Scar’s POV
I was almost home, and it felt like I could not get there fast enough. All I could think about was Rachel, waiting exactly where I told her to be. I needed to f**k tonight. It was the only thing that ever took the edge off my anger, and I had a lot of it burning through me right now.
I had not found Mo. She was not at her apartment or her job. She was hiding, which only confirmed that Paul’s mess ran deeper and darker than I originally thought. Rachel could never find out the truth. If she did, she would not stop until everyone involved was dead.
I turned down my street and pulled into the garage. The familiar pressure behind my eyes throbbed as soon as the engine cut off. I swallowed my meds with a beer, the ache in my head pulsing harder. The migraines were getting worse. I knew exactly why. The tumor pressing against my brain was not slowing down.
I thought about what Rachel would say if she knew I had cancer. If she knew I was dying. Ace knew, and he would never tell a soul. There was no point in catching feelings or letting my heart open when I was not going to be around long enough to survive them.
My d**k was already hard just thinking about her. It had been like that all damn day.
“Hey,” she said softly. “I thought I heard you.”
I turned my head and saw Rachel walking into the garage. The first thing I noticed was the red lingerie she had tried to cover up. My c**k twitched at the sight of her. She had listened to me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Come here, Rachel,” I said.
She walked to me without hesitation and stopped between my legs. Resisting her felt like torture.
“How was shopping with Ace?” I asked.
“It was fine,” she said. “Thank you for doing that for me. You didn’t have to.”
“You can pay me back,” I said. “Be a tease for me.”
She smiled, surprised by my bluntness. I could tell she liked it.
“I knew you couldn’t just be nice,” she said. “You asshole.”
She turned around and bent over, shaking her ass in my face and brushing her fingers over the red lace. My jaw tightened.
“You know,” she said, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that piercing of yours.”
I pressed my d**k against the front of my pants, already hard for her.
“Is that so?” I said.
I reached out and grabbed her p***y roughly. She gasped, trying to squeeze her thighs together as I rubbed against the soaked fabric, my thumb finding her c**t. Her body shuddered as she grabbed my shoulders to steady herself.
I yanked her closer and leaned forward, my face between her legs. I kissed her through the lace, breathing her in.
“Christ,” I said. “You get me so f*****g hard.”
Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling firmly as I moved her panties aside and tasted her directly. She let out a quiet sound, her body responding immediately. She was so f*****g wet, and I knew she wanted me to f**k her right there.
I pulled back before it went any further, trying to tease her.
“You can’t just be getting up and leaving, Spitfire,” I said. “But I’ve got s**t to handle.”
I stood and walked away from her.
“What?” she said. “You’re just going to walk away after that?”
I glanced back and saw her squirming, desire obvious, her breath uneven.
And I knew that leaving her like that was going to make tonight far more interesting than either of us was ready for.
“You really want me to touch you, don’t you?” I said.
“Yes, da…” she breathed, then froze. Her breath caught as the words sank in.
I turned fully toward her and met her eyes, my hand coming up to her throat. “Say what you were about to f*****g say.”
She shook her head, embarrassed, unable to look at me.
“What were you about to call me, Spitfire?” I pressed.
Her shoulders slumped, her voice quieter when she answered. “Daddy.”
“That’s what I thought,” I said.
“I f*****g hate you,” she shot back.
“And there’s that f*****g mouth again,” I said calmly. “I think you need to spend a night with Ace. He’ll teach your ass a thing or two, and I bet you’ll like it.”
“Oh, f**k you,” she said.
Rachel’s POV
I lay in bed and stared out the window, watching the rain blur the city lights as lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder followed a moment later, low and distant. My body still ached when I shifted, and my thoughts kept circling back to earlier, to the strange moment when that word had almost slipped out of my mouth.
I had not even fully understood why it happened. It felt wrong the second it left my lips, like something tangled too deeply with memories I did not want to touch. The realization alone made my chest tighten.
My door opened without a knock.
Scar walked in like he owned the room, his movements sharp and purposeful. His expression was dark, unreadable, his eyes stormy as he crossed the space between us. I pushed myself upright, wincing as pain shot through me. He stopped in front of the bed, then sat down beside me.
“Rachel,” he said, his voice low. “We need to talk about what happened out there tonight.”
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t f*****g play stupid,” he said. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. What made you stop yourself?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said quickly. “Please. Just drop it.”
His tone softened, and that somehow made it worse. He reached out and squeezed my thigh gently.
“Does it have anything to do with your father?” he asked.
I nodded. That was all I could manage before my throat closed up.
I was not prepared for what he did next.
He pulled me into his arms and held me there, rocking me slowly against his chest. His hand came up to my head, and he pressed a kiss to the top of it, steady and grounding. The tension I had been holding onto finally cracked.
“Scar,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Are you messing with me?”
“No,” he said immediately. “Absolutely not. I don’t mess with that, Spitfire. I’m just holding you so you don’t try to run tonight.”
We stayed like that for a while, the storm outside filling the silence as he rocked me gently. When he finally spoke again, his voice was serious.
“We need to talk about some things tomorrow,” he said. “And one of those things is your father. There’s something you need to know.”