Page 85 of Wrecked for Love
The fear of losing him consumed me, threatening to drown out all reason and logic. I stayed put. “Elia, there has to be another way,” I whispered, my voice shaky. I wasn’t naïve. This wasn’t some miraculous storybook ending. My man would get hurt. Badly.
Suddenly, rough hands seized my arms and dragged me away from Elia. I struggled, but the guards were too strong.
In a surprising turn of events, Saxum signaled for the guards to release me. His gaze told me he had plans to deal with me personally.
Elia lunged at him, attempting to defend me, but was swiftly swatted away into a corner.
In that fleeting moment, I wondered about what might happen to me. Yes, me. A sickening churn ripped through my insides as Saxum’s hand closed around my waist.
“Let her go!” Elia’s scream ripped through the air, frantic like I’d never seen him before.
With brutal ease, Saxum passed me to the guards, handling me like a mere dodgeball. The sheer force of his grip made me realize how fortunate I was that he didn’t snap me in half.
A different realization sparked in my mind. How had I not considered it before? All this sickness…
As Elia rose to his feet, the relentless assault resumed with a vengeance. This time, the fight seemed more balanced. Saxum took a few solid hits and swung wide, missing Elia multiple times. Still, the intensity of the situation overwhelmed me, causing nausea to rise in my throat before I threw up all over the floor. Despite the protests of the guards holding me captive, they refused to release me from their grip.
The same impulse to fight back like I had at The Willow surged within me. But I held it down. There was more at risk now.
I stopped myself from touching my belly. As much as I longed to unleash all my fury and bring an end to this brutal fight, I knew I couldn’t afford to get injured.
36
ELIA
My bare knuckles made contact with Saxum’s abs, fast and crushing, and he eventually staggered to the floor.
“You’re starting to make this too easy!” I challenged.
But he wasn’t just some schoolyard bully. Within moments, he rose to his feet, cracking his neck as if the fall had no effect on him.
For a while, we felt each other out, the both of us trying to catch our breaths. But it was clear he could read me—a sign of a practiced martial artist. I wasn’t trained for this. I just knew a few moves picked up from village brawls—those inevitable scraps when testosterone and egos ran too high. And Saxum? He knew it. He could see every gap in my defense, and I was already two steps behind.
He wasted no time seizing the offensive, his mastery evident in the way he wove his legs into the attack. I blocked, dodged, defended. By the time his assault slowed, his expression had shifted. Those last few kicks had drained him.
And then, in a blink, he struck again. His focus dropped to my ankle—the same one I’d injured falling off my horse. A sharp sweep took my legs out from under me. Pain detonated throughme as I hit the ground with a scream. Before I could recover, he drove a final blow to my stomach, leaving me sprawled and gasping for air.
“Come on, you worthless swine! Get up! Get up!” Saxum taunted me.
I winced, trying to counter the pain. The thin carpet barely softened my fall. At least it wasn’t concrete, just wood. Even so, I wasn’t sure about my back. My chest and abs? They were minced meat. And my face? I couldn’t feel a damn thing.
I was out of breath, and every ounce of strength had left me.
Claire screamed. “Lucien, enough of this madness! You’re going to kill him!”
Helplessly, I shifted my gaze to her standing on the opposite side of the ring, flanked by two men. “Claire…” I whispered, catching her retching. She couldn’t bear to look. Hell, I wouldn’t wish this sick game on anyone.
Deep down, all I wanted was for her to come back to this stage that I’d begged her to stay away from. That one touch on my cheek—it had been like a drop of rain in the desert. She had the guts to step in when no one else would, showing up right when I thought my time had run out. And now, I could feel my second-to-last heartbeat creeping closer. I needed her again, more than ever.
Then, someone rolled into the room, even earning a sarcastic salute from Saxum.
Armand Voss. That slimefuck was still breathing, just stuck in that damn chair. I could’ve made it clear right then, told him he earned every bit of it, that he had no idea what Claire was capable of. But what really set my blood to a slow burn was the guy behind the chair, the one pushing him in.
I forced myself to my feet. “Fritzy, you fucking traitor!” I shouted at my former ranch hand. He’d always kept his head down and worked like the rest of them, looking like nothing buta good, honest cowboy. Turns out, he’d been worse than a rattler hiding in the tall grass.
“Don’t be so bitter, Lucas!” Lucien spoke up for him, that smug grin never leaving his face. “He’s on my side, so what?”
The tension in the room had grown thick, but it hadn’t lasted long. My fists had already clenched, my knuckles turning white as bone. The momentary pause had ended, the fire in my veins burning hotter than a branding iron.
