Page 96 of Triple the Secrets
Scarlett hadn’t second guessed her decision. Stiffly, she made her way to the basement when Code rushed down, forgetting to lock the door behind him. The girls followed, with Wren a bit slower because of her leg, but Scarlett knew she didn’t want to be fussed over. Not yet. There would be time for that later. Right now, they were getting their shot. Their turn.
Now, standing here, she saw the horror on some of the men’s faces, others angry that they had come down, but the only one she cared about was Rogue. He watched her, gaze unwavering. She saw the war of emotions in his eyes. The anger, the need to tell her to go right back upstairs, the understanding, and then finally, the acceptance. Not that he wouldn’t try and convince them to leave it to them, but they weren’t going to be swayed.
This was what they deserved.
“Scarlett,” Rogue said calmly.
“No,” Scarlett snapped at him. “You will not take this away from us, Rogue. None of you will,” she added fiercely, looking at the men watching them. “It was us that were kidnapped, drugged, terrorized, and raped. It was us that were almost killed. It was us that escaped. And it will be us who get to say our piece.”
“The girls—”
“The girls are fine,” Wren snarled at him, eyes stormy.
“You don’t need to do this,” Rogue tried again, tried to be as patient as he could, but Scarlett heard the barely contained frustration. “You don’t need to see this. I will not let this be on your hands now.”
“No one said we would kill them,” Win pointed out calmly. Far too calmly for Scarlett’s liking, but she would deal with it later. Win was fighting some demons, and they needed to be exorcised. If this was the way to get them out, then so be it. “But we need to say our piece to them.”
Rogue glanced at Savage who watched them with narrowed eyes. “I don’t fucking like this, brother,” he told Rogue. “Our women shouldn’t have to deal with this shit. That’s what the whole damn club is about. We handle the bad shit so it doesn’t touch them.”
“You can go back to your caveman ways after we’re done,” Scarlett replied icily. “Darkness and bad shit has touched more than one woman in this club. Royal killed her own sister, and Esme’s father and ex-whatever, were here. You can protect us as much as you like, but this did touch us, and you have no say on how we handle our pain. Our own grief.”
Rogue looked at her and then at Savage. They had a silent conversation and finally Savage hissed out a breath between clenched teeth. “Fine, but you’re not killing them,” he said firmly, glaring at all three of them.
Scarlett looked at the girls and they all nodded.
The brothers slowly, reluctantly, parted their semi-circle and let them through. Rogue didn’t move, just stood watching them, gaze dark as they stepped forward.
Scarlett looked up at Slicer, taking in the defiant gleam in his eyes. He was ready to die, knew he wouldn’t leave here alive. His jaw was bruised, his right eye swollen, but he was mostly unharmed. He was naked, but she didn’t care. Then she looked at the furious Tanya. She didn’t know her, but knew she was one of the people responsible for everything they had been through, she felt an anticipation bubble up inside her. She wanted to make her hurt.
She looked back up at Slicer. “I always hoped that one day I could kill you,” she said calmly, no inflection in her voice as she held his gaze. “For all the times you drugged me, raped me, and cut me. Never enough to really damage the merchandise. The many times you wrapped your hands around my neck and squeezed until I thought I was dying and then you would let me go and laugh. Laugh because you knew that I wouldn’t remember any of it.”
“I enjoyed breaking you,” Slicer leered down at her. “You’d fight me and it only made it that much sweeter.”
Rogue snarled, but Scarlett didn’t even glance his way. “See that’s the thing,” she replied calmly. “You didn’t break me. You only made me stronger. Strong enough that I was able to escape from right under your nose with two of the strongest women I know. You lost them, and you didn’t find us.”
“I’d have found you whores eventually,” Slicer snarled, infuriated. “You think you’re anything? You’re nothing. You really think you’re going to be able to keep a man with that used up pussy? How do you think he feels now, knowing that I’ve had you? That I’ve had these other two—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Scarlett lashed out and punched him in the stomach, and the girls both appeared beside her, faces hard. He groaned at the hit to his already sore stomach, and then he screamed when both girls struck, striking him in the ribs on both sides.
“You stole us when we were ten years old,” Wren said, voice void of any emotion.
“Right after our parents were killed by the men you sent to get us,” Win continued, voice the same. “They brought us to you that night, where you raped us both. Made us watch as you raped the other.”
The rumbling of the men behind Scarlett told her that they were not enjoying this, and she could feel the waves of fury rolling off of Rogue. She didn’t dare look at him. Was almost afraid of what she would see. The girls had never really shared this part of their life before they were taken, and she never pushed.
“You took our innocence. Our childhood,” Wren continued, the first flash of emotion showing on her face. “You took everything from us. You sliced us every time you raped us. You starved us.”
“You beat us,” Win continued. “You made us afraid, you let old men do the same. At the same time, and separately. Then you beat us when we fought back. You and the men you oversaw.”
“Then you threw us in a cage, like some kind of animal,” Wren hissed. “You were going to sell us like cattle.”
“But not before you sliced us a few final times,” Win hissed. “But you didn’t break us. You tried, but you failed.”
“Failed because you didn’t realize we would never let you win,” Wren continued, stepping so close to him that there was no space between them. Win mimicked the move on the other side. Slicer watched them warily, obviously realizing he was not in a good position right now. He was at their mercy; the way they had been at his years ago.
“And it’s only fair that before Rogue kills you,” Win said with a cold smile, a false sweetness that made a chill run down Scarlett’s spine, “that you get to know how that pain feels.”
“At our hands,” Wren finished. Quick as a flash, both of them produced knives and sliced into his sides.
