Scars (The Triad 1)

TRISTAN

Scarlet had winced when she climbed onto the bike for our trip to the loft, and I wondered for a moment if I had been too rough with her. But thinking back to how she had been whimpering underneath me, panting, her body begging for it, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. The way her skin had reddened and puckered under the force of my belt had snapped something in my brain. In that moment, I had lived and breathed for her, for the way her body responded to me.

There was no going back now. This wild little creature was mine, ours, and I wasn’t going to let her go. The way she kissed me back afterwards had confessed far more than I think she thought it did. She may not have been ready to say it out loud yet, but she wanted to be with us. She wanted this life for herself. And I wanted it for her. I needed her to want it.

The loft we kept in the city was only a few blocks away from the Tower, and when the lift doors opened up to our penthouse, the smell of Rico’s Italian came flooding into the lift. I was starving after all the work I had just put into her. Scarlet’s eyes roamed across the wide expanse of the penthouse, drinking it all in. I would never get sick of looking at her.

“You guys really like to flaunt that you have money, don’t you?” She smirked and walked inside, making herself at home. “Ever heard of investing?”

“Trust me, love, this is a small drop in the ocean that is our wealth. You don’t have to worry about us.”

She looked at me over her shoulder with a smile and then sauntered off, swaying her ass with each step. I watched her walking away, letting my mind drift back to how it had looked with my dick inside of it less than thirty minutes ago. My cock sprang back to life and twitched in my pants. I adjusted myself and followed her the rest of the way in.

“Hey there, hot stuff,” I heard Sebastian call from the kitchen. A loud smack was followed by Scarlet’s scream, and I laughed to myself at how much that must’ve hurt her still-raw skin. I walked into the kitchen just in time to watch her rear back and slap Seb right across the face, a handprint forming almost instantly.

“After what your pal over there did to my ass earlier, you don’t get to touch it for days. Understood?” Her finger wasn’t even an inch away from his nose, but his grin grew into a sick smile. I rolled my eyes. Never present a challenge to Seb because he was always going to push the boundaries. And he normally won.

“Bad idea, princess,” Elliot said from the table. “Seb loves a good challenge. Especially when it involves pain.”

“I’m serious, Sebastian.”

“Ooh, she said my full name! You must’ve done a number on her, T!” He picked her up around the waist and gave her a tight hug before putting her back on the ground and taking his seat at the table.

“We will not be talking about any of that nonsense at the dinner table!” Melody walked out of the back of the loft. “Mind your manners,” she said and swatted Seb on the back of the head as she passed. Scarlet’s cheeks burned red. I kissed her on her head before sitting down and pulling her down roughly onto my lap. She flinched but slowly relaxed back into my chest.

“You’re hogging her!” Sebastian whined from the other side of the table.

“You had her all last night and this morning,” I countered. “I get her for the afternoon.”

“Will you two stop bickering over her like children?” Elliot asked in his grumpiest voice. He wasn’t fooling me though. I had seen the way he had looked at her in that warehouse while she was kicking ass. And ever since that night, he had been asking about her nonstop and stealing glances at her whenever she wasn’t looking. He was interested, he just didn’t know how to voice it…yet.

“How about we stop talking about Scarlet like she isn’t here and eat?” Melody asked at the head of the table. She started opening up all of the catering containers that we had had delivered from Rico’s, intensifying the smell of garlic and cheese.

I grabbed a plate for Scarlet, filled her plate up as full as it would go, and sat it down in front of her.

“Eat,” I said. She rolled her eyes at me and grabbed her plate before standing up and taking the seat next to me. She winced as her ass came into contact with the hard wood of the chair, which was exactly why I had been holding her. My legs would have been much easier to sit on than that chair, but the girl was stubborn as a mule.

“Melody, how long have you worked for these guys?”

“Going on about six years now, right?” I nodded. “I’ve been through a lot with these guys. They’ve really been so sweet to me. Gave me this job, got me a nice apartment, and they always make sure they pay me a visit every now and then. Well,” she said with a pointed look at each of us, “until recently, that is.”

Scarlet laughed. “Sorry, I think you can blame that one on me. I hear I’m a bit of a handful. And they’ve had to play the role of babysitter a lot lately.”

“You remember that time Mel shot Elliot?” Sebastian blurted, suddenly laughing his ass off. “Mel, you have got to tell that story.”

I rolled my eyes. That story had been told so many times I was genuinely shocked that Seb could still find it funny. Scarlet’s eyes widened and swiveled to Elliot. I could tell she was trying really hard to not just burst out laughing in his face. Probably smart of her not to, honestly. That story was a real sore spot for him.

“And how did that happen?” God, she was cute when she was trying not to laugh. Elliot grumbled and shoved more food in his mouth, refusing to look up from his plate.

If I didn’t know any better, I thought, I would think he’s embarrassed she’s finding this out.

“I had told Mel that we were out on a job, and she was keeping watch over some stuff for me back at the Tower,” I started.

“And I was told that no matter what, they wouldn’t be going back there.” Mel gave Elliot a hard look, and he sat back in his chair, arms crossed.

“And I didn’t think you would mistake me for a common thug and shoot me.”

“At least it wasn’t a fatal shot,” Sebastian laughed.

“It could’ve been! Crazy woman shot me inches away from my damn heart!”

Melody laughed, and I saw Scarlet bite back a laugh.

“Poor thing,” Scar said and winked at Elliot. The bastard cracked a smile at her, and I almost choked. She was definitely getting under his skin and had been ever since he’d seen her get shot for us in that warehouse. It didn’t surprise me that that’s what it took for him to see her as anything other than a burden.

Elliot had a lot of faults, but he was loyal to those who were loyal to him. And when he had seen her burst through those doors after killing multiple men for us and then continue to fight for us, risking her own life…I thought maybe something had clicked into place. Whether he liked it or not, she had saved our asses, and he had to respect that.

“You know,” Scarlet said as she shoveled another bite of food in her mouth. That woman could eat. I had no idea where she put all of it. She had put on a little muscle over the past few weeks training with Elliot, but she was still so small. Suddenly, the image of throwing her around in the bedroom popped into my mind, and I almost choked on my food. She patted my back with a grin that made me think she knew where my head was but continued. “I have had a lot of Italian food growing up because my bunica is Italian, but this shit is amazing.”

“It’s Rico’s.” She turned her pretty eyes onto me. “It’s our favorite place. We’ve been in business with him for a long time now.”

“In business with,” she said while making air quotes with her fingers.

“I think it’s the nicest way of putting things, yes. Business.”