Page 11 of Psycho Sinners

I scrolled through the notifications, glossing over the endless stream of calls and texts from Tommy, my gut churning.

Scarlet, you crazy bitch!

His words, no less venomous in text form, had me gritting my teeth.

I closed one eye, the words blurring on the screen as my head swam. I scrolled through the stream of texts from him, the harsh, hateful words and threats making my chest tighten. The police had been notified, and they’d come for me. I’d pay for all of this.

“Like I’m the one who started this,” I muttered, although a pang of unease swept through me. I had been the one to start that fire, but he’d been the one to cheat. The reminder cut deep like a knife, all his false promises shattering inside me.

You think you can just torch the place and walk away?

I snorted, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. Walk away? As if I strolled through life without the weight of my actions crushing me. I knew I’d pay for them, karma had a way of doing that. But he’d been the one to fuck me over, so he had it coming.

I flicked through the messages, not bothering to read them, wanting to see what his final message to me was.

Tommy's last message blared at me, striking through the haze I was in.

So you sending your fuck buddies round to scare me now?

The words pulsed on the screen, accusing me. I scowled, perplexed by the text. What on earth did he mean by that?

The phone vibrated in my hand, cutting through my pit of despair and confusion as Naomi’s name lit up the screen with a drunken selfie of us with colored wigs on. A hectic night out years ago, but one I’d cherished.

"Noms, my head is killing me," I rasped as I answered, my voice gravel, each word scraped raw from my throat.

"Scar! For fuck’s sake. Where the hell are you? I thought you were in a goddamn dumpster!" Her voice was sharp, a drill sergeant ready to chew me out and spit me into shape. Of course she was worried to high hell about me.

Although, right now, I wished she’d learn to whisper more.

"Somewhere between Hell and a hangover," I groaned, wincing as the throbbing in my head only worsened. “Didn’t Ray tell you where I went?”

"Of course he fucking told me. Are you okay? What happened?”

"Long story," I muttered, images from the night before flickering in my mind like a sputtering neon sign. "I’m going to need aspirin."

“This isn’t funny. Shit’s happened, Scar. The bar, then Ray said you went upstairs with Cristian of all people.” Her words had sharpened like knives, and my brow furrowed as her worry punched through the phone line. Sure, Noms worried a lot, but this was something more.

"Look, Noms, I just wanted some fun before I got locked up," I said as I tried to piece together the fragments of the night with the desperation of a kid trying to glue a broken vase back together before their mom saw it. I remembered bits and pieces, but for the most part, it’d been oddly fun, if not brutal. My neck would attest to that since it’d been used as a damn squeeze toy. “Can’t hate a girl for wanting some fun before a jail sentence.” The words were heavy with the weight of last night's recklessness.

"Get your ass out of there, Scar. This isn't funny."

"Never said it was," I shot back, feeling the heaviness of her concern. But I was too tired to carry it right now, too tired to carry anything but the need to escape the pounding in my skull. I let my still-spinning gaze wander over the large living area. “Besides, I’m alone here. He must be sleeping.”

“Scar, I’m serious,” she hissed, and I slowly sat up, the pounding in my head protesting with a vengeance as the room tilted dangerously. Noms was worried, and considering how she’d reacted to me burning down the bar, this had to be something huge.

“What’s wrong?” I tried to ease the jackhammering in my head by massaging my temple to no avail.

“Cristian isn’t just some guy. He and his brothers own this place,” she whispered, like she was the one hiding in the wolf's den.

“And?” So I fucked her boss, why was that something so terrifying? We’d done far stupider things. On the scale of dumb shit I’d done in the last twenty-four hours, it sat at the bottom.

"Scarlet, listen to me," her voice dropped, serious and low, "These guys... they're not just bar owners. They're bad news. Speaking of, have you seen the news?"

“No.” I rubbed at my eyes, wondering just what sort of mess I looked like. “And I got a weird message from Tommy.”

“I’m texting you a link, check it. What did Tommy say?”

"He sent me a message about sending 'fuck buddies' to scare him."

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