8 Asher
“She became the only thing keeping the monster inside me human.”
The next couple of days were a whirlwind of planning.
We finally managed to convince Scarlett that keeping her home wasn’t about locking her away.
It was about giving her time to heal while we taught her how to survive.
There was a difference, even if she struggled to see it at first.
Declan came up with the idea of having Zariah infiltrate Vale Enterprises.
Turns out Thomas had already been looking to hire someone for a newly created Director of Corporate Risk position.
Apparently, after the incident at the school and the rumors starting to circulate, some of the newer clients and several members of the board were getting nervous.
They wanted someone to oversee executive security, review safety procedures, coordinate event protection, and assess potential threats to the company.
Basically, they wanted someone to make them feel safe and keep the board from panicking.
Grant had our tech team build an entire shell corporation beneath Knightfall that couldn’t be traced back to us even if someone dug deep.
Within twenty-four hours, Zariah Cole had a flawless professional history, military credentials, federal consulting experience, references, tax records, certifications, and enough digital footprint to fool any background check Thomas could throw at her.
Honestly, it was terrifying watching how easily Knightfall could manufacture an entirely new life for someone.
Thomas, meanwhile, was losing his shit because Scarlett had become unreachable.
We had gotten her a new phone and new number so she could access all her stuff, but she was not responding to his attempts at emails.
Harper told us he and Barry showed up at her house looking for Scarlett two days ago.
Apparently, Thomas refused to believe Harper when she said Scarlett wasn’t there.
Dr. Bennett had eventually stepped in and even offered to let them search for the house if it would calm him down.
Harper said Barry looked apologetic the entire time.
Thomas didn’t. According to Harper, he stormed through the Bennett house opening doors and checking rooms like a man losing control of something he believed belonged to him.
When he finally realized Scarlett wasn’t there, our house became his next stop.
Roman was not exactly welcoming. The second Thomas tried barging through the front door, Roman stepped in front of him and calmly informed him he had no idea who the fuck Scarlett Vale was.
Thomas apparently didn’t appreciate that answer and tried shoving past him.
Big mistake. Roman pulled his Staccato from the back of his waistband and pressed the barrel directly against Thomas’s forehead. Roman smiled while he did it.
“Heard you the first time,” Roman had told him calmly. “Now hear me real fucking carefully. You step foot on this property again without permission and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes before you make it through the front door.”
After that? Thomas finally left. With Scarlett being on bedrest, we’d spent the last week getting to know each other better.
When we weren’t planning our investigation and infiltration of Vale Enterprises, Scarlett and I were usually stretched out in her bed watching random shows and movies.
It was strange as hell for me honestly. I wasn’t used to sitting still long enough to binge-watch TV with someone.
Most of my life had been missions, training, violence, or preparing for the next disaster.
But with her? I felt like I could spend the rest of my life lying in this bed doing absolutely nothing and still be happy.
I thought leaving Special Forces would destroy me.
At first, it honestly almost did. Then Scarlett happened.
“What do you want to watch?” she asks while trying to carefully reposition herself against the mountain of pillows behind her.
The broken ribs were still giving her hell, and between the pain and the nightmares, she barely slept.
“Well,” I say dryly, “we just finished all the Harry Potter movies because apparently my life was incomplete without seeing them… which, for the record, I probably could’ve survived without.”
She gasps dramatically.
“How dare you say that! Those are some of the greatest books and movies of all time.”
She smacks my chest lightly before scrolling through the streaming apps.
“When all this is over,” she continues, “we’re going to Florida. I’ve always wanted to see the whole Harry Potter world at Universal.”
The fact she says we’re going instead of I’m going does something dangerous to my chest.
“Honestly,” I admit, “I don’t really care what we watch. I don’t have much experience with what’s good and what isn’t, so I’m learning as we go.”
Her eyes soften slightly at that.
“How about this then? I heard it’s really good.”
She clicks on a show called Game of Thrones before settling back against me beneath the blankets.
“You said the last one was really good too,” I laugh.
“There’s dragons in this one.”
“Fantastic, weren’t there dragons in that one too.”
Before the show can even start, there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Scarlett calls out.
The door cracks open and Roman pokes his head inside with one hand dramatically covering his eyes.
“You two decent in here? Don’t need therapy from seeing anything.”
I launch a pillow at his head, but the asshole dodges it easily.
