59. Scarlet
Chapter 59
Scarlet
My entire body hurts as I slowly rise from my sleep, the light from the early morning landing on my face. I don’t have a phone, but the clock says it’s already past nine. Definitely late to my meeting with Damon. I go to get up, only to be pulled backward, an arm banding around my waist.
“Where are you going?” Matthias murmurs into my nape, his voice raspy with sleep.
I laugh, wiggling against his hold. “I’m going to meet with Damon.”
He lifts, but I stop him with a hand on his chest. “Stay here and keep the bed warm. I’ll be right back.”
He hums under his breath and snuggles into his pillow. He hadn’t fully woken up, making falling back to sleep easy. He looks even younger than sixteen, with his face relaxed with sleep and his hair wild around him. I brush a strand, careful not to touch where he’s bruised.
I’m not sure I have the right to touch him this way or what’s going to happen in the future. What I do know is a piece of me will always seek him out. That everything we’ve been through has tied me to him forever. There’s a bubbling sensation in my chest that I don’t dare to acknowledge. Whatever’s between us feels too big for us, being so young.
I lean down and place a kiss on his forehead, knowing it may be my only chance, then get up and go to meet Damon, grabbing a robe on the way out.
The conference room’s open, and I groan when I see Damon dressed in a perfectly tailored suit.
“Come on.” I gesture to him, then my clearly underdressed state. “That’s not fair.”
He huffs out a laugh. “You seem better this morning.”
Am I?
“I’m okay enough. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“The Everette family owes you a great debt.” He’s so formal in the way he’s speaking, taking on his role of the head of the Order of Saints with ease. He stands and comes before me, his head bowed.
I take a step back. There’s no way the Lord is bowing to me.
“It’s my family’s fault to begin with.”
He sighs. “Matthias told me you’d be stubborn. Just listen.”
I clamp my mouth shut.
“I will use my position as Lord to protect you and will guarantee the Laurents’ place will remain open in the Order.”
I shake my head. I never expected any of this. “There’s no need to do that.”
“Scarlet, it’s the only way your family’s funds can be transferred to you. Even as it is, it won’t move over until you’re eighteen.”
“So I’ll be the new Order member?” I tilt my head to the side, scanning him.
He looks away for a moment before answering, “Sorry…even I can’t change tradition. The title will pass to your husband when you marry.”
I cross my arms over my chest, hiding the way my hands shake. “You’re not going to marry me off, are you?”
He steps backward, revulsion clear in his face. “You saved my family. I’ll give you whatever you want.”
I swallow hard as a lightness fills me. With his words, the ever-present weight lifts off my shoulders. In my entire life, I’ve never been given a choice, and to have it now has me almost drunk on giddiness.
Smiling, I look him dead in the eyes, letting him know I’m serious. “Don’t marry me off to anyone. I don’t care how good the match is. I want to go to college, get a degree and a freaking job. I want a life of my own creation with no one telling me what to do.”
There’s a bubbly, tingling sensation climbing up my chest, threatening to break through in a laugh. I’m hopping from foot to foot, unable to completely contain the feeling.
Damon glances over my shoulder, then back to me. “What do you want me to do if someone asks me to set you up with them?”
My answer’s quick on my lips, no hesitation. “Don’t tell me. If someone’s interested, I don’t want to hear about it until I’m at least twenty-five. If they are really serious about me and not just the title, they’ll be willing to wait.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw as he glances behind me again. I nearly turn with the curiosity to see what he’s looking at. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
My smile’s so wide I’m practically beaming. “Positive.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” He holds his hand out in front of him, and I stare at it for a second before shaking it. “If you ever need anything, just let me know. The Everette family will always be there for you.”
“There you go again, being all stiff,” I scoff.
Damon softens for a second. “I can see what he sees in you.”
“Who?”
Damon gestures with his head to where Matthias is leaning against the doorway. He’s wearing different clothes, and his bandages have all been replaced.
I walk up to him and smirk. “What, you didn’t like stitches? Had to go to an actual doctor?”
“They were crooked.” His tone is missing the teasing I’ve come to expect. The gold in his eyes somehow dims when he straightens.
“How long have you been listening?” I smile at him.
His eyes dart away from mine. “Long enough.”
What is wrong with him? Whatever it is, I’ll help him figure it out. “Want to get breakfast?
He raises a brow, and it’s like a cold wall shutters his expression, making it impossible to read. “Don’t tell me you got the wrong idea?”
“What?” I breathe, a pit forming in my stomach.
He gives me a bored look, folding his arms across his chest, one I’d never expected to see again. “Just because you helped me out for the last week doesn’t make us close.”
His words dig into my heart, compressing my ribs until I can’t breathe as confusion swirls in my brain. “I don’t understand.”
Matthias straightens, his cold eyes locked with mine as he says the words that tear me apart. “Let me make it easy for you. I don’t want to see you, hear your voice. I don’t want to be in the same room as you.”
The bond that felt tied between us, one shaped by a world we barely survived, pulls and frays with his words. My stomach twists, and bile rises in my throat as thoughts pummel me, but none of them make sense.
“Why are you doing this?” Voice cracking around the vowels, I struggle to keep myself together. His eyes dart to the side, hiding the glimpse of emotion he’d let slip through his mask.
A muscle ticks in his jaw with each clench of his teeth, and I can almost see him build the wall between us brick by brick, cutting off any semblance of connection I thought we shared.
Matthias’s cool, twisted laugh sends a shudder down my spine. His lips pull back in revulsion as he hisses at me. “You may have helped us, but you’re still a Laurent.”
I gasp, lancing between my ribs, stealing the air from my lungs as his words land their intended blow. How could I be so naive to think even for a second that what my family did wouldn’t matter. My sheer level of audacity should be embarrassing, but all I can feel is the soul-crunching reality cave in on me.
My chin wobbles as I strain to hold myself together, but I refuse to cry. I knew there would be consequences for my family’s actions, and no one suffered as much as Matthias did.
I should’ve known that any peace between us couldn’t last. I just wish I’d done a better job of preparing my stupid heart.
I lift my head high and don’t look at him in fear he’ll see the tears in my eyes. I’m going to leave this all behind.
My dad, my brother, the old guy that wanted to fuck me. I sniff, pulling myself together.
And Matthias Everette.
Now it’s my turn to be free.
A Devious Arrangement
Book 3: Bash’s book in the Twisted Vows Series.
Girl pretends to be her brother in order to infiltrate a secret society.