Chapter 10: Scarlet

10

SCARLET

T yrone took us in, Cristian naked and straddling me, and I, with only a towel wrapped around me.

"Looks like I'm not the only one entranced by you, kitten," Cristian smirked before he leaned down to kiss my forehead, a tingle coursing through me. He pulled away and clambered off, snatching up his wet pants as he strode over to Tyrone.

"She's ours, isn't she? A perfect little dose of wildfire," Cristian said as he stood by his brother, casting me a look over his shoulder as Tyrone stared at me. Cristian just smirked and continued out, and Tyrone shook his head before crossing the room as I sat up and straightened my towel.

"What's up? Need something?" I cleared my throat as Tyrone glanced over me, those dark eyes settling on mine with a strange look in them.

"Julian informed me you both lost your phones in the whole kidnapping ordeal. I've gotten you a new one and had Julian load the backup of your old one on it," he said as he fished a phone from his pocket and handed it over, his gaze shifting to the window.

"You had my phone backed up?" I frowned at the offered phone, the latest model compared to my old one.

"Yes. Now, it might be best if you call your friend. I'm sure she's worried about you, and you could use the chance to talk and get anything off your chest." Those masked eyes met mine, and I pursed my lips at the odd niceness he was showing me. "I'll give you twenty minutes this time only."

With that, he strode straight back out, leaving me watching after him in bewilderment. I hadn't even been able to thank him for it. I glanced down at the phone, snorting when I unlocked it and found a picture of Kenny soaking up the morning sun set as the background.

I dialed Noms, letting out a sigh of relief when she answered on the second ring.

"Scar! I heard shit went down, some of the girls were talking, a big thing with the Russos. Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!" Her frantic words made my eyes water at how much she cared for me.

"I'm fine, Noms. A little traumatized, but fine," I said as I let out a shaky breath.

"Doesn't sound fine, Scar. Tell me what happened," Noms demanded. "Ray is here, he's just as worried. Been asking about you ever since he got out of the hospital."

"He's there?" I frowned, and then my mouth quirked as his voice came through the other end.

"That's right, back at it, Scarlet. You promise you're okay?" God, it was good to hear his voice again.

"I'm okay, I promise. I'm glad you're okay too. I was worried," I admitted. "How are you feeling?"

"Look, I won't say it didn't hurt like a bitch, but they pay me well here, and I just got a bonus, although, we all know it's hush money," he said with a scoff. "But they covered my hospital stay. I got extra good care, so that's something. Feeling great, a little sore at times, but it'll heal."

"Thank God you're okay," I said.

"So tell us what happened. We heard that Julian and a woman got taken. Was that you?" Noms asked, and I swallowed as I looked out over the skyline of the city. It pulsed with life, a welcome sight after thinking I was never going to see it again like this.

The things we took for granted.

"Yeah, it was. Shit got real, Noms. But Julian shielded me when we got shot at, and I… I bit a dick off. Then Julian killed the guy," I said softly.

"What the fuck?!" Noms gasped. "You did fucking what?"

I relayed exactly what had happened, including Julian choking the guy out, and Kenny being there every moment of it, ultimately being the reason we were rescued.

"That hurts to even think about. But good on you for showing him. Still, Julian killed him? Just like that?" Ray tutted, and I wondered just where the pair of them were. Likely at the club doing the closing shift this early. Were they hiding in the storeroom for this conversation?

"Yeah. Guess it comes naturally," I said as I pursed my lips, looking down at my forearms. At the new bandages Cristian had wrapped around them, and I frowned.

"Something changed with Cristian, too. He protected me, rescued me, and told me a lot of things," I said quietly.

"Like what?" Noms was always one to know all the gossip, but I turned to stare at the closed bedroom door. He'd told me some secrets, things I imagined not many people knew.

"Just stuff." I wasn't about to give up his secrets, not those ones. Why I was willingly wanting to protect him was beyond me, but things had changed.

