Carnage by Sarah Bailey

Thirty Two

Scarlett

I walked into the huge room set up for this business awards thing the Horsemen had insisted I attended. My eyes searched the room, looking for the men I worked for. When I saw them, my jaw almost dropped. They stood in a group, all with tumblers between their fingers. Their tuxes fit them to perfection, highlighting every inch of their powerful frames.

Holy shit on a stick.

I pulled my arm out of Mason’s hold, meaning to go over to them.

“What are you doing?” he hissed, gripping my hand to stop me.

I looked up at him, feeling incredibly frustrated I even had him here. When I told him about the event, he insisted he come with me. The invitation said I could bring a plus one if I wanted. I had not bargained on Mason wanting to go with me. Probably had everything to do with the fact he hated me being alone with the Horsemen. And the events of last Friday. Whilst he didn’t know about the whole being drugged and fucked incident, his guilt regarding spending the whole night out hung around his neck like a damn lead weight.

“My job, Mase. Did you forget I told you I’m here to work?”

He scowled.

“No.”

“Stay here.”

He let go of my hand, but not before giving me a warning look. I rolled my eyes as I walked away, pushing through the crowd of people towards the men who had done a number on me. Having Mason here made me far more uneasy than I’d been before. I couldn’t stop him from attending. He wanted to keep an eye on the Horsemen. I thought he was being stupidly overprotective, but whatever. He’d taken it upon himself to be my bodyguard. Little did he know, the men he was trying to prevent me from getting too deeply involved with had already fucked me every way a man could. They’d already played with my head and got me hooked.

I hadn’t forgotten why I was here and what I had to achieve. Didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself at the same time. They’d awoken my hidden desires. Putting those back in the box would be impossible. I wanted to drown in their depravity. But I knew I couldn’t give in. There was only so much I could allow them to see. If I fell any further, I’d have no hope of digging my way out of this mess.

My eyes were drawn to West first. The way he rubbed his tattooed hand across his chin. I’d never paid attention to the fact he had them across the backs of his hands before. Not to mention the ones on his fingers. Too busy staring into his amber eyes and being distracted by his words. The man had a way of commanding all of my attention. And holy fuck, he scrubbed up well. He wore all black with a crisp white shirt. His muscles strained against the fabric, making me want to run my hands over them. Would he ever allow me the freedom to explore his body?

What the fuck? Why are you thinking about that?

I clenched my fists, turning my attention to Francis. He had a purple bowtie on, his grey eyes dark with irritation as he stared out across the room. Who knew what was going through his mind. Prescott was the only one who looked relaxed, his tumbler dangling precariously from his fingertips as he murmured something to West. The beast of a man gave him a dark look, his amber eyes full of violence. Prescott merely grinned at West, giving him a wink. The man had a bowtie that matched his blue eyes and his tux was like a second skin. I couldn’t help swallowing at the memory of him shoving his fingers in my mouth whilst he fucked me on his desk. How he’d ordered me around and made me desperate for him. The man was like a damn predator. And I wanted to be his prey. His little lamb.

Lastly, there was my boss, Drake, who’d given me whiplash on Tuesday when he told me I would need to attend the event with them. The way he demanded I tell him what happened between me, Francis and Prescott gave me heart palpitations. And it made me want to disobey him for some reason. Yes, Drake intimidated the fuck out of me, but at the same time, I wanted to push his buttons. I wanted to see the man underneath his stoic and intense demeanour. The only way I’d get him to open up was by cracking that shell and forcing his hand. Even so, the thought of what he’d do when I did, terrified me to my very core.

Drake had an indigo bowtie, matching his eyes like Prescott’s. All in all, the four of them were certainly striking. All eyes were on them, watching their every move. They commanded the room as if they were gods. And I supposed in a lot of ways, they were. Gods of their industry. Ruthless men who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. And right now? That was me.

I arrived in front of them. All four sets of eyes fell on me. Prescott gave me a sly smile as if he was impressed by the way I’d scrubbed up. Francis’ eyes softened a fraction. Drake remained expressionless. And West? Well, he looked like he wanted to rip my dress off and fuck me in front of all these people. I tried not to react to their presence, but it was almost impossible. These men had done things to my body that would make most women blush.

“Evening, Scarlett,” Prescott said, reaching out and taking my hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed the knuckles, eyeing me with deviancy in his eyes. “You look… delectable.”

“Sweetness, you’re so fucking delectable.”

His words from Monday rang in my ears. The man knew exactly what he’d said and what it had conjured up for me.

“Thank you, Pres.”

As he dropped my hand, his tongue ran over his bottom lip. I couldn’t help my own lips parting in response. The tension in the air was charged with sex and lust. It pulsed between the five of us, drenching the room with its potency.

My eyes dropped, staring down at the dress I’d picked out. It was black and clung to my figure, falling to just below my knees with a slit up the back. I picked out sky-high black peep-toe pumps and painted my nails dark red. My hair was down with my natural waves curling around my face.

