Page 20 of Nanny for the Firefighters

Theo crosses his arms over his chest and drops them almost immediately. It's clear his adrenaline is waning, the thrill of the job giving way to the exhaustion of a twenty-hour shift and counting.

I allow the silence to hang, jaw clenching with a blend of pride and anger. Theo's one of my oldest friends, joining my team when I was still a lieutenant. He's always had this reckless streak, although we've worked to curb those tendencies while out on the job. Or I thought we had.

Theo's hands clench into fists. "I hate it when you do this, stand all silent and stoic, waiting for me to crack. Just say what's on your mind."

I suck in a slow breath, my pride warring with my parental instincts to keep my men safe. I can't hold back any longer. "What were you thinking?"

Theo huffs. "I was thinking that my job is to save people."

"How are you supposed to save people if you're buried under seventy tons of burning rubble, if you get one of your brothers trapped or dead?" My voice cracks on the last word. "How do you save people then?"

The mottled red in Theo's face deepens—with anger or embarrassment, I can't be sure.

"Are you going to explain? Or are you going to stand there like a chastised child? What happened?" Anger laces my every word.

"The house was coming down, and someone was still inside." Theo shifts on his feet, eyes narrow and avoiding my own.

"And?" I cringe internally at how loud my voice booms.

"And I heard him cry out. We all did. Martinez followed my lead back inside. We were fast enough to find him passed out on the floor and carry him out. I won't apologize for doing my job."

"Did I ask for an apology?" I take a step forward, forcing Theo to meet my gaze. "Or did I ask for an explanation?"

After a beat, he sighs and straightens, bristling against the pressure I lay on him. "For an explanation, Sir."

I close my eyes at his reverting to formality. "Would you disagree with my being concerned? With my worry over your pushing it too far? Or how you endangered the whole team? Do you understand the potential risks of what you just did?"

Theo's shoulders slump. "I couldn't leave him in there. I couldn't."

I clasp my hands on his shoulders as a sign of support. "I know. And I'm proud of your bravery, of your quick thinking, of your good heart. It's always in the right place."

His sigh deflates him, but the defeat leaves his expression. "It kills me every time we lose someone."

I clap him on the back and pull him in for a hug, not afraid of his need to express his emotions, of bearing them with him. As much as society says we should keep it all inside to be real men, we're human beings, and it's not healthy to keep it all inside.

Theo's hand thumps against my back, and he squeezes before we release each other.

"You know I have to question you as your boss, as the captain and leader of this team. I am responsible for you and everyone else in this station. Get me?"

"Yeah, I get you." His voice is strained and tired.

"I can't afford to have hotheads on my team, well-intentioned or not." I reinforce this with a meaningful look.

The ping in his pocket draws his attention away from me and this much-needed conversation.

"Stay with me for a few more minutes before you disappear into your phone and sexting Tiffany." I tap my desk, still too full of paperwork. The piles never seem to decrease, and it never seems to end.

"Yes, Boss."

I round my desk and sit. "Help me fill out this report, and we'll consider it and one extra turn on bathroom duty penance enough."

Theo groans and slides into one of the two chairs opposite mine.

"Yeah, that's how I feel about filling out paperwork, too, but it's got to be done." The small smile on my face has one creeping over Theo's. Bathroom duty isn't something to be taken lightly and is possibly one of the worst punishments I can think of that doesn't involve an official reprimand.

Finding a happy medium between the truth and protecting Theo from worse consequences takes about an hour, and when we finally finish, Theo pulls his phone free, clicking through a few items before he grips the device even harder.

He gasps, the color draining from his face and his eyes going steely. "What the fuck?"