Page 64 of Ruthless Keeper
I spin around to face Scarlett, my heart dropping at the haunted expression on her face. She’s pale as a sheet, there are tears swimming in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembles. She looks so achingly vulnerable, it brings out the protector in me.
I pull her into my arms just as her knees buckle and nearly give out. A soft sob breaks against my neck, and my heart shrivels up in my chest. It breaks for everything that’s happened to this girl, all she’s had to endure, and the fact that the blowsjust keep coming.
I wish I had met Scarlett out in the wild. Courted her properly. Treated her the way she deserved to be treated. I’d have still put her on her knees and made her into my toy, but only when she was ready. I’d have sprinkled a mattress with rose petals before taking the gift of her virginity. I’d have doneeverythingdifferently.
“You knew,” she whispers, betrayal staining the words.
I swallow. “Yes.”
“How long?”
“I found out shortly before the whipping. I was going to tell you, but then… Cain.”
“Cain,” she echoes. “Greyson, there’s something I have to tell you.”
My eyebrows lift. Not only at her addressing me asGreyson, but at the haunting tone beneath her words.
I pull back to observe her. I tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear and wipe at the tears streaming down her cheeks. My woman looks terrified andsolet down.
Sheislet down.I’velet her down on numerous occasions.
“What is it, Flower?”
She exhales a long breath. “Cain might kill me for telling you…” A fine tremor works its way through her limbs.
Anger sparks in my chest. She has a secretwith Cain? What has that treacherous piece of shit done to her?Withher? My mind begins to reel with possibilities, but I shut down my thoughts before they can run away from me. Right now, I need tolisten, notassume. Making assumptions has gotten me into enough trouble with Scarlett already.
“I’ll kill him before he has that chance,” I say, keeping my tone steady. “Talk to me, Scarlett.”
She blinks up at me. “I’m afraid.”
“I’ll protect you.”
Some of the worry fades from her eyes. She blinks again, slower this time, and her shivering calms. “Yes, you will,” she agrees softly. She looks away, gazing at a weights machine instead of me. “The day that I got away, after I’d…” She trails off with a grimace.
“After you poisoned me,” I supplement. When she flinches, I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not mad about it. Not anymore. I fucking deserved it. I hate that you got away, but I can’t blame you for running.”
She looks back at me, surprise flaring in her beautiful eyes. She wasn’t expecting me to take accountability—I’m nearly as surprised as she is. This last month has done both of us good.
She clears her throat, offering me a small nod of acknowledgement, and drops her gaze to the floor. I don’t force her to look at me—not this time. I wait patiently, giving her the space she needs to talk, even though I want to claw my way out of my skin and interrogate her about whatever secret she’s been keeping. One that has to do withCain.
Is that why he broke into my bedroom several weeks ago? To talk to her?Fuck, I have to know. Not just because I hate that she’s kept something from me, but because I need to be armed with knowledge to adequately protect her.
“Scarlett, baby,” I prompt. “Talk to me. Please.”
She exhales a long breath. “After I left the apartment that day… Cain caught me in the garage. He waswaitingfor me. He pinned me against a wall and asked me if I’d given you the antidote. Greyson… he knew. He knew my plans before I made them. He seteverythingup.”
Shock slams into me like a freight train. I’ve become intimately aware that life is just a chess game to Cain, but this… this goes beyond his usual scope of diabolical behavior.Insaneisn’t a strong enough word to describe Cain.
He’s a fucking criminalmastermind.
A memory flashes through my mind. It pulls me back months and months in the past, before Scarlett escaped and I recaptured her. It takes me to the day I got Scarlett flowers and plants, after Cain and I met with Eric.Her brother.
I’d broken into the flower shop where I’d put in an order for Scarlett—it was late at night, and the place was closed, but I wanted to pickeverything up while I was nearby. After I’d collected the plants I’d had prepared for Scarlett, I’d gone into the back to peruse bouquets.
Cainwas with me.
Cain had picked up the oleander bouquet and suggested Scarlett might like it.
