Page 39 of Carved Obsession (The Sanctum Syndicate #4)

Carter

Scarlet insisted we drop her off at the head of her driveway. After Vincent’s revelation, and also after noticing her brother’s car in her drive, she said The Sanctum appearing at her door might be overkill.

I was reluctant to leave her but had to trust her reassurance that she’s fine. They’d probably be just as worried about her as my own “family” has been about me.

So that’s what we did—dropped her off in her driveway, then drove to my house.

I took my sweet time in the shower, enjoying every drop of hot water coming out of that tap. But now, as I finish dressing in my bedroom, I hear so much more chatter in my living area than when I came in.

They’re all here. Morrigan, Evelyn, and Finnigan have joined Vincent and Maddox.

“Oh, fuck, you’re okay!” Morrigan throws herself at me, arms wrapped around my back as she pulls me into a tight hug. A surprising one.

She’s a passionate woman, I know that, but the heat she puts into this embrace, the relieved tone of her voice, it all suggests a level of interest more...familial.

“You got us all so worried,” she says as she pulls away. “She better have been worth it,” she whispers to me alone, wiggling her brows.

She definitely was, but I’m not entirely sure why Morrigan is so sure my interaction with Scarlet wasn’t innocent.

I stay silent and walk toward the sofa, then drop onto the soft cushion. Strangely, I miss the cabin’s hard bed.

It’s not the bed you miss, Carter.

I shush the voice in my head and turn my attention to the guys. “So, Duval wants the escort service?”

They all exchange telling looks, but no one answers me.

“There’s an elephant in the room, Carter. We all want to know one thing,” Morrigan says first.

“My personal life doesn’t take precedence over what’s going on in The Sanctum.”

“So, she is part of your personal life.” Finnigan wiggles his brows, elbowing Morrigan gently.

I swear these two have been a nightmare since they started getting used to each other. Always in cahoots.

“The Sanctum is under attack, Hennessey. Focus.”

He cocks a brow, exchanging looks with Evelyn, who chews on her bottom lip. Sometimes I think they don’t just share a bed, but a brain too. The looks passing between them seem like entire conversations.

“Otto’s fine. We visited him in jail. The accusations are bogus, and we have a genuine alibi for him. Duval just wanted to put on a show of power. Demonstrate what he can achieve,” Vincent offers.

“Having him arrested for murder seems excessive,” I say.

“Yeah. Good thing it wasn’t one of the real murders he’s committed.” He shakes his head.

True. Otto is part of our army. One of our best guys. Many bullets have flown from his guns and into our enemies.

“When is he getting released?” I ask.

“Paperwork is being done as we speak,” Vincent answers.

“Richard is handling it, but even with his impressive lawyer skills, it still took him a while to dig through the bureaucratic nightmare of a hole Duval threw Otto into. He almost got rerouted to a high-security prison for no reason other than to make it harder for us to get him out and to show just what he can do.”

“Duval’s not going to stop, that’s clear. The question is, when is he going to hit next?” My question lingers heavily in the air.

None of us has an answer.

“We have to stay close. All of us. Hackers, army, escorts, fucking bartenders. We need to protect them all,” Vincent states, his black gaze stern as it passes through the room.

We nod in unison.

“Metamorphosis too.” Maddox turns to Morrigan. “Loreley...” He almost whispers her name, like speaking too loudly would make it real.

“Yes. She’ll be ecstatic to hear that my association with The Sanctum is putting her in danger. Yet again,” the redhead says, rolling her eyes.

“Unfair. Last time, it was her crazy, fucked-up ex-boyfriend and his jealousy of you,” Finnigan counters, a smug grin on his face.

“Okay, yeah. Fair,” she says. “It was the association with you a little, though.”

“Sure,” Maddox says. “I’ll give you that.”

Finnigan laughs, but Maddox looks painfully unimpressed. Regardless of what woman he’s seeing right now, I wonder if he’ll end up making it his mission to keep Loreley safe anyway.

