16. Scarlet

SIXTEEN

SCARLET

The sky is beginning to glow by the time I'm ready to finish telling Remington the rest of my history, the night having slipped away. The mountains are encased in a calm silence with the nocturnal animals having gone to bed but the early birds having yet to wake. The day is gearing up to be new, fresh, and embraced with open arms. It's an overly lyrical thought that has me plunging forward so I can be done before the sun. So I too can begin fresh and new with Remi, my past put not to bed but in an unmarked grave where it belongs.

"I thought I had already seen the worst he had to offer, but even that had been carefully constructed so only the faintest of traces were revealed," I whisper. "I tried to slam the door closed but he was faster, stronger. He shoved it open, pushed me into the dorm with so much force I fell over and hit my head on the entrance table while he kicked the door shut and locked it. I was so disoriented. It was like things were moving through syrup. Then all at once it came rushing in with full clarity as he grabbed me by my hair and lifted me up to look at him.

"He was in a full on rage as he accused me of sleeping with Callum, O'Mally, Reeves, even Roman. Saying I was a whore and spreading it for everyone but him and it was gonna end tonight. That they wouldn't be able to make fun of him any longer. I tried to fight him off but I couldn't. I didn't learn how until after. Could've used that skill that night, but that's how it goes I guess.

"Anyway," I trail off, looking over my shoulder to be sure Remington hasn't fallen asleep, his breath even, body still. Eyes still alert and focused right on me, he silently nods so I continue on.

"He used his hold on my hair to drag me through my room. He threw me onto the bed and pinned me down, shoving my face to the side as I tried to kick and scratch at him. When I wouldn't comply, he punched me.

"After that, I was crying and trying to scream but he kept my mouth covered and uh…" Lifting two fingers up to show Remington, he swears, "Mother fucker, I could kill him," as I say, "He wanted to be sure I was ‘ready.'

"No one talks about the third F when adrenaline floods your veins, freeze. By not talking about it, I think it adds a layer of shame to what people like me experience. But it can happen; it does happen. You just… freeze…

"The moment he uh… he did it, I froze. I don't even remember everything. Only that when I felt myself… come," I croak out, "It unlocked the fight in me again. God, I felt so sick and betrayed over my body doing that to me. It wasn't his and it made me so angry that he took that from me—from you or whoever should've gotten to have that first experience with me."

Wiping my tears on my shoulder, I say, "Had it not been right by my ear, I don't think I would've heard it. But right there, against my ear, his watch beeped with a notification from my brother of all people. That spark of hope and my anger had me fighting so much harder.

"Instead of fighting him physically, I worked to get a hold of his watch. I have never in my life been so thankful for modern technology. It made it so easy to call Roman. And once I did, I yanked it off of him and threw it across the room. I could just barely hear my brother but he could hear me and what was happening, and I knew I would be safe. And once Castor knew, he ran. Left me there without a second thought and ran as fast as he could."

Stopping Remington as he goes to speak I say, "I can't tell you everything about Roman. His past isn't my story to share. But trust me when I tell you all of this really messed him up. The years of therapy he went through after coming to live with us, it was like the slate was wiped clean and he was reverted to factory settings.

"Being with me means there are times when my brother will come first. It won't be often, it may not ever happen again, but it could and I need you to know that. I need you to know that what I did after, I did to protect him."

"Okay…"

Wringing my hands, I hastily confess, "Dad and I paid Castor off," a weight lifting off my chest as I speak the words out loud for the first time in three years as another settles into place.

"WHAT? He attacked you and you paid him off?" Remi yells, getting up from the bed, pacing an angry path. "I don't understand, Scar. Help me understand why you didn't send that fucker to prison."

"I did it for Roman!" I cry. "I did it for my brother. They told me the charges wouldn't stick, that Ro's case would be thrown out, but it would have derailed his future. If what he did was made public, not even Boomer could have signed him. He would have been seen as a liability to the franchise. I couldn't let that happen.

