Scars (The Triad 1)

SCARLET

I lay on my bed and watched Emily roll in rack after rack of clothes. They had brought multiple cars just to fit everyone’s stuff in one go. The guys were also very particular about their clothing, it seemed. Emily watched me out of the corner of her eyes constantly. I just smirked and hopped off the bed when I saw a red silk number get rolled in.

I pulled it off the rack before she could pull it the rest of the way into the room. It had the thinnest spaghetti straps, a very low square neck, and a slit on one side that would go all the way up to my hip. It was going to hug every single one of my curves and leave very little to the imagination. I wouldn’t be able to wear anything underneath it, which would hopefully prove to be distracting to the boys. Well, for at least two of them.

I hadn’t been able to afford clothes this nice for years, and it felt amazing to run my hands all over the nice fabrics. I knew the guys were going to look sharp as hell for the party, and I was determined to outshine them. Emily watched me from the corner of the room as I held the dress up to myself in the mirror and appreciated the shiny, smooth fabric.

“I’ll wear this one tonight,” I said out loud to no one in particular. I didn’t know why, but Emily’s presence bugged the shit out of me, and I had been practically ignoring her the entire time. I was never a huge fan of girls as friends. They were too bitchy, too bratty. And Emily looked like a Grade A Bitch. Kenna’s friendship had been a rare occurrence.

I sighed. Kenna. I really needed to talk to the guys and see if they could make sure she knew I was okay. I knew Kenna, and she would most definitely have been freaking out ever since I was taken. I needed to let her know I was okay and get her to move on and keep her nose out of this world.

“And the rest?” Emily asked, sounding incredibly bored. “Anything else that catches your eye?” She leaned up against the wall and watched me with her arms crossed.

“All of them.”

Her eyes almost flew out of her head, and she choked back a cough. “All of them?”

I looked around. There had to be at least a hundred thousand dollars in clothes and shoes in the room. And that didn’t include all of the jewelry and lingerie she had already put in my closet.

“Problem?” I asked her as I hung the dress up on the back of my closet door. If these guys were going to hold me against my will, I was sure as hell not going to take it easy on their wallets. And who knew how long I had left alive if they were about to ship me back.

“You cannot possibly need all of these clothes. This is a ridiculous amount of money, and there is no way the boys are going to be okay with you spending this much.”

The boys, huh? Interesting that she was on such relaxed terms with them. I looked over at her, and I could see the jealousy flush across her skin. Oh, I thought to myself. That’s why the bitch has been side-eyeing me. She had most definitely fucked at least one of them, if not all of them.

“Call them, then,” I said on a sigh as I fell back on the bed.

“Listen, bitch,” she whispered but was promptly cut off.

“Call who, princess?” Sebastian asked as he appeared at the door like I had summoned him.

“Seb, she wants all the clothes,” Emily said, swaying her hips as she advanced towards him across the room. An anger I didn’t know I could possibly feel roared to life in my stomach. He flicked his eyes from me to her and then back to me like he couldn’t stand to look at anyone but me. The heat from my anger quickly turned into a different kind of heat. “There’s no way Tristan will want this girl,” she spat out, “to spend that much of your money.”

Her hand slithered up the side of his bare bicep, and that small amount of her skin touching his set my nerves on fire. My eyes had been locked on his but flickered to her touch for a brief moment. Long enough that he saw it and smiled. In the blink of an eye, he had her hand in his, twisting it behind her back at a painful angle. She cried out, and I sat up a bit straighter.

He kept his darkened eyes on mine while he spoke low in her ear. I licked my lips.

“I am going to tell you this once, and only once, Emily. And if you want to keep your job, you’ll listen. My little pet gets what she wants, no matter what it costs. You don’t question her. Ever. And if you want to keep your life, keep your fucking hands to yourself. I never want to feel your hands on my body again, or I will break them.”

I rubbed my legs together at the warmth pooling at my core. His eyes lazily dragged down my body and landed on my thighs as they moved against each other. She whimpered against his grip.

He pushed her away and told her to get out. I’d never seen someone run out of a room so quickly.

“Someone likes nice things,” he said as he adjusted himself and walked over to the racks, browsing through all the clothes I had kept.

“If you guys are going to keep me here against my will, I may as well have a little fun.” I watched him from the bed as his eyes found the bright red dress I had chosen for the party. His grin was absolutely feral as he looked back at me. I swear to god, the room got fifty degrees hotter with that look.

“Seb,” Elliot said from the door, completely breaking the tension that had been building like a popped balloon.

“Hey there, Grumpy,” I said sweetly, pulling his attention to me instead. He looked over with a pained face. He was looking extra godlike in his sweaty gym clothes and his hair tied up in a bun.

“Emily left here in quite the rush. Seemed a little upset. Any idea what happened there?”

I played with my nails like they were the most interesting thing in the world. “No clue,” I said on a sigh and looked to Sebastian. “Any clue what was wrong with Emily, Seb?”

He flopped down beside me on the bed and smiled wide at the use of his nickname. “Not a clue, doll.” His fingers danced along my bare thighs.

“Not a clue,” I said with a shrug, looking back at Elliot. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a couple of deep breaths. The grey sweatpants he was wearing were doing wonders for him down south. I bit my lip, and Sebastian surprised me by pulling it out with his thumb, his eyes hooded with lust.

“Hands. Off.” Elliot’s voice was deep and angry, but Sebastian just laughed and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before bounding off the bed. I stared after him in shock. He turned around at the door and winked before disappearing and leaving me alone with Elliot. “I don’t know what game you’re playing. But leave them the fuck alone.”

I stood up and walked over to him, getting close enough I could feel the heat coming off him. His breathing became shallow, and the already impressive bulge his sweatpants weren’t hiding very well started to grow. I leaned into him, pressing my chest against the hard plane of his stomach and wrapping my arms around his waist. Fuck, he was tall.

“I’m not playing at anything, handsome,” I said sweetly. Both of his hands gripped around my neck with some serious strength and held me in place. His face came so close to mine I could feel his breath play across my lips. His now very hard cock was pressed against my stomach. I was already wet for him, my pussy throbbing at the thought of him just taking me up against the wall. I groaned. It had been too long since I’d gotten laid, and their anger and violence called to me in a way I couldn’t help.