Glenn-Stormy-Love-&-Spaghetti-on-Aisle-Eight (10 page)

together. And you did get pretty angry when I canceled our second

date.” Seth fixed his eyes on Frank’s reddening face. “How do I know

you didn’t blow up my house?”

“Because,” Frank snapped, “I was at home making you spaghetti

in the hopes that you would take me back!”

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69

Seth dropped his eyes, staring down at his hands twisting in his

lap. “You should have left it alone the first time.” Seth suddenly

didn’t want to answer any more questions, but he knew he had to. To

keep himself from falling completely apart, he curled into Ivan’s side.

“Finish asking your questions.”

“Is there anyone else that you can think of that might hold a

grudge against you?” It was Nick speaking this time. Frank seemed to

have clammed up tight.

“No.”

“Have you noticed anyone following you or watching you?”

“No.”

“Nothing suspicious at all?”

Seth’s eyes slid to Frank. “No, not really.”

“Okay.” Nick looked down at his notepad for a moment. “I think

that’s about it for now. Where can we reach you if we have any other

questions?”

“I’ll be staying here with Micah and Gideon.”

“Thank you for your time, Mr. O’Connal.”

“Please, call me Seth.”

Seth went to stand up to shake Nick’s hand, but his socks slipped

on the highly polished hardwood floor. His feet flew out right from

underneath him. Seth yelped as he went down, crashing to the floor,

his head—thankfully—hitting the edge of the sofa.

At the same time his head hit the cushion, the window behind Seth

shattered.

Chaos ensued as Seth was pushed flat against the floor, Frank

hovering over the top of him. Seth could hear the panic in Ivan’s

voice as he talked to someone, but he didn’t understand the words.

They were muffled, angry, snapped out in a clipped tone.

“Seth, baby, are you okay?” Frank’s face was devoid of color as

he moved his hands down Seth’s body. “Were you hit?”

“Hit?”

Frank paused, staring down at him. “Seth, someone shot at you.”

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Seth chuckled. “Don’t be…” His voice faded away when he saw

the seriousness in Frank’s eyes. “Someone shot at me? Seriously?”

“Yes, baby.”

“But why?” First his house and now this? What did he ever do

that was this damn bad?

“I don’t know, Seth, but I swear I’ll find out.”

Seth grew confused when Frank scooted back off him and

crouched down. “What?”

“I want you to crawl to the doorway, keep your head down, and

drag your legs behind you. I want you as low to the ground as you can

get.”

Seth nodded as he rolled to his stomach and started crawling his

way across the floor to the doorway. He glanced over his shoulder

when he heard a scraping noise to see Frank pushing the coffee table

out of the way as he crawled across the floor after Seth.

When he reached the doorway, Seth scooted through and quickly

pressed himself back against the wall where he couldn’t be seen from

the outside. He was in no way surprised to see several armed men

crouched down in various positions, all watching the front of the

house.

“Was anyone hit?” Seth called out. He would hate for someone

else to get hurt because some asshole had it out for him.

“We’re good, Mr. Seth,” someone on the second-floor balcony

replied.

“Where’s Micah?” He had to know.

“Mr. Gideon has him in the safe room.”

That made sense. Gideon’s first priority would always be Micah.

Seth glanced at Frank, wondering what it would be like to have

someone worry about him like that. Frank was being protective right

now because that was his job. It wasn’t personal. It didn’t mean

anything.

No matter how much Seth wanted it to.

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

71

“What now?” he asked when Frank scooted up next to him. A

moment later, Nick and Ivan came rolling out of the salon.

Frank checked the magazine in his gun them slapped it back into

place. “Now, we go find out who this fucker is.”

“You can’t go out there!” Was he insane? “Someone is shooting at

us.”

“And it’s my job to find out who it is,” Frank stated.

“No, you—” Seth screamed and hit the floor when bullets pelted

the front of the house, shattering glass and sending wood shards

flying as they came through the windows and embedded into the

hardwood floor.

He felt a heavy weight come down over the top of him. It took

Seth a moment to realize it was Frank once again protecting him. The

detective was covering him from head to toe, protecting not only from

the deadly bullets but from glass and wood.

“Frank!”

“I’ve got you, baby.” Frank grabbed Seth’s face and turned it into

his neck, cradling his head. “I’ve got you.”

Seth clutched Frank’s shirt in his hands, shaking, filled with more

terror than he had ever remembered feeling. He hadn’t even been this

scared when he had left home with no money and no place to go.

“I don’t like this, Frank.”

Surprisingly, Frank chuckled, lifting his head just enough to stare

down at Seth. “No,” he said softly. Seth was shocked that he could

hear Frank over the chaos erupting around them. “I don’t imagine you

do.”

Tears flooded Seth’s eyes. “Why is this happening to me?”

“I don’t know, Seth, but we’ll figure it out.”

Seth just wanted it to stop.

“Frank!” someone shouted.

Frank lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder. Seth lifted his

head off the floor and looked past Frank to see Nick and Ivan

crouched on the side of the staircase. Nick was gesturing for them.

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Stormy Glenn

“Okay, baby,” Frank said as he looked back at Seth and rolled off

of him, “when I say go, I want you to run toward Nick as fast as you

can. Keep your head down and stay as low to the floor as you can. Do

you understand?”

Seth nodded and climbed to his feet, staying crouched down next

to the wall. His heart pounded, his chest rising and falling rapidly as

he waited for Frank to give the word.

“Go!”