“She wouldn’t have told you to come in if we weren’t decent, idiot. What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he says casually. “Made dinner and figured you losers might wanna eat.”
He walks in carrying a tray loaded with food.
“I made pasta con le acciughe and white pizza.” The smell alone nearly makes me groan.
Roman really was annoyingly good at cooking when he actually put effort into it.
He sets the tray across the foot of the bed before immediately making himself comfortable on Scarlett’s chaise lounge like he owns the damn room.
Over the last week, my brothers had become surprisingly protective of Scarlett too.
Declan tried to pretend he wasn’t emotionally invested, but I caught him checking security feeds whenever she slept.
Roman was constantly bringing her food, teasing her until she laughed, or sitting with her during nightmares when I got pulled into meetings with Grant.
None of us were supposed to get attached.
Too fucking late for that.
“Holy shit,” Roman says while looking at the TV. “You guys started Game of Thrones? I love this show.”
Of course he does.
I’d kick him out, but he brought food.
A while later we’re halfway through the first episode and I can honestly admit the show isn’t terrible when the bedroom door suddenly swings open again.
“Seriously?” Harper says dramatically while bouncing into the room. “You guys are having movie night, and nobody invited me?”
“You know you technically don’t live here, right?” Roman asks.
Harper immediately grabs the same pillow I threw earlier and launches it directly at his face.
“Thanks,” he says while catching it effortlessly. “Could use this.”
He shoves it behind his head with a grin.
“Ignore him,” Scarlett says. “Asher already told you you’re welcome here whenever you want. Right?”
She looks up at me hopefully.
“Yep,” I answer before leaning down and kissing the tip of her nose softly.
Harper sticks her tongue out at Roman and flips him off. Roman’s eyes immediately darken with amusement.
“I could show you a few things to do with that mouth and finger, Tempesta. Wanna find out?”
“Not in a million years,” Harper shoots back while climbing onto the other side of Scarlett.
She immediately steals pasta right off Scarlett’s plate.
“Oh my God,” Harper moans dramatically. “This is so good. Like… actual foodgasm level good.” Roman looks seconds away from dragging her into another room.
It was honestly only a matter of time before those two exploded. The tension between them had become absolutely ridiculous.
“Come sit on my lap, baby,” Roman drawls lazily. “I’ll give you the real thing.”
“Can you not be disgusting for five minutes?” Harper groans before throwing a piece of white pizza directly at him.
Roman catches it with one hand, takes a bite, then slowly stands. Uh oh. He stalks across the room while Harper’s eyes widen.
“Roman…”
Without warning he throws her over his shoulder and she screams immediately.
“Put me down! What are you doing?!”
“We do not throw food, baby,” he says calmly while smacking her ass hard enough to make her squeal. “Time for your punishment.”
Then the asshole just walks out of the room carrying her while she pounds uselessly against his back. Scarlett bursts out laughing against my chest. And honestly? For the first time in a very long time… The house sounds happy.
The next day Dr. Bennett comes over to check on Scarlett and says she seems to be healing rather quickly. Better than most. When he leaves the room, I follow him out and pull him aside in the hallway.
“Doc, she’s having a rough time sleeping. The nightmares are getting worse. She wakes up screaming and drenched in sweat. I want to talk to her about maybe seeing someone, but right now I don’t think she’s ready.”
He sighs softly and nods.
“She’s been through a lot. Her family has never really been there for her, and now she’s adjusting to an entirely new life. I have the name of a therapist I trust completely. Someone discreet.”
He pauses. “In the meantime, I’m going to prescribe Prazosin and Hydroxyzine to help with the nightmares and anxiety.”
I nod, listening carefully.
“If that combination doesn’t help,” he continues, “and the PTSD episodes continue, we can consider switching the Hydroxyzine to Clonazepam, but I’d prefer to start with the Hydroxyzine first.”
“That makes sense.”
“I’ll call the prescriptions into the pharmacy and have Harper pick them up. I don’t want her father finding any way to track where she is.”
“Thank you, Doc,” I say sincerely as I walk him down to the front door.
I head into the kitchen to put together some lunch for Scarlett. A few minutes later Declan walks in and takes a seat at the island.
“How’s she doing? Doc leave?” he asks.
“He said she’s healing quickly, which is good.”
I grab a couple plates from the cabinet.
