by Bella J.
For years she mind-fucked herself into not feeling anything. If she couldn’t feel, she would never experience pain again. That was why she was so fucking scared of Hunter, because he was breaking down those walls. One by one, Hunter was cracking every brick she had laid in a bid to protect herself, to make sure no one ever broke the little bit of humanity she had left inside her. Hunter was making her feel again, which scared the shit out of her. So she fought it, she fought him, while she struggled to stay strong, to not feel.
Yet all her strength, all the hardened layers of I don’t give a fuck were about to get cracked wide open in a matter of minutes by the psycho who turned her into the living corpse she was today. All those years of hiding, running, and trying to survive was all for nothing. Scarlet could have spared herself years of torment if she had just given up a long time ago, if she had just stayed and made peace with the fact that she would be in hell with this man until her last breath.
While she hung chained to the ceiling, feeling Brent’s vile touch on her skin, all she thought about was feeling Hunter’s arms around her, being with him again…loving him.
“Fight, Scar. Don’t you dare stop fighting.”
“Scarlet, do not let him get to you. Whatever you do, don’t stop fighting him.”
Scarlet could hear Hunter’s voice like he was standing right next to her, urging her not to give up, not to give this fucker what he wanted—her fear. It would be so damn easy to just give up, to crumple up into a little ball of pity and let the devil consume her whole. To fight would mean to stay strong, no matter what, to not let this fucker win.
She opened her eyes, removed her teeth from her lower lip, and took a deep breath, allowing the air to push her panic out of her chest.
And then she bit out, “Fuck. You.”
Brent stiffened behind her before slowly winding her hair around his fist tighter, and tighter. “You’re definitely not the Little Red I remember, are you?”
“The Little Red you remember died years ago. You killed her. Do you remember that? You remember the day you pushed her against that wall over there—” Scarlet nodded toward the wall in front of them “—and punched the wind out of her so that she didn’t have the strength to scream or fight back? When you pulled her by her hair, dragging her to that table in the corner, pushing her dress up and tearing her panties to shreds before you ripped her soul out of her?” Scarlet took a breath as the memories started to bombard her mind, threatening her resolve to fight. “Do you remember that, cousin?”
Brent abruptly let her go, sending her body swinging. The metal of the chains had already started to slice through her wrists, but she would have gladly broken both her hands if she thought it would help her escape.
Scarlet wanted to throw up so badly it felt like her stomach was lodged in her chest, the acid burning up her throat.
While he slowly walked away from her, Scarlet watched his every move. He was bigger than he was back then, and his hair used to be neatly cut—like a Marine. But today, with his long blond hair and the suit he was wearing, it was like he was someone entirely different. It was like she could see the evil radiate from him, something she wished she had been able to see back then. But she had loved her cousin all those years ago, she adored him…until he showed her what he was truly made of.
He stopped in front of the table in the corner—the table her cheek had been pressed against so many times—and slowly started to drag his fingers along the wooden top. There was this faraway, dreamy expression on his face, like he was reliving a good memory—for him.
“Oh, I remember.” He walked up and down in front of the table, never lifting his finger from the wood. “I remember every second. I remember what it felt like seeing you naked and exposed in front of me for the first time. I remember every sound, every whimper you made while I touched and admired your body.” He stopped and turned to her, his eyes nothing but pits of complete blackness.
With small, slow strides he started toward her, slanting his head to the side. “I remember thinking that I’d never wanted anything as badly as I wanted you. The way you used to flip your hair, exposing that beautiful silky skin of your neck, making me wish I could taste it. And your sweet scent that would fill the air whenever you walked into a room—God, it was intoxicating.” He smiled. “I remember wanting to know if your pussy smelled and tasted just as sweet.”
Scarlet cringed as she listened to his every word coated with pure fucking evil.
He pulled his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. “God, Little Red. You used to drive me crazy—the way you teased and taunted me with those short little dresses you wore, showing off those long, curvy legs, making me wonder what was hidden between them. I remember how your tits were permanently shoved in my face with all the low-cut shirts and dresses you wore. I would lie awake in bed at night wondering what your warm breath would feel like skidding over the skin of my neck while I had you beneath me—what you felt like from the inside. It drove me insane. You drove me insane.”
“You’re a sick, twisted son of a bitch, Brent.”
“Am I? Am I really? You wanted it, Little Red, just as much as I did.”
“Fuck you.”
“Deep down, you know you teased me on purpose. You know you made me want you. So if I’m a sick, twisted son of a bitch, it’s because of you.”
Scarlet swallowed hard while Brent continued to paint a very clear picture of how he convinced himself that she had seduced him. It was all so fucking wrong.
She shook her head, thinking back, knowing she never once thought he would look at her in that way. Not once. Even though he was adopted, she saw him as family, a brother…not as a man who would have a sexual interest in her.
Brent stopped in front of her, his face inches from hers. She had to fight the urge to close her eyes and cower. She had to force herself to ignore the fear and the panic, and to show him that she was no longer the weak young girl he had raped multiple times.
