Page 18 of Suspicious

“Pfft, bullshit! You know I fight better than you can,” she snaps, and I try real fucking hard to fight back my smile.

Because the truth is—she’s right.

Alpha huffs, shaking his head. “That may be true, but baby…Ineeded to do this. And I don’t want this to hurt you, and I don’t mean it inanykind of way other than it is, but this, what I did to Ricco… it was as much for Livvy as it was for me.”

I snap my head to Haven to see how she will react to hearing that, but she simply smiles, her shoulders dropping as she makes her way around the table toward Alpha. She leans down, shoving his chair back, with him in it. His eyes widen as she drops down into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. My smile doesn’t falter this time when she presses her forehead to his.

“That couldneverhurt me, you dumb idiot. I know you and Livvy have an amazing history. It’s what brought Poppy into the world, and you know I adore that little girl like she is myown…” She smiles, and I can tell she is thinking about Poppy. “Alpha, I’mnevergoing to be the type of woman who stops you and Livvy from having a friendship and caring about each other. There’s a history there thatcan’tbe tampered with. A history that has massive emotional wounds that can only be felt by the two of you, but… I’m here.Don’tshut me out, okay?”

Alpha exhales, his hand sliding up into her hair. “I don’t deserve you.”

Haven snorts out a laugh. “You really don’t. But I love you anyway.”

Alpha grins, pulling her forward, and they kiss passionately.

Turning away, I let them have their moment, though it’s impossible not to think about Bea.

What would she think about the carnage we just created?

How would she react if she knew I had just killed people?Even if those people were vengeful, blood thirsty gangsters.

Would she still look at me the way she does, with those beautiful big doe eyes, so full of life and excitement?

Would she still bounce around with so much life and energy that she makes it feel like there’s not a care in the world?

Or would she think of me as the villain?

Would she see me as the guy her parents always warned her about?

The one her mother told me to make sure never came near her.

To keep those kinds of assholes away from her.

Now she’s here, at the clubhouse, surrounded by the very kind of men I swore to her mother I would protect Bea from.

And I am the worst kind of them all because Bea trusts me, and I’m the guy who went off the rails.

I’m the guy her mother warned her about.

With the sounds of Alpha and Haven still getting it on across the other side of the room, I pull out my cell to occupy mytime when the soft tapping of footsteps up the stairs grabs my attention. I spin to face the door where Livvy enters the room. She’s still dressed in her scrubs from work. There are dark circles lining underneath her eyes, her skin pale, and her hair’s a mess. She looks tired from a long shift, and this is probably the last thing she needs right now.

Weakly, I smile at her as the small, blonde-haired woman enters the room. She tips her head at me, then glances over to Alpha and Haven, who are still making out at the other side. She raises her brow, like she is amused by the show, but clears her throat to announce her arrival.

Haven pulls back from Alpha with a bright smile on her face and then jumps up from his lap. “Hey, Liv! It’s good to see you again. How’s work going?” Haven asks, walking over and wrapping her arm around Liv in a hug.

Livvy embraces her back genuinely. “Work’s busy. It seems like everybody is getting sick at the moment. It’s hard to keep up sometimes.”

Haven grimaces, pulling back from her. “This fucking world we live in, hey?”

Livvy snorts out a laugh. “Tell me about it! So… ah… am I here to talk about Poppy’s upcoming birthday? Seeing as Louis is also turning one, we should totally have a joint celebration with South and Ingrid, yeah? I was thinking we could do a themed event, maybe? Get everyone at the clubhouse to dress up as something? I don’t know. I’ve just been playing around with ideas. I want to make it special… seeing as we’ve missed a few of Poppy’s birthdays because of…” she trails off, her expression falling as she remembers what Ricco did to her daughter—to Alpha’s daughter—the entire reason we just did what we did to the fucking cartel.

Alpha clears his throat, stands, and walks to Livvy’s side. He exhales, taking a moment before speaking, “Liv, wewilldiscussPoppy’s birthday, but there’s something I need to talk to you about first.”

Livvy groans, slumping her body and clenching her eyes tight. “Jesus Christ, Stone, what have you gone and done? Are you going to jail? What do I need to prepare myself for this time?”

Haven grins, running her hand up Livvy’s back to help ease her nerves, and Alpha chuckles. “Not going to jail, Livvy. But the clubhasdone something. You might want to take a seat for this one.”

Livvy shakes her head. “Just fucking tell me what shit you’re into.Now!”

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