Bitter Truths: A Twisted Arranged Marriage Romance (Crimson Falls Duet Book 2) Read online

  Bitter Truths

  Crimson Falls Duet

  Dani René

  Contents

  Foreword

  Playlist

  1. Darius

  2. Scarlett

  3. Darius

  4. Scarlett

  5. Darius

  6. Scarlett

  7. Darius

  8. Lycan

  9. Darius

  10. Scarlett

  11. Lycan

  12. Scarlett

  13. Lycan

  14. Scarlett

  15. Lycan

  16. Lycan

  17. Scarlett

  18. Lycan

  19. Scarlett

  20. Lycan

  21. Scarlett

  22. Lycan

  23. Scarlett

  24. Scarlett

  25. Darius

  26. Scarlett

  27. Lycan

  28. Scarlett

  29. Lycan

  30. Scarlett

  31. Lycan

  32. Darius

  33. Scarlett

  Epilogue

  Looking for more?

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Dani René

  About the Author

  Published by Dani René (www.danirene.com)

  Copyright © 2021 by Dani René

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, locations, or any other element is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design: Jay Aheer, Simply Defined Art

  Cover Photography: Eric Battershell

  Editing and Proofing: Illuminate Author Services

  Foreword

  Hearts break. Tears fall.

  The future is dimmed without his light.

  But I’ll be strong…

  The Hunter may have me, but I won’t stop believing the Wolf will find me.

  Playlist

  You Belong to Me - Cat Pierce

  Change My Ways - Gotts Street Park, Pip Millet

  Breathe - Tommee Profitt, Fleurie

  Day is Gone - Noah Gundersen, The Forest Rangers

  Wicked Game - Ursine Vulpine, Annaca

  Scars - Michael Malarky

  The After You - Miakoda

  Miss YOU! - CORPSE

  When It’s All Over - RAIGN

  If you’d like to listen to the rest of songs that inspired this story, the playlist is on Spotify. Click here

  1

  Darius

  Revenge is a dish best served with a side of vengeance.

  I spent my life in the shadows, wanting to hide from the truth that I was nothing more than a product of my father’s indiscretions. And even in the darkness, I knew the truth—nothing can mend what my father had broken.

  Now I’m here, waiting, racing through the woods after a pretty little girl I learned is my niece. Her grandmother, my biological mother, had me when she was young and abandoned me. She left me with my father, then went off and married someone else. Anger surges as I recall the day she told me her story. When I asked for proof, she gave me the test results.

  Darkness shrouds my actions as I near her running form, her white dress torn and dirty from her escape, but I’m almost there. I’m so close I can smell her fear as it emanates from her supple skin. I can hear her short breaths, and I can’t stop my cock from jolting. Perhaps I shouldn’t think about her sweetness in that way, maybe I’m broken, but seeing her run from me makes me hungry to have a taste.

  Just a bite.

  It couldn’t hurt.

  The woods are dense, but through the dark brown of the trunks, I focus on the white, the slight frame of the beauty that’s running for her life. But what she doesn’t know is I’m a hunter, one that can so easily capture her, but the chase is a part of who I am. It runs through my veins. Shaw blood burns hot when we’re chasing our prey. Even Lycan knows this, and perhaps that’s why he told her to run. He knew I’d enjoy this. He must’ve.

  The last thing she heard was my brother shouting for her to run from me. And now, as I howl out into the darkness, I inhale her fear along with that sweet nectar of her perfume.

  When she reaches the breach in the trees, a scream catapults from her lips when she realizes my family is waiting. The bikers who took me in as a young rebel are there, their arms wrap around her, and the moment she’s bound, I stop behind her, knowing my breath is hot in her ear.

  “Your wolf is dead,” I tell her while fisting my hands at my sides. I want to hurt her, but that will come. And when it does, she’ll wish she was dead. A sob of pure agony tumbles free from her mouth, and I can’t help but smile.

  Slade throws her into his truck, which had been waiting as I chased her through the woods. The SUV I hired is still parked near the house where Lycan’s men will find it. I made sure of that. When they do, they’ll see exactly what I want my brother to find.

  I shot him. Twice.

  Leaving him for dead was part of my plan, but a part of me wonders if he’ll ever survive the wounds I inflicted. And I wonder if he’ll get the gift which I left for him before he takes his last breath.

  Bear pulls up beside me on his bike. The truck behind us keeps a safe distance, but I can practically feel Scarlett’s rage from the backseat. I didn’t plan on taking her. I wanted her dead, along with my brother, but stealing her is definitely a bonus.

  Call it collateral. Grace will never want her granddaughter hurt, which means she’ll ensure I don’t take my anger out on the girl. Without my emotions, I can easily make Scarlett bleed for being born, but I’ll keep her alive to ensure I get my money.

