Scarlet Vendetta (Book #4)

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My name is Tulip Mee. Or, rather, Tulipa Clusiana Mee. It means Lady Tulip. I was named after a flower because my mother likes flowers. Or so they tell me.

My girlfriend, parents, older brother and three sisters all call me Tulip. So, I guess it really is my name. I don't remember. The only other person in the world whom I love just calls me Child.

This is my story.

Scarlet, I am coming for you . . .

One

Tulip was enjoying herself. After a lot of begging, she had been allowed to borrow her sister's pink motor scooter. Now, she was taking it for a ride in the late afternoon sunshine. Her intended destination was General Lee's. A local ice cream and burger joint. A hangout she and her friends often used to get together. To socialize and watch boys.

She'd been expecting a tougher time in getting permission to ride her sister Callie's scooter. But, Callie had been easy compared to her parents.

"But Mama," she'd begun. "You let Callie ride it. Why not me?"

"Because Callie bought the scooter with her own money. It belongs to her." Mama tried to divert Tulip with logic. "I don't have permission to let you ride it."

"But, Callie said I could. She gave me the key."

Seeing Tulip hold up the keys, Ohrio sighed. She hadn't liked it when Callie had purchased the scooter. She thought motorcycles were dangerous. Too dangerous for her eldest daughter to ride. Thank God that Tea Rose hadn't wanted one too. She'd been sensible, buying a car instead.

But now, as Tulip jiggled the keys at her, Ohiro knew she'd lost. The only option left for her were restrictions on when, where, and with who. She'd put her foot down and Tulip had agreed. Anything as long as she got the freedom to be the adult she thought she was.

Tulip hadn't even needed to use her best argument. That Callie didn't need the scooter any more. Nowadays, she rode to work in a limo which picked her up every day. If she ever needed to go anywhere, the limo was always available for her to use.

Not that the limo actually was for Callie's use. The real reason was because Callie was a bodyguard and the limo was part of the security precautions in place to protect Callie's boss, Karen Harper. Callie was picked up in the morning for a trip to Karen's condo. Where she escorted Karen from her front door into the limo, joining Karen's co-CEO, and Callie's roommate, Maria Wolfe in the car. Though roommate was a misnomer. Maria owned the apartment where both she and Callie lived. Callie only stayed there because Maria liked her and let her stay.

They really needed to get a bigger place though. Maria had a cop boyfriend who lived with her. Callie had to sleep on the couch now because there was only one bedroom in the apartment. They used to share Maria's bedroom, sleeping in Maria's giant bed together. Sleeping. Just sleeping. Tulip ought to know, she'd slept with Callie in the bed too while Callie was really sick that time two years ago. She'd needed constant care. But, Calle and Maria didn't sleep in Maria's bed anymore. Not since Maria's boyfriend moved in.

Please, please, please, Callie, don't move back home. Tulip had inherited Callie's old bedroom and wasn't about to give it back. It had a separate bathroom and shower and Tulip enjoyed the privacy after all of her earlier years sharing a room with her younger sister Poppy.

Tulip checked her mirror while thinking about Callie's boss. She liked Karen. Karen was smart, funny, really really pretty, and tall. Tulip would give anything, she'd even stop riding the scooter, to be tall like Karen. Even if all she could ever be is almost as tall, that would be something more than her current five feet five inches.

It wasn't that she was short. For her heritage she was actually on the tall end of the scale. She just wished she was tall. Like Karen. Instead, she followed her mother in looks and build. Asian genotype or not, she was small boned, delicate and medium height for a girl. Though she was taller than both Callie and Tea Rose by over an inch. At the thought, she sat up straighter on the scooter's seat. She was tall!

Tulip braked to a halt for a red traffic light. The car behind her pulled forward, crowding her and barely missing her leg with the front bumper. Tulip had been riding the scooter for a couple of months already and was very aware that other drivers often didn't see her. But, c'mon already, she was right there on a pink scooter! How could anyone miss seeing her at a traffic light?

