Page 115 of They Break Beauty

Her lips curved. “Took you long enough to figure it out.”

I moved to respond in the decimating way I was known for when somebody challenged me.

But she beat me to it, cutting me off, “And you should have. You should have researched me before you marked me. It was incredibly dangerous to come at me, given who I am, and where I come from, who my father is. You’re really lucky that I held back and didn’t call on the true resources at my disposal. I held back because of him, by the way, because of Levi. And Colt, because he’s an absolute sweetheart. Yet, you came at me because of Levi, because you’re so intent—in an obsessive way, to be honest—to control him that you were the one who ended up completely out of control.”

Jesus. The woman certainly had some nerves of steel to come at me like this.

“You don’t understand the complications and dangers associated with Lev.”

“As the object of his intense fixation, believe me, I do.”

“Not to the full extent. I’ve known him for years, we’ve been the closest of brothers since we were kids. Believe me, there’s a lot you have no comprehension of.”

She shoved a hand through her silky ebony hair, then took down the harshness in her tone, telling me with an earnestness that caught me off guard and… touched me, “You’ve clearly been too close to it for too long, because it’s compromised your ability to identify the root cause of all this animosity and struggle between the two of you.”

I sat forward, clasping my hands between my knees. “Levi doesn’t think about the consequences, any sort of fallout, or the big picture involved when it comes to any task or mission he embarks on. He gets severe tunnel vision. And we all end up paying the price. I saw him re-entering into that fixated, obsessive mode through his pursuit of you. You’re a complication I can’t afford, that none of us can. There are things at stake that you don’t understand. Hell, there are things that have actually happened that almost destroyed all of us, because of the way that Levi is.” I shook my head at her with disbelief. “So you telling me there’s a root cause I’m not seeing… even if that was the case, I still need to protect us all.”

“I get you wanting to protect your brothers. Club princess, remember? That was my whole life for two decades. But the way in which you’re doing it when it comes to Levi is actually resulting in the opposite.”

I thought for a moment. “Is that why you came here to talk it out, rather than responding to my escalation with another show of force?”

She nodded. “The harder I come at you, the greater the divide it will cause in your brotherhood. I don’t want that.” Shifting to the edge of the chair, she added with a sexy, fierce edge, “But I also can’t allow you to continue to strike at me. I won’t be anybody’s victim.”

“You were Lev’s not long ago, before this coupledom I’ve witnessed between you tonight. You were his prey.”

“He went about it the wrong way, but his actions came from wanting to draw closer to me. Affection, if you will. He became desperate because I wasn’t ready at first to acknowledge what’s between us. And that’s the root of it for him—feeling powerless. After what’s happened in his life, he can’t stand that notion, he really can’t stomach it. So these missions he embarks on are all to combat that. He needs you to understand that and work with him, not to just throw up walls in his way. You could work with him to change the way he goes about doing these things, to minimize the risk and potential fallout. And Levi can agree to tone it down and do it your way in exchange. But just getting in his way is only going to worsen everything and make him more desperate. Like what happened tonight with him taking out a big chunk of your Hex members. I tracked him and watched from a distance. He’s in a lot of pain.” She sighed heavily. “If you continue to allow your fear of loss of control to get in the way, you’ll lose him, you’ll lose each other, and things will spiral like crazy. I’m sure you’re already seeing the results of that as it is.”

I stared at her, taking her words in.

Fuck me, I was impressed.

Off my incredulous look, she grinned. “That’s right, I’m a very reasonable person.”

“I’m getting that.”

Her phone buzzed, cutting through the understanding and shared moment between us.

She pulled it out from her pocket, swiped it open, then started typing rapidly.

After a few moments of it, I asked, “Damage control?”

She lifted her head, her whiskey eyes locking on mine.

Fuck me, they were stunning.

I hadn’t seen her up close until tonight and every time she fixed me with her gaze, they caught my attention all over again.

“For the leak of my personal photos?” she responded with an edge, before returning to her typing and telling me, “That’s already been dealt with. Nice try, though.” She stopped typing, then stowed her phone away. “That was Levi just asking if I was okay in your presence.”

“And? How did you respond?”

“I told him it’s going as well as can be expected.”

“Very diplomatic of you.”

“I figured that was needed right now.” She gestured at my cheek. “You have blood there. You and Levi came to blows, yeah?”

“Things reached an intense level before you arrived,” I admitted.

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