31. Scarlett
Chapter thirty-one
Scarlett
I feel like death as I come to, wincing from the pain radiating in my head. A groan rumbles through my lips as I bring my hands up to my scalp, my fingers massaging my temple. Trying to drop one hand to my side, they fall together, bound as one.
What happened?
My eyelids flutter open, and I try to take in my surroundings with blurry vision to recall where I am. Blinking a few times, I focus on the figure a few feet before me. It’s hard to see much with only the candles providing a light source, but after a moment, the image becomes more prominent, and the memory of what happened rushes back to me.
The Halloween party.
The lights went out.
Men stormed the building, searching for me.
Eli helped me escape and instructed me to hide at Dolion’s house.
Madeleine was bound to a chair in the center of the room.
Pictures of me covered every inch of the room.
Dolion’s voice whispered in my ear right before I passed out.
My heart races as I try to get up to get to Maddy, but I find that not only are my hands bound with rope, but beneath the blanket wrapped over my legs, my feet are bound too.
Panic engulfs me as I whip off the blanket.
“Maddy,” I whisper, her head slumped to the side, blood dripping down to the carpet.
She doesn’t move.
“Maddy,” I say with a little more force.
Nothing.
Sliding over to her, I nudge her thigh with my hands.
She stirs.
“Maddy, please wake up,” I beg, my throat tightening.
Her eyelids flicker open, widening as she takes in the space.
“Maddy,” I sob softly.
She tries to speak, but it comes out muffled against the tape.
“We’ll be okay,” I tell her. “Eli knows I’m here. I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.” I observe the sky out the closest window, unsure how to tell what time it is as darkness still reigns.
I don’t know if I was out for minutes or hours.
And I have no idea how long it will be until Dolion returns, so I need to quickly devise a plan to get us out of here.
My eyes travel around the room, seeking anything that can help us. Anything that might—
My knife.
With my bound hands, I scrunch up the fabric of my dress to my thigh, where it reveals a gleaming silver knife attached to my black holster. Dolion probably assumed I wouldn’t be armed. He thought I would be ill-prepared like the last time he took me.
But not this damn time.
I remove the knife from the holster and lean toward Maddy with it, but she shakes her head and tips her chin toward me, indicating to cut my ropes first.
I hesitate, wanting to help her, but eventually, I sit against the wall, my knees coming up to my chest. Maddy watches me with heavy lids as I place the knife between my knees, squeezing tight so it won’t move. And then, I carefully move my wrists back and forth, fraying the strings one at a time.
I’m sweating by the time I get halfway through the binds, my muscles clenching in exertion.
“Mm-hmm,” Maddy murmurs, and I know she’s encouraging me to keep going.
I continue the back-and-forth motion, but suddenly, the knife slips, and I cut the palm of my hand.
I roll in my lips, holding in a scream. Blood spills onto the bottom of my white dress bunched around my thighs. My eyes water, but I shake my head, knowing I don’t have any spare seconds to give in to the pain.
Placing the knife back between my knees, I keep going faster and harder, more determined than ever. String after string splits, and before I know it, the rope falls around me, freeing my wrists.
“Oh, thank God.” I grab the knife and start working on the rope around my ankles, but suddenly I hear footsteps. Stopping, I reach for the blanket beside me and throw it over my legs as I lean against Maddy’s chair, my hands hidden beneath it.
The footsteps get louder until suddenly Dolion appears in the room, a wide, dangerous smile on his face. “Oh good, you’re awake.” Frozen in fear, every part of my body seizes up. It’s him. And although I’ve spent the past few months in his presence thinking nothing of it, now that I know who he really is, I can’t move. Think. Breathe. All of the above. Because this is the man who tried to break me. The one who received pleasure by tormenting me night and day.
He stands in front of me, reaching down to pet my hair like his obedient puppy. Maybe when he first took me, I would have let him in fear of what might happen if I didn’t obey. But now that I know the strength within me, the strength he underestimates, I flinch away, my eyes catching on the metallic handgun tucked into his waistband, directly in my line of sight.
