“Who?”
I scowl. “I’m not an idiot,Scar.”
She stiffens. “Don’t call me that.”
Touched a nerve. I lean in. “Did he call you that?”
Slowly, she nods.
“And?”
Her expression changes. Anger then resolve.
All at once, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to pry these details out of her–it doesn’t matter. Beating him in the cage didn’t matter. I want to strangle himnow, simply for putting her on the defensive. For making those comments about her.
Jesus, where is this coming from?
She’s my stepsister. I’m supposed to be protective, aren’t I? It’s like…I can mess with her, but no one else can.
Yeah, that’s what we’ll go with.
I deliberately turn my attention to the guy, and her gaze goes with mine. She gasps and staggers back. Her shoulder hits my chest.
Automatically, I wrap my arm around her—to steady her or to keep her from sprinting away from me, I have no fucking idea. She trembles. Every muscle in her goes taut.
“Let me go,” she whispers. “Cross–”
The guy seems to hear her. His laugh comes from behind the two guys, and he swats them away. He orders them out, and they go without a word.
To be fair, he looks like shit. His nose, which I absolutely broke, has been set straight, but it’s swelling and darkening the skin under his eyes. His cheekbone might be broken too.
“Scarlett,” he breathes. “I’ve been looking for you.”
She’s no more stable than a feather in a hurricane. I tighten my grip and shift so she’s partially turned away. Her hands come up to my forearm, and her nails bite my skin.
“Don’t look at her,” I bark.
His laugh is ice-cold. His gaze flicks to me, appraising me, and I fear I’m revealing some secret weakness.
“I came so far for this sort of reception?”
“I want nothing to do with you, Nicholas.” She sounds shockingly confident.
He touches the blood under his nose idly. “You used to call meNick. When did that change?”
I catalog the detail, although I’m going to need a lot fucking more than his first name to bury him.
“It’s no matter,” Nicholas continues. “I got an upgrade after you left. She handles her liquor a bit better. She’s one I can take home to my parents, you know?”
“Great,” she hisses. “Then why are you here?”
“I missed you. Thought we might relive some old times before I head back to school.”
There’s something wrong with his head. In his brain. He wants to, what, get her drunk and have his way with her? He traveled all the way here forthat?
“I’m a little strapped for cash too,” he adds.
“What does that mean?” Scarlett demands. She pries my arm off of her, but she doesn’t move away. She plants her hands on her hips. “I don’t have money.”
