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SCARLET
I’m not sure why he keeps being nice to me. I’ve been nothing but cold to him since I found out he was in the mafia. But instead of being a jerk or avoiding me, he comes to check on me every morning and every night. He brings me chocolate and smoothies. He talks to me, and I ignore him. The man saved me, yet I want nothing to do with him.
Every time he walks into my room, my breath catches in my throat. I mean, whose wouldn’t? The man is hot as fuck. He’s covered in tattoos all the way down to his fingertips. Has dark emerald eyes sparkle behind his black lashes. I could get lost in those eyes. His tousled hair looks like he spends hours in the mirror styling it, but I’m pretty sure it’s a natural wave. His beard is edged and trimmed to perfection, kept short enough that you can see the sharp lines of his hard jaw. In other words, the man should be a carved statue. He’sthatfine. I bet women drop to their knees in front of him to worship the very ground he walks on.
Not me, though. Nope. I’m going to stay as far away from Killian Lachlan as I can. I made that mistake once. More than once. This last time, I really fucked up by getting involved with a gangster who hurt me over and over until I broke up with him. Then he came after me for revenge. Never again. I want nothing to do with men. I’ve tried to find the perfect one for me. The one who will take care of me, protect me, show up for me, fight for me, and treat me like I’m his whole world. Every damn time, I end up burned.
When I watch him leave, I can’t stop my sob. Even though I want nothing to do with Killian, I look forward to his visits. Then, even though I ignore him, when he leaves, and I’m left by myself again, I feel so empty and alone. And that’s the worst because that’s when all the memories of the dark cell come back to haunt me.
A few minutes later, Cali enters. She’s in a pair of matching pajamas with her hair in two braids and she looks happy. All because of Declan Gilroy. I can’t believe my sister married him. She knows how dangerous he could be. Hell, she saw what Ivan did after I broke up with him.
She’s the one person who has always shown up for me, and she literally gave up her life to a gangster to save me. The only thing is, I think she’s incredibly happy with him. From what I can tell, he practically worships her. And he’s actually a good Daddy. All the things she deserves. I only wish it weren’t with someone so lethal.
“Hey,” she says softly as she crawls into bed next to me.
“Hey.” I sniffle and wipe my eyes.
She throws her arm around me, and I immediately feel better having her here.
“Why are you crying?”
I shrug, not wanting to tell her it’s because whenever Killian leaves, I feel a huge sense of sadness.
“Want to watchBeauty and the Beast? I can bring up some Cheetos and wine. You haven’t had any pain meds in a couple of days so you should be able to drink.”
That actually sounds good. Junk food and cheap wine was a weekly ritual we had before I was kidnapped.
“Okay. That sounds nice,” I whisper.
Cali grins and disappears from the room, returning a few minutes later with a party-size bag of Cheetos, a bottle of wine, some plastic Solo cups—because we’re classy like that—and some bags of candy in her arms.
We turn on the movie we’ve already seen a million times and pour ourselves some drinks. After a few minutes, I turn to my sister.
“Are you truly happy?”
An immediate smile spreads, and her eyes twinkle when she looks at me. “The happiest I’ve ever been. I felt like I was dying when you went missing. Declan and his guys picked up all the pieces and never stopped until they found you.”
I let that sink in for a few minutes.
She takes my hand in hers. “I know you don’t trust them because of what they do. After everything with Ivan, I can understand that. But they’re truly different. They never hurt women or children and they’re not involved in the drug or prostitution businesses. I trust them all the way down to my bones. Any one of them would die to protect me. And they would do the same for you.”
A ragged breath escapes me as I think about all they went through to save me. They put their own lives on the line for a stranger who was important to Cali. I’m thrilled she’s so happy. It’s everything I could ever want for her. But there’s no way I could ever trust these men. It’s going to be painful when I move out of here. I’ve never been without my sister. This isn’t my home, though, and they aren’t my family. My only hope is that Declan will never take her away from me because without her, I have no one.
My chest aches and I don’t want to talk any longer. Instead, I drink my glass of wine, which is definitely not the cheap stuff we drank before, and let the effects of the alcohol numb me from the inside out.
* * *
“Shit. They’ve been drinking.”
Declan’s voice fills the room. I moan as I turn toward the sound and open my eyes to find him and Killian standing at the edge of the bed with their hands on their hips.
Soft morning light pours in from the windows, highlighting Killian’s face.
Ruh-roh.
He doesn’t look very happy. Not that I have time to pay attention because my stomach starts rolling. I jump up from the bed to run to the bathroom.
Cali groans. “What’s going on?”
