Page 84 of Ruthless Legacy

I nod my head as tears pour down my face. “My stalker, he was here. He held a knife to my throat.”

Archer moves to leave me and seek him out, but I grasp at his coat. “No. please don’t leave me alone. Please,” I beg him.

He must see the distress in my face because he folds me into his arms and gently strokes the back of my head as he pulls out his phone. “Boyd. It’s Savage. I need you down at the Bay café now. That fucker just held a knife to Eliza’s throat.”

I don’t hear Boyd’s replies but Archer pockets his phone and I hear the alarm on his car beep. “Come on, let’s head back inside and sit you down.” I let him guide me back in through the doors of the café. I hear Jess ask him what’s wrong, and he tells her that someone has just attacked me at knifepoint. She ushers Archer and me through to the back, into the little staff room. Archer settles in a chair with me on his lap.

“Did he hurt you anywhere, Scarlet?” I can hear the rage in his voice that he is struggling to control.

“I think he cut my leg when he had the knife under my dress.”

I hear him swear under his breath. “Can I look?”

I shake my head, keeping my arms clutched tightly around his neck. “Please, just hold me.”

He releases a deep sigh and strokes up and down my back. “I’ve got you, Scarlet. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Jess quietly returns with a warm cup of tea, and I lift my face from the nook of Archer’s neck to thank her. She says she’ll leave us alone and will let us know when the police arrive. When she’s gone, Archer lifts my face and examines it, wiping my tears away with his thumb.

“I forgot what it feels like to cry,” I tell him. “I haven’t cried since the day we buried our parents.”

He offers me a sad smile. “I haven’t cried since the day my mum died, either.” He leans in and kisses the top of my head. “I swear we’ll find this fucker and when we do, I’ll kill him with my bare hands, Scarlet.”

Archer reaches between us and pulls his phone out of his jacket pocket. “Seb, it’s me. Can you guys get down to the diner? The fucking stalker attacked Scarlet tonight with a knife.”

I hear an expletive of swear words down the phone before the call ends. “How did he know I’d be here tonight? How did he know about my job?”

“I don’t know Scarlet, but we’ll find him, I promise.”

Archer

I’m raging. I feel an urgent need to punch and destroy something or someone, but she clings to me like I’m her lifeline. The police arrive and do a sweep of the area and ask Scarlet some questions, but she’s in shock. Jess closed the café early before the police arrived, so the place is quiet. Wilbur’s away in the city, but he calls me straight back after he gets my voicemail, and he speaks for a minute on the phone with Eliza, who assures him she’s okay and that he doesn’t need to come straight home. If the fucker gave a shit about her, he’d get his arse in that private helicopter of his and come home to look after his granddaughter. She eventually lets me look at her thigh. Luckily, it’s just a small nick. It doesn’t need stitches. Jess offers to clean it up for her, but Scarlet shakes her head and says no. With some persuasion she lets detective Boyd take a photo of the injury and then when everyone leaves the room, she lets me clean the cut with an antiseptic wipe. There are cameras on the side of the building, so Boyd should be able to find footage of the fucker. He tries to push her to go down to the station, but I can see she’s in no fit state, so I tell him it can wait until tomorrow and he leaves, promising to keep us updated on what they find on the camera recordings.

Shortly after, Seb, Rafe and Vee all rush into the small staff room and hover around us. Vee has tears in her eyes as she sees her friend huddled in my arms with tear stains on her face. I hate that the sick fucker has done this to her. Scarlet is one of the fiercest girls I’ve ever met, and she shakes on my lap in shock and fear. She won’t let me take her to the hospital. She flat out refuses. Even when she’s in shock, she’s still a stubborn thing.

“I want to go home,” she tells me as she sits up on my lap and lifts her eyes to mine.

“Okay. I’ll take you home now,” I agree. I gently cup her face and kiss her forehead. It’s killing me seeing her like this and I wouldn’t even dare begin to examine the emotions I’m feeling right now.

“Will you stay with me?” she asks me, her voice uncertain and shy.

“That’s a given and from now on you don’t go anywhere without one of us four with you. Anywhere, Scarlet, okay?”

She nods her head, putting up no argument and whilst part of me is relieved, part of me is gutted that she doesn’t fight me on it, because that’s what she would have done before that bastard put the fear of God in her.

Jess accompanies us to my car, her eyes full of concern for her newest employee. She pushes a bag into my hand and tells me it’s a caramel doughnut for Eliza as they’re her favourite.

“You come back to work when you’re ready, okay Eliza? This job will still be here for you whenever you’re ready.”

There’s no fucking way she’s returning to work here, but that’s a conversation we’ll save for later because right now I need to get her home and in bed.

“Oh Eliza,” Edith clucks as she opens the front door and ushers us inside. Rory and Calvin are both here and it is clear from the look on all their faces that Scarlet has woven her way into their hearts in the short time that she has been here. I’m carrying her in my arms, her legs wrapped tightly around me as if she’s afraid I’m going to let her go.

“Can I get you a hot chocolate, Eliza? I have the caramel syrup you like?”

“No thanks,” she says with an appreciative smile for Edith. “I just want to go to my room if that’s okay? Is Kit home? Does he know?”

“He’s stopping over at a friend’s house, but I can ring him and fetch him home?” Calvin offers, already reaching for the car keys in his pocket.

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