I kept my head stubbornly turned in that direction.
“I’ll make it a bit easier for you. Raymond, turn on a light.”
When the light filtered into the room, I saw that I was facing the bar. Talia’s body lay to my left a few feet away—unmoving.
But across from me?
There was more.
Complete and utter carnage.
“No,” I shook my head. “No. This isn’t real.”
“It’s very real, Scarlett—there’s a reason I gave you that name, you know,” he mused. “It’s because I always knew that it would come to this. You’d need to see the world painted in red before your mind could be tamed. Before you’d truly be one of us.”
“I’m nothing like you,” I cried, staring at the body of the man slumped on the bar. There was a bullet hole in his forehead, going straight out the back, execution style.
“Maybe not at first,” he mused from whatever hole he hid in, “but anyone can be made into a monster. Even you, Scarlett. Even. You.”
“Stop calling me that,” I begged uselessly.
“Why? Because you secretly like it? Because that name suits you more than the name your spineless parents gave you?”
“You have no right to talk about them. None.”
“Don’t I?” He chuckled, like the conversation was amusing. “They’re the reason you’re here after all. Or, at least, your father is.”
“No,” I shook my head, “you’re the reason I’m here.”
He made a tsking sound. “Such fire; I admire that in you, and that’s why I’ve decided you won’t be marrying my son.”
“What?” My brows furrowed in confusion.
“You’ll be marrying me instead.”
Blaise finally emerged from the shadows then. He was a man of average height, but wide shoulders, and muscular for this age. His eyes were a dark, lifeless brown, more closely resembling the color of dirt. He wore a custom-tailored suit in black and beneath it even his shirt and tie were black. I’d never seen him wear any other color before.
I looked him up and down with a glare on my face. “If you think I’m marrying you, you’re sicker than I’ve always believed.”
“Chair, Raymond.” He motioned with his hand and the man quickly grabbed him one of the dining chairs to sit in across from me. Settling into it, he balanced his one foot on his knee and leaned back, completely relaxed despite the carnage around him.
“I know you’ll do it, Scarlett. You know I’ll do anything to get what I want. I killed your pretty friend over there, didn’t I?” He pointed in the direction of Talia’s body lying on the floor. “And your other friend, Rebecca I think her name is? The one that was so kind to let you stay with her? You know who I’m talking about.” He grinned sadistically when my facial expression didn’t change, but his eyes fell to my neck and zeroed in; I was sure it was obvious how fast my heart was beating. “She put up a fight, that one. Scratched Felix in the face.” Leaning forward, his lips arched into what one might assume was a smile, but it looked more like a grimace to me. “I let Felix fuck her before he killed her because of that. My men don’t deserve to be treated so poorly, so they might as well get something out of it.”
I held my breath, trying to contain the sob that wanted to break free.
Rebecca. Oh, Rebecca. What have I done? This is all my fault.
I tried my best to hide my fear and anger, but Blaise always saw straight through everyone.
“You’re afraid,” he mused, touching his finger to his lips. “You try to pretend that you aren’t, but you are. I know you, Scarlett. I know you better than anyone else does.”
“You don’t know me at all,” I countered.
His lips twitched. “Is that so?”
He stood from the chair and walked around me, like he was evaluating me. “You think you’re so much better than me, that you’re good, but that’s not true. Everyone has darkness inside them.” He stopped behind me and lowered, touching his cold fingers to my cheek.
My natural reaction was to flinch, but I held my head high and didn’t move. I refused to give him the satisfaction.