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Chapter 3

Scarlett gently unwrapped Dean's arms from around her waist and slipped out of the bed as slowly as she could. Once free, she hobbled to the bathroom to brush her teeth and freshen up. When she returned, Dean had rolled over onto his stomach and was hugging her pillow close to him. A smile formed on her lips and Scarlett slowly made her way out the door to head to the kitchen.

She stepped down the stairs slowly, not only because of her injuries, but also because her mind was on high alert for any sounds such as footsteps or signs of anyone in the house. She peeked into the kitchen and once she deemed that there really was no one else in the house, Scarlett breathed in relief and stepped into the kitchen. A note was left on the counter from Esme that read:

Ms. Rayer, I'll be picking up Vitani on the way back. Please call me to let me know if there are any changes. – Esme.

Scarlett couldn't wait to see her familiar again and even though she'd have little time to spend with her, she was looking forward to it. Setting the note back down, she hobbled around the kitchen to make breakfast. Although her ribs were healing and the bruises were still dark purple, there was nothing that calmed her like cooking did.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" His voice interrupted her just as she set a plate stacked with pancakes onto the dining table. Scarlett looked up and was met with Dean's bewildered gaze.

"I made breakfast," she replied simply. His face morphed and he glared at her, quickly ushering her to the chair and making her sit.

"You're supposed to be resting, not prancing around the kitchen making breakfast," he said sharply.

"I'm fine," she offered.

"No, you're not. Christ, what if something had happened? What if you fell and hit your head or something? Why didn't you wake me?" He demanded. Even though he was upset, Scarlett was finding it rather adorable.

"I could have helped you instead of you ju-."

She silenced him with a kiss.

When Scarlett pulled away, he blinked a couple of times and looked at her. She started laughing when a satisfied look came over his face and he piled his plate with pancakes. Breakfast passed in silence thanks to Scarlett's actions and she was trying her hardest not to burst into laughter every time he glanced at her hopefully.

"What am I going to do with you?" She asked through her giggles when he pushed his empty plate away and looked at her expectantly. A roguish grin split his face and her laughter was immediately cut short.

"Dean?" She asked cautiously, not liking the mischievous glint in his azure eyes.

The doorbell ringing tore through the air and the atmosphere shifted. Scarlett tensed and Dean's eyes immediately darkened.

"Don't move," he told her, squeezing her shoulder as he brushed past her to get the door. Scarlett knew it was an irrational worry but ever since she'd discovered the writing, she'd just been on edge.

Relax. Dean's here, everything will be fine. She told herself over and over again.

"Babygirl?"

That couldn't be right. She'd know that voice anywhere but what was he-.

"Rome?" Scarlett said perplexed as the big man suddenly appeared in the dining room. He caught her off guard and she simply stared at him when he bent down to kiss the top of her head.

"What are you doing here?" She asked just as Dean returned to the table.

"I came over because Hunter wanted to know when you can return to work," Roman responded. He eyed the remaining pancakes and Scarlett elbowed Dean in the side, who looked at her with a confused gaze.

"Could you please get him a plate?" Scarlett motioned towards Roman.

"He can get it himself," Dean grinned at Roman. The latter chuckled and headed to the kitchen to grab himself a plate. Scarlett turned to Dean to say something but he shut her up (much like she'd done earlier) by planting a kiss on her lips, one that stole all the breath right out of her lungs.

"I should be okay to work by next week," Scarlett said, dazed from the kiss, when Roman returned to the table.

"Not happening. She's going to be coming with us but I'm keeping her locked in the hotel rooms until she's fully healed," Dean interjected firmly. Scarlett could've sworn that she'd seen satisfaction on Roman's face but it was gone instantly. Her eyes narrowed in curiosity but she pushed it away. Maybe she was just being paranoid, there was no way Roman had expected Dean to say that.

~oOo~

"What do you mean he went to Vegas?" Seth boomed when Hunter informed him Roman wouldn't be showing up until the next day.

"I needed someone to ask Scarlett when she was coming back so he offered since he was going to visit her anyway," Hunter shrugged. Seth glared at him and crossed his arms before his chest.

"Hunter, Scarlett's not going to heal in just one week. You saw what those bastards did to her," he snapped. Hunter looked at Seth, his brows knitting together.

"Why are you so worried about her, Seth?"

"She's my friend!"

