Page 123 of Carved Obsession
I rush to her, grabbing her face in my hands. “Are you hurt?”
She cocks an eyebrow, and I shake my head to clear the fog. Of course she wouldn’t really know.
“She saved me!” Katya says through strained breaths.
“Sorry?”
“Your girl saved my life.” She pants, leaning over to brace herself with her knees as she attempts to recover. “I was driving over and noticed I was being followed. I realized I couldn’t get in the back parking lot in good time with the gate and all, and I was about to take a different turn when the assholes rammed into me. After I crashed, I ran out without a second thought and headed straight to the main entrance. But they followed.” She puts her hand up, unable to continue.
“I was coming to see you when I saw her running through these backstreets, kind of panicked,” Scarlet recounts. “She looked familiar, I guess, and when I saw the guys chasing her and where she was headed, I kind of connected the dots. When I got to her, one guy was trying to get her in the back of the car and one other was climbing out to help him. I jumped the first one, got her loose, and I called you as we ran.”
I shake my head at Scarlet, both in awe of her courage to help a perfect stranger and fucking furious with her for putting herself in such danger. Stepping back, I look her over and swipe blood from wherever it’s splattered to confirm it’s not coming from her. She protests, but I ignore her.
“I’ll take you into the office, or maybe a hospital to make sure nothing’s—”
“Carter, later.”
“You know better than me why this is necessary.”
“Your friends arestaringat us,” she whispers through clenched teeth, eyes wandering sheepishly to the side.
I straighten and turn to them. Each and every one of them is wide-eyed, staring at us like they’re witnessing divinity. Or an abomination. I rub my fingers together, a tickle running from my spine to the back of my neck.
“I have CIP,” Scarlet says, breaking through the tension. “Congenital insensitivity to pain. I can’t feel it, so if I get injured, I have no clue whatsoever. Unless I break my leg or something and fall on my face,” she says with an awkward laugh. “Or I’m actively bleeding out and I notice it. So yeah, that’s why he’s checking me over.”
They all react to the revelation, the mood lightening ever so slightly. But their gazes still flicker in my direction, an all-knowing amusement looking back at me. If I don’t run away now, they’re going to flood me with questions.
“Thank you.” Katya steps forward and grabs Scarlet’s hands.
“Glad I could be of help.” She shrugs with a wide grin on her pretty lips.
They introduce themselves as Maddox steps next to me and leans over. “It seems I’m the last one standing, brother,” he whispers hoarsely.
I look over my shoulder, and his scarred, cocked eyebrow says so much more than his tongue. I open my mouth, ready to protest, but Scarlet’s voice pulls my attention, and I turn to her. Her porcelain skin is stained with the blood of the man laying lifeless at her feet, addicting smile tugging at her full lips like she didn’t just beat that life out of him minutes ago. Almost like she was made just for me.
“I have something for you.” Scarlet steps forward, drawing my attention. “For all of you.” Her gaze swipes over my brothers and me.
I frown as she walks over to the messenger bag she threw to the side and places it on a chair with a loudthump.
“Your littlepredicamentregarding Frank Duval stuck with me,” she says.
“How does she know about that?” Finnigan steps forward, turning to me. “Carter, please tell me you’re not st—”
Vincent intervenes. “She was in the car with us when we went on the forest rescue mission, Finn. Madds and I were debriefing Carter on the situation that unfolded during his absence.”
“For god’s sake.” The blond man swipes a hand over his face. “Might as well give her a key to our office.”
“No need. I could make my own if I needed access.” Scarlet cocks her head, a mad smile pulling at her cheeks. “But you have nothing of interest to me, and I also don’tworkin my backyard. I understand your concern, though.” She pulls a stack of papers from her bag and slaps them on the table. “Anyway. I’m not gonna go into the details of what I do for a living, but a while back, I had somedealingswith a certain Martin Duval—Frank’s son. Because of the nature of my family business, we keep an eye on our ‘business partners’ for some time after. We’ve heard some things. Rumor has it that father and son have been silently feuding over money and how they share the family business. I had a thought.”
Scarlet pauses for a few moments as she pulls out more paperwork, then places a USB stick on top. I swear I can hear my blood pumping in my ears as I connect the dots.
“I wondered if the son was taking things into his own hands and plotting behind his dad’s back. So, I paid Martin Duval a visit. Granted, he wasn’t at home at the time, but I confirmed my suspicions and discovered he’s an idiot.” She slaps the stack of paperwork, looking quite smug and proud of herself. “This, gentlemen, is stark evidence of bribery, dodgy planning permissions on protected land, money laundering, and illegal dumping of toxic waste. And it incriminates Martin, Frank, his wife, and a handful of politicians.”
“You’re saying you broke into Martin Duval’s house...and stole all this? To help us?” Finnigan asks.
“Yup.” She picks up the USB stick and looks at it. “The icing on the cake is this little baby—footage of Frank Duval, in his own office, plotting to undercut his shady investors. Extremely dangerous investors who would hate to find out they’re being played. But it’s clear the kid is planning something against his dad.”
“How did you know it was Frank’s office?” I ask, shoving my hands into my trouser pockets to keep myself from strangling the woman.
