Scarlet looked up, her lashes fluttering, making his body react as she looked around the room until she was flashing a small smile at Lana.
“It took me a while before I realized you weren’t in your house,” he continued. “Damn, woman, you are good at what you do. Really good. I can’t remember the last person, if any, that’s gotten past me. And Lana was with me. We were both watching, and you still got away.”
He poured praise and pride into his voice. He felt it and he wanted her to know that he did. He’d rather she focused on that than everything that came next, because if she thought too much about it, she wasn’t going to like his behavior.
“I don’t know what tipped me off, but I realized you weren’t in the house. I had no idea how you slipped by us, but you did. That doesn’t happen with Torpedo Ink. You’re the first that’s ever gotten by us. I went down to the house to be certain and went in. Immediately I knew something was wrong. I saw that you were ready to leave at a moment’s notice and knew someone was after you. I gave you every opportunity to tell me the next day. Lana, naturally, told our president she was worried about you and the possibility that someone could hurt you and, through you, me as well. I turned over your information to Code, our resident computer genius.”
Absinthe continued brushing the pads of his fingers back and forth over the pulse pounding so wildly in her wrist, assessing her reaction—soothing her while he spoke. “It was so important to me to make certain you were safe. It was more important even than losing you, and I knew you’d be royally pissed with me for prying into your business.”
Her face softened and his heart clenched hard in his chest. He wanted to lean over and kiss the hell out of her, but they had to finish this. He had to make certain she understood that once this was out in the open, there was no taking it back.
“Look at me, Scarlet.” He had to see her eyes, read her expression, not just her pulse.
Her gaze jumped to his.
“Your trial and subsequent history were easy enough for Code to discover, but then after you left the country, the trail became a little murky. The longer you were overseas, the more difficult it was for him to follow you. You clearly had an itinerary, and when you came back and the men who had raped your sister died one by one, that agenda became very clear.” He didn’t take his gaze from hers.
She didn’t so much as wince. “Your point?”
“You killed those men just as I killed the men who raped and tortured me and mine.”
“They deserved to die, and no one was going to stop them from continuing to hurt other women. Or in your case, women and children.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “Where were you the other night? Who was the woman who provided your alibi?”
She lifted her chin. “Josefa Diaz. I helped her escape from a human trafficking ring. They were holding her in a hotel in San Francisco. I freed her and kept her safe here while I had her documents forged and set up a life for her in Chile. She needed money in the bank and people I trust on the other end to help her get started in a good job there. When I had everything ready, I waited until I needed her and then I called on her. She did exactly as I asked her in return.”
It was brilliant. She had a woman indebted to her who would be richly rewarded for helping her. The woman would never have to testify, never have to lift a finger to do anything other than sit in a restaurant or movie theater, someplace public where cameras could pick up Scarlet. She would go back to her country with money and someone on the other end to help her with a new life. By that time, she’d learned to trust Scarlet’s word. The plan was beyond brilliant. Clearly, she’d used the same type of alibi every time she’d killed successfully.
“What happened the other night that you needed to use Josefa? It was the teenager, wasn’t it? The girl in the library.”
She nodded. “Her name is Joan. Her mother, Brenda, really loves money and the lifestyle it gives her. She was married to a wealthy man at one point, but in her divorce, because she cheated multiple times, she lost everything but child support for her two children. That support is not enough to keep her in the lifestyle Brenda wants or thinks she needs.”
Absinthe sighed. He’d met more than a few greedy women who would do just about anything for money.
“Giles McCarthy is a very well-known philanthropist in the area. Very generous.”
“Yes.” Absinthe nodded. “He died in an accident at his home. A gas leak, I believe.” He watched her the entire time. “It’s still being investigated, but from everything I’ve read, it looks as if it really was an accident.”
“McCarthy paid Brenda ten thousand a month to make Joan available to him when Brenda took Luke out of town. She would get bonuses the more cooperative Joan was. Brenda wasn’t the only woman he made arrangements with. He was a straight-up pedophile and he managed to get the cooperation of a few of the greedier women in town willing to sell their daughters to him.”
“You have proof of this?”
She gave him a look that should have withered him on the spot. “I do my homework. Of course I have proof. I went to Joan’s house and was there when she was supposed to meet him. First, I went to his home, to ensure everything was in place for his little accident. It would be easy enough to undo it all. I checked his computer. Thousands of pictures of pornography, all young girls. Lots of Joan and other girls in our area. I wiped the ones of Joan. He had thousands of dollars in cash in his safe. I removed most of it but left enough so that no one would notice missing cash. He had videos of the girls and him. I took the ones of Joan.”
“They can get those off the hard drive.”
“I’m not an amateur. I went back to Joan’s house and typed a note from her saying she was sick and had to get help, that she’d meet him in a couple of days. I left it on the bed for him to see. He was so angry. He jacked off, leaving her a ‘present’ and a note saying she’d better be there or he’d inform her mother she wasn’t cooperative and he wasn’t paying that month. He left and went back home.”
“Pleasant fellow.”