Seth jumped up and tore across the foyer toward Nick, keeping his

hands covering his head. He ran so fast he didn’t even have time to

scream when he heard bullets slam into the floor around him. He dove

the last few feet, sliding down the small hallway that led back to the

kitchen.

Ivan stopped his momentum and pulled him back up against the

side of the grand staircase. “Are you okay?” Ivan asked as he checked

Seth over. “Did you get hit?”

“No, I’m good.” Seth quickly pulled his feet back when Frank

came barreling down the thin hallway. He reached out and grabbed

Frank, scanning the man from head to toe looking for any signs of

bullet holes. He had a few cuts and scratches, but glass was flying

everywhere. That was to be expected. It was the bigger injuries Seth

was worried about. “You okay, Frank?”

“I’m fine, babe.”

“SWAT is in place,” Nick said as he scooted around Seth. “They

want us to stay down until they find the shooter.”

“Fuck that!” Frank snapped.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.” He

nodded toward the back of the hallway. “Ivan says there’s an entrance

to the back patio off the kitchen. As long as no one is watching the

back of the house, we can take that route and make our way around to

the front yard through the trees on the side of the estate.”

Fear barreled through Seth like one of the bullets shooting into the

room. He clutched at Frank’s arm. “No, Frank!”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

73

Frank looked pensive, the line of concentration deepened along

his brows and under his eyes. “Seth, this is what I do.”

“I know that, but—”

“No buts, Seth. I’m a police detective. Fighting the bad guys and

protecting the innocent is what I do. And no matter how scared I am

or how dangerous the situation becomes, I can’t hide.”

“I know that,” Seth said again. “I just…I’m scared.”

He wasn’t used to people shooting at him, damn it. The biggest

worry he had before now was finding a good daycare for Sophie and

whether he had enough diapers to last him when she came home. He

didn’t worry about keeping his head down so he didn’t end up with an

extra hole in his skull.

He didn’t want to see an extra hole in Frank’s skull either.

Seth’s stomach began to churn when he saw the steel reserve in

Frank’s eyes. The man was going to go out into the line of fire no

matter how much Seth protested. He gave Frank’s arm an extra firm

squeeze.

“Please be careful?”

Frank grinned. “Always.”

In that span of time, that single moment, Seth would have given

Frank his soul if he had asked for it. Frank looked at him as if Seth

was his whole world. Frank’s fingers ghosted over Seth’s face, his

lips slowly capturing Seth’s.

Frank pressed Seth’s lips to his, caressing his mouth more than

kissing it. Frank consumed him with one kiss that seemed to go on

forever. Seth didn’t want it to stop. Seth whimpered softly as he

allowed Frank to kiss him.

One of Frank’s hands pushed under Seth, pulling him closer as his

tongue pushed between Seth’s lips, demanding entrance. Seth opened,

tasting man and desire as Frank’s tongue swept through his mouth,

making him want things he thought he would never be allowed to

have.

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Seth grabbed Frank’s arms, gripping them tightly as he opened his

mouth wider, trying his best to drink Frank in. Hands cupped and

stroked his face before moving back to cup the nape of his neck.

Frank lapped at Seth’s gasping mouth, tasting him. His tongue

stroked across Seth’s lips a second time, and then a third before the

man finally lifted his head. Seth could barely breathe as he stared up

at Frank, the desire in the man’s eyes burning through him like a

firestorm.

“Frank,” Seth breathed.

“We’re going to talk when I get back, Seth. Keep your head

down.”

“Yeah.” Seth swallowed and then licked his lips as he watched

Frank spin around and move down the hallway with Nick, both men

staying close to the floor. While he felt some panic that Frank was

going into a dangerous situation, he was more freaked out about what

was going to happen when the man came back.

There had been a promise in Frank’s eyes. But a promise of what?

Seth wasn’t sure he was prepared to find out. Twice now, Frank had

flaked out on him. Seth didn’t know if he had it in him to go another

round.

He liked Frank, probably more than he should considering how

long they had known each other. And he knew those developing

feelings were the only reason he was even giving Frank another

chance. Any other man would have been kicked to the curb the first

time.

“He likes you.”

Seth turned to look at Ivan when the man spoke. “I like him, too.

I’m just not sure it’s enough.”

Love & Spaghetti on Aisle Eight

75

Frank would be the first to admit that his choice to go out after

whoever was shooting at them probably wasn’t the smartest move. He

just couldn’t stand the idea of anyone trying to hurt Seth. It was

wrong.

It upset the balance of the universe or something.

Seth was supposed to always be happy, like the laughing man

Frank had first met. Not the sad, scared man Frank had left hiding in

the hallway. The frightened look on Seth’s pale face made Frank’s

stomach clench. Seth should never be scared.

As much as Frank wanted to stay at Seth’s side, he knew he had to

do something to keep the man from being scared, even if that meant

running head first into the line of fire. Frank wasn’t stupid. He knew

the shooter was good. The shots were too well placed, too accurate.

And they seemed to follow the direction Seth headed in. The

shooter was definitely after Seth. The
why
no longer mattered.

Stopping the idiot targeting Seth did. It was Frank’s only objective as

he snuck out the back door of the house and around to the side.

He crouched down at the corner, holding his gun at the ready as

he peered around the side of the house and scanned the area for sight

of the gunman. He had to be out there somewhere. Frank could still

hear shots being fired. He just couldn’t see any sign of them until they

hit.

Flash suppressor, the gunman had to have a flash suppressor. It