Chapter 6 Scarlett
Scarlett
My ankle throbs, and every time I try to move it, pain shoots up my leg. I don’t know if Bruno locked the door when he left, but I’m not going anywhere. Though I’m starting to think that’s fine by me.
Gina stopped by earlier with some breakfast and handed me a stack of romance novels. I’ve got to say, sitting in a nice clean room with my feet up isn’t so bad. If I was back at my clubhouse, I’d be cleaning out the toilets or scrubbing vomit off the floor.
My thoughts wander to Bruno and the kiss we shared this morning. My lips tingle at the memory of his rough lips on mine. It felt good. Too good.
Ever since his mouth explored mine, I’ve had a sensation in my core, a tugging feeling that’s making me restless. I want Bruno to come back. I want to keep kissing him. I want to find out where his hands were going before we were interrupted.
There’s a knock at the door and my stomach flutters. But it’s not Bruno that comes into the room.
It’s been a long time since I saw Lily, but she hasn’t changed a bit. She’s tall, like her father with his same dark hair, but her bright green eyes must come from her mother.
“Hey,” she says shyly, “I heard you were here.”
Lily and I used to play together back when our dads were friends—or at least had a peaceful truce—but that was a long time ago.
Her eyes go wide when she sees my ankle. “What happened?”
I should be wary of Lily. I can’t forget she’s the president’s daughter, but I find myself liking her immediately.
“I twisted it when I jumped out the window.”
Her brows knit together as she puts two and two together. “Are you being held here against your will?”
I love her for the indignation in her voice. She puts her hands on her hips, and I get the feeling that Lily may look like sweetness and sunshine but there’s a steel rod in her spine.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, and I realize I mean it. “I kinda like it here.”
She eyes me, taking me in properly for the first time. Her hands run over the sleeve of her dad’s jacket.
“He’s given you his cut.” She says it reverently, and I know she realizes the significance too. But maybe it’s just a woman thing because Bruno seemed to hand it over like it was no big deal.
I shrug my shoulders like it’s no big deal to me either. “I was cold.”
Lily raises her eyebrows at me.
“Dad wouldn’t even lend me his jacket if I was cold.”
Her words make my heart jump. Maybe Bruno really is into me.
“There’s only two women I’ve ever seen wear this cut. One was my mother, and the other is you.”
At the mention of her mother, Lily goes quiet. She perches on the stool and takes my ankle carefully in her hands.
“What happened to your mother?” I can’t help blurting out. It’s probably rude to ask, but I’m desperate to know what happened to Bruno’s old lady.
Lily unwraps the dishcloth with precise fingers and drops the melted ice into a bowl.
“She died.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. It’s none of my business.”
Lily gives me a small smile. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I was four. She had an aggressive form of cancer.”
She grabs a dry dishcloth and re-wraps the ankle.
“I’m sorry.”
It’s a terrible thing to lose a mother. I should know. Mine ran off when I was a baby. She couldn’t handle club life but didn’t think to take me with her.
“It was hard at the time. Dad went nuts,” Lily says.
It must have been about the time we stopped playing together, about the same time our clubs became rivals. I don’t have many memories of Bruno from my childhood, but I wonder if he was always this hard.
“He hasn’t shown any interest in another woman until now.”
She smiles at me as she says the words, and my heart does a happy flip. I’m that woman. I’m the woman that he’s interested in.
“But I’m Manny’s daughter.”
Lily’s eyes sparkle as she laughs.
“You think that’ll stop my dad? Scarlett, if he’s given you his cut, then you’re already his.”
She fusses over my ankle, and I sit in silence, warmth rushing through my heart. I’m already Bruno’s, and I like it.