Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 91064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I catch her attention and gesture for her to come closer.
She does.
“Care to join me, sweetheart?” I ask, laying on the accent real thick. “You look like ye could use a good dose of fun.”
She gives me a tentative smile, and a deliberate moment of hesitation even though we both know she was sold the second she saw me across the room.
“Okay.” She agrees and takes a seat beside me.
Across the table, Scarlett’s eyes move over my new companion. But they are flat, as always, emotionless, and I can’t read her.
I genuinely don’t know if the woman really is capable of feeling anything.
But I’m about to find out.
Childish, maybe. But I’m a bloke. We never fully grow up.
Blondie introduces herself as Charlotte, and she becomes my new best friend as the game begins again. She’s laying it on real thick too, with her sweet charm and pretty smile. She keeps leaning close to me, brushing her arm against mine before I wrap mine around her shoulders and start whispering in her ear.
I’m raking in the chips now and cleaning out the table.
And I’m proud of myself for not once checking in Scarlett’s direction. Her laughter has died down, and the conversation between her and Ethan seems to be diminishing as well, much to my satisfaction.
When the game is finished and I’ve raked in my winnings, Charlotte tells me she has a hotel room upstairs, wondering if I’d like to join her.
Before I can give her an answer, Scarlett is beside me.
I glance down at her, still jacked up over her antics. But her face is soft now, her eyes open. She doesn’t spare Charlotte a glance as she grabs my shirt collar and pulls my face to hers.
“I’ve decided that I don’t like this game anymore,” she says. “And I’d like to play another.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And I’ve decided I need a new good luck charm. So what do you say, old sport?”
I give Charlotte an apologetic smile, and it was a dick move of me to bring her into this so my apology is sincere too. I tell Charlotte I’m going to keep trying my luck at the tables.
“No big deal,” she says, eyeing Scarlett as she slips me a card from her purse. “It was fun. Let me know if you want to do it again sometime.”
Scarlett drags me from the table and then stops in the middle of the floor. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. She’s locked down tighter than a battleship right now, giving nothing away.
“I have to go to the powder room,” she announces.
“Alright. I’ll be here waiting for ye.”
She leaves, and I grab another drink from the bar.
But by the time I’ve finished it, she still hasn’t returned. I take a walk around the club and ask a couple of ladies who leave the bathroom if they’ve seen her, but they say no.
So on the predictable chance that she’s run off on me again, I find the back exit and poke my head into the alley to look for her.
What I find isn’t Scarlett.
Even at her worst, I’ve never seen her like this. So frayed. So much rage pulling at her seams.
She’s got the bloke- Ethan- pinned by his throat with her stiletto, and she’s aiming a gun I didn’t even fucking know she had, right at his head. Her wig is off, and her eyes are wild. Terrified and filled with thirst.
Thirst for blood.
“Scarlett.”
I move towards her, approaching slowly, but she won’t even look at me.
“Stay the fuck away, asshole,” she tells me. “Why don’t you go find Charlotte. You liked her so much with her blonde hair and dry personality. I bet she’s completely sane too.”
“Is this really the best time to discuss that?” I ask.
“This bitch is fucking crazy,” Ethan tells me as if I don’t already know it. “You have to help me, man.”
Scarlett stuffs the front of her shoe into his mouth, making him choke on it.
“You like that?” she asks. “You like it rough, don’t you, Ethan? I remember you do.”
I check the alley and it isn’t as secluded as Scarlett thinks it is and I’m worried that someone else will come stumbling into this mess at any moment. I’m edging towards her, and Scarlett doesn’t notice until I’m within five feet of her.
“I said to stay the fuck back,” she growls. “I told you, Rory. My game, my rules. You didn’t play by my rules.”
“You didn’t even tell me the rules,” I counter. “You didn’t tell me this was what ye were after tonight.”
“He deserves it,” she says. “And so do you. You all fucking deserve it.”
“I never meant to hurt ye,” I tell her. “It was a game, Scarlett. I’m sorry.”
She laughs, and it’s dry. “As if you could hurt me.”
She makes it sound as if it’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard, but I can tell that it’s true. Even if she won’t admit it to herself.