by Bella J.
“I’m making the call.” Colton pulled out his phone and dialed the number to the attorney’s office.
Scarlet’s mind went completely blank after that. She could see Colton’s lips move but she couldn’t hear a damn thing. All she heard was the thrumming of her heart echoing inside her head. Like she could hear every pulse, every swoosh her blood made through her veins.
There she was, sardined between two men in the back of a car…on her way to meet the one man she had spent years running from.
Just another day in the life of Scarlet Woods. Or Blanchette Wolfe.
“You okay?” Colton asked softly.
Scarlet stared at her fidgeting hands. “Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“Yup.”
Then she felt his knee lightly brush against hers, and it took her by surprise so she shot her gaze up to his.
He smiled. But just like Hunter’s words of reassurance, Colton’s smile did nothing to tame the panic and fear inside her gut.
Scarlet closed her eyes, trying to force herself to take deep breaths. Unfortunately, it didn’t help. All it did was open her mind to flashes from the past.
Brent sitting across from her at the dinner table, smirking at her like he knew every ache she was feeling in her body right at that moment—all because he’d been there. All because he claimed it in the worst possible way.
He would always reach for something at the same time she would, touching her in the subtlest of ways, just to remind her that he owned her.
At night, he would walk up to her bedroom door and pause. She would see his shadow beaming from beneath the door, and it provoked a kind of fear inside her that felt like it had the power to tear through her insides.
And then there were the threats. The threats of doing the same to Willow if she didn’t give him what he wanted—if she told anyone about their little secret.
His evil, filthy, dirty moans would echo inside her ear, ripping every ounce of good from her soul while he raped her repeatedly.
And when he climaxed, he would push so fucking deep, infesting her with his evil, making sure she felt every damn pulse of his wicked torture on her body.
It was after the first time it happened, and his promise that it wouldn’t be the last, that she went on the pill without anyone knowing. She didn’t want to give birth to that evil fucker’s demon spawn.
“You need to stop doing that.” Hunter placed his hand over hers.
“What am I doing?” She didn’t look up at him. She just stared at where his skin blended with hers as he held her hands in his.
“You’re allowing your mind to take you back. Don’t.”
“It’s inside me, Ace. His darkness. It’s like it infected me, and it’s not something I can control.”
She felt Colton shift a little next to her and glanced at him. But he was looking out the window—or pretending to.
“Yes, it is,” Hunter replied softly. “You can control it. It’s your choice. You can choose whether you will allow it to control you or not.”
She shook her head slightly. “You’re wrong.”
Hunter took her chin softly between his thumb and forefinger. “Look at me.”
She did.
Green eyes that had become more to her than she ever thought possible stared at her. No, they stared straight through to her goddamn soul.
“Today can either be the day he finally destroys you, or it can be the day you finally destroy him and everything he’s left behind inside you, once and for all. You’re strong. You can do this, Scar. I know you can.”
Right at that moment, Scarlet wished she could melt into him. She wished none of this was going down and that she could just let him wrap his arms around her and keep her against him for the rest of her life.
Only when she felt his thumb softly brush against her cheek did she realize a tear had run down her face.
She bit her lower lip, pushing back the tears. Hunter placed his thumb on her lip, urging it out of her mouth. “And don’t do that. It’s turning me on.” A wicked grin spread over his face.
She nudged him with his shoulder. “Trust you to get horny at a time like this.”
“I remember someone telling me once that sex is how we deal with shit.” When he winked at her, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Once you two are done with whatever it is you’re doing…” Colton started. “We’re here. So it would be real swell if you could focus.”
Hunter snorted. “You’re such a jackass, you know that?”
“You can kiss my jackass anytime.”
“Boys.” Scarlet held up her arms. “Stop. You’re giving me motion sickness with your back and forth insults.”
“You hear that, soldier boy, you’re making her nauseas.”
Scarlet whipped her head in Hunter’s direction. “Keep going and we’ll see who manages to piss me off first.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, and then she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Fine,” he conceded, and then looked out the window. “Riggs, unless I’m missing something, this doesn’t look like no restaurant.”
Colton peered at him. “Did you seriously think we’d take her in through the front entrance?”
“Apparently not.” Hunter looked out the back window, and this time his knee was jerking up and down. The fact that Hunter was this nervous did not sit well with Scarlet—at all.
Colton touched his earpiece like he was listening. “We’re exiting in three…two…one…” And then he was out of the car, holding his hand out to Scarlet. When Scarlet stepped out of the vehicle, there were two more men standing on either side of the door, walking next to her with Hunter at the back. It was like they were boxing her in, trying their best to keep her out of sight. There wasn’t even time for her to pay any attention to the panic taking residence in the pit of her stomach.
It took them all of three seconds to enter the building and close the door behind them. The other two guys stayed outside to stand guard, leaving just the three of them staring down a long, dark corridor.
Hunter moved in next to her, standing as close to her as possible. “You know the way, Riggs?”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I know the way. The kitchen entrance is just around that corner.”
Hunter paused and stared at him for a second. “You sure about that?”
