1. Scarlett
Chapter one
Scarlett
“ I ’m going to fucking hunt him down and kill him with my goddamn bare hands!”
My mind is lost in a dream amidst the nearby voices floating around me. A dream where four of the most lethal men in the world encircle me, watching over me. Four men who would do anything to keep me safe. Warmth spreads through me as I realize this is the first good dream I’ve experienced in a long time, and I refuse to wake up.
“Shhh! You’re going to wake her. Maybe you boys should go before she comes to. This is all going to be a lot for her.”
“Come on, brother, you should get some sleep. You haven’t left her side since she’s been here.”
“I can’t leave her! What if he comes back for her?”
“I’ve stationed guards outside her door. No one will get to her. Besides, Mom’s here, and Madeleine’s on her way. She stopped by the store to pick up some things to help her feel comfortable.”
“Comfortable?” A scoff echoes nearby. “She was just fucking kidnapped and—”
“I must warn you, the presence of men right now could set her off. Especially ones like your—”
“I caution you in how you finish that sentence, Doctor. This woman knows us. She grew up with us. We would never harm her.”
“Y-yes, of course. But your mother has told me that it has been years since you have all seen her, and something this traumatic could make her…feel differently toward you. I suggest you keep your distance from her and give her time to heal.”
“Keep our distance from her? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Easy, brother. The doctor here is only looking out for her well-being. But he’s right. We should go.”
Silence fills the space before something rough and warm cups my cheek, a tender, comforting touch on my skin. It feels like my body is slipping beneath a warm bath, every muscle in my body melting into this embrace. A breath caresses my ear. “I’m sorry, Firefly. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m never letting you go again.”
The warmth on my cheek disappears, and several seconds later, a soft bang causes my eyes to flutter open, my dream completely dissipating. Adjusting to the bright lights above me, I expect to see the same four musty cement walls I’ve stared at for the past however long, but instead, I’m met with pristine white walls, scenic framed beach photos, an overwhelming antiseptic smell, foreign-looking machines, and a large window displaying the clear blue sky, the sun shining high above.
The sun . My throat tightens as I take in the sight of something most of us take for granted, not realizing that we may never see it again one day.
A rhythmic beeping stirs my thoughts, my eyes jumping to the machine beside my bed. I’m in a hospital room. Starting to panic, I try to sit up, but it’s pointless. My body is too weak, and the needle in my arm, attached to the IV bag beside me, doesn’t give me any leeway to move.
“H-help,” I try but fail to scream, my hoarse voice unrecognizable.
“Scarlett, it’s okay. I’m here.” A woman I hadn’t noticed in one of the nearby chairs rushes over to me. “Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart. You’re safe now.”
“S-safe?” I croak. My eyes jump around the room, panicking before landing back on her.
She smiles warmly, her glassy pale blue eyes suddenly appearing familiar even though I know it’s been years since I’ve seen them.
Cecilia Alarie.
“Mrs. Alarie?” She was my mom’s best friend before my mom lost her battle with cancer. My mother, father, and I lived on the Alarie Estate in New York for years until one night seven years ago when my father woke me in the middle of my sleep, practically dragging me out of my bed and moving us off their property to Chicago.
He claimed the estate was no longer safe after the murder of the head of the Alarie family, Charles Alarie, and he forbade me from having anything to do with any of them ever again, or there would be grave consequences.
And if you knew how cruel my father could be, you would take his warning and abide by it, too.
“It’s me, sweet girl,” Mrs. Alarie says, releasing me from my thoughts. She reaches over for a cup on the table beside me and brings it before my mouth. I wrap my lips around the straw, savoring every drop of the cold liquid running down my parched throat. After a few sips, she places the cup back on the table and then reaches toward my face as if wanting to push my hair back, but instead pulls her hand away and tucks the blanket in around me.
“How did I get here?” I try to rack my mind for an answer, but all I remember is clinging to the frozen floor for dear life, seeking warmth.
Confident that I was only seconds away from death.
She shows a small smile. “My boys found you in Chicago. And after a few days at the Chicago hospital, they had you airlifted here to New York.”
My boys.
Her sons.
