Page 83 of Triple the Secrets
Both girls rolled their eyes. “One, Esme is the queen of efficiency, so nope,” Wren refuted. “Even I know that, and we’ve only been here for 2 days. Two, Royal is helping Harlow set up a room at the clubhouse for the baby, and as much as we like them, the idea of listening to pregnant women go on and on about their kids and childbirth makes me want to stab my own eardrums.” Win nodded in agreement.
Rogue rolled his eyes at their dramatics. Though he didn’t disagree, because that did sound like a terrible time. “And sitting in a library all day is your idea of fun?”
“At least there we have lots of options to read, we can help Scarlett if we get bored, or go on a computer,” Wren reasoned.
Rogue huffed a sigh, knowing he really didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t force them to stay, and he wouldn’t put it past them to ignore him and sneak off if he said no. “Fine, I’ll let Razor know you’re going,” he said gruffly as he pulled out his phone. “But you’re going to listen to every word he says.” He gave them both a hard look to emphasize his order.
Both girls nodded. “Promise,” Win said, making a crossing motion over her heart. Wren did the same.
Rogue walked outside and down the steps, calling Razor as he went.
“What’s up?” Razor asked as soon as he answered.
“You’re going to have two extra passengers today,” Rogue told him. “The girls insisted on going with Scarlett to the library.”
“That’s fine,” Razor said easily. “I got a prospect with me, and between the two of us we’ll keep them covered. I’ll have the prospect watch the building to make sure no one tries to get in without us knowing.”
“You sure you don’t want one more person? I can check with Savage to see if we can spare another prospect or brother.”
“I’m good,” Razor assured him. “I’ll go over the rules, and I’m sure the girls will be fine.”
“Alright. Call if you need us.”
“Will do.”
Rogue hung up and glanced around, finding most of his brothers nearby and in the midst of their preparations. No one was smiling, and his own skin was starting to crawl with anticipation. The darkness inside him was rearing its head, ready to end this once and for all.
His phone buzzed, and he scowled at the message.
Unknown Number: If you hurt my girls, I’m going to make sure they never find your body.
Rogue: How’d you get this number, old man? And which one are you?
Unknown Number: Doesn’t matter. Just remember what I said.
Rogue wanted to roll his eyes. Marc and Lewis had already threatened him plenty on the phone last night. He had expected as much, not that it worried him. Marc had dropped all pretence of friendliness, and in its place was the hardened Marine that wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. Rogue respected that, not that he let them know.
It had been a short conversation, mostly them threatening to kill him if he hurt Scarlett or the girls, and that they expected him to make sure that they were always safe by taking care of the trafficking problem. Permanently. He had assured them he would, and then had answered some basic questions about himself. He humoured them because he knew how important they were to the girls, but there had been a few times he had wanted to tell them to fuck off.
By the time he had finally got them off the fucking phone, he had been done with the day. Then, he had stumbled onto Scarlett in the shower, and while that had turned out okay, it had made him question himself, something he didn’t normally do. How the hell did a man like him keep a woman like Scarlett? One that looked at him and didn’t see the monster buried inside? Even now, it was coiling, readying to strike. How could a woman like Scarlett truly be okay with a man like him?
Still, he wasn’t going to change, nor was he the kind of man to walk away from what he wanted. He had laid awake for a while after Scarlett went to sleep, thinking over their conversation. If he was a good man, he would let her go; let her live a life with a man who could give her anything and everything she could ever want, and stay far away from her.
Except he wasn’t a good man, and there was no way he was going to let her go. So he was going to find these assholes and send them straight to hell.
The sound of the door opening had him looking up and watching as all three women walked out, talking. The girls were wearing the same jeans and simple gray t-shirts as earlier. Scarlett was wearing a pair of black slacks, a simple white blouse with pearl buttons, and her hair up in a messy bun.
He wanted to grab her, drag her back inside, and muss her up. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Scarlett looked over at him and smiled. “We’re ready to go,” she announced, putting the strap of her purse over her shoulder.
“We’ll walk over to the clubhouse and you guys will go with Razor and a prospect in a cage,” Rogue told her.
“Sweet,” Win said with a grin. Both girls turned and headed off towards the clubhouse.
Scarlett moved to follow, but Rogue reached out and took her hand, halting her. She looked at him in surprise, and he pulled her into him, taking her mouth. She gave a soft moan as she kissed him back, and he didn’t give a shit he was probably making her late for work. The only thing he cared about was tasting her. Everything else could wait.
When he finally pulled away, she gave him a slow smile and murmured, “Are you trying to frustrate me?”
He chuckled and murmured back, “If I have to be, you bet your sweet ass I’ll be giving it back in kind, minx.”
