Chapter 25 Scarlett
scarlett
Never in my life would I have expected my world to be rocked so spectacularly. He listens with his hands as they trail over my body, moves with stamina that’s been shaped by his time on the ice, and brings me to the edge with a mouth fit for a sailor.
But what surprises me most is how it feels like coming home. Like after years of wandering around, doing what I could to be loved only to fall short every time, I’m finally seen and loved for me.
For the me on the inside, the one who swore she was too far gone to ever be considered worthy of calling this place or this man home.
There isn’t a single part of me that doesn’t wish I could go back and do things differently, love him a little better, come back a hell of a lot sooner.
But mostly, there isn’t a part of me that doesn’t wish I had chased his love with the same reckless abandon I did my father's.
Our chests heave as we lie in the grass, basking in the aftermath of what I can only describe as pure love.
His fingers slowly trail up and down my arm when his phone pings.
The veins in his hands pop as he reaches to pick it up.
His brow furrows as he looks at the screen.
“I don’t know who this is, but they sent whatever this video is to everyone at my house. ”
I lean over hesitantly, my stomach bottoming out when I see the screen. “Lucas, don’t.” But I’m too late, his finger hits the video, and my voice comes through the speakers.
“I don’t give a rat's ass if you have fifteen kids or one,” I’m going to hurl, right here in this field. “You stole from this company, and that’s grounds for termination. Therefore, pack your shit, and get out while you can do so with your head held high. Otherwise, I’ll call security.”
His eyes narrow at the screen before he grimaces.
I’m frozen, the video playing on an unsettling loop in my mind.
I remember that day so vividly. I remember the way I ran out of the office and cried for the first time in years because I handled that situation so poorly.
The woman was just trying to feed her kids, and my father had caught her taking food out of the company fridge.
God, he was pissed. Why? I don’t know, it wasn’t like we didn’t throw leftovers away every single day. I figured if I handled it, it would have been easier on her. But then a contract fell through, and I was on the receiving end of his outrage, and I took it out on her.
“Lettie, who sent this?” he asks, voice wound tight.
My head hangs in front of me, my insides rioting at the realization. “My money’s on my father.”
His hand reaches out, tilting my chin so that our eyes lock. The disgust that was on his face moments ago is now replaced by anger. “Why?”
I shrug. It’s half-hearted at best, but I try my hardest to downplay it. “To make you hate me? Maybe to make it clear that I don’t actually belong here.”
His eyes widen before his head tips back, and a shrill bark of laughter leaves him. “Yeah, I don’t think so. He’s going to have to try a bit harder than that.”
Tension winds through my forehead as my brows furrow, “Wait,” I say, shaking my head softly. “You aren’t mad?”
He scoffs, sliding his phone in his pocket before he hauls me to my feet. “Nope, and I’m not about to let you get in your head about it.” He starts to move, pulling me behind him. “Come on,”
“Where are we going?”
He looks over his shoulder at me, smiling that smile that’s deadly to my insides, before delivering the kill shot. “To show you how much we all don’t care about your past.”
Dread fills me from my head to my toes. I try and fail to dig the heels of my boots into the ground. I pull my arm, but he doesn’t let go. Instead, he chuckles, making me spiral even more.
“No, Lucas!” I hiss. “They’re going to hate me. They all got that?”
“Every single one.”
I scream, literally scream like I’m being chased by a masked murderer. There’s no way, after the tiny breakthrough Hannah and I had earlier, that they’re going to be accepting of me now. They’re all so kind, and I’m, well, I was not so kind.
Strong hands grip my face, and I shake it, trying to throw off his grip. “Scarlett,” he clips.
My eyes fly wide, and it’s then that I realize I’m crying. His thumbs swipe at my cheeks, and the second my eyes focus on his face, he gives me a closed mouth smile. It’s placating, and I hate it. “No one is going to think less of you. We don’t work like that. Trust me.”
Trust him? Trust him? I’m almost certain this has ruined every single chance I have at being with this man. There’s no way that the protective bunch of people at his house is going to be okay with me after seeing that. And he didn’t even watch the whole thing. It only got worse after that.
