Page 76 of Ruthless Legacy

“He put a camera in your room. It is definitely a guy. He wanted to see you naked.”

Verity raises a finger. “A girl might want to see her naked as well,” she challenges.

Seb dramatically rolls his eyes. “Not everyone wants a mixed grill like you, sis.”

She fake laughs at him and gives him the finger. I love watching them being siblings together. They remind me so much of Kit and me.

“I think the stalker is female,” pipes up Rafe, who has remained relatively quiet up until now. He’s the quieter one of the three, but I’m under no illusion that he isn’t just as deadly as his two friends.

I turn to him, curious about what he has to say. When Rafe speaks up, it is normally something worth listening to.

“If he had an obsession with you, then he wouldn’t want other guys seeing your body or seeing you in a sexual act. Whereas a girl, she’d think it would make you look easy and damage your reputation.”

I nod my head. He has a point. “Someone like Georgie, for example.”

I hear Archer tut and I swing my eyes to meet his. “Defending her again. Was she that good at oral sex that you won’t see reason?”

Archer sighs and glares at me. “It isn’t her. I asked her.”

This brings a snigger from both Verity and me. “That girl tells lies like it’s going out of fashion,” I say, shaking my head in annoyance at him. It really bugs me when he defends her.

“Don’t get jealous, Little Red,” Seb says. “Archer hasn’t let her ride the Savage train since well before you arrived in town.”

“Jealous,” I snigger, “yeah, right.” I cringe inside at how unconvincing I sound and when I chance a glance at Archer, he’s studying me with an intense look on his face.

“Come on,” he says, standing to his feet and stretching, revealing those delicious abs that I love to ogle. “I’ll run you home.”

I kind of want to protest that I live three houses down, but then I remember there is some sick fucker out there that wants to drive me out of town, so instead I nod and grab my phone. I lean over my seat and hug Verity.

The car is silent as Archer drives down the winding driveway of the Collings mansion. I’m still mad that he defended Georgie and that he can’t see that the stalker could definitely be her.

“Listen, Scarlet, you need to have your wits about you at this charity dinner tonight. The society will be sizing you up to see if you have any weaknesses they can exploit. Just remember, every fucker in that place has an agenda.”

I scoff. “It sounds like tonight is going to be great fun.”

Archers’ fists tighten against the steering wheel. “You need to take my warning seriously. I know you think this society is some pathetic gentleman’s club, but it’s so much more than that.” He pauses, “People have mysteriously disappeared when they have disobeyed the society’s orders and don’t think because you’re an Ace they’ll go easy on you, because they won’t. If anything, they expect more from us as we set the example for everyone else.”

I cross my arms and shift in my seat so I can study his face. “You really are a puzzle, aren’t you? One minute you’re telling me you hate me, and I don’t belong here, and the next you’re warning me like you want to protect me. You need to make your mind up Archer. Are you team Holton or team stalker?”

“Trust me, if I wanted to scare you, I wouldn’t hide behind dead birds and messages on walls. If I was coming for you Scarlet, you’d know it was me.”

“You don’t scare me,” I tell him, sniggering. “I can look after myself. It’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years, and I’ve survived just fine.”

Archer glares at me from across the car. “You should fear me Scarlet, because I’m going to be your destroyer.”

I laugh. I can’t help it, and this just makes his glare sharpen. “See, there you go! Warning me in one breath and threatening to break me with the next. Do you have bipolar? You know I’m done with this toxic thing we have going on. If you’re my enemy, then you’re my enemy. This weird thing between us is over.”

His answer is self-assured smirk which just makes me want to punch him in the face. God, I hate him right now.

“You’ll never be free of me, Scarlet. Now are you getting out?”

Scowling at him I realise that we are parked on the drive outside Wilbur’s mansion. I’ve been so engrossed in our war of words that I haven’t even noticed we have reached our destination.

“Stay away from me tonight, Archer.”

His dark gaze looks straight ahead as he says. “I’m afraid that’s not an option.”

With a frustrated growl I throw open the door and jump to my feet, slamming the car door behind me. He peels off the drive. His anger reflected in the speed of his retreat.

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