Page 65 of It's Holy Matrimony, Baby

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Love is losing everything

And realizing that it doesn’t matter

As long as you’re together

NOX

Casey Records is on fire. My world is burning down around me. Jack called Liv who gave him Beck’s number because my phone went straight to voicemail, since I was on it with Lou. Didn’t even bother with the house phone, because it would have either been Dean or Finn with the same news. My family are the only ones who know the number.

Thick smoke drifts across the road long before we get close to the building. Sirens blare and lights flash as a fire truck speeds past us. Beck sits on the edge of her seat, staring out the windshield. She hasn’t said much more than “Oh no” since we left the cabin.

I was this close to being able to fix everything. Even without Liv’s money I had enough to start repairs. It would have taken longer, sure, but I was ready to live with that. As long as Beck was with me.

Why the fuck did Lena have to show up? Can’t shake the feeling she has something to do with this too, even though she was nowhere near the studio. No, it can’t be her. She might have put me through hell to get what she wanted in the past, but she always preferred a more snakelike approach. Causing damage that was so insignificant I had no idea what was coming until it was too late. Burning down a building is far too much of a statement for her.

Can’t be certain it isn’t some kid doing something stupid either. Or simply the state of the building. Besides, if she was planning to do this she wouldn’t have shown up at my house and tried to recruit Beck into convincing me to sell it.

I should have explained. Was going to tell her why Lena would focus on her as a way to get to me, but there wasn’t time.

The wheels spin as I take the last corner too fast. I pull into the lot and park as far back as possible. Dirty billows of smoke spill through the broken windows. Flames too. The moment I push open the truck door I start to sweat from the heat. I can’t believe this is happening. Everything I was working toward. My Dad’s legacy. I can’t fucking fix this. It feels like I’m losing the old man all over again. Like I’m failing him all over again. Like I’ll lose Beck soon too.

Beck shoves open her door and takes off running. She sprints across the parking lot, past the firefighter bellowing orders at the rest of them while they man hoses and set up a perimeter. She’s already in front of the building by the time I get out of the cab and take off after her. I scream her name, but she either doesn’t hear it over the fire or she doesn’t listen.

She sprints up the concrete steps. The paint is bubbling, the metal warping. She reaches for the handles. Cries out as she whips her hands away. Reaches for them again.

“Stop it,” I yell as I wrap both arms around her waist and haul her back. “What the hell are you doing? The whole building is on fire.”

“Let me go. I have to get in there.” She struggles against me. “You don’t understand.”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you go. You’re not getting in there.” I drag her back as something crashes inside the building and the flames roar harder. Losing dad’s legacy kills me, but I couldn’t handle it if she got hurt. “There’s no one in there. There’s nothing you can do. Do you understand?”

Someone yells, “The roof has collapsed.”

“But I have to...” She sobs and falls against me.

“No you don’t.” I turn her around.

Tears are coursing down her cheeks. “Your furniture. I-it was in there. I thought it would be s-safe. What if it was my fault that the building caught fire? You’re going to lose everything, and it’s my fault.”

Shit. The money. I’ve lost that too. Furniture I spent days, weeks, months of my life building with my father is gone forever. I’m losing so much of what connected me to the old man. Everything I’ve been fighting for these past couple years is being ripped out of my hands.

I won’t let that happen with Beck. I can rebuild everything else. Somehow. Maybe. I’ll work that out later. “You’re a lunatic, do you know that? You scared the shit out of me and you’re worried about a building? Because that’s all it is, Beck. A building.”

“It’s not. It’s everything to you.” She grimaces as she glances over her shoulder at the building as another crash comes from somewhere inside. Her knees buckle. “I know how much it means to you.”

“Not as much as you do.” I take her wrists and flip her hands over. Her palms are blotched with red, the flesh shiny. “You’re burned.”

She stares at her hands with wide eyes. “Am I?”

“Come on. We’ll go to the ER. We need to get this looked at.”

“No, please,” she whispers and her lip wobbles. Her whole body starts to tremble. “No hospital. No doctor. I can’t stand them.”

“Fine.” Dragging her back to the truck, I yank open the door and bundle her inside. “Stay put.”

Her lip quivers as she looks at me with watery eyes while I buckle her seat belt.

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