"Remi, my family will always come first. That will never change. For as fiercely as Ro protects me, I do the same for him, he just doesn't know what lengths I went to do it. He thinks I was too scared to take the stand and have the media looking in on me and knowing what I experienced."

Pacing several more times, Remington comes back to the daybed and squats before me, silencing me as I try to tell him not to squat so deeply after picking me up that way earlier. Wiping my cheeks clean of my earlier tears, he takes my hands and asks, "What does that mean for us? I would never ask you to pick between me and them, but what do you mean by they will always come first? Because Scarlet, I will stand with you and support you through anything, including whatever you did for Roman, but I need to know now, how invested in us will you be in return?"

"Well," I start, pausing to chew on the inside of my cheek while I gather my words. "Until I can review the policy on athletes and employees dating, I need us to keep things quiet because I don't want to lose my position, and I don't want Ro and my dad in a tough spot knowing something that they would otherwise report if it was anyone else."

"That's more than fair," he nods. "But after that?"

"After that…" Rubbing my hands inside of his, I bite the bullet and give him a rambling confession of where I see things potentially going. "I'm not saying I'm in love with you right now, but I could be, and if you think you could love me—which I think you do based on how you talk—then I assume… can see… hope… that, that you would eventually want to become part of that family as you know…"

Smiling as he kisses me, he stops my words. "I get what you're saying, Scarlet, and yeah, I can see that too."

Nodding my head several times, I mumble, "Well okay then."

"Now," Remi says, climbing back in with me, "I don't want to push, but baby, I have to know, what the fuck did Roman do that was so bad you and Colt paid off the guy who assaulted you to keep it quiet."

Putting my hands on his thighs, I stress, "I signed an NDA, Remington. Everything I've told you falls under that NDA so you cannot speak of this to anyone, ever. It was a part of the deal to get Castor to drop his charges. I couldn't breathe one word of what he did to me, and he wouldn't breathe a word of what Roman did to him."

"I won't, Scarlet. I swear to you, I won't."

Taking him at his word, I accept, "Okay. After it happened, I desperately clung to Roman. He couldn't leave my sight or I would completely collapse. He got the doctors to sign off saying I had contracted pneumonia and was highly contagious and us plus Reeves took our finals remotely at the house so as to not spread it."

"What about the other roommate?"

"O'Mally? Yeah, that's easy enough to explain.

"I wouldn't let Roman call our dad even when he couldn't leave me alone. Not to bathe, not to sleep, nothing. If I was awake, he had to be within reach. I was too ashamed to tell our dad, which he understood and accepted though he hated it.

"We thought the house would be safe, but it turns out when you walk in on the adoptive siblings sleeping in bed together with the brother spooning the sister, the potential payday is too much to pass up."

"You can't be serious."

"Yep; that's the origin of that photo and why it always sets my dad off when it comes up. It was taken the same weekend Castor assaulted me and all anyone sees is Ro and I snuggled up in bed together—him without a shirt and me wearing said shirt. When it first hit, we were quiet because I was still talking with detectives and was in no shape to go before the cameras. Afterward, we couldn't say anything to convincingly refute the claims without Roman finding out about what dad and I did and so our silence on the matter was taken as guilt.

"O'Mally for his part got kicked out of the house and off the team, but the genie was already out of the bottle on that one, so we just made do and keep making do. Eventually, at least I hope, they'll get tired of going down that fruitless rabbit hole and let the story die.

"As for what Roman did… Castor is many things and stupidly arrogant is one of them. His dumb ass showed up to his first final on Monday as if nothing had happened. As if Roman and Reeves hadn't made it a point to have others keeping an eye out for him.

"So while I took the same exam at the house and then went to sleep, Roman went to wait for Castor at his car… with a baseball bat.

"He fractured his cheekbone, broke every one of his fingers, busted both his kneecaps, and then he made sure Castor would never get an erection again."

