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

everything under the sun, even with her sous-chef, Pippa Trapani, working not five feet away. Pippa knew all there was to know about the Giardano family. But he wasn’t up for chitchat today, not with the pounding headache he’d woken up with a couple of hours ago.

Stepping through the doorway, Tony’s radar sounded a high alert in his brain, and he came to a standstill. Seated at the large farm table at the back of the café, looking like someone had died, were Rafe, Mama, Ryder, and Tony’s shift lieutenant, Dale Anderson.

Jesus Christ. What now?

What had he missed in Angelina’s invitation? He’d expected to just hang out with her for a while then head back to his apartment after picking up more bourbon and beer for tonight. He turned to his baby sister. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not the only one who’s been missing you, Tony.”

Great.

“A.J.,” Mama said as she came over to wrap her arms around him. If they were alone, she’d have called him Bambino, as she did three of her four sons. But when they were all together, she reverted to special nicknames for three of them, his being short for Antonio Junior. Rafe, well, he was always just Rafe. “I’ve been worried about you.” She stepped back and placed her hands on the sides of his face. “You aren’t eating enough. Sit down.” She turned to Angelina. “Sweetie, could you have Pippa prepare a plate of her fabulous beef ravioli for Tony? It’s his favorite.”

“Mama, I just ate lunch,” he lied, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get anything down with his stomach churning from last night’s drinking binge.

Mama narrowed her eyes at him, and guilt washed over him. He’d never lied to her before this summer, and now it seemed to happen every time they talked. Not that they’d spoken much, because he was avoiding her too.

“I suppose I could eat two ravioli, Mama.”

To Angelina, Mama said, smiling, “Make it three.”

“Coming up!” Angelina left them to go into the kitchen.

God, he hoped he could manage that many of Pippa’s enormous stuffed pasta pillows. But to appease his mother, he would make the sacrifice. Avoiding his brother, Tony gravitated toward the end of the table where Ryder and Tony’s lieutenant sat. No one else appeared to be planning to eat. Something was definitely wrong here.

“Have a seat, Tony,” Lieutenant said. Even though they weren’t at the station or on duty, Tony automatically did as he was told by his superior.

Rafe and Ryder sat across from Tony on either side of the lieutenant, while Mama sat down next to Tony, placing her arm around his back and giving him a reassuring squeeze.

Only problem was he didn’t feel reassured at all. Why did he get the feeling this wasn’t about sharing a meal together? The fact that his lieutenant was here didn’t bode well, that’s for sure.

“Aren’t you guys eating?” Tony asked.

Ryder spoke first. “Megan and I had lunch already. I just needed to see how you’re doing. I’ve been worried about you too.”

“I’m fine. How are you doing?” Ryder had been right there with him in that river the day they’d found the bodies. God, was he having nightmares, too? Lost in his own issues, Tony hadn’t thought about how the bad call had affected others on the scene.

He shrugged. “Like you, I’ve had some nightmares. Talked with one of the counselors they recommended, though. I’m finding some new coping strategies to handle this type of trauma. It’s different than my combat-related stress issues.” Ryder looked down at his folded hands on the table before meeting Tony’s gaze again. “It’s been difficult for me, Tony, but you had the worst of it, being the one involved in the rescue on top of finding the bodies of both victims.”

No, that mother and her little girl had the worst of it.

But hearing that Ryder was going through some shit, too, only added to Tony’s guilt. If he’d rescued them when they first fell into the river like he should have, he’d have spared Ryder that. The ripple effect of his failure spread far and wide.

“The counselor gave me some good suggestions and helped me find some answers of my own,” he continued. “If you’re ready to talk with someone, I highly recommend Lisa Doyle in Breckenridge.”

Rafe nodded. “She’s really good with first responder issues. Helped me through a rough patch five years ago after the Second Street two-story house fire.”

Tony’s head snapped up, and he stared at the brother he most admired. Why had he felt the need to go to a shrink? Rafe always kept his shit together no matter what.

Tony had to know more. “You saw a therapist?”

“Had to. I couldn’t sleep and was showing up at the station in no condition to work.” Rafe’s gaze bore into Tony. Had someone reported Tony’s condition to him? “Worst call of my career—then and since. Family of four dead the week before Christmas, including two little boys under five years old.” Even now, a sadness came into Rafe’s eyes that showed Tony he still had regrets.

While Tony hadn’t been with the department at the time, everyone in town had been hit hard by that tragedy. The chimney fire in the early morning hours had gone undetected until the frame house was almost fully engulfed.

“By the time a passerby noticed smoke and we showed up on scene, we had to knock down the flames before we could go in and begin our search for victims. Neighbors told us how many family members lived there and pointed out their SUV parked on the street. Dale and I conducted the primary search.” Rafe pointed to Tony’s lieutenant before pausing to take a sip of water.

Lieutenant picked up the story. “The floor in what we later learned from fire investigators was the parents’ bedroom fell through before we could get to the second story, but because the fire hadn’t extended to where the boys’ bedrooms were in the back of the house, we were