“I was worried Jeffrey made your drink a little too strong for you,” he admits. “You’re so delicate. So fragile.” He steps back, frowning. “You’ve been a bad girl, Scarlett.” He plops down on the chair across from us, legs spread wide as he takes up the whole seat. “You betrayed me by marrying Leo. And no one is allowed to have what’s mine.” He pulls the gun from his pants and places it on his lap, sending a clear message to both of us.
Behave, or there will be consequences.
I need to keep cutting at the rope around my ankles, but his brown eyes won’t look away from me.
Wait…Le Diable has green eyes. I’m sure of it. They were all I ever saw in my nightmares.
“Y-your eyes,” I say, my voice breaking, giving away my fears.
“Oh.” He reaches up to his irises. “Colored contacts.” He pulls each one out, revealing his bright green eyes. “Irritating as fuck, but worth it.”
All the air in my lungs evaporates as I find myself unable to look away, lost in his gaze. He’s the monster of my nightmares. Only this time, he has a face and a name.
“Why?” I grip the leg of Maddy’s chair for support with my free hand, my whole body trembling.
His brows furrow as he leans forward. “You were always mine, Scarlett. You just didn’t know it.” He drags a hand through his hair, deep in thought. “When we were kids, I would have given anything for you to notice me. To pay me the slightest bit of attention.” He shakes his head, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “But you were so hung up on fucking Leo. He was the only one you ever had eyes for, and I never understood why!” He stands, towering over me. “What did he have that I didn’t?” he roars. His whole body shakes. There’s an unhinged fury I’ve never seen before flowing through him.
Tremors travel through me as I remain silent, swallowing down the fears keeping me rooted in place.
“No matter.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before sitting. “As promised, I knew you would be mine sooner or later. And once you were, I would need to do the only thing possible to guarantee you would never think of Leo Alarie again.” A cruel smile spreads over his face as he says, “ Break you .” My breathing escalates as I tighten my grip on the chair, my fingers practically going numb. “So I waited for years in the shadows until the day you would be mine. Body and soul.”
Promised? What did he mean by—
“Aren’t you going to ask me who promised you to me?” he asks with amusement. I don’t say anything, so he lifts his gun, aiming it directly at me.
“W-who?” I stammer, sweat coating the back of my neck.
“I did,” a familiar man’s voice at the front of the house declares.
My heart drums violently in my chest as someone who should be dead saunters into the room, looking very much alive. And as he stands before me, my whole world turns violently upside down.
“F-father?”
“Hello, daughter.” He grins triumphantly, watching me with pure maliciousness. His suit is ironed, his blond hair is styled, and his skin has a slightly healthy tan. This is not at all what a dead man should look like.
Shock causes me to drop the knife, thankfully landing silently on the carpet.
“W-what… I don’t… I don’t understand.” My eyes fill with tears, blurring my vision. This can’t be him. I shake my head, blinking, but when I open my eyes, he’s still there, standing before me like a man who just got a second chance at life. “You’re…alive?” I whisper, too stunned to say any more than that.
I’m no longer dealing with one monster but with two.
“You don’t seem so happy to see me,” he muses, taking the free seat beside Dolion. “But that can’t be true because I heard you were crying over my grave.” An evil smirk slashes across his face.
“Why?” My stare burns into him as I ask, “Why did you pretend to be dead?”
“Oh, Scarlett, you always were so na?ve. One of the many things about you I couldn’t stand.” He leans back in his chair, rubbing his chin. “Where to begin? Where to—” His smile grows. “Ah, yes. The explosion.”
“Explosion?”
“Yes, you dumb girl,” he spits out. “The one I hired Dolion to set in the Alarie warehouse seven years ago.” He glances at Maddy when he says, “You remember that day, don’t you, dear? The day your father died.”
Maddy’s eyes widen, her chest heaving.
He nods. “I thought you might. You see, a few days before the explosion, your father had been sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. And he somehow found out about my pride and joy.” He looks wistful as he says, “ Blue Velvet Fantasies .” He smooths out his tie. “It was the best sex club in the country. One known for special auctions. And it was all mine.”
My heart pounds wildly in my chest, my brows drawing together. “You were involved in sex trafficking?”
