4. Matthias
Chapter 4
Matthias
I watch from my car as Oliver checks Scarlet’s place exactly how I trained him while she waits patiently by the door. I’d hired him the day she decided to go to college. I despised the idea of her being out on her own where I couldn’t be nearby, but as a Lord in the Order of Saints, I couldn’t leave my responsibilities for more than the few days I went to watch her every other week.
Oliver works as my eyes and ears when I can’t be there myself and was the only reason I didn’t go insane the seven years she was gone.
Another light turns on in her place, illuminating it all the way to the back. It’s impossible to see her from where I’m parked across her street, but after a year of this, I know her habits. Drunk Scarlet will be leaning against the wall, head tipped back, unwilling to admit to herself she’s unbalanced, even in her ridiculously high shoes.
Tonight’s pair are a navy satin that looked sharp enough to kill. I’d picked them out specifically because they reminded me of knives, and I have no doubt my Little Sparrow would happily use one to defend herself.
I’ve been sending her things under the guise of designer freebies over the years. The fashion houses are more than happy to play along with my little secret, so long as I make it worth their while. Over the years, I’ve sent dresses perfectly tailored to her dimensions, shoes the rich would be jealous of, and purses worth more than cars. Dressing her has been one of the small indulgences I’ve allowed myself. Spoiling my girl even before she’s mine.
Seeing her wear something that I’ve picked out has become an addiction. I’ve spent hours meticulously choosing each item to perfectly suit her.
Each time, it makes me want to buy her more. To spend more time learning every little detail about Scarlet’s likes and dislikes until I know her better than she knows herself.
After years of being starved of her touch, I nearly came undone when she fell into my arms tonight. I shouldn’t have been there, but I can’t bring myself to regret it. Everything I’ve done since she’d been the reason we’d survived her family has been for her. I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, even at the cost of my own sanity.
She’d looked up at me with wide doe eyes, bottom lip caught between her teeth, when I wrapped my arm around her. If we’d been anywhere else, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from taking her mouth. Resisting her has become excruciating, but she’s not ready for me. Yet.
The way she reacted to my touch sent a thrill down my spine. She may not understand why I’ve stayed away, but her body wants me. I can work with that.
Seven more days until the agonizing ten years of waiting for her ends. I’m going to use every single one of them to warm her up to the idea.
Countless times over the years, I’ve wanted to say fuck it and break the distance between us, but I’ve always known once I get close to her, I won’t be able to let her go. She’d told Damon if a guy really wanted her, they’d wait. So that’s what I’ve been doing. That all ends the second the clock ticks twelve on her birthday. Then, she’s all mine.
Scarlet steps into view of the picture window that takes up the majority of the front of her brownstone. She’s struggling with the back of her dress, and my fingers itch to go in there and be the one to snap the clasps and slowly slide the zipper down, running my knuckles along her sensitive skin as they move along her spine.
I’m getting hard just thinking about it.
Oliver comes into view and blanches at something she says. He shakes his head no a few times, but she raises a brow, head tilted at him like he’s being ridiculous, and his shoulders visibly slump as he walks over to her.
He raises his hands to her upper back, and my entire body stiffens.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
I hit Dial on the console just as her top comes undone, the fabric opening several inches. Leather squeaks as my fingers grip the steering wheel to keep myself from crashing in there and ripping him away. I don’t give a shit that he works for me. He knows better than to touch her.
“Hello?” Oliver answers unsteadily.
“Get out here, now.” I can’t keep the growl out of my voice, and he visibly flinches in response.
The way he scrambles out of there would almost be comical if I wasn’t fighting back the urge to slowly cut off each of his fingers.
I’ve hunted down any men that are close to her. I was more than happy to fly across the country anytime Oliver informed me of her dates. I’d enjoyed pulling them into alleys and beating them within an inch of their life for daring to get too close, not letting them leave until they’ve sworn never to go near her again.
Is it fair to Scarlet? No. Do I care? Fuck no.
The passenger door clicks open, and a nervous-looking Oliver climbs inside. His face is turned toward the windshield, throat bobbing with his swallow. I don’t miss when he curls his hands into fists and protectively pushes them deep into his jacket pockets.
“You touched my girl,” I growl, low in my throat.
He flinches. “It’s not like I wanted to. I’d look like an asshole for turning down her request. She probably thinks I’m some kind of perv that can’t get close to women.”
“Why would that matter?”
That startles him, his gaze snapping to mine. “What?”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve been working for me since she was eighteen. She’ll understand soon enough why you can’t get close to her.”
A thrill rolls through me, knowing I’m so close to getting what I want. My eyes scan over Scarlet just as she lets the dress slip off her shoulders.
My cock hardens as I let my eyes skim down her supple body. Her long, lean muscles are defined from years of working out.
When Oliver told me she wanted to try kickboxing, I arranged for her to go to the best gym in town. They had additional lessons in self-defense, including how to use a knife. The trainer bitched about it being beneath him, but he shut up when I showed him what I’m willing to pay. Wasn’t long before he was sending texts talking about how well she’s doing. Of course she is. My girl’s a fighter.
