Chapter Eleven
“YOU’VE BEEN A BIT JUMPY lately,”
Lisa said when she and Jeremy cornered West in the locker room.
West gave her an unimpressed glare. “This is the man’s locker room.”
She didn’t seem to care because she didn’t react. She just stared at West until he sighed and flopped down onto the closest bench. “It’s complicated,” he said.
Jeremy’s eyes widened. “Is it because of your scaly problem?”
Austin and West had decided to tell Jeremy, Lisa, and Taylor that they were dragon shifters about a year after West had started working at the station. It had been a risk, but the three of them felt like family to West and Austin.
West was glad they’d done it and that it had gone well. Jeremy had been excited at the thought that shifters existed, Lisa had had more questions than West had thought anyone could have, and Taylor had reassured West and Austin that no matter what they were, they were still part of their family. These people knew West’s biggest secret, and they were still here. They still loved him like they had the day before they found out.
Usually, they didn’t talk about it. West and Austin tried not to shift when they were working, but having the people they worked with know that they could withstand fire and smoke inhalation was good. It meant that Taylor could send them into the most dangerous parts of fires, which was what Austin and West wanted. It was why they’d become firefighters.
He looked around, but the locker room was empty except for them. He and Austin were always careful around the station because of how many people worked there, but as long as he was alone with Lisa and Jeremy, he could be honest.
“It’s about Jonathan’s ex-boyfriend,”
he said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “He’s an abusive piece of shit, and he’s a dragon shifter.”
Jeremy whistled. “That doesn’t sound like a great mix.”
“It’s not. I’ve talked to him once, and I wanted to kick his ass as soon as he opened his mouth. Jonathan’s terrified of him.”
“I don’t blame him,”
Lisa said. “Having an abusive ex is bad enough, but one who can turn into a massive dragon? It’s a miracle that Jonathan made it out of that relationship.”
West agreed. A lot of it was Jonathan’s strength, but it had also been luck. It would’ve been easy for Sal to find a way to keep Jonathan with him. He wasn’t the kind of guy who would stop because he had to use force or threats.
“The guy found out that Jonathan was dating again and that I’m a dragon shifter, and he didn’t take it well. He found us on one of our dates, and he’s been popping up at Jonathan’s work.”
“Jonathan should call the cops,”
Jeremy offered.
“They wouldn’t do anything about it. You know how they deal with stalking cases.”
West and the other firefighters worked closely with the police, and while there were some good people on the force, it wasn’t all of them. Besides, even when they did want to do something about stalking cases, they couldn’t always because of the way the laws were written. Add to that the fact that Sal’s father was rich and influential, and the cops wouldn’t even look his way, let alone talk to him or try to stop him.
“We can’t wait for Jonathan to get hurt.”
“We all agree on that, but I’m not sure what to do. Sal’s a member of the local dragon clan, and the leader is his father.”
Lisa squeezed West’s shoulder. “If there’s one person who can come up with a plan, it’s you. You’ll do everything in your power to protect Jonathan.”
“Of course I will.”
West just didn’t know what that would entail. He was ready for a lot, and he didn’t think Sal would do something stupid enough that would put him in danger, but there was no way to know what would happen. West had seen how quickly a situation could become a disaster on the job, but that applied to his personal life, too.
Sal was a problem, and he wouldn’t stop being one unless someone made him. That someone wouldn’t be West, which meant he’d have to deal with Sal and whatever he tried throwing at Jonathan. At this point, West almost wished that Sal would attack him in dragon form. West had no doubt that Sal could hold himself in a fight, but against a firefighter who was trained to carry people out of burning buildings? He doubted that.
“Well, let us know if you or Jonathan need anything,”
Jeremy said.
West had to remember that he wouldn’t fight alone. Lisa, Jeremy, and Taylor were human, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t protect Jonathan. Austin would, too. He might be wary of Sal, but he cared about Jonathan more. If there was anything he could do to protect Jonathan, he’d do it.
They just had to hope that, eventually, Sal would forget all about Jonathan and let him go. In the meantime, West would keep an eye on his boyfriend.
JONATHAN DIDN’T STOP at the coffee shop like he normally would. He didn’t take his time getting to his car. As soon as he left the building, he rushed ahead so he wouldn’t be in the open for longer than he absolutely needed to.
This was what Sal had done to him. Jonathan had finally been getting better about it. He’d stopped jumping at every noise and freaking out when he was out of the house or the shop. He’d finally been moving forward.
Not anymore. Sal was back in his life—had never left, really—and he was ruining it.
Jonathan didn’t want to allow him to do that, but he didn’t know how to stop it. Now that he knew that Sal had been watching him since he’d left him, he felt like he had to be more careful. Sal was planning something, and it would be so easy for him to grab Jonathan outside the coffee shop or on his way to work. Jonathan couldn’t ignore it, even though he desperately wanted to.
He had a job he loved. He had friends he considered family. He had a wonderful boyfriend. He should be happy, but instead, he spent most of the time scared and feeling like someone was watching him.
He locked himself in his car and turned on the engine. He didn’t know what to do. Maybe he should leave town. He was pretty sure that Sal didn’t want him enough to follow him to another city, but by leaving, Jonathan would lose everything he’d built here. His friends would still be his friends, but for how long? Besides, he didn’t want Sal to win. He didn’t want Sal to know that he was powerful enough to send Jonathan running.
Even though he was.
The only alternative was to wait and see what Sal would do. He had enough money and influence to create problems for Jonathan, but so far, it seemed like he just enjoyed watching Jonathan squirm. Maybe after a while, he’d get bored and move on to someone else. Jonathan hated wishing such an awful man on other people, but he had to think of himself first.
