Wylde Fire Read online

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  If there was one thing Sam never expected to see again in his life, it was his brother on top of yet another one of his fiancée’s.

  He shuddered at the image in his mind as he pounded another glass of whiskey down at the bar at the distillery.

  Grady's tongue down Holly's throat.

  Her eyes closed.

  His hands wrapped around her back, pulling her close to him.

  It was intimate and passionate and everything he'd seen last year repeated, except with Holly instead of Jane.

  His heart lurched in his chest at the memory.

  Jane. It all started with her.

  As much as he wanted to think he was over that relationship, seeing what he saw today told him that maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was still hurting. Not at Jane necessarily, but at the entire situation. And definitely at his brother. Hell, that situation was far from resolved in his heart, let alone in reality.

  But Holly was his safe place. Or she had been.

  She'd never do something like this. She'd never fall for Grady's charms, and yet…she did. She'd talked nonstop about how great he was and how they should get together and rekindle their friendship. How he had changed and wanted to make things right. She'd sung his praises to Sam for days like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

  What the hell was it about his brother that made women lose their damn senses?

  Maybe he should have been a doctor.

  Sam snorted at the thought, whiskey nearly coming out of his nose at the idea. Medical school wasn't in his future, nor was it even remotely close to his passion. He looked around him at the distillery that he had built, the business that he had formed with his own wit and brains. That was what he was proud of. That is who he was.

  It was his legacy and he wanted to be loved and appreciated for what he did have to give—for who he was.

  If Holly couldn't see past a doctoral degree, then screw her, too. She was just like Jane, chasing the titles and trophies and money. Hell, maybe money is really the only reason why she was agreeing to marry him. It was technically all they had started their proposal based on and while he'd thought they'd moved past that…had they?

  Sam thought back to earlier that evening. He'd told her he was in love with her. She'd responded with "Now fuck me."

  She'd never actually said she loved him, too.

  Yeah, he kind of assumed she meant she loved him, too, but…she had never actually said it to him. So, did she? Was anything between them real? Had it ever been?

  Hell, he'd found her kissing his brother not even five minutes after they'd just fucked on his desk.

  Sam poured himself another glass at that thought. His heart felt like it was shattering in his chest, aching and throbbing and begging to be put out of its misery. He finished that glass as quickly as he'd poured it. Then he poured another.

  The entire situation was so twisted.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw Holly's name come across the screen multiple times. Missed calls and texts. He didn't bother reading them. Instead, he just turned his phone off entirely and put it in a drawer.

  He wanted nothing to do with her right now.

  Hell, he wanted nothing to do with his entire life right now.

  Sam downed the rest of his drink, the liquor already going to his head quickly. He was feeling every bit of the alcohol and decided he'd probably had enough to drink. Luckily, there was a couch in his office and so he stumbled over to it and stretched out across it, kicking off his shoes.

  Slinging his arm across his eyes for darkness, he waited for sleep to take him and rescue him from the nightmare his life had become. He didn't want to think about tonight. He didn't want to think about his brother.

  He definitely didn't want to think about the woman he loved who had broken his heart.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "Sam!" Something jostled him, rousing him from his sleep. "Wake up!"

  "What?" He opened his eyes slowly, trying to reorient himself with the daylight streaming across the office and directly into his face. "What's going on?"

  Damn. His head was pounding.

  "I've been looking for you all night."

  He glanced up to see Holly standing next to the couch, her hands on her hips. She looked pissed as hell. Ironic, since he's the one who should be mad.

  "Sam! Come on, we need to talk," she continued, shaking his shoulder in an apparent effort to get him up and off the couch.

  "I'm getting up. I'm getting up," he assured her, though everything about his tone was grumpy and irritable. Hell, he didn't feel remotely past his impending hangover. It was like a thick cloud weighting down on him. Pushing to his feet, he slowly stood and shook his head, letting out a loud yawn. Finally, he focused his attention on the woman in front of him impatiently waiting. "What are you doing here, Holly?"

  "I've been looking for you," she said. "We need to talk about last night. I tried calling and texting all night."

  "My phone's off."

  She threw up her hands. "Helpful."

  Sam walked past her to the desk and pulled open the drawer with his phone in it and grabbed it, powering it back on. It started buzzing right away with all the missed notifications and calls. "I didn't feel like talking after last night, and I don't feel like talking now. Just go, please."

  "I'm not going anywhere until we talk. What you saw was not what it looked like."

  Sam clenched his jaw, fury building up in his belly as the memory played out in front of his eyes again. "It looked like you were kissing my brother. Honestly, after everything I went through last year with Jane…fuck, Holly. That was the last thing I expected from you."

  "As it should be," she replied with a huff, her arms crossed over her chest now. "Sam, seriously? Do you seriously think I would kiss your brother?"

  He furrowed his brow. "Holly, I'm not blind. I literally saw you two."

  She waved her hand like none of that mattered.

  Um, it fucking mattered.

