Page 34 of Burning for Him

Rage flooded Doug’s system, and his jaw tightened. He clenched his fists and stepped closer to his boss, until their chests bumped. They were the same height, so neither had that advantage. Although he knew Ian could take him in a fight, Doug would go down giving as good as he got. He dropped his voice to a low and threatening tone. “Watch it. You may be her godfather, but that’s none of your fucking business. It’snobody’sbusiness but Jenn’s.”

Silence permeated the room as the two men stared daggers at each other. After a few moments, Ian nodded, and some of the tension eased from his body. “Good answer. But you’re still not allowed to date her.”

“What?”

Ian stepped backward and leaned against the conference table, crossing his arms again. “You heard me. Either break it off with her today, or you’re fired and won’t be able to find a job in Florida that doesn’t pay more than minimum wage.”

“You’re not serious.” Doug’s gaze darted from his boss’s face to that of every other man in the room.

“As serious as a heart attack,” Devon said.

As Doug gaped at them, unsure of how to respond, Devon moved to the door and yanked it open. One by one, the men filed out, with Marco and Boomer giving him aggressive shoulder bumps as they passed. When Doug was the only one left in the room, except the dogs, he dropped into one of the chairs and shook his head in disbelief. After a few moments, he muttered a command in German, and BDS&M hurried over, sat by his feet, and stared at him. One of the Malinois, Delta, let out a sharp bark and tilted her head at him. Her expression was a bit goofy, almost as if she were laughing at him. She barked again, like she wanted to tell him something. Too bad he didn’t understand canine. Maybe he should ask Kat to teach them how to use those dog talk buttons he occasionally saw in social media videos.

When Delta barked a third time, almost insistently, an idea popped into his head, and the corners of his mouth pulled up into a slow grin. Leaning forward, he scratched the top of the dog’s head. “Thanks for the pep talk, D. I know just what to do.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Jenn stormed into Ian’s office and slammed the door behind her. “How?—”

She was seething, tension and rage rolling off her body in waves, but she cut off her rant when she noticed he was on the phone. His eyebrows lifted as he studied her from the executive chair behind his heavy mahogany desk. “Chase, I’ll call you back. I think my goddaughter wants to kill me.”

When he hung up the landline, she marched across the room and stood in front of the desk. “How dare you?” she shouted as her hands curled into tight fists.

Leaning back, he set one ankle upon the opposite knee, like he didn’t have a care in the world or any idea what she was talking about. It only pissed her off even more. She usually found his arrogance and sarcasm amusing, but not when it was directed at her.

“How dare I what, Baby-girl?”

“No.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “No more ‘Baby-girl.’ I’m an adult, Uncle Ian. You don’t get to treat me like a child anymore. And you sure as hell don’t get to threaten the man I love.”

“Is that what Doug told you? I threatened him?”

“Didn’t you?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess it could’ve been interpreted that way. I’m surprised he mentioned it.”

“Don’t you always say that honesty is important in a relationship? That keeping secrets only causes problems down the road? Well, Doug was honest with me about your meeting with him yesterday. I mean, really? All six of you had to confront him? And with BDS&M there too?”

“Are you going to read the rest of them the riot act, or just me?”

“All of them are on my shit list right now—well, not the dogs. But the rest will get an earful, too, in a few minutes. I just started with you since I’m sure you were the ringleader. In the conference room, now!” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel, stalked out of the room, past Colleen’s empty desk, and entered the conference room, where her backup awaited. Angie, Kristen, Kat, Harper, and Fancy stood at the head of the table with beguiled vengeance in their eyes—the vengeance was on her behalf.

After Doug relayed to her what had happened the day before, she told him she would take care of it, as if he had known she would. Her man wasn’t stupid, and she was glad he let her be the one to stand up to her uncles. It was time the six of them had a come-to-Jesus moment together. Of course, she brought her tribe of trusted women to get her point across to the thick-skulled men. While there to support her, they promised not to intervene unless necessary. Jenn needed to stand up to her uncles and make them see she was no longer a child.

Nick wasn’t invited to join either group since she was mad at him for being part of yesterday’s antics, even though he hadn’t been in the room when the others accosted Doug. She already yelled at him, and his punishment was to babysit Mara, Luca, JD, Zane, and Peyton in the she-shed while their mothers werewith Jenn. Nick could handle one or two of the kids at a time, but she wouldn't be surprised to find him pulling his hair out after minding the five little ones by himself.

She joined the others at the far end of the room as Boomer, Marco, and Brody entered, their expressions quizzical. At her request, before Colleen went out to lunch, she sent a group text to Jenn's uncles, demanding their presence in the conference room. Jenn pointed to the chairs at the other end of the table. “Sit and don’t say one fucking word.”

Their respective eyebrows shot up, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of her tone, the command, or the fact that she’d cursed at them, something she rarely did. Whatever the reason, they did as they were told. Ian strode in next, and when he spotted her posse, he stopped short and rolled his eyes. “Are you kid?—”

“No! You sit with them with your mouth shut until I’ve had my say.” When he glared at her, she stabbed her finger toward the chair closest to him. “Now, Uncle Ian.”

With a frown, he pulled out the chair and sat. Jake and Devon were the last two to walk in, and after quickly reading the room, neither needed to be told what to do. They took seats next to the other troublemakers.

“Baby-girl?—”

She gave Ian a dirty look, cutting him off with a low growl. Sighing, he held up one placating hand. “Go ahead. Say your peace.”

After a glance at her support team leaning against the wall behind her, who all gave her nods of encouragement, she took a step forward, straightened her back, crossed her arms, and glared at her uncles. “Number one—Doug and I are a couple. We’re not breaking up because you don’t want us to date, so get over it. I’ve been in love with him for a long time, and I had to deal with him fighting his attraction to me ever since. Now thatwe’ve gotten over a bunch of hurdles, we’re both committed to each other, and it’s going to stay that way unless we—he and I—agree to go our separate ways with no input from you. When y’all met these amazing women behind me, and Uncle Jake got together with Nick, you eventually reached the point you knew they were your soulmates, the partners you wanted to spend the rest of your lives with. That’s how I feel about Doug. He means the world to me, and I’ll fight anyone who tries to come between us—even the six of you.

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