by E M Courier
Alexander rubs at his face harshly. There are two parts of him screaming. One says he should go in and tell her everything is okay, and the other tells him to shut off his phone, leave her alone, and go torture Gavin.
Taking another glimpse at Scarlett he makes his decision.
Scarlett doesn’t move she when he enters the bathroom. Either she doesn’t know he’s there, or she’s ignoring him. He strips his clothes off and steps into the shower, he’s surprised by how scorching the water is. Turning the knobs, he makes the water cooler before bending down and picking her up. Her eyes are red from crying and she refuses to look directly at him, but she doesn’t fight his grip.
Alexander holds her body close to his keeping her upright. They stay under the warm spray of water, saying nothing to each other for a long while. Grabbing the shampoo bottle he pours some into his hand and starts massaging her scalp. Her sobbing seems to die down after he washes her completely. With drooping eyes he knows that she’s exhausted herself. Her slick body is pressed against his, his hands at her waist and he arms wrapped around his neck. He starts to rock side to side until Scarlett’s body loses its tension and begins to slump in his grip.
She’s fallen asleep.
Carrying her out of the shower he sets her down on a bench, grabs a towel and dries her off. Gently rubbing the tower over her wet skin he nearly loses his breath. She’s breathtaking, her skin creamy and soft. Her legs smooth and hairless. He tries not to linger too long, this isn’t for him. It’s for her.
Alexander gently lays her down in bed pulling the blanket over her naked body. She’s on her side facing him, her long dark lashes resting against her cheek. She’s beautiful. He brushes her hair out of her face, she looks so relaxed and unworried. He bends down with the urge to kiss her forehead, he stops. Shaking his head he pulls away with plans on exiting and heading back to his own bedroom, but Scarlett’s small voice stops him.
“Stay,” she pleads.
He knows he shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t.
Mesmerizing wide blue eyes compel him to crawl into bed next to her. He spoons her from behind wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her strawberry scented hair.
“Alexander?” The sounds of his name startles him. She sounds so innocent and scared. When he doesn’t respond she looks over her shoulder at him. “Can you promise me something?”
He closes his eyes sighing, thinking the worst of what she could ask him.
“Please don’t kill my father. I know you want to and I know he’s horrible...but please don’t kill him.”
“Scarlett,” he sits up and rubs at his forehead. Suddenly he has a headache.
“Please, Alexander,” she becomes hysterical. “You can’t!”
Alexander swears his eye twitches right before he loses it. “You don’t tell me what to do,” he crawls out of bed sporting his own nakedness. “Did you forget you’re my prisoner? My pet? I’ll do whatever I damn well please to you and to the man who murdered my little sister. If you order me around or tell me what I can or can’t do, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
She starts to cry even harder than she was earlier. He clenched his fists and storms out. Who has he become? This wasn’t part of his plan—part of his revenge. He wasn’t supposed to develop feelings for Scarlett. Nothing is supposed to prevent him from his end goal; murder Gavin.
Storming out of her room and down the hall to his, he throws on some clothes and grabs his phone. Dialing his brother’s number he waits two rings before he picks up.
“Alex, what a wonderful surprise.”
“Tomorrow morning you better be here,” he says to Atticus.
“I will.”
“Eight o’clock and if you’re late you’re done.”
“What bit your ass and made you so cranky?”
“Eight o’clock,” he repeats.
“You slept with her,” he pauses, “Didn’t you?”
Alexander grinds his teeth so hard his jaw hurts. “It’s none of your business. I’ll text you the address. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
“You do it boss. Eight o’clock.” They hang up.
After Alexander’s had some time to calm down and a few glasses of bourbon, he instructs Rosie to strip Scarlett’s sheets and give her new ones. He advises her not to talk to her. He didn’t need Scarlett bothering and begging his maid.
When Rosie exits holding the dirty white sheets, he takes them from her and gives her the rest of the night off. Searching for what he’s hoping to find—he finds it. A tiny blood stain mixed with his semen.
