Bitter Truths: A Twisted Arranged Marriage Romance (Crimson Falls Duet Book 2)

by Dani René

  I look at Kahn, who’s busy on his phone. The sooner we get to this shit hole my brother’s taken Scarlett to, the better. “What time are we leaving for Arizona?”

  “Once we pack a bag for me and one for Scarlett, we’ll head out. We also need to make sure we’re all armed. I don’t know what we’re walking into. Not completely, and I didn’t bring anything for you.”

  I nod. My focus is on the window as we pass through Crimson Falls. At one time, I loved this town. It was small enough for me to hide away from my life, but also close enough for me to monitor Grace because I don’t fucking trust her.

  I glance at Kahn and ask, “Did you get confirmation of Darius’s claims about his mother?”

  He nods. “Whatever document he had at the ceremony was bullshit. Grace isn’t his mother. I’m not sure why he believed her, but the bloodwork we did after you were admitted to the hospital confirms you are brothers.”

  A nod once more, turning my attention to the window. If I’ve learned the truth about us being blood related, then he must’ve done a test too. His mind works the same way mine does, which means he knows he’s not Scarlett’s uncle. And that only makes anxiety twist in my gut.

  Darius wouldn’t hurt Scarlett. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t touch her, fuck her, or worse—make her want him as much as she wants me.

  We have similar tastes sexually. When we were younger, we used to share our slaves, or submissives, and I’ve seen what my brother enjoys. Jealousy rears its head, my blood boiling at the thought of Scarlett being turned on by my brother.

  By his words.

  By his touch.

  Darius enjoys humiliation, and something deep down inside me wonders if Scarlett does too. Her tastes run a lot darker than most women I’ve been with. And I’m certain if I’d pushed her, she would’ve allowed me to delve even deeper into her psyche.

  And that’s dangerous.

  Because Darius won’t stop. He won’t allow her a safe word.

  I think about the folder I had on Scarlett, which is still in my desk drawer. The information we found about her past, the night she was hurt, confirms she’s using our sexual escapades as a way to deal with her trauma. When I tested her that night, chasing her through the forest, I thought she’d remember, that it’d push her to admit some drunk moron almost hurt her, but she didn’t say a word.

  But it didn’t stop her from getting turned on when I pinned her down. When I took her, even though I didn’t use violence, she wasn’t triggered, which I can only assume is because she enjoyed the darkness before the event at the frat party.

  It’s one thing to have a kink, a fantasy, but it’s another to enjoy it even after suffering a trauma like that. And that’s what makes her interesting, what makes her so damn intriguing.

  “We have to get to her now,” I bite out through clenched teeth. I look to Kahn, whose gaze narrows on me. He can’t read my mind, but I’m almost certain the jealousy coursing through me is painted across my face.

  “We will. I promise you; she’ll be okay.” Even his assurance doesn’t calm me down. Why would it? I’ve always been jealous of my brother, and this time, he’s got something of mine. Something that means a hell of a lot more than some random woman I’ve been fucking for a few weeks.

  The car weaves its way up the drive toward Shaw manor. The gates slide shut behind us as we near the monstrosity that is my home. Mine and Scarlett’s home. Knowing she’s not there waiting for me only makes me nervous.

  The door opens and Gray walks out onto the tiled steps. The suitcase he’s pushing is mine, and I can’t help but grin. He’s already packed for me. I love that old man. More than I ever did my father.

  The thought of my father brings back memories of what I’ve lost in my life. I don’t care what my brother does, but if he hurts Scarlett, I’ll torture him for weeks before I end him. He’s stolen from me, which needs to be rectified.

  When he last took from me, I vowed to never let it happen again.

  And now, it has.

  This time though, I’ll kill him.

  I will spill my brother’s blood and I won’t think twice.

  9

  Darius

  “He’s on his way,” Howler informs me with a grin. We planned this perfectly. Lycan is coming here, and soon enough, we’ll come face to face. I want to tell him my plan. Once I learned my mother wasn’t Grace Bardot, something struck within me. There’s no shadow of a doubt that Lycan hates Horatio, which will leverage him on my side.

