Saving Sami

Chapter 10.2 Marked

ACE –
He didn’t let her go, not for a while.
Sami was quiet in his arms, but her heart was beating fast against his chest. She’d heard the fear in his voice — buried under that rough, gravel tone — and she knew. This wasn’t over. It was just beginning.
“I’ll handle it,” he told her, brushing his lips against her forehead. “But I need you to trust me.”
“I do,” she whispered. “But don’t lie to me, Ace. If I’m not safe here, just say it.”
That’s what wrecked him — the way she asked. Calm. Direct. Like she wasn’t afraid of the truth, just tired of being left in the dark.
“No,” he said finally. “You’re not. Not anymore.”


Downstairs – Clubhouse Common Room
The air was thick with smoke, music, and testosterone. Tank was posted up by the bar, talking too loud and laughing too hard — the kind of laugh that said come challenge me. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Ace stalked into the room, eyes locked. Grimm saw him coming and stiffened.
“Ace—”
“Let him,” Reaper muttered from the corner.
Ace stopped two feet from Tank and his boys.
“You got something you wanna say about my girl?” Ace said, voice calm, deadly quiet.
Tank turned, smug. “Oh, we’re doing this now?”
Ace didn’t flinch. “We can do it here. Or we can take it outside.”
Tank laughed, looking at his crew. “The little prospect wants to play alpha.”
“She’s not part of this world,” Ace said. “She doesn’t owe you respect, loyalty, or silence. So you say her name again — you so much as look at her sideways — and I’ll make you choke on your own teeth.”
The bar went still.
One of Tank’s guys stood up. Grimm moved fast, blocking.
Reaper didn’t move. Just watched. Studied.
Tank stepped forward until he and Ace were almost chest to chest. “She makes you soft.”


Ace smiled — sharp and cold. “No. She gives me something to fight for. That makes me dangerous.”
Tank blinked. Just once.
Then Ace swung.
One hard, brutal punch to the jaw — fast, clean, and full of months of tension. Tank hit the ground with a crack, blood already in his teeth.
Grimm grabbed Ace’s arm. “Enough.”
“He’s breathing,” Ace growled. “That’s merciful.”
Reaper finally stood. “That’s your warning,” he told Tank’s crew. “This club protects its own. That includes her.”
Eyes turned toward Ace, who stood with his cut half-slung over his bare chest, hands bloodied.
No one laughed now.








SAMI –


She flinched when the door opened — but it wasn’t someone coming for her.


It was Ace. Quiet. Shaken. His knuckles bruised and bloody.


Sami stood, crossing to him without a word. She didn’t ask. Didn’t scold. Just took his hands in hers and gently led him to sit on the edge of the bed.


She grabbed a towel and the small first aid kit from the drawer, then knelt before him, cleaning his skin with steady hands.


“They won’t say your name again,” he said finally.


“I’m not afraid of them.”


“I am,” he said. “Afraid of what this life could do to you. Of what I could do to you, just by letting you stay in it.”


She looked up at him. “Then let me decide.”


Their eyes held.


“I’m not walking away,” she said.


Ace reached down and cupped her chin. “Then I’ll burn the whole world down to keep you safe.”