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Scarlett blinked her eyes for a moment before grasping the reference to the fairytale. “And you’re the beast?” She arched a brow.
“If you like.” He shrugged. “But don’t expect a happy ending here, princess. After six months, I’ll be returning you to your father in exchange for the house, and I couldn’t care less what happens to you or the rest of the Terinis after that time.”
“Why did you agree to accept me in exchange for an extension?” Scarlett demanded, tossing her napkin on the table. “If it’s so important to you, why did you prolong things for another six months?”
His smile was hateful. “To see your father squirm. I rather enjoy the thought of him scrambling to come up with the cash and not having a prayer.”
“You’re a detestable man.” Scarlett shook her head. “Why would you want to hurt my family? We’ve done nothing to you. You’re taking business much too far.”
“Done nothing to me?” Carter repeated in a hard voice. “I could destroy all of your illusions about your father, Scarlett, with a few simple words.”
“I wouldn’t believe anything you told me.” He couldn’t say anything she didn’t already know. She had accepted her father’s mob ties and gambling problems years ago.
“Try this one,” he suggested. “Your father offered you to me as a virtual sex slave for cash. A lot of cash, assuring me you were surely worth it, since you had dated only approved boys. You might call it a virgin sacrifice,” he added in a husky voice.
Scarlett’s face flooded with heat, and she gasped in outrage. “That’s a damn lie,” she screamed, bringing Darren running into the breakfast room. “I hate you, Carter Braxton,” she cried and ran from the room, not acknowledging the pain in her ankle until she was halfway up the stairs. She pulled herself along using the banister, then collapsed on the bed into a sobbing heap.
After her ankle stopped throbbing, Scarlett called a taxi and arranged for them to meet her at the gate. She couldn’t stay in this house another minute, regardless of the stupid deal her father had struck with Braxton. After hanging up, she grabbed her jacket to ward off the light rain showers and left her room. No one saw her go down the stairs, and she made it out of the house without being noticed. Scarlett thought regretfully of the clothes and books she’d left behind, but the suitcase was just too heavy to lug with her injured ankle.
It was an unpleasant and painful walk to the gates. She found the taxi waiting for her, and the man looked impatient. “I’m sorry you had to wait,” she apologized, offering him a hundred dollars from the meager amount of spending money left in her wallet. “This should be enough to cover your wait, and a trip to San Francisco airport,” she said. The cabbie eagerly accepted the money and drove her into the city. He tried to chat with her a few times, but her answers were monosyllabic at best, and he gave up to her relief.
At the airport, Scarlett made her way inside and went to the nearest charter service. A flight she needed left in an hour, and she booked herself on it. The attendant ran her credit card through and frowned. “It was declined, miss,” she said with a sniff of disapproval.
“What?” Scarlett asked in shocked disbelief. Her father had given her that card two years ago, and she’d never had any problems with it before. “Is there a phone I can use?” She had be forced to leave even her cell phone behind so they couldn’t track her. Braxton surely had it tapped. But the card was her father’s, he wouldn’t find her with that.
The attendant returned her card, and Scarlett made her way to bank of payphones against the wall. She dialed the customer service number and waited on hold for a few minutes before a male voice answered. She explained the circumstances, and he looked up her account. “That card hasn’t had a payment for two months. You’ll need to get current or we’ll be forced to take further collection actions.”
“It’s my father’s card,” Scarlett said softly. “He just gave me one in my name.”
“You’ll need to have him call us, Ms. Terini.”
In a daze, Scarlett agreed and hung up. She was stranded at the airport. She sat on a chair and counted out her cash, realizing she shouldn’t have given the cab driver such an extravagant tip. She had enough to rent a car if they would allow her to pay cash.
She made her way to the rental car desk, and the clerk didn’t ask why she wanted to pay cash when she had a credit card. He just took an imprint of her card, a copy of her license, and called her insurance company to confirm she had coverage. After taking her payment, a younger boy came and took her out to the lot, handing her the keys to a sedan.
Scarlett found it nearly impossible to drive with the brace on and pulled over before leaving the city so she could remove it. Her ankle was still throbbing, but at least she could manage the pedals now. She drove on toward her home, wondering what sort of reception her father would give her. She’d never let him down before, and she’d never shirked her duties, but surely he would understand. He had to. It was his fault she was in this mess
Feeling tired and drained, Scarlett pulled into the drive of Terini Manor nearly three hours later. She was surprised to see catering vans parked around the side, before remembering today was Halloween. They always threw a lavish Halloween party, complete with decorations and resplendent costumes. Scarlett’s dress should still be hanging in her wardrobe.
She limped her way into the house and surprised Marcia into dropping a vase of flowers on the floor. The water soaked into the carpet, and the maid hastily bent down to dab at it. “Where’s my father?” Scarlett asked.
Marcia looked up. “He’s at the golf course, but your sisters are upstairs.”
Scarlett suddenly realized there was fear in Marcia’s tone when she spoke to her, and she was uncomfortable when she remembered Carter’s remarks.
She limped up the stairs, grimacing at the pain in her foot, and found her sisters in Lecy’s suite. They flocked around her. “Has he let you go?” Chrys asked as she hugged her sister. “Has he released you from that awful deal? Did Father take care of everything?”
“I left,” Scarlett said. “I couldn’t stand to be there another moment. He’s terrible, simply terrible. He’s cruel and abrasive, and he treats me like a pariah.”
Lecy patted her sister on the shoulder. “You did the right thing in coming home, sister. We’ve missed you so much.” She hugged Scarlett once more, and then said, “Perhaps you can help us with the caterer. We can’t understand a thing he says, and he just gets impatient with us.”
Sighing, Scarlett sank onto Lecy’s mattress, sprawling on her back. “I’ll do my best,” she promised around a yawn, “But first I need a nap. It was a long drive, and my ankle is hurting.”
“What did he do to you?” Chrys asked at the same time Lecy said, “Why didn’t you fly?”
Scarlett chose to answer Lecy first, “My card was declined.” She was almost amused at their looks of horror. “Either there’s been a billing error, or Father hasn’t paid the bill in two months.”
“No.” Lecy gasped. “It can’t be.”
