Chapter 23
DANTE
I’d only planned on being at work for a few hours, but there was a call right as I was about to leave the station, and I couldn’t just leave my team hanging. We’d suited up quickly and left to respond to a massive fire downtown.
On our way, I keep calling Essence’s phone to let her know I’ll be home super late, but after ringing several times, it goes to voicemail.
My mind immediately goes to a dark place, but I shake those thoughts away.
I’m sure she’s fine. She’s probably walking Lunchbox or taking another bath.
After what happened to Leo, it’s not surprising I’d be this paranoid; there could be a multitude of reasons for why she’s not answering her phone, but I can’t rid myself of the feeling deep in my gut that something is wrong.
I try calling and texting her a few more times, but we finally arrive at the sight of the fire, so I have to put my phone down and focus on my job.
My brothers and I make quick work of putting on our gloves, hoods, helmets, and breathing apparatuses.
A crowd has started to form on the opposite side of the street, all with their phones out and pointed right at the fire, so a few of my coworkers take the liberty of herding them as far away from the scene as they can.
Fire bursts through one of the downstairs windows, making me cover my face and back away a few steps.
Shortly after, I hear screaming coming from inside the house.
How anyone is still alive in there is beyond me, but now my mind is off Essence for a moment while I work with my team to figure out how to get those people out.
“Dante!” Nash, my Captain, shouts over the roar of the inferno in front of us. “Dispatch said there’s a family of three stuck in the second floor bathroom. I want you to get on the ladder and get to the roof now!”
“Yes, sir!”
My team and I work synchronously to get the ladder out and moving to the roof.
The ones on the bottom have already started dousing the flames with water, but this fire’s way too big.
I can hear cries for help coming from inside the house, but they’re quickly followed by screams of terror as part of the roof collapses.
“We’ve got to get the hell in there!” my coworker, Tommy, yells.
He and I get on the ladder and carefully ascend to the roof. Lucky for us, there’s a gaping hole right where we need to be, which will make getting in there much easier.
Tommy and I count to three, and he drops down into the bathroom first, then I quickly follow behind him.
“VBFD, is anyone in here?” I shout, looking around the small bathroom.
“Dante, they’re not here!” Tommy shouts from out in the hall.
“The roof collapsed earlier; they might be under the rubble.” I scan the floor of the bathroom hoping to find an arm or a leg, but I can’t see anything but the beautiful oranges and reds of the flames.
My cock hardens to the point of pain in my pants. Fuck, this can’t be happening right now. Normally, I’d relish the feel of the heat through my suit, but right now, my mind is focused on finding the people in this house.
Where the hell did they go?
“We have to keep looking, Tommy! They probably fled when the roof collapsed.”
We split up and search the two other rooms on the second floor before moving down to the first. The entire time, I feel like I’m going to burst from the feeling of my rock hard member brushing against the rough fabric of my boxer briefs.
Fuck.
I grit my teeth as a piece of something on fire goes crashing to the floor a few feet in front of me. My head feels light and fuzzy from the pure adrenaline coursing through my veins.
This was a terrible idea. I should have just left when I had the chance, then at least I’d be balls deep in my flower right now, pumping her full of my cum.
Instead, I’m on the verge of ripping through my turnout gear and jeans to rub one out in the middle of this blazing inferno.
“What the hell are you waiting for, Romano?” Tommy calls from behind me, making his way to the stairs. “Let’s go! We need to find these people and get them out of here now.”
I shake my head to clear it and follow behind him towards the stairs. There’s a gaping hole halfway down, but when we look inside, all we see is debris. Tommy and I carefully make our way down to the first floor.
One part of the downstairs—which is likely the living room, but it’s hard to tell with all the smoke billowing around—is completely blocked off, so we search every other space we’re able to.
“Tommy, Dante, what’s going on in there?” Nash asks over the radio.
“We can’t find ‘em, Cap,” I respond, turning around in a circle and straining my eyes against the brightness of the fire.
“You have one more minute, then I want the two of you out of there,” Nash instructs. “I’m not sure how much longer this house will be standing.”
“Copy that, Cap,” Tommy says.
We make the most of the last minute we have and search every nook and cranny we can, but the fire is getting even more intense.
We’re just about to call it quits when I hear someone faintly call out to us.
“Hello?” I call just as the ceiling in a different part of the house crashes to the floor.
“Shit!” Tommy yells, jumping out of the way before he’s engulfed in the flames. “Dante, we gotta get out of here, man!”
“I heard something,” I tell him, moving closer to the stairs. The yelling is still faint, but I can hear it.
Are they in the stairs?
I start knocking on the wall underneath the stairs—and hear someone inside knocking back.
“Tommy! They’re in here!” I yell.
