Carnage by Sarah Bailey

Three

Scarlett

I swallowed when I stopped outside a building. The tall, imposing building, which towered over me, was made of black stone and glass and housed the company of four men who had risen from the ashes to take over the financial industry. Or so I’d been told. That’s the thing. I didn’t really know anything about the men I was here to see, other than what I’d been told. And those things didn’t make me feel anything other than disgust towards them. However, I knew deep down there were always two sides to a story. Whilst I had a goal in mind, there would always be doubts plaguing me.

Nothing in life was simple. And revenge? Well, it led down a path I wasn’t sure I wanted to follow, no matter what they’d done.

I stared up at the sign above the doors.

Fortuity.

My reasons for being here were simple. To secure employment. Gain their trust. And to destroy them.

I shook myself. I could not afford to give the game away. It would be time to put on a façade. The one I’d worn most of my life. The parts of my life I could remember anyway. My childhood was a blank space in my memory. And anything I could remember felt like a fuzzy dream as opposed to reality.

I walked into the building, holding my head high, and went right up to the reception desk. The man sitting there looked up with a smile on his face.

“Hello, welcome to Fortuity. How can I help you?”

“Hello, I’m here for an interview with Mr Ackley… I’m Scarlett Carver,” I replied, keeping my voice even so as not to betray my nervousness.

The man nodded and scanned something on his computer before looking up at me again.

“Of course, if you’d just like to sign in here.”

He indicated a tablet on the desk in front of me. I tapped on it, typing in my name and signing a box. He issued me with a visitor’s pass and told me to head up to the twenty-eighth floor. The men who owned Fortuity lived on the top two floors of the building. The floor below where I was headed must be their offices.

The Four Horsemen.

I didn’t understand why they’d been given the name. It seemed so ridiculous. But what did I know? I’d been kept locked away on an estate in the Kent countryside for the past ten years by my parents. They’d told me it was for my own good, but sometimes I wondered if it was true.

I walked over to the bank of lifts and pressed down on the button. Someone strolled up beside me as the lift arrived. The doors slid open. I walked in with the man. He tossed a glance my way, stepping up to the panel.

“Floor?”

I took him in then. He had dark brown hair, slicked down on his head with gel in this rather suave manner, his dark grey suit complete with a waistcoat moulded to his body like it was made for him, and his eyes were silvery-grey. I don’t know why, but something about those eyes tugged at my memories. They seemed almost familiar, but they couldn’t be. I’d never seen him before in my life. The need to step closer and work out why I felt this way drove through me. My fingers twitched to trace a line across his jaw and angular cheekbones.

What is wrong with you?

I didn’t understand this at all. Then again, I’d never been allowed to go near the opposite sex other than the staff at the estate and my family. I inwardly scoffed. Yeah, so I was a twenty-six-year-old virgin. It embarrassed the hell out of me. I didn’t care what my parents said. I intended to remedy it whilst I was here. Finally able to take control of my life, now I was free of their overbearing nature. The way they coddled me and kept me locked up away from the world. And yet, I was still chained to them in so many ways. Hence why I was here in the first place. In this building. Going to this interview. They were the reason.

The man’s hand hovered over the panel, and his eyebrow curled up. The curve of his lip had me staring at it. The bottom one was full.

What would it be like to experience a kiss from them? Would it feel as good as the books I’ve read said it does? Would he be gentle or demanding?

“Twenty-eight, please,” I blurted out in a rush, realising he’d been waiting longer than a minute for me to answer and completely mortified by my wayward thoughts.

He dropped his hand. I noticed he’d already pressed that floor. He was going to the same place as I was. Did it mean he might well be one of the four men who ran this company?

He stepped back and stood next to me, his muscles tense and his body rigid. I fidgeted with my handbag, tugging on the strap, my fingers rubbing the leather as I tried not to allow his proximity to affect me. The scent of his cologne filled my nostrils. This heady mix of cinnamon and apple. A favourite combination of mine, reminding me of the apple crumble our chef, Gio, made most Sundays for dinner. I wasn’t sure when I’d get to eat it again, considering going home to the estate filled me with dread.

My eyes were drawn to his face, watching the way his jaw ticked and his eyes remained fixed on the lift doors. If he was one of them, I could see why people called them gods. This man was undeniably attractive. He had an air of power surrounding him. Under the surface of it, danger simmered.

“I haven’t seen you before,” he said, his silver eyes flicking to me. “Are you new?”

“Oh no, I’m here for an interview.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“Ah yes, the PA position, no?”

