Page 29 of Fighting for Scarlett

It wasn’t until she had paid the driver and hauled herself out of his vehicle that she realized the lights were on in her house.

Scarlett froze.

Just because nobody else believed her didn't mean she didn't know the truth.

She hadn't sold any information, she’d been kidnapped by Raul Castillo and tortured for that information. But even with the pain she’d gone through, she hadn't told the trafficker what he wanted to know.

Which meant he could come back for her.

Did he have more men in there waiting for her?

Before she could panic and try to call back the Uber, the front door to her place was thrown open and three women came bursting out.

Lucy Elrod, a month to the day younger than Scarlett’s twenty-eight, with long blonde hair and light blue eyes, she hadn't allowed her epilepsy to rule her life. Cassidy “Cassie” Caddel, twenty-three, with brown hair and eyes, an actual genius who had graduated college before she hit her twenties with several degrees. Ella Whitlock, a twenty-seven-year-old musical prodigy with blonde hair and pretty green eyes.

Athena Team.

The people she loved the most in the world.

Her own little family where she finally felt like she belonged.

All ruined now.

When the three women ran toward her, Scarlett instinctively took a step back. She didn't want them there, didn't want to have more accusations thrown at her, especially by the people she thought would always have her back.

But they hadn't.

Their absence when she had been held for well over a day spoke volumes. Actually, it told her all she needed to know. They weren't her friends, they weren't the family she’d always wished for. They were nothing. And the last thing she wanted was for them to be there when she already felt raw and exposed.

Hurt flashed over Cassie’s face, Ella looked confused, and Lucy looked angry.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asked, taking a tentative step forward even though Scarlett had wrapped her arms around her middle and stiffened, ready to run the second they hurled accusations at her.

“Of course she’s not okay,” the ever-practical Lucy said. The anger had faded a little, but it was still there, Scarlett could sense it.

Tears blurred her vision, and she did her best to hold them back. She was just so tired of having everyone’s anger directed at her when she hadn't done anything wrong. After living through a horrific ordeal, all she wanted was someone to show her a little warmth and compassion. Heck, she’d take just a little ounce of kindness, but nope, all she kept getting was anger, and she was way too exhausted to deal with it.

“We were so worried about you,” Ella said softly. The woman was all warmth, softness, and goodness, and even though Scarlett was closest to Lucy, Ella had always held a special place in her heart because of the light she shone so freely, so of all their betrayals hers seemed to hurt the most.

“Listen to me,” Lucy said in that take-charge voice she used when she was close to the end of her patience.

Although she didn't want to, Scarlett found her gaze snapping to meet her friend’s. The anger still glowed brightly in Lucy’s blue eyes, but there was something else there, too. Something that made her long for the impossible. Something much too close to compassion for her to handle right now, so instead, she only stiffened further.

“We did not believe for one single second that you did what that email says you did,” Lucy spoke clearly and firmly.

“Not for a second,” Cassie echoed.

“Is that what you thought? That we believed you would do that?” Ella asked, hurt in her voice, and her green eyes filled with tears that turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Right then and there the meltdown that had been steadily building inside her since she woke up and realized someone was inside her house just detonated.

There in the street, Scarlett burst into noisy tears, her entire body shaking with the force of her sobs. Yeah, she had shed some tears when Tate had saved her from drowning in the pool on Raul’s estate, but those tears had been filled with relief. Then she’d thought she was saved and her ordeal was over, little did she know it hadn't even come close to really beginning.

Now the pressure on her was too great. Too much had happened too close together, and she’d had no one by her side to help support her.

Arms wrapped around her, but her tears blinded her. Still, she didn't offer any resistance as her team somehow managed to get her inside despite the fact she was crying so hard her chest ached, and shaking so badly it felt like she was going to fall apart.

“Y-you didn't th-think I b-betrayed you?” she stammered as she was gently eased onto the couch, a warm fluffy blanket wrapped around her.

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