Letting out the clutch she eased the scooter over toward the curb to give the car some room. The car pulled forward some more as she did. The white fender almost squeezing her into the curb. Tulip looked into the window of the car, but couldn't see anything because of the illegal window tint. Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, she quickly checked traffic and made a fast right turn to pull in behind a parked car on the cross street. Let the car go on and she could resume her own journey in peace, she thought to herself.

The car made a sudden right turn behind her, nearly clipping the rear corner of the parked car before it sped off.

"Jesus, you ok?" One of the pedestrians on the sidewalk nearby asked her as he watched the car make another turn and disappear. "It almost looked like he was trying to hit you on purpose."

"He's just a jerk. Probably thought it was fun to try to scare the girl on the scooter or something." Tulip looked at him. He was watching the car turn the next corner, the woman he was with was tugging on his arm to try to drag him away.

"You're ok though, right?" The stranger switched his gaze to her after the car disappeared.

"I'm fine. He never touched me." Tulip waved away his concern. "He's gone now, so I'm outta here too."

"Be careful." The stranger warned her.

"I will. Bye." Tulip nodded her helmeted head at him and let out the clutch.

She didn't see the white car make the illegal left turn after going around the block. She didn't hear the screams or the shouts. There was a white flash out of the corner of her eye, a moment of intense pain, then nothing. Just pain, then blackness as the car plowed into her sending her flying for several yards before she hit the pavement, tumbling like a rag doll. The car crushing the scooter under it's wheels before careening into the parked car she'd stopped behind.

Unaware, she didn't see the two men who got out of the white car and ran away. She didn't see the man on the sidewalk try to stop them. Didn't see them punching him and knocking him down as they jumped into another car which immediately sped off with squealing tires. She didn't see the panicked looks on the faces of those who'd witnessed the accident, or hear their frantic calls for help. Didn't feel the hands which administered emergency first aid before lifting her into the ambulance. For her, alive but unconscious, there was nothing.

Two

Callie faced the group of eight men, and two women, standing in front of her. Ten people. Ten people who were her current crop of students for an advanced karate class. All of them were either members of the secret BDSM club known as Scarlet or were employed by GreenWood, the investment management company wholly owned by the members of Scarlet. They were there in order to sharpen their abilities in Club security and maybe get an advancement or change of position in GreenWood.

Ostensibly, they were also there to learn some personal discipline. Well, four of them were. There were four new members of Scarlet who showed promise in the area of security and who would make good additions to Scarlet's security department. If, that is, they could learn the necessary discipline and skills.

"So, you need to pay attention to the things I'm going to tell you. You need to try to follow my instructions. You will also need to learn the rules and restrictions for when and where you can use the skills I'm going to teach you."

Callie was outlining the general plan for the class. She'd done this before with a smaller group and had been successful. That group was able to augment her duties in guarding Karen, giving her the ability to take time off if necessary. Not that she ever wanted to be away from Karen. She'd promised that wherever Karen was, she was and would always be. So far, she'd kept that promise.

But, a little backup wouldn't hurt. So, she'd allowed herself to be cajoled into teaching a karate class. To find those few who showed the promise and abilities to go further than basic defensive skills. Karen had broached the idea to her one afternoon as she watched Callie do Tai Chi exercises with her friend Gloria.

Gloria was nine, almost ten, and deaf. Originally, she'd started off by watching Callie do her Tai Chi exercises. Callie did them solo while Wolfe and Karen also exercised. Gloria had begun emulating Callie's moves behind her back trying to keep what she was doing a secret. Unbeknownst to Gloria, Callie was aware of her shadow the whole time. She'd been secretly showing Gloria the basics before she'd learned about Gloria's deafness. Once she'd learned Gloria was deaf, that had changed how she taught because Gloria couldn't hear Callie's spoken instructions.

Gloria's mother had been incensed at the time. She'd thought Callie had been teaching Gloria without her permission. Eventually, she'd capitulated to Gloria's constant badgering about wanting to learn Tai Chi. She'd let her daughter become friends with Callie. Now, one day per week, they practiced Tai Chi together at the Fitness Center while Karen and Maria rode the stationary bicycles there.

