Chapter 8
Drake
Her words hung in the air like a fog obscuring everything from my sight but her: “We need to save Jenny. Even if it means I have to…”
The gentle hum of office life beyond the glass walls felt surreal against the weight of Scarlett’s unfinished sentence. My mouth went desert dry at her words, my fingers freezing over the keyboard. The implied sacrifice in her unfinished sentence hit me like a physical blow, sending bile rising in my throat. I barely registered the others’ immediate protests as blood roared in my ears. The conference room suddenly felt too small, too airless. My tie constricted like a noose as memories flooded my mind of the first time she’d let her guard down with me.
Her skin glowing golden in the morning light as she’d traced patterns on my chest, trusting me enough to show her scars. “I never thought I’d be able to feel safe again,” she’d whispered, voice thick with emotion. “But with you, with all of you… I do.”
The memory twisted like a knife in my gut and made my chest constrict painfully as she continued speaking, her voice taking on that dangerous calm that terrified me more than any show of emotion. “I could contact them. Set up a meeting. A trade.” Her fingers twisted in her lap, the only sign of her inner turmoil. “They want me. Have wanted me since…”
“Stop.” The word tore from my throat, rough with barely contained emotion. “Don’t even think about it.”
April gasped softly from her corner of the room, tablet clutched to her chest like armor. Even Georgia, usually unflappable, had gone pale. The air conditioning kicked in again, humming quietly, raising goosebumps on my arms as another memory struck me - Scarlett’s lips soft against my neck last night, whispering “I love you” as we’d made love, her body trembling beneath my touch while Graham and Brody caressed her with heated eyes. But Scarlett seemed beyond noticing our reactions, that terrible calm still controlling her voice. I admired her strength and resolve, but this was just madness.
“But if it saves Jenny—”
“They’ll kill you both.” Brody’s growl carried the Beast’s rage, his massive frame vibrating with barely contained fury. His fists clenched on the table, turning his knuckles white with strain. “You know that, Bella.”
Another memory struck me with brutal force - Scarlett curled between us in bed, safe and warm, laughing at something Brody said while Graham’s fingers combed through her hair. The way she’d melted into our touch, finally whole again after being shattered. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing that, of losing her.
Scarlett’s chin lifted with that stubborn determination that had first made me fall in love with her. “Maybe. Or maybe they just want to silence me. Keep me from remembering…” She trailed off, something flickering in her eyes that made my stomach clench.
A phone rang somewhere in the office beyond our glass walls, the cheerful tone jarring against the tension in the room. I watched Scarlett’s hands twist tighter in her lap, remembering how those same hands had mapped my body just hours ago, tender and sure as she’d taken me inside her. How she’d gasped my name as she came apart in my arms while Brody kissed her deeply and Graham’s fingers tangled in her hair. There was no way I’d lose her now.
“And what about us?” My voice cracked slightly. “You think we could live with ourselves if we let you sacrifice yourself?” The thought of her walking willingly into their hands made my vision blur with unshed tears. “That we’d just go on without you?”
Her lips on my neck, breath warm against my skin as she’d whispered “I love you” for the first time. The way she’d trembled when I’d said it back, like she couldn’t quite believe she deserved this happiness. The memory flashed in with visceral cruelty in contrast to what she was suggesting.
“You’d have each other,” she whispered, not meeting our eyes. “And Jenny would be safe. Her family, whole again.”
Graham’s pen snapped in his grip, ink staining his perfectly manicured fingers. The quiet violence of it somehow worse than Brody’s obvious rage. “No.”
“I’ve thought it through,” Scarlett pressed on, her voice taking on that presentation tone she used for difficult clients. “I could arrange a meeting at—”
“Stop.” I pushed back from the table, unable to sit still under the weight of her words. My legs shook as I paced, memories of finding her that night after the banquet—broken, bleeding—flashing through my mind. But those images tangled with sweeter ones - her body arching beneath me as pleasure overwhelmed her, her laugh as we shared breakfast in bed, the way she melted into our touch when all three of us loved her at once. “Just… stop.”
The carpet muffled my footsteps as I moved, each step carrying me further from the table but unable to escape the horror of her suggestion.
She stood too, reaching for me. “Drake, please. We have to consider every option. Jenny is just a child…”
The first time she’d trusted me enough to shower together, letting me wash her hair while she cried about the scars that marked her body. How she’d turned in my arms afterward, pressing herself against me like she could crawl inside my skin. “You make me feel beautiful again,” she’d whispered against my chest.