  "Sam, he kissed me. I didn't want that kiss." Holly looked angrier than him now. There was a fire in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. She wagged a finger in his face. "And you know what? If you honestly think that I'm the type of person that would do that? If you honestly think I'm like Jane? Then, hell, you don't deserve me. I deserve someone who doesn't just walk out like that last night and goes and gets drunk instead. I deserve someone who trusts me and knows when I'm head over heels in love with them that I would never do something like that, and, frankly, maybe that just isn't you. Goodbye, Sam."

  Holly turned on her heels and stormed out of the office door.

  Sam opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. What the hell just happened? He sat down in his office chair and stared at the office door which Holly had just left through.

  I think I just fucked up.

  Glancing down at his phone, he picked up and dialed.

  His call was answered on the second ring. “Hello?” came a soft feminine voice.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Okay, so her attempt at apologizing had gone a little sideways, Holly thought as she stormed out of the distillery and to her car. Her pace was steady, but not too fast that he couldn't catch up to her and stop her if he wanted.

  Honestly, Holly had gone in to the distillery to find Sam with every intention of apologizing and begging him to come home. At least, that had been her thought process going in to it.

  But when he self-righteously chastised her as if she would actually have done something as despicable as what Jane did to him last year? Especially after knowing what Jane had already done to him a year ago? He had to know her better than that.

  Hell, a stranger would know her better than that.

  It was just insulting, and she hadn’t been able to stop herself from giving him a piece of her mind. The look on his face though…flabbergasted. It was as if no one had stoo
d up to him in his entire life.

  Well, good.

  It was about time.

  Holly's phone vibrated in her pocket. I bet that's him calling to apologize now.

  A smirk covered her face. He should have just chased her out to the parking lot. Men could be bullheaded sometimes.

  She pulled out her phone but recognized the phone number to Suzie's medical facility instead.

  Climbing into the driver's seat of her car, she picked up the call. "Hello?"

  "Good morning, is this Ms. Glen?" the voice said through the line.

  "This is she."

  "I'm sorry to call you so early, but I'm afraid to say that your sister has suffered a stroke. If it's possible for you to come see her today and talk with the doctor, I would recommend it. She's been transferred to River Ridge Hospital due to the severity of her condition."

  Fear gripped her heart, squeezing tighter and tighter by the second. She felt the air constricting in her chest and her words became short and raspy. "I'm on my way."

  She hung up the phone and shoved the key in the ignition, missing the first two times and finally getting it in the third time before steering the car at breakneck speeds on to the main road. Within twenty minutes and two potential speeding tickets, she was pulling up to the local hospital. After talking to a few hospital receptionists, Holly was finally able to locate where her sister was and navigated her way to the floor and room.

  When she arrived, she nearly started crying the moment she saw Suzie. Her sister was full of wires and tubes that she'd never needed before. It reminded her of how she'd looked right after the accident, when things had been at their worst. Flashbacks hit her hard, triggering memories she'd long since avoided.

  "Ma'am? Are you family?" a nurse asked as she entered the room.

  Holly nodded. "I'm her sister."

  "Great. I'll let the doctor know you're here. He wants to talk to you." The nurse exited and left her alone with Suzie.

  She went to her sister's bedside and squeezed her hand. Tears welled in her eyes and she sniffed them back. "Suzie girl, don't leave me. I'm not ready."

  Pulling a chair up next to the bed, she just held her sister's hand and waited for the doctor. She sent a quick text message to Amelia telling her what happened and where she was. She needed someone here with her. The thought crossed her mind to text Sam, but…the man hadn't even chased after her. He wasn't even sorry for what he'd done. He didn't trust her. What kind of relationship could they really ever have if he never trusted her to begin with?

  Frankly, she wasn't interested in being with someone who treated her that way. She knew she deserved better than that.

  So why did the thought of not seeing him again make her heart ache and a lump form in her throat? She felt like a piece of her was breaking and she didn't know why. Sure, she loved him, but had he ever really loved her? Were they ever really a real couple or had they always just been fake fiancée’s?

  She didn't have an answer.

  "Ms. Glen?" A man in scrubs entered the hospital room.

  "That's me," Holly said, standing and extending a hand to the doctor.

  He shook her hand. "I'm Dr. Nealy. I'd like to talk to you about your sister's condition."

  "Yes, please." Holly clenched her hands together, nervous about the news.

  "Your sister had a massive stroke this morning," he explained. "Her brain is swelling and we need to go in and relieve some of the pressure and bleeding occurring."

  "Brain surgery? When? Today?"

  He nodded. "Yes, and yes."

  "I don't think she can handle that…" Holly looked at her sister, terrified at the thought of putting her through a massive surgery like that.

  "I'm afraid there isn't another option," he spoke frankly. "She likely won't last the night without the surgery."

  Holly's eyes widened. "And what are the chances of her surviving the surgery?"

  "Also slim." The doctor looked grave, his lips in a thin, straight line. "But we have some of the best surgeons around dedicated to this case and making sure your sister is well taken care of."

  Holly chewed on the edge of her lip, realizing there was a factor she hadn't considered. "How do you all handle situations where…where the patient doesn't have insurance?"

