Page 13 of Fallen Legacy

He puts the pan back over the boiling food and cocks his head at me. “Your home is with me, Scarlet.”

I snicker, and this earns me a glare from him.

“How many times do I have to tell you? This. Me and you. We. Are. Done,” I say it slowly and clearly, hoping he will get the message.

He scoffs and shakes his head. “We are far from done. We’re just getting started, Scar. You’re mine, and not because our families decided. Because I decided you are everything I need.”

“And what about what I need?” I hiss, folding my arms across my chest to protect myself from the effect his words are having on me.

He leans on the worktop and studies me silently before he walks around the island and stops behind me. He places both hands on either side of the worktop, caging me in.

“You need me. You need my darkness to balance out your own. You need me to calm the demons that haunt your sleep,” he says. He steals my breath from my lungs and makes me feel things I don’t want to feel. His eyes focus on my neck, and he reaches in and twirls the necklace he gave me between his fingers, smiling. Damn, why didn’t I take it off and throw it away? “We need each other. You’re my sunlight in this dark, fucked up world and I’m never letting you go, scar.”

“We’re toxic,” I protest. “What we had, it was built on lies and revenge. It’s unhealthy.”

He smirks as he moves his fingers to my hair and curls a piece around his finger. Being this near to him is messing with my rational brain. The part that is screaming at me to push him away and tell him I’ll never be his.

“We’re perfect for each other and if I have to kidnap you to make you realise it, then so be it.”

He leans in so his lips are a breath away from my own. He focuses his dark eyes on my mouth and he half-smiles, before he pulls away and he walks back around to the hob. I suck in the breath that I had been holding and scold myself because I know had he pressed his lips against mine, I would have kissed him back.

“I’m leaving,” I announce, stepping away from the island and heading towards the door.

“Good luck with that. We’re in the middle of nowhere. We flew here by private jet and the nearest town is hours away,” he informs me in a matter-of-fact tone.

I open the front door and step outside. It’s cold, and I’m only in a T-shirt and knickers, with nothing on my feet. I don’t doubt he’s telling me the truth. If there’s one thing I know about Archer, it is that he will have planned every detail with precision.

I step back inside and close the door behind me. He’s leaning against the worktop, with one ankle crossed over the other, watching me. “Now that we have established that you can’t escape me, shall we sit down and eat?” He gestures towards the table. He has set it for an intimate dinner, complete with candles and rose petals scattered along the tabletop.

Rolling my eyes, I cross the room and I pull out a chair and sit down, all the while scowling at him like my life depends on it. Satisfied that I’m doing as he asked, he turns his back on me and scoops out the contents of the dish onto two plates. I’ve never seen him cook before. If I’m honest, I presumed, he didn’t know how, given he’s grown up with a nanny and a housekeeper, to attend to his every whim. Watching him doing ordinary domestic tasks has my heart flipping in my chest. He opens a bottle of red wine and pours a glass, and he brings it over to me, placing it on the table. Scowling at his back, I pick up the glass and take a large drink.

When he brings the food over, I can’t help but salivate. He’s made carbonara, my favourite pasta dish, and it smells amazing.

“So, you cook. Something else to add to your CV, alongside lying, scheming and kidnap.”

He smiles as he takes his seat opposite me. He picks up a remote and Sheeran comes through the speakers singing soulful lyrics about making sure you want them before you dive in.

“Well, this is cosy,” I comment with a roll of my eyes. Archer is doing romance, and it scares the shit out of me. I can cope with a moody, demanding Archer, but this, this is undoing me.

“Eat before it gets cold,” he suggests, picking up his own fork and tackling the food on his plate.

There’s a defiant part of me that wants to pick up the food and throw it over his head and tell him he can go to hell, but then my stomach grumbles at me reminding me I’m starving. With some reluctance, I pick up my knife and fork. I groan when I take my first mouthful, and his lips quirk up at the corner in reaction.

“If I’d have known food would bring moans like that from you, I’d have cooked for you every day.”

I put my fork down and glare at him from across the table. “Maybe you should have recorded it because food is the only way you’ll get a moan from me again.” I offer him a snarky smile and pick my fork back up.

He scoffs in response, his lip lifting at the corner. “We both know that isn’t true, Scarlet.”

We eat in silence for the next few minutes. I refuse to engage in polite conversation with him. Just because he has me trapped here in the woods somewhere, it doesn’t mean I have to interact with him or acknowledge him.

“Have you heard from Wilbur?”

My eyes snap up to meet his. I’m surprised he has dared to mention Wilbur. “Are you trying to tell me you don’t know about his visit to school and his ultimatum?” I ask him, with a brow arched in question.

“He came to see you at school?” he asks me, his brows furrowed.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” I reply. “Let’s agree not to play games anymore, Archer.”

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