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Blurb:
A Black, fireman, billionaire romance story.
Macy and Victor couldn’t have had more different upbringings – she was raised by the foster system, while he’s the son of a wealthy lawyer who’s pushing Victor into the legal profession.
But they have their determined nature and love of firefighting in common.
She’s a bus driver, but desperately wants to make her volunteer firefighting career professional.
And he’s fought against family pressure to do what he loves – save lives and protect people.
They bond as they work together in dangerous situations, and soon they find they’re falling for each other.
But Macy, who’s only had one night stands before, creeps back into her shell.
And Victor is so worried about her safety as a firefighter that he wants to hold her back from her dream.
Will their passion die out under the pressure, leaving nothing but ashes?
Or will their love blaze into eternity?
Discover now in this African American fire fighter romance novel by Oana Reyes.
Chapter 1
Victor
Three years ago…
Giving bad news to your parents is never an easy thing. Maybe that was why Victor Racine had kept his true dreams secret and waited until his parents’ annual Fourth of July party to drop the bomb. The setting was perfect. His mother, Annalise Racine, was always mellow after a few glasses of wine, and since the Racine Fourth of July started earlier than usual, he knew that she was not only going to be mellow, she was going to be tipsy too. And his father, Zachary Racine, was most probably going to be the drunk one. He might have enjoyed the occasional glass of wine at dinner parties, but his go-to drink was always scotch on the rocks. Unless of course he was taking a Macallan. That one he always preferred neat. And knowing his father, he knew for a fact that Zachary was going to be downing a few shots of scotch. And there was no better time to break the news he had in mind than that very evening.
But even though he had been thinking about it all day long, he could not help but wonder how he was supposed to talk to his parents. There were no right words. As far as the Racines were concerned, there could never be any right words to tell them that the dream they’d had for their son was not one he intended on following through with. Their dream had always been for their son to join in the family business: RFH Advocates. That was the whole reason they had done everything in their power making sure that he got into the best legal programs in the country, but the truth was that he did not have a passion for law. Not at all. He hadn’t felt anything for law since he became a volunteer fireman over the summer break of his sophomore year. He had not really felt much like a lawyer since. All he wanted to do was be a fireman.
There was something about the thrill of being a firefighter. Racing into raging flames and carrying out helpless women, babies, and sometimes even puppies. Just the thought of it excited him. He could not help but feel that being a firefighter was his one true calling. There was something special, something chaste even, when he thought about being a firefighter. He knew that the fulfilment he felt when in uniform could never be compared to the many millions of dollars he would be worth as a lawyer.
He sighed silently as he made his way up to the balcony, his drink in hand.
This was hard for him. Perhaps the hardest thing he had ever done. Maybe the hardest thing he may ever have to do. As he leaned over the railing looking at the party revelers below, he was trying as much as he could to come up with the right words. Come up with exactly the best way to break the news. But every time he thought he had exactly the right words to say, he found himself wondering if he indeed had the right words.
“I have decided to drop out of law school and pursue a career in firefighting…”
That sounded a little too forward. And maybe even a tad disrespectful. But at the back of his mind, he knew that it sounded so much better than just admitting that he had dropped out of school at the end of his sophomore year to pursue a fire science degree. His heart seemed to be racing with every passing minute as he tried thinking and rethinking of how he would speak to his parents. But unfortunately for him, the time for him to speak up had come and he did not know it yet. It was not until he heard his father’s voice behind him that he realized that he was not alone on the balcony.
“You seem to be enjoying these quiet moments alone more and more,” Zachary said. Victor turned around and looked at his father. He had a drink in hand as usual.
“What can I say? Maybe this is not my scene anymore,” he said, forcing a smile.
“Since when is this not your scene? You used to love it here.” He slowly walked towards him. “The peaceful sunsets, the whistle of the flowers, and the leaves in the winds.”
Victor shook his head. He wanted to tell him that it was the pretentious people that he could no longer handle, the people who pretended to serve the public yet only got ahead by using people who worked hard long hours.
“And you always loved a good party, son. That much I remember.” Zachary took a sip of his drink. “This is very much your scene.”
“Maybe at some point it used to be but not anymore.”
Zachary raised an eyebrow and slowly made his way to where Victor was.
“Why do I feel like there is something more to all this?” he asked and Victor sighed loudly.
He looked over the balcony once again, his eyes quickly scanning the crowd for his mother. He wanted to get it over and done with but only if both his parents were present. He did not have the heart to repeat the same words that would inevitably be disappointing to them.
“Is mum coming up soon?” he asked and Zachary shrugged.
“You know when your mother gets together with all these ladies…they are probably planning for the next debutante ball or something,” he said and Victor smiled. “I would not expect her to come up until much later…when all this is done,” he added as he looked around.
“Well, I wanted to head back tonight and I didn’t want to leave before I spent some time with her,” Victor pointed out. “And you of course.”
Zachary raised an eyebrow. “So soon? You just got here the other day.”
“I did but I have a number of things to set in place…you know, career goals and everything.”
Zachary smiled. “You remind me so much of myself.” He sipped on his drink again. “Always focused on what truly matters.”
This time, Victor’s smile was a little slower to appear on his lips. And just like that Zachary knew that there was something on his son’s mind.
“What?” he asked.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’” Victor asked, trying to sound like everything was okay.