Chapter 21
Three Days Later
Words.
So many people believe that physical violence is the way to hurt someone, but using their words can easily leave scars that last much longer.
Scarlett believed that with all of her heart.
So, she’d left Limit outside to do his job.
Scarlett left Scott Worthington in the hands of the man who’d broken her heart, and she still didn’t know why.
Am I going to cry forever?
The door to her bedroom door opened, and she looked up, surprised to see Ox.
“Hi,” She said softly.
He smiled back at her.
“Hi.”
Scarlett was in the middle of making her bed when he sat down at her desk, his long hair falling into his eyes.
“I haven’t heard from you.”
She clenched her eyes closed, because she had no idea how to tell him what she needed to tell him.
“I’m really sorry. I’ve been-”
“Hurt. Trust me, I understand more than you realize. Just like I recognize that look on your face. You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
Scarlett sucked in a breath before she sat down on the edge of her bed and reached for his hand.
“Carter called me. He told me that my mother isn’t doing so well, but that she’d never call me to tell me the truth. She doesn’t want to interrupt our time together,” She said.
Ox nodded, but she could tell that he was just as hurt as she was, and she hated to think that she’d caused that.
“When do you leave?”
“In a week.”
Ox nodded.
“Will you come back?,” He asked.
Scarlett squeezed his hand.
“I want to. But, I don’t want to cause problems for you.”
Ox shook his head.
His amber eyes widened.
“You’re my daughter. Your feelings will always come first. I know that things didn’t end well between you and Limit, but that’s all I know. Look, I came here to make you a proposition.”
Scarlett waited on bated breath to see what he wanted.
“I want you to spend the remainder of your time here at the clubhouse. We’re going to check out the land we purchased for our strip club, and later we’re having a lot party for old times’ sake. I know that you’re still injured, but Laura will be there and she can take a look at how you’re healin’ up,” Ox said.
It was on the tip of her tongue to say no.
But, she couldn’t do that.
She owed it to him to spend as much time together as possible.
Still, she had to know something first…
“Is he dead?”
By ‘he’, she obviously meant Scott.
Ox nodded.
“Do I want to know how you got away with it?”
He slowly shook his head.
“When the time is right, Limit can tell you the details. I know right now you’re mad at him, and I’m willing to bet he did something really bad if you’re willin’ to up and leave, but I tell ya what…I know love when I see it. He’ll come around, and when he does, I’ll make damn sure he never hurts you again,” Ox promised.
Scarlett’s eyes filled with tears, but she did her best to swallow them.
“It was my fault. I thought I could get him to open up to me, but he made it very clear he doesn’t want a relationship with me. I asked for too much.”
Ox shrugged.
“The man has been alone for a long, long time, sweetheart. He doesn’t know how to be in a relationship. But, will you please consider staying with us for one week? If you do, I’ll come home with you and spend some time in your world.”
Her eyes widened.
“Really? You would?”
He nodded his head.
Scarlett stood and hugged him as gently as she could.
“Thank you. Yes, I’ll come back with you. I’m sorry it has to be like this, Carter promised he wouldn’t have called me home if he didn't think it was important,” She whispered.
“Stop. Don’t apologize. In a weird way, I want to say my goodbyes, too.”
It hurt to admit that there was a possibility that’s what she would have to do; it seemed like everywhere she turned lately she was greeted with that word.
Goodbye.
It was a word she was growing to hate, and Scarlett didn’t hate many things.
“What about Maddie? Won’t it hurt you to see her?”
Ox looked like he wanted to say yes, and she couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. She understood completely how he was feeling.
“Her and I both deserve closure.”
Scarlett thought that a fair enough answer.
“I have one other request, if you’re comfortable with it.”
Scarlett sat back on the edge of her bed and took his hand into hers again, a tremulous smile on her lips.
“What’s that?”
He cleared his throat and ran his fingers along the edge of the bandage still wrapped around her forearm.
“Would it be possible for you to call me dad?”
Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she smiled again.
“Really?”
Ox looked uncomfortable for a second before he too smiled.
“Yeah. I mean- that is if you don’t already-ya know, call Carter dad…”
She shook her head adamantly before she laughed softly.
“No, he’s always been Carter to me. I would love to call you dad.”
Ox patted her knee before he stood and motioned towards her closet.
“You want some help packing? I may not be too good at it, but I’d be glad to help.”
Scarlett took a second to understand that even though the last seventy-two hours were hell on earth, and that Scott’s fate still hung in the air between them, the universe had just given her something good.
Ox had just given her something good.
“Sure, dad. I’d like that.”
✽✽✽
Limit kicked at the dirt beneath his feet as Ox and Green spoke with Axel.
The land for the strip club was clean and open, a nice plot of land to build on. They were just finishing the outline of the perimeter when they’d shown up to see it. Ox looked over in his direction and nodded.
He could see the tension lining Ox’s face whenever he looked at him.
He knew that ending things with Scarlett would have that effect, but he hadn’t realized it would make him feel so damn empty.
