I went to request that the Bluetooth on my car dial my uncle’s number, when an incoming call came through the speaker. It was Gareth. Thank fuck for that.
“Gareth, where are you? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“If only that were true, Bryce. I’m where I always am, right under your nose,” he said sarcastically, but with a tone of sadness.
My stomach clenched, my instincts immediately telling me something was wrong.
“Are you okay? Do you want to talk?” I offered, sincerely.
“I’m past talking.”
His voice was flat, and that just reiterated my unease. Fuck! I’ve neglected him lately, pushed him aside.
“Listen, I know I have been distant with you lately, so much has happened, but I promise that will change. Things will get better.”
I had a horrible feeling I wasn’t talking to Gareth, instead talking to Scott. Remembering what Jessica had told me many times before, I spoke of things that would make Gareth happy.
“You’re taking your meds again, Mate, and you’ve been doin’ good. You’ve also got Samantha. She cares about you and was really worried last night.”
“I don’t fucking want Samantha, Bryce. I want you. I’ve always wanted you,” he screamed down the phone, hurt and pain sounding throughout my Aston Martin.
Painful sobs then followed, filling me with dread. It is Scott. I should’ve known better. Fuck!
“Scott, what are you doing?
“I’m ending it, and I’m taking her with me.”
It took me a second to comprehend those last words, and when I did understand his threat, my chest pained immensely.
“Bryce, I love you. I’ll always love you. Tell the kids I love—.”
Alexis’ terrified voice hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Alexis!” I shouted, frantic with fear.
“Shut up, bitch. You don’t get to say goodbye,” Scott hissed with such hatred.
She cried out, her petrified weeps echoing right through me.
Oh God, he’s going to hurt her. I have to do something.
“Scott, please don’t hurt her. I beg you. I’ll do anything. I’ll leave her and we can be together.” Yes, lie to him. Trick him. Make sure she’s safe then have him committed. Shit! He’s worse than any of us realised. Fuck! How could I let this happen? I’ve fucking let her down again.
Scott paused for a second as if he were deliberating what I’d said.
“No. You’re lying. I can see how much you love her,” he answered dryly.
Feeling utter dread pass over me, I whispered to the speaker of my car. “I love you more, Scott.”
“No, you don’t. Goodbye, Bryce.”
Terror hit me with force in that moment. “Scott, don’t be fucking stupid. I swear to God if you hurt any hair on her head, I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you myself.” I yelled, hysterically, now more desperate than ever to get to her.
Scott laughed, painfully, almost masochistically, “You won’t have to.”
What the fuck? I’d lost him. He was going to kill her, kill them both. This didn’t feel like a threat, it felt real—sounded real.
I had to get back to the apartment. “Scott!” I yelled, “Gareth, don’t—.”
The line went dead.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I roared with fear.
I looked out the window of my car, only just barely being able to see the top of City Towers as I pulled into the street of my building’s entrance. Alexis was up there, held hostage by my mentally ill cousin. She was terrified, carrying my baby and wearing a ring on her finger that held a promise I had made to her, a promise I fucking intended to keep.
***
With my heart thudding like fuck, I dialled Dale; my Head of Security, then I did something I thought I would never do in my life, I put my foot down and sped dangerously through the traffic, desperate to get to the apartment to save her.
After a couple of rings, Dale picked up. “Yes, Sir.”
“Dale, get up to the penthouse now!—” I demanded.
“I’ll send Brett, he’s on level 40 doing a—”
“Just fucking do it, Alexis in is danger. Gareth has fucking kidnapped her.”
I sped into my basement garage and screeched to a stop just shy of the elevator doors, and not wasting any time, I leapt out of the car and ran toward the elevator as fast I could, hoping to God Scott hadn’t already hurt in anyway. Fuck!
Just before I reached the button to the elevator, a loud roar echoed up above and the ground shook mildly. “What the fuck was that?” Oh no. Fuck, no.
“I’ll call you back,” Dale said quickly, before hanging up.
My heart increased its painful thump in my chest, adrenalin coursing through my body. I pressed the button in rapid succession, watching the light remain lit on the 42nd floor. “No! Fuck! No!” I yelled, while spinning and heading for the stairs.
The sound of my building’s fire alarm rang continuously, reverberating through the stairwell as I launched myself up the stairs, taking two, three, even four steps at a time.
In no time at all, I reached the exit to the lobby and wrenched open the door to find subdued panic on the faces of staff and guests who were looking up at the ceiling.
“Mr. Clark,” Abigail called out, uncertainty and fear on her face.
I didn’t have time to reassure her. “Put Emergency Plan B into action,” I ordered, as I kept running toward the elevator. I had no idea what I was running to, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was getting up to the penthouse.
My phone started ringing in my pocket, and a glimmer of hope flowed through me at the prospect of seeing Alexis’ name on the screen. I fumbled, my hands trembling as I wrenched it out only to see my head of security’s name instead.
I answered it.
“Dale, talk to me.”
“There’s been an explosion on the penthouse floor. From what I can see on the Emergency System, it’s localised to that floor only.” Geezus fucking Christ! Alexis, please be okay.