Mason had told me to change when I’d come out of my room earlier but I ignored him. He didn’t want them seeing me like this. Little did he know, they’d all seen me bare and dripping with need for them.

I raised my eyes again, meeting Drake’s. He didn’t give me a reaction, but I hadn’t expected it. As if he would allow his control to slip even a little.

“Come here.”

It wasn’t a request. No, Drake didn’t request anything. He demanded and expected me to obey. I stepped over to him. His eyes roamed down my body, taking in every inch of me, but his expression remained the same. The only indication I had that he liked what he saw was the way his pupils dilated, the indigo taken over by the black. It made him appear almost menacing. Like the man would break me in half if I displeased him.

“Is my tie straight?” he asked.

I reached up and fiddled with it, not strictly needing to, but wanting to touch him all the same. My insides clenched. Even though it was the briefest of touches, it was significant for me.

“It is now.”

He gave me a nod. I dropped my hands and bowed my head. It was the first time I’d been around the four of them at the same time since Friday. Their mere presence was making me have flashbacks. I hadn’t been lying when Drake asked me if I wanted them all to fuck me again. No way I should want it. Not knowing who these men were and what they’d done. I didn’t care though. Not right then.

No doubt Mason would remind me of my goals. Why we were here. I didn’t want to be constrained to them, but I had no choice. If I didn’t do what my parents wanted, they would take me back to Kent. They would lock me up on the estate and never let me go again. Their threat weighed heavily on my mind. It kept me from entirely giving in to my bosses and their plans for me. I had no idea what they were, but I knew they couldn’t be anything good.

Something caught Drake’s eye. He took my hand and pulled me with him. I looked back at the others. All of their eyes were on the slit at the back of my dress. It went higher than was appropriate, hence why Mason didn’t want me going out in it.

Drake took me over to the raised platform and let go of my hand when he stopped.

“Do you have my speech?” he asked, looking down at me with a hard expression.

“Yes, hold on.”

I’d brought a larger bag than necessary to make sure I had everything he needed. Fishing out the tablet, I brought up the speech we’d finished yesterday and handed it to him. He scanned the screen.

“Prescott is better at this shit,” he muttered.

I didn’t think he meant for me to hear it. My eyes scanned the room. The other three were watching us. And Mason was glaring, his dark eyes full of unrepressed rage. He didn’t like them touching me at all. It’d been a terrible idea to allow Mason to come with me, but what else could I do? He was outright threatening to keep me at the flat. It wasn’t worth the aggravation.

“Wait here whilst I do this,” Drake said to me as the announcer got up on the platform.

A minute later, he was called up. A mask fell over his face as he walked away from me. The smart but ruthless businessman took the stage and started to talk. I barely listened, having heard the thing too many times to count. I’d helped him compose it. Instead, I watched West who was staring right at me. His gaze made my back stiffen. I didn’t know if it was hate or lust in those amber depths burning into me. Those tattooed hands flexed at his sides, reminding me of the way they’d wrapped around my throat.

Christ, stop thinking about it.

I couldn’t deny I liked it. The first time he’d done it when we met, I was shocked by his blatant disregard for polite societal standards. He was the type of man who cared little for anyone else’s opinions of him. The one who did whatever the fuck he wanted without bothering to think about the consequences. He’d ruin anyone who got in his way. No wonder he’d told me people were afraid of him. Hell, I was, on some level. Afraid and turned on as hell by the violence simmering underneath the surface.

I was so busy staring at West, I didn’t realise Drake had joined me again until he shoved the tablet into my hands. My eyes flicked up to his as he leant closer.

“Go have fun, Scarlett,” he murmured. “I’ll find you when I need you again.”

“Yes, sir,” I whispered back.

His lip twitched, but he didn’t smile. I stuffed the tablet back into my bag. Hastily, I retreated towards where Mason was standing, feeling Drake’s eyes on me the entire time.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Scar?” Mason hissed when I reached him. “They’re like vultures circling around you.”

I shrugged, placing my bag on the small table he was standing by.

“What do you want me to do? Tell them all to go fuck themselves? Doubt that would go down well.”

Mason said nothing, silently seething next to me. He’d got me a glass of champagne. I sipped at it, my eyes roaming across the room as I tried not to look at the four men who made my pulse race out of control every time I was near them. The award presentations would happen later in the evening, so the band started up and a few people started dancing on the floor set out for it.

Mason grabbed hold of my hand and tugged me over to the floor with him.

“What are you doing?”

“Dance with me.”

I sighed, but went along willingly, sure my bag would be fine where it was for now. We weren’t far from the table. There was no point making a scene and Drake had told me to have fun. Doubt he was referring to me dancing with Mason.

I let my friend take me in his arms and sway to the music with me. He was probably holding me way closer than was necessary or appropriate. I frowned but didn’t comment. Did he want to piss them off? If he did, I would be in big fucking trouble. Mason didn’t realise the Horsemen saw me as their possession. And I had an awful feeling about Mason’s actions and the repercussions they might have.