Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
O f all the things to come out of this beautiful woman’s mouth, that was the very last thing Matt had expected.
A myriad of emotions flickered over Scarlet’s face, none of them good. Worry, sadness, doubt. Without second-guessing himself, he plucked her from her chair, settled her on his lap with her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. He knew that sometimes it was easier to talk if no one was looking directly at you. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to support her and comfort her while she shared her story.
After a heartbeat, she leaned back into his arms.
Matt pressed his lips to the top of her head and just held her. He didn’t know how long they sat there like that before she finally spoke.
“I told you that I grew up in a tiny town in South Dakota,” she began, her quiet voice loud in the otherwise silent room. “It was just me and my mom. I didn’t have the best upbringing. Like I said before, I dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and then she and I went our separate ways.”
It took everything he had to not tense beneath her. Because holy shit. A person didn’t just go “separate ways” from their fourteen-year-old child. Or rather, they weren’t supposed to. Not legally, and sure as fuck not morally. But he had to ask... “Didn’t anyone come looking for you? The school? CPS?”
She scoffed. “Yeah, right. Even if they did, my mom probably reported me as a runaway. At least, that’s what she’d always threatened to do. Said it would make her life so much easier.”
“Where did you go?” he asked, impressed that he’d kept his voice calm. He was so pissed at her piece-of-shit mother. And because he was pretty sure he knew where Scarlet had ended up.
“There was a girl a couple years older than me who lived a few trailers over that kind of took me under her wing.”
He frowned. Blind leading the fucking blind.
“She hung out at the local motorcycle club, and so I tagged along. A lot. Until she and I were basically living at the clubhouse.”
“How old were you?”
She flinched, and he wanted to kick himself. He ran a hand down her arms to comfort her. And himself.
“Almost fifteen.”
Matt closed his eyes. He’d expected the answer, but hearing her say it out loud...
Holy fuck. He knew what went on in most MC clubhouses. The idea of her living in one at fourteen years old would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “And then?”
She went quiet for a moment. He imagined she was gathering her thoughts. Deciding what she should and shouldn’t reveal. Which was fine. Because he knew he hadn’t fully earned her trust. Yet.
“I was a fixture there for a few years... and then one night, after a really wild party, I witnessed the club’s vice president shoot and kill three club members for disrespecting him.”
Ice slithered down his spine. There was more. He knew it in his gut, but he wouldn’t push. Not now, anyway. “Holy shit, Scar,” he whispered, tightening his arms around her.
She let out a deep breath, then shifted on his lap to face him and tentatively met his gaze.
“What happened after that, sweetheart?”
“The cops came the next morning for something totally unrelated. I can’t even remember what. Steele, the club’s VP, and a couple other guys were moving the bodies when they showed up.” She chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Shitty timing, right? But long story short, I was the only witness to Steele shooting the guys. The feds swooped in—the club was apparently running drugs and guns—and I was placed in witness protection.”
“Are you still in WITSEC?”
She shook her head. “Steele’s trial was about four months after the arrest. I stayed in the program for just over three years. Then Steele was killed in prison, and around the same time, the MC disbanded.”
Awfully convenient timing , he thought.
“A month after all that went down, it was decided I didn’t need protection anymore. There was no longer a threat. Bates, my handler, said I could either go back to my old life or keep the identity they made for me and start fresh. It was a no-brainer, really, so here I am.”
“Fresh start,” he murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. His eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him. “Was that why losing your driver’s license had you acting?—”
“Totally freaked out? Panicked enough to kick you out of your own office?” A sad smile tipped her lips. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure how it all worked. When I moved here from Arizona, Bates took care of the details for me. Driver’s license, health insurance... That kind of thing. Truthfully, I think he felt sorry for me. It’s safe to say I was a nervous wreck.”
“That’s completely understandable, Scarlet. Give yourself some grace.”
She shrugged, and her face flushed. “Anyway, that’s why I kinda freaked when my license was stolen. Because I wasn’t sure if the new identity they gave me was actually in the system or not.”
“Again, understandable, sweetheart. Obviously, Bates did his job and everything checked out. Must’ve been a relief, huh?”
“You have no idea.” She smiled, and it almost reached her eyes. Almost. “Are you regretting coming to my rescue yet?”
He tilted his head in question. “What are you talking about?”
