Page 88 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters
“Carter is old,” Leo says, dismissing the argument. “He came to Ember Ridge to ride out his last few years before he retires. Beck’s right. Get cracking on those books, brother. I look forward to someone pinning the extra bugles to your collar.”
“Look at you, so optimistic,” Dax chuckles.
Leo snakes an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “You’re damn right, especially now that we’ve got our woman back.”
Everything seems brighter in the hot summer night. Even in the absence of streetlights, basking solely in the neon glow of the motel’s sign and the flashes of red and blue from the sheriff’s cruisers, it looks as if the dark veil has been lifted from our world.
“I love you three so much it hurts,” I confess with a shudder.
Dax tightens his hold on me. “Good, because there’s a lot of us for you to love, and there’s a lot for us to love about you.”
“It’s really over?”Chloe asks.
We’re sitting on the edge of my hospital bed while Dax, Beck, and Leo discuss the details of my checkup with Dr. Kravitz, who was kind enough to come in during the middle of the night to make sure I’m okay.
Carlos had a deputy bring Chloe back into town since Marcus is no longer a threat, and I find comfort in having my best friend close to me.
“It is, yes,” I tell her. “We get to live again.”
“How are you feeling?” she asks. “I was worried out of my mind. I wanted to walk back into Ember Ridge when Beck called to tell me what had happened.”
“It’s better that you stayed in the cabin. Marcus had no idea you were still alive, otherwise, he would’ve come for you, too.” I release a sigh of relief, one of many since Marcus was killed.
“Leo said that Jocelyn never told him about me.”
I hold back a bitter smile. “I think she was already having a bad feeling about Marcus. She didn’t see the point in telling him about you. I was always the target, anyway.”
“I am so sorry you had to go through all that.”
“I’m okay. Dr. Kravitz says that both babies have perfect little heartbeats.”
Chloe laughs lightly. “I know it sounds kind of crazy, but despite this entire ordeal, you got so lucky, Olivia. You’ve got three amazing men head over heels for you. They’re going to be wonderful dads; I just know it.”
“And the twins also get an older brother. Luke is waiting for us back at the house. Leo called him to ease his mind.”
“That poor kid. Brushing past hell again. I’d hate to think what would’ve happened if Marcus had come after the guys. Luke would’ve gotten caught in the middle and he’s already lost so much.”
“Marcus was still smart enough to weigh his options,” I say and sigh deeply. “He knew he couldn’t hold a candle to Dax, Leo, and Beck. Hell, he had to woo Jocelyn into helping him. He couldn’t even take Carlos out that easily.”
“A coward, through and through.”
“Pretty much.”
“You’re going to be okay from here on out, you know that, right?” Chloe says, giving me a gentle, loving smile.
I respond with a tight hug. “I know. I’m just wondering how the rest of the dominoes will fall now in Devon and in Ember Ridge.”
“Knock, knock,” Carlos says, wheeling himself into the room.
“Ha! Look what the cat dragged in,” Chloe jokingly says.
He whips up a broad, charming, and sincere smile for her. “Back from the dead, so to speak. My mother had a saying in Spanish: You’ll never see a dead devil or a drowned duck.”
“Which one were you?” I ask.
“On a good day, I was her sweet duckling.”
“You’re a devil alright,” Chloe chuckles, blushing pink as he captures her gaze with his own. “I’d hug you, but I understand you’ve got a couple of cracked ribs.”
