Hell Is Burning Read Online Free Page A

man of the house.
    He’d fulfill his financial obligation.
    It was all he had left, and he knew it. He was just a wallet to her, and he was pathetic enough to allow it.
    My how the mighty had fallen hard.
    Curtis tried to find calm beneath the raging storm. At least he’d head to work and find a smiling face. His new partner would lighten the load for the time being. Thank God he still had that friendship. For the last two months, he’d been teamed up with Agent Tessa Brass.
    She was a gem, and Doctor Paris Archer was one hell of a lucky man.
    She didn't invade his privacy.
    She didn't ask about Brynn.
    Tessa always had an encouraging word to cheer him up. Plus, most importantly, she never brought up the ‘C’ word in front of him. Croft was no longer in his vocabulary.
    It wasn’t just him. It was all of them. You could add Emma and Dante to the list too.
    Curtis liked his partner because she didn't pry, and that was what he needed right now.
    “I can’t give up,” he muttered, tucking his shirt in before he buttoned his dress pants. When he reached for a tie, his hand paused as he almost picked the one Brynn had given him for his birthday. It had been only two weeks ago, and it spoke volumes to their relationship.
    Who gives their husband of two months a tie? Where were the sexy strip shows, the lingerie to make him drool, and the copious amounts of lap riding? Wasn’t that the appropriate gift for your husband’s big day?
    Not in his world.
    He got an ugly tie.
    That had been his first sign that something bad was brewing. It pissed him off that the only person he could ask was the one man who now hated his guts. While he was pathetic, Curtis wouldn’t crawl--not yet.
    He punched the wall, leaving a dent.
    Then he opted to skip the tie. Instead, he slipped into his gun harness, and holstered his weapon. For a brief second, he hesitated, his fingers lingering on the grip as ugly thoughts filled his mind.
    It scared him.
    Was he really capable of doing that?
    He had to shake his head to free himself from the ugliness. Curtis didn't know who he was, or why he was becoming this soulless human being.
    All he knew was he had to fix it.
    Tonight, when Brynn came home from work, he’d be waiting. When she got there, they were going to talk. If he had to break the locks on all the doors, he was going to do it. There wasn’t going to be a place she could hide in their home.
    He couldn’t give up.
    It wasn’t in him.
    Curtis didn't want to be a failure. He didn't want to lose his wife of two months.
    He was better than that.
    There had to be something that Brynn saw in him that was redeemable.
    Right?
    When the going got tough, you manned up and took care of business, and that was exactly what Curtis was going to do. He was going to get to the bottom of this mess, if it was the last thing he ever did.
     
     
     
     
                      * * *   Croft & Croft  * * *
     
     
     
    Across Town
    Sky Villa
     
     
     
    Greyson Croft woke to his wife wrapped around his body. Her hair was twisted around his arm, and her lithe frame was splayed across his. The mingling of their scents gave him that tingly feeling that he’d come to crave.
    It was addictive.
    There was no better way to wake up than like this. With every passing day together, it never got old. It was like the first time, every time.
    Frankly, he was grateful too.
    After everything that had happened in the last two months, he always had that one rock in his life.
    It was his Emma.
    She anchored him.
    When they found out that Randall Mason left them more money than God, they didn't panic. She helped keep him calm as they figured out what to do with it. Life had changed in that moment, but one thing remained the same.
    Them.
    This was just proof to him that they had what it took to make it. That chance meeting in Celestia wasn’t a fluke. Emma was meant to be his wife.
    Their love was eternal.
    Greyson believed that no matter what, Emma would