I nodded, unsure of whether or not to introduce myself to him. His lip curled up at the side, his eyes glinting. It made him seem almost predatory.

When I got the offer of an interview, the HR lady, Deborah Manning, told me the CEO, one Mr Drake Ackley, would be conducting it himself. She said he liked to know who he was hiring since I’d be working for him personally. It didn’t fill me with any sort of reassurance. I’d never been interviewed before. My parents had falsified my employment records to make me look like a good candidate. In reality, the only work I’d ever done was help my father run the estate. In some ways, it gave me a little experience. Plus, they’d sat me down with his own PA and she’d gone over the job numerous times with me. What would be expected. How to conduct myself in a work environment. And other such things.

I could do this, but I’d have to have my wits about me to make sure I played it all the right way.

The lift doors slid open as we arrived on the twenty-eighth floor. The man took a step out before turning back to me.

“I can show you where to go if you’d like, Miss…”

“Carver. Scarlett Carver.”

I stepped out after him. He smiled at me but didn’t put his hand out.

“Well, this way then, Miss Carver.”

He strode across the lobby, leaving me wondering why he’d not told me who he was. I quick-walked after him to keep up with his long strides. There was a lady at a desk near the corridor we were walking towards who glanced up when she heard us.

“Mr Beaufort,” she said, putting her hand up.

He stopped at her desk and leant over it, giving her a wicked grin.

“Yes, Tonya?”

She looked at me when I came to a standstill before turning her gaze back to him.

“Mr Ellis wants to see you.”

“Did he say what he wanted?”

She shook her head, glancing at me again. He seemed to notice because he waved a hand at me.

“I’m taking Miss Carver down to Drake’s office, then I’ll stop by and see Pres.”

“Mr Ackley is expecting you,” she said directly to me. “Good luck.”

Tonya looked back down at her desk. The man she’d called Mr Beaufort shoved off it, walking away down the corridor. I caught up to him a minute later, realising I was meant to be following him.

He was one of the Four Horsemen. My parents had drilled their names into my brain repeatedly.

Prescott Ellis. West Greer. Francis Beaufort. Drake Ackley.

They were my ultimate goal. The men I needed to reel in. How I’d go about it was a huge mystery to me. I’d been told it had to be by whatever means necessary. I guessed I’d have to wait and see how this all panned out.

Mr Beaufort stopped outside a door. It had a frosted glass and the name ‘Drake Ackley, CEO’ pasted on it in black lettering. He knocked once before opening it and striding in. I stayed where I was for a moment, taking a deep breath.

This was it. No going back now.

“Drake, your interviewee is here.”

I stepped in behind Mr Beaufort and took in the room. The office was huge and modern looking. Black bookshelves lined one wall with three leather sofas and a coffee table set in front of it. The desk was by the window with a high-backed leather chair set behind it. The man who owned this office stood with his hands behind his back, staring out the window in a black suit matching his hair. The sight of him intimidated me, but I dug my nails into my palm, trying to stem my nerves.

He turned, taking me and Mr Beaufort in. He waved a hand at the two seats in front of his desk a moment later.

“Hello, you must be Miss Carver, please, come in and take a seat.”

His voice was deep and rich. I straightened my spine before closing the distance and putting my hand out to him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr Ackley,” I said as he took it.

His palm was warm and it spread up my arm. The man was seriously tall. I almost had to crane my neck up to meet his eyes. They were indigo blue, an unusual colour. Something about them made my breath catch in my throat.

He dropped my hand and didn’t smile at me but indicated his desk again. I walked around and took a seat, dropping my handbag on the floor. Mr Ackley looked over at the door.

“Did you want something else, Francis?”

I looked back in time to see a glance passing between the two of them, and a strange look appeared in Mr Beaufort’s eyes. His body tensed again and his demeanour hardened.

“No. Good luck with your interview, Miss Carver.”

He turned, glancing over his shoulder at me as he walked towards the door. Those silver eyes held something in them that confused me. A note of sadness and desperation. He disappeared, leaving me feeling unnerved.

I shook myself and turned back towards Mr Ackley, who’d taken a seat. He leant forward, placing his joined hands on his desk, and levelled his intense eyes on me. The intimidation I’d felt when I’d first seen him hit me with full force. I swallowed hard and tried not to appear as though he made me nervous, even though my palms were sweating.

Stay focused. You have to get this job. It’s part of the plan. You need this to succeed.

There was nothing else for it. I straightened my spine and met his gaze head-on. It was time to show this man why he should hire me.

“So, Miss Carver… shall we begin?”