Page 131 of Filthy Royal

SCARLETT

“Reports of another one in this direction!” A flustered guard ran by; laser gripped tight. “Hurry.” Two more sprinted past right after.

Scarlett didn’t bother struggling or shouting. The gag made it impossible to be heard, particularly above all the chaos.

Moreover, Damien’s cloak provided excellent camouflage, concealing even his massive bulk, effectively blending them with the headquarters’ outer wall.

And finally, struggling only made it more likely that Damien would smack her ass—a scenario her stupid body liked more than it should, especially now that she’d decided she was done feeling anything for him.

“One more to go, Omega.” Damien’s deep voice pulled her from her thoughts, her stomach dropping as he crouched low. Her hair brushed the ground as he set another of his so-called “toys” in place.

Five heartbeats later, they were out of range as his distraction detonated.

She’d caught a glimpse of one; they looked like mini electron bombs, small enough to fit in a pocket or tuck into one of the cracked outer tiles of the headquarters building, but they packed a powerful punch. In addition to those, he was, thanks to his supply pack, armed with a laser and goddess knows what else attached to the holster at his hips.

Clearly, he wasn’t a newbie to this whole breaking-and-entering thing.

Still, it was all going a little too well.

Which left her with the growing suspicion that this was a trap, that Darvish had already vacated the building and hoped to draw his attacker—and her—to his waiting guards. Fortunately, her employer hadn’t anticipated the extent of Damien’s firepower or a miracle cloak that allowed him to slip through any trap.

More guards streamed past, and this time, her wily captor waited until they’d gone, then… just like that, walked through the front entrance of the most heavily guarded building in the Golden Dome.

Darvish would be furious.

And Damien would have been surprised to discover she was okay with that.

Trap or not, she wanted inside Consortium headquarters and Darvish’s private room as badly as her captor.

Yes, it was a change in strategy, but a necessary one.

Encountering Kadon and her brother had been hard, but it had also been a gift.

Scarlett hadn’t been allowed near Luc without his guards in four planetary rotations. So when she’d first heard his voice, she wanted nothing more than to run to him and hug him tight. Hold him close and breathe in his familiar, comforting big-brother scent.

Then rational thought had kicked in, and she’d realized Luc was now free of his guards and better off with Kadon and away from her.

Until that moment of clarity, she’d held on to the idea that escaping Damien and trying to salvage her old life as Darvish’s little pet was still the best plan.

But the truth was, Luc was right. Damien’s arrival and her abduction had changed everything.

Her employer Darvish was already following through on his threats.

Ebony and Amber were involuntarily on their way out of the Golden Dome.

Luc was momentarily free of his captors.

Kadon’s outbursts indicated he was spiraling.

She needed to form a new plan—and fast.

As far as she could see, there were only two ways to salvage this situation.

One, find the vids Darvish had used to blackmail her and destroy them: a long shot since her employer likely had copies on him wherever he was.

Two, and more feasible, find something useful to draw him out—then revive her ultimate plan: use her gift to rid the galaxy of Darvish so both he and those incriminating vids would be gone forever. The growing darkness inside her was confirmation that she’d be doing everyone a favor by taking out two monsters, Darvish and herself, in the process. It would free her brother to truly escape as well.

The only snag? Enacting her new plan entailed taking Damien up to Darvish’s private room, which meant going against every instinct shrieking inside her to keep him away from the ugliness connected with Darvish and that place.

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