Page 40 of Bound By Threads
I roundthe corner and step into a quiet hallway. The silence feels like a relief. I lean against the wall, breathing heavily, my hands shaking as I press them into the cool surface.
What do I do with the fact that Scarlett is standing there, alive after all this time?
I should be happy that she’s alive, but I can feel the familiar rage building up. The urge to find her and take those pieces I sought desperately before, and fix myself.
I want to break her to make myself whole. It would be fair. She broke me… us… when shedied,and I never saw an end to the grief… the darkness that threatened to pull me under as I felt myself slowly succumbing to the shadows.
I wanted to join her, and that tells me that Scarlett Reyes has a power over me that no one should ever have.
I want her to feel the pain I felt for the past two years, the pain I’ve felt every day since I thought she was gone.
I want her to hurt.To pay.
Chapter21
Lottie
‘Devil Side - Foxes’
The music thunders through the club, the heavy beat vibrating in my chest, drowning out every thought. It’s a rhythm I know well, one that’s become comforting as I’ve tried to find myself again.
The lights flash in time with the music, a chaotic swirl of neon that blurs everything around me.
I sway my hips, letting my arms move freely, fingers brushing against the air as though I’m reaching for something just out of reach. Each motion is deliberate, a careful dance I’ve choreographed over the last week in preparation for tonight, and yet somehow, it feels like I’m losing control, the music taking over, and I let it. I let it move me instead of the moves I had so carefully planned out in my head.
This is who I am now—at least, it’s who I’m trying to be. The version of myself that didn’t lethimsteal everything.
It’s been a year since I started stripping in an attempt to take back some semblance of power. Every movement is a battle. Every sway, a little piece of my past that seems to still haunt me, that I try to push behind me.
The club is packed tonight. Men staring at me with hungry eyes that scan my every move. I know they don’t really seeme—they see the illusion that I’ve so carefully crafted. But I can never escape the feeling that he’s out there.
Oscar’s watching me again. I can feel his eyes on me even though I can’t see him. He’s always watching. Always there, standing at the edge of the room, where the dim lights mix with shadows, where he can keep an eye on me and make sure no one touches me… ever. His protective instinct is almost palpable as he hovers at the back, following my every movement. He doesn’t judge me for being here. He never has.
When I first started stripping, I kept it a secret from everyone. I told myself it was just a job—a way to make money, so I never felt like I had to rely on Archer and his family, a way to gain back control and to prove to myself I wasn’t broken. I wasn’t prepared for the weight that came with it. The constant anxiety, the feeling of being exposed every time I stepped onto the stage, as I pushed myself to move past what happened.
I was prepared for the men who saw me as nothing more than a fantasy, a body to consume and discard.
It was never the job that scared me. It was everything that came with it — the boldness, the loneliness, the vulnerability as I forced myself to walk out on the stage with shaky legs until it became a blur as I lost myself in the music, the fear that one day I could still lose everything despite Archer’s promises.
I’ll never forget that night. One of the customers was too much—too persistent, his hands too familiar, too demanding as if he deserved to touch me. I couldn’t use my voice, still lost after what happened, and the way this man’s hands felt on me threw me right back to that night.
The bouncer who worked that night didn’t seem to care. The manager was too far away, and the others didn’t notice.
I felt small. I felt powerless.
I had been workingat the club for a few weeks by that point, trying to get the hang of it. It all came crashing down around me, and I became convinced I was to forever be a victim. I finally managed to slip away from his grasp as Angel intervened, threatening him with extreme bodily harm if he dared to continue touching me. My heart was hammering, my hands shaking, and I rushed out of the exit. Running because it’s the only way I knew how to survive.
I rushed down the alley into the shadows in an attempt to hide when it hit me.
The panic.
It came out of nowhere, the rush of terror, the crushing weight of everything that had ever happened to me. I couldn’t breathe. My legs gave out, and I collapsed against the cold brick wall, the stone scraping against my back, choking on air that wouldn’t come. The world spun around me. It felt like I was drowning in the same way I had that night.
And that’s when a shadow came into view. He was tall and imposing, but his face was filled with worry as he crouched down in front of me.
“Lottie?”his hands moved in front of me, drawing my eyes to them.
It cut through the fog of panic in my brain, but I couldn’t look up at him. I was too ashamed, but Oscar knew, just like he always knew. He dropped down beside me in an instant, his hands engulfing mine as he squeezed them in rhythm with my own heart.