Rage ravaging through him, he’s all too quick to storm into the basement. Gavin looks near death. But not close enough to death to actually be dead. Alexander hired a close acquaintance to feed him the minimum amount of food and water, hose down the piss and shit mess he makes, and to care for wounds so they don’t get infected.
Gavin looks like he was just woken up from a nap. His eyes fluttering open and trying to stay open, trying to adjust to the overhead light. Alexander throws the sheets in his face. Although Gavin can’t grab them and actually see the evidence of his daughters virginity, it’s there. Alexander finds it the spot and shows him it, shoving it in his face.
“What is that?” He asks warily. He knows what it is.
“This?” Alexander looks down at the sheet, a wicked smirk plastered on his face. “This is payment for the crime you committed.”
“No,” he looks horrified.
“Your daughter was a very sweet virgin,” Alexander circles Gavin. “You should have seen how she begged,” he whispers close to his ear.
Gavin let's out a piercing scream. Music to Alexander’s ears.
“You fucker! You’ll pay! I’ll kill you like I killed that bitch of a sister of yours! I’m glad I fucking killed her! I’m glad it destroyed you, you—” Before Gavin can continue his tantrum Alexander closes his hand around his throat.
“One more word out of you and I’ll bring you Scarlett’s dead body, understand?”
Gavin chokes and gargles.
“Understand?” Alexander shouts.
“Yes,” he manages to cough out.
“Good. I’ll be back in the morning,” he turns out the light, the only light that is coming in is from the doorway. As Alexander stands in the threshold he smiles as he says, “I have a friend who wants to meet you.” Slamming the door shut the only sounds to be heard is Gavin’s screaming and cursing.
Alexander feels a sense of accomplishment. Relief that he is suffering so horribly. Comfort in knowing that Gavin is torturing himself with thoughts of his daughter being taken by Alexander. There’s a calmness swirling throughout his body, an ease he has not felt in a long time. Consolation that Ellie is receiving justice for her life being cut too short.
***
Scarlett feels dirty.
No amount of showers can make her skin stop crawling. How could she allow herself to be brainwashed by that monster? She thought Alexander had changed, she wanted to believe that he had a change of heart. Her life has been chaos these past couple of weeks and she foolishly turned to her captor for solace. She thought Alexander could give her sympathy and comfort.
She was wrong.
He did what he had always planned to do. Take advantage of her. He wants to make her father suffer and the only way to make a cruel man suffer is by finding what he loves most and have him watch it crumble to nothing. Alexander is making Scarlett crumble.
She once felt a sense of protection in Alexander’s arms. As if she could see right through his charade. It was a good facade he put on. He made her say that she was his, he made her give up a piece of her soul. He crushed her into little pieces and left her with a belly full of regret and guilt, a fractured mind, and a face streaked with tears.
She will never forgive him.
There has to be a way out of this mansion.
Standing up too quickly from her bed, a migraine strikes like a knife stabbing into her temple.
A reminder of the long-term symptom from her damaged brain. The damaged brain her father caused.
Scarlett whimpers in frustration clutching her throbbing head. Her heart is split, revisiting the debacle of whether her father deserves to be punished or whether her father deserves mercy.
He loves Scarlett and she loves him.
But he’s a monster.
Even monsters can be loved.
Alexander is proof of that. Scarlett’s heart aches with the thought of how much she cared for him and seemingly loved him. How much she still cares for him.
How could she love a man so quickly?
Damn defective brain.
She clutched her chest feeling an empty-sort of agnony. Longing for the man who destroyed her. Feeling self-destructive as a part of her wants to fight for him. Fight for the man he could be, fight to get a damaged man help. Be the one to help him.
There’s no saving him, she thinks.
But everyone is worth trying to save.