“Funny. You sound just as repulsed by the idea as Charles did.” He feigns a frown. “When he approached me with his findings, the moral bastard wouldn’t listen to my reasonings. He didn’t give one damn for the abundance of money it would make us.” He sighs. “So he destroyed it. Burned the place to the ground along with our business relationship, cutting all ties with me and telling me I had one week to leave his property, throwing away our twenty-year partnership.”
He shakes his head. “The bastard even begged for me to let you stay. Saying you had always been one of them. Utter nonsense.” He scoffs. “But he had no idea what he had done when he disrespected me by destroying my business.” His hands, resting on the arms of the chair, clench into fists. “So I took matters into my own hands. I knew Dolion here couldn’t take his eyes off you, always watching you from afar. But your head was in the clouds dreaming of that stupid Alarie boy, too distracted to notice the real prize.”
He grips Dolion’s shoulder beside him. “So, I made a deal with Dolion. Or should I say, the devil?” They both laugh. “He needed to set the explosion in the warehouse undetected, and if he succeeded by killing Charles, then when the time was right, I would hand you over to him.”
My lungs cease to work as his words drown out around me. My father? My own father promised me to this psychotic man as payment for helping him kill my husband’s father. He bartered me off like cattle to a psychopath.
Ice runs down my spine as my head begins to spin.
I knew he always hated me, but I never imagined…
I never thought…
How could he do this to me when I’m his flesh and blood?
“And oh, how the time was right.” His malicious smile widens. “After the death of Charles, I fled with you that same night, stating that I wouldn’t risk the safety of my daughter being associated with the Alaries anymore. But little did they know that your safety was of no importance to me. Just an excuse to keep me out of the clear of being a potential suspect. And for the past seven years, I’ve been busy building my own empire, preparing for this very moment to kill the Alaries and take over the Alarie Estate.” He points a finger toward me. “And it’s all thanks to you that we’ve succeeded.”
“Me?” I ask, confused.
“Yes, you. Months ago, I needed something to distract the Alaries, and I knew just how to do that.” He gestures toward Dolion. “It was time to give you over to Dolion as his reward for all his years of loyal service. So, we staged your kidnapping and my death, making the two appear connected. It was quite easy, really. All I needed was a man with a similar build to mine, and after killing him and placing my family ring on his finger, I left his body in my study before I set the place on fire.” He tilts his head, studying me for a reaction. “With me dead, the Alaries wouldn’t think to look into me. And with Dolion supposedly attending to his dying mother overseas, he was overlooked in the equation of your disappearance.”
“That bitch deserved what she got.” Dolion laughs.
“And with you taken,” my father starts, looking directly at me. “They used all their time and resources to search for you. Just like I knew they would. Never once realizing what I was building in the shadows.” His eyes dart to Dolion. “I admit, them finding you was not a part of the plan as you were meant to be the star in our next auction to help pay off some debts, sold to the highest bidder until they grew tired of you before returning to Dolion for good…”
Dolion lets out a frustrated breath. “For the tenth time, I was out doing my job, collecting women for your auction. It’s not my fault one of the idiots you left me with fucked up by giving away her location. Besides, I never fucking agreed to sell her! And now that I finally have her back, I’m never letting her go. She’s mine!”
My father’s eyes grow darker, narrowing in on Dolion. “We’ll see about that.” A muscle tics in Dolion’s jaw as my father’s gaze turns on me. “Once the Alaries did find you, it turned out even better than I imagined because they spent the next several months continuing their hunt for Le Diable when he was here the whole time!” He lets out a boisterous laugh, slapping the arm of his chair like the true sociopath that he is.
“Never too far from you,” Dolion says, his stealthy gaze on me.
Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow hard to keep it down.
“You see, child, Blue Velvet Fantasies has risen from the ashes once again, but this time, it was merely a decoy to be used for a greater purpose,” my father states. “Your husband and his brothers followed the breadcrumb trail Dolion so kindly laid out for them and went there tonight thinking that’s where Le Diable would be. They thought they had outsmarted us, but in reality, the place was extensively wired with hidden explosives that would destroy everything, including the precious Alaries.”
A gasp leaves me, dread filling me. No. No. No. He’s lying. I would know in my heart if Leo had died… Right?