“Shut up and follow me.”
Riggs started down the corridor, and when Scarlet wanted to follow him, Hunter pulled her back. “Stay close, Scar. I’m serious.”
“Hunter, what’s going on? Why are you acting this way?” she whispered.
“You smell that?”
She inhaled. “I don’t smell anything.”
“Exactly. Now don’t you think if there was a kitchen just around the corner, we’d be smelling food right now?”
Scarlet stiffened. Hunter was right. “What’s going on, Ace?”
“I don’t know.” He gave a step backward and tried to open the door they just came through. But it was locked…from the outside.
“Fuck!”
“Ace? What’s happening?”
“I can answer that.” Scarlet jerked around. Colton was standing a few feet away from her…with a gun…aimed at them.
“Colton? What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, Scarlet. I had no choice.”
“No choice with what?” She stepped closer and Hunter grabbed her arm. But he was too late. Colton had already grabbed her and jerked her against him.
“What the fuck are you doing, Riggs?”
Colton aimed the gun at Hunter, and Scarlet’s blood chilled inside her veins. “Colton, no!”
“Don’t worry, Scarlet. I’m not going kill lover-boy here. At least not yet.” He tightened the grip of his arm around her neck and shoulders.
Hunter tried to reach for the gun tucked against his side, but Colton turned the gun and aimed it at Scarlet’s head.
“I won’t do that if I were you. I’d hate to put
a bullet through this pretty little head of hers.”
Hunter’s jaw tensed. “I swear to God, Riggs. If you so much as hurt a damn hair on her head, I will kill you…slowly.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” Colton moved forward and jerked the gun from Hunter’s side and placed it at his back. “So, we really need to move, and I’d appreciate it if you would give your full cooperation. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Really.”
Hunter made no attempt to move, and Colton pushed the gun harder against Scarlet’s temple.
“Okay!” Hunter gave a hesitant step forward. “Just don’t you fucking hurt her.”
“Awesome. Now you walk up front where I can see you.”
Hunter slowly stepped around them and looked at Scarlet, as if trying to tell her to stay calm. But how the fuck was she supposed to do that? Colton was pushing a gun against her head and she had no idea what the hell was happening.
“What are you doing, Colton?” Scarlet took one hesitant step in front of the other, Colton’s arm still tightly draped around her chest.
“I’m doing what I have to do. Now shut up.”
Hunter glanced over his shoulder. “I knew there was something about you, soldier boy. I knew there was a reason I didn’t fucking trust you.”
“Well, congratulations. You got me all figured out.”
“Now I just need to figure out why you decided to make the biggest mistake of your life by screwing us over.”
“Oh, trust me, I made the biggest mistake of my life years ago.”
Scarlet swallowed hard, knowing he was referring to Hope.
To say that her head was spinning would be the understatement of the fucking century. She did not see this coming—not at all. Not from Colton. After all the personal shit he’d shared with her, why would he be doing this?
“Colton—”
“Keep quiet, Scarlet.”
Hunter cleared his throat. “So where am I going here, Riggs?”
“What, no soldier boy this time? Is it the gun I have aimed at your girlfriend’s head? Did it change things between us, Ace?”
Hunter shrugged. “I’d say fuck you, but since you do have a gun aimed at my girlfriend’s head, I’ll just repeat that little phrase over and over inside my head.”
Through everything that was currently going down, the woman inside Scarlet couldn’t help but pick up Hunter’s use of the word girlfriend. Did he really see her as his girlfriend, or was he just playing along with Colton?
So not the time right now, Scarlet.
“Turn left and head up the stairs,” Colton ordered.
Hunter did as he was told. “Is Brent paying you, Riggs? Are you on his payroll?”
“Shut up and walk.”
If Colton was helping Brent, that meant she was on her way to meet her fucking doom. Brent would finally get what he wanted…her.
Tears stung Scarlet’s eyes, the mere thought of going back to him twisting her insides, making her stomach churn. “Colton, please. Don’t do this.”
He leaned his face closer to her ear. “Stay calm, Scarlet. This is the only way.”
The only for what? What the hell was going on?
“You can stop here,” he ordered Hunter, and they stopped in front of a door. “Open it.”
Hunter hesitated, and Colton pushed the gun against her cheek. “I said open it.”
Hunter looked at Scarlet, and she saw it right away. The look of worry, concern—the look of a man pushed into a corner with no way of getting out. It scared her, realizing that there was no escaping this time, no running. Her fate had finally brought her to this moment, and after years of fighting and fleeing, there was nothing she could do to change it now.
Green eyes dark with regret stared at her, Hunter’s face clouded with apology. And she knew, she knew this was another one of those things he would blame himself for. Another morbid, self-tortured tattoo to mark his body with as a reminder of yet another person he couldn’t save.
All she could do was nod, trying to tell him that it was okay, that she didn’t blame him. He looked away and down toward where his hand touched the doorknob.
Scarlet knew what—or who—was waiting behind that door. She could feel it in her bones, the fear vibrating through to every corner of her body. This was it. This was the moment she had been dreading ever since she ran away. The moment she feared every minute of every day. This was the moment her worst nightmare came true.