***
CHAPTER TWELVE
Atticus has been at Alexander’s mansion every day for the past week and a half. They’ve been so busy with their plans to torture Gavin, that Atticus has been spending night after night. His little brother brought a bag of clothes and essentials and Alexander put him up in one of the spare rooms.
With Atticus sleeping over, its given them more time to plan and more time to ruin Gavin. When Atticus first started coming to the mansion, there was a lot of valuable time wasted from the drive. The drive from the city to the Hampton’s a couple of hours depending on traffic. Alexander wasn’t sure having his brother help him in his quest for revenge was the best idea, but Atticus has proven himself to be a vicious man to mess with. Coming up with some insane ideas to make Gavin pay. The murderer shitting his pants every time he sees the crazy look embedded in Atticus’ eyes or what bizarre instrument of torture was being used for the day.
Leaving Atticus downstairs alone with Gavin to head upstairs to the kitchen for a drink, Alexander thinks of Scarlett. He only sees Scarlett when relevant, usually during meals. She’s quiet, like a light inside her doused and the fight in her no longer there. She looks haunted, hollow eyes, routine movements, she doesn’t look at him or talks to him. He almost misses the sound of her voice. The blush of her cheeks. Her small smile…
He has been busy with his little brother, torturing Gavin in ways Alexander never would’ve thought of. He had to admit he was surprised when Atticus said he did his research, but it intrigued him to learn of new ways to make him suffer physically as well as emotionally.
Some days he’ll miss a meal or two and he won’t see Scarlett until the next morning—if he doesn’t miss breakfast. Still, she doesn’t say anything or comment on his absence. Alexander on a way is glad of the distance between them, it’ll make things less complicated for when they one day part. But another part of him is aching to apologize and grovel at her feet. A piece of him wants to beg her for any sort of human reaction, a smile, a gleam in her eyes, a skip in her step. He’ll take anything but the ghost-like movements and plain emotionless expression she wears.
Alexander has to remind himself that there is no future between the two of them. Not if he wants to achieve what he’s planned for the last sixteen years.
Walking down the steps of the basement, he enters the room he keeps Gavin in. Atticus is standing over him panting from exertion. His shirt is off, sweat dripping down the skin of his pectorals and abs. Gavin is heaving and coughing of blood. His body mangled with various cuts and bruises. Alexander hands his brother a glass of water. He quickly drinks it all so he can go back to torturing their prisoner.
The room is humid and the stench is unbelievable. The odor of piss fighting with the foul stink of blood. Gavin looks pathetic slumped in his chair, at first he was screaming for them to stop, then it turned into whimpering, and now it’s just low moaning as her veers in and out of consciousness. They’ll have to take a break soon once he passes out. There’s only so much the body can endure for five hours and they tried their best to keep him awake so he can feel every ounce of pain they give him. Gavin is close to the threshold of how much he can take.
Alexander finds that he likes watching more than participating. He sits back, leaning against a table as he drinks the glass he brought down for himself—bourbon. The alcohol numbs the twinge of guilt he feels in the pit of his stomach. Smiling at the sight of Ellie’s murderer, Gavin look like a pretty managed picture. Alexander takes snapshots in his mind so he’ll never forget just how much he’s suffering, just how much he is paying for the crime he committed against the Novak family.
One last drop of blood leaves Gavin slumped in his chair. Atticus sits on the table next to Alexander, his knuckles bruised and bloody.
His little brother is laughing, “I haven’t felt this good in a long time.”
“I’m glad this is a stress reliever for you,” Alexander raises his glass to his lips.
“What about you? You didn’t join in today,” Atticus scrunches his face in worry. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh I know what it is,” Atticus smiles and Alexander is two seconds away from wiping the cocky smirk off his face. “Your dick still hasn’t got wet, huh? How long has it been…” he pretends to ponder but he knows just how long it’s been for Alexander.
“It’s none of your fucking business.”
“It is when you’re so grouchy. Why don’t you two just kiss and make up. Who cares if it’s Stockholm Syndrome, at least you’ll get some.”