“We had to make it look real by inviting several wealthy clients and obtaining a handful of girls. We even dragged in Igor Vasiliev to our little game, using him for his men we have now acquired. You know, the ones who stormed in here tonight,” he muses. “But alas, Igor and everyone inside the club were killed to help me achieve everything I’ve ever wanted. Revenge on the Alaries. And I can truly say that revenge tastes fucking delicious!” He leans forward, his head tilting to the side as he examines me with disdain. “Tell me, child, how does it feel to be a widow?”
“You’re l-lying!” I spit out, tears sliding down my cheeks. “They’re not… They’re not dead!”
He gives a slight shrug. “The bombs went off a couple of hours ago. There’s nothing left but embers and scorched earth.” He reaches into his pocket for his phone and turns it toward me. “See for yourself.”
A black-and-white visual shows me a location of what appears to be mass destruction. There are pieces of metal and debris everywhere. Bodies lying lifeless. Some in pieces. Fires far and wide. It’s an eerie nightmare.
“So, while you were partying with your friends tonight, enjoying yourself, your husband was most likely bleeding out slowly before eventually dying.” He reaches out for me, placing a rough hand on my cheek. “I’m curious… How does that make you feel?”
Numb. That’s how I feel as the image from the screen burns in my mind, knowing there’s no way someone made it out of that war zone.
Let alone my husband or his brothers, who the trap was intentionally set for.
A sob breaks free from my throat as I shrink out of my father’s touch and clutch the fabric of my dress. Pain spears me in the center of my chest, every section of my heart shattering into a million broken pieces.
Leo’s dead. My husband is dead.
A hand crashes down on my face, whipping my head to the side.
“Don’t fucking cry over Leo Alarie!” Dolion shouts in a violent outburst.
My father watches Dolion’s cruelty with pleasure before his eyes move back onto me. “I’ve acquired business deals poor old Charles Alarie would have never had the balls to partake in. Ones that will make me richer than any king. And I’ve secured enough connections and loyal soldiers over the years to make this all a reality for me. Because tonight…” He steeples his fingers before him, his grin widening with each second. “The Alarie Estate will crumble. And it’s time for a new era to begin with me as the ruler of this empire. It’s finally all mine.”
Dolion’s brows furrow, his eyes latching onto my father. “Yours? You said it would be ours.”
My father waves his hand around dismissively. “Ours in a figurative sense, not literal.”
Dolion shakes his head, anger radiating off him. “No. That was not the plan we agreed upon.” He slams his fist on the arm of his chair. “I did everything for you. I set the explosion that killed Charles Alarie. I gave you every piece of information from inside the estate you asked for over the years. I laid the fucking trail of breadcrumbs for the Alaries to uncover to ensure they met their demise tonight!”
“And I appreciate your dedication to the cause,” my father starts. “But the plan from the very beginning was for me to take over the Alarie Estate. It was always the end goal. For me to lead. For me to conquer and rule. Not you.” He smooths out his jacket. “I will forgo selling Scarlett in the next auction and give you her, and I will continue to allow you to work beneath me, but that is as far as my appreciation for your efforts extends.”
“Beneath you?” Dolion’s voice growls with fury. “You wouldn’t have gotten your fucking revenge without me!”
As they continue to argue, my head slumps against Maddy’s thigh, defeat weighing heavy on me. If Leo died…
Maddy’s thigh bumps against my head, and when I look up, her big blue eyes, glossed over in tears, are pleading with me.
Don’t give up.
“We lost,” I whisper, my shoulders deflating. “You heard what he said. There’s nothing we can do.”
She nudges me again, and this time, when my eyes catch with hers, I can’t ignore the vicious determination in her eyes.
And she’s right.
We have to at least try.
Leo would be so disappointed in me if he knew I gave up and let these monsters win.
Cautiously, I reach for the knife on the ground between my legs and begin sawing the rope around my ankles with as much force as I can without being noticed.
“You should be honored to be one of my soldiers,” my father remarks. “It is a privilege, not a—”
“Fuck that!” Dolion raises his gun and, without missing a beat, shoots my father in the stomach. Blood pools beneath his white shirt, seeping through the fabric. He gasps for air as he clutches his jacket before pressing his palms against the bullet hole.
