Page 79 of Salvatore

I grip his shoulders and cinch my thighs around his waist, clinging for my damn life.

“You’ll be fine.” He approaches the parapet. “Just don’t look down.”

Is he fucking kidding?

“That’s not the motivational pep talk you think it is.” I lock my arms around his neck, attempting to forge my limbs together in an unbreakable loop.

He palms my back with one hand and grabs the concrete rail with the other. “It’s better than letting Matthew drug you, which was his preference. So count your blessings.”

Honestly, I’d give unconsciousness a thumbs-up right now when pitted against this alternative of a front-row seat to doom.

“Hold on tight.” He releases me, the rescinded contact making me gasp. “You’re okay. Breathe.”

“That’s literally all I’m doing.” The air puffs in and out of me like a goddamn locomotive.

“I meant slowly.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll add it to the wish list.”

His chest vibrates against mine, his snicker silent. “I’m climbing up now. Don’t let go.”

“I’ve never hugged anyone tighter in my life.”

“It’s an honor and a privilege,” he croons in my ear, his player game phenomenal even when the stakes are this high.

“Now’s not the time for cute. I’m literally on the verge of cardiac arrest. Just please don’t drop me,” I beg. “I promise I’ll repay you with something better than a home-cooked meal. I’ll even let you set the terms.”

“How about your firstborn?” He climbs onto the parapet, stabilizing himself with strong hands on the upper level’s balcony floor.

I hold in a squeal, my pulse chaotic. “That’s a little dramatic but you could ask for a lifetime of servitude right now and I’d concede.” I bury my face in his neck and close my eyes. “Please don’t kill me.”

“If I kill you, I kill us both, and I have no plans to die tonight.” He shuffles his feet, his body growing tense beneath me.

“Aim between us,” one of the brothers calls. “We’ll help you stick the landing.”

I feel Salvatore nod. Stiffen. Brace.

“Hold on,” he demands.

Then he jumps.

19

IVY

Wind lashes my hair,weightlessness leaving me traumatized for the briefest of agonizing seconds before hard impact sucks the life out of me.

I squeal, losing grip, falling.

“I’ve got you.” Salvatore wraps his arms around me, then a mass of unfamiliar hands hold me upright. “We made it across.”

I open my eyes, the faces of all three men staring back at me.

“You good?” the Butcher asks, his brow furrowed beneath the brim of his cap.

I don’t know. My heart is pounding harder than the intro toJumanji.

“Ollie is going to be glad to see you,” the other man says.Remy. I remember the placating eyes.

---