“And you think letting you walk into their hands would save her?” My voice rose despite my effort to control it. “You think they’d just let her go? Let you live?” I grabbed her shoulders, gentle despite my desperation. “They’ll kill you both. You know that. Deep down, you know.”
The room had gone deathly quiet, even April’s usual nervous energy stilled by the weight of the moment. Through the glass walls, life continued in the office beyond - phones ringing, keyboards clicking, all of it surreal against the horror of what Scarlett was suggesting.
Last night’s memory flooded back - her body arching beneath my touch while Graham kissed her deeply and Brody’s hands traced her curves. The way she’d come apart in our arms, completely trusting, completely ours.
My mind flashed again to this morning - waking to find her already awake. When she emerged covered in sweat from her workout and looked at us with such tenderness it made my chest ache. “Sometimes I still can’t believe this is real,” she’d whispered, fingers tracing my jaw as she softly kissed me. “That I get to have this. Have you. All of you.”
“Then what do we do?” Tears filled her eyes though she blinked them back quickly. “How do we save her?”
I pulled her into my arms, breathing in her familiar scent as if I could somehow keep her there by sheer force of will. Over her head, I met Brody’s eyes—saw my own terror reflected there. Graham’s phone buzzed quietly on the table.
Still holding Scarlett, I glanced down at the message Graham held up: Over my dead body.
I gave a slight nod, tightening my arms around her. We’d find another way. We had to. Because the alternative was unthinkable.
“We’ll figure something out,” I murmured into her hair, the words a promise to both her and myself. “Together. But not like that. Never like that.”
Her shoulders shook slightly as she pressed her face into my chest. Whether from fear or frustration, I couldn’t tell. But she was here, safe in my arms. And I too would die before I let her sacrifice herself.
We all would.
My phone buzzed in my pocket—a message from Sensei about increased security at the gym. Normal, everyday concerns that felt surreal against the weight of Scarlett’s suggestion. How could the world just keep turning when she was contemplating…
I couldn’t even finish the thought.
Brody appeared beside us, his large hand spanning Scarlett’s back. “We protect our own, Bella,” he said softly. “All of them. We’ll find another way.”
But as I held her, feeling her heart beating against my chest, I wondered if we’d find that other way in time. And what it would cost us all if we didn’t.
The memory of this morning rose unbidden - waking to find her watching me sleep, her fingers tracing my jaw with such tenderness it made my chest ache. “Sometimes I still can’t believe this is real,” she’d whispered. “That I get to have this. Have you. All of you.”
Now, holding her while she contemplated sacrificing herself, that memory twisted like a knife in my gut. Because I couldn’t believe it either - couldn’t believe that after everything we’d built together, after all the walls we’d broken down, after all the love we’d found in each other’s arms - she could even think about walking away from us.
But I knew why she could. Knew it was the same fierce protective instinct that made us all ready to die for her. The same love that had healed her was now driving her to contemplate the unthinkable.
And that terrified me more than anything else.
Because love like that? It could make you do desperate things. Beautiful, terrible, desperate things.
I pressed my lips to her hair, breathing her in, trying to memorize every detail of this moment. Just in case.
No. Not just in case. Because we would find another way. We had to.
The alternative wasn’t just unthinkable.
It was impossible.
Scarlett drew back and looked me in the eyes. Her makeup smeared from the tears she’d shed onto my jacket and said, “I have other ideas,” she whispered against my chest, her words muffled but still carrying that dangerous determination. “Ways to draw them out. Places I could—”
“Don’t.” Graham’s voice cut through the room, sharp as a blade. “Don’t you dare finish that thought.”
I felt her stiffen in my arms, preparing to argue. Before she could, April stepped forward, her own eyes bright with tears.
“Scarlett, please.” April’s voice wavered. “When you were… after the attack… do you know what kept us going? All of us?” She gestured around the room. “Watching you heal. Watching you find love again. Find strength.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t throw that away. Don’t let them win by making you choose between two impossible sacrifices.”
As if reading my thoughts, Brody moved closer, his solid presence at my back a reminder that we were stronger together. Graham joined us, one hand settling on Scarlett’s shoulder while the other found my arm. A circle of protection, of love, of absolute determination.
We would save Jenny.
But not at the cost of Scarlett’s life.
Never that.