“It’s not about that,” Alexander says through gritted teeth. “This isn’t even the point. Scarlett doesn’t matter—Gavin does. And once Gavin is dead Scarlett will be gone and we can return back to normal.”
“Back to normal?” Atticus raises an eyebrow.
“What?”
“When Ellie died you fell apart. The only motivation you had was driven by the need for revenge.”
“So?”
“So...what happens when your life is no longer ruled by revenge? What’s going to be your new purpose?”
Alexander hadn’t thought of it like that. “My new purpose.”
“Are you going to revert to that state you were in when Ellie died? That empty shell of a person? You need something to motivate you. Give you purpose.”
“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting Scarlett will be that purpose,” he looks at his little brother annoyed.
“It could be,” he shrugs. “I don’t think being CEO at Novak is enough for you. I don’t think it’ll give you a reason to wake up everyday.” He pats Alexander on the back, “It’s something to think about.”
“Are you ready to wake the fucker up?” Alexander jerks his chin to Gavin.
Atticus grabs the bucket in the corner of the room and heads down the hall to an old sink, where he fills the bucket with cold water. When he comes back in the room, pal full of chilled water, he shucks it at their prisoner.
Gavin doesn’t stir.
Atticus and Alexander give each other strange looks, their brows pressed together in confusion. Atticus slaps Gavin across the face trying to rouse him awake. Still, he doesn’t move.
Alexander places his index and middle finger over the pulse point on Gavin’s neck. Nothing. Frantically he moves his fingers around thinking he must be checking in the wrong spot.
Nothing.
Hand over his heart, finger underneath his nose to check for air coming out of his nostrils.
Nothing.
“Fuck!” Alexander yells. “You killed him.”
Atticus sighs. “Well it was fun while it lasted.”
“And it was supposed to last longer!” He growls. “You idiot!”
“Hey!” His little brother throws his hands up in surrender. “This was our end goal anyways.”
“Yeah, after we’ve completely had our fill and left him begging for death,” Alexander starts pacing. “God dammit Atticus!”
“Well...while y
ou calm down, I’m going to go upstairs and get something to eat. I’m starved.”
Alexander can hear Atticus’ feet stomping up the stairs, leaving him to clean up his mess. Leaving him with the dead body. Fuck. He didn’t think Atticus was going too intense, everything was fine. He kept his eye on Atticus—his little brother notorious for trouble—only taking his eyes off him to fetch a glass of water upstairs.
He’ll have to talk to Atticus later. He somehow doesn’t believe this was as much an accident as Atticus is making it out to be. Atticus has been anxious to kill Gavin the second he called Alexander and said he wanted to help in making the murderer suffer.
Alexander will have to make a few calls. He knows people who can take care of the body. The body is the least of his problems—his focus shifts to the girl upstairs unaware that the only family she had is gone. How can he tell Scarlett? She’s already so frail and broken and telling her right now doesn’t sit right with him. She wanted him to promise he wouldn’t Gavin. He almost made that promise wanting to please her. Either way she put trust in Alexander and he has constantly let her down.
When Scarlett finds out she’s going to be distraught. She’ll hate his guts—tell him to go to hell. Punch him, slap him, scream at him. Or worse...she’ll do nothing. He can imagine it perfectly and heartbreakingly; she’ll stand in silence actively avoid his stare. She won’t say a word to him, but she’ll walk out the front door. She’ll leave forever and Alexander will let her. They’ll never see each other again. But he’ll think of her frequently, just like she’ll think of him—in her nightmares.
A headache now forming, Alexander decides he’ll deal with the corpse later. Right now he has some phone calls to make. Upstairs his brother is sitting at the table in his kitchen and eating a cherry pie one of the cooks baked a couple of days ago. His little brother looks all too happy despite their plans ruined.
“Gavin is dead, let’s celebrate!” Atticus stands throwing his arms in the air happily.