Page 71 of Torment

“Probably not,” she replied dryly. “But I really wanted to.”

“Fuck!”

Scarlet shook the spasm caused by punching Colton out of her hand and waited for him to pull himself together.

“I’m really sorry.”

Colton wiped his nose with the bottom of his shirt. “No, you’re not.”

“You’re right. I’m not.”

Colton straightened and Scarlet saw tears welling up in his eyes. Yup, a punch to the nose really was a bitch.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Let’s do this.”

Colton tensed, his jaw ticking slightly as he nodded. “On three. One…two…three!”

Chapter 21

Scarlet ran.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The second she was out the barn she had to fight the urge to stop. Everything was just as she remembered—the house, the garden, the trees…everything.

With the sun starting to set, the most beautiful pinks and yellows painting the brick exterior of the European style mansion, Scarlet was suddenly bombarded with childhood memories. Afternoon walks through the gardens. Star gazing at night while she and her sister would lie on the soft, green grass. It was a time when Scarlet still noticed the beauty around her, when everything in her life still had color.

She glanced up to the second floor at the white window shutters of her and Willow’s old bedroom. It felt like it was just yesterday when she looked out those windows directly at the sunset, daydreaming of what her life had in store for her. Back then, all her dreams had pictures of love, happiness and white picket fences. Unfortunately, that was not how her life had turned out…at all.

To her right she saw the familiar maple trees, and for a second she thought about running, escaping through the maze of leaves and branches. But she knew that other than the front gates, there was no way off the estate. And knowing Brent, he probably had security fucking everywhere. So it was no use. The only chance she had was to follow her plan and hope to God she and Colton didn’t end up dead and buried.

As she continued to run, she thought about how other than pretending to escape to get her and Colton close to Rex and Brent, she had nothing. There was nothing to the plan but that. So she would have to wing it—which basically meant they were screwed. But she was screwed anyway, no matter how she looked at it.

“Scarlet!” Colton yelled behind her, pretending to chase after her.

She ran over the grass around the side of the house toward the back porch, past the white rose bushes, and the Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow tree at the corner of the house. When she passed the tree, the familiar sweet, floral scent filled her nostrils, and she could remember how much she loved the smell as a little girl. The small purple and white flowers were always her favorite. Her grandmother even dubbed the treeBlanchette’s Arbor.

Dammit, now was not the time for her to take a trip down memory lane.

As she rounded the corner, she heard Colton behind her, yelling for her to stop.

She knew where she was heading. She knew the layout of the estate like the palm of her hand. What she didn’t know was what waited for her inside those walls since Brent had taken ownership of everything.

Was she being reckless by going along with her own plan? Probably.

Was this the stupidest plan she’d ever come up with? Yes.

Did she have a choice?

No.

Bella Vista was a huge estate with a huge fucking mansion—all sixteen bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, and shit loads of entertainment rooms of it. So by the time Scarlet rounded the second corner with Colton on her heels, her heart was pounding against her ribs. Her throat burned and her lungs felt like they were on fucking fire.

“Scarlet! Stop!” Colton yelled again.

As she glanced over her shoulder to see how far behind her he was, a big, strong hand grabbed her elbow, pulling her back. The wind got knocked out of her as she slammed back first against the outside wall.

The pain that shocked through her body was excruciating, her head exploding in a haze of stars.

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