Hunter opened the door and Scarlet closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see. She didn’t want to look at what she knew was in there waiting for her. But then she heard that voice. “Hello, Little Red.”
Her heart stopped, and all she heard was the deafening crack of her soul breaking into nothing but splinters of fear.
God, that voice. That voice was enough to break her completely.
“You feel that, Little Red? You feel me moving inside you? That’s me fucking owning you.”
“You will never be more than my little slut.”
“Your sweet little cunt will always belong to me.”
Scarlet shook her head violently, still not opening her eyes. She wanted his voice gone, she wanted the memories gone. It was like a fucking disease infecting every part of her all over again. She could feel it moving through her veins, corrupting every molecule of her being. It was destroying her all over again.
“Open your eyes, Little Red.”
As tears silently slipped down her cheeks, she opened her eyes. But she didn’t look in the direction the voice came from, she looked at Hunter. She needed to find a focus point, something she could use to hold on to the little strength she had left.
The second her gaze met Hunter’s, her heart cracked wide open. His eyes were filled with the same amount of fear she was feeling. His face contorted with pain…but it wasn’t physical pain. It was her pain. Hunter was feeling her pain.
“If anyone can do this, Scar, you can.”
She could hear his voice clearly replaying inside her mind. There was no other choice. This shit was going down whether she wanted to or not. She only had one option…and that was to fight.
Chapter 15
Brent was every ounce the ugly fucker Hunter had imagined. With his pale skin and long white-blond hair, he looked like a fucking white rat. And that chick from Game of Thrones. Or was it that evil dude in one of the fuck loads of Harry Potter movies?
But it was something about his eyes that didn’t seem right. They were this hazel-brown color that just didn’t fit in with the rest of his features. It was definitely obvious he was adopted. There was no way this freaky-looking, ugly-ass motherfucker was related to Scarlet.
When Hunter glanced at Scarlet, he could see her body shaking. If it wasn’t for Colton holding her around the shoulders, she would have collapsed to the floor.
Hunter had to get her out of there. He had to protect her and get her the fuck away from this sick son of a bitch before it was too late. But the motherfuckers had them blocked in. Plus, Colton had taken Hunter’s gun. Unfortunately for soldier boy, Hunter had something else stashed away.
Colton moved Scarlet closer to the white rat motherfucker, and she paled instantly. “Brent,” she whispered, and it sounded like she used her last breath to say his name. The fear in her voice vibrated all the way through to Hunter’s goddamn chest. It was like he could feel her pain, her fear penetrating his soul one sharp knife after the other.
A conceited smile spread across Brent’s evil face before he held out his arms toward Scarlet like he was ready to welcome his long-lost sheep home.
“Did you miss me, Little Red?”
Oh, hell no!
“Don’t you dare fucking talk to her, you son of a bitch!” Hunter didn’t think. He just acted when he pulled the knife from his boot and lunged forward. He could already see himself slicing the son of a bitch from limb to limb until there was nothing left but pieces of rotting flesh.
Unfortunately, he was so blinded by rage he didn’t see the guy who came
out of fucking nowhere, jumping in front of him and punching him right in the gut. Even though it felt like his insides had exploded, he fought back, swinging his fists with every ounce of strength he had.
Two arms wrapped around his waist and Hunter got tackled to the ground, the knife flinging from his grip and skidding along the floor. Fists smashed into his ribs and back, feet kicking him in the stomach. The pain was excruciating, but his will to save Scarlet was stronger.
Suddenly, he got jerked up by two guys, each holding one of his arms.
Brent glanced from Hunter to Scarlet. “I see you told him about me. That’s good. Now everyone here knows who you really belong to.”
“She does not belong to you, you sick motherfucker!” Hunter struggled against the hold the two guys had on his arms, but it was no use, they had him locked in place.
With slow, intimidating steps Brent walked closer to Scarlet, and all Hunter could think about was stopping him. Again he tried to break free, but his arms got twisted upward, his shoulders feeling like they were being torn off his body. Then Hunter felt the cold blade of his own knife pressing into the skin of his throat, the sharp threat stilling him, forcing him to watch as Brent approached Scarlet like a slithering snake.
“Do you have any idea how I’ve searched for you, Little Red? I have used every resource at my disposal to find you.” Brent glanced at Colton. “But apparently, you’ve had some help over the years.” And then his snake eyes settled on her again. “But alas, here we are. Back together, thanks to our mutual friend here.”
Hunter knew it. He fucking knew it. Every instinct inside him had warned him about this Colton Riggs fucker. There was just something about him that rubbed Hunter the wrong way. A certain kind of determination mixed with a kind of melancholy that could only be a recipe for disaster—and apparently, betrayal.
The second Brent stopped in front of Scarlet, she took everyone by surprise—including Hunter—by spitting right in Brent’s face. On the inside, Hunter was pulling out the pom-poms and cheering her on. But he knew a guy like Brent wouldn’t let an act of disrespect like that just slide without punishment.