6 Asher #3
“Our family comes from a long military background,” Declan continues. “Our grandfather was CIA. Our father worked in Secret Service. Grant was a Navy SEAL. I was in the Army. Roman was a Marine.”
Roman lifts his coffee slightly in acknowledgment.
“And Asher…” Declan glances toward me. “Asher was recruited straight out of West Point into a Special Forces task force.”
Scarlett blinks several times before turning slowly toward me.
“Wait… what?” Confusion floods her expression.
“You’re in high school.”
“I’m undercover,” I say carefully. “For you.”
Scarlett’s entire body goes still.
“We didn’t know exactly what we were walking into when we came here,” Declan explains. “But after the night of the attack, we realized the situation was far more dangerous than we expected. You needed close protection, and Asher was the best person for the job.”
Scarlett pushes away from the counter so suddenly the stool scrapes loudly against the floor.
“You’re kidding me, right?” The hurt in her voice hits like a punch to the chest.
“You lied to me, how old are you Asher? Since your obviously not in High School!”
“Red…. I’m 26, but that doesn’t change anything. Everything that has happened…”
“You told me I could trust you!” she snaps, tears already filling her eyes. “You made me believe you.”
I stand immediately.
“Scarlett, listen to me…”
“No!” she cries. “You don’t get to tell me to trust you while hiding something like this from me.”
“I didn’t want to lie to you,” I say honestly while moving toward her slowly. “I just needed to keep you safe.”
Her breathing turns shaky.
“You don’t understand the condition you were in when you showed up here that night.”
Her eyes flash with pain.
“I don’t understand?” she whispers brokenly. “Really, Asher?” Tears spill down her cheeks.
“It happened to me.” Every word sounds shattered.
“You don’t think I still feel them touching me? You don’t think I hear them in my nightmares?” Her voice cracks completely. “I still relive them chasing me through those woods every time I close my eyes.”
“Scarlett….”
“It’s all I fucking see.” She breaks completely after that. I cross the room instantly and pull her toward me. She tries to step back but I don’t let her. I wrap my arms around her anyway and hold her against my chest while she cries.
“I told you,” I murmur into her hair while holding her tighter, “I swore nobody would ever hurt you again, and I meant it.” I close my eyes as another sob tears out of her.
“I would take a fucking bullet for you, I’d kill for you, Red.” My throat tightens painfully.
“Please don’t cry,” I whisper. “It’s killing me.” I tilt her face up to look at me and wipe the tears away with the pad of my thumb.
“I don’t want you to regret this,” I say quietly while brushing tears from her cheeks. “But fuck, Red… there’s more. “Scarlett stiffens in my arms immediately.
“I didn’t want to tell you right now,” I admit. “But after your reaction just now, I can’t keep anything else from you. I need you to promise me something first.”
She swallows hard. “What?”
“When I tell you this, you remember what Declan just said about us.” I tilt her chin up gently until her eyes meet mine. “Remember that we can protect you. We will protect you.” Fear flickers across her face anyway.
“Just tell me, Asher.” I take a slow breath.
“Last night someone breached the property. Our alarms went off immediately, and we caught one of the intruders.” My jaw tightens. “But another one made it into the house long enough to leave a message.”
Scarlett’s face drains of color. “What kind of message?”
I hesitate for half a second before forcing the words out.
“There’s a bounty out on you.” Harper sits upright so fast she nearly knocks over her coffee.
“A what?!” Scarlett just stares at me.
“A bounty?” she whispers. “Like… someone wants me dead?”
I pull her closer immediately when I feel her starting to shake.
“We don’t know exactly what they want yet,” I tell her honestly. “Only that someone is willing to pay a lot of money to get to you.” Her breathing turns uneven.
“But that’s why we’re here,” I continue firmly. “No one is going to touch you, Scarlett. Not while we’re breathing.” Declan steps forward next.
“We also think it would be smart to start training you,” he says calmly. “Self-defense. Situational awareness. Basic protection techniques.” Roman nods.
“If something ever does happen, we want you to know how to defend yourself long enough for us to get to you.”
“Not that I’d ever let it get that far,” I say immediately. Scarlett presses a trembling hand against her mouth while trying to process everything.
“This is insane,” Harper blurts out. “Like actual mafia movie, government conspiracy, assassin level insane.” Roman smirks slightly.
“Welcome to our world, Tempesta.”
“That is not comforting!” she snaps.
Zariah, who has been silent near the doorway the entire time, finally speaks.
“The important thing is that they failed,” she says evenly. Scarlett looks around the room slowly, overwhelmed.
“So, what happens now?” I glance toward my brothers before answering.
“Now?” I say quietly. “Now we make damn sure nobody ever gets close to you again.”