He took her chin in his hand and forced her head to the side as he leaned closer to her ear, dragging his slimy, wet tongue up her neck before he whispered, “But the one thing I remember the most, Little Red, was how you felt when I ripped your soul out of you, again…and again…and again. How fucking euphoric it felt to be inside you, to make you mine.”
No.
“Fuck you, you son of a bitch!” Scarlet screamed.
She screamed so fucking loud, her panic morphed into blinding rage. Hearing the pleasure that coated his every word sent a wave of fury crashing through her very being and she started to violently thrash, swinging from the chains while she screamed like a mad person, wanting to get loose so that she could tear his fucking skin off. All she could think about was making him pay in the worst possible way.
Brent stepped back and watched with an amused grin on his ugly, pale face as she fought helplessly against the chains. It was clear as day he was enjoying every damn second of it all. He enjoyed tormenting her just like he always had.
There was a slow, faint trickle that moved down her arms as her wrist started to bleed from the metal slicing through her skin. But she felt no pain. All she felt was blinding rage, and nothing else.
“Why don’t you just fucking kill me already?”
“Kill you? Why would I kill you, Little Red?”
Scarlet stopped thrashing. “Don’t act like that hasn’t been your plan all along. You want me dead so you can finally get full control of Grandmother’s money.”
Brent frowned. “Is that what you think? Do you think I want to kill you just to get my hands on your inheritance?”
“Isn’t it?”
He lifted a brow. “Of course not. I have power of attorney over the estate.”
“Which means all your expenses are being watched.”
“True.” He started pacing, his arms behind his back. “But according to the trust, I’m using the money for investments. Investments they think are legit. Believe me, Little Red, I’m making more than enou
gh money from those investments alone, money the trust has no idea about.”
Scarlet kept staring at him, feeling completely overwhelmed and confused. “Then why?”
Brent studied her with his hazel-colored eyes before he started to laugh—a loud, cackling, evil sounding laugh that not even the devil could mimic.
“Oh, my dear, dear Little Red. All these years you thought I wanted you dead? I can assure you, you couldn’t have been more wrong.”
He moved toward her like a predator, his intentions plastered all over his face. He wanted to tear her apart and devour her inch by fucking inch.
Scarlet swallowed hard. “You really are a sick, demented, vile son of a bitch, aren’t you?”
Brent smiled. “I have to admit, I love the new, feisty you. It’s only going to make this so much more fun.” He clapped his hands together while he continued watching her. “I am going to have so much fun breaking you again, Little Red.”
Scarlet stilled and narrowed her eyes at him.
Brent continued to smile. “Only, this time I will make sure I break you completely. Once I’m done with you, not even your PI friend will be able to help you. And after what he’s done, he deserved his fate.”
“What do you mean he deserved his fate? What fate?”
Brent started to slowly pace again. “You see, Little Red, I know you let him fuck you, so, in other words, he touched what is mine. He took what is mine.” His gaze shot up to hers and Scarlet’s body went ice cold when she saw the horrid tableau in his eyes.
“He tried to take you away from me, and now he’s dead because of it.”
Scarlet stopped breathing. There was no longer a heart beating inside of her chest. It was just one giant block of ice lodged behind her ribs.
No, no, no, no…
“You didn’t.”
“Oh, I didn’t, no. But my new friend, Mr. Colton Riggs, did. You see, your boyfriend is dead because you thought he could erase me from your soul. He’s dead because of you.”
Oh my God. No.
More tears streamed down her face, and Scarlet let out another scream as the pain sliced through her heart. She could feel it bleed inside her chest, spreading the pain to every corner of her body, the disease of agony infecting her inch by inch.
“God!” she yelled. “No!” Scarlet couldn’t breathe as the worst pain she had ever felt took ahold of her. She cried while her gut felt like it had been turned inside out, her ribs squeezing every last ounce of breath out of her lungs.
“Oh, don’t worry, Little Red.” Brent placed his hand on her cheek. “I will make sure that I wipe away every trace of him from your mind, your heart…your pussy. You won’t even remember his goddamn name once I’m done with you.”
The threat hung thick in the air, his words holding promises of unrelenting torture, but Scarlet was already dead, rotting from the inside. Every little bit of humanity she had left was now nothing more than decaying pieces of black, darkness filling her to the brim. Hunter was dead…and so was she.
After minutes of crying, screaming, and then crying some more, Scarlet finally managed to bite out the words, “What can you possibly do to me that you haven’t already done?”
His evil smile reached his wicked eyes. “Something I’ve wanted to do for the last seven years. Something I’ve dreamt about doing every night we were apart.” Brent stepped closer, and Scarlet tried to move her body back, but failed.
He placed a finger on the side of her face, and the touch sent violent shudders down her spine. With his eyes glued on hers, he slowly dragged his finger down the side of her face, her neck, down her chest, circling her nipple, and bit into his lower lip. He looked down at where he touched her and dragged his finger to her belly.
“I’m going to plant my seed inside you, Little Red.” His eyes shot up to hers. “I’m going to breed you.”
Chapter 17
“Hunter, wake up. Wake up, man.”
