Page 84 of Memphis

“They’re in the bar.”

“Oh, okay. Do you mind telling me where that is?”

“I can do better than that.” He motioned for me to follow as he said, “I’ll show ya.”

“Great.”

We continued down the hallway until we reached two double doors. Even before we walked in, I could hear the music and smell the cigarette smoke. He pushed the doors open, and I immediately started scanning the room. It was filled withstrange faces. I was tempted to just skip the drink and head back to my room until I spotted Blaze and Shadow sitting across the room.

I walked over, and as I sat down next to them, Blaze said, “Didn’t expect you to come out so soon.”

“I was feeling a little claustrophobic.” I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “And I needed a drink.”

“I can’t blame you there.” Blaze nodded and signaled to the young woman behind the bar. “Get the lady whatever she wants.”

“Whiskey.” I cleared my throat before adding, “Neat.”

The bartender nodded and poured me a glass, then brought it over and sat it in front of me. “There ya go, hun. Can I get ya anything else?”

“No. This should do it. Thanks.”

I took it and raised it to my lips, the burn of the alcohol was a welcome distraction from the crazy thoughts whirling around in my head. I took another deep sip and set the glass down. “I wanted to thank you again for coming to my rescue. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I don’t know. I think you would’ve managed just fine.” Blaze gave me a friendly wink. “You got a little farther than most folks would’ve gotten, and you did it without any help. You got spunk, kid.Real spunk.”

He lifted his glass, toasting me before he finished off his drink, and I did the same. I felt the burn spreading through my chest and knew it wouldn’t take much more to take the edge off, so I had another. I finished it and was about to go for one more when the back door swung open.

The bar grew oddly quiet, and when I looked up to see what was going on, I saw Wes charging towards me. Just seeing him brought a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt since I was taken.

I slid off the barstool and started toward him, trying my best not to break into a ball of tears. When I reached him, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he immediately pulled me into a tight embrace. My voice was thick with emotion as I whispered, “You came.”

“Of course I did, baby.” Wes pulled back slightly, just enough to look into my eyes. “Nothing could keep me away from you.”

I clung to him, letting the warmth of his embrace chase away the last remnants of fear and uncertainty. After several moments, he lowered his mouth to my ear and asked, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“You scared me. I should’ve never let you go.”

“No way you could’ve known what was going to happen.”

“Doesn’t matter. It was my job to protect you, and I fucked up.” He squeezed me a little tighter. “But I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Absolutely.” He brought his hand up to my face as he said, “You’re mine, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

And just like that, the world felt right again.

But the hard times were far from over.

In fact, they were just getting started.

Memphis

“I know it’s late, but can we go home? I really just want to go home.”

“We can do whatever you want.” I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “I just need to have a word with Gus before we go.”

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