My heart hammers in my chest, an overwhelming urge to cry taking over me as emotions, both good and bad, invade me. The four of them found me. They witnessed me in that basement, chained up like an animal, surrounded by a stench of blood, vomit, and humility. And although I feel thankful they came for me—saved me—a crushing amount of shame washes over me.
Will I ever be able to face them after knowing what they saw? Or from what they can only assume happened to me? A sweat breaks out over my temple, my nails digging into the palms of my hands, causing a faint stab of pain.
“Although, it was Leo who brought you to the first hospital. Too stubborn to wait for an ambulance. He insisted on doing it himself,” she muses. “The four of them were just here before I kicked them out to give you some space.”
Leonardo Alarie.
My heart thunders madly, and I pray that I’m not hooked up to one of those machines that will alert the whole place of my chaotic pulse.
He’s the boy my heart always beat for.
The one I gave myself—I internally shake my head, my throat tightening as the memory of our last moment together flashes before me. Taunting me. A night when I was brave and strong. Young and beautiful. And secretly head over heels in love with a boy named Leo Alarie.
But now…I’m broken.
And I don’t have to look into a mirror to know this.
I can feel it.
With every excruciating breath I take.
I shouldn’t have survived what I went through.
But somehow, I did.
And life will never be the same.
I don’t realize tears are pouring out of my eyes until Mrs. Alarie reaches for a tissue and gently presses it against my skin, wiping the wetness away. “Let it out.”
I nod, rolling in my bottom lip, unable to stop the onslaught of tears even if I tried.
Knock. Knock.
The wooden door on the other side of the room creeks open, revealing a pair of bright, blue, familiar eyes that lock onto mine.
Madeleine Alarie.
“Hey, stranger.” She takes graceful steps toward me, carrying a weekender bag in one hand and a bouquet of brightly colored flowers in the other.
“Maddy,” I whisper, a tiny smile working its way onto my face, tears blurring my vision.
Dropping the bag on the chair, she places the flowers on the table beside me. She rests her hand on the bed next to mine but makes no move to get any closer.
“I just ordered a bunch of clothes and toiletry items for you. Everything will be delivered by the time you come home.” She tucks a piece of her long, black hair behind her ear, and a flash in my eye causes me to notice an engagement ring with a massive stone resting on her finger. My chest aches, realizing just how much I’ve missed in her life over the years.
“Home?” I ask, looking between the two of them, confused. They’re sending me back to Chicago. A knot forms in the pit of my stomach, anxiety racing through me at the prospect of being sent back when I just got here after all these years.
“The doctors have requested you stay here for a few more days,” Mrs. Alarie starts. “But I will be by your side the whole time.” She glances at Maddy and then back at me. “It’s your choice, but when they think you’re ready to be moved, I’d like to bring you home to the estate in New York. It was always your home, Scarlett.” Relief. That’s all I feel, knowing I won’t be dragged away again. Not this time. “My staff is currently setting up a room in my house for you to recover. We’ll have the family doctor on round-the-clock care for you whenever you need him. I just…” She stops herself, choking on her words. “If I had known what was going to happen to you, I never would have let your father take you away from us. I would have… We would have…” She shakes her head. “But with the death of Charles, I wasn’t seeing straight. None of us were, and I’m so sorry.”
“We all are,” Maddy whispers, her eyes dim and downcast.
Tears soak the spot on my hospital gown beneath my chin. “It’s not your fault. My father didn’t give me a choice. He forced me to leave and stopped me from—” I blink a few times, my eyes scanning the room. “Wait, where is my father? Chicago?”
Maddy’s eyes shoot to her mom’s, panic evident.
Mrs. Alarie looks down at me with uncertainty in her eyes. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this.” She pauses before saying, “But your father didn’t survive the fire.”
“Fire?” My brows furrow. Why can’t I remember a fire? And why do I feel nothing from her words? No pain or loss. Just…nothing.
Maddy tilts her head. “What do you remember from…” She clears her throat. “The day you were taken?”
