9. Scarlet
Chapter 9
Scarlet
I relisten to the message Liam left. I’ll admit Matthias works fast. I knew he’d get it done, but even I’m impressed by just how quickly he had Liam backpedaling.
My hands are still shaking a day later from walking into the Everette private room at Elysium and demanding he help me. There was an 80-20 chance he’d tell me to go screw myself. After all, I am just another Laurent to him.
Ten years, ten years since we spent that one horrendous week together, trapped in the hellscape of my family’s making. Since then, I’ve built a life around me, brick by brick, one where I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.
Which made it all the more humiliating to have to ask Matthias for help. Swallowing my pride had tasted sour, but there’s not much I could’ve done about it.
Getting the video wiped from existence isn’t something I could trust just anyone with, and despite the fact that Matthias has actively avoided me for a freaking decade, I knew I could trust him to get it done.
Of course, I completely overlooked the fact that he’d ask for something in return, and now I’m living my teenage nightmare, indebted to my childhood crush.
I pull my hand away from my mouth, realizing I’ve been chewing on my nails, and the once pristine blush polish is now chipped. Dammit.
Putting my phone down, I get back to my computer. We have a large potential client coming in who we’ve been working with for the last several months. He wants us to provide permanent legal counsel for multiple of his companies. It’s a deal that’s felt too good to be true, especially since he’s been anonymous this entire time, but he’s finally agreed to meet in person today.
I’ve been working on this presentation for weeks. As a junior lawyer on this team, I’m backing up the partners. The only reason I was able to land this job in the first place is because I did a yearlong internship while I was in my final year at Stanford, and I dipped into my family funds to sweeten the deal. I may hate my family, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make use of the privileges my inheritance provides me. Even with that, I know how precarious my job is and how important it is that this presentation goes well. The last thing I want is to make my boss look bad.
Morning light streams through my office window. It takes up the majority of the east-facing wall, never failing to make the room feel welcoming.
I’ve already sent the file over to my boss, but just in case I’ve missed something, I double-check my work for the fifth time.
There’s a light knock, and I get up, opening the door, expecting to see my boss. For a second, I forget where I am as my eyes skim over Matthias. He’s tall, dark, devious, a man who could eat me alive.
His large shoulders take up the entire doorframe, blocking the bustling office behind him. I groan internally, tamping down the heat swirling low in my stomach. The man’s grown into some kind of sexy, godlike giant.
I clear my throat. “What are you doing here?”
“Is that any way to welcome someone who just did you a favor?” He enters my office, the door closing behind him, and I involuntarily step back. A wolflike smile curls the corner of his lips, and he stalks closer, driving me back until the back of my thighs hits the edge of my desk, halting my retreat.
My breath catches as his presence surrounds me, causing my body to hum even without his touch.
I stare down at the buttons of his perfectly tailored crisp black shirt.
“Look at me, Little Sparrow.”
I clench my fingers at my sides to hide the way they tremble and shake my head. “Don’t call me that.”
He raises his hand, cupping my face, and guides it up with his thumb. “Don’t look away from me when I’ve come to see you.”
I rip my face away and stare right at him. Not looking away from his dark gaze. I push all my frustration into my voice, praying that it covers the slight shake in it. “What do you want?”
His teeth run along his bottom lip as he takes in my words before reaching into his pocket and handing me a USB.
“All handled. Your asshole ex won’t bother you again.”
My stomach twists as the small device presses into my palm. How could I forget this is why he’s here?
He doesn’t move away like I expect him to. Instead, his mouth moves closer to mine until his breath tickles my lips, and I can almost taste whatever sweet mint he’s been chewing on.
“I’ve come to call in my payment.”
I jerk a little, but he keeps me still with a firm grasp of my jaw. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t know it would be so soon.
“What…what do you want?” This time, I can’t hide the tremble in my voice. The thoughts swirling around of what he can want when he’s so close.
“Kiss me, Scarlet.”
His words are an echo of mine from all those years ago. One that has a million memories flooding my head filled with promises he’d made. I push them away, trying to find some semblance of clarity.
“What?” I say breathily.
“There’s no running away now, Little Sparrow.” His lips brush mine. “Kiss me.”
Before I can even comprehend what I’m doing, my desires from my past take over, and all rational thoughts leave me as I close the distance between us.
His mouth isn’t soft; it’s hard and demanding. Like he wants to own a part of me and show me just how much I need him.
I kiss him back, pulling him closer, losing all sanity as he pushes his knee between my thighs and devours me until my lungs burn.
“ Fuck , my memories didn’t do this justice.” His open mouth kisses along my jaw and down my neck, where he sucks on my sensitive skin, and I tilt my head to the side, giving him more room as I grip his hair and hold him closer.
There’s a knock on the door, snapping me into reality, but he doesn’t let me go even when I pull away, instead sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and biting it.
“This isn’t over.”
There’s a twinge in my heart, and I remind myself that this man told me I was nothing to him while pushing me away and disappeared from my life and has done nothing to make me trust him since. Bracing myself, I shake my head.
“Yes, it is.”
He lets me push him back, and I go to the door, swinging it open to see my antsy boss. She’s a few years older than me, with tight, curly black hair braided into micro braids that she’s pulled back into an intricate bun that I could only wish I could achieve. Her cream jacket is the perfect complement to her deep brown skin.
“He’s not here yet.”
Still in a daze, I can’t piece together what she means. “Who?”
“The client. He didn’t show.”
Shit. I’d forgotten all about the meeting.
I can feel Matthias step behind me into the doorway even before he says anything.
“You must be looking for me.”