He sighed. He’d been thinking about this for days, and he still didn’t have any answers. He doubted he’d ever find any. The only thing he could do was wait and see, even though the thought of doing that made him want to scream. He just wanted Sal out of his life. Was it too much to ask for?
Jonathan was still thinking about Sal as he found a parking spot by the shop and left the car. Of course it was too much to ask. Sal had wanted to be the center of Jonathan’s life when they were together, and that hadn’t changed. He found pleasure in knowing that he was torturing Jonathan and taking happiness away from him. Hell, that was probably why he was still after him. No one would ever be able to convince Jonathan that Sal had any kind of feelings for him. That man didn’t know how to love. He only knew how to control and scare, and that was what he was doing.
Jonathan was always careful of his surroundings, which was why he noticed that something was wrong with the shop before he even reached the door. He paused, giving himself time to understand what his brain was telling him.
The potted plant they kept by the window had been knocked down. That was what had caught Jonathan’s attention and told him that something was wrong. Any of them would have picked up the plant if they’d been there when it happened, but it was still on its side, dirt spread around it.
Jonathan swallowed. He was probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but something told him he needed to be careful, and he’d learned to listen to his instincts.
“Good morning!”
Christy chirped from behind Jonathan, making him jump.
He turned toward her with wide eyes. She’d been digging into her purse, but she glanced up and stopped when she saw his expression. “What?”
He waved at the window. Christy glanced at it as Daniela and Ethan arrived, too. They were drinking coffee and talking, but they stopped when they saw Jonathan and Christy standing there.
“What are we doing?”
Ethan asked.
“Someone trashed the shop,”
Christy answered. Her voice shook in anger, and she looked ready to find whoever had done this and strangle them herself. If that was to happen, Jonathan would bet that she’d win the fight.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniela asked as she reached for the door.
Jonathan caught her wrist and shook his head at her. Now that he was closer, he could see the inside of the shop better. Christy was right. It had been trashed.
The chairs and the coffee table in the waiting area had been thrown against the walls. There were dents there now, and the broken furniture lay on the floor. Most of the art on the walls had been torn down and reduced to shreds, and the other plants they kept in the waiting area were in the same state as the one by the window.
“I’m calling the cops,”
Ethan said as he stepped away.
Jonathan felt numb. He didn’t have to wonder who’d done this. It had to be Sal. He was getting revenge because Jonathan had left him and was dating West.
“Don’t start,”
Christy said as she caught Jonathan’s shoulder and squeezed to the point of pain. “What Sal did doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
“He wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t for me.”
“You don’t control his actions. No one does but him, and if this was him, he’s the one responsible for this, not you.”
Logically, Jonathan knew she was right, but it was hard to believe when he felt so guilty.
He continued feeling that way as the cops came and went. There wasn’t much they could do except write a report, but even though Christy told them more than once that Sal had to be behind it and Jonathan confirmed that he believed that was the case, Jonathan didn’t think anything would happen. Sal hadn’t hurt anyone. He’d torn some drawings and had knocked down a few plants. That was it.
“I’m not leaving you here to deal with this on your own,”
Christy said when Jonathan tried to convince her to go home. Daniela and Ethan had already left. They needed to clean up, but they’d agreed it could wait until tomorrow.
Jonathan wasn’t sure he could wait that long. He needed something that would distract him from his obsessive thoughts about Sal. He’d hoped he could send Christy home, too, then stay behind and clean up. That way, everything would be back as it should be tomorrow, and they could get to work as if nothing had happened.
But he wouldn’t convince Christy to leave. Once she made a decision, she stuck to it. “Fine. Why don’t you go and grab some coffee? You can call today’s and tomorrow’s customers and tell them what happened when you’re back.”
Christy seemed satisfied with that and rushed down the street to get coffee. Jonathan watched her go for a moment before turning and heading into the now-empty shop. Sometimes, he wondered what he’d done to deserve the people he called friends.
He had to start somewhere, so he picked up some of the drawings that were still mostly in one piece. Maybe they could somehow fix them. Most of them were a lost cause, unfortunately, but Jonathan didn’t want to feel like Sal had won, so he’d try to salvage the ones that could be.
“Finally alone,”
the voice drawled from the hallway that led to the back rooms.
Jonathan’s heart raced as he straightened and turned to face Sal. “You were hiding in a back room?”
“The cops aren’t great at their jobs, are they?”
Sal asked as he stepped forward. Something crunched under his expensive Italian leather shoe. He wrinkled his nose, and Jonathan took a step toward the door.
Sal’s eyes blazed the way they did when he got angry. “Don’t even try,” he said.
There was something in his hand, and Jonathan’s stomach dropped when he realized what it was. “You can’t do this,”
he begged.
“Can’t do what? Set your precious store on fire? It took you from me.”
“The shop and my friends have nothing to do with what happened between us. I left you because you were hurting me.”
Sal punched the wall. Jonathan took another step back, but he knew better than to turn and run. Sal would come after him, and it wouldn’t end well for him.
“It was your fault I was hurting you,”
Sal snarled. “It’s your fault you’re going to lose the shop. You should’ve thought better before you left me.”
He grinned and snapped his lighter open. Jonathan had seen this lighter in Sal’s hand more than once. It was gold with Sal’s initials engraved on it. As long as it was open, its flame would continue to burn.
He could only watch as Sal dropped the lighter on top of the remains of the art he’d destroyed.