Page 48 of Carved Obsession (The Sanctum Syndicate #4)

Carter

Standing by the bar in Midnight, I nurse a drink after an exhausting day and an even more mentally draining evening.

Finnigan’s ear is to the phone, a stupid grin plastered all over his pretty-boy face. He’s likely talking to Evelyn, and I realize...I risk turning into him. Sans the stupid grin, obviously. But what I’m feeling on the inside seems awfully similar.

We had a lot of work to do today—damage control, research, planning and plotting, and meetings with all our team leaders—yet my thoughts strayed constantly to the dark-haired woman who has invaded my life and made herself at home in it.

Because of what happened within The Sanctum, she knew I’d be busy since leaving her house late yesterday morning, and I wasn’t sure for how long. She’s been a good girl, giving me space without question so I can work with the guys through this whole Duval mess.

But I haven’t been good at all.

I find myself picking up the phone and texting her in every free moment I have.

It’s odd. Illogical. Yet what would make even less sense would be stopping my behavior.

“We’ll get him soon. You always find something.” Maddox walks next to me, taking a long swig from his beer bottle.

I don’t turn as I take a sip of my drink, looking at Vincent, observing the deepening shade beneath his eyes. This situation has been getting to all of us. Though, lately it’s felt like one thing after the other.

“You won’t admit it, but I know you’re frustrated. Worried. You’ll find something,” Vincent says.

His words are almost meaningless. This bastard politician has taken so many precautions over the years, and nothing I’ve found so far is big enough to take him down.

Even killing him isn’t an easy solution, because his absence would be noticeable.

Plus, he could have set contingencies in place, directing authorities to us in the event of his death.

“Carter?” Maddox asks.

“I’m fine. And yes, I will find him, if only—” My phone rings, interrupting me.

It’s Scarlet.

But she never calls, only texts.

I swipe the screen to answer. “Hello—”

“Midnight! Open the front door!” she screams over the phone. “Nooow!”

There’s a lot of shuffling and commotion in the background. A woman’s anxious scream. I break into a sprint toward the door and just as I unlock it, a crash sounds on the other side. A split second later, Scarlet and Katya burst in.

“Incoming!”

“There’s at least five of them!” Katya shouts as she hurries toward the back of the barroom.

None of us have time for questions as six men storm in, ready for a fight.

I catch one in a headlock and slam his head against the wall, repeating the action three more times until he passes out. Then I rush to Scarlet, seeing red when a man goes to attack her. Finnigan, Vincent, and Maddox are all busy with their own targets, but someone grabs me before I can reach her.

The man’s grip on my shoulder is iron. He yanks me backward, and I stumble behind the bar.

Bottles rattle and glass clinks as my spine collides with the bar’s polished edge, but I don’t have time to process the sting of pain.

His fist flies toward my face, and I jerk my head to the side, just missing the punch.

He grunts when I retaliate with an elbow to his ribs, but he doesn’t let up.

I’m rewarded with a jab to my side, a sharp pain bursting behind my ribs, but I shove through it with gritted teeth.

I pick up the bottle to my left—a thick, dark glass, nearly full.

I seize it and swing it into his temple.

The man staggers, dazed, his hands slipping from me.

Not enough. I bring the bottle down on his head again, and the glass shatters on impact.

Shards slice into his scalp. Blood mixes with the amber liquid dripping down his face, but the bald bastard won’t go down.

He lunges at me, and we’re grappling, fists colliding, breaths harsh and ragged.

With my back bent against the bar, I reach behind me and fumble around with blind fingers until my hand lands on a short-bladed knife.

It’s flimsy, but I twist it in my hand and ram it upward, jamming it beneath his ribs.

He gasps, eyes wide, pain flashing across his face.

Twisting the blade deeper, I feel it hit flesh and muscle as I drive it upward with every ounce of strength I have.

The asshole jerks, chokes, and his body slackens as his grip loosens. Stepping back, I let him fall to the floor and whip around to find Scarlet.