"Are you okay? Seeing someone die, that's rough," Ray said gently.

"I saw a few people die, Ray. But I'm fine, I promise," I said yet again in a desperate attempt to reassure them. Or maybe I was trying to reassure myself, I had no idea.

I explained in more detail how the brothers' behaviors had shifted, how Cristian had sat in the shower with me.

"Look, Scar, just take care of yourself. This change is… odd, but maybe it's a good thing for you. They'll be nicer until your time is up," Noms said hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe." If my time ever ended. Cristian had me questioning if I was ever going to be leaving them.

"I gotta head back out before they notice I'm gone, but take care of yourself Scar. Never trust them," Ray said firmly, and I farewelled him.

"Looks like it's just us now. Anything else you didn't want to spill?" Noms said once I heard a door close in the background. She knew me too well.

"Cristian said I'm going to be his, promised to break me. I'm worried what that means," I said, my voice low. Was I really worried? Or more twisted and oddly thrilled at the thought?

"Yeah, that's weird, but he is crazy," she muttered, and I sighed. She didn't know what I knew, all the stuff about Tessa and what he'd endured. Not to mention he'd nearly died for his brothers. He was messed up because of the loyalty he had to those around him. Now it all made sense, how Tyrone and Julian defended him and his psycho tendencies.

Hell, a part of me even felt sorry for him.

"I can't wait for you to be free. You're moving in with me, or we're leaving the entire city, sound good?" Noms sighed, and I could picture her scrunching up her face with frustration and unease.

"Yeah, sounds good. God, I just want to sleep," I admitted as I stifled a yawn.

Did I really want to leave the city? I'd been hellbent on fleeing the brothers before all of this.

"Okay, you sleep. Everything is going to be okay. You're over halfway there," Noms reminded me.

"Right."

"And we are going to be drinking it up and having girls' nights galore when it's over."

"Sounds like a plan." I closed my eyes, the tiredness creeping up on me now that I lay on the bed. "I love you, Noms. Miss you."

"Miss you too. Take care of yourself, Scar. Love you," she murmured back.

I said my final farewell before hanging up, and opted to slide off the bed and pull on some clothes before diving under the covers. I didn't care if it was morning, I was drained and exhausted after surviving that nightmare.

A knock on the door met me just as I was nuzzling into my pillow, and I called out that it was open.

Tyrone let himself in, all imposing and stoic like it was a mandatory appearance for him.

"Relax, I already hung up," I mumbled as I pulled the blanket up around my chin.

"Right." His gaze drifted to the window, and I frowned. Why was he unable to look at me at times? Was he just that bored trying to converse with me?

He strode over to the window, forcing me to roll onto my other side to watch him. He stared out at the city, now awakening and coming to life below.

"How are you managing?" he asked .

"I'm alive."

"Yes, but what you've endured here, the situation you were just in, it's a lot for those not in this life," he noted as he clasped his hands behind his back, still facing away from me. He looked like a man who was watching over his kingdom, observing his people. Perhaps he was.

"True. But I'm fine, really. Just tired. Being scared for my life, not knowing if tomorrow was promised, it's nothing new," I said as I stared hard at his back.

He turned his head, not fully, but just enough that I could make out the furrow of his brow.

"You've lived a rough life."

"A lot of people have." I knew my life was shitty, but it wasn't a pissing contest. Besides, it had greatly improved in recent years, and I was thankful.

A soft meow behind me had me smiling, and I started to roll over just as Kenny pounced up onto the bed.

"Hey, handsome, I'm glad you're okay. That was a wild one, wasn't it?" I cooed as I scratched his head.

Tyrone scoffed, and I flicked my eyes to him as he finally turned to face me.

"I hear you're the reason we got saved," I mused as Kenny nuzzled my hands, his rumbling purrs making me soften.

"Julian loves that thing too much, but I'm glad he's that paranoid about losing him." Tyrone's mouth had pulled into the slightest smile, and I offered him a small one.

