Page 47 of The Firefighter's Fate

“Do you mind if I record this conversation?” Ember requests, already reaching for her phone.

I shrug and take another bite.

“No problem.”

She presses a button on the phone screen and looks up at me with that cheeky smile of hers.

Yeah, she really thinks she’s won this little game...

“Ready to start?” she asks.

“Go ahead, Ember. Hit me with your best shot. Ask me whatever.”

“Let’s begin with your name...”

“That’s a hard one. Connor Penmayne.”

“And where did you grow up?”

“Here. Crystal River. At my family's mansion on the outskirts of town.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“Fight fires.”

“Do you love it?”

“Yes.”

“Anything to add to that answer?”

“No, not really,” I reply, finishing the croissant and folding my arms. “I love what I do, both the good and the bad.”

“Interesting. So, tell me about your father. What does he think about your line of work? Does he approve?”

There’s a glint of a killer behind her eyes. She might be all smiles and sunshine, but I can witness she’s a real pro at all of this.

She thinks she’s onto a real zinger here...

I lean forward in my seat so that our faces nearly touch.

I smell her in. Ember smells like how a fucking rainbow would smell - all lightness and fun.

I’m doing all of this to prove a point to Father. I want to spite him. He’s set up Ember, knowing full well I won’t participate in any interview.

So, what happens if I do?

That’ll enrage him.

And there is a part of me that’s on Ember’s side. She may be smart and perceptive, but she doesn’t realize my duplicitous father has set her up for failure. He’s put her career on the line here. He’s using her like throwaway bait. I want to prove him wrong and keep Ember in her job. That’ll really spite him.

“I hate this sterile environment,” I whisper to the journalist. “Sitting here in this office makes me feel like I’m in a police interrogation room.”

“We could do it somewhere else,” Ember suggests. “We could do it somewhere more comfortable for you. How does that sound?”

She’s thrown off by my refusal to answer her question. Now it’s my time to smile. I’m really asserting my dominance.

“That sounds like a good idea,” I say.

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