Slowly, painfully Hunter started to wake. His body ached, his head pounded, and his fucking chest felt like it had been split in two.
“Hunter, you need to wake the fuck up.”
Someone jerked him by the shoulder, and he groaned. With a fuck load of effort, Hunter managed to open his eyes. James was crouching down next to him. “You okay?”
“What happened?” Hunter tried to push himself off the ground, but his arms started to shake.
“Take it easy. Here, let me help.” James grabbed his shoulders and helped him sit up with his back against the wall. Hunter pulled his hands down his face, his skull feeling like it was on fucking fire.
“What the hell happened?” Hunter looked up at James, and the men standing behind him. That’s when it all came rushing back, crashing through his mind like a fucking wrecking ball.
“That son of a bitch. We have to find her. We have to find Scarlet.” He struggled to get up, his legs feeling too damn weak. “James, he took her. The motherfucker took her! Riggs—the bastard—he’s a snitch.”
“I know, Hunter.” James helped steady him when Hunter finally managed to get on his feet.
“Then why the fuck are you here and not out there looking for her?”
James looked over his shoulder at the other men before leaning closer to Hunter. “We know where she is.”
“What?” Clearly he wasn’t hearing right, because if James knew where she was, then why the fuck was he still here?
“The bug you placed under Scarlet’s collar worked. That’s how we knew where to find you, and we also know where they took her.”
Suddenly, all Hunter’s strength was back—and so was the urge to kill someone. He grabbed James by the collar and slammed his back into the wall. “Why the fuck are you not saving her, then?” Hunter yelled, spitting the question in James’s face.
“Because we can’t!”
“You can’t, or you won’t?”
“She’s my daughter, for fuck’s sake. Don’t you think I’d be out there already, going after her if I could?”
“After what went down here today, I don’t know what I think.” Hunter tightened his grip on James’s collar.
“Believe me, I want nothing more than to be able to get my little girl. But I can’t.”
Hunter leaned back slightly. “And why the fuck not?”
“Because Brent is no longer the biggest threat here.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that we have bigger problems right now than Brent Wolfe.”
Hunter let go of James’s collar and stepped back. “Talk.”
After straightening his jacket and moving away from the wall, James started to pace, and Hunter could see he was busy thinking about what to say.
“Out with it, Baxter.”
“I knew he was desperate. I knew he was starting to get impatient, but I told him to give it more time. He just needed to give it more fucking time. Fuck!” Baxter slammed his fist against the wall, and Hunter didn’t know if it was anger or disappointment that had driven him to do it. But Hunter couldn’t care less. He needed answers, and then he needed to find Scarlet.
“I’m going to ask this one more time. What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?”
James shook his arm, trying to get rid of the pain in his hand, before facing Hunter. “Colton, he has a sister.”
“And I have a fucking Chihuahua. What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”
“His sister was kidnapped years ago. After some investigating, Colton figured out she was sold on the black market.”
“I’m sorry, but right now I don’t give a shit about anyone else’s problems—especially his.” Hunter’s only concern was finding Scarlet.
“Just listen, okay? It’s been twelve years since she got kidnapped, and she’s the reason he decided to join us. In hopes of finding her, or at least a clue as to what happened to her.”
Now Hunter started pacing. “Is she even still alive?”
James nodded. “We think so, yes. Colton and I have been sea
rching for her for the last ten years, while trying to rescue the other girls. From the info we’ve managed to gather, she might still be alive.”
Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. “Please tell me what the fuck this has to do with anything.”
“I promised Colton that I would help him, and that we would use every resource at our disposal to figure out what happened to her. But he was getting impatient, anxious, even though he knew we were so damn close. I told him just to wait a little longer.”
Hunter lifted his gaze to the roof and shook his head. “What the hell does all this have to do with the fact that he basically handed Scarlet over to Brent on a silver fucking platter with a red bow tied around her neck?”
“Brent has a way in.”
“A way in where?”
James stared at Hunter with a somber expression on his face. “You heard them talk about Rex?”
Hunter closed his eyes while he tried to remember every last detail of what went down before Riggs knocked him out. But the fear on Scarlet’s face, her screams, and her pleading for him to help her was all that played over and over inside his head. It hurt. It fucking hurt so damn much it felt like someone had tied a ten-inch chain around his chest, tightening and tightening it until Hunter could no longer breathe right.
Hunter pulled his hand through his hair, rubbing vigorously. “My God, Baxter, just…how do we save her? Where is she?”
“Do you remember Brent mentioning Rex?”
“Yes!” Hunter blurted out. “What about him? What does Rex have to do with Brent taking Scarlet?”
“That’s the deal Colton made with Brent. Scarlet, for a way to get close to Rex. We’ve been trying for years to infiltrate Rex’s circle, but no matter how hard we tried, how much we invested in it, the man is untouchable.”
Hunter’s head was starting to hurt again. “So how the fuck can someone like Brent do what your entire organization failed to do in, like, what, twenty years?”
“Rex hasn’t always been in control. He took over a few years ago when his father died, and we believe Brent might have had a hand in that.”