The sounds of chaos begin to dim, and I see her, her expression hard but fierce as she wrestles her attacker. I rush to her at the same time as my brothers, also done with their own attackers.

But we all stall; it doesn’t look like Scarlet needs any help at all.

The man she’s fighting falls to his knees as she breaks a chair over his head, already looking like he drew the short end of the stick with my mad kitten.

She’s not satisfied, though. She grabs a broken chair leg and slams it against his ear in an unhinged rush.

She looks lost in the flow of violence and pain. Utterly in her element as she breaks that chair leg in half. She raises another chair, continuing the job as she practically scolds the guy.

“This will teach you!”

Crack!

“Not to attack!”

Crack!

“Women!”

Crack!

“You fucking asshole!” She punctuates the last sentence with a violent, final swing of the wood across his temple, and the man falls motionless to the ground.

“Jesus Christ,” Maddox says next to me. “She’s—”

“Exquisite,” I finish for him, utterly mesmerized and fascinated by the savagely sexy creature before me.

“Umm . . . sure. Let’s go with that,” he mutters.

I rush to her, grabbing her face in my hands. “Are you hurt?”

She cocks an eyebrow, and I shake my head to clear the fog. Of course she wouldn’t really know.

“She saved me!” Katya says through strained breaths.

“Sorry?”

“Your girl saved my life.” She pants, leaning over to brace herself with her knees as she attempts to recover.

“I was driving over and noticed I was being followed. I realized I couldn’t get in the back parking lot in good time with the gate and all, and I was about to take a different turn when the assholes rammed into me.

After I crashed, I ran out without a second thought and headed straight to the main entrance.

But they followed.” She puts her hand up, unable to continue.

“I was coming to see you when I saw her running through these backstreets, kind of panicked,” Scarlet recounts.

“She looked familiar, I guess, and when I saw the guys chasing her and where she was headed, I kind of connected the dots. When I got to her, one guy was trying to get her in the back of the car and one other was climbing out to help him. I jumped the first one, got her loose, and I called you as we ran.”

I shake my head at Scarlet, both in awe of her courage to help a perfect stranger and fucking furious with her for putting herself in such danger. Stepping back, I look her over and swipe blood from wherever it’s splattered to confirm it’s not coming from her. She protests, but I ignore her.

“I’ll take you into the office, or maybe a hospital to make sure nothing’s—”

“Carter, later.”

“You know better than me why this is necessary.”

“Your friends are staring at us,” she whispers through clenched teeth, eyes wandering sheepishly to the side.

I straighten and turn to them. Each and every one of them is wide-eyed, staring at us like they’re witnessing divinity. Or an abomination. I rub my fingers together, a tickle running from my spine to the back of my neck.

“I have CIP,” Scarlet says, breaking through the tension.

“Congenital insensitivity to pain. I can’t feel it, so if I get injured, I have no clue whatsoever.

Unless I break my leg or something and fall on my face,” she says with an awkward laugh.

“Or I’m actively bleeding out and I notice it.

So yeah, that’s why he’s checking me over. ”

They all react to the revelation, the mood lightening ever so slightly. But their gazes still flicker in my direction, an all-knowing amusement looking back at me. If I don’t run away now, they’re going to flood me with questions.

“Thank you.” Katya steps forward and grabs Scarlet’s hands.

“Glad I could be of help.” She shrugs with a wide grin on her pretty lips.

They introduce themselves as Maddox steps next to me and leans over. “It seems I’m the last one standing, brother,” he whispers hoarsely.

I look over my shoulder, and his scarred, cocked eyebrow says so much more than his tongue.

I open my mouth, ready to protest, but Scarlet’s voice pulls my attention, and I turn to her.

Her porcelain skin is stained with the blood of the man laying lifeless at her feet, addicting smile tugging at her full lips like she didn’t just beat that life out of him minutes ago. Almost like she was made just for me.