  The doctor paused, glancing down at the chart in his hand, then back up at her. "Uh, hmm. Well, I'm not sure. It's a costly surgery. I'll have to send in someone from finance to come talk with you about it."

  Holly nodded. "Please."

  "Okay. I'll do that immediately."

  "But," Holly interjected. "Please book the surgery right away."

  She wasn't going to let money stop her from trying to save her sister's life. She'd spend the rest of her life in debt paying this hospital back if she had to. Family was worth it. Her sister's life was worth it.

  Chapter Thirty

  "So, what did you want to talk about?" Jane asked him as she pulled out the chair opposite his in the River Ridge Roast, the local coffee shop they used to frequent back when they were together. "You sounded quite insistent on the phone."

  Sam lifted his eyes to her, taking in the woman he'd loved for so long. She looked different now. Colder. Weary. Fuller, but in a matronly way. Honestly, he barely recognized her if he really thought about it. She was someone entirely new, and yet, there were fragments of the Jane he had loved hiding beneath her surface.

  "I'm going to be frank," he told her, placing his hands on the table and keeping his voice low enough not to be heard by gossipy neighbors.

  "You always have been," she replied, taking a sip of her decaf tea. "It's one of the reasons why people trust you so much."

  He paused, unsure what to do with a compliment from her right now. He decided to look past her niceties at the moment and get down to the reasons he was here.

  "Jane, I need closure. What you did…the thing with my brother…I'm not over it. Something happened the other day that brought it all back for me," he tiptoed around the story of the other night, not wanting to tell her what really happened. God, he really should though. Damn, it would feel good to rub it in her face that Grady was a lying, dirty cheat, and she'd gotten fucked over just like she'd fucked him over.

  No. He couldn't do that. He just wasn't the heartless type.

  "Stop there, Sam." Jane waved a hand in the air. "I know all about the other night, okay?"

  He paused, unsure they were talking about the same thing. Instead, he decided to stay silent.

  "Grady…he isn't perfect, okay? He made a mistake and we're working through it." Jane couldn't hold eye contact with him as she spoke, and, while he couldn't be sure, it almost looked like her eyes were welling with tears. "Please just keep this to yourself."

  "So… you think Grady initiated it to?" Sam asked. "Holly wasn't involved?"

  Jane's head snapped up and she stared at Sam wide-eyed. "What?"

  "Holly said Grady initiated it," he repeated. "That's the truth?"

  "You don't believe her?" Jane let out a huff. "You're a bigger idiot than I ever was then. Holly is…well, she's a special woman, Sam. She was there for me even when I wasn't there for her. Do you love her?"

  "Of course, I do."

  "Then you should trust her," Jane continued. "Don't let your mistrust caused by me color your relationship with her. Don't let our past ruin your future. Regarding…well, regarding you and me," she paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, Sam. I made a mistake. One I'm going to pay for the rest of my life. I can't go back and fix it, and I don't want to. I don't want to only because you deserve to be with someone better than me. I see the way she looks at you, the way she talks about you, treats you, defends you. You deserve to be with someone like Holly. I want that for you."

  Sam looked down at his hands, trying to put words together in his head to form a sentence, but he couldn't. Pain seared through his chest and self-doubt roared in his mind. Why had he doubted Holly so quickly? Why hadn't he known in his gut what he was seeing in that office was
Grady's doing and not hers?

  Why the fuck did he have such a shit brother?

  Finally, Sam shook his head. "I don't understand, Jane. Why do you stay with him?"

  She picked at the edge of her paper cup. "He wants to be better, Sam. He's trying."

  "He's doing a piss poor job at it," Sam scoffed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

  That was when he noticed the tears welling on Jane's lashes and the furrow in her brow. She was in pain. She nodded slowly. "Sometimes, yeah. But he tries, and for now…that's enough for me."

  Sam stared at the woman he had loved once, would have died for, would have given anything for…and wondered who he was looking at now.

  "Thanks for the clarity, Jane," he finally said, pushing out his chair and standing up. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a small, comforting squeeze. "Take care of yourself."

  She just nodded but said nothing.

  With that, Sam walked to the car and left her sitting in the coffee shop alone. The closure he was looking for had been received. The woman he was in love with? She was gone. The man he hated? He was who he needed to take up his shit with. His future bride? He needed to beg her forgiveness.

  "Sam!" A voice called out to him from down the street.

  He turned his head to see Holly's friend, Amelia, waving at him.

  He waved back and headed in her direction. "Amelia, right? How are you?"

  "What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked, one hand on her hip, the other wagging a finger in his face.

  Sam put both his hands up, confounded. Clearly, she'd seen him having coffee with his ex. "It was just coffee with Jane to clear up some old baggage. Nothing nefarious."

  Now Amelia looked confused. "What? No. Huh? I mean, I don't know anything about that. I mean, why aren't you at the hospital with Holly?"

  "What are you talking about?" Confusion was clearly contagious because it was spreading like wild fire. "What's going on?"

  Amelia's face took on a stricken expression. "She didn't tell you? Shit. Maybe I shouldn't have told you. But you should know. You should be there. Hell, she can't pay for this alone. Frick, I don't know what to do."