Chapter 3 – Scarlett
Tired as fuck, I walked down the hallway of my apartment, my heels clicking against the floor, fingers rubbing my eyes. My body was aching all over, and my head was banging—I just needed some rest to get rid of this exhaustion.
I grabbed the door handle and pushed it open, the low cartoon chatter from the TV drifting through the air. Locking the door behind me, I flicked off my heels with practiced ease and strolled into the room, the floor cool beneath my bare feet.
When I stepped into the living room and shed my jacket, my eyes fell on the beautiful girl sprawled on my couch. She was wearing pink pajamas, and her soft chestnut-brown hair was a tangled mess.
Littered beneath her feet were a bunch of empty takeout containers and two empty plastic bottles of soft drinks.
I draped my jacket over the couch’s headrest and stared at her innocent face, her eyes closed and her chest heaving. She was fast asleep, yet even in that state, the girl was still an epitome of beauty.
Evaline Harlow had dropped by earlier today to spend the weekend with me before returning to her college dorm.
She and I had known each other for ages, which was why she was more like a sister to me than a friend.
Eva was the only person on planet Earth with the guts to show up at my place unannounced.
She was supposed to be watching TV, but she ended up sleeping like a baby. What a beautiful sight to behold.
“Eva,” I called softly, walking around to the front of the couch.
“I’m wide awake, I promise!” The words fell from her lips in a frantic rush as she jerked upright.
I stopped in my tracks, eyebrows lifted in shock with a suppressed grin on my lips.
She met my suspicious gaze. “Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t asleep.” Her tone was quiet, yet defensive.
“Yeah. Right,” I answered, sinking into the couch, the worn leather crunching beneath my weight. “You ate all of this?” My fingers gestured toward the takeout containers scattered across the floor.
“Is that judgment I hear in your voice?” she asked, mustering a fake frown.
My smile broadened. “No. Just curiosity.”
She let out a heavy sigh and leaned back on the couch with a hand over her belly. “Yeah, I ate them all.” Her stormy blue eyes flicked toward me. “Sue me.”
I laughed, reaching to ruffle her brown hair.
“How was work?” she asked. “Anything interesting happen?”
The image of the handsome, equally dangerous man flashed through my mind, reminding me of our brief encounter at Josie’s.
Maybe I had overstepped by correcting him in front of his associates about the painting.
I couldn’t tell whether he was pleased or angry because his expression never changed, not even for a split second.
I later learned from Damon and James that those men were in the mafia—Russian Bratva—and that was why everyone was so afraid of them. Yes, they looked the part: deadly, cold, and monstrous. But when I served them at their table, I realized they weren’t as terrible as people thought they were.
My mind flashed back to that one man with the coldest stare at the table. Tall, muscular, handsome, and dangerously attractive. I’d caught his eyes more times than I could count, and for every glance, something stirred up within me.
“Earth to Carter.” Eva snapped her fingers in my face. “Hello? Are you still with me?”
I blinked back to reality. “Yeah, sorry, I uh….” My voice trailed off into silence.
She tilted her head to the side, a glint of suspicion creeping into her face. “Wait a minute, did you meet someone?” Her excitement couldn’t be any more glaring.
“What? Why would you think that?” I asked, my tone defensive.
“Because you zoned out right after I asked if anything interesting happened at work.” She sat up and faced me, her gaze unwavering.
“That’s…that’s ridiculous.” I blew a raspberry.
Her eyes lit up with mirth. “Damn, you did meet someone interesting.” She cackled.
“No, I did not.” I cleared my throat and glanced away.
“Yes, you did.” Her smile widened. “You’re doing that thing you do when you’re lying; you avoid eye contact and touch your nose.”
I paused with my finger on my nose—caught right in the act.
“Now, spill.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“God, you’re so stubborn!” She let out a frustrated groan. “You do realize you’re 22 years old and allowed to spread your legs—I mean, your wings.”
My brows knitted together. “I see what you did there, you little devil.”
She laughed. “But seriously, Lettie, you’re now officially a college graduate. You need to stop letting life slip through your fingers. Live a little, for Christ’s sake!”
“But I am living.”
“No, you’re existing,” she answered. “There’s a difference.”
I exhaled sharply and leaned back on the couch. “I’m that boring, huh?”
“Yes, you are,” she replied sternly.
“Jesus, you didn’t have to be blunt about it,” I said, shooting her a quick look.
“I’m sorry, but as your friend, it is my duty to tell you the truth—regardless of your feelings.”
I groaned, slapping my palms over my face.
“Lettie, you’re so caught up with work that you forget to stop and smell the roses sometimes,” she added, her voice calmer and much more soothing.
“Work is what pays the bills, Eva,” I said.
“Is that the kind of life you wanna live—detached from the rest of the world?”
I paused for a moment, looking right at her. “It’s not as bad as it seems, trust me.”
Her face contorted into a plastic scowl. “You’re 22, not 52,” she said. “You need more excitement and adventure in your life.”
I rubbed my eyes. “What I need right now is some rest—God knows I need it for where I’m going tomorrow.” My voice dropped, and my heart skipped a beat.
Eva noticed the sudden change in my mood. “Where’re you going tomorrow?” she asked, curious.
I hesitated for a while, my jaw tightening as the memories I’d buried for so long came flooding into my mind. “I’m going to see my dad.”
The color drained from her face. “Oh,” she said, her tone barely above a whisper.
“Yeah,” I answered with the same tone. “He’s been sick for a while, and my grandma says he wants to see me.”
She knew my history with the man—how he’d been absent all my life and the void he left in my heart. She knew how much I despised him for all the pain he’d caused me over the years. Eva watched me in silence, as if uncertain of what to do or say.
The thought of seeing him again after he abandoned me with my maternal grandmother made my heart ache. I was just a child when he gave me away, and his reason was that I was the cause of his wife’s death.
She died giving birth to me, and the man put all the blame on the innocent baby. He spent decades hating me for something I had no control over. Why did he need me now—he never did before—what changed?
I didn’t want to go at first, but I knew I couldn’t keep avoiding him forever.
As Father of the Year, this man appeared in fragments whenever he felt like—never enough to hold on to. He missed all of my birthdays and every important milestone in my life.
The thought of facing him again after all this time felt like reopening a wound that had never fully healed. I could decide not to go, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. But whether I liked it or not, he was still my father.
Besides, I was curious about why he wanted to see me. I was sure this wasn’t the first time he was sick, so that couldn’t have been the reason.
Why had he chosen now to reach out?