  Hatred is the only thing I feel. Guilt no longer rules my life. When Grace told me what had happened in the past, she gave no inkling that I was even loved, so why should I care about her, or her little granddaughter?

  I thought for a moment that Lycan would see the truth, that he’d finally stand beside me, but the moment affection flashed in his eyes for the girl, I knew I had lost him for good.

  I waited, craved even, just to see my brother again, the boy I grew up with. But he was long gone.

  For years we’d been at war, and now that war has ended by my hand. I focus on the road ahead, which will soon be riddled with teams of men who will seek vengeance for Lycan. But I’ll be long gone.

  My brother tracked me for years, but never caught me. I had to walk into his home for him to finally see me, but even then, I was in control. As always.

  We head out onto the highway which will take us far from Crimson Falls, and with every mile I put between me and that shit hole, I feel the tension in my muscles ease.

  Time and again I’ve wanted Lycan to see the truth behind all those old books and open those brick walls he loves to hide behind. I wanted him to realize things aren’t always as they seem. I loved Crimson Falls once. I didn’t want to leave. However, my home, everything I knew, was a lie.

  When we reach the compound five hours later, it’s dark, but I’m eager to see her, talk to her. Swinging my leg over my bike
, I turn to see Bear and Slade pulling the little minx out of the backseat. Her screaming and kicking are no match for the two burly men.

  Bear grips her around the middle, lifting her as if she weighs nothing.

  “Take her to the basement,” I instruct him. “It’s time for us to have a little family meeting.”

  He nods, moving to the back of the house where we have a shed with a basement. This is where we take the assholes who try to fuck with us. And it’s where I interrogate them, ensuring they spill the beans about everything and everyone.

  The staircase is gritty under my boots. The suit I’m still wearing doesn’t fit in with the dirty room I enter. “There’s my little niece,” I grin as I near her. Bear has her bound to a chair, blood dripping from her mouth. “What happened?”

  “Bit down on my fucking hand,” he growls, showing me the teeth marks Scarlett left on the flesh between his thumb and forefinger.

  I can’t help but chuckle. “Feisty little thing. Aren’t you?” I question, looking into eyes that remind me of her mother’s. So many secrets, so little time.

  “Fuck you!” Fire blazes in her glare, and I can’t help but remind myself that she’s not her mother. She’s definitely not Marinda, the woman I fucked hard against their kitchen counter while Horatio was sitting in Heaven with young women on his lap. But Scarlett doesn’t know that. She reminds me so much of her mother, beautiful, filled with anger, and yet I can’t stop my dick from throbbing behind my zipper.

  “Such a filthy mouth,” I observe. “Is that why Lycan was so enraptured by you?” Arching my brow, I don’t wait for her to answer before I pull out my phone. I quickly find what I’m looking for and hit dial, tapping the speaker icon so Scarlett can hear.

  “Hello?”

  “Dad! Help me!” She screeches at the top of her lungs Even though hearing her beg should ensure the need for revenge is satiated, it’s only anger that seems to surge through me and I backhand her across her face so hard, the chair topples over, taking Scarlett to the ground with it.

  “What the fuck? Scarlett, is that you? What’s happening?” The panicked tone of Horatio Bardot is like music to my ears.

  “So many questions, Horatio,” I finally respond after a moment. “I think your little girl needs a daddy,” I tell him, my smirk curling as the pretty redhead glares up at me from the floor. Bear moves to pick her up, but I raise a hand to stop him.

  “If you hurt my—”

  “Do you care?” I challenge, cutting him off. “Because weren’t you the one who signed her life over to Lycan Shaw?”

  His response is guilty silence.

  Tears glimmer in his daughter’s eyes. Horatio doesn’t know who I am. His mother never told him about his half-brother. But now isn’t the time for a family reunion.

  “What do you want?” The resignation in his tone makes me smile. First this bastard, and then his mother. I’ll make sure they both pay for what they did to me, to my father, and to Lycan. As much as I hate my brother, he is blood.

  “Fifty million in an account which cannot be traced. I’ll send you the details.” My gaze fixes on Scarlett. “I don’t need any negotiations on this. It’s the money for your daughter. Or will you sell her out again?” I hang up before the asshole can answer me or question why I’m doing this.

  “Cut,” a voice calls from behind me, calling me by my club name, which causes me to turn. “Ambulance arrived at the Shaw mansion, Lycan is in ICU, doesn’t look good.” Kai, our enforcer looks at me before his gaze lands on Scarlett. The flicker of desire in his eyes dance like a flame as he takes her in. The torn dress, which is gritty with dirt, her face has a couple of scratches along with my large handprint, the blood caked on her mouth, and the way her eyes flash with pure venom makes her every fucker’s wet dream.

  “Good. Keep me updated.”

