Savage: A Bad Boy Fighter Romance (12 page)

“
H
ow long
are
these things
?” I ask Sage in a whisper and he ignores me.

He’s way too good at that. He should teach a goddamn class in turning the other cheek. I think I would have lost my mind by now if I had to work for a shit like Wilson the way Sage does, but whatever. I’m not exactly in any position to judge.

The ceremony has been going on for what seems like forever. I’ve been fidgeting in my seat, the damn suit itching and my cuts hurting. It’s a good thing I got sent into the far back of the room because Wilson would have been glaring me the whole time had I been anywhere closer to him. My disinterest is plain to see.

The only thing that keeps my interest is Adrienne. She’s standing behind her mother with her expression scrunched but her eyes alert. I was half-way expecting her to cry through this whole thing, but she’s keeping her head up and her attention squarely on her mother. I hate seeing her like that though. While she’s hiding it well, it’s obvious that she’s hating every second of this.

But the bride, on the other hand, looks positively radiant. Valerie Hanson is a gorgeous woman, there’s no doubt about that. The only one who can match and surpass her in the room in my eyes is Adrienne. Valerie has this understated elegance about her and when she smiles, the world seems to smile with her. And she’s smiling a lot.

Weird.

No woman in her right mind should be that happy to be plucked up by Wilson fucking Cobb. Sure, there are far more ugly looking guys around, but that man has a heart as black as coal. From what Adrienne has told me, this is not exactly a union of two hearts, so I have to wonder what’s going on here.

I fidget in my seat. They’re about to get to the vows and Wilson looks like he owns the fucking world, throwing glances and winks at his friends and generally feeling damn fine about himself. I wish someone – most likely me – could go and wipe that grin off his face.

“May we have the rings?” the priest asks, and one of Wilson’s goons steps up.

Wilson takes one of the rings and I can see it shine and sparkle from way in the back. He takes Valerie’s hand and she’s smiling even wider, while Adrienne seems to be shaking with a barely contained rage. That’s my girl, anger’s better than sadness. As long as she can keep it contained, that is.

“Valerie, you’ve always been mine. From the first day I laid eyes on you, I decided that you would be mine and now here we are. Every challenge we’ve faced, we’ve overcome and now we can spend our days together. With this ring, I thee wed,” Wilson says, slipping the ring on her finger.

It would almost sound romantic, if it weren’t for the fact that I know he’s killed her husband and Adrienne’s father for the chance to stand there today with her. He’s an obsessed, disgusting little beast and the world would be better off without him. But I guess we all have our own burdens.

I sink back in my seal a little, gritting my teeth as my back objects to the sensation of the shirt rubbing against the wounds. I don’t enjoy seeing that prick happy.

Valerie takes the other ring in her delicate hand and I glance at Adrienne again. Fuck, I wish I could do something to make this better.

The goon backs away and Wilson offers Valerie his hand. I’m about to roll my eyes and try to ignore whatever she has to say, when something happens. Valerie throws her bouquet aside along with the ring and clips one end of a pair of handcuffs around Wilson’s hand. The other one was around her wrist already, hidden by the lace of her dress and the flowers she was holding.

She clips it shut and the crowd stirs, questions and mumbling surprise rattling over the people. I sit up straighter, frowning, exchanging looks with Adrienne. She’s pale in the face. Whatever this is, she wasn’t expecting it.

“Wilson Cobb,” Valerie starts, smiling wide as Wilson looks at her, dumbfounded. “You disgust me. You have and you always will disgust me. You’re the reason my husband, Nicholas Hanson, the only man I ever loved, is dead, and I could never be with someone as vile and as you are. In life and death, there is only one man for me, and that is not you.”

There’s a manic flicker in her eyes and Wilson’s starting to panic. Valerie looks over her shoulder and mouths something at Adrienne that I don’t quite make out and the next thing I see is that beautiful, sleek white gown going up in flames.

People start screaming and I stare in stunned silence. Sage does the same, both of us looking on slack-jawed as this gorgeous, impeccably dressed bride catches fire as if out of nowhere. She stands rigidly still, her small frame rooted in place as the minister jumps back and the bridesmaids start screaming.

Adrienne drops her bouquet and starts to run to her mother, but Hannah runs out of the sidelines and tugs her back, using all the strength she has in her petite body. I see Adrienne cry and I hear her scream her mother’s name, but it barely registers. The only thing I really see or experience is Valerie standing there, tall and quiet, grinning as she watches the flames engulf her couture gown and spread onto Wilson Cobb.

“What the fuck happened?” I mutter, not turning to look at Sage, who is leaning forward the same as I am.

“I think she pulled something on her dress,” Sage says, mimicking the movement her free hand made before the first licks of fire appeared.

I shake my head, not believing what I’m seeing. The smell is already wafting through the hall and people are panicking, trampling over one another as one half seems to be trying to get out of there and the other half is attempting to help Wilson and Valerie somehow.

When Wilson attempts to run away from her, he’s immediately reminded of the fact that she’s linked to him like an anchor dragging him down. But there’s no fucking water where he’s going.

I’ve never smelled charred, burning flesh before, but I never want to either. Valerie’s hair catches on fire and I see her skin begin to melt off and she’s still grinning, even though the pain must be unbearable. But she’s watching Wilson Cobb’s expensive suit go up in flames just like she is and I guess that’s as good of a way to go to hell as any, with him right in tow.

I’ve had a hundred victories, but I could never match up to Valerie Hanson. She has way more fucking guts than I ever did.

I
can’t look away
. The fire takes over my vision, and I can feel the heat of it, hear the screams, smell the burning flesh in the air. I fumble, stumbling backwards as I try to get away or get closer to help my mother, I don’t even know.