When I first got here, I thought I could never be the version I once was, but now, looking at that video, all I feel is shame.
And surprisingly, that gives me a bit of hope.
Hope that tells me I’m a hell of a lot closer to being the woman I always wanted to be, one that Nana would have been proud of.
My heart races the entire way back to the ranch, my hands shoved beneath my legs to keep them from shaking. Every muscle in my neck is throbbing. I’m not going to be able to move my head if this keeps up.
“I’ll carry you in if I have to,” he whispers into the otherwise silent car.
I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a second before I look in his direction. They’re pleading, pleading for me to trust him, pleading for me to take the step, not to retreat. And damn it, if there’s anything I want more than to hide, it’s to love the man next to me.
“Fine,” I say, pushing the door open and steeling my spine as we walk into the house.
The door clicks shut behind us, and every head turns in our direction. I brace myself for the barrage of comments coming my way, but to my surprise, Sammy claps once, the sound echoing through the room. “Thank God, now we can have pie and play Uno.”
My jaw falls open, my eyes meeting everyone in the room one by one. Not a single one of them says anything. “But…”
Abby snorts, “Is this your first rodeo?” The side of her mouth ticks up before she continues. “We don’t give a shit. Now, are we playing Uno or not?”
I’m convinced the world doesn’t want me to be happy.
After a night like last night, I wake up on a high, grateful that my father’s plan to make the people here hate me epically failed.
Not to mention, I realize I don’t suck at “game night,” in fact, I’m actually quite fond of it.
I feel like I’m ready to take on the world, but then my phone rings in my back pocket while I’m making Lucas and I coffee.
Abby’s name flashes across the screen, and for some odd reason, I smile, “Hey,” I whisper, sure she’s calling to check up on him, but I’m sadly mistaken when the words leave her mouth.
“Scarlett,” she bites out, “I came to talk to my brothers about security this morning. Elliott caught me up on everything he's been looking into since his mom’s death... There’s so much here. You guys are more connected than I think either of you knows. Unless you’re both fantastic actors.”
My eyes roll as I place a mug under the coffee maker and press the brew button. “I hate when you talk in circles. Get to the point,” I fire back, inhaling deeply as the comforting scent fills the kitchen.
She forcefully exhales, “He has family. Elliott found a cousin who lives in Tampa. Rory Bolton. But that’s not all.”
She pauses, cursing before she continues. “His mom used to work at the ranch. I’m literally staring at a picture of her and a woman that looks oddly like you, standing in front of what’s now the stables.”
What? “How old is that picture?”
“Lucas is in it, too. He’s a baby, but he’s right here.” What the hell? I have so many questions. Did Miller know? Is he part of all this?
She keeps talking, but my phone vibrates, and when I pull it away, the text message sends blood roaring through me, blocking out every other sound.
Papi: Tick tock, do I need to push a little harder?
That colossal freaking asshole. “Abby.” I cut her off.
“I need you to see if your brother can figure out how my dad ties into this. Because I know he is somehow.” I screenshot the text thread.
The one with all the angry texts when I first got here, and what he sent after Lucas’s mom’s funeral, followed up by the text he just sent.
“I don’t care what comes of him, Abby.” I grit out, “You don’t hurt the people I love and get away with it.”
She gasps before growling, “Got it.”
Forgetting all about the coffee, I run to the rehab. The door slams against the wall as I push through it. Miller jumps from his spot inside one of the stalls. “Where's the fire?” he jokes, but all traces of humor slide off him when he takes in my face. “What happened?”
He walks out of the stall, coming to stand in front of me, his eyes crinkling at the corner as they narrow. “I want to believe you aren’t part of this, but so help me God, Miller, I will kill you myself if I find out you are.”
“Whoa, hey.” His hands shoot up, “Slow down, what’s happening?”
I study his face, trying to find any hint of deception, but all I find is concern. “Did you know Lucas’s mom used to work here?”
His jaw drops, “Uh…” A flush creeps up his tan neck, my eyes narrow in on it as he brings his hand to his nape, squeezing softly.