"So is AJ and she barely made it out alive after she was drugged," Hunter added. Seth fell silent as he found himself backed into a corner. Hunter was watching him oddly and he tried to come up with a good enough explanation.

"AJ's strong, Hunter. She has Randy with her and she's capable of pulling through, bu-."

"Scarlett has Dean," Hunter cut across him simply. Seth's muscles tensed and he refused to look at Hunter, knowing that the moment he looked up, Hunter would easily read his feelings.

"Seth, what's going on with you?" Hunter asked.

"Nothing's going on. I'm just concerned about Scarlett because she's had a rough life," he said softly. Hunter's expression softened and he squeezed Seth's shoulder.

"We all are," he told him. He clapped Seth on the back and then headed past him, telling Seth that there would be a car waiting to take him to the arena where the live event was scheduled to take place. Seth berated himself mentally for being so reckless with his feelings. If he wasn't careful then someone might find out and jeopardize his friendship with Dean and Scarlett.

~oOo~

"We need one soon, man. I can't have people breaking in like this," Dean said to Roman. He'd helped Scarlett back to bed and the two men had settled by the pool while Dean told Roman about everything Scarlett had told him. When the subject of security systems came up, Roman offered to contact a friend of his who worked with a security company to set everything up.

"Yeah. The last thing you want is something like this to become recurring," Roman added. Dean nodded and turned to look out over the pool, the August heat prickling against his skin.

"Dean, Scarlett was sure there was no writing on the photograph up until now, right?" Roman asked. Dean hummed in affirmative and when Roman didn't continue with his thought, he glanced at him.

"Whoever did this, how did they know about Scarlett being here? Only Esme, you, Seth, and I know that."

Dean's heart dropped to his stomach and his body froze as Roman's words washed over him. Amidst the relief at seeing her safe and being with her, he hadn't even thought about that at all. When he'd offered Scarlett to stay at his place, she'd agreed on the condition that nobody knew about her spending time in Vegas so they'd never brought it up. Everyone assumed that she had a temporary place in Chicago.

"I don't like this, Rome," Dean ground out through clenched teeth. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind once and it seemed like it hadn't crossed Scarlett's either. He could forgive her for overlooking it due to her recent trauma but how the fuck did he miss it?

"How soon can you get your friends to install a security system?" He asked.

"I'll call him now," Roman offered.

"Roman, when they're here setting everything up, I'm going to take Scarlett out. You'll be in charge while we're out," Dean explained before Roman had a chance to fish out his phone and make the call.

"I don't want her around to risk anything," he finished. Roman looked at him silently before he sighed and gave a nod.

"I'll give him a call, you go get Scarlett ready."

Dean wasted no time and trudged up the stairs to Scarlett's room. Once again, he didn't bother to knock and stormed inside to find her reading one of the books she'd bought when they'd visited the museum few months ago. She jumped when the door was thrown open and put her book away when she saw him.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"We're going out," he responded making a beeline towards her.

"I know. It's been three months," she said. It took him a moment to understand and he almost snapped at her when he saw the teasing smile on her face. Dumbfounded, Dean stared at her as she hugged her knees and looked at him.

Sarcasm?

Scarlett chuckled and slowly got to her feet, sweeping past him to get to the closet while he remained frozen. It was the first time he'd heard a joke come from her and Dean was stumped. It was only when he noticed the photo frame on her nightstand did he make a move.

"I'll go get changed," she said to him as she shut the door to the bathroom behind her, leaving Dean standing there with his mouth open to explain the situation. As he heard her humming in the bathroom, he contemplated whether it was worth sharing the newfound information with her.

She's clearly in a good mood. Hell, she even made a joke. How can I ruin this for her?

Deciding to conveniently forget that he even had to share anything with Scarlett, Dean returned to his room to change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before heading back downstairs.

"He said he's free today so he'll be here in forty minutes," Roman told him once he approached.

"Let me know when they're finished and I'll bring Scarlett back," he said.

"Where are you going to take her?"

"The movies," he answered simply. It was the most convenient way to kill time and the easiest way to get their minds off of things. The cinema would still be playing that Marvel movie he'd heard Seth mention over and over again.

"I'm ready," her voice cut through his thoughts and Dean turned around to see her slowly making her way down the stairs. His eyes widened when he took in what she was wearing and he elbowed Roman sharply in the gut.