“Cap,” he calls into his radio. “The family is trapped under the stairs. We need an axe!”
I miss the rest of what they’re saying because my ears are filled with a loud, incessant buzzing. A cold numbness washes over me at the realization of what could have happened.
If I hadn’t heard the person in the walls trying to get our attention, we would have left without them, and they’d have perished when there was a chance they could have been saved.
I need to break this wall down right now.
“Cap’s sending in an axe,” Tommy yells, “but I need to go back up to the second floor to get it.”
I shake my head. “We don’t have time, Tommy. This house is going to come down around us any minute! We have to get them out now!”
Adrenaline—fueled by the desperation to get this family out safe—courses through my veins and gives me a surge of strength. I start kicking in the drywall, hoping that it’ll give with enough force.
I look over to where Tommy is watching me, eyes wide with surprise.
“Come on, man! Help me!” I command.
He nods and joins me. We’re kicking in the wall with all the strength we have to get to this family. I’ll be damned if they don’t make it out of here tonight.
Finally, after what feels like hours of kicking, the wall finally breaks.
“I see an arm!” I shout when I spot a hand poking out from underneath debris. This is where the huge hole in the stairs came from, and I’m once again feeling disturbed that Tommy and I just walked right over it and didn’t even consider that there might be someone underneath.
We make quick work of clearing drywall and debris, uncovering the family of three inside: a mom, dad, and small child who’s probably around five or six years old.
The dad is the only one awake. “Thank God. I’m so glad you found us.”
Fuck, me too, brother.
He stands on shaking legs and puts the child into my arms. “Please get her out of here.”
“We’re going to get all three of you out of here, sir. Can you walk?”
He nods. “I think so.”
“Good, because we need to go back up the stairs before they’re consumed by fire,” I shout over the roar of the flames.
“Cap!” I shout into my radio. “We’re coming out! We need someone on the ladder ready to help us get this family out.”
“On it,” he responds.
Tommy grabs the wife and hauls her over his shoulder like she weighs nothing before following me back up the stairs. We carefully pass by the hole, and when I look down, my stomach flutters with relief.
Now, how these stairs crumbled in this exact spot, I’m not sure, but that’s a story for another day.
We go back into the bathroom we came in through; Henry is waiting for us and lowers a harness through the hole.
I turn to the dad. “Climb up this rope and that firefighter up there will pull you up!”
The man’s eyes are bloodshot and exhausted, but filled with sadness as he looks at his wife and child.
“Don’t worry,” I say, my voice a bit softer than before. “They’re going to be okay.”
And I mean that. I couldn’t save my son, but I’m going to make sure that this family is reunited.
Ten minutes later, we’re all finally out of the house right before the whole thing collapses.
Nash called for backup to help put the fire out because of its intensity, and they’re already here by the time my feet hit the ground.
My hard-on is causing me so much pain right now, but I ignore it and put all of my focus on my job.
After making sure each family member is in an ambulance and on their way to the same hospital, I take off my helmet, hood, and face mask to get some fresh air.
I go back into the truck to grab my phone and check to see if there are any messages or missed calls from Essence, and my heart nearly skips a beat when I see one.
The excitement I’m feeling quickly dissipates, though, when I see what she’s written.
ESSENCE:
I know you said not to talk to Evan again, but I need closure. Please don’t be mad at me.
“Fuck!” I roar, throwing my phone onto the ground and shattering the screen.
“Dante?” Nash says, rushing over to me. “What’s wrong?”
I let out a shuddering breath through my teeth. “I need to leave. Now.”
He looks concerned, but he doesn’t ask any questions as he nods. He knows I’ll talk to him if and when I’m ready.
“Go ahead. I didn’t mean to hold you up.” He calls Tommy over to give me a ride back to the firehouse.
I nod a thanks and hop inside. The entire drive, my stomach is in knots thinking about all of the things that could be happening to Essence right now. That text could have been sent hours ago, and she needs me.
I pull out my phone to double check the time it was sent, but the sight of the cracked screen makes me want to throw it again.
“What’s going on, man?” Tommy asks, weaving through traffic, lights and sirens blaring. “I haven’t seen you like this since…”
He trails off, but I know what he wants to say.
Since Leo died.
I place a hand on my knee to calm my bouncing leg, but it doesn’t work. Nothing will be able to calm me until I have my flower in my arms and I know that she’s okay.
“Family emergency,” I tell him shortly.
At the sound of my voice, he doesn’t ask any more questions.
When we finally arrive back at the house, I quickly thank him as I jump down from the fire engine, grab my jacket and keys out of my locker, and bolt outside to my truck.
I’m coming to get you, baby.
But not before I stop home and get some things.