I wait for the shock to course through me, but at this point, good riddance. One less monster for me to have to deal with.
“You…you son of a…” Blood spills from the corner of his lips as he slumps over, paling.
Dolion jumps up from his seat and paces. “Fuck!” He pulls at his dark hair. “This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. We were supposed to rule together. And Scarlett and I were going to get married with your blessing. You promised me I would be rewarded for all my years of service with the only thing I ever wanted.”
As Dolion continues to move, I feel the rope break free and fall to the floor. Glancing at Maddy, I lock eyes with her as I show a glimpse of the knife beneath the blanket. She closes her eyes and then nods, understanding what I need to do to try to get us out of here.
Suddenly, a symphony of bullets echoes outside the house, people screaming as the noise only intensifies. A nearby explosion causes the house to shake.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dolion roars, turning away from us to look out a window in the front of the house.
This is my moment.
Leaping to my feet, I take three giant steps, and then, with all my strength, I force the blade down on Dolion, piercing his skin. I had aimed for the side of his neck, but just as my knife was going down, the lights in the house turned on, and Dolion saw my reflection in the window and quickly twisted toward me, causing me to hit him in the shoulder.
He howls in pain, displeasure etched in his features.
“You bitch!” He reaches behind him, trying to pull the knife from his skin, but before he gets the chance, I get in my Ready Stance, bend my right knee, drive my right knee straight up, and then kick my right shin directly into his groin. Immediately, I return to my Ready Stance as Dolion groans and then collapses to the floor.
Mauro would be proud.
I turn to Maddy to free her, but just as I take a step, Dolion raises his gun. “Step away from her.”
I still, unsure of what to do. I can’t compete with a gun.
“I’ll let you choose, Scarlett,” he says, his lips curving up in delight. “You or her.”
“W-what?” I stammer. He can’t mean…?
“You get to choose who I’ll kill. You or her?”
I shake my head, standing protectively before Maddy. “You’re a monster.”
He shrugs, pushing himself upright. “I’ve been called worse.” He fires a warning shot inches away from Maddy, her body shaking in terror. “You have until the count of three, and if you don’t make a decision, I’ll make one for you.”
“N-no…” I look to Maddy, our eyes locking.
“One…”
My breaths come out in fast pants.
“Two…”
I won’t let him kill my best friend.
“Three.”
“Kill me!” I scream, my chest heaving with each breath I take.
Without warning, the door to the house flies off the hinges as smoke fills the room and men stampede inside.
“Drop your weapon!” the soldier closest to us screams.
Dolion stares at me, pure evil in his eyes. “Oh, Scarlett. I was never going to kill what has always been mine.”
“No!” I scream as he raises the gun, aiming directly at Maddy.
Something large crashes through the window behind her just as Dolion fires a shot. Smoke surrounds us everywhere, making it impossible for me to see what happened.
“Maddy!” I scream, shaking from head to toe.
Swiftly, I’m forcefully grabbed and yanked against a hard chest. The barrel of a gun digs into the side of my head, and I freeze.
“If I can’t have you, then no one will,” Dolion whispers against my ear.
“Drop your weapon, Dolion.” Through blurry eyes, I see Vin standing only feet away from me with his gun aimed at Dolion. He’s alive. His eyes have storms raging inside them as he looks between us. “It’s over. Let Scarlett go.”
His grip on me tightens painfully. “No. I don’t think I will. In fact, I think we’ll go together.” I pinch my eyes closed. If this is my last moment on Earth, then there’s only one face I want to see, and he appears as handsome as ever in my mind.
“Drop the gun!” Vin shouts.
Dolion takes a step back, trying to pull me back with him, but I keep my feet plastered to the floor.
A shot fires from behind me, and I’m positive it must have killed me until I hear Dolion scream in pain and collapse behind me, dropping his gun. Men quickly grab him, dragging him away. I spin on my heels, and the sight before me fills my eyes with tears of relief.
Am I dreaming?
“Leo,” I breathe as little black dots take over my vision, and I collapse into a pool of complete darkness.