Wrong (A Bad Boy Romance)(45)

First I grab my phone. A split second before I hit the call button, I realize there’s a chance it could ignite the gas I can now smell thick around me and getting thicker. I shove the phone back into my pocket.

Okay, fine. Get the hell out of here, then. But first I go to the office and grab the laptop. Stupid, probably, but I’m not going to leave it.

Laptop clutched close, I finally do the smart thing and leave the bakery. Out on the sidewalk, I pull my phone out again and call Nick.

He answers almost right away. “Sarah. What’s up?”

“The bakery. It’s…there’s gas…I think Sal’s been here. The stoves are all on, there’s no electricity—” I’m rambling, and I’m actually vaguely surprised when Nick manages to make some kind of sense out of what I’m saying. He starts screaming in my ear.

“Get away from there, Sarah! Right the fuck now! Get out of the bakery and just fucking run!”

I head for the car. I suppose there’s a slight chance if I start the car, it could ignite the gas coming from the bakery, but surely there’s not enough of it out here for that to happen. And I need to get away as fast as possible—

A hand grabs my arm from behind, spinning me around harshly. I recognize that hand just from the way the fingers dig into me.

Shit. It’s Sal. His face is twisted into a mask of pure rage; I’ve never seen him look so utterly furious. He barely looks human, his face gone red and purple.

“You stupid bitch. How dare you.” He’s spitting on me as he screams into my face. “How dare you?”

I try to take a step back, but he’s got a tight hold on my arm, his fingers digging in so deep I can feel him pressing into the bone. And then he backhands me, and I stagger to the side. I taste blood in my mouth.

“You stupid fucking cunt.” He’s right in my face again. I can’t even defend myself, with one arm securely in his grasp and the other clutching the little laptop like my life depends on it. It might. Then again, my life might depend on my letting it go.

The decision’s taken out of my hands—literally—when Sal hits me again, and this time I lose my grip on the computer and it falls to the ground. Thank God, it hits grass. Sal seems unaware it’s even there, he’s so totally focused on me.

My face is burning. I probably have a black eye, a split lip—I can’t tell. The back of my throat tastes like vomit.

“Stop it! Stop it!” It’s all I can manage as I back away from him, trying to get out of range. My arm is aching where he’s got hold of it.

“You’re going to pay for what you did to me, bitch. You think you get to do that to me and get away with it?” He shakes me, and my teeth rattle. “You’re coming home with me, and then I’ll show you how you’re supposed to behave in my fucking house. You understand me?”

“You kill me and I can’t ever pay back my loan.” It’s the first thing that pops into my head as far as things that might deter him.

He just laughs, though. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? I’ll get my money as soon as I can get in there and light a fucking match.”

For some reason, that’s the thing that finally sends me over the edge. I fly at him one handed, fingers curved, and start tearing at his face. I can feel my nails making purchase, tearing into his cheek before he grabs my other arm and shakes me hard, until my teeth clack together and my head starts to hurt.

There’s a sound behind me. I wonder if we’ve finally attracted enough bystanders that Sal might lay off, but I don’t really see anybody. Then I hear a car door slam. And then Nick’s voice.

“You get your fucking hands off her right now, De Luca!”

Sal wheels, still holding on to me, facing Nick, his mouth a slash of a sneer. “You think you have any right to tell me what to do with my—”

He breaks off when Nick’s fist lands in the middle of his face. Blood splatters from Sal’s lips, and he finally loosens his grip enough that I can jerk away.

“Get in the car,” Nick snaps at me, not taking his eyes off Sal. Sal is half bent over, the back of his hand pressed against his mouth. It looks like Nick caught him a good one. My mouth stretches into a feral smile, and I’m almost ashamed at the glee I feel at watching Sal bleed. Almost.

“I said get in the car!” Nick snaps. I shake my head.

“The bakery’s about to blow, Nick. We both have to get out of here.” I scan the ground quickly, spot the laptop, and pick it up again.

“You were going to torch it, weren’t you?” Nick growls at Sal. “What the fuck makes you think you have the right?”