“Right? I just sat in the car Josefa had gotten for me, just down from his estate, waited for the house to go up and then checked to make certain he didn’t make it out. He lived in the hills, so it was easy enough to get closer to home. I drove the car to a ravine, pushed it over and made my way home.” She shrugged.
Absinthe slid the pad of his thumb over her inner wrist and the pulse beating there. Every word she’d said was the truth. She’d killed a pedophile. Managed to bankroll a human trafficking victim and recouped cash. Saved a young teen. Had an airtight alibi. She’d been smart enough to make McCarthy’s death look like an accident.
“Moya literaturnaya ledi, I didn’t think it was possible to admire you any more than I already did. Holy mother but you get the job done.”
“Someone has to.” For the first time, real tears swam in her eyes. “The cops knew they raped my sister. They left behind evidence, but as usual, Robert’s father bought his way out of it. He bought the cops, he bought the attorneys and he bought the judges.”
“What evidence?”
“There were photographs of my sister’s body and the scene where my parents were in the living room. Robert’s necklace was wrapped around Priscilla’s wrist. How do you miss that? It was wrapped around her wrist and the medallion was clasped in her fingers. She was smart and she’d torn it off his neck and when she decided to hang herself, she wrapped that around her hand to make certain they knew who had raped her. It was very distinct. Thick chain links. Real gold. The medallion was flat and had the words Rule the World engraved on it.”
“How did you see the photographs?”
She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “I can’t tell you that, but I did get screen captures of them and gave them to my attorney. It was part of the reason I was able to get out of prison and the state made a very lucrative deal with me.”
He knew immediately that someone on the inside of the prison, someone
with skills like Code’s, had gotten to those photographs, and Scarlet would never break her silence and compromise them. It shocked him that the pictures hadn’t been destroyed. Someone was either thinking in terms of protecting themselves or blackmailing Holden down the road.
“Fair enough, ledi, you had the proof, and that was the big thing. We don’t hunt unless we know those we’re after are guilty.”
He eased back in his chair to let her know he was switching gears. He wanted to take her to his house and see if she was willing to make the coast her home, to commit to him and his club permanently. He knew it was fast for her, but in order for both of them to disclose the things they needed to each other, they had to count on the connection, that pathway their brains had made—and the truth they shared. They had to jump in with both feet. That meant Scarlet was the one stepping off the cliff, and he knew it was much harder for her—more of a matter of trust than for him. He would have his club to make him comfortable. She would only have him. She’d been let down and she would be afraid.
“I want you to come home with me. I own a house here in Caspar. I’d like you to see if you like it. If you don’t, I’m telling you up front, I’m willing to find another one, anything at all you prefer. Czar wanted us to put down roots here and each of us to find a home. All of us more or less chose one that suited us best, depending on needs. This one appealed to me because it has space and I like that. I need it. I like to see what’s coming at me. I think all of us do. But I want you to see it and make up your own mind about it. I haven’t really lived there. I stay here at the clubhouse as a rule until I can’t take the noise around me and need solitude.”
“Why would it matter if I don’t like the house?”
She was going to make him lay it out for her. He glanced at Savage and then over at Mechanic. Both men got up from the bar stools without a word. Savage drifted over toward the front door and draped his muscular frame casually against the wall, pulling out his phone to look over text messages. He rarely texted anyone, so it was probably a ruse, although he looked thoroughly engaged. Mechanic leaned on the bar right beside the door leading to the back rooms where all the bedrooms and the back exits were. His solid body was between Scarlet and any doors just in case she got it in her head to make a break for it.
“I want you to stay with me. Give the library your notice and live with me. The Venomous club isn’t going to back down. Holden made it clear that he’s putting the word out to other clubs as well, so it won’t be safe to go back to work. You already know that. You only have two choices. You can run, hit that go-bag you have hidden in the wall back at your house.”
It wasn’t there anymore. Already, Steele and Maestro were cleaning out her house of everything she’d left behind and bringing it to the clubhouse. They’d sweep for anything she might have hidden carefully. She wasn’t going back there either, not for money, not for passports, not for anything that might get her killed.
“Or you can stay here and make a try with me.”
Scarlet’s gaze clung to his. He could see the longing there, but then fear crept in. Rejection. She was used to running. Hiding. She believed Holden was a powerful man.
“We’re assassins, Scarlet. Eighteen of us, the original Torpedo Ink members, trained from the time we were children. We have an additional two members: Czar’s brothers both trained in other schools, also from the time they were children. That brings us to twenty. We recently patched over twenty-five members of a club, all trained in a school one step down from ours. Trained assassins, all experienced. All lethal. They could wipe up the floor with a club like the Venomous club. With our prospects and theirs, we’re at fifty. All trained assassins. We aren’t talking men who might have some military training or think they’re badasses because they grew up on the streets.”
“I don’t want any of you to get hurt. He’s very vindictive and he’ll never stop.”
