Chapter 42: The Spark of Emotion

The evening had come to an end, and from the ballroom the sound of clinking glasses and laughter floated out as Scarlett slipped softly through the open door into the balconie. Cool and fresh, the evening air seemed like a welcome release from the event's oppressive stress. She appreciated the alone, but as her eyes wandered over the horizon she sensed his presence behind her before she could even hear his footfall. Tucker has. His shoulders tight, he stood at the far edge of the balcony, his shadow crisp against the city lights. For someone who had claimed to know her so well, he had been far all night too far away. She felt it and saw it.

His clinched jaw, the way his eyes had tracked her motions, the way he kept dragging away when their paths intersected. Between them something was developing, but neither of them had ventured to say it aloud. Scarf hesitated. Her heart was a battlefield divided between the history they knew and the unknown ahead. Though buried under layers of hurt and time, her feelings for Tucker had never really dissipated. She had attempted to move on and concentrate on the current work. She uttered his name gently, as though it could disturb the silence of the night. He turned to face her, his eyes roving over her face but his expression was incomprehensible.

They silence for a moment. All the unspoken words, all the years of stillness, all the resentment and longing filled the air between them. His voice harsh, he murmured at last, "I didn't expect to see you out here." He turned away fast, as though his grounding was derived exclusively from the distance between them. "It's peaceful here." She said, "I needed some room." "I hate being among people right now." Tucker's eyes stayed on her, and for a minute she felt that ancient magnetic pull between them the one that had never truly vanished regardless of their best efforts to deny it. His lips opened as though he were ready to speak, but then the tension shattered in a way neither of them could have imagined. He closed the distance between them rapidly, leaving no space for a backoff. His lips tight and urgent slammed against hers before she could even register it. It resembled no kiss of affection. It hardly amounted to a kiss of pardon.

It was a kiss loaded with resentment, aggravation, unresolved emotions all the things they had gone through, all the loss they had experienced, all the muck between them. As Scarlet pushed against his chest, seeking to distance herself, her hands shook. The contact seared, scorching her flesh with the emotional intensity she couldn control. She gasped, overwhelmed and shocked by the rawness of it all, unable to simply... do this. Tucker gently withdrew, his chest rising and falling with quick gasps. His eyes were wild, a fire blazing down into the depths. His voice strained, "I don't know how to do anything else with you, Scarlet," he said. "I have no idea how to quit feeling this way while you're this near." Though Scarlet's heart hurt, she stepped back to try to ground herself. Tucker, we have both offended one another. We cannot continue as we are doing. We cannot pretend as though things could return to their natural state.

The remarks have more impact than she anticipated. His mouth closed, and for a split second she saw something like defeat flash across his face. But it vanished as swiftly as it had first shown. "Then, Scarlett, what do you wish for? What do we do right now? Her voice tightened. Her desired was what? She became unsure. Her emotions confused her; she felt as though the tangle of love and bitterness was losing her self in the process. She opened her mouth but no came out. Her back to him, her breath still laboured, she turned away instead. She said, "I don't know," softly. Tension permeated the next several days. Scarlet's head kept going back to that evening on the balcony, to Tucker's touch, to the unresolved issues separating them. But there was not time to think about it.

Her struggle with Wyatt was hardly done. As she collaborated closely with Bernard, the pressure just grew. More records and proof linking Wyatt to her father's financial collapse had come to light, but the more near the truth they got, the more deadly things grew. Although Bernard had been her friend, lately his participation caused great weight on her. She was seated in a little nook of the café reading over papers while Bernard sat opposite from her with eyes fixed on her. She felt uncomfortable about something in his viewing of her. The only light in the dim chamber came from the streetlights outdoors. She could sense the strain developing between them, a fault developing in the basis of their union. "Scarlet," Bernard said, his voice quiet and deliberate, "Wyatt's been moving. Though I'm not sure what he has in mind, I won let him triumph this time. Her heart stuttered. Though she realised she had little option, she did not want to hear it. "What would you mean? Of what nature are these moves? Bernard slanted forward, lowering his voice still more. "He is trying to tidy the mess.

Clear his tracks. He understands we are getting really close. Scarlet swallowed and tried to control her breathing. "What then do we do right now?" Bernard added, a sharp glitter in his eyes, "We push forward." "Scarlet, we cannot pull back just now. We will soon be almost there. But it's risky. Wyatt will stop at nothing for personal defence. Scarlet's look grew sharp. She understood the stakes were never higher. She couldn't ignore the residual questions that crept into her head, though, as the jigsaw pieces came together. Bernard has been in Wyatt's life before. Could she totally trust him now? But time did not allow one to linger on that.

The hazards were far too significant. The weight of the circumstances was far more evident now. After weeks of compiling evidence, Scarlet and Bernard now stood before the last step only waiting to be taken with the truth about to be revealed. Though the risks were too great, they had all they needed to ruin Wyatt and reveal his falsehoods and dishonesty. Wyatt refused to let this pass without challenge. Scarlet watched Tucker pace back and forth in her office, her hand clutching the rear of the chair.

His face was tight, his jaw closed as though he were getting ready for something historic. She said, gently, "This is it." We have to bring him out right now. We are running out of time. Tucker stopped counting and turned to face her. Though there was still a trace of uncertainty or maybe dread, his gaze were focused and resolute. His voice firm, he said, "You're right." But once we start this, there is no turning back. Scarves nodded. " I know." Silent for a minute, they stood there with the weight of their choice hovering over. It felt like the quiet before a storm; none of them knew whether they would survive. At last Tucker moved closer, his hand poised for hers. "Together," he murmured, his voice steady. Scarlet raised her eyes to search his. Could they truly act in this manner? Could they down someone as strong as Wyatt? She replied, "Together." And they decided that with that. They would make Wyatt visible. And they would destroy the empire he had created on lies and deceit regardless of the means used.