  He nods but doesn’t leave immediately. “If you need a hand…” He allows the sentence to hang heavy with promise. There is no doubt in my mind that every man who’s sitting in the clubhouse would love to be left alone with Scarlett. And I doubt she’d survive.

  “Leave,” I order, keeping my tone level. I don’t need them to know she’s something to me. All they know is that she’s collateral.

  I don’t trust people with information they don’t need. This job has been in the making for years. And now that it’s finally here, I can’t have anyone fucking it up. I glance at Bear, who’s awaiting his orders. The man is an animal, but he’s tame compared to Kai.

  “I’ve got it from here,” I grit, needing to be alone with her for a moment.

  “Sure, boss. Let me know if you need me down here.” He glances once more at Scarlett before leaving us. The heavy thud of his steps echoes as he reaches the first floor and shuts the door behind him.

  Once we’re alone, I turn to her. “Would you like to sit up?”

  “Fuck you!” She spits blood and saliva on the floor, which will only mix with the rest of the crimson from our evenings down here questioning criminals.

  “You know, we can do this the hard way,” I taunt. “I quite like it like that. I’m sure my brother trained you for the darkness that comes with a good hard beating.”

  Shock paints her pretty face like a mask as she regards me. I may not be able to fuck her violently, but I can make her scream. And I’m certain it would be a beautiful symphony to listen to.

  “Why are you doing this?” Her plea is quieter than her curse. Tears trickle down her face, falling to the floor where her head is leaning on the cold concrete.

  Tipping my head to the side, I regard her for a long while, contemplating if I should admit my pain to her. “Do you know what it’s like to be sent away by your own parents?”

  Scarlett’s gaze lingers on my face before she nods. “Yes, yes, I happen to know what that’s like. From the outside, my life might seem perfect. It might look like I have everything, but my father sold me to Lycan. He signed my life away.”

  “Did he? I mean, you didn’t seem all too bothered to walk down the aisle to marry my brother.” Rage simmers through me. Her words only seem to turn up the heat on my already volatile emotions. Perhaps that’s why Lycan was so taken with her. She does something to a man. Her sweet innocence mingled with the seductiveness of a vixen.

  “No, I wanted to marry him because I learned to love him,” she spits out, a sneer curling her pretty face, and I want nothing more than to grip her by the neck and haul her up to my level where we’re eye to eye. I want to see the fear in her eyes, not the goddamned fire. Because that shit makes me hard as fuck.

  “And you think he loves you too?” I challenge. I’ve known my brother all my life. He isn’t capable of love. Even when she left him all those years ago, I knew he didn’t love Yasmine. She was nothing more than a slave he could find pleasure with. She enjoyed the darkness he exuded.

  “Yes.” Comes Scarlett’s response. It’s a mere whisper. And if it weren’t so quiet down here, I wouldn’t have heard it. “You killed him.”

  “Not yet,” I answer quickly. It seems the shots weren’t fatal. There’s always time to right my wrongs. “But I’m sure when I see him again, I’ll finish the job.” Shrugging, I turn to grab a chair and drag it along the cold concrete, making sure that the noise is loud enough to cause Scarlett pain.

  “Why do you hate him so much? Why do you hate me?”

  I settle in my seat while considering her questions. When people are in danger, or when they’re hurting, that’s the question they always throw out. Why?

  I ponder my response for a while, wondering if I should tell her more about myself. If I should offer her honesty. “I wanted nothing more than a family to care for, but what I got instead was shame for being who and what I was.”

  She shifts, tilting her head so she can truly look at me. But it’s when she finally speaks, do I realize she’s really concerned. “I don’t understand.”

  It’s not a plastered-on worry that’s creasing her brows. She truly has no clue wha
t her family is like.

  2

  Scarlett

  He looks at me with an expression much like his brother’s. I didn’t realize it was him when I walked out of my bedroom, but now that I’m really looking at him, I notice the similarity to Lycan.

  “When I was born, my mother gave me up because I wasn’t the son of the man she was marrying. She didn’t want me.” I want to shrug it off, to act as if it didn’t hurt me. Back then, it cut like a mother fucking blade, straight to the heart. Now though, I’ve learned to hone my pain into anger.

  Scarlett shakes her head. “You can’t know that.”

  “I do, because she told me.” His expression, drenched in heartbreak, steals my breath. “When I walked into the Bardot mansion, she gave me a job, not realizing who I was. I spent months with her, learning about who she was. When I realized my mother was a cold-hearted bitch, I knew I could never find happiness or family with her.”

  There’s breathtaking agony in Darius’s tone, which has me wanting to comfort him, but this is a man who stole me and shot my husband. His fucking brother. I have to remind myself there’s nothing human about him. He’s nothing more than a criminal.

  Then what was Lycan?