Life Before Damaged, Vol. 9: The Ferro Family by H. M. Ward Read Free Book Online

save your sexy man-beast." She backs up a step and lets me go in. I land on the ground and assess the situation. The fire has continued to spread, and the heat is unbearable. Huge clouds of black smoke billow through the roof and reach into the sky.
    I run to Pete’s side and put one of his arms around my shoulders. I attempt to lift him up, but he’s too heavy.
    “You’re not THAT strong you dumb twit. Hey, nice tat by the way.” I look up. Erin is standing in front of me, hands on her hips, smiling. The ceiling above us creaks and her smile morphs into a frown. She runs to Pete’s other side, wrapping his other arm around her shoulders. We drag him toward the window.
    "What now, Erin? How are we supposed to get him out there? The window is too high."
    "Climb out first, Gee. Once you're outside, reach down for his hands and pull. I'll push him from the bottom. I promise not to grope his ass too much." She smiles crookedly at me.
    I'm pulling, and Erin is inside, pushing. Our progress is slow, and I worry a piece of stray glass will dig into his belly, but that’s not our biggest problem. He’s too big and I’m too weak.
    Erin grunts and yells, “Fuck he’s heavy! What’s he packing, anyway? A whale’s dick? And what’s in that nutsack of his, horse sperm? Damn! He should go on a diet or something.”
    My arms are burning. I feel tiny muscle fibers snapping. Pete's hips clear the windowsill, and we finally manage to get Pete out of the building. His limp body rolls off of the bale of hay, onto the ground. I sit next to him, resting his head on my lap and gently stroking the wet hair from his brow. Erin follows shortly after, sitting next to us.
    “Thanks.” It seems like an understatement, and there’s still an inferno at our backs. I look down at Peter and wonder if I’ll ever see those sparkling blue eyes again or hear that deep sexy voice.
    “No prob.” She sucks in fresh air and then coughs up way too much phlegm. “Sexy.” She wipes her mouth on the back of her wrist.
    I sit at Peter’s head, trying not to cry. “He’s hurt. He could have died in there.”
    Erin stands upright again, and when she can speak, she replies, “Yes, he could have, but he didn’t. You’re not going to lose him. Not tonight. Not because of this. Now, let’s drag him farther out. This place could come crashing down at any moment, and we don't want to be anywhere near here when it does. It’ll be the world’s biggest fireball.”
    She points to a clearing a couple feet away, and we drag Pete’s limp body away from the barn, setting him down gently on his back.
    I bend at the waist, my hands propped on my knees, trying to catch my breath. "How did you guys know where to find me?" I’m panting so hard that I start coughing again.
    Erin glances at me with a look I've never seen before on her, guilt and shame plastered across her flawless face. "When I came home to find you gone, I figured you'd gone to see Philip at the club, and I panicked. I didn't know what else to do, so I called Ferro. It frightened me to think of what you were potentially walking into. Philip was so angry when you left him. I knew what these guys were into, I just never thought they'd do anything like this."
    "They wanted to gang rape me, beat me up and burn me. You knew that?" My shoulders square off as I’m ready to strangle her on the spot.
    "Not exactly, but I had an idea of some of it.” She won’t look at me and wrings her hands behind a spattering of stars. Her face is illumined by dancing flames, defining the slender face I’ve trusted for years. “I tried to tell you to stay away from him, but you didn't listen. I didn’t want to tell you this part.”
    “Why? Because you thought I wouldn’t believe you?”
    “No.”
    “Then you must have thought that I’d be okay. Why else—”
    “Gee! Shut up! I knew you wouldn’t be okay.” Her knuckles are turning white as she strangles her hands. “You don’t know all of