Page 7 of Rule
“Don’t leave me with him.”
“My dad won’t let him lay a finger on you, I swear. I need to go and find Beth. You’re strong, Scarlet. Don’t let this situation get you down. Fight and don’t give up. I promise we’re going to fix this.”
“Okay,” she says, her determination shining through. I hate that I have to leave her, but there is nothing I can do until tomorrow. Legally, that is. Personally, I’m going to hunt down the person responsible for this and make sure she pays in spades before confessing to every crime she’d ever committed.
"Stay strong, Scarlet," I tell her one last time before leaving the dreary confines of the police station. “I’ll be back, okay?”
At that moment, my dad strides in, full of arrogance, and I breathe a sigh of relief. He will look after my girl, while I deal with the bitch who put her in here. I give him a swift nod, but nothing more. He knows the score. Nothing else needs to be said.
Scarlet gives me a weak smile, and with a brief kiss to her lips, it takes every ounce of strength I have to back out of the room to find the detective who was in with her when I arrived.
“You,” I snarl, finding him by the vending machines. Slamming my hand against his chest, I crush him to the wall behind him. “You stay the fuck away from my client, or I will come for you next.”
His eyes in his pudgy face go wide, and he nods. He knows who I am in the legal world, and he won’t go against me. Once this is over, he will get to know me in a real personal way, and I’ll chop his dick off for daring to go near what’s mine.
Leaving the station quickly and quietly after that, not going near Caitlin or I’ll kill her where she stands, I slip off into the night and back to the mansion.
The moment I arrive home, I'm greeted by Max, Miles, Hugo, and Adam. Their expressions are a mix of concern and determination and fury.
"I had to leave her there," I admit, my voice cracking as I try to hold back my emotions. "I couldn't stay because she needs us to sort this shit out."
"You should’ve stayed, Tristan," Max says, his voice firm and steady. "We can find Beth and get her to confess. Scarlet has no one."
“She has my dad. Don’t worry, he will protect her. She’s holding up. She’s strong.” There is no way I’m telling them how scared she looked, but this is all the more reason why I need to be involved in finding Beth. Hands on, up close and personal. Beth will realize her worst nightmare when she comes face to face with my wrath. “I think there’s a connection between Caitlin and Beth.”
That grabs Max’s attention fast. “How so?”
“Not sure, but it has to be. How else did Caitlin know to be there at the exact time she was, and how did Beth somehow slip away into the night unseen? No, there’s something deeper here…Hugo?”
"I’ll get to work," Hugo says, already pulling out his laptop and searching for information on Caitlin and her possible connection to Beth.
"Tristan, we've got this," Miles reassures me, clapping me on the shoulder with a determined nod.
"Nothing will stop us from freeing Scarlet. Whatever it takes, " Adam promises, his eyes dark with resolve.
As the five of us hunker down, pooling our resources, intelligence, and sheer willpower, I know that nothing will stand in our way. We'll bring justice to light, expose the lies, and save the woman we love.
"Violence is the only way to get Beth to talk," I say, my voice laced with the urgency that courses through me. "We have to find her, confront her, make her confess."
"Tristan's right," Max agrees, his eyes narrowing as he clenches his fists. "If torture is what it takes, then so be it."
"Okay, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," Hugo interjects, his tone cautious. "First, we need to locate Beth."
“Any ideas?” I ask, turning to him expectantly.
"Actually, I might have a lead," Adam mutters, scrolling through his phone. "I reached out, and one of my contacts mentioned she frequents a nightclub in the City. It's worth checking out."
“Wouldn’t she have left town?” Miles asks with a frown.
“Not necessarily, if she and Caitlin are in this together.”
“Fair point.”
"Then what are we waiting for?” Max grits out, his face etched with determination. "The sooner we find her, the sooner we can clear Scarlet's name."
"Agreed," I reply, the fire raging within me, growing hotter by the second. "Anything for Scarlet."
We waste no time piling into Max's Range Rover and driving towards the heart of Liverpool. All the while, my mind races with thoughts of Scarlet—her beautiful face, her warm embrace, and how desperately I need to see her free.
