Bitter Truths: A Twisted Arranged Marriage Romance (Crimson Falls Duet Book 2) Dani René (cool books to read TXT) 📖

One that I need to put an end to. The test results she gave me were nothing more than fabricated lies. But that doesn’t make sense.

Why lie about a child you never had?

“Was I right?” Scarlett says, still not standing. She looks up at me with those soulful eyes, and I want nothing more than to see just why my brother was so intrigued by her. I wonder briefly what she’d feel like. Now that the truth has been revealed, Scarlett is not my family, she’s fair game.

Would she fall for me like she did Lycan? We are brothers, after all.

“Yes,” I admit, keeping the gruffness out of my voice. I offer her the printout before turning to Howler. “Find everything on Grace. I want to know all about her, even things she’s had sealed. The Bardot family are keeping secrets, and I want them all uncovered and brought to light.”

He nods quickly. “Sure thing.” His gaze falls on Scarlett, before he looks at me and the corner of his mouth ticks so infinitesimally, if I wasn’t staring at him, I would’ve missed it. But the knowledge is in his eyes. She’s gorgeous, and she’s ours now.

Howler leaves, shutting the door behind him, and I turn my attention back to the pretty redhead. “You’ll come upstairs with me. Any fucking games, I will kill you. Make no mistake, you might be owned by Lycan Shaw, but right now, you are property of Darius Shaw, and around here, that means a hell of a lot more.”

Scarlett looks at me, and for a moment, I think she’s going to fight me on what I just said, but she doesn’t. “Okay.” Is all she says before she rises, and I’m once again met with just how beautiful she is close up.

“Good girl,” I murmur, knowing what my brother would’ve taught her. And the thought of that only serves to make my dick jolt with appreciation.

4

Scarlett

“Good girl.” The two words have emotions coiling within me. I want nothing more than to hear the praise coming from Lycan, but I have to remind myself that the man beside me is the reason I can’t.

Darius leads me up the steps, and out into the backyard of a large estate. I’m not sure where we are in the country, but there doesn’t seem to be anything for miles. I wonder if Kahn and his team could find me.

They’ve been following Darius for years, keeping tabs on him. The only reason I even have an inkling of this is because Lycan told me, but would they find this place, and even if they did, would they be able to free me?

When we reach the large two-story house, I note the women who hang around, some sitting on the laps of guys in leather, and others merely leaning against the wall smoking.

The sun is setting on the horizon behind the house, and the sky is a deep orange hue, with shades of pink and purple slowly taking over as night swallows the light. Music blares from the speakers attached to the outer wall of the house, and there’s an enormous fire pit with dancing flames where a metal pole twirls around, roasting a whole pig. The sight has my stomach roiling, and I have to swallow down the acid to keep from puking.

Darius tugs me behind him, and soon, we’re inside a kitchen which looks like it belongs in a farmhouse with wooden surfaces and thick beams of oak holding up the ceiling.

Against one wall is a stove big enough to cook for a family of, I can only guess, about fifty people. It’s warm inside, and as we move deeper into the house, I take in the country-style furnishings. Darius leads me up the stairs, down the hall, and into a bedroom which matches the rest of the house.

A four-poster bed with heavy wooden beams on each corner. The bedspread is a dark brown, with white sheets underneath. The pillows match the blanket. Everything is rustic which gives the space a homely feel, and even though this isn’t my home, I can tell the people who live here love it.

“You’ll sleep in here.” Darius points at the king-sized bed. “I’ll be over there,” he tells me as his finger points to the sofa in the corner of the room.

“In the same room?” I spin on my heel, my gaze catching his. “I can’t do that.”

“Why? Scared you’ll want me between those pretty thighs?” he challenges, as his eyes spark to life. Desire clear in them. Now that he’s aware we’re not related by blood, he wouldn’t stop himself from taking me. But would he force himself on me? I don’t know.

“I’m married.”

He guffaws at my words. “Oh, I don’t doubt it, sweetheart,” he tells me. “But my brother and I have shared women before. We’ve even fucked them at the same time.” Fire dances in his eyes, the shade of green so similar to that of my husband’s as he peruses me. The color blazing like a gemstone in the sunshine.

My brows furrow in confusion, and shock. “You know I’m married?”

“I can have Howler find out anything I want. And you’d be surprised at how much I have learned about you, little one,” he tells me before eating up the distance between us in a few small steps.

He reaches for my face, his fingers tugging a strand of my red hair as he brings it to his nose to inhale the scent. The motion causing me to tremble, with fear, and with intrigue. This man has violence emanating from him like a cologne, but there’s something softer about him.

“All those dirty little secrets you hold, I can find out about them with a snap of my fingers.” He leans in further, his lips at my ear. “I can even find out how wet your pretty cunt gets when my brother pins you down, when he holds you to the ground and shoves his cock inside you. I