Oliver’s eyes are trained on his lap, like he’s aware he’ll lose them if he so much as glances up. It’s nice that he knows me so well.
Scarlet disappears upstairs, and her guard’s already climbing out of my car. “She has an early appointment.”
I pull up her schedule on my phone and see it’s for waxing and lift one brow at him.
“Hey, now. I don’t book them. I just bring her.”
I don’t bother replying, and after all this time, he knows not to expect one. He disappears into his car, leaving the responsibility of watching my girl to me.
I’ve lost countless hours of sleep sitting here in my blacked-out Range Rover, but it’s been worth every second. I’ve learned she midnight bakes when something’s bothering her. That she prefers oversized T-shirts to pajamas. Luckily for her, she receives some for Christmas every year. I make sure to wear each one so they smell like me, and I’ve caught her lifting them to her nose more than once.
It’s been hours of me sitting here, long after her lights have gone dark, when my phone rings.
Answering, I say, “I expected you to be back in hiding with your wife.”
Damon grunts. “You’re so fucking jealous.”
He’s not wrong. I’d kill to hide away with Scarlet.
“What do you want?”
“Reminding you there’s an order meeting tonight and to check up on you. You looked like you were going to kill Scarlet’s fiancé earlier. I’m just checking if you need me to get a body bag.” There’s a teasing tone to my brother’s voice, but I know he means it.
“He’s still alive. For now.”
“Fuck…you sound so ominous.”
“Your wife looked happy tonight.” I switch to his favorite subject. He’s beenhead over heels for that girl since they met. He did some shady shit to get her, but I can relate. There’s not much I wouldn’t do to get to my Little Sparrow.
“Don’t try to distract me.” Damon’s sigh comes out clear through the speakers.
“Why? It’s working.”
“Tell me what’s up with you…I thought you wanted nothing to do with her, but you watch her like she’s the fucking air you breathe.” His voice turns low, edged with a deeper warning. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
I drop my head back to rest on the seat, knowing that explaining everything is long overdue. “I’ve always wanted her.”
“You could’ve fooled me. Tell me. What’s going on in that screwed-up head of yours so I can help you out.”
I know he means it. If I asked for his help, he’d do whatever it takes, even if it meant breaking a few moral rules.
I flick my lighter—open. Closed. Open. Closed—until Damon’s about to lose it, then ask, “Do you remember what she said to you the day she saved us from her family?”
“I remember you disappearing for a month and scaring the shit out of me.” He sounds pissed but waits for my response.
“I didn’t leave right away. I’d planned on cornering her when she was alone. I needed to own just how badly I’d messed up. I needed her to know that I’m so sorry.”
It would take more than just an apology to get her back, but fuck, I was desperate for her. I still am.
I was willing to fall to my knees and beg. Everette family pride could fuck right off. Even at sixteen, I knew she was the one for me. I’d always hate that she had to go through all of it, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t grateful that it bonded us together.
It was fate, and I wouldn’t let go of that without a fight.
I roll my neck, the crack relieving some of the tension, and check her window again. Still black. “When I found her, she was with you. Smiling with her head tipped back, blue eyes shining.”
I can still remember her words from back then, the joy in her voice.
“She asked you if you were going to marry her off, and you told her she saved our family. You’d give her whatever she wanted. Do you remember what she asked for?”
“No, but I’m guessing you do?” His voice sounds shocked, like he’s learning a whole different side of me.
“She told you she didn’t even want to think about settling down. That she wanted to go to college, get a job. To stand on her own.”
I roll my tongue in my mouth, swiping it over the sharp edge of my teeth. “You asked her what she wanted if someone approached you with interest.” I pause, taking a breath, knowing the next thing held me back for the last ten years.
“She told you she didn’t want to hear about it until she was at least twenty-five. That if someone was truly interested in her, they’d be willing to wait.”
Her response echoed what she told me in that prison cell of a room. When I’d thought I was about to die and none of it mattered. She’d kissed me hard, saying she didn’t want it to be anyone else. I wanted to believe I’d be the one to marry her anyway. Even if it was just a delusion.
“Fuck, Matthias.” Damon whistles low.
I don’t say the next part out loud, not needing Damon to know just how gone I am for her, that I keep these words tucked away in my chest, reminding me of what she wants.
I want to live in an eggshell-blue house with a wraparound porch and a tire swing hanging from a tree. I want to be chased around my backyard by jelly-covered faces. Is that too much to ask?
“She was so happy talking to you, dancing around like she might levitate off her feet.” I rake my hand through my hair. “How could I take that from her? She needed that freedom, and I knew the second I got close to her, I wouldn’t let her step away.”
“So you ignored her for a decade?” It’s easy to hear my brother thinks I’m an idiot.
“How long do you think you could’ve stayed away from Misty once she was within arm’s reach?”
“So, what are you saying? You’ve been waiting for her?”
“Ten fucking years, Damon. Her time’s almost up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That my Little Sparrow is about to be mine.”