“I have something for you.” Scarlet steps forward, drawing my attention. “For all of you.” Her gaze swipes over my brothers and me.

I frown as she walks over to the messenger bag she threw to the side and places it on a chair with a loud thump .

“Your little predicament regarding Frank Duval stuck with me,” she says.

“How does she know about that?” Finnigan steps forward, turning to me. “Carter, please tell me you’re not st—”

Vincent intervenes. “She was in the car with us when we went on the forest rescue mission, Finn. Madds and I were debriefing Carter on the situation that unfolded during his absence.”

“For god’s sake.” The blond man swipes a hand over his face. “Might as well give her a key to our office.”

“No need. I could make my own if I needed access.” Scarlet cocks her head, a mad smile pulling at her cheeks.

“But you have nothing of interest to me, and I also don’t work in my backyard.

I understand your concern, though.” She pulls a stack of papers from her bag and slaps them on the table.

“Anyway. I’m not gonna go into the details of what I do for a living, but a while back, I had some dealings with a certain Martin Duval—Frank’s son.

Because of the nature of my family business, we keep an eye on our ‘business partners’ for some time after.

We’ve heard some things. Rumor has it that father and son have been silently feuding over money and how they share the family business. I had a thought.”

Scarlet pauses for a few moments as she pulls out more paperwork, then places a USB stick on top. I swear I can hear my blood pumping in my ears as I connect the dots.

“I wondered if the son was taking things into his own hands and plotting behind his dad’s back.

So, I paid Martin Duval a visit. Granted, he wasn’t at home at the time, but I confirmed my suspicions and discovered he’s an idiot.

” She slaps the stack of paperwork, looking quite smug and proud of herself.

“This, gentlemen, is stark evidence of bribery, dodgy planning permissions on protected land, money laundering, and illegal dumping of toxic waste. And it incriminates Martin, Frank, his wife, and a handful of politicians.”

“You’re saying you broke into Martin Duval’s house...and stole all this? To help us?” Finnigan asks.

“Yup.” She picks up the USB stick and looks at it.

“The icing on the cake is this little baby—footage of Frank Duval, in his own office, plotting to undercut his shady investors. Extremely dangerous investors who would hate to find out they’re being played.

But it’s clear the kid is planning something against his dad. ”

“How did you know it was Frank’s office?” I ask, shoving my hands into my trouser pockets to keep myself from strangling the woman.

“Because I went there as well, to check for more dirt on the man. So, I recognized it. Keep up, killer-boy.”

“Killer-what?” Finn exclaims, bursting out laughing.

I swipe a hand over my face, scratching my chin as I imagine all the ways I’ll punish her for this. I think I’ll start making a list.

“Scarlet, you should not have put yourself in danger. Twice.” I step forward, undecided if I should strangle or kiss her.

She shrugs, placing the USB stick back on the pile and sliding it closer to us.

“I was bored, and I knew there could be something there that would help you all. It felt ridiculous not to do this. Plus, I knew it would be easier for me to break in without them realizing what hit them.”

Bored. She was fucking bored, so she broke into the homes of two dangerous men to help our organization. Jesus fuck, what did I get myself into?

“Can I leave this with you?” I turn to the others.

Vincent nods. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yes. I need to make sure she’s not hurt. Though I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to contain myself after what she just pulled.”

The man snickers as he shakes his head, walking over to pick up all the evidence Scarlet brought.

“Thank you.” Maddox steps forward, and we all turn to him. “We appreciate your help.”

“I certainly do. That bastard put one of my girls in the hospital and sent these assholes after me. So, thank you,” Katya says, joining in.

“Let’s go, Scarlet.” I grab her hand and pull her toward the back rooms so we can head to my car. “Oh, and the guy by the door is still alive. See what you can get out of him.”

“With pleasure.” Vincent’s expression turns into the serpent he truly is, and he stalks toward the man as we pass through the door.

This night has certainly taken a turn. And maybe not quite for the worst.