“We’ll send a team to Loreley’s building,” I say. “That will cover her, Metamorphosis, and the café.”

Morrigan nods, satisfied.

“A few guys at Evelyn’s bakery too.” Finnigan turns to his girlfriend, who nods in agreement.

“Vincent, what do you think of bringing Mamaw June to our house?” Evelyn asks. “She can keep an eye on Maya, and considering our location, it’s easy to station up on the dunes and see someone coming toward the beach for a few miles.”

“I’ll ask her. Mom’s pretty stubborn, as you know, but she’ll hear Maya’s name and come running.” He chuckles.

“It’s a good place to take anyone, really. You’re right about the dunes. Great place for an ambush, with how secluded it is,” Maddox says. These two are more like brother and sister than friends, and always on each other’s backs.

“Okay. If anyone else wants to go there, we’ll do that. My tech team is pretty secluded already, but I’ll send a unit to stay with them,” I add. “Everyone else has been debriefed on the situation, right?”

Vincent nods.

“Then we’ll update them on our decision. The team leaders can decide if they want to pull our men together or not. If they can, of course.”

“Yeah, it will be hard to pull together hundreds of people, but as long as they stay vigilant, they should be good. Otto was targeted because of his almost constant presence with us, but our soldiers aren’t well known at all. They should be safe.”

I agree. But the tech team will still be working overtime to monitor the situation.

“Great. I need some food now. Let’s go eat.” My stomach is rumbling, and I would very much like to demolish a steak right about now.

“Eat out? Really?” Evelyn cocks an eyebrow.

“What’s he going to do?” I counter. “Attack us in a restaurant?”

Morrigan rises from her armchair, yanking on the hem of her T-shirt with a smug look on her face. “Let him fucking try.”

She’s a firecracker. We’ve seen her in action, and I have a feeling she would get along really well with Scarlet. Maybe a bit too well. I might have to keep an eye on that, because those two could get into a lot of trouble.

I frown at my train of thought. I’m already envisioning Scarlet within my family. This is...strange.

We all rise, getting ready to leave, but Morrigan pulls me to the side and leans against the kitchen counter, slightly out of earshot.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks.

I frown at the question. Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be? Her worry surprises me, nonetheless. Twice today, she expressed her concern toward my wellbeing.

“I don’t know what happened last night,” she insists, “but you seem...different.”

“How so?” I ask.

“Rattled, somehow.”

“I’m fine, Morrigan. I didn’t get hurt during the accident. Only a bit of whiplash and some bruises.”

She cocks an eyebrow, crossing her arms against her chest. “And what happened after?”

Scarlet’s throat in my hand as I crowded her against a tree? Her naked body wrapped around mine as I sank my cock inside her incredible pussy? Holding her as she slept soundly in my arms?

Yeah. Rattled sounds about right.

“I’m all good,” I insist, keeping everything else to myself. “Come, let’s go eat,” I say, moving to head off.

“Scarlet has a membership at Metamorphosis,” Morrigan says, stopping me.

I look over my shoulder. I’m aware she does, considering she came to take photos of me and entrance at the club is well policed.

“I looked into it,” she continues. “She’s had one for about three months.”

Now I turn to her. I don’t think I’m masking my shock very well, but I hope I’m hiding this simmering heat filling both my chest and my temples and somehow shooting down to my knuckles.

Three months?

What has Scarlet been doing at Metamorphosis all this time?

And more importantly . . . who?

Scarlet

“You’re okay!” Carmen exclaims as she bursts out of my house, wrapping me in a tight hug. She pulls back and holds my shoulders to inspect me. “Aren’t you?” She frowns.

“Just a bit grimy. But I’m fine,” I assure her with a smile, but it falls fast when I see both my dad and big brother standing in my doorway.

“Did he hurt you?” Dad asks.

