Read Scarlett Red: A Billionaire SEAL Story, Part 2 (In the Shadows) for Free Online Page B

shoulder.
    “Let me go!” I screech.
    His forearm locks around my chest and he quickly presses a finger against my lips. “Shhhh!” I try to jerk away, to kick him in that bum ankle he favors, but I’m trapped and unable to move as he slides the thick pad across my mouth. Pushing past my lips, he groans like he’s enjoying the moisture in my mouth while rubbing his finger against my teeth. “You need to relax a little.”
    As he grinds his bulging erection against my butt, the sharp, bitter taste on his finger freaks me out even more. Shit, shit, shit! He’s just rubbed some of the residue from the Ecstasy pills that he, Walt, and Jimmy package together in his apartment along my gums. Everything inside me goes cold when he continues with a sickening smugness, “It will help you learn to chill the fuck out just like it has Walt.”
    My mouth begins to tingle and my heart jerks at a frantic pace. When a sinking feeling of inevitability grips me, self-preservation kicks in. I jam my elbow into his ribs and rush to the sink. While I frantically splash water in my mouth, my body heat spikes and my pulse races out of control. Maybe it’s not the drugs working just yet, maybe it’s my adrenaline making me feel like I’m going to pass out.
    I jerk upright at the sound of Walt’s key scraping in the lock. Hayes moves close, “Say a word and I’ll arrange it so Walt gets caught with a buttload of drugs on him. Go ahead. Do it, little girl. Then I’ll have you all to myself,” he croons before he moves to the open doorway that connects our apartments.
    The second Walt walks inside, I want so badly to scream out what Hayes has done despite the threat he just gave, but Hayes leans around the door connecting our apartments as if he’s just poking his head in and crooks a finger at Walt. “Come on, Walt. You’re here just in time. We’ve got business to discuss. More just came our way.”
    Amelia must’ve heard Walt’s name because she comes flying in the kitchen, little arms raised for him to pick her up. “Daddy!”
    Walt grins at Hayes and immediately sets the groceries down. Mumbling that I should put them away, he pats Amelia on the head, then walks around her, heading toward the open doorway.
    When Amelia tries to follow him, he barks at her, “You’re not allowed in here, Amelia. Go watch TV.”
    “But I want to be with you, Dadd—”
    “Go!” he says forcefully. Amelia’s blonde hair shrouds her face, but I can tell how much her dad’s rejection hurts, so I walk over and swoop her up. “Want to play a board game with me?”
    While Amelia pats my face with her little hands, babbling about which game we should play, Hayes looks at me one last time, then chuckles before he closes the door behind them. His smugness leaves me shaking.
    Setting Amelia down, I tell her to go find a game, and after she runs off, I stare at the closed door, feeling more disconnected to reality by the minute. Stupid drugs! Before I completely lose myself to the buzz, I grab the edge of the counter and sag against it, hissing to the empty room, “Twisted motherfucker!” all the while wishing I’d bitten Hayes’ finger off while I had the chance.
    A cold wetness yanks me out of my foggy dreamscape, and I blink my eyes open to see a dimly lit Bash leaning over me, pressing a damp cloth to my forehead.
    “I don’t like it when you don’t listen to me,” he says in a terse tone.
    I quickly jerk upright and back away. Fumbling with the nightstand light, I switch it on and exhale slowly, seriously wondering if I’m losing my mind. For a brief second, in the dark room, lit only by the bathroom light behind him, he’d sounded just like Sebastian.
    All dominant and bossy.
    Rubbing my arms against the sudden chill washing over me, I realize I’m only wearing my thin tank top and underwear, and my nipples are jutting against the coral-colored material in glaring, hi-beam abandon. I cross my arms over my chest and demand,