"Holy shit," Remi breathes.

Rolling off to his side and creeping my fingers under his clothes and up his ribs, I chuckle. "When Ro was arrested, he said he was delivering a justice far more fitting than any prison sentence. The police assured us that in light of the events leading up to it that the charges wouldn't stand. That the case would be thrown out or at worst he would serve community service because a jury would never convict when presented with the evidence of what happened to me. Even still, if it came out, it would have ruined any chance Roman had at a professional career. Probably any career. I couldn't let that happen to him.

"So when he called Reeves to come bail him out, I called our dad. I cried the whole time, telling him how sorry I was as I explained it all and begged him to come help us. Which of course the moment he heard me, he was already in the car making the drive to The Nest texting Boomer about needing the helicopter to bring him to Knoxville.

"He and two of Boomer's lawyers showed up not long after, one going to get Roman from the precinct and the other going with me and dad to see Castor. We agreed, dropped charges for dropped charges, NDAs all around with the contingency that I would give an Oscar worthy performance when it came to convincing Roman and Reeves of my reason, and a several million dollar payout with half up front and the rest to be deposited monthly until the statute of limitations on what Ro did was up and a guarantee Castor couldn't ask for more or renegotiate. Otherwise he would have to pay it all back with interest, and I would take him to civil court for the assault."

"And Roman doesn't know?"

Shaking my head, I confirm, "No. He has no idea, and my dad and I want to keep it that way. Roman carries enough guilt that has never been his to bear. I couldn't let any more be added to his shoulders."

Looking up at Remington as the sun begins to crest the mountains, I ask, "Now that you know everything, can you still see yourself with me? I promise, we're not normally people who throw money at a problem or do anything of that sort, just… he's my brother and I got scared. What happened to me wasn't gonna change, but I had the power to protect him from having everything he worked for derailed. I didn't even think twice about it."

He's quiet for so long, the only sign of his continued contemplation coming in the absent patterns he traces between my hip and waist. Though my anxiety is through the roof, my own fingers strumming a soundless tune along the veins of his hand, I appreciate it. He's not giving me quick answers he may have to walk back later. He's considering everything I told him, the possible ramifications of it all, and the true weight of what being with me would entail.

It's scary though. I've not only shared what happened to me but my family's darkest secret. What if now, knowing everything, he decides I'm not worth it?

Reaching over to rub at the space between my brow, Remington hushes, "Shh, you're thinking too much, baby girl. This changes nothing between us."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"How best to navigate our work situation. Because even when you finish school, if HR says it's a no-go, we're gonna have a problem. You can't leave The Nest, and I won't want to leave you, so we'll have to figure that out."

"That's it?" I say incredulously. "I bare my soul, lay out every ugly part of me, and that's all you've got?"

"Scar, I didn't think there was much else to say. No, this changes nothing. I still want you, want to be with you, and am going into this with my sights set on an infinite endgame. All this changes is that now I know what we're working with and I can be prepared for any hiccups to come. And baby, nothing about you could ever be ugly. You're far too pure of heart for that."

Swatting his chest, I sit up and grumble, "I hate you."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do! Because if I say you're making me fall in love with you, you'll think I'm racing far too fast. I was worried you were gonna say me and my family weren't worth the drama!"

Crunching up, he smiles in such a way that I have to fight against immediately caving.

"You're falling in love with me?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Actually you did, Scar," he playfully argues, rising to his knees to match me. Bracketing his arms on either side of me, he leans in and asks, "Is this okay?"

Quickly nodding my head as my teeth sink into my smile, I start to lean back, Remington slowly following until we're stretched back out, this time with him on top of me, his weight resting on his forearms as he sinks between my thighs.

"Still good?"

"Yes," I whisper, licking my lips.

"Good." Cupping my face, he whispers back, "I'm falling in love with you too, Scar," stealing my words with a kiss that lasts well beyond the sunrise.