  Taking that asshole’s money was part of the plan.

  The other part was breaking the bastard down, until he admits to the crimes his parents committed. The truth is they killed my father, and if Lycan will sit down and listen, I can show him the proof. For years I’ve been searching. Grace and her husband were nothing more than ruthless fucking criminals.

  Yes, Grace may have loved my father once, but the moment she said ‘I do’ to someone else, she broke her promises to Dad and the Shaw name.

  Lycan has to believe me, there’s no other way. If we stand together for once, nothing will tear us apart. At least, that’s what I hope.

  “Make sure you keep tracking the car. The moment he’s a couple of miles out, I want everything locked down. He has to request access.” Even though I’m giving the order, my brother will have a team of men with him, and he’ll be wanting his wife back.

  “Will do,” Howler informs me with a grin.

  Although, taking Scarlett was a highlight. Feeling her tremble against me only brought back memories of when Lycan and I shared her. The one woman who broke me. No other female had ever come close enough to do what she did to us. Lycan never recovered, and neither did I.

  Pushing from the chair, I head up the stairs toward my bedroom. The compound is my home, the place I found myself after leaving Crimson Falls behind for good. Having a beautiful woman here, even if she belongs to my brother, unnerves me.

  Usually, when I’m with a woman for the night, I go to their place, not wanting someone to spend the night at mine. Even the club whores know that I don’t kiss and cuddle afterward. Once the deed is done, you’re out on your ass.

  When I push my bedroom door open, Scarlett’s asleep. Curled up on the mattress, the blanket haphazardly covers her body. Glimpses of flesh peek at me, and my cock thickens with need.

  She’s not blood.

  But she is my sister-in-law.

  However, I’m not one to follow rules.

  I step into the room, inhaling deeply, and I realize she must have showered because she smells of my soap. The spicy scent mingling with her natural feminine fragrance, which doesn’t ease the hardening of my dick.

  I watch her sleep for a while. Her breathing is even, her dark red hair splaying across my pillows. The sight is foreign to me, but it’s also alarmingly breathtaking. This woman is nothing more than a siren sent to lure me to my death. Because if I touch her, if I were to claim her with my mouth, my fingers, or my cock, Lycan would kill me.

  I’m almost certain he’s on his way with the cavalry to kill me. But what he doesn’t know is that I didn’t steal the pretty girl to hurt her, I took her to lure him out. To bring him into my space so I can be in control. I’m surprised my brother survived both gunshots, but I’m not shocked he’s walked out of the hospital without permission from the doctors. It’s just like Lycan to do what he pleases.

  When I stepped into Shaw manor, it didn’t feel like home.

  Now that I’m here, the comfort of the familiar calms me somewhat.

  Scarlett awakens with a start, her wide eyes locking on mine in surprise. She shuffles up the mattress, her back hitting the headboard as she tugs the blanket over her body to cover what I’ve already had a good look at.

  “What are you doing, creeper?” she bites out, rage dripping from her pretty, plump lips. I can’t help but grin at her fire. My brother chose well. Even though I’m sure he didn’t plan for her to be like this when he had Horatio sign the contract, he�
�s gotten lucky. Breaking her in the club would be a pleasure.

  “I was enjoying the view,” I tell her innocently with a shrug of my shoulder. I move around the bed and make my way to the window. The sun is slowly setting. She’s slept most of the day away.

  “Have you heard anything yet?” she asks, her voice breaking with worry over Lycan.

  I don’t turn to look at her, because seeing the affection she holds for him will only anger me. Jealousy is not a good look on anyone. And on me, it makes me violent. Come to think of it, everything makes me violent. “He’s on his way here.”

  “What?” She’s on her feet, her small, fragile body inches from mine, and her heat envelopes me. “What do you mean? How can he—?”