While Callie taught her Tai Chi, Gloria taught Callie sign language, or ASL. Their conversations over the last two years had come from halting signs mixed with words, to a fluency where signs flashed between them too fast for Karen to follow. Karen was sure that they often told each other jokes at either her or Maria's expense. But, not knowing what they were signing, she couldn't be positive. Not that it mattered in the slightest. Callie was happy and that was a good thing.

Now, they needed more security personnel. There were only a few to oversee the whole complex, including the public areas in the GreenWood Mall, as well as the private Club areas. They were seriously understaffed so Karen had asked Callie to help train replacements. There had been more than a couple of Callie's students who really wanted to excel but didn't have the necessary full compliment of ability and talent.

Unfortunately, Paul Adams, Karen's current head of security, was one of them. He was strong and willing. He even had decent defensive fighting skills. But, he just didn't have the drive needed to be top level. Both of them knew it, yet only Callie bemoaned it.

The most unfortunate part was that Karen, and Scarlet, needed more than above average skill levels in their guardians. After surviving three separate rape attempts, Karen needed someone to protect her from it ever happening again. Given Karen's fabulous looks and the sex-based environment of the Club, that was a very real possibility. Hence Callie and backup security guards. And cameras, microphones, roving patrols and lots of attention to details and discipline. Paranoid they were not. No always means no. Whether for Karen, or one of the many Submissive members of Scarlet, no was still no. Even if that Sub had wilfully and cheerfully consented the last time, no this time meant no. Period! Security oversaw and enforced that rule. With too little manpower.

So, Karen had broached the idea to Callie, who objected.

"No."

"Why? I know you like to teach. So why?" Karen was surprised at Callie's refusal.

"It's not that. It's . . ."

"Callie, nothing bad is going to happen because you're teaching a karate class. That's over. Done. You're fine now. You've regained your strength and skills. You aren't sick anymore. You practice just like you used to."

"I don't want to."

"Oh, I see. You don't want to. Because you're afraid."

"I am not afraid!" Callie had been vehement in her denial.

"Really? Then why not teach a class? You teach Gloria, so why not someone else? Or a few someone's else?"

"Gloria is my friend."

Oh. So if, say, Fox wanted to learn you'd teach her?"

"Fox doesn't want to learn." Callie's response was flat. Fox was her girlfriend and didn't need to learn karate.

"Oh, I see." Karen saw that Callie was afraid to teach. Afraid she'd teach the wrong things like she'd begun to do with Gloria. So she'd created a limit on how far she'd go. She refused to push that boundary. Yet, Karen knew about pushing limits. As the head of Scarlet, she knew all about pushing limits.

Karen had let it lie knowing Callie wouldn't, couldn't let it rest there. She'd have to explain herself. Show why her denial was justified. Eventually, Callie would bring it back up. Then, they'd push the limits. Push them back to where they truly belonged. Without the fear that made Callie hold them so tightly and restrictively. She'd been right. Within a week, Callie had mentioned it again, surprising her.

"Ok. I'll teach a class." Callie just said it one evening while they rode home in the limousine.

Karen looked at Maria who shrugged.

"She hasn't said anything to me about this. What class?"

"A karate class. For Scarlet. I'll teach one. One. Part time and no more than four students." Callie had explained to both of them. Putting the limits she was comfortable with in place.

Karen had quickly agreed. That had been Callie's first class. They now had a second, more than twice the size of the original.

"If you work hard, and pay attention, you just might gain the skills that could save you or someone else." Callie continued her pep talk as she paced in front of the group. "In order for this to be successful, we aren't going to give you any breaks. You aren't going to get special treatment either. You will perform your normal duties as well as attend this class. Bumps and bruises are going to be part of this class. It will hurt and you will still have to do your regular job even though you are sore and hurting."

"Like that's going to be hard." One of the group of four muttered to his friends. "Not."

Karen, sitting on a chair nearby, hadn't appeared to be listening. She'd seemed to be absorbed in working on her portable tablet. At the muttered comment, she put down her tablet and looked up.

"You don't think so?" She asked the group of four men in the rear of Callie's class. "How difficult can it be? Let me think. Oh, I know. How about this for an example; trash duty with two broken arms. You won't get a break, you won't get to sit on the sidelines, you won't get replaced by someone who doesn't have broken arms. You get to scrub and if you complain, your Master will punish you for that and for being disobedient."

