I held her closer, giving her what she needed. She was so fucking brave. I had no idea what he’d put her through whilst she’d been here, but I was sure she’d done everything in her power to keep herself safe. Scarlett wouldn’t take anything lying down. Not now she was free of fucking Stuart and his fists.
I could hear Drake, Francis, and Prescott talking behind us, but I ignored them. Scarlett needed me. I would never let her down again. She didn’t blame me for her accident, but I was still responsible for what happened that night.
“I want to go home,” she whispered into my chest. “I want to go home so fucking much.”
I stroked her hair.
“We’ll take you as soon as we’re done here, okay? I promise.”
She nodded, clutching me tighter for a long moment. Then she pulled away and smiled. I stroked her arm. If she wanted us to take her home to Fortuity, we would, but we had to deal with Mason first.
Both of us turned to look at the others. They were watching us. Mason was glaring behind the tape over his mouth. Scarlett moved towards the boys. Then she was bundled up against Prescott’s chest and he was murmuring how much he loved her before kissing her like it was the last time he would. When he let her go, she went to Francis. There were similar sentiments shared between them.
She looked at Drake. His expression was dark, but his eyes softened. She stepped closer, running her hand up his chest before cupping the back of his neck.
“I’ve missed you.”
Drake dipped his head and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Me too,” was all he said in response.
“Won’t you kiss me properly?”
It took a moment for him to relent, bowing his head and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. She pouted when he pulled away, but he was already moving towards Mason.
“You have caused us no end of fucking trouble,” he ground out. “And you’re fucking lucky you’re Garrett’s son or we wouldn’t hesitate to end your sad, sorry existence, because trust me, I’m having a very hard time finding reasons to keep you alive.”
Drake towered over Mason, staring down at him with hatred glowing in his indigo eyes. The mask had dropped. He wasn’t playing games today. Out of all of us, Drake was the most sleep-deprived, having spent hours upon hours tracking down where Mason had taken Scarlett. His patience was at an all-time low.
“In case we hadn’t already made it very clear to you, Scarlett belongs with us. She’s ours. And you should have known you couldn’t keep us from hunting you the fuck down when you took her.”
Mason’s eyes were full of rage, and he struggled against his bindings as if he wanted to throw himself at Drake.
“You are pathetic, you know that? You’ve wanted her for years. I know unrequited love can fucking suck, but helping a man kidnap a sixteen-year-old girl, pretending to be her friend whilst biding your time until you can have her makes you a sorry excuse for a human being.”
Drake turned away from Mason and levelled his gaze on Scarlett.
“Did he do anything else to you other than that?”
He pointed at the bruise on her jaw.
“No.” She sent Mason a dirty look before turning her attention back to Drake. “What now? Are we going home?”
“We will… after we search the place and decide what to do about this fuck.”
“He wouldn’t allow me into his office.”
“Then we’ll start there. Francis, you come with me. Pres, watch West and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. If he thought I wasn’t going to punish that little shit Mason whilst he was out of the room, he was clearly putting far too much trust in Prescott’s ability to keep me under control.
Drake gave me a significant look before he and Francis left the room. If this was Mason’s hideaway, no doubt he had shit here he didn’t want anyone else seeing.
I turned to the man himself, giving him a smile.
“Why do I get the feeling you have no intention of listening to Drake?” Prescott said as he came to stand next to me.
“Because I’m not.”
“You can’t kill him.”
“I can punish him in other ways. After all, this fucker has been after Scar for years and quite frankly, he deserves a little torture.”
Prescott raised an eyebrow. Scarlett looked at both of us with a raised eyebrow.
“Come here,” I said to her as I walked around the other side of the dining table.
Scarlett approached me with caution in her eyes. She probably should be suspicious as fuck right now.
I took her by the arm, pulling her closer and stroking a hand down her cheek.
“Do you want to help me punish him, little Scar?”
“How?”
I leant closer and whispered in her ear. When I pulled back, her cheeks were pink.
“Are you serious?”
“Very. After all, you like being watched, don’t you?”
Her cheeks darkened to red. Her eyes darted away for a moment.
“I need… I need you to make me,” she whispered.
My lips curved up into a smile. She wanted to be my reluctant but willing little victim. Well, I could certainly play that game. Scarlett liked to be humiliated and degraded. What better way than to fuck her in front of the man who had pretended to be her friend for ten years.
“Do you want a safe word?”
She shook her head, looking up at me with wide eyes.
“I trust you.”
I slid her cardigan off her shoulders and threw it on one of the chairs. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. It pissed me off to see her in clothes he’d clearly bought for her, but at least he’d given her something decent. I would have smacked him around the head if he’d bought her skimpy shit to wear. She liked to be comfortable.
My hand went to her hair, fisting it behind her head and forcing it back so she met my eyes.
“Is my little slut desperate for dick? You’ve been without for far too long, haven’t you?”
Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
“Mmm, I know you are.”
I let go of her hair, took her arm again and pressed her face-first onto the dining table. I held her down on it with her arm pinned behind her back.
“You got something to gag her with, Pres?”
Prescott stared at the two of us with heat in his eyes, then dug his hand in his pocket, pulling out the tape. I grinned and indicated her with my head. He moved closer, pulling off a piece of duct tape. He leant over and secured it across Scarlett’s mouth. She whimpered into the makeshift gag.
“Hold her down for me. Wouldn’t want my dirty little slut trying to escape whilst we’re teaching Mason a fucking lesson.”
Prescott took over, pinning her arm to her back and grabbed her other one, securing it in his hold too. Then he turned to Mason and gave him a wink. The little shit looked incensed, struggling against the ropes holding him to the chair. He had a grand old view of Scarlett’s face.
“Make sure she doesn’t look away from him,” I said to Prescott. “I want him to see how much she loves my dick. I want him to watch her come all over it.”
My hands went to Scarlett’s jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling them down her legs, along with her knickers. I ran my hands over her bare behind, stroking her skin. Then I slapped my hand across it, making her jerk.