  “Just what I said, little one. He’s making his way here with his army of men. He’s going to play the hero to save you,” I inform her with a smirk, thinking of just how foolish he is. This is my territory; he doesn’t know what could hurt him. Kahn has intel, that is clear, but he doesn’t realize I have hidden landmines all around the compound. One wrong step, and you’ll be in pieces just outside the property line.

  Perhaps he does know.

  Maybe he doesn’t care.

  Scarlett possibly means more to him than his life.

  It’s time to test my brother and see just how much this woman means to him.

  “But you shot him. I mean, he should still be healing.”

  “He should,” I agree, finally facing the beauty. “But my brother isn’t one to follow the rules, little one.”

  “Then he takes after you,” she throws back with a small smile, shocking the shit out of me. I didn’t expect her to say that, or even acknowledge it. But that has my chest tightening when I think about giving her back to him.

  “He does.”

  “Do you miss him? Do you miss having a family?” she asks then, stepping up beside me. Her wide eyes locking on the side of my face and it feels as if I’m being scorched. “Not the biker family you clearly have,” she adds in a whisper.

  I stare out of the window, watching the clouds move across the sky. The memory of having a brother feels foreign to me. It’s been so long. My heart thuds against my ribs, reminding me once again that emotion is weakness.

  “No.” I turn suddenly, causing Scarlett to step back, almost tumbling to the floor, but my arm shoots out, wrapping around her slender waist as I pull her toward me. Her mouth is inches from mine. It would be so easy to steal a kiss. To taste her lips and tangle my tongue with hers. My jeans tighten at the crotch when she gasps as I straighten, bringing her along with me.

  Scarlett’s hands land on my chest, her fingers burning me right through my t-shirt, as well as the leather cut I’m wearing. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Do you like to taunt the predator, little one?” I question, keeping my face near hers, the hot breath that fans from her lips causing my hunger to rumble through me like an awakening volcano.

  “I-I didn’t mean… I just want to learn about you,” she whispers, and her voice has a direct link to the desire coiling my gut. I want her. The hunger I have that’s swirling through me is dangerous, and the longer I spend around her, the more I feel like letting go and stealing a taste.

  It wouldn’t take long to claim her.

  I could do it right now.

  “Nobody wants to know about me, sweetheart,” I tell her honestly. With a twinge of regret, I release her. “It’s better that you go back to your wolf and leave the hunter to fend for himself.”

  Suddenly, she reaches out a hand and cups my cheek. The softness of her touch has my body warming with need. “Why do you push people away?” Her whispered words fall over me and, like a wave crashing on the shore, it attacks me violently. I feel as if I’m being dragged down into the depths of the sea, where I’ve buried my feelings, where I’ve hidden the need and desire I long since wanted to feel.

  “Because those who have come close enough have always been hurt. And I’d rather walk away than have anyone else in my life get hurt,” I confess with a lump forming in my throat and the words as they escape feel like sandpaper scraping the truth from me.

  Scarlett shakes her head. “That’s no way to live,” she whispers softly. The gentleness of the moment is broken when Howler shoves open the door. His eyes widen when he takes us in. He’s never seen me act affectionately to anyone, not even the club whores who want my dick.

  “They’re close,” he says, before tipping his head toward Scarlett and leaving us to finish whatever the fuck this is. I don’t even know.

  “I have to go.” I turn, immediately feeling cold after putting distance between Scarlett and me, but it’s for the best. We can’t do this. I can’t fucking do this because she’s going to leave here with Lycan, and I’ll be on my own once more.

  She catches my arm before I walk out of the room, and the plea is shining in her pretty eyes. “Please don’t hurt him.” Her words are filled with worry, anxiety clear in her expression. A pretty girl in love with a beast.

  “I promise you I won’t. But I can’t vow that he won’t try to hurt me.” It’s the truth. My brother is coming here to get his girl, and what he does to get her may not be something she’ll agree with.

  “Let me go with you?” she asks, a question I consider for a moment. “I won’t run, let me talk to him, show him I’m fine.” She gestures to her clothes, her body, no marks or scars. She’s dressed in a pair of my sweats with a heavy black tee that makes her look like she’s drowning in material and I can’t help but grin.

