Page 154 of They Break Beauty

Brianna turned her head toward me right away, obviously having sensed my approach. Damn, she was on the ball. In more ways than one, clearly.

“Hey, babe,” she greeted, casually, like she wasn’t pinning somebody against the wall and conducting covert business like a seasoned pro at this sort of thing.

“What’s—” I started, but Rosemary’s whine cut me off.

“Mason, this little cunt—”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” I rumbled dangerously, and it literally had her lips slamming closed.

I stepped forward, but Bree held up her hand, signaling that she had it.

In the next moment, she released Rosemary roughly.

“We’re not done,” she warned when Rosemary made a move to take off.

I watched, more than a little curiously, as Bree reached into the pocket of her jacket, then withdrew her phone. She scrolled for a few moments, then flipped the screen for Rosemary to see.

“A single word to Peter Hall through any means—even via your sorority members—and this hits Reitner and Simmons immediately. I really don’t think your mom will take well to photos of you snorting a line of coke off some random guy’s abs, or to this video of you fucking one of her business partners.”

“You cu—”

I cleared my throat roughly.

Rosemary bit her tongue.

“Get gone. Now,” I commanded.

Bree stepped aside and pocketed her phone, and Rosemary ran off into the night.

“How much did you hear?” she asked, walking to me, as we met halfway.

“Enough to know how far you went to protect me.” I screwed up my face at the guilt that plagued me like a bitch of a thing. “After what I did to you? I don’t—”

She took my hands in hers. “That was then. It was through a massive misunderstanding based on your flawed perception of Levi. We’re allies now, right?”

“More than allies.”

She nodded with a sweet little smile. “And I protect those closest to me.”

“How did you even—how did you stop what she was attempting to do?”

“Well, if you hadn’t come at me, I actually wouldn’t have been able to. Not fast enough. When you marked me, I mobilized my girls to investigate you and to turn up intel. Once we became allies, those that I had in place were shifted to protective mode on your behalf, Levi’s, and Colt’s.”

“Wow, that’s… beyond impressive.”

“Well, I’m not just a sweet, innocent girl with a pretty face.”

“Believe me, we’re all well aware you’re much more than that, even without this. We wouldn’t be so enamored with you otherwise. You’re complicated, multifaceted.” I stroked her fingers. “You’re extraordinary.”

“That she is,” Levi’s voice came from behind us.

We pulled apart as he stepped out of the shadows, grinning from ear-to-ear. “I accessed the cameras and picked you up here right in time for that show with Rosemary.” He came to us and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug, his hands shaking a little and belying just how freaked out he’d been when we hadn’t been able to find her for those few minutes. “Nicely done,” he said, as he eased away just a little, still staying close, like I was to her.

It was very noticeable that he didn’t say anything about her taking off without telling us what she was doing and making us worry.

He was really trying so hard not to be so invasive and clingy with her, trying to give her the space and freedom that she needed. After all, he knew better than anyone from knowing her in the past, seeing her club life, and doing so much in-depth research on her, that she’d been denied that freedom for so long, a compromise she wasn’t ever going to make again.

“Did you know about her girls?” I asked him.

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