35. Scarlet
Chapter 35
Scarlet
Groaning, I bury my face into my pillow and punch the soft mattress. Are you freaking serious right now? I carved my name directly below his neck and collarbone. His neck! Then I proceeded to have one of the hottest experiences of my life that didn’t even include sex! I press my face deeper into the pillow. Maybe if I just suffocate myself now, I can forget all of this happened.
There’s a knock on the bedroom door. I can’t handle seeing Matthias right now. Actually, there’s no way he’d knock.
I flip around, lifting on my elbows.
“Scarlet, it’s me.” Oliver’s familiar tone comes through the door.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, and I’m still livid with him for lying to me all these years. The worst part is he made it hard for me to trust myself. There must have been signs along the way that he was feeding my every move to Matthias, and I was just too clueless to see it.
I collapse back on the bed. “Leave me alone.”
“It’s not the time, Scarlet. Get out here.”
It’s the raised pitch of his voice that has me getting up. In the seven years that I’ve known him, he’s been nothing but calm. A steady presence in my life.
I grab my robe from the hook and open the door a few inches. Oliver’s standing there, eyes darting in every direction.
“We need to go now for this to work.” A muscle ticks in his jaw, and his breaths come out too hard. Something’s not right here.
“Go where?”
His gaze snaps back to mine. “Anywhere you want so long it’s away from here. It’s my turn for surveillance of the front. If you want to leave, this is your only chance.”
There’s a weight crushing my chest, pushing the air from my lungs. After all the wanting to leave, I should be elated, but there’s this gnawing ache in my chest. I’d have to be crazy to stay. After all, Matthias has done all of this on his own terms, not giving me a single choice. I take a deep breath and push the voice at the back of my head that’s telling me I want to stay into the recesses of my mind.
Matthias will always be my first love, but the boy he was has grown into a man I could never have predicted. One that simultaneously makes my hair stand up on the back of my neck while sending shivers of anticipation down my spine.
I swallow hard as my emotions swirl around me. The way I felt last night, the power that went through me as I marked Matthias with my name, makes me want to stay by his side. It sparked something in me that I buried deep inside.
I can feel myself falling back in love with him with each second we spend together, but I’d been in love with him once, and he’d torn my heart out. I close my eyes, trying to hang on to that hurt and replay his words that cracked me open before.
“Don’t tell me you got the wrong idea?”
“Just because you helped me out for the last week doesn’t make us close.”
“Let me make it easy for you. I don’t want to see you or hear your voice. I don’t want to be in the same room as you.”
“You may have helped us, but you’re still a Laurent.”
I swallow hard as the pain crashes through me just as strong today. I believed that he loved me then. That we were fated to be together. I’d trusted him then. I can’t make the same mistake now.
“Let’s go.” Bracing myself, I step through the doorway. This is the right decision.
“Uh…are you not going to get dressed?” Oliver takes two giant steps back.
“Shit.” The blood drains from my face as I grab the front of my robe. Twisting on the spot, I rush to my dresser. That could have been bad. It’s like I’ve turned my brain completely off. I throw on a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt before glancing around the room to see if there’s anything else I need. The glint of the blade, tip still painted in red, sits on the nightstand. My hand hovers over the knife for several seconds. He didn’t take it. Why didn’t he take it?
My chest tightens, and I have to fight against it. Screw this. It’s just a knife, not a declaration of love.
I grab the handle and walk out of the room, where Oliver’s waiting for me with my favorite pair of boots.
He glances at his watch. “We have less than a minute to get to my car. Hurry.”
I slip my boots on, not bothering to tie the laces, and race after Oliver. Time ticks away as I push through the door, onto the veranda, and down the wood steps. Oliver has the door open, and he’s already rounding the corner to get into the front seat. I just need one last look. I turn my head, knowing I’m wasting precious seconds, and stumble backward, my butt hitting the ground.
The house is exactly what I wished for when Matthias and I were stuck in that room. When I told the only boy I trusted my dreams that I never believed would come true.
It’s a farmhouse, painted eggshell blue with white trim, with a wood shake roof. My eyes burn, and my breath catches. There’s a wraparound porch and the tire swing hanging from one of the tree’s sturdy branches.
Tears pool over my lashes and run down my cheeks. He built it for me. Everything he’s said comes crashing to the forefront.
“I told you I’d marry you when you turned twenty-five.”
“I waited for you.”
“We’re meant to be together, Scarlet, and I’m going to make you believe it.”
“There’s the fire I love.”
“Anything you want, Little Sparrow.”
“I’ve already given up too many nights without you.”
I thought this was just some kind of sick, twisted game. One where my heart was the only one on the line. All of this time, he’s been waiting for me…
My heart aches, and I press my palm against it. I need to hear him say it. I need to understand exactly what’s happening. Why did he let me go when I would have stayed with him? I never would have gone to Stanford if he’d asked me to stay.
“Get up. We have to go.” Oliver’s in front of me, holding out his hand.
I shake my head furiously, unable to form words.
“Scarlet. He’s seen me on the cameras by now. He’s going to kill me if we stay any longer.”
I lift my gaze to the man who’s protected me all these years, but I can’t bring myself to follow him. “I can’t leave. Just go without me. I’ll deal with Matthias.”
“Get in the car, Scarlet.” He grabs my arm, but I pull it back. “This chance won’t happen again.”
I meet his eyes and shake my head. He’s done so much for me. “I’m sorry. Just go.”
He looks me over, as if debating the merits of lifting me and tossing me into the car. I square my shoulders, ready to fight him off.
“Fine, have it your way.” He looks across the field.
Matthias’s men are running from different directions, one calling out not to shoot.
I nod. “Go.”
Oliver’s tires squeal, gravel kicking up behind him as he books it out of here.
I lift myself off the ground and slap away the hands that try to grab me.
“Don’t touch me. I’m going back.”
One of the guards holds his gun at me, and I laugh.
“I suggest you lower that.”
Another guard, slightly older, calls into his radio to have everyone stand down. “As long as you go back into the house, we won’t touch you.”
I almost want to fight just because he’s telling me what to do. This is probably why Matthias calls me stubborn.
“Move.” I shove my way past the men, back up the stairs, over the porch I’ve always wanted, and into the house of my dreams.
The door clicks shut, audibly locking.
Now, I wait.