“Abigail,” I shouted. “Cancel Plan B action. Order an evacuation and floor search of levels 35 and up. Explosion localised to the penthouse. As far as I know, there’s no other threat.”
She nodded, and with courage and a professionalism I admired, she turned and took control, shouting out commands to staff trained in the appropriate areas.
I put my phone back to my ear. “Dale, where’s Brett?”
“He got so far as the elevator.”
“What’s the status on the elevators? I’m going up.”
“But Sir—”
“Just do it, Dale. Alexis is up there for fuck’s sake.”
“Okay, hang on. Right, your private elevator is jammed between levels 42 and 41. It has structural damage according to these reports. The backup brakes are locked and it’s not going anywhere. Elevators one, two and four and at ground level and secure, and cart three is on automatic override and is on its way down now with Brett in it.”
“Good, override number one now.”
“I can get it as far as level 41, Sir. You’ll have to take the stairs after that.”
“Just do it now Dale, fuck! And override the security lock to all my apartment access doors.”
“Okay, cart one is open, go! And Bryce...from one mate to another, be careful. I can’t tell the extent of the damage. Cameras are down up there.”
I hung up, not having time for small talk. I had to get to Alexis. I had to make sure she was alright. Fuck! I hope she is alright. No, she has to be alright.
The doors to elevator one opened and I wasted no time in stepping inside and indicating to the surveillance camera—the one I knew Dale was watching—that the cart should hurry and move. The doors then closed and the cart climbed with speed.
Running my hands through my hair, as I impatiently paced the enclosed space on my way to the penthouse floor, I couldn’t help but replay in my mind Alexis’ terrified voice. Of her crying out what she t
hought were her last words and telling me that she loved me and always would, that she loved her kids, kids I now loved too.
“Fuck!” Can’t this thing go any faster? I loved her so much, and the thought of her being...dead...hell, I couldn’t even comprehend that. I’d already had that feeling before for the smallest of seconds and it tore me apart, was the worst few seconds of my life.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open, and barely waiting till they were wide enough, I squeezed through and headed for the stairwell. All I could smell when I opened the door and started to climb the stairs—again taking many at a time—was smoke.
As I approached the door to my apartment, the roar of flames deafened my hearing and smoke was now visible and thick, burning my eyes and lungs. I pulled my shirt up to cover my mouth and nose then touched the door handle. It was hot but not scorching hot, so I gripped it tighter and turned. Then, without precaution or hesitation, I pushed the door forward, being met with flames, smoke, steam, and water from the sprinklers—visibility was almost impossible.
“Alexis!” I shouted, through a wall of smoke and orange heat from the flames. “Alexis!” Please, please answer me. There was nothing, no response. All I could hear was the crackling of fire.
Looking up while shielding my eyes from the flames, I noticed the second floor to be smoke filled but not yet ferociously dominated by fire, and with hope, I turned back toward the stairwell and climbed another level.
I burst through the doors to my second story apartment then bent down low to avoid the thicker smoke and to get a better visual of the space ahead of me. I scampered toward our bedroom, all the while shouting her name.
“Alexis!” I repeated, painfully realising that she wasn’t there. “Alexis!”
I stumbled back out of our room, my lungs straining from the lack of oxygen, and my eyes begging for relief from the smoke. The radiant heat from the fires scorching blaze was also starting to find its way to the second floor, making my plans to continue to search a hell of a lot harder. I headed back to the stairwell door when I ran straight into a firefighter.
“You need to leave, Sir. It’s not safe up here—” he shouted, just as another smaller explosion sounded.
“Alexis!” I yelled while trying to barge past him, fighting his aggressive restraint. “Fucking let me go, my fiancé is up here somewhere.”
“You need to leave. We’ll find her,” he said automatically, as he led me back into the stairwell.
Other firefighters were coming up the stairs in single file.
“Bryce!” I heard one of them call.
I looked up and noticed Derek lifting his breathing apparatus from his face. “Bryce, thank fuck you’re alright, Mate.”
“I’m not alright, Alexis is in there.” I looked back at the door, ready to go right back through it.
He grabbed my arm, forcefully. “I’ll find her, Mate.” Then he pushed past me and ran inside.
“Sir, you need to come down to the next level.”
Coughing, I followed the firefighter down to the next level where I leaned into the wall, trying to catch my breath. She has to be alright, they have to find her. And, Gareth...Fuck! I couldn’t even think about what may have happened to my cousin, just the thought of it made me feel sick.
I lifted my head to see a few firefighters exit the stairwell and few more take their place, but still no sign of Alexis, Gareth, or Derek. I can’t do this, I can’t just fucking wait here. Just as I was about to go back up, a firefighter came out and grabbed his radio. “Confirmation: DB found.”
It was at that point that my adrenalin levels plummeted and all hope I held left me. I stumbled back against the wall and slid down it, putting my hands in my hair as I sunk to my knees. The unbearable grief that overwhelmed me tore at my heart, clawing me with its vicious dread. I knew too well that DB stood for Dead Body.
