Page 38 of Saving Scarlett
Scanning the room, I spotted a rusted nail jutting out of a wooden crate in the corner. I dropped to the floor and scooted along the floor, maneuvering myself until the nail was within reach. With my hands twisted around me, I worked the rope back and forth over the sharp metal, continuing even as it scratched my skin.
Come on, come on.
Gritting my teeth, I sawed faster. After what felt like an eternity, the ropes split and my hands broke free. I wasted no time dropping to the floor and untying the bonds around my ankles.
With a deep breath, I tried to push down the panic rising in my chest. No matter how afraid I was, I couldn’t show it to them. With my husband, I learned that lesson the hard way. For me to find a way out of the situation I was in, I had to stay strong. Despite everything I’d been through, I was a survivor, and I would never let myself become a victim ever again.
As tears burned the backs of my eyes, I clung to the memory of Bane, of Ethan, telling me that I was stronger than I thought. There was no way I would let him down.
I rose to my feet, determination sweeping through me. I needed to get out of there, so although I had no idea what they wanted from me, I had no intention of making it easy for them.
Creeping toward the door, I pressed my ear against the cold metal, listening as muffled voices drifted from the other side.
“The Boss wants her in one piece for negotiations. We can’t afford any screw ups,” a man said, the gruff, accented voice sending a chill down my spine and turning my blood to ice.
“Relax, we got this covered. Ain’t no way she’s getting past us,” said another man in reply.
Pressing my ear to the door again although I wanted to hide, I strained to hear more.
“Mr. Delacroix wants the girl unharmed. He has plans for her,” the gruff voice added.
The moment the name Delacroix met my ears, my breath became stuck in my throat, my chest too tight for my lungs to expand. I knew that name. My father had an old business partner by the same name before they had a major falling out. I wasn’t sure why they’d stopped working together, and I wasn’t sure what Delacroix wanted with me.
My mind raced, trying to connect the dots, wondering if Delacroix was somehow connected to Joshua. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. If he was tied to Joshua, I didn’t understand why Joshua hadn’t walked into the room yet and terrorized me for running out on him. No matter what he’d done to me, he would still blame me, and he wouldn’t allow me to be there for a second before he barged in to gloat and punish me himself.
The other thought that tumbled into my mind, as I listened to the men speak of me as though I was nothing more than an object, was if they were trying to use me as leverage against my father. Since I barely spoke to my father, I had no way of knowing. If there was beef between my father and Delacroix, I had no idea what that could possibly be, but it was the most likely possibility.
Turning around and leaning my back against the door, I swallowed, fear burning its way up my esophagus. Whether Delacroix was connected to Joshua or my father, one thing was clear. They planned to use me as leverage. Against my own father. Against my husband. Either way, I had to get out of there, but the door was solid steel. There was no way I could break it down.
The reality of my situation flooded my blood with panic. I pulled away from the cool metal of the door, lungs struggling for breath as I searched the room for anything I could use to pick the lock or pry it open, but approaching footsteps forced me back to where I was tied up. I haphazardly wrapped the bindings back around my limbs, hoping whoever came in didn’t notice I had cut them free.
A heartbeat later, the heavy door screeched open, spilling harsh fluorescent light into the dim room. A hulking silhouette filled the doorway, features obscured in the shadows. As he stepped inside, the overhead bulb flickered on, illuminating the face of Victor Delacroix.
“Surprised to see me, Scarlett?”
A shudder trickled through my body as Victor’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. For nearly my entire life, Victor was one of my father’s business associates, a constant dark presence lurking in the background of my childhood. I thought I’d left his sinister gaze behind me when I broke from my father’s world, but there he was in front of me, just as menacing as always.
“What the hell do you want from me?” I demanded, forcing more power into my voice than I truly felt, unwilling to let him see how much his presence unnerved me.
The chuckle that came out of his mouth turned my stomach. “Straight to business then… just like your father.” As he prowled closer, it took everything in me to resist the urge to back away. “You’re going to help convince Daddy Dearest to come out of retirement. We’ve got some unfinished business—expensive business—he and I.”
“My father?” I stared at him in confusion. My father wasn’t retired at all—at least not from his finance company. “I haven’t spoken to my father in forever. I don’t have any sway over what he does.”
His eyes turned cold, the amusement vanishing. “Oh, I think you’ll change your tune when you hear what I’ve got to say about him. Your dear old dad has been keeping secrets from you, Scarlett. Even if you haven’t spoken to him in years, it may be time you do.”
My heart pounded, but I lifted my chin in defiance. “I don’t care what lies you’re spinning. Even if we don’t have the closest relationship, there’s nothing you can say that will make me turn on my father.”
Tsking, Victor’s mouth twisted into a cruel grin. “So, you approve of your father’s dirty business dealings? His crimes? You approve of how you were nothing but a pawn he placed directly in Joshua Prejean’s hands?”
I froze, shock coursing through me. No. It couldn’t have been true. My father would never… Even as I shook my head, however, trying to deny it, a creeping sense of doubt was worming its way into my mind.
“Oh yes,” Victor purred. “Your father knew exactly the kind of man Joshua was, but the financial benefits of the alliance were too great, and your daddy is greedy, so he arranged that first meeting between the two of you. Your entire marriage was orchestrated by the men in your life. None of it was real.”
Part of me was skeptical to believe anything Victor said, but I still felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I knew my father knew Joshua before he met me, but I’d never imagined...
Rage boiled up inside me, sending acid up my throat until I thought I may scream, but I tried to hide it in my expression. Even if my father had sold me to that monster—given me to him like an object to torture and abuse—I was still being held hostage, and I didn’t understand why.
“You’re lying,” I hissed, but my voice shook. Deep down, I feared he was telling the truth. Too many things suddenly made terrible sense. My father’s impatience with my unhappiness in the marriage and his insistence that I try harder to make it work was why we’d stopped speaking. It was never about me or Joshua at all. It was just about money. It was always about money with them.