22. Matthias
Chapter 22
Matthias
My back’s aching as I hit the automatic control on the side of the driver’s seat. I’m too old for this shit. I spent last night camped out across from Scarlet’s house. I can’t stop the feeling that if I let her out of my sight, I’ll lose her forever. I crack open an energy drink and check my phone. Our group chat is going wild, asking where I’ve been, but I have no desire to hear the shit they’d give me if they knew what I was doing.
Hell, I only told Damon because I know he’d be the same way if it was his girl inside.
Her stubbornness is pissing me off. The only thing stopping me from going into her house and kidnapping her is her wish has run out of time.
There’s a knock on the window, and I unlock the doors so Damon can get in.
“You look like shit.” He hands me a change of clothes since I haven’t left her long enough to go home.
“Screw off.”
“Why don’t you hire someone so you can take a break?”
“Would you trust anyone if it were Misty? Someone’s trying to get to her.”
His brows pull together. “I’d trust you.”
An uneasiness settles over me. “You have your own wife to look after.”
Damon can’t help the smile he wears every time he thinks about his wife.
“You’re pathetic.”
He looks around the car. “And you’re not?”
“Whatever. I need something from you.”
“Anything.”
“Tell Misty to set up a hotel so they can get ready for the Symposium event. At least then I can go home and shower.”
“You should know I don’t tell Misty to do anything, but you should also know she’s more than willing to help you in any way she can.” He steps out of the car and leans in. “Take care of yourself, brother. Or I’m telling Xander and Bash and sitting back while they make fun of you.”
The door clicks closed before I can respond. Bastard would do it too.
I’m just pulling my shirt over my head when Scarlet walks out of her house right on time.
“Get in the car, Scarlet.” I get out, walking around to the passenger side, and open the door.
“Aren’t you getting tired of this?”
“I wouldn’t have to be tired if you’d just come to my house.”
“Where’s Oliver?”
“I sent him on a different job.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “You can’t do that. He works for me!”
That slipped out a little too easily. If I’m not careful, she’ll figure out just how closely I’ve been watching her. I repeat the lie that we’ve been feeding her for years. “Technically, he works for the Order.”
She huffs and walks up to the car. She looks stunning this morning, hair pulled back in a twist at the nape of her neck, her light gray dress curving over her form perfectly, leading down long slender legs and tall black heels.
When my gaze finally trails up, it’s to see her warm eyes on me.
She smirks at the state of my hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this way.”
“The things I do for you.” I smile back.
Pink flushes her cheeks, and I soak in the way she reacts to me. I wonder if she flushes all over like that.
Before I can pull her closer and capture her pretty pink lips, she sneaks beside me and ducks into the car, making a point to click her seat belt so I don’t have the honor.
If she only knew how much the fire inside her made me want to fuck some sense into her.
The drive to her work is peacefully silent. She doesn’t push me to speak like other people do. Instead, she flips through her phone, acting like I’m not even there.
My grip tightens on my steering wheel. If she keeps this up, I’m going to have her pressed up against the window with her skirt around her hips.
Before I can make that a reality, we arrive at the front entrance to her work.
“I’ll see you at lunch.” It’s not a question.
“I have plans.” She shrugs, a smirk on her lips, knowing it’ll piss me off.
That digs under my skin. “With whom?”
“Work friends.”
Her intentional vagueness just has my curiosity growing more desperate.
“What kind of work friends?”
“Normal work kind.”
“Scarlet...” I’ve had about enough of this.
“You know, you’ve become awfully nosy for someone who didn’t care about what I did up until a few days ago. Maybe you should talk to someone about that.”
I want to correct her. To tell her just how wrong she is. That there hasn’t been a single second that I didn’t care what she was doing. All you’d have to do is see the trail of her exes who magically disappeared to know that I haven’t learned to control my impulses. I may have given her freedom, but even I couldn’t handle that.
“I’ll see you later.” I stop myself from reaching out to her and dragging her back into the car. It’s not like she needs to work anyway. Not when I own the law firm. If she wouldn’t kill me, I’d have her locked in the car and on the way back to my place. At this point, my willpower is on a single thread.
“Matthias, what’s that look on your face? I’m not kidding. I have lunch plans.”
“Don’t worry, I heard you loud and clear.” As it is, she’ll already be pissed.
Her eyes bounce around my face, appraising me as if she doesn’t trust a single word I say. Smart girl.
“Fine. And don’t come pick me up. You’re too conspicuous—it looks bad. Just send Oliver like normal.”
If she wants Oliver so badly, he might just have to disappear. He’s worked for me for a long time, but maybe I’ve let him get too close. My teeth grind together as I say, “I’ll let him know.”
The door slams shut with a loud clack, and she walks off without saying goodbye. I watch as she makes her way up the stairs, her tall heels carrying her easily, and don’t look away until the door closes behind her.
I crack my neck and pull out, heading to my place. It’s good I’ll have a few hours until I need to be back.
The work items I tick off during the short drive home make the time disappear. I’ve been neglecting everything for the sake of being close to her, but my brothers will just have to deal with it. It’s only going to get worse.
I’d dismissed my staff early, so I’m not expecting my front door to be unlocked, and I pull my gun from its holster hidden beneath my clothes. Whoever is stupid enough to come into my house is going to regret it.
“Woah, easy there, killer. You nearly shot me.” Bash pushes my aim from his face and smiles like I didn’t almost take his head off.
