep. Carrera wanted to talk to Slash, but he didn’t want her to remove the oxygen mask, so he stayed silent. For now, he was grateful the two most important women in his life were safe.
Slash dozed, jerked awake, and looked over at Elsa. Carrera lifted her hand to his mouth, kissed her warm skin, shot her a loving smile.
“She’s okay, babe,” he murmured. “I’m right here and I’m not leaving. You can sleep—” His phone rang. “Santini,” he answered.
“Mr. Santini, this is Detective Milholland, with the Alexandria Police Arson Unit. I was called to your grandmother’s house fire because the Fire Marshall’s investigator found an accelerant.”
Fury swept through Carrera.
Who the hell would want her dead?
“Can you confirm who lives in the home?” asked the detective.
“My grandmother, Elsa Santini.”
“I’d like to talk to her,” said the detective.
“She’s being admitted to the hospital and she’s on oxygen,” Carrera said. “I’ll ask her to call you as soon as she can.”
“Please let her know that the damage on the west side of the home is extensive. The structure isn’t safe to enter.”
“Understood.”
The call ended and Carrera hung up. His head pounded, the anger coursing through him with lightning speed. He would go to the ends of the earth to find the person, then rip his heart out of his goddamn chest.
Both women were uber-focused on him.
“An accelerant was found,” Carrera said. “Someone set the fire.”
Slash’s eyes widened, G-ma started to sit up. After Carrera propped her pillows, she eased back onto them.
While they waited for the hospital to discharge Slash and move G-ma to a room, Carrera paced. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from firing one after the other, like a semiautomatic. Was this random or a targeted hit? Was this the work of a serial arsonist? Who would want to hurt her?
Two long hours later, Slash had been discharged. G-ma had been moved into a private room where she was sleeping soundly. Her oxygen mask had been replaced with a nasal cannula and, to his relief, she was coughing very little.
Slash’s oxygen mask was also gone, but the anger in her eyes was not.
She’d been sitting next to G-ma in a chair, holding her hand while she slept.
“What do you think?” Slash asked, breaking their long silence.
He moved a chair next to Slash, sat beside her, and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “I’m grateful you insisted on checking on her. If you hadn’t?—”
“Don’t even say it,” Slash said. “Just thinking about it makes me crazy.”
“G-ma’s strong,” he said. “She’ll recover.”
“She better.”
“Elsa will stay with me.” He caressed her hand. “I need you by my side. G-ma would want you there too.”