I bring a hand up to my head, rubbing my temple as I try desperately to recall what happened. “I remember pulling my car into my father’s driveway. He had asked me to come over because it had been some time since we had seen one another and he needed to discuss something, but…” What happened next? I pinch my eyes shut, searching my brain for an answer, when a blurry memory comes to me. “But just as I stepped out of my car, I felt a jab in my neck.” My fingers travel to that spot on my skin, and a phantom prick from the needle pulses. “Then I woke up in… I woke up in…” I can’t get the words out, my chest seizing up.
Oh God .
I clutch the hospital gown over my chest, my breaths coming out too fast and labored as my airways feel on the verge of closing. Every second of that day begins to invade my mind like a disease, and I grip the sides of my head as I gasp for air.
A cement floor. No windows. My wrists were cuffed to the floor. I couldn’t move. My head was pounding as if I was hungover. A glass of water and one piece of bread were placed beside me, but I was too scared that they might be poisoned, so I didn’t touch them. My dress was ripped up the side, stopping just above my knee. A man, no, a monster, suddenly came down the stairs, appearing as the devil himself with a knife in his hand. The only thing I saw before everything around me went black was his bright green eyes.
“Make it stop!” I scream, my fingers digging into my skull. “Please,” I whimper. “Make it stop!”
“Scarlett, you’re okay.” Mrs. Alarie’s soothing voice gradually alleviates my racing heart. “You’re okay. You’re safe.” She smooths out my hair, her calming touch a reprieve from my visions.
“Should I get the doctor?” Maddy asks, fear coating her voice.
“No, no, no!” I shake my head violently. “Please don’t.” Tears spill down my cheeks. “I don’t want to be drugged again.”
“We won’t call for the doctor.” Mrs. Alarie dips a small cloth in the glass pitcher of water on the nearby table and then rings it out. With a tender touch, she places it on my forehead, pressing it back and forth over my skin. The cold water feels refreshing against my overheated skin. “Take a deep breath for me.”
I do as she says, my whole body taken over by a slight tremble.
“You’re going to be okay,” she states firmly but gently. The look in her eyes is one a mother would give her daughter, and for whatever reason, it brings me back to the here and now.
I’m safe.
I’m home.
I’m in the protection of the Alaries.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. I wrap my arms around me, folding into myself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“There’s not one damn thing wrong with you, Scar.” Maddy holds a glass of water before me, allowing me a few sips before she fluffs the back of my pillow. It’s quiet for a moment before she asks, “Do you need anything? Another pillow? Food?” She smiles, but her watery eyes give away her true feelings.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t need anything.”
She nods, her eyes dancing around the room. “I guess I shouldn’t have brought flowers, seeing you have enough here to last a lifetime.”
Sitting up, I see several vases of pink flowers filling the space by the window and even more on the table beside me. This hospital room could be a cover-up for a florist shop.
“Where did these all come from?” I ask.
Mrs. Alarie walks over to the closest arrangement, admiring them. “Leo had these sent over for you.”
He did? But why?
Mrs. Alarie and Maddy share a knowing look, one I try not to decipher.
I snuggle into my pillow, facing the window, and notice that the sun is about to disappear, soon to be replaced by a dark, ominous sky.
But the light in the room is still on, so I’m okay.
As long as the light is on, I’ll be okay.
A heavy yawn escapes me, exhaustion weighing down on me.
“We should let you get some sleep,” Mrs. Alarie says, noting my demeanor. “Madeleine is going to sleep on the couch if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” I immediately answer, feeling at ease that I won’t be alone.
Maddy pats her bag. “Got all the essentials for a sleepover in here. Satin pajamas. Face masks. Chocolate. And some reality shows to binge on my tablet, of course.”
My lips faintly curve up, expecting nothing less from her.
Mrs. Alarie points toward the door. “There are guards stationed outside, and I’ll be back in the morning.” She smiles as she looks between us and then walks over to the light switch, her hand reaching out to flick the switch down.
Panic erupts within me. “Keep the lights on!” I tug the blanket up to my chest, my body shaking uncontrollably.
Her hand freezes mid-air as she quickly turns to face me.
“I’m sorry.” Shame washes over me. “It’s just that…” I swallow, clutching the blanket harder to my chest. “Bad things happen in the dark.”