  “Like that?”

  She glances at her appearance, then nods. “I don’t have any other clothes since my wedding dress was ripped to shreds,” she informs me, a bite in her clipped tone which has the corners of my mouth quirking at the fire that just never ceases within her.

  “He’s going to expect you to be hurt, to be crying and begging him to save you from the big bad hunter,” I tell her with a grin of satisfaction curling my lips. This time, I turn to face her once more, my hands landing on her hips as I tug her closer. “What are you going to tell him, little one? Are you going to admit how much your body responds to my touch? Or are you going to tell him your lips ache to be claimed by mine?”

  The air is heavy with promise, with threat, and the slight tremble from Scarlett’s slight frame doesn’t go unnoticed. I see her. I see everything she does, and this time, I’m not going to stop. Cupping her face in my hand, I hold her steady. My mouth finds hers in a slow, gentle kiss. Her breaths come out short, soft gasps of surprise when my tongue darts out and traces her full bottom lip.

  “Is that what you’re doing to tell him?” I whisper before I finally claim her mouth with mine, and I don’t stop even when she tries to push me away. Her strength no match for me, but as our tongues dance, she gives up for a long moment and falls into the connection.

  And when I pull away, her palm connects with my face.

  “Don’t ever do that again.”

  I arch a brow as I turn away. “Why? Because you liked it?” I walk away from her, leaving the door open knowing she’ll follow. Time to welcome Lycan and tell him just how much his little princess is welcome in my home anytime.

  10

  Scarlett

  My body is still humming from the kiss. I can’t believe I allowed it to happen. But the heat of his lips is still scorching mine as I walk behind him, following along like a lost puppy. Each door we pass is shut, and I wonder what’s behind them. Probably bedrooms for the men in the club, but I don’t want to see what goes on behind those wooden barriers.

  Darius takes the stairs down to the foyer. For a moment, I wonder if I could make a run for it, but since Lycan is on his way, he’ll save me. Somehow, he’ll find a way to get us both out of here.

  My anger hasn’t abated. Darius still makes me want to kill, but the memory of the kiss lingers in my mind. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Even though the brothers aren’t exactly twins, there are so many similarities between them
. I put it down to that. Just missing my husband.

  But it’s a lie.

  I saw Darius. I looked into his eyes and saw the human he keeps buried deep down, it’s difficult to find him. He comes to a stop outside a set of double doors and pushes them open. When we step into a meeting room complete with a long boardroom table, I can’t help but gasp at the sheer size of it.

  There are twelve chairs surrounding the heavy wooden table. At the one end is a much larger chair, one with carvings in the back, which has the logo I’ve noticed on Darius’s cut. The club’s emblem—a skull with snakes slithering over it and blood dripping from both eye sockets. Under the logo is a banner with the chapter name—Devil’s Cove.

  “Where is he?” I ask the moment I notice it’s only Darius’s men in the room.

  Those green eyes that match his brother’s lands on me. “He’ll be here soon,” he tells me with a violent grin. “Sit.” It’s an order, which I obey quickly. I don’t want to anger him after all. Even though every inch of my body is screaming at me to tell him to fuck off. I don’t.

  Settling into one of the empty seats, I take in each of the six men that surround the table. Each one of them is staring at me as if I am the main attraction in the room.

  Gunshots ring off in the distance, and I fight the urge to push to my feet when Darius pins me with a warning glare.

  “Sounds like my brother is here,” he chuckles. “Open the door,” he orders one of the younger men who obeys him without question. Both Shaw brothers like to be in control, perhaps that’s why they’re always at odds with each other.

  Moments later, four men, including Lycan and Kahn are brought into the house. Those familiar jade eyes find mine instantly, as if they’re magnetized to my presence. The corner of his mouth tilts, and he offers me a slight nod in greeting.

  “Wife.” It’s one word which holds all the weight of the world.