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“Oh shit,” I whisper.
“Turn off your fucking mics, you fucking idiots,” she curses, a flare of her temper we hardly ever see. The sound cuts off immediately. The following silence speaks louder than anything they could have said. Her control is one of the coping mechanisms she uses to keep herself grounded. To avoid getting lost in the chaos her mind creates. She craves control, needs it, and she hates to lose it. Especially in front of someone outside our family.
She shakes her hands, trying to force herself back into a semi-reasonable state of mind. I just don’t know if it’s possible. I hardly recognize the fragile yet explosive woman in front of me and I’m not sure I’m enough to keep her from going off. She is a short fuse, already sparking, begging to catch fire and blow the whole building down.
“Charlotte,” Charles whispers. “I don’t know why you’re back, but you can’t be. You need to leave. Now. And never come back.”
“It’s Scarlett,” I snap.
She smirks. “It’s actually Scar. He’s the only one who really calls me Scarlett.”
“Scarlett,” he repeats slowly, as if he’s having trouble forming the name. “Please leave and don’t come back,” he pleads again.
If anything, his words at least tell me we are on exactly the right track by coming here tonight. If I wasn’t sure, her sudden change in attitude would be enough to tell me she agrees.
“Why?” she cocks her head at him as she asks the question. She pushes off from the table where she was leaning on it and slowly moves towards him. Circling around him. A predator that has found her prey. A version of her that I recognize. My heartbeat slows, though my body doesn’t relax. The tension lining my shoulders won’t dissipate until I know my girl is free from harm. Safe back in my arms. Whole once again.
“Because your father was one of the men who raped and tortured me?”
Ice pushes through my veins and my finger is brushing the trigger before I can even react. Only the quick flash of her hand toward me stops me from pulling it. I lower it, only slightly.
“Because Daddy is here now? Been hunting me down all these years?”
The air in my lungs constricts and nearly chokes me as I force myself to hold still, to not react. To not murder this man in front of me only to massacre the entire ballroom we left behind.
“You knew?” he gasps.
She lifts her shoulder in a shrug. “Figured it out when you grabbed me. Those ice-blue eyes you share with Daddy Dearest have haunted me for years,” she whispers as she leans in close, making me tense. I lift the gun once more, exercising every ounce of control I can to not just blow his head off. Fucking Scarlett. She always has to push it.
My mind is still reeling from the bomb she just dropped. There’s no way she’s nearly as calm as she’s pretending to be. We just got the confirmation that one of the men who attacked her is only a few hundred feet away. In the same building as my pretty girl, drinking champagne and laughing with the crowd. Are they all here? My own anxiety threatens to overwhelm me. I want to shoot this fucker all the more now and pull her into my arms and get out of here. Maybe blow the whole building up on our way out.
His head dips forward and his body slouches, falling into her. I dart across the room, ready to rip him away from her before I see her smug grin. She slips the cap back on the needle and puts the now-emptied syringe back into its holder on her wrist.
A hoarse chuckle is drawn from my lips. “You drugged him?”
She scrunches her nose at me. “Did you think we were just going to leave him? We can use him.”
The mics are turned back on, I’m shocked that it took them this long. “You’re not staying in the hotel for a second longer, Letty,” Luca growls. “Don’t worry about your room, just get that fucker out the service exit.”
Scarlett rolls her eyes as she looks up at me, pointedly keeping her gaze off the slumping body in front of her. Charles mumbles sleepily, not fully unconscious, but not present either. I sling his arm over my shoulder and carry most of his weight while keeping him on his feet. I keep a cautious eye on her as she leads the way out of the conference room, taking small, hurried steps, feigning an air of concern and embarrassment as we move. She may seem back to normal, but the mask she’s wearing isn’t enough to fool me and it won’t be enough for the guys either.
There’s something else ticking in that beautiful head of hers. Something that I can’t help but think is going to bring up all of the old trauma she has worked so hard to bury. That we’ve worked so hard to help her overcome. I hate to admit it, but maybe it’s the push she needed to confront the horrors of her past and truly heal. Getting her revenge won’t fill the holes in her life, rather a new gaping one will be left for us to fill if she doesn’t also work through the feelings she has buried for so long.
As soon as we pass a waiter, she grabs his elbow and bats her long lashes. “I’m so sorry, but our friend had too much to drink.” She looks around nervously, dropping her voice to a whisper. “We can't have anyone see him like this.” She grimaces. A nice touch. A look of understanding dawns on him as he nods his head at her.
“Of course, Miss. I understand,” he assures her with a look that says it happens all the time. He must be used to the wealthy over indulging and having to get them out of sticky situations. “Right this way,” he says as he leads us off the main hallway and out to the side of the building.
It’s not much longer until we reach the service exit to find the van ready and waiting.
I stop and shake hands with the waiter, thanking him once more as I slip a hundred dollar bill into his hand. He’ll know to keep this entire incident quiet. He’s quick to turn and hurry away, not sparing another glance for us as I move back to assist Scarlett in getting Charles down the ramp used for deliveries.
As soon as the waiter is out of sight, the back doors to the van are thrown open and Kade jumps out, ripping Charles out of mine and Scarlett’s arms.
She huffs but I can see her visibly shaking. “Keep him in one piece dammit,” she curses. I move to rest my hand on her hip, attempting to draw her in closer to me, only for her to flinch at the contact. I pull away sharply. Kade doesn’t miss a beat and I can see the beast that rides him on the verge of breaking loose as he tosses Charles’ almost lifeless body into the van.
“Fucking hell,” Scarlett murmurs to herself as she wraps her arms around her midsection. I want to pull her against my chest, envelop her in my warmth, but everything about her body language and her earlier reaction is telling me not to.
I trade looks with Kade and subtly shake my head without her noticing. He tightens his fists at his side, but shows more restraint than I thought he was capable of as he stomps around the side of the car and climbs into the passenger seat. I’m impressed even if he does slam the door behind him.
