Page 72 of Savage Love

When I open the door, I see immediately that we’re going to have to find a different way.

We’re on the fifth floor, and part of the lower floors and the way to both the stairs and the elevator have been blown apart. I see smoke starting to billow up, the alarms shrieking in my ears, and I feel a sick fear in the pit of my stomach as I retreat, motioning for everyone to get to the window.

“See if the fire escape is intact. I don’t think we can get out any other way.”

Liam curses under his breath, Connor’s arm slung over his shoulder as he nods to Jacob, who goes to look out of the window. From the unnatural way that Connor’s leg is turned, it looks as if it’s broken.

“It’ll take two of us to get him down,” Liam says flatly, as Jacob turns and nods.

“The fire escape is still intact. Must’ve blown up on the other side. I’ll help get Connor down,” Jacob adds, motioning for Liam to bring Connor towards him. “The rest of you lads bring up the rear.”

Nico and I nod, Niall keeping close to Liam and helping maneuver him towards Jacob and the window, as Jacob covers his hand with a part of his sleeve and knocks the remainder of the broken glass out of it. It’s going to be slow going, I know that, and I’m all too aware of the alarms still shrieking from outside the door.

“There’s a fire down there,” I tell the others, keeping my voice as calm as I can. “So be careful with him, but we need to hurry. The windows will have blown out, and depending on how far the fire has spread, it might be hard to get down the fire escape.”

Jacob nods, glancing at me as he takes Connor by the upper thighs, careful not to touch the lower part of his injured leg as he starts to climb out of the broken window. The glass is sharp at the edges, and one wrong move could end with the person moving through cut in a number of unpleasant ways.

We don’t have the time that we need. Jacob winces as the glass catches his sleeve, tearing through it and his skin, sending rivulets of blood streaming down his arm, but he doesn’t stop. He moves backward through it, balancing Connor, and Liam passes his brother the rest of the way through to sit atop the fire escape with Jacob as Liam starts to climb out.

“Wait!” Jacob says, wincing as the fire escape shifts. “Shit. It’s not all that stable. Three people can’t be on this platform.”

“You can’t get him down alone.” There’s the beginnings of panic on Liam’s face, and I know he wants out of here. I saw his expression when I mentioned fire. “You need—”

“Like hell I can’t,” Jacob growls. “I’ll fireman carry him down. I’ve got this. Wait until I’m a few rungs, and then you come out. One person at a time on the platform.”

I can see that it takes everything in Liam not to argue. He nods, entrusting his brother’s life to Jacob’s hands—a man who Liam has only known for a short while, but who followed Connor for years, when he ran his gang in London under the name William.

“Nico and I will go last,” I tell Liam, who shakes his head.

“It’s your wives Diego has, you and Niall. Go next.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Liam gives me a look that shuts me up instantly, and I nod. “Alright,” I concede, and Liam steps back, giving Niall and me room to wait for Jacob to call up the signal that the next one of us can go out.

When he does, Niall motions for me to go, and there’s no time to argue. I get out onto the platform, and I immediately discover exactly what Jacob meant. It feels rickety, as if the explosion might have partially dislodged it, and I look down to see Jacob halfway to the ground.

“I’ll call up when I’m the only one on the rungs,” I tell Niall, who nods, looking a bit pale himself. The alarms are loud enough that we have to shout to be heard over them, and the air is beginning to fill with smoke. We don’t have a lot of time.

When Jacob hits the ground, Connor still slung over his shoulder, and I’m halfway, I call up. I see Niall step out—only for the fire escape to sway dangerously.

Fuck.

I climb down faster. There’s no other solution for it. When my feet touch concrete, I back up, the heat from the building and the fire crackling inside coming off in waves as I move towards Jacob and Connor, who looks as if he’s close to blacking out from the pain.

Niall makes it down, and then Liam. Nico goes last, and he’s a foot from the concrete when the fire escape suddenly groans, screws popping loose as it sways to one side.

He jumps. His feet land, and he grunts, stumbling to his hands and knees before pushing himself up and rapidly backing away, looking as ashen-faced as the rest of us.

“I called a car,” Jacob says. “Two of them. We’ll regroup at the estate. Beth will have to resend us the coordinates; I don’t think Connor’s phone made it out. Liam might still have them—”

“I do,” Liam confirms, checking his phone. “Let’s get to the estate, and we’ll talk.”

—

Once we’re there, we get Connor into a bed, with Saoirse already calling the doctor to come and make a house call. Ana looks as if she might pass out when Liam explains what happened, but he tells her to stay with Saoirse and Connor, and to keep an eye on Aisling. “We don’t have time to go over it all now,” he tells her gently. “We’ll talk more when this is done.”

I can tell that’s hard for her to accept, given the brief version of the events we explained. But Ana has had time to grow accustomed to this life, and she nods, although I can tell she’s biting back her worry and fear.

We regroup in Liam’s office, and he rubs his hand over his face, looking at the coordinates on his phone.

---