Limit was used to being able to turn things off whenever he wanted, and this?
This was haunting him.
The way she tasted, the way she came apart in his arms?
That was purely magic, wasn’t it?
And yet, he had led her on.
That’s what he’d call it by any other name, and that’s what anyone else would call it, too.
“Hey, what do you think, Limit? You like the blue prints and mock ups?,” Axel asked.
Limit nodded as he pushed a cigarette between his lips.
“Yeah, I think it’ll make us a lot of money.”
Axel grinned.
“Me too. How are things on your end? Heard you took care of some family business the other night,” Axel said.
Limit grimaced when he thought about what Scott had looked like by the time he’d finished with him. His body had been burned and his car upended over the side of their mountain, so all of the Worthington loose ends had been tied up, but Limit had been actively trying not to think about it.
It always brought his mind back around to Scarlett.
“I did,” He finally replied.
Ox’s eyes flashed for a second and Limit was sure he’d snap at him, but he didn’t.
He kept his cool.
Axel nodded his dark head as he shoved some of his own long hair behind his ears.
“Good for you. I know if someone fucked with Ashley, I’d make sure they agonized for days.”
That made Limit feel a little bit better about the fact that he hadn’t held back- not in the least bit.
“We take care of our own,” Ox mumbled.
Green looked uncomfortable as he checked his phone.
“We havin’ a party tonight? Emily wants to know,” Green said.
Ox nodded.
“Yeah. And Scarlett will be stayin’ at the clubhouse for the week, too. Invite anyone you want, I want her to have a good time tonight.”
Green smiled at him.
“Will do, boss.”
As Green dialed a few numbers on his own phone, Limit finished his cigarette in silence, wondering if the tension would ever dissipate between him and his president.
He hated that it was there, but Ox had warned him against hurting Scarlett and he’d done it anyways.
Now she was going to be staying with them and he had no right to be anything other than happy for Ox and for Scarlett.
Happy that amongst all the shit happening in her life right now, including the steaming pile he’d thrown her way, she and Ox were finding a relationship together that obviously made them both happy.
He couldn’t begrudge her that.
Hell, Limit didn’t begrudge her that.
It made him miss his own ma from time to time, actually.
He called her every Tuesday evening to check in and he visited every three months so that she knew he still cared about her, and since his father had passed on years before, he knew that his mother appreciated his calls and visits.
Sometimes he wished he could visit her more, but he knew it was best for the both of them if she knew as little as possible about his new life.
She wouldn’t understand.
Most of the time she still called him Colton even though he never took off his cut that named him Limit.
“Hey, you okay?”
Green asked this question, and for a second, Limit thought about lying.
“Not this time, brother.”
Green cleared his throat and glanced at Ox over his shoulder, who was facing away from the both of them as him and Axel spoke with the construction crew.
“Look, I know shit between you and Scarlett is rough right now. Emily is pissed as fuck at you, and I don’t blame her. You really hurt Scar, but I know why. You may think I don’t pay a lot of attention, and most of the time you’d be right, but Limit- you gotta see somebody about your problems, man.”
Green’s words not only surprised him, they felt like a kick in the back of his head.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
Green’s eyes sparked for a second before he leaned in closer.
“Ox didn’t patch me in because I’m stupid. I’ve done some shit in my lifetime, Limit. I know the look you get in your eyes sometimes. You’re not always here with us. It’s okay to admit that you need help, but don’t fuck up what could possibly be the best thing to ever happen to you just because you’re scared,” Green argued.
Limit balked at his words.
“I’m not scared!”
“Bullshit. Bull-fuckin’-shit! Tell me something: when you saw Scar layin’ there in a pool of her own blood, did you get that pit in your stomach that told you losin’ her would end it all for ya?”
Limit looked away as he swallowed the yes bubbling at the back of his throat.
“Of course you did. I could see it in your handsome fuckin’ face, brother. There ain’t no shame in lovin’ a woman who loves ya back.”
“She doesn’t love me,” He argued.
Green’s eyebrows hit his hairline.
“She doesn’t? Emily told me she practically begged you to give her a chance and you shot her to hell.”
Limit was really beginning to wonder about Emily.
“I can’t love her,” He said stiffly.
Green shook his head, disappointment clear in his eyes.
“There ain’t no shame in lovin’ a woman who loves ya back, but there is shame in bein’ a damn coward and denyin’ ya both.”
“I know that. I’m not a coward.”
Green’s expression softened as he took another step closer.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. We’re all here for ya, whenever you need us. There’s not a fuckin’ thing you can say to any of us that will surprise us. We’ve all been through the ringer. Just remember that, okay?”
With that Green left Limit standing there all by his lonesome as he strutted towards his bike.
For a second Limit thought about yelling after him, but thought better of it.
What Green said to him, was true.
Scarlett had tried her best to be open and understanding, even when he didn’t deserve it.
Even when he’d let her down.
“Fuck!,” He said softly as he headed for his bike.
He’d let her go and now he was going to have to watch her live her life without him all week.