TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

the last of the appetizers on the platter.

“I’m home! What smells so good?”

Carm left the kitchen and met him in the living room with a hug and a kiss.

“Ah, you’re what smells so good,” he said.

She laughed. “I think you probably smelled the lamb kebabs first.”

“You smell better.” He held onto her tightly. “Thanks for picking up dinner. I’m beat.”

She squeezed him a little harder. “I even made an appetizer to start us off—all by myself.”

He pulled away to search her eyes. “You’re getting more and more adventurous in the kitchen. I can’t wait to try it.”

“That room is still your domain, but…I figured tonight you wouldn’t be up to cooking.”

Tony smiled his appreciation. “It’s good to be home. With you. Glad you could get off early.” He looked tired, but in some ways as if he’d found some kind of peace too. “The strangest thing happened today.”

Tony told her that he’d gone to the spot along the river where the mother and child had been swept away almost at the precise time the incident had happened last year.

“You went back?” She rubbed his arm wondering if that was a good idea.

He nodded. “Lisa thought it might be a good way for me to find closure and make my peace with it as much as I can.”

“I wish I’d known so I could have gone with you.” She stroked the side of his face, hating that he’d faced that alone.

His smile returned. “I had no shortage of people there with me.” When she cocked her head for an explanation, he continued. “Rafe stopped by first. I guess it’s a thing firefighters do—we go back to the site of our first bad call, at least on the one-year anniversary.”

She guessed it made some kind of sense. Did Tony find any closure? She still wished she’d been there with him, but maybe he’d needed to do this alone—or to try anyway. Thank goodness Rafe was there with him.

“Shortly after Rafe left, though, the widower of the woman who’d drowned drove up.”

Carm’s heart rate picked up as she waited to hear about the confrontation. Only Tony didn’t sound as if there’d been one.

“He’d flown into Denver then drove out to the place where her car had gone into the river.”

“That had to be hard for him.”

Tony swallowed hard and nodded. “He’s still dealing with his grief, but actually thanked me and the other firefighters for all we’d done that day.” Tears welled in his eyes, and Carmella pulled him to her, stroking his back in comfort.

He cleared his throat. “I’d picked up a bouquet of flowers before I went out there but didn’t know what to do with them. So, I offered them to him. That’s the strange part.”

Tony let go and looked into her eyes again. “He left with the flowers. I thought maybe they would help him more than being left behind, but halfway across the road over the river, he parked, got out, and stood there holding the flowers for the longest time. I started to get worried he might do something that would result in me having to dive in after him.”

Alarmed at his words, she asked, “You wouldn’t do that alone, would you?”

“Rafe would have my hide if I did. That’s where the strange part comes in. After a few minutes of talking to his wife and daughter, I suppose, he tossed the bouquet into the river. We both just watched it float downstream until it was out of sight.” He swallowed hard again. “In some strange way, a sense of peace came over me in that moment.” Tony drew a deep breath.

“I did everything I could have done that day. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough to save them. But that incident has made me a better firefighter and with your help, we can now do more than stand by and watch when we have similar incidents.” Tony kissed her on the forehead, giving her a sense of peace too.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Carmella. I can’t wait to see what else we’ll be able to do during our life together.”

“As long as we have each other,” she said, “there’s no limit to what we can do.”

Books by Kallypso Masters

Rescue Me Saga (Erotic Military Romance)

Kally has no intention of ending the Rescue Me Saga ever, but will continue to introduce spinoff series in the years to come. The following Rescue Me Saga titles are available in e-book and print formats on my website and at major booksellers:

Masters at Arms & Nobody’s Angel (Combined Volume)

Nobody’s Hero

Nobody’s Perfect

Somebody’s Angel

Nobody’s Lost

Nobody’s Dream

Somebody’s Perfect

Rescue Me Saga Box Set Books 1-3 (e-book only)

Rescue Me Saga Box Set Books 4-6 and Western Dreams (e-book only)

Rescue Me Saga Extras (Erotic Romance)

This will be a series of hot, fun, short-story collections featuring beloved couples from the Rescue Me Saga.

Western Dreams (Rescue Me Saga Extras #1)

Wedding Dreams (Rescue Me Saga Extras #2)

Raging Fire Series (Steamy Firefighter Romance)

Angelina’s brothers are getting their stories told now, beginning with Tony: Slow Burn (Raging Fire #1). Book 2 is being serialized on Kally’s Patreon fan page with Matteo: Wild Fire. Franco’s and Rafe’s stories will follow when ready, first in serial form then as complete novels and available wherever you buy books.

Roar (a Rescue Me Saga Erotic Romance Spin-off)

(Erotic Romance with Secondary Characters from the Rescue Me Saga. Roar provides a lead-in to the upcoming trilogy with Patrick’s, Grant’s, and Gunnar’s stories.)

Bluegrass Spirits (Supernatural Contemporary Romance)

(Contemporary Romance…with a Haunting Twist)

Jesse’s Hideout

Kate’s Secret

About the Author

Kallypso Masters is a USA Today Bestselling Author with more than half-a-million copies of her books sold in e-book and paperback formats since August 2011. All her books feature alpha males, strong women, and happy endings because those are her favorite stories to read, but that doesn’t mean they don’t touch on tough life issues at times. Her original and best-known series—the Rescue Me Saga—features emotional, realistic adult Romance novels with characters healing from past traumas and PTSD, sometimes using unconventional methods (like BDSM).

An eighth-generation Kentuckian, a few