“I want to start her training soon. Nothing intense right away but maybe target practice once she’s up for moving around more. Get her comfortable handling and firing a gun. Then eventually move on to hand-to-hand.”
“Sounds like a solid plan,” Declan says. “If she’s up for it.”
I nod.
“Her tutor starts tomorrow too. She’ll be here every day from noon to two.”
“Anything from Zariah?”
“Nothing major yet besides the nightly debriefs. She’ll be attending one of the Vale family events tomorrow evening. She’s hoping to gain access to more personal files while she’s there.”
Declan shuts his laptop.
“She’s also planning on setting up wire taps throughout several offices. Grant will monitor everything from the main hub.”
“Where’s Roman?”
Declan smirks slightly.
“In the gym. Working off frustration, if you ask me.”
I laugh quietly under my breath.
“Sounds about right.”
Declan grabs his laptop and heads back toward the office while I carry the food upstairs.
When I open Scarlett’s bedroom door, the bed is empty.
Panic immediately spikes through my chest until I hear the shower running in the bathroom.
I set the tray down at the foot of the bed and head toward the sound of the water.
The moment I step inside, I stop. Scarlett stands beneath the spray with her head tilted back while warm water cascades over her skin.
Steam curls around her body and the bruises scattered across her ribs and hips look lighter than they did a few days ago.
She’s breathtaking. Beautiful in a way that physically hurts to look at sometimes.
I pull off my sweats and step into the shower behind her.
She glances over her shoulder and gives me a soft smile.
I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my chin on her shoulder.
“You should’ve waited for me. What if you slipped?” I murmur. “I know Doc said you’re healing amazingly well, but you’re still sore and probably stiff from being in bed for days.”
“I feel fine, Asher,” she says softly. “I can’t stay in bed forever… even if part of me wants to.”
She slowly turns in my arms until she’s facing me.
“We need to start getting back to normal,” she whispers. “And honestly? All I’ve thought about for the last few days is you touching me.”
Jesus Christ.
“I’ve been lying in that bed with you beside me and all I can think about is your hands on me, your mouth on me.” Her fingers slide lightly across my chest. “Now I finally have you alone in the shower and I don’t want you treating me like I’m going to break.”
Something inside me snaps. I crash my mouth against hers and kiss her hard.
Desperate. Starving. Because she’s not the only one who’s been suffering for the last few days.
Every night lying beside her without touching her the way I wanted nearly fucking killed me.
I press my forehead against hers and force myself to breathe.
“Tell me if anything hurts,” I whisper roughly.
She nods once before kissing me again slower this time.
My cock is so fucking hard I’m not gonna last.
If I didn’t think it would hurt her to orgasm, I would have ate her pussy until she was coming all over my tongue.
Her taste drives me wild. I lift her up and line her pussy up with my cock.
With one thrust I have her up against the shower wall and am pounding into her.
I keep kissing her, picking up the pace like my life depends on it because honestly, I feel like at this moment it does.
She consumes me. I feel her pussy clench around my cock as she cries into my mouth and with one last thrust I cum.
I stay buried deep inside her for a while as we catch our breaths.
I hold her against me beneath the water while her fingers slide through my damp hair, and for the first time since all of this started, everything else fades away.
No Knightfall.
No missions.
No bounty.
No Vale Enterprises.
Just her.
Just us.
I rest my forehead against hers and close my eyes.
“God, Red,” I murmur against her lips. “I fucking love you.”
She stills completely in my arms. Then slowly looks up at me, tears already gathering in her eyes.
“Hey,” I say softly, brushing water and tears from her cheeks. “Baby, don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying because I’m sad,” she whispers shakily. Her hands cup my face carefully like she still can’t believe I’m real.
“I just… besides Harper, I can’t remember the last time someone told me they loved me.” That statement damn near destroys me.
“I love you too, Asher.” She leans up and kisses me again, soft and emotional and completely consuming.
I lift her into my arms and carry her out of the shower, not caring that we’re dripping water all over the room.
I lay her gently on the bed before climbing on top of her.
I kiss her as I slide back inside her. I make love to her this time, gently and taking my time.
Kissing very inch of her body, showing her exactly how I feel about her.
When we are done, completely exhausted, I lay down and pull her into my chest, kissing the spot right below her ear.
For once, neither of us says anything. We just hold onto each other like maybe the rest of the world can wait a little longer.