Page 117 of Wild Bliss

Sawyer felt the zip ties start to give. He kept his handsunder the table, hoping no one could see Sabrina sawing away.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Wyattsounded strong and sure. “I gave you his body.”

“You gave me someone’s. As I recall it was too burned to berecognizable. At the time I bought your story about him starting the fire whenhe realized what was happening, but now I wonder.”

Sawyer was almost there, almost all the way through the zipties when the big guy named Doug approached.

“Hey, you sit up,” he ordered Sabrina’s way.

Her head lifted, and she sniffled. “I can’t watch. You can’texpect me to watch you hurt him.”

“Leave her alone,” Wyatt ordered, and there was a littleshake to his voice. Rage. He was fighting it.

“Hey, she’s fine,” Sawyer said. “Babe, you need to sit upand let him see you’re fine. He’s on the edge.”

She sniffled and managed to move the knife to her side,slipping it under the folds of her skirt. “I’m not fine. I can’t watch themhurt him.”

He kept his hands under the table. Sabrina had sawed throughenough of the hard plastic bindings that he could break them when he needed to,but they weren’t ready for an all-out assault. They needed a distraction.

How long before Nate made it here?

Wayne grabbed Wyatt by the neck, a vicious hold on him. “Youthink I’m going to hurt you? You can take pain, little brother. I taught youhow to do that a long time ago. Daddy taught us both how to take it so we neveropen our mouths to the cops about the Horde. He taught you not to betray yourfamily. I guess the lesson didn’t take.”

He needed to get them all out of here. He needed somethingthat would make these guys panic. In the chaos he might be able to get Sabrinaand Wyatt out.

But it might cost him. Would cost him if he did what he wasthinking about doing.

He glanced over at Lark, who had been watching him as thoughshe’d known he would have a plan.

It was good to have people who had faith in him. It wasfunny since he would have said no one viewed him as a steady presence, but heguessed he was for his employees.

He really had been looking at the world through poop-coloredglasses. Once Sabrina had ripped them off his eyes, he could see far moreclearly, and that was why it was okay to lose what he was going to lose.

It was something they joked about. If joking about abuilding being a fire hazard was something to find humorous. He was up to code,but the truth was anything burned if you threw enough firepower at it.

He had a whole bar full of accelerants. All he needed was achance to light it up.

“I didn’t fucking betray you,” Wyatt was saying. He was onthe edge. Sawyer could see it, but he seemed to be holding on. “Whatever youthink I did, I didn’t. You wanted me to kill Dennis Hill. I did.”

“And I know for a fact you didn’t,” Wayne growled back.

“Is he going to kill Wyatt?” Sabrina asked the question in awhisper, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Fuck, he was going to kill every single one of thesemotherfuckers. They made Sabrina cry. They made her afraid in a place where sheshould fucking be safe. This was his bar, the business his grandfather built,and it should be safe for her.

He’d thought he’d felt rage before, but it was nothing likewhat blazed through him now.

“He’s not going to kill Wyatt,” Sawyer managed betweenclenched teeth. “I need you to stay calm. I need you to be the woman you werethe other night. Calm. Cool.”

“I want to say something to you,” she began.

She thought they were going to die. He couldn’t let herbelieve it. “I don’t want to hear it. Not now. After.”

Wayne released Wyatt, who stumbled slightly but managed tocatch himself on the edge of the pool table. “Where the hell did Greg andMaverick go?”

Wyatt turned slightly and looked over Sawyer’s way, sendinghim a knowing look.

He’d definitely seen Henry and Elisa. And they’d likelykilled or incapacitated two more of Wayne’s men. Unfortunately, that left themwith ten versus four. He didn’t count Sabrina, since she did not have hertrusty stun gun, or Lark. They would be hiding if they needed to.

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