She'd dressed in a white maxi dress with full sleeves and a fabulous v-neckline. Considering she wasn't wearing a scarf anymore, the swooping neckline offered ample cleavage. Dean quickly pulled her into his arms when she was close, she sighed in relief as she rested against him, while sending an icy glare towards Roman. The larger man simply turned around and walked to the other room.

"What are yo-."

Oh fucking hell. No fucking way.

He made the mistake of looking down and he was rewarded with an exceptional view down the front of her dress as she leaned against him.

Why the fuck wasn't she wearing a bra?

Although he wasn't able to see everything, he saw enough to make his pants feel much smaller than they were and his heart to begin racing. It took everything in him to look away and Dean did the smart thing, he looked straight up towards the ceiling.

"Those stairs take up way too much energy," she breathed.

Oh he was a fucking pervert. His girlfriend was still recovering from her injuries and his body was behaving like a teenager because he accidentally looked down at her shirt. The urge to rush upstairs, grab her scarf, and tie it around her body was strong but he pushed it away. He'd very recently gotten her to remove her scarf and brave the world, if he did that then he might as well just forget ever seeing her without her scarf in public ever again.

"You sure you don't want to change?" He asked, braving to look at her face and concentrating just on her face. She opened her eyes and looked at him before looking down at herself.

"It's an old dress, I know. But it's the only one to battle the heat. I could go change if you want me to dress nicer," she said, biting her lip in embarrassment. Dean was mentally hitting himself with a club at his bluntness and to gather his thoughts at seeing her teeth bite down on those lips.

"Fuck. We're leaving," he growled. If she had not been injured, Dean would've dragged her to his car, but he tugged her along as gently as he could and helped her into the SUV before getting into the driver's seat.

"Dean, are you okay?" She asked, reaching over the center console to place a hand on his arm.

"Perfectly fine," he snapped. His arm was burning where she was touching him and Dean was having a very difficult time keeping himself together. Even imagining his boss in a bikini wasn't working this time around thanks to the view he'd just seen moments ago.

"Where are we going?" Scarlett asked, even though she didn't sound as if she believed him.

"Movies," he responded.

The drive felt like it was twelve hours long when in reality it had just been about fifteen minutes. Once the car was parked, Dean helped her out of the passenger seat and together they walked into the theater.

They took a seat in the last row and she hissed in pain when she bumped the armrests against her ribs. Dean threaded his fingers with hers and kissed her fingers, the small contact giving him the slightest of relief.

"Okay?" He asked. She nodded and then fidgeted in the seat for a few seconds before finding a comfortable position and sighing happily.

"So, what's got you on edge?" She asked him quietly. Dean shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. She squeezed his hand and forced him to look at her by placing her other hand on his cheek and turning his head towards her.

"I don't buy that," she said. Groaning, Dean dropped his head into his free hand and rubbed his face. Dean was saved by the lights dimming as the preshow began to roll on the screen. There were four more people in the theater with them: a couple that was sitting far to the corner and two girls sitting near the middle a few rows below them.

She wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned to rest her head against his shoulder as the movie began. Dean kissed the top of her head, keeping his eyes trained well above her head and then focusing on the screen before him.

This would be a long ass movie to sit through.

~oOo~

"I want the best security system and make sure it's accessible by any of us," Roman said as one of their tech experts, Franco, looked around the house.

"Someone really came in to leave a message on a photo?" Franco asked. Roman showed him the photograph in question and the two men looked at the red writing silently.

"Boss won't be happy to hear about this," Franco said.

"No shit, Sherlock. Now get on with it," Roman motioned towards the stuff Franco had brought along with him.

"Does your friend know about this?"

"Dean knows what he needs to know," Roman answered. Franco paused where he was digging in to find his tools and looked up at Roman.

"You're still living the double life, huh? It's not a healthy life, Roman," Franco said, shaking his head sadly, returning to looking through his things.

"I promised Boss I'd watch over Scarlett. Until he doesn't need me, I'm fine with my life," Roman countered. He'd spent too much time in this life and there was no way he was about to turn back now.

"You think the girl's going to find out?" Franco asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know, but we'll have to try our best to make sure she doesn't," Roman said quietly. Even Franco was worried whether or not Scarlett would look into this. The last thing he wanted was for her to bite off more than she could chew.

"She's got his blood running through her veins," Franco reminded him.

And that was what worried everyone.

I have to admit, I feel bad for Dean.

Reviews are love! :)

- K.