Page 119 of Ruthless Beasts

She squinted, "I think?—"

Sirens hit my ears, the sorrowful alarm of panic assaulting me, and I couldn’t hold back any longer. My foot pressed down on the accelerator, my eyes only on the house in front of me, as I sped the rest of the way home.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

BELLAMY

I woke with a start, feeling the complete and utter silence of the room suffocating me. Usually by now I had at least one of my men with me, but there was only me. Hadn't Ace just been here with me when I closed my eyes? How long ago was that, anyway? It could have been minutes, or hours, as far as I knew. We had no clock in the room. We didn't need one when everyone seemed to use cell phones.

I reached over, searching for my phone, then I remembered I had left it in my bag in the library when we came home. I snuck in a few books for my collection on my shopping trip, and the library just happened to be where I left some of my things. I stood up, feeling the deliciously sore muscles come to life.

Ace. So fucking sweet. So fucking dirty. Every single time I was with him, I was blown away by how the quietest of my men could make me scream so loud. Making me cum was an art. It had to be. Because the way he worked my body was like he was an artist and I was his greatest masterpiece.

I found a discarded button-up shirt and pulled it on before buttoning a few buttons. Taking the collar, I brought it to my nose and inhaled, letting the scent make my stomach flutter. Mercer. I should have known. There was always one article of clothing of his that somehow didn't make it to the laundry basket. I wrapped it around me tighter, enveloping myself in his scent as I walked through the bedroom and out into our sitting room.

"Hello?" I called, hoping one of them was upstairs.

No one answered.

Not unusual, just not like them at this time of the night. They hadn't told me they were going anywhere, though I guess they didn't owe me an explanation for their actions. I walked through the open door and the distance down the hall to the library. I pushed open the door, feeling a slight breeze hit me.

Odd.

The air wasn't on, and the balcony's door was never opened. My feet were bare as I padded through the center of the room, past my bags, toward where the curtain fluttered slightly. I pushed the curtain out of the way, seeing that the door was ajar.

Hm. I suppose maybe the cleaners had forgotten to shut the door. A simple mishap, but we'd need to talk to them about it. The rain could ruin the books if they were exposed to enough moisture. Instead of closing the door, I pushed it open. The rain was just falling as lightning lit the sky. I loved this weather.

Heavy footfalls broke the peace around me, but I didn't turn around. Assuming it was my guys, I admitted, "This has always been my favorite weather."

Silence.

I guess my statement had no need for words. The words would have broken into the surrounding beauty, destroyed the calm I felt with each clap of thunder. Another pound of thunderhad the sky finally breaking, and the drizzle turned to a pour of rain.

"Would you let me dance in it?" I laughed. "Come downstairs with me. Maybe run through the garden?"

How picturesque would that be? To run carefree through the thunderstorm, drenched in icy rain, just ignoring the moment. How I loved to enjoy every moment with them.

"I doubt you could run in your condition." I whirled around at the vaguely familiar scratch of a voice, my eyes falling to the cold, emotionless gaze of Joseph Accardo.

"What do you want?" I backed up a step, my heart pounding with fear. "How did you get in here?"

"I came for you." He laughed, the sound so unnerving that it was the only thing that made me shiver on this otherwise chilly night. "I've come for what's mine."

"I'm not yours." I'd die before I became his.

"No?" He took another step. "My grandson will belong to me. Afterwards, who cares about you? You could die. In fact, you probably will for being such a whore and fucking that man."

I assumed he meant Adam, my husband, but if only he knew the truth.

My hand pressed against my stomach protectively. He'd never get my daughter. "You can't have my baby."

"I can and I will. They've taken everything from me," he spat. "I'm taking what I want from them, or else."

"You took from them first." I reached back, feeling the rail. "You took his wife. His child. Did you not think that would have a consequence?"

"Wrong place, wrong time. He stole from my operation long before that. Taking my clients, offering higher quality product. He needed to be eliminated. It was unfortunate that I failed."

It wasn't unfortunate. I was glad he failed. If he hadn't, the powerful man I knew now would have left his two best friends in ruins. "I won't go with you."

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