Frowning, I walk up the steps, desperate to get in and take a hot shower. “Did who hurt me?”

“Scar, come on. Pierce! Did he fucking hurt you?” Marc exclaims, impatient.

“Yeah, and then he was a gentleman and brought me home.” I laugh and push through. I don’t hear anyone following. “Well, come on, then. In or out?” I shout over my shoulder.

Finally, they walk in and settle in the cozy living room.

“How did you get involved with The Sanctum, Scarlet? I know this is your life, I know you’re an adult and you can do whatever you want, but how is it that I only warned you of one single thing when you moved to Queenscove, and yet you ended up straight in their clutches?

” Dad rubs a hand over his face and sighs.

I’m gonna need a smoke to handle this conversation.

After walking over to the teak sideboard underneath the TV, I open a drawer, pull a joint from the cigarette tin, light it up, and take one long drag.

My head falls back as the smoke penetrates my lungs and almost instantly helps chill me out. Almost.

“You have to understand that going to the shop this morning and having Morrigan Sinclair, The Serpent’s wife, waiting for me to open up was a bit surprising,” Carmen says as she leans forward on the sofa.

“Finding out she was there because she was looking for her missing friend and thought he would be with you was anxiety inducing. But Carter Pierce? The Carter Pierce? Now, that was shocking.”

I take another drag of smoke, and the living room fills with the weed scent that always seems to take the edge off. It helps me think. And right now, it’s allowing me to understand they were simply worried.

“The Carver, Scar? Really?” Marc rises, pacing before he plucks the joint out of my hand and takes a drag. He rarely joins in with me. He must be pissed.

“I’m sorry I worried you. Obviously, I didn’t mean to. There was no signal, and by morning, my phone died. It was unintentional,” I explain.

“Did you split up with me last night because of him?” Dad asks.

I nod my reply. No way do I want to get into the details of him following us, because that would require an explanation of our very weird relationship.

“When did this start?” Carmen asks.

“I met him when I moved here. But we’ve been talking for a month, maybe two.” I haven’t kept track. It’s probably been less, but so much has happened that it feels like a short lifetime.

“He’s your boyfriend? ” Marc says that word with wide eyes.

“No—I don’t know. We haven’t talked about that.” Or anything, for that matter.

We just fucked once, and he ate me out after. And that’s no way to describe us to my fucking family.

“This is a different world, Scarlet. More complex than ours, and so much more dangerous. These men aren’t criminals like us, so I can’t help but worry,” he says.

“Like us? ” I scoff. “We both know neither of you are criminals like me.” I point around the room.

Silence falls as I take the joint from my brother and take a puff, savoring it as my family settles into the thought that actually, with my violent tendencies, I’m not all that different from any of The Sanctum.

It may be a daunting thought for them, but it’s a comforting one for me.

My family accepts me, but with Carter, it feels like I can truly be myself.

“We just want to make sure you’re safe. Happy. Unharmed,” Carmen assures me, her features softening.

“I’m all good. Apart from being assaulted by a pencil, I’m fine.”

“What?” Marc recoils slightly.

“When I crashed, this random pencil flew out of my toolbox and stabbed me. I’m fine.

” I hold out my hand, stopping them as they rise.

Worry laces their eyes. “Carter cleaned me up and patched me. We had a first-aid kit. It didn’t hit anything major.

And yes, I will go to the doctor and get it checked out. ”

Dad takes such a long breath in that I can see the wheels spinning as he attempts to stay calm.

“You crashed? Was it because of him?” he asks.

I shake my head. “Nah. I caused it. The rain was so thick, I skidded and actually crashed into him.”

“What exactly happened last night?” Dad frowns.

“I’ll tell you after I have a shower. But before I do...do you remember Martin Duval?”

“From the sapphire job we did a couple of years ago?” Dad says. “That was, what, about fifty miles from here?”

“Yeah. Frank Duval’s son, the councilman. What do you remember about them?”