Fire and Ice (Dangerous Devotion #1)

Prologue

“What is with the coughing?” Sam said, disgusted by the annoyance.

Geoff continued to hack and hack. Finally catching his breath, “It was the fire,” he said. “I was in the bastard’s house too long. I should’ve had an ...” he coughed again, “an oxygen mask.”

Sam scoffed, “If I’d known you weren’t feeling good, I wouldn’t have come over tonight,” she said.

“Let me..” he walked to the kitchen hacking, “let me get a drink,” he said.

Sam sat on the couch, her arms folded as she looked at the family pictures displayed throughout the living room. Geoff’s wife’s smiling face irritated her as much as his coughing.

More coughing from the kitchen. “Did you park down the...” more hacking, “down the street like I asked?” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. And like a ninja, I snuck through the side gate, so your neighbors didn’t see me.”

A loud noise from the kitchen prompted her to get up. Geoff had fallen on the floor and tipped over a kitchen chair trying to catch himself. His hands were clutching his chest. “Call ... nine-one-one,” his voice strained. “I’m having a heart attack.”

Sam had heard people say it felt like an elephant sitting on your chest, and from Geoff’s reddened face, it looked like it too.

She had a decision to make. Help him or do nothing. If he died, she’d acquire their entire side business for herself. All the profit would be hers. She’d be able to take it to the next level without him complaining they were growing too big, too fast.

She knelt beside him and patted his shoulder. “Shhh, it’ll be okay.”

His eyes shifted to her. Terror shone on top of the panic that was already there. The whites around his pupils became pink as blood vessels popped.

He tried to sit up, but the pain disabled him.

“Shhh,” she repeated, pushing him back down.

His body weakened, sinking further against the floor.

“That’s it,” she whispered, patting his shoulder again.

His body went limp, and his eyes stared blankly above him.

Sam checked his pulse, pressing her middle and index fingers under his jawbone. Satisfied, she gathered her things and walked out the back door into the darkness of night.