"As if. She couldn't hurt a fly." The one in the back who'd made the first comment pointed at Callie. He was the one the other three had gravitated to. The instigator of the problem for all four of them.. "Look at her, she's puny. And, a girl."

The other three standing with him nodded in agreement. Callie didn't look very dangerous. She was small, fine boned, very quiet and ran errands for Karen. Everyone knew she was Karen's personal assistant. A glorified secretary. How tough could she be?

Karen smiled and stood up. Immediately, most of the class went to their knees. As members of Scarlet, they were expected to kneel in Karen's presence. Required to kneel to their ultimate dominant Mistress. Failure to do so was a punishable offense. One of the women, and one of the men did not kneel. They were the only two in the class who were not members of Scarlet. They knew about Scarlet and worked side by side with members of the club, but they were not members themselves. Instead of kneeling, they bowed their heads in respect to their employer.

Karen looked over the four, deciding if they were worth the trouble they usually caused. Worth dealing with the disruptions they often made. They were all recent additions to Scarlet and still under probation. The club needed them. A large percentage of the Club's security personnel had been part of a failed coup attempt by the former head of security, Marcus Morales. Afterward, the Club had opened its normally closed and restricted membership ranks to replace those lost. Given the current enhanced security screening for new applicants, it had been a slow process. They still hadn't regained full membership in the two years since the reduction.

"This is not a joke. This is serious training. This training is full contact and there will be no compromises or concessions. There will be injuries." Karen told them all before focusing on the four. "You four are here because you showed promise and we have holes in the ranks for security. Holes you could fill if you prove yourself.

"However, at this point, you are also here as part of an evaluation for fit with Scarlet. So far, you've not shown me that you do fit. For now, I'm going to let Callie handle it. Callie?"

Karen held out her hand toward Callie expecting her to take control of the situation. Callie nodded her understanding. Karen expected her to push the four students to see what their responses would be. That would be the determination on whether they stayed members or not.

"So, I'm a girl. Does that mean I can't fight?"

"No girl can stand up to a man." Once again, instigator refused to believe what he was told. Refused to see what was in front of his eyes.

"No girl can?" Callie challenged his perceptions.

"Nope. Too weak. Too small. To sissy and crybaby. Girls just don't have what it takes to fight."

"Really? Well, let's see if that's true." Callie motioned for the class to clear the mats. As the students moved to the sides of the padded area, Callie gestured for the four to come to the center.

"Let us see if what you believe is true. I will let you attack me. Either singly or pairs or all four at once. Your choice. You can do your best to really hurt me too. Knock me out, break my arm or leg, or anything at all."

"And?"

"If you defeat me, then you can say you proved your point and you don't have to take this training. I'll even buy you lunch afterward. Anywhere you want. Deal?"

"Best deal I've ever made. Get ready to spend some real money."

Karen interrupted with a soft cough. "Rules," she said succinctly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her. Too much." The leader of the four laughed at his own joke.

"Callie?" Karen ignored him, concentrating on Callie instead.

"I promise to not kill them." Callie's voice had gone flat and her eyes had a brittle glass appearance.

Karen gave Callie a look and waited.

Callie sighed. "Ok, or injure them too badly. No broken bones, no permanent injuries, no blood except bruises or bloody noses or mouths. How's that?"

"It is acceptable." Karen nodded her head. "Since my presence may influence the fighters, I will leave the room and wait in the hall outside until you are done."

"This won't take that long." A second member of the four flexed his hands and cracked his knuckles as he spoke.

"You are correct." Karen told them. With that, she looked at the ceiling. "Paul, please have a security escort assemble in the hallway. Thirty seconds."

Expecting no answer, even with the extremely limited time she'd given for the team to arrive, Karen nodded once again to Callie before walking out the door. The room fell silent behind her as the door bumped closed.

Three minutes later the door opened again. The remaining class members exited the room talking excitedly. Seeing Karen waiting in the hallway with two heavyweight security escorts, they fell silent.