I holster my weapon, heart still pounding in my ears, and debate the merit of still killing him. “What are you doing here?”
Xander appears from the living room. “We came to check in on you. You look like absolute shit.”
“Of course you’re both here,” I groan and rake my hand through my hair, knowing there’s nothing I can do about this.
“We heard you’re sleeping in the car.” Bash snickers as he takes a step back out of my reach.
Fucking Damon. Can’t mind his own business and had to bring these two into it.
“Screw off.”
“Hey, now. Don’t be like that. We’re just concerned for our big brother.” Xander puts on an innocent face, rocking back on the heels of his shoes.
“What do you actually want?”
Bash grins. “How could we miss a chance to see you like this?”
“Get out of my house.” I ignore them as I make my way up my curved staircase and to my room. All I want is to get the grime off me from sleeping in my car. I’m not old enough to feel so shitty.
The shower is hot against my skin as the heat settles into my muscles and eases the ache there. But there’s a gnawing feeling that just keeps growing in the pit of my stomach. Like I’m missing something that I can’t see. It feels so close, like if I just try harder, I’ll be able to track it down and kill it. It feels like something’s coming after what’s mine, and no matter how many times I try to push that feeling down, it doesn’t stop resurfacing.
Scarlet’s ex showed up out of nowhere, and then there was an attempted break-in at her place. Her pure stubbornness has me on edge. I’m not an idiot—I know she’s strong and capable, but the idea of someone coming after her has my vision going red.
My phone beeps on the counter, and I groan, washing the remainder of the soap out of my hair. I still have another hour before I need to get back, which is just enough time to stop by Damon’s and chew him the fuck out.
Scarlet’s building is busy, the low hum of conversation filling the lobby. I stop by the entrance, the guard looking up at me, then quickly back at the screen.
“What can I do for you?” He doesn’t look up while he asks.
“I’m here to see Ms. Laurent.”
He clicks through the keys before shaking his head. “She didn’t put you on her list.”
I lean over the counter, forcing him to look me in the eyes. “It would be a mistake not to let me in.”
“I...I’m sorry...you’re not on the l...list,” he stutters out, clearly wondering if he gets paid enough for this.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Everette. You must excuse him. He’s new,” an impeccably dressed woman says from behind the desk. “Go right in.”
Her voice trickles to me as I make my way deeper into the space, heading toward the sound of plates clinging together. “Do you know who he is? Do you want to get us both fired?”
I should feel bad for my reputation, but why feel bad for things that are deserved?
Unsurprisingly, in a building like this, the cafeteria is a full restaurant. Deep green leather booths line the walls, while wood tables fill the center. It’s open, the high ceilings letting the light in from the lobby. It’s her laugh that catches my attention first, and the first hint of something curling in my stomach starts to form. Scarlet hasn’t laughed like that for me in a very long time. I locate her in one of the back booths, tucked in the corner. She’s sitting with a woman at her side and two men across from her. In any other setting, it would look like they’re on a date.
She doesn’t notice me as I approach, instead smiling at the guy in front of her. He’s moving food from his plate to hers, as if sharing like this is normal for them. It’s almost intimate.
It’s only when I’m within inches of them that Scarlet looks up, her face blanching before turning a brilliant red that’s befitting of her name.
“What are you doing here?” she hisses, and everyone at her table turns to look at me.
Unlike her, they notice the rage rolling off me and shrink back.
If my girl notices, she doesn’t care, instead standing and walking right up to me, finger poking into my chest. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
I tilt my head, cupping her hand with mine and pushing her finger into me. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“You said you wouldn’t come.”
“No. I said I heard you when you told me not to. They are two different things.” Her ears are pink now, anger practically steaming off of her. I lean in closer and whisper, “You’re cute when you’re mad.”
A low growl-like sound forms in her throat. “You’re dead.”
She grabs my hand and drags me after her, heading straight for an elevator that opens just as we arrive like fate.
I raise my brows. “Are we going to a more private place so you can kill me?”
She doesn’t answer, instead staring at the number ascending to her floor. As soon as the doors open, she walks directly to her office, knowing I’ll follow her.
The second we’re alone, she whirls on me. “You will never come back here. If you do, I’ll have security throw you out.”
I laugh under my breath, a low, foreign sound. “Did you forget I own this company?”
“No, Mercer Equities bought it.” She leans back onto her desk, a slow smile crossing her lips, my first clue that I’m in trouble.
I take a step toward her, canting my head to the side. What is she up to? “And I own Mercer Equities.”
“Correction: you used to own it. I bought the controlling shares a few days ago. Technically, I think that means you work for me.” Her smile is brilliant now, curved at the corner, satisfaction written all over her face.
I’ve never been so hard in my life. “Oh, you’re sneaky.”
“Now, get out.” Her tone isn’t as firm as it was, like she’s not quite done having fun with me.
I step closer, forcing her to tip her head back to look at me. “Come home with me tonight.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
I reach up and grip her chin, tilting her so her mouth lines up with mine. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
Her eyes go wide, and she jumps back. “You’re crazy.”
“Never denied it.” I want to reach for her, pull her to me, and force her not to let go. There will be time for that later.
She’s so fucking stubborn.
I groan, making my way downstairs. Another night sleeping in my car.
A slow smile takes over my face. It’s the last time because tomorrow, my Little Sparrow turns twenty-five.