"What? Don't you like Kenny? Not a fan?"

"He's just a cat."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Don't listen to him. You're more than that," I said as I scratched Kenny's chin while he curled up beside me. "He doesn't understand that animals are better than a lot of people. They're pure. They don't stab us in the back or decide they don't love us on a random sunday," I stated. "They operate on instinct and survival, no malice."

"You're not wrong there," Tyrone said with a sigh, his shoulders sagging as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

I took him in now, his hardened mask dropping ever so slightly. He looked tired and worn.

"I know we owe you as well. So thank you," I said quietly.

"Don't mention it." He stared at Kenny now, where I was gently stroking the purring feline, his eyes closed in contentment.

"Can I ask you something?" I watched him closely, and his jaw twitched as those dark eyes flicked to mine.

"You do anyway."

"Cristian said he got shot, ended up in a coma for three months. Said his best friend died as well. Can I ask what happened?" I'd been wondering how it had all gone down ever since he'd said it.

Tyrone's eyes narrowed slightly as he lifted his head, something flashing through his eyes, but it was gone before I could make it out.

"He's taken quite a liking to you. As has Julian," he said as he turned his head, looking out the window once more.

"Yeah, I think Cristian likes me for some reason, I think you're wrong on Julian though," I said as I focused on Kenny, although my stomach knotted. Julian had treated me differently too. Was it possible things had really shifted there?

"Hmmm." Tyrone fixated his gaze on me, drawing my focus from Kenny. It was hard not to be sucked in by those intense eyes as they bored into me, and I fought the urge to retreat under the blankets more. Why was he looking at me like that? Like he was trying to figure out something, pull me apart and read my inner workings.

"The Russos kidnapped some people we were connected to, including Xavier. It was a show of power in their eyes, a move to try to overthrow our position as head of the city. It became a big showdown, and we went in to rescue them, bargain for the lives of those we cared for. But the Russos wanted to prove they held power, that they had the upper hand, and they shot Xavier right in front of us as he begged for his life, that he didn't want to leave his wife and children." Tyrone's gaze had darkened, and I swallowed at the despair and guilt flooding through them now. "I knew how much it hurt Cristian to witness it, but he was calm, as we're supposed to be, and he didn't react while we tried to talk it out. That was, until a sniper shot me down."

"You got shot down?" My eyes widened, and his jaw ticked as he nodded.

"They missed a fatal shot, they were likely going for my heart, but I was bleeding out. I went down, our men moved in to fire back, and things went to hell. Julian and Cristian were pinned down with me, our men were being mowed down. It wasn't looking good at all, but Cristian decided to use himself as bait. I was in no state to stop him, and he ran out, drawing their fire as Julian got me to a safer location." Tyrone's face shifted, a shadow falling over his expression as he glanced out the window like it was going to relieve him of this painful memory. "Cristian got shot down, but thankfully, our backup arrived only moments later. The Russos were forced to retreat, but we lost a lot of good men that day. I had to ride with Cristian, and no one could tell me if he was going to live as our medic struggled to keep him alive. He ended up in the coma after that. I got lucky, the bullet I took was fished out in surgery, and I was out and patched up in a few hours, while Cristian fought for his life for months."

"That must have been terrible, seeing him like that," I said, knowing exactly what he felt as he refused to meet my gaze. He was blaming himself for it, for not protecting his little brother.

"If he hadn't baited them, I have no doubt we'd all be dead. Cristian was always more reckless, willing to do anything for us, even if it meant putting his life on the line. He's even more reckless now since that whole thing," he said as he turned away from me, his focus locked on the city.

"But he's okay now. He survived," I said, knowing it would do little to ease that guilt and despair that niggled at him. It wouldn't help me accept it either.

"Yeah, he survived. But he's not who he used to be, and that's on me. I got sloppy." His tone was low, and the self-hatred underlying his words made me bite my cheek.

We all had our demons. And I'd just discovered Tyrone's.