For the plane ride, Alexander gave both Scarlett and her father pills to make them sleep the entire time. He could hardly sleep let alone sit still. Anxious to move forward with his new plan something was bothering him. A tinge of guilt sets in his stomach as he realizes his brother is in that god forsaken town alone.
Sending him a quick cryptic text, he lets Liam know that everyone is safe and back in New York.
The soundproof basement in his mansion is perfect for Gavin. Perfect to torment him both physically and mentally. Having Gavin’s death on his hands isn’t something Alexander craves anymore. Breaking him and keeping him prisoner as he wishes for death is much better.
And Scarlett.
Ever since he first met her she has been plaguing his every thought. His dark urges wanting to corrupt her and break her innocence in every way possible.
Enjoying the thought of his new plan to taunt and bent Scarlett to his will is exhilarating. The look on Gavin’s face as he talked about touching his virgin daughter was a picture perfect moment. He just wishes he had his camera ready. He would’ve hung the picture up at his office.
Scarlett should be coming to any moment now. Alexander carries her in his arms up the stairs and into her new bedroom where he locks the door from the outside. Soon she’ll wake up and he’ll deal with her then.
Very seldom know about this place. His mansion bought on a whim. He never used this place as his home, only living and sleeping at his penthouse in the City. With a few calls made his most trusted maids, cook, and bodyguards make their way to the mansion.
Alexander takes care of some business at Novak. His father trust to make him CEO and while he isn’t willing to give up his position, he isn’t willing to lose precious time here.
He calls his father putting his worries at ease and taking a full months worth of vacation. Alexander tells his father that he is doing it for his mental health. His father agrees. His entire family is all too aware of his unhealthy obsession with catching Gavin. His father happily welcoming this mental health break thinking it will help ease his mind of his sister’s murderer.
Still, Alexander ignores the various texts flooding in from Liam.
Where are you?
What did you do with Scarlett?
What did you do to Gavin?
A shout from above tells him it’s showtime.
Alexander pours himself a glass of bourbon, downing it in one gulp.
***
Scarlett screams as she wakes up in a strange room.
The last thing she remembers is being in a house in Nevada. Alexander was there and so was her father—tied up. Alexander claimed some horrible things and her father wept while her boss staked his claim on her.
Confused. Disorientated. Frightened. She doesn’t know where she is or what is going to happen to her.
Her father looked so scared for her. Scared for her to be near Alexander, her boss, the man who took her out to dinner and made her smile. The man who smiled himself as he watched her with a gleam in his eyes. Her thoughts wander to her father and what happened to him. He is the only family she has left if anything happened to him, she would truly be alone in this world.
She hears locks click from the other side of the door. In steps Alexander dressed in a crisp new suit. Navy tailored pants, a white collared button up with a navy blazer to match. His blond hair is slicked back, curling underneath his ears. He looks strikingly handsome, so much that Scarlett’s heart drops to the pit of her stomach.
“What do you want?” She looks around trying to plot her own escape. “Why am I here?”
“You’re here because you’re mine.”
Her eyes narrow.
“You belong to me,” his voice laced with a possessive tone.
“I belong to no one.”
Alexander grabs a chair from the nearby vanity and sit on it. “Your father is responsible for the death of my sister.”
“You’re insane.”
“Am I?” He scratches at the scruff on his chin. “You told me you got that scar in a car accident. Let me guess it was September thirtieth, sixteen years ago.”
“How did you…”
“Because the car your father hit was my car. He killed my sister.”
Scarlett is speechless. She struggles to find the right words. “It...it was probably an accident.”
“It was no accident, Scarlett. Or should I say Hazel?”
Blinking a few times she can’t wrap her mind around what is happening. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t play the innocent card with me, Hazel MacIntyre.”
“My name is Scarlett Halloway!”
“And yet you have no birth certificate to prove it.”
“Where is my father?” She demands.
“In my care. Don’t worry,” he strides across the room to look out the window. “We’re going to have lots of fun together.”
Scarlett scoffs. “There’s no way. You’ll have to force me because I would never willing give you anything.”
“You will,” he says sure of himself. “And when you do you’ll be begging for more. Get some rest, tomorrow I will groom you to be my perfect pet.”
Alexander walks out of her room shutting and locking the door behind him. She runs toward the door hoping it’ll open by some miracle but she’s locked. A prisoner in this room. Making her way to the window he was just looking out, she notices bars preventing any type of escape.
There is a knock on her door not even five minutes after Alexander leaves. She stands by the door unsure how to answer.
“Who is it?”
“Mister Novak sent me,” a feminine voice rings. She unlocks the door and enters without invitation. “I have some things for you.”
“What kind of things?” She says hesitantly as she watches a woman, maybe a decade older than herself, set down a pile of items on her bed. “First off, Mister Novak would like you to start taking birth control if you haven’t already.”
“Wel Mister Novak can shove it up his—“
“Take one pill everyday at eight o’clock in the morning. If you don’t I will be forced to inject you.”
Noted.
“Mister Novak wants you to strip your clothes.”
“Will he give me new ones?” She crosses her arms stubbornly.
“No.”
“Then no.”
“Please don’t make me force you, because I will.” The look on her face is cold and sends chills through Scarlett's body. “If you try to escape you will be chained to your bed, so don’t make things harder for yourself. You are permitted to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner downstairs in the dining hall. I will personally unlock the door for you and guide you down. Meal time is the only time you will be permitted to wear this robe,” she points to a white satin robe now on her bed. “And if you disobey orders just remember...there are always eyes watching you. You may call me Rosie, if you need anything just holler.”
Rosie doesn’t budge still waiting for her to strip. Scarlett has always been modest—a prude as some would call her—it’s not that she is embarrassed by her body. She is just embarrassed by other people seeing her naked.
Slowly she unbuttons her shirt swallowing her mortification and trying her best not to cry. Rosie holds out her hand for her shirt. She’s left in her bra and skirt. She unzips the skirt and it pools down at her feet. She steps out of it as Rosie picks it up. Standing in her bra and underwear she feels vulnerable and scared. The chill in the air gives her goosebumps.