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“Want me to at least go in and lure her out?” Scarlett offers, and I nod at the same time my cell phone vibrates.
“We’re all clear,” I murmur, confirming Shift's message. Wordlessly, she slips from the truck, leaving her duffel bag in the back, and I frown. Climbing out after her, I whistle to catch her attention. “Aren’t you going to load up?” I ask, pointing at the weapons, but she shakes her head.
“This needs to be a quick process foryou, Axel, not her. Bare hands will make less of a mess and give her some suffering on the way out.”
She turns on her heels and struts toward the club. Is there always that much of a sway to her hips when she’s walking? Fuck, that’s not what I should be focusing on right now. In the blink of an eye, she’s sliding between the unmanned open doors, leaving me to wonder where the fuck I should wait.
Keeping to the shadows, I round the back of the building, assuming she will head this way, and wait by the trash. Barely two minutes pass when laughter sounds from the back entrance before the door is swung open and two women stumble out.
“Girl, please, you have to help me get a job here, you’re too much fun.”
Scarlett. I’d know that voice anywhere, even if the blonde hair is completely throwing me off. She blocks my view of the other woman for a moment, but the sound of her voice pins me in place.
“For sure, hun. You line me up with your dealer and I’ll have you in here working like that.” She snaps her fingers, hinting at how quickly she can help her out. Her nasally tone shrinks me back down to a child again.
“Girl, my dealer is my boyfriend. He’s picking me up. You want a lift?”
They turn to face me. Scarlett’s eyes find mine instantly as Carrie fucking Drury grins with excitement. She’s already wasted if her stumbling is anything to go by. It almost makes me want to draw this out and wait until she’s fully sober to make my move, but that would only cause me more pain.
“Hit me up, hun,” Carrie singsongs as Scarlett comes to a stop in front of me. A snarl turns my lip as she slowly raises her eyes to mine, and I’m faced with my abuser after too many years. She doesn’t recognize me though; she just beams up at me, hoping for a hit. “Hey, my bestie here says you can help a lady out.”
My blood runs cold, memories of her saying those exact same words all those years ago flooding my veins. Her hair is ginger now, but her piercing gray eyes are exactly the same. My chest heaves with every breath, but I can’t move, I can’t blink, I can’t even look at Scarlett. I’m locked in place, held prisoner by my memories and lost to my pain.
I try to gulp, but fail. As if in slow motion, Scarlett wraps her arm around Carrie’s throat in a deathly grip. Her knees quickly give out as she thrashes in place, face reddening under the soft glow coming from the club, but Scarlett only yanks at her harder.
“Sorry, Carrie, the only thing he’s serving right now is death.”
Her moves become lethargic and stilted as she softens in Scarlett’s hold until she’s nothing but a bundle of limbs. Scarlett slowly lowers her to the ground, checking her pulse to confirm she’s dead before digging her cell phone out and making the cleanup call Shift had arranged.
She doesn’t even look at me as she goes through the motions, bundling Carrie up and tucking her out of sight, only then does she nod for me to follow her. We wait in the shadows in silence, and Scarlett sighs with relief when someone arrives to collect the remains we left behind.
“Let’s go,” she whispers, leading the way back to the truck like everything’s fine, and I still haven’t been able to piece a damn word together.
It’s not until the truck doors are closed and we’re both locked inside that I’m able to breathe. My body tingles to life, a rush consuming me like I’ve never felt before.
“I’m sorry, Axel. It looked like you were stuck, so I just kind of took over—”
I wave my hand for her to stop, not wanting her to continue with an unnecessary apology. Looking deep into her eyes, I exhale sharply, and speak the closest and rawest truth I can offer.
“Reaper, I don’t know what love is, but what I imagine it to feel like… that’s how I feel right now… about you.”
TWELVE
Scarlett
Axel’s wordshang in the air, draped around my shoulders like a delicate shawl. I sink back into my seat, closing my eyes for a second as I repeat his words again, only this time out loud and not just in my head.
“Reaper, I don’t know what love is, but what I imagine it feels like… that’s how I feel right now… about you.”They’ll be committed to my memory for as long as I live.
I recognized the sinking look in his eyes when he finally came face-to-face with that bitch, and I knew I had to step in. He was rooted to the spot, unable to even comment on my actions, and when I organized the removal of her body, he was still just as quiet and timid. It was all worth it when his shoulders sagged with relief when we got back in the truck, and after he muttered those words, his limbs seemed to get looser. He tapped his fingers to a beat from his mind on the steering wheel, leg bouncing in tune as the corner of his mouth remained up.
That man was walking on cloud nine, even though it may not feel like that in his head. His body was enjoying the freedom from the tension that had him wound so tight for so long. We pull up to a motel, and he leaps from the car, bounding through the doors of the reception area before diving back into the truck with his grin still firmly intact.
“Reaper, I don’t know what love is, but what I imagine it to feel like… that’s how I feel right now… about you.”
All I can do is watch him in awe as he drives us around to the furthest block and parks. This time, I follow him out of the truck and help with the duffel bags. My wig and contact lenses are long gone, but the tear in my tee and the red lipstick aren’t so easy to remove.
“Let’s go, Reaper,” he murmurs, leading the way toward the building, and I keep within a step of him as he opens the room at the end, sweeping his arm out wide, in a gentlemanly gesture which I would expect from Gray more than Axel. I grin as I step inside.