“Miller.” I seethe, pacing the length of the reception area as I run him through everything from the cigar band to finding his mom. His hands clench, the muscle in his jaw popping every once in a while as he bites his tongue.
“I’m not working with your dad if that's what you’re asking.” I freeze midstep.
Spinning on my heel, I step into him, “But you’re not denying you knew Lucas’s mom was friends with Nana?” I need something, anything. But as his head slowly shakes, I feel the anger build inside me.
I chew my bottom lip as I try to think of what could possibly be so important to keep hidden that my father would literally kill for. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m–”
“Forget it, I’ll figure it out myself.” I wave him off, plopping down at the computer behind the reception desk and start to research everything there is on Arias Corp.
I only knew the oil side, but there’s more: stocks, cattle, and I’m positive there’s some not-so-legal activities thrown in there somewhere.
I’m currently kicking myself for not paying closer attention and for not befriending Candace, Dad’s apparently very good PR manager. There isn’t a single piece of negative press about him or the company. It’s clean, too clean.
I never would have imagined there’d come a day when I’d be actively trying to find something to hold over my father’s head when I spent most of my life just trying to get his approval.
It’s almost as if he did it on purpose, paid no mind to me when I was doing what I loved, but when I was close to him, working his business, he’d act like I was the most treasured thing in the world.
Then, like a tidal wave, it crashes into me.
He kept me close so I didn’t dig. He knew my curiosity would get the better of me.
He knew if I came out here, things could come to light.
So he lied. He lied to keep me from uncovering whatever it is he’s hiding.
He kept me from Lucas, from the ranch, from the life I loved because he didn’t want to lose what he had built.
He knew I would be his undoing. Guess it’s time to put my heartless Scarlett hat on and bite the hell back. Woof woof, asshole.
“Lettie?” Lucas’s worried voice comes through a cracked window. I glance at the time on the computer, and holy hell, it’s been hours. “No, did something happen to her?” he yells, voice frantic. “Lettie!”
I don’t think twice before running out the door, unwilling to let him believe that for half a second that I’m not okay, or worse, gone. That man will never feel abandoned or unloved again. “I’m right here, Goldie. I’m fine.”
The time has come, I’m going to have to tell him my father, my own blood, had something to do with the death of his mother. And it’s going to break him, is it going to make him think less of me? Is he going to run? Will he even want me around?
“I’m sorry, I…” I stumble over myself. “Abby called. There are some things you need to know, but I think we should sit.”
Wrapping my hand around his, I pull him into the rehab so we can have this conversation with Miller without having to rehash it later. My phone pings as we sit, and when I look at it, my stomach plummets. That’s definitely Nana and his mom.
I slide my phone across the table, letting them both see the picture she just sent over. “Is that?...” He squints at the phone, swiping his fingers across it as he zooms in. My phone falls from his hand like it burned him. He looks at me, seemingly embarrassed. “Sorry.”
My hand covers his, “I don’t care about the phone, Lucas. I care about you.”
His breath hitches, his eyes heavy as they drill into mine, a heady mix of heartbreak and hope battle for control. “I need to know what you’re thinking before I go on, because there's more. And it doesn’t get better.”
Fear bleeds through my chest, its claws threatening to rip me apart from the inside right here, right now.
Sweat beads across my forehead as I prepare for the devastation I know is coming.
He nods, giving me a tight-lipped smile.
I pick up my phone, opening the text thread I share with my dad, then slide it back across the table.
His eyes read the texts over and over. “Your dad killed my mom?” His monotone voice gives nothing away.
I nod, bile creeping up my throat as Miller’s spine straightens. Like a puppet on a string, his head slowly lifts to mine.
“Why?” Lucas asks, utterly broken.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, “But I’m going to find out. I’m going to fix it, make him pay. I promise.”
He gives me a sad smile, “Lettie.” His hand lands on mine the second I try to stand.
“I came to terms with losing my parents a long time ago, my friends are getting married faster than I can blink, and I’ve been alone for a long time.
But I can’t lose you, just, please. If fixing it is a threat to you, just leave it alone. ”