“You are gorgeous, Marley. More beautiful than anything I could have ever imagined,” his minty breath wafts through the air between us. It adds to his usual delicious cinnamon and man scent, and I have to seriously fight off my current impulse to rip his clothes off here in front of everyone else. I shake my head and try to bring myself back to reality.
“You look really handsome yourself.” I smile. We fought tooth and nail about the suits because he wanted to wear his cut. I get it’s a tradition for them but it was a big no from me. I lean further into his space. “I think you should dress like this more often.” Ending my sentence with a wink.
“Hmm, that might be able to be arranged.” Blaze pushes a strand of my hair back behind my ear. I decided to have my hair down and curled today. I know it’s his favorite, and it’s mine as well.
“Have you heard anything from Axel?” I question, keeping my voice low and away from prying ears.
“No, I sent a prospect to go search for Jenna. I told him she called you about some car trouble, so he’s going to look at the bakery, her apartment, and the garage.” Blaze is putting on a good front but I can see worry in his eyes.
“What is it?” I push, Max is usually so calm and put together that him being unsure has my worry meter buzzing off the charts.
“It isn’t like Axel to not respond.” He shakes his head and then collects himself. I watch as he straightens his shoulders andtries to act relaxed for me. “But if they both aren’t responding, maybe that means he pulled his head out of his ass and they figured their shit out.” The corner of his mouth raises in a small smirk.
“That would require Jenna to stop running from him and actually face her feelings.” I chuckle. We’ve been letting them figure everything out on their own, but it’s hard to let the people you love suffer because they are so stubborn. Axel refuses to go to her, saying he’s letting her, ‘have her time.’ Whatever that means. And Jenna avoids the conversation altogether.
“I’m going to go talk to the caterers and ask them to go out and hand out champagne or waters to everyone in the crowd for being so patient. But we should begin soon,” the wedding planner says as she struts out of the room. Both Blaze and I nod in acknowledgment of her statement, but keep our eyes on each other.
“I’m going to go and make sure everything is taken care of out there. You relax, and we’ll sort this out.” He stands, pulling me up with him. Max slides one hand up to cup my face and the other comes around my waist, pinning me to him. “I know you don’t want to do this without Jenna by your side.”
I place my hand over his, keeping his palm pressed to my face. “It’s not that I don’t want to do this, Max. I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything else. I just….”
“Want her by your side when you do it.” He smiles down at me. “I get it.” He means it, and it makes my stomach fill with butterflies. I love him so much.
“Remember, relax. We will figure this out,” he says as he walks towards the door. Once he closes the door, I return to my seat and lean back, chugging the rest of my champagne. Malory comes over and refills it with a large grin on her face and clinks her own glass to mine. She winks at me and lowers herself so that she is eye level with me.
“Does Blaze have any single friends?” she wiggles her eyebrows, making me giggle.
“Many, but be careful. They are a crazy bunch!” She’s giggling now, already having met a few of his brothers from the club. We both hear a cell phone ping, and the room falls silent as I dash over to my phone.
“Oh, thank god!” I see Jenna’s name light up on my phone. Ready to rip her head off for going M.I.A., I stop immediately, rereading the single word she sent.
This can’t be real.
Jenna
Help
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
jenna
“Wakey, wakey, love.”A man’s voice pulls me from the comfortable darkness. A dull throb is all I can focus on, my pulse pounding against my skull. I peel my tongue from the roof of my mouth while struggling to open my eyes. Through small slits, I take in the room around me. Everything is blurry at first, just bits and pieces of light and walls coming into focus.What happened?
The garage, the traitor, Axel.
Remembering the events from earlier, I close my eyes and try to wake up from this horrendous nightmare. But I still smell the putrid scent of god-knows-what and know deep down that this is real, and I am in danger.
I think about Axel, the last time I saw him he was face down on the cement with blood trickling from his head. God, this is all so awful! The guys have to have found him by now, but will they find me? I try to move my arms but feel a sharp, immediate sting across my forearms. Slowly, I move my head so that I can look down at my arms. I’m tied to a chair with what looks like razor wire. The same material wraps around my ankles, ensuring I can’t escape.
A slap comes out of nowhere, forcing my head to the side. Realization sets in that I’m not alone. I roll my eyes up, taking in the large form in front of me. I can’t control my breathing anymore as my body begins to tremble. Death, the same man from that night so long ago. He flashes his yellow teeth at me with a disturbing smile.
“Glad to see you’re awake, princess. I must say, after the night I saw you in that parking lot, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” Death grabs my chin and holds my head in place as he leans down and whispers in my ear, “I can’t wait to play with you. But sad for us, I’m not allowed to touch you yet.”
The moment he loosens his grip, I rip my head from his hold and try to bite down on his hand, now in front of my face. I try to think of my self-defense classes and any move that I could possibly use to get out of this, but I can’t think of one. Cal has been also training me here and there, he fights underground and I had mentioned to him I was trying to learn how to protect myself. Sadly, none of that is helpful at the moment.
“Fuck you,” I say, and he chuckles.
I’m not sure where this newfound rebellion is coming from, but this man lives on fear, and I won’t give him mine. I glare at him, trying not to wince as the throbbing in my head becomes overwhelming and my vision blurs again. All of this movement is messing with my ability to focus, but I need to push through.
