Chasing Scarlett: A Breeder Romance

13. Indecisive

“That’s a hell lot of money, Miss Montogomery. I’d suggest a white knight,” my father’s financial manager tells me, his face scrunched in a permanent from that makes him look older.

I changed my mind. Making Chase Enterprises sink under after I helped lift it to the height it has reached would be counterintuitive. A hostile takeover is my new plan, but Fen doesn’t agree. Flipping the pages, I bite on my bottom lip, tasting the red lipstick it is coated in. It is a truck ton of money, buying back those shares.

Ugh. I raise my gaze to his. “And who would you suggest?”

He pushes a file across the table and my nostrils crinkle at the name. “Really? We both know Ravenna wants only one thing from me. A permanent alliance. He’ll never agree to become a partner unless I wear his stupid ancestral ring.”

Fen shrugs. “He’s waited two years and I don’t see any other suitor hanging around, waiting for your childish tantrum to end.”

My jaw clenches and I push back the file. “I’m not get remarried and that is not up for discussion. Find me another investor or we’ll stick to my plan.”

Fen leans forward and I wonder if his face might fall right off as his frown deepens. “And if I told you it was your father’s wish? One he was working to finalize before his death? You think ruling over an empire as vast as his takes just words and womanly charms? You need cunning, ruthlessness, connections and loyalty. You have neither of those things. Lorenzo Ravenna has a reach that can shield you, earn you the strength and connections you need right now. You cannot handle this alone.”

Anger closes up my throat. “I said, I’m not getting remarried, Fen. We’re done for today. Return to me with a different approach and I just might listen to you.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope, placing it atop the file as he straightens. “Be ready by six.”

“For what?”

“Your date. Listen to what Ravenna has to say first before you turn him down again, Scarlett. I am not your father, but I want what’s best for you, and that,” he points at the envelope. “That is what you need.”

I toss it in the trash after he leaves. What I need is a f*****g breather. To find a place I could truly be safe; safe enough to raise my daughter. What I need is help. Lightning brightens the dark clouds outside, the startling strike going straight to my middle as if affirming my train of thoughts. Safety is farfetched.

It’s late and pouring heavily by the time I get off work and I shiver at the cool blast of wind that threatens to rip my coat off as I search for my car keys. A shadow moves in my peripheral just as my fingers close around my keys and I halt.

The parking lot is emptied out, save for a handful of cars and bikes belonging to the factory workers on a shift. I c**k my head, wondering if I imagined it. A few seconds of listening assures me that I did and I unlock the car.

The lights suddenly flicker. Four times, and it reminds me vaguely of the horror movies I watched when I was little, even if father warned me I would have nightmares after. The air has grown colder and I know deep inside that this has nothing to do with the rain. I reach for the door handle swiftly and notice that the mark on my wrist is peeking out my sleeve, flaring brightly.

Fuck, I think is I get into the car and slam the door shut.

But you can only guess what happens next. The car won’t f*****g start. I turn the keys again and again, slamming the steering wheel with growing agitation.

“Is someone else here?” I ask my only companion. The crown shudders from where I have thrown a coat over it in the backseat and hovers atop my head before giving a short, “Yes.”

“Well? Get me out of here!”

“No.”

“No?”

I swear, it tilts as if giving me a nonchalant shrug. “You complain a lot about everyone wanting you for the sole purpose of achieving a goal. You’re worse than them. I’m not your vehicle. You won’t choose me. You lock me up whenever I want to help you. You yell and threaten me, yet you seek my help now. Do you have even the slightest inkling what I am? Chosen you might be, but I have made many before you. You are nothing special in the grand scheme of things. Best you remember that when next you threaten to toss me in boiling oil.”

It vanishes into thin air before I can respond, leaving me gaping at the empty space. “Crown?”

No answer.

I growl angrily. It picks now of all times to throw a tantrum? And they say I’m childish—something heavy slams into the door beside me and I scream as the metal dents and glass shatters. I dare a look beside me and my scream takes on a higher octave. Hungry red eyes meet mine and a salivating mouth yawns open, revealing wicked fangs. “Breeeeeederrrrr,” he drawls, his words slurred with silverish drool and he lunges for me through the broken window.

