Chapter 9

9

JULIAN

I leaned against the balcony railing, the cool afternoon air a welcome respite from the tension inside. Tyrone stood beside me, his face a mask of conflicted emotions as he stared out at the city below us.

"What're you thinking?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Tyrone sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Jules. Cristian fucked up big time."

"That's putting it mildly." My jaw clenched as I thought about what our brother had done. Not just to her, but to all of us with his recklessness. "He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near her."

"Agreed." Tyrone's knuckles whitened as he gripped the railing. "But he's still our brother."

I scoffed. "Brother or not, he crossed a line. He did something that affected us all. Something big. As for her, Scarlet's—" I paused, searching for the right word. "She's different. "

Tyrone nodded, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "She is. Never thought I'd see the day when a woman had us all wrapped around her finger."

"Speak for yourself," I muttered, but there was no conviction behind it. We both knew the truth.

"Come on, Jules. You're just as gone on her as the rest of us." Tyrone's eyes met mine, knowing and amused. "I've seen you two together, you're close already."

I didn't bother denying it. Scarlet had burrowed under my skin in a way no one ever had before.

"She could be carrying our child," Tyrone added softly. "We need to protect her."

"From Cristian," I added, my tone sharp.

Tyrone's expression darkened. "Yeah. From Cristian."

We lapsed into silence, the weight of the situation pressing down on us. I thought about Scarlet, how she'd looked curled up next to me in bed, how her eyes lit up when she laughed. The way she'd trusted me, despite everything.

"I haven't touched her," I admitted, the words slipping out before I could stop them. "Not since... you know."

Tyrone raised an eyebrow. "Really? Hmm."

"Have you?" I asked, and he sighed heavily.

"No."

"She's under your skin too, brother."

"I know, it's strange." Tyrone sighed as he hung his head for a moment. "To think one little woman could cause such an upheaval for us all. I never thought it'd be possible."

"Neither did I. She was just supposed to be some fun, something to pass the time," I said as I shook my head, still blown away by how she'd become such a vital part of our lives now. Such a short amount of time, and yet here we were.

"So what do we do?" I asked, steering the conversation back to the problem at hand.

Tyrone exhaled slowly. "I don't know. Part of me wants to tell Cristian to fuck off. But..."

"But he's family," I finished with an exasperated sigh. "And he's trying."

"Yeah." Tyrone's eyes were troubled. "And if Scarlet is pregnant, it could be his."

I pursed my lips at the thought. Cristian had lost out on being a father once before, and it had unraveled him. I knew it was twisted, how he'd wanted all of this and orchestrated it, but it was hard to not see some slight warped perception of why he'd thought it was the thing to do. Not the right thing, but then again, his brain wasn't right. Even before the injury, it hadn't been the most normal.

"I don't know if he deserves it, or is equipped to be a father," I said carefully as I turned to look back inside the empty apartment, wondering if Scarlet was enjoying her spa day.

"Neither do I," Tyrone agreed. "But he wants to prove himself, to all of us."

"We can't let him hurt her again," I said, my voice lower than I'd expected. Our little pyro had really brought out a protective side of us now.

Tyrone nodded, his expression hardening. "We won't. If he comes back, it'll be on our terms. And he'll have to prove himself, not just to us, but to her."

I snorted. "Good luck with that."

We fell silent again, each lost in our own thoughts. The city sprawled before us, oblivious to the drama unfolding in our little corner of the world. I thought about Scarlet, probably relaxing with her best friend and venting, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing around her.

She'd changed everything without even trying.

When we first contained her here, she was just supposed to be a plaything, a distraction. But somehow, she'd become so much more. I remembered the first time I truly let my guard down around her, the way her eyes had lit up with genuine interest as I talked about my favorite games. It was such a small thing, but it had cracked something open inside me.

The more time I spent with her, the more I felt myself thawing. Years of carefully constructed walls began to crumble, and I found myself looking forward to our conversations, to the sound of her laughter echoing through the apartment.

It wasn't just me, either. I'd seen the change in Tyrone, the way his eyes softened when he looked at her. Even Cristian, for all his faults, had been different around her before everything went to hell.

We'd been monsters for so long, keeping everyone at arm's length to protect ourselves and our empire. But Scarlet had waltzed in and turned everything upside down, despite how things had begun, how we'd used her and abused her. She'd seen past our carefully crafted personas, somehow finding the humanity we'd buried deep inside.

How flawed did a person have to be that they could see humanity in such cruel beings? She had been traumatized herself, and it was that darkness that was both her strength and her weakness.

I thought about the mornings we'd spent together, just talking or sitting in comfortable silence. The way she'd curl up next to me on the couch, completely at ease despite knowing who we were and what we were capable of. It was like she'd seen through to our cores and decided we were worth caring about anyway.

For the first time in years, I felt... human. Normal, even. Like maybe there was more to life than just business and power plays. Scarlet had brought warmth and light into our cold, dark world, and I wasn't sure I could go back to the way things were before.

Whatever happened next, one thing was certain: I'd do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even if that meant protecting her from my own brother.