I was fucking cursed, doomed, never allowed to love and be loved. This was my penance, and I was going to absorb it and wear it for the rest of my life.
Crying and in pain, I rocked back and forth against the wall, desperately wanting to hold Alexis in my arms, feel her warmth, breathe in her intoxicating scent, and taste her mouth. I wanted to press her against me, lock her to my soul, never being able to let her go. I could hear her voice calling out for me to help her and it tortured me even further, but it was a torture I would endure.
I covered my ears and cried harder but her cries for me only grew louder.
“Can you hear that?” One of the firefighters said to the other.
I lifted my head from my hands and stared at the two men with confusion “What?”
Realising what they were suggesting, my heart beat became frantic, and everything turned a deathly silence. I strained to hear what I didn’t want to let myself believe I’d heard, because if it turned out to be false I would die another thousand deaths. Then, I heard it again, Alexis’ cries for help. I stood up, and like magnetism, found myself taking steps closer to her pleas.
“Bryce! Anybody! Help!”
It was unmistakable this time, it was Alexis.
“The elevator,” the firefighter said. “It’s coming from the elevator.”
I threw myself at the doors, desperate to pry them open. “Alexis! Can you hear me?”
“Bryce! I’m in here. I’m in the elevator,” she called out.
Fuck me, she’s alive. Her voice was like fucking music to my ears.
I’d gone from feeling overbearing grief to soaring relief in the space of a few seconds and now I was as desperate as ever to get to my fiancé.
“Hold on, Hunny. We’ll get you out.”
She coughed and moaned. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. A laugh at her impeccable timing, a laugh at her endearing sarcasm and a laugh because I was so fucking relieved.
One of the firefighters zipped open a bag and pulled out a crow bar. “Step aside, Sir.”
Fucking bullshit, I’ll step aside. He wedged it in between the doors and began to pry them open. I didn’t hesitate and helped pull them apart, then reached into the cart. Alexis’ hand touched mine, and like every single time beforehand, I felt like I’d been struck by a bolt of lightning.
“Bryce,” she coughed, as she latched onto my arm.
The elevator had stopped in between the level we were situated on and the one below, and the gap between the top of the cart and the floor of our level was only a few feet wide. I looked down and could see her innocent, terrified but relieved eyes staring back at me.
“Hunny, hang on.”
“Please, Sir, move aside, I’m going in. Ma’am move back against the wall.”
She did what she was told, then the firefighter lowered himself into the elevator. He quickly assessed her then boosted her up.
I secured her underneath her arms, then shuffling back on my knees and slowly rising to my feet, I lifted her free from the cart. “I’ve got you.”
She wiggled out till she was standing on her feet, then wrapping her arms around my neck, she squeezed me tightly —it was the best feeling in the world.
“You’re alive. You’re fucking alive,” I exclaimed as I ran my hands all over her body just to make sure she was really in my arms.
She started crying and shaking and I felt her begin to go limp.
“She needs to see a medic,” the firefighter said.
I had to agree, but I wasn’t about to let her out of my arms. “I’ll take her down,” I replied just as Derek walked through the door that led to the stairwell.
He wrenched off his helmet and breathing mask and wiped his face with his hand, looking relieved but confused. “Thank Christ for that,” he said as he squatted down and fetched a water bottle. “Where?”
I pointed to the elevator. Derek just shook his head then fell back against the wall.
After a moment of silence, I lifted Alexis’ legs into my arms. “You’re okay, Hunny.”
“Gareth?” she aske
d against my neck, her sobs painful, her tears moistening my skin.
I looked at Derek who sorrowfully shook his head, confirming my fears and filling me with a sense of loss. “He didn’t make it,” I said softly.
She began to cry harder, which had me perplexed. “He saved me, Bryce” she sobbed.
I threaded my hand through her hair, pressing my palm against the back of her head and holding her tightly, my hand finding a rather large bump.
“Did you hit your head?”
“Yes, I’ve been unconscious.”
“Come on, you need to see a paramedic.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Bryce carried me in his arms and down one flight of stairs, then I remembered going back into an elevator until I was at ground level and being fussed over by two paramedics. Soon after that, I ended up back in hospital.
I was drowsy from my concussion, and my eyes still stung from the smoke, therefore finding it much easier and more comfortable to keep them closed. I could hear Bryce talking with my doctor, their voices audible but not quite in my room.
“Physically, she is fine. She suffered a mild concussion and will be somewhat drowsy. She also suffered minor smoke inhalation and could experience shortness of breath and a sore throat for many days.”
“And our baby?” Bryce asked the young sounding female doctor with an English accent.
“Your baby is fine, Mr. Clark. The ultrasound still shows a strong fetal heartbeat.”
“Thank you,” Bryce exhaled, sounding relieved yet fragile.
“I’m more concerned for your fiancé’s mental state at this stage. Her medical records indicate she sees Dr. Jessica Laitan.”
“Yes, she does,” he replied.
“I think it may be wise to make an appointment for her as soon as possible. Other than that, she is ready to be discharged. Give me a moment to complete her paperwork, and then you can take her home.”
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