I dive for the next seat, reaching under it for my damn rifle, and in the same moment my fingers graze the cold metal, he catches my hair in his fist, yanking my head back so hard, it collides with the door.

Pain ignites in my skull and I groan, struggling against his hold as he tries to pull me out through shards of glass. His breath is cold on my neck and my insides warm at the feel of teeth so dangerously close to breaking my skin. Tightening my hand around the gun, I aim blindly, jerking back as it goes off, the impact reverberating through my arm.

The viselike hold on me is gone instantly and a guttural howl of agony cleaves the air. I don't waste a breath checking if he's down. Heaving a breath of prayer, I turn the key. Again. The car flares to life and I step on the gas, panting and sobbing in relief as I speed out of the lot and onto the empty street.

My relief, however, is short-lived when I stare into the rearview mirror. He’s chasing me—the car—and he’s…he’s gaining ground. Every panicked press of the gas pedal is futile. The relentless rain pours in, soaking my side, and seeing through the curtain it has shrouded the world ahead of me in is nearly as difficult as outrunning the snarling monster punching into the glass behind my car.

Just when I think my pounding heart will explode from my chest, a new terror takes root in my heart. A dark shape materializes in the distance and when it solidifies into the unmistakable outline of a person, I scream again, twisting the steering wheel in a reckless swerve.

But it does nothing to save me. Or whoever the f**k thought it was a brilliant idea to stand in the middle of the road on a stormy night.

I crash into them at an unstoppable speed, but it is not them who suffers the damage. It is my car that jerks back violently and loses power. The engine sputters. And dies. And the man remains standing, his hand braced against the hood.

And that, is absolutely not normal.

Glacial blue eyes lock onto mine and a strong jaw sets. It might have been two years since I last saw him, but he looks exactly the same. Deadly. Beautiful. My god, I think as my body tightens with tension.

Those eyes pin me to the chair and Tiarnan c***s his head, visibly irked. My fingers tremble as they drop from the steering wheel and a roaring snarl by my left snags his attention.

And then, he's gone. So is the vampire.

Shaken, I sit still in my ruined car, breathing in and out my nose. In and out. For several minutes, I stare, trying to shake off the shock and fear. So close...so damn close. I shut my eyes, leaning my head against the steering wheel. It's the first time I've gotten 'attacked' in public. I'd stayed late at work for this specific reason. They seem to be wary of revealing themselves in public.

But no more.

I offer you protection and a place by my side...

Fionn's words ring in my ears. Protection from him? Would surrendering to one of them be a better option? And become what? Their stupid queen, dressed in their colorful clothes, playing dungeons and dragons with them? I have a life here. Or had. I have no f*****g idea what is left of that. One of them killed my father. I'd be damn right stupid to trust any and put my life in their hands.

But I can't live like this. No peace. Constantly on edge. I can't remember the last time I slept well through the night. I know it's by some odd luck that none of them have succeeded in raping me yet, but for how long will that last? How long will I run for? How long will they chase me before discovering the truth? What I have hidden?

My head snaps left at the sound of footsteps and I flinch as Tiarnan wrenches off the car's door. He's alone and covered in blood, menace rolling off him."The f**k is wrong with you?!"

I wince at the strength of his fingers as he pulls me out of my seat. My legs shake as he sets me on my feet and I reach out to hold him, lest I fall. One arm snakes around my waist, steadying me against his heated, chiseled body, and the other cups my cheek, tilting my head so he can have a full glance at my neck. His fingers brush over an older scar and I shudder, leaning into his touch despite the warning in my head to get the f**k away from his soothing hands.

Two years and it still feels like yesterday when he and his brothers had me in their arms. Two years since I felt this way.

"You ran from us!" he yells when he's done inspecting my body for injuries. He staggers back, pain etching his face. "We searched for you. Every f*****g day. We assumed the worst! How could you?!"

I blink against the droplets of rain wetting my lashes. "How...how could I?" I echo. "Me? Me whose life you've ruined! I did something wrong!" I shove past him, needing to breathe past the ache growing in my chest.

He catches my wrist, pulling me back into him. "You're coming home with me, right now!"