Absinthe shrugged. “He’s going to die. We’re already locked on to him. I want you to come home with me, look at the house and decide if you want that one or if you want to go house hunting. I need to talk with you alone. We have to decide one way or another if you can live with me. I know I can live with you. I want you to stay with me permanently. For me, it’s a done deal. You have to be as certain. Either way, whatever decision you make, I swear, we’ll protect you until Holden’s dead, then you can go your way if I’m not what you want.”
Scarlet’s gaze moved over his face and then jumped back to his eyes. “Any woman in her right mind would want to be with you, Absinthe. I’m not a great bet.”
“Ledi, did I not tell you that I’ve already taken the leap? My brothers know it. My sisters as well. I want you to say yes to me. That’s all I need from you. One fuckin’ word. Come to the house. Look it over. Hear me out and tell me yes or no.” He didn’t wait. He stood up and held out his hand, giving her no option. “A couple of the brothers will come with us just to make certain none of the Venomous club members lose their minds and try to follow us.”
She put her hand in his without hesitation. He closed his fingers around hers. Her hand was so much smaller and felt delicate. He had to remember at all times what she was capable of. Czar had been right; he might have hesitated had she attacked him. The more he was with her, the more he could feel the connection to her growing stronger.
The ride to the house was smooth. She was a good passenger, moving with him and the Harley as if born to do so. He slowed as they approached the drive, wanting her to see the way the slow-curving road opened up to the beautiful sprawling explosion of plants. The former owners had been master gardeners and they’d spent a great deal of years putting together so many amazing areas, each with colorful flowers or bushes that were indigenous to the coast. Pathways of blue and gray stone rambled through various gardens, matching the fence surrounding the property and the house itself. The house was a single story, with high, vaulted ceilings, gables and rambling verandahs. It was shaped like a U with a courtyard of stunning gardens to enjoy.
He parked the bike close to the front stairs and sat for a minute, taking his time, watching her as she wandered around near the back porch looking toward the ocean. The views were spectacular. He’d paid for those views. He loved the house, but he’d paid for the way his home sat on the bluff perfectly overlooking the ocean on three sides. He could sit anywhere on his verandah from those three sides and see the waves crashing. When he was on the front of the house, he was surrounded by the garden.
“This is incredible. You own this? I love it and I haven’t even seen inside.”
He slid off the Harley and walked up the stairs to her. She had her head tilted back and the sun hit the red in her hair so that it blazed with fire. “Take your hair down, baby.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss along her cheek. “I love when it tumbles down your back like a waterfall. It’s so fuckin’ sexy I can barely breathe.”
She followed him to the front door, her hands in her hair as he inserted the key and stepped back to allow her to walk in first. The floors were hardwood. He hadn’t yet gotten the throw rugs he wanted to make it warmer. Anya told him he needed a few, especially in front of his fireplaces. He had two. One in the living room and one in the master bedroom.
“I like that you were honest when you said you preferred a man to take the lead in the bedroom, Scarlet,” Absinthe ventured.
The door opened immediately into the enormous expanse that was the living room. The vaulted ceilings added to the feeling of space. The room was turned so the windows on one side showed the garden and the other the views of the ocean. The third side was open to flow into the next room, so there was little to designate between the living room and den, where the pool table and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves made up two walls. Lana had chosen the chairs and short table between the chairs for comfortable reading in the evenings.
That room flowed into a dining room with a long table for guests. There was a chandelier he planned on replacing. Lissa, a famous glassblower, the wife
of one of the brothers, was making him a custom one. The dining room flowed into the kitchen. All the rooms had a view of the ocean or gardens. The sprawling house looped around to form a long U shape with a protected courtyard in the center. The house protected the center from the winds coming off the ocean. The garden was stunning, surrounding the courtyard, protecting those inside from anyone coming up on them from seeing in.
The master bedroom, guest bedrooms, offices and bathrooms were all built along the U shape’s arms. Absinthe walked slowly through the house, letting her see it while he talked to her.
“I wasn’t completely honest,” Scarlet denied.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. She had her gaze fixed on the bed. He was a big man. The bed had a large gray-blue frame and the quilt matched. One side of the wall was made of sheer glass, an enormous framed sliding door that went out onto the verandah or into the courtyard. It was the only room that had access to the verandah. The carpet was a soft dove gray with a bluish cast to it. The wall behind the bed was a dark gray painted with geometric designs in light blues and grays. Two lamps hung from the ceiling to either side of the bed, leaving the space open on the two small black end tables. He found the entire effect soothing.
He had guessed she hadn’t been, but she didn’t need to be. He already knew. “Let me tell you what I need, Scarlet. That way, if we’re not compatible, you don’t have to say anything more. If we are, you can tell me what you need.”
He gestured toward one of the two chairs in front of the fireplace. “Sit over there for a moment.” The master bathroom was just off the bedroom through one door, the enormous closets through another door.
Scarlet sat immediately, her long red hair falling around her face and down her back.
“What I didn’t make clear to you when I told you I was pretty fucked up is that when I was a child, I was taught to like certain things in the bedroom. Not just like them. I need them to get off. I need to tell my woman what to do and have her obey me. I have the ability to use my voice to make her do things, and I have done so in the past when I was forced to. I swore I wouldn’t again, and I never have.”
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