Page 27 of Saving Scarlett

Closing the door behind us, Bane put his phone against his ear, only speaking to Phantom for a moment before hanging up. When he put his phone back into his pocket, he touched my arm, his face filled with things he wanted to say, but wouldn’t.

“The broadcast went live thirty minutes ago. Phantom was able to keep it on the air for its entirety.”

Even anticipating the update, my stomach still clinched at the confirmation, threatening to spill its contents on the floor.

“I’ll go grab my laptop so we can watch it,” he said, walking away from me.

I nodded, my hand resting on the back of the sofa as I watched him go into his bedroom. Without its support, I felt like I would collapse.

After disappearing into my own bedroom to use the bathroom, I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of whiskey for Bane and myself. We moved in a tense silence—him sitting on the sofa and logging into his laptop, and me pouring drinks and then sitting beside him. With the intimacy we’d shared by the fire, I wanted to touch him every second I watched him get everything ready. Just because he’d made his views about us going any further clear didn’t mean I could turn everything off. There was something between us that neither of us could deny, no matter how hard he tried to claim he wasn’t good enough.

“Are you ready for this?”

Bane’s question pulled me out of my thoughts. Setting his glass down on the table, he turned to look at me, meeting my eyes as I stared at him without realizing it.

I nodded and took another sip of my drink, closing my eyes when the liquor burned its way down my throat. The truth was that I wasn’t ready for any of what was happening to me, but it didn’t matter. It all seemed to burn me in the end.

“Do we know what news channel it played on?” I asked, watching him navigate through screens.

Pulling his phone back out of his pocket, he flipped through the messages. “It looks like all of them—WDSU, WWLTV, FOX8, and WGNO for sure.”

Dread burned the back of my throat when the realization hit me that everyone was finally seeing the truth about Joshua. I thought I was going to vomit but blew out a breath, doing my best to will the sensation away.

Setting my drink back down, I nodded and turned my eyes to the laptop’s display. “Okay. I’m ready.”

His finger hovered over the button for a few slow heartbeats. After a moment of staring at the still screen, he turned to look at me. It was clear there was something he wanted to say to me, but his hesitation only turned my stomach more.

“Bane? What’s wrong? “I leaned back on the sofa, grabbing a throw pillow and holding it against my chest.

His eyes flicked back toward the laptop before returning to me again, only adding to my unease. He blew out a breath and I found myself taking it in. “Before we watch this, there are things you need to know.”

Chapter 25

The Savior

As I sat beside Scarlett on the sofa, about to make her hate me for keeping secrets from her, all I could think about was our kiss by the fire. It had been a mistake. I knew that, but that didn’t make me want her any less. But as badly as I wanted to kiss her again, I wanted what was in her best interest more, and that wasn’t me. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I looked into her dark eyes, the worry on her face clear, and I hated myself for putting her through more shit.

“There are some things I would rather you hear from me than from someone else—especially from a broadcast.”

She didn’t even blink as she waited for me to continue, but the words were having a hard time finding their way out. Unable to stop myself, I reached for her hand. Even with everything I knew to be true, I didn’t know how I would stay away from her. I didn’t know if I was strong enough, or a good enough person.

“Did you know about Joshua’s mistress?” Even as the words left my mouth, I berated myself for being a coward, and for not telling her about her father first.

Looking down at our hands, she nodded. “I knew he had them over the years, but I never knew the details. I never cared to know. He and I haven’t had a spark in a long time.”

Although I hated that she’d been in such an unhappy marriage, hearing she didn’t desire him anymore warmed my frozen heart—as sick as that sounded. Joshua was truly a fool. I couldn’t imagine a man wanting anyone other than her, but how I felt about her didn’t matter. It was best for her if I let her go, so that was what I intended to do, but the reality of that decision was fucking crushing.

“When he hired me to get rid of you, he blabbed all about his current mistress, using her as a reason why he needed you dead.”

Hearing the words come out of my own mouth threatened to make me sick, but I ignored my own reaction. Hers was the one that mattered. Scarlett’s eyes blew wide, and she shifted on the sofa, pulling the blanket that was draped over the back down onto her lap. She was covering herself, trying to protect herself, and I hated that she felt the need to do so. All I wanted was to make her feel safe, but I was failing.

“I don’t understand. He’s had mistresses for years. Why is this one worth doing something so horrible to me?”

My chest tightened, knowing the blow I was about to drop on her. It was clear she didn’t know the full truth, and I hated that I had to break it to her. I rubbed my thumb across the top of her hand, unsure of how to soothe her when he was the one who’d done her so wrong. “Because she was pregnant, Little Red. He said if he divorced you he would lose more money than you were worth. He wanted to be free to marry her… raise their child together.”

For a moment, the air went silent between us. Then, without saying a word, she launched herself off the sofa and darted into her bedroom. Angry at myself for upsetting her, I followed, walking into the room just in time to hear her vomiting through the closed bathroom door. I tried to open it so I could help her, but it was locked.

“Scarlett, can you please let me in? Don’t lock me out. “I leaned against the door, listening to her retch and hating that I’d done it to her. Sure, I wasn’t the cheating piece of shit who had hurt her repeatedly, but maybe it would have been better for her not to know. “I’m going to get a cool rag for you.”

---