"Home?" I laugh, tears springing to my eyes. "Do tell me where the hell that is! Your castle? Avallen? The place where the bastards who murdered my father reside? The place where I'm nothing but a breeder who's life is tied to your stupid ass throne? Why? So you can put a baby me in? Turn me into a mindless w***e again? Well, you four can rot in hell because I belong only to me. My life is mine to do with as I please and neither of you self-serving bastards is worth giving everything up for."

A muscle jumps in his jaw. "I asked only for me. I found you and I won't share. Come back with me, Scarlett, and I swear on my life that I'll keep you safe." He looks over his shoulder and I follow his gaze to the body of the vampire, lying a couple of feet away from his detached head. "I saved you. You owe me this." He stretches a hand forward expectantly and I stare at his elegant fingers as the rain pelts us both. "Take it. Name me king and I will give you the world, Scarlett."

His voice hums deeps inside me, stroking the tension out of me. I find that I want to do exactly what he tells me. I want to give him whatever he wants. I feel so tired, burdened by everything. My shoulders curve inwards and I whisper tiredly, "D'accord. I'll...I need to send a few messages. Give me a minute."

Tiarnan grins and I don't shake him off when he wraps his arms around me and places a kiss against my forehead. "I'm the best decision you could have made."

I nod, breathing in his scent of sandalwood and leather before letting go and walking back to my car to grab my phone.

Not. I don't grab the phone. I grab my gun and whirl around. Blue eyes flare with aggravation, betrayal and indignation as I c**k it at him, my finger already on the trigger. "You won't hurt me. I am your mate. You submit to me. Us. Drop the f*****g gun, Scarlett.

The pressure in the air triples and something pushes in the back of my mind, urging me to adhere to his command. I shove it right back, rolling my shoulders as I say, "f**k you," and pull it.

One second, he's within my line of sight and the next, his fingers wrap around the metal and he pries it from my hand. "I'm not in the mood to play games with you tonight! Do not make me drag you along!"

And because I'm not particularly in the mood either, I lunge for him angrily, the urge to hurt him and unleash the pent-up rage inside me taking control of me. I snarl, clawing at him, hissing as tears slip from my eyes for no good reason and he catches my fists, traps them in one hand and hurls me against his chest. Warmth from him seeps into my back and an involuntary shiver wrecks me, making me kick out more violently to get away from him.

I wonder if he can travel through space like the Fae can. I wonder if that is how he wishes to take me back to Avallen.

But well, I don't get to find out because I am suddenly tugged from his grasp and thrown down a bottomless hole of darkness. I am about to unleash another scream when I land on something soft, in a brightly lit sitting room.

My sitting room.

I blink, grasping at my chest and arms, confused as hell. How…?

Something darts towards me and I narrow my gaze at the crown, skipping up and down in front of me in a motion I can only assume is excitement. I growl at the emerald in its center. “You abandoned me! What if I died?!”

“I would not have chosen you if I thought you could so easily be dispatched.” A dry towel lands on my head half a breath later. “Tidy yourself. Come.”

It turns, leading me across to the kitchen and the warm scent of delicious coffee tickles my nostrils. “You’re making me coffee?” It does a few things around here. There are times I can swear it is watching soap operas with me…if a sentient crown can manage that, sorts through my clothes with a curiosity that never quite fades, but it is never nice to me.

“No,” it croons in that eerie voice. “He is.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand when my gaze is drawn to the as the black duster hanging from the back of the rocking chair I keep close to my kitchen. It isn’t mine. A weight settles in my stomach like lead and I feel the mark over my heart pulse. Oh God.

Soft, near silent footfalls pad in my kitchen and I tense as he steps out, holding my favorite mug, a delicious cloud of steam hovering above the surface and a plate of God knows what. Obsidian eyes lock onto mine and he pauses, the expression so human for a being that is far from it.

I watch Riordan, all six-foot seven inches mass of thick muscles and brute strength, stand in my kitchen, wearing a freaking apron—he looks so damn sinful in that—and he watches me in turn, taking me in from head to toe like he is unable to look away from me, who resembles a drowned rat.

And for the first time, Riordan smiles, firm, full lips parting to reveal a perfect set of teeth and I’ve never seen fangs looks so attractive, yet dangerous. “Hey. You hungry?”