My gaze is glued to them. I can’t stop watching. It’s a nightmare come to life.

“Come on, Adrienne,” a voice keeps calling out to me, and I feel someone tugging on my arm, hard. “Come on, we have to go! We have to go right now.”

I look over to the source of the sound in a daze, vaguely realizing Hannah is standing next to me. She’s pulling on the sleeve of my dress so hard the material starts to rip, her desperate eyes connecting with mine.

“Please, just listen to me,” she snaps at me. “We need to get you out of here right now!”

I let her pull me away at that point, stumbling behind her in my too-high heels. I follow her out of the hall through the side-entrance, my knees nearly giving out when I walk inside the building. I want to look back.

But every time I attempt to turn around, Hannah pulls me harder, not letting me rethink my actions. It’s not until we’re in the salon that I realize what she’s trying to do.

This is the chance I’d get to leave. My only chance of getting away.

I assumed there would be a price to pay for my freedom.

I just didn’t know my mother’s life would have to be it.

She pushes back the carpet. I don’t realize I’m sobbing loudly until she opens the trap door, and I only realize I’m calling out Memphis’ name when Hannah furrows her brows at me.

“Don’t worry, Adrienne,” she tells me. “He’ll come. Now get away. You need to be fast.”

“I need Memphis,” I say. “He needs to come with me.”

Hannah lets out a frustrated sigh just as I see Sage enter with Memphis close behind him. I shriek in a mix of horror and relief. They must have followed us out.

Sage approaches us in long steps and I step in front of Hannah. I still haven’t figured out whose side this man is on, but I know I can’t let him hurt Hannah if my instincts are wrong about him. I won’t let anyone suffer for me anymore.

“Adrienne…” Memphis comes to me, his gaze pained as it connects with mine.

He embraces me. The house is in complete chaos, the smell of fire and the sound of sires approaching in the air.

“You need to go,” Hannah tells us urgently, pointing at the trap door. “You need to leave, right now.”

Memphis half-carries me towards the door in the floor when Sage steps in his way.

“Don’t fucking do this,” he tells Memphis, and I clutch him tighter to my chest.

He can’t take my Angel away from me now.

“Step the fuck aside, Sage,” Memphis tells him in a crisp voice.

It’s the first time I don’t hear him mocking Sage for his name. The two men are glaring at each other having a silent standoff. The house is erupting in screams, heavy smoke billowing from outside into the house.

Finally, Sage curses out loud, but steps aside nonetheless. He moves out of our way, and Memphis tries pulling me after him, but my legs just won’t cooperate with these stupid shoes Wilson made me wear. In the end, he throws me over his shoulder, my body feeling light and frail against his muscular build.

He carries me down the trapdoor, into the darkness below. The last thing I see are Sage and Hannah’s faces etched with worry as we descend into the underground.

* * *

“
A
drienne
. Adrienne, please.”

The voice keeps talking to me, gently at times, and harsher, rougher at others. I don’t know how to respond. It seems as if I’ve forgotten how to talk and interact with another human being. My mind is consumed with the sight of seeing my mother and her new husband bursting into flames.

I look up, my eyes empty as they connect with a familiar stormy grey pair.

Memphis
.

It’s Memphis.

You love him. He’s here to help you.
You can break down later.

It’s dark where we are, dark and damp as hell. I hear water running, and the smells are assaulting my nose.

“Where are we?” I stumble over the words, looking around and feeling disoriented.

“We’re under the sewers of the house,” Memphis tells me, stroking my hair. “We’re going to be out in a minute. I don’t know where to go from here, sugar. You’re gonna need to help me. Do you know where we could go? Where we’ll be safe for a few nights.”

I exhale, exhausted. I rack my brain for anything that might help us with this situation. Suddenly, I know
exactly
where we could go.

I recite the address to Memphis and he nods when I explain where it’s located. Out summer cottage. The one place I remember where we were always happy with my family. He helps me along the dark sewers. We need to get out of here, and fast, before Cobb’s men realize what happened to us.

I follow Memphis, my once pretty dress turning into tatters as we make our way to our destination.

Finally, we come to a small iron ladder leading upwards, and he climbs behind me as we make our way up. My whole body aches and burns as we emerge in the real world, covered in sweat and grime.

We come out on a relatively empty street. Memphis grins at me, nodding and letting me know we’re in the right location. I’m glad we’re out, but we’re still too close to Wilson’s mansion, closer than I would’ve liked.

Memphis pulls me behind him and I follow. I think I’m still in a state of shock, unable to completely comprehend what just happened back at the house. It all took place so fast, it barely sank in.

But one thing is for sure – my mother is gone.

She didn’t even scream as she burned.

In fact, a blissful smile was on her face as she stared at her new husband, knowing she’d take him down with her. We hitchhike and some guy takes us on in the back of his truck. The wind whips at my hair and it feels good. Every mile away from Wilson’s mansion finds me breathing easier.

“We’re almost there,” Memphis tells me as we get off the truck and he bangs on the side of it, telling the guy to go.

He pulls me closer and presses a tender kiss to my hair.

“You’re sure this is a safe place?”

I nod.

“It’s our summer cottage. I don’t think Wilson knows about it.”

Not that it matters,
I add in my head.

He has to be dead. He
has
to.

Memphis nods, and seeing me stumble in those ridiculous heels, he bends down and gently takes them off my feet. He moves to carry me again but I bat him away. I can walk on my own damn feet. I’m the last member of my family and I’ve got all of them to make proud. There’s been enough weakness to last me a lifetime.

My eyes lock on Memphis’ face as he takes my hand, traveling from his strong chin to those full lips, and his troubled eyes.

I realize he’s all I have left now.

My family has been effectively wiped out. It’s just him and me now and we’re going to make it through this.

We
have
to.