“You don’t belong in this world, Colton,” she whispered while his warmth seeped through her skin, warming her insides.
He slowly let go of her shoulders and gently urged her to stand on her own. “Hope is lost in this world somewhere, Scarlet, which means I’m right where I need to be.”
For a fleeting moment she felt for him—she felt his pain. He was the kind of man who deserved to live his life with a pretty blonde wife and two children in their warm home while little Yorkshire Terriers barked along the white picket fence outside.
But, unfortunately, just like her, he was dealt a real shitty hand in life.
Scarlet held out her wrists while Colton cleaned the blood off of them with the water.
“God, that stings,” she moaned, pinching closed her eyes.
“I bet you’re probably praying for a bottle of Jack right now,” he teased.
“Two, actually.”
He snorted.
While he continued to clean her wrists and hands, they remained silent. A lot of shit had gone down, and there was probably still going to be a mudslide of shit ahead of them.
Her body felt physically drained, and she didn’t even know if she had the strength to pretend like she was trying to get away. She was struggling just to stand up straight.
Colton peered at her from below his thick black lashes. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Are you kidding me? This is just going to be another day in the life ofBlanchette Wolfe.”
Colton smiled. “That’s a terrible name, by the way.”
“I have a grandmother to blame for that.”
Both of them snickered even though there was a heavy cloud of doom hanging over them. This plan of hers might be the stupidest thing ever, and it might just end up getting them both killed. But it was a chance they had to take.
“Scarlet, this Rex guy—you have to be careful,” he warned.
“The king, I know.”
He took her hands in his and fixed his gaze on hers. “I’m serious. This guy is as dark as they come. You need to keep your head in the game. Don’t let him get to you, okay?”
“Colton, I’m already in so fucking deep I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get out.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Colton lightly moved his thumb across the palm of her hand. “You have no idea how sorry I am about all of this.”
Even though his touch was warm, Scarlet didn’t like it. For some reason, she couldn’t think about anyone’s touch except Hunter’s. So she gently pulled her hands out of his hold. “Colton?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Scarlet smiled. “This.” And then she punched him in the face, blood gushing out of his nose.
“What the fuck?” Colton grabbed his nose and dropped a shit load of F-bombs.
Scarlet shrugged. “It has to look like you at least tried to stop me.”
“Jesus. Did you have to break my fucking nose?”