“All of this”—she waved her hand between them—“started because I was freaking out over Daisy breaking her arm. You came to my rescue then, and again after the break-in.”
He shook his head. “Please don’t paint me as some kind of hero. I’m far from it.”
She scoffed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m not, Scar.” He was dead fucking serious. “I didn’t rescue you. I helped out a friend. A friend who has become very important to me. And you can’t say you wouldn’t do the same for me.”
“I would. But this is a lot, Matt. Like a lot a lot. I get it if it’s too much. I mean, if you don’t feel comfortable with me and Daisy staying with you, I one thousand percent understand. We can?—”
“Listen to me, and listen good, sweetheart. Everything you just said about your past? It changes nothing.” He frowned. “No, wait. It does. I knew you were strong before. But now? You’re the strongest fucking woman I know.” She looked at him like he was crazy, and he couldn’t let it stand. He was going to make her believe him. No matter how long it took. “I can do the math, so I know you had Daisy somewhere in the middle of that chaos. Going through all that shit by yourself? You leave me in absolute awe, Scarlet You blow my fucking mind.”
She blinked, and something that looked a lot like hope flickered over her face. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part. After a moment, she asked, “Blow your mind in a good way?”
Matt wanted to pump his fist in the air. He hadn’t been wrong. Hope now shined bright in her eyes, and it made him feel ten feet tall.
He framed her face in both his hands, and her mouth dropped open the tiniest bit. It took all his willpower to not kiss her. Time and place—neither was right. “Yes, Scarlet Miller. You built yourself into the incredible woman before me, and it blows my mind in the best damn way possible.”
“Oh,” she said softly, breath whispering over his lips.
Matt’s gaze dropped to her mouth. And when he looked back into her eyes, something deep within him rejoiced at the heat he found there. They might not be on the exact same page, but at least they were in the same chapter.
Running his thumb gently over her lower lip, he laid a chaste kiss to where her cheek and mouth met. “You are so damn special to me. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Behind them, someone cleared their throat. He let go of her beautiful face and scowled at the intruders in the doorway.
“Sorry,” Gavin muttered at the same time Bean pointed at him and said, “Blame him, not me.”
Helping Scarlet back onto her chair, Matt ran a hand over his jaw. “Oh, don’t you worry, Bean. I’ll always blame Gavin.”
“Hot damn.” Bean retook her seat and opened her laptop. “I knew having you join the crew was going to be awesome!”
“Zip it, B,” Gavin grumbled.
“Sure thing, boss,” she said, giving them a wide grin. “Now, what do we know?”
Matt looked at Scarlet. The ball was in her court. However much she decided to share, he would support her.
Nodding, Scarlet blew out a breath and reached for his hand.
He linked their fingers and squeezed. “I’ve got your back.”
“ We’ve got your back,” Bean chimed in.
Scarlet’s mouth opened, then closed.
“Just so you know,” Bean said, expression turning serious, “whatever you tell us doesn’t leave this room unless you say so.”
“And if you do give us the okay to share your info, then it would be on a need-to-know basis only,” Gavin said. “We want to help you. Even if you just tell Bean the basics, with your permission, she can dig deeper into everything. See what the connections are.”
“But we don’t even know this guy’s name.” Disbelief tinged Scarlet’s words as she gestured at the image on the conference room’s giant Smartboard.
Gavin shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s Bean. She’s like...”
“Magic, boss,” Bean said, that smug smile on her face. “The word you’re looking for is magic .”
Scarlet chuckled, seemingly put at ease by their banter. She caught Matt’s gaze and mouthed, Thank you , then turned back to the others. As she retold her story, pride surged through him. The woman was fucking amazing. Tough. Resilient. Courageous.
Matt knew he was falling in deep with her. Knew that fact should give him pause.
Should .
But it didn’t. Not any longer. Because the more time he spent with Scarlet, the more he got to know her, the more right this thing between them felt. Sure, part of him still worried he’d get burned like before. That this time around, the heartbreak would be even more devastating. However, the more sensible part knew down to his marrow that Scarlet was nothing like his ex-wife, that she’d never do what Krista had done.
He took in the woman beside him and calm settled over him.
For once, Matt was going to put the doubt and second-guessing away. He was going to trust her, and in turn, himself. He wanted to see where they went.