Page 20 of Ruthless Beasts

It appears those were things we’d be changing. I couldn’t let them know how many men protected Bellamy, and I’d not let her be alone again. Out of sheer annoyance, I reached over the chair and snipped off his middle finger before he could even think about struggling.

“That’s all I said. I swear.” He gagged. Probably from the pain.

“If you barf on me, I swear to god the dick is next.” He turned his head as he tried to gather his composure. When he seemed to have himself collected, I continued, “I promise you, our girl is perfectly fine.”

“Our girl,” Adam’s voice broke in, and I turned, not even realizing he was standing there.

He walked toward us, a brow drawn up as he watched me, his fingers working on the sleeve of his shirt, rolling it to his elbow. I ignored his observation of my word slip. “We need to increase our guards, stagger rotations. She’s not to be left there alone.”

“She’s not alone. She has Max and Drew,” he pointed out.

“And her father knows she doesn’t have us on site.”

“Hm.” He pursed his lips as he watched the bloody man tied to the chair. “We’ll change that. May I?”

Adam’s chin jutted toward the man as he asked permission to touch. “What’s mine is yours.”

He nodded, his brows pulled for a moment, before he moved closer. I stood, taking my chair away to give him room. He didn’t spare me a glance as he stepped up, his back to me as he talked. “You get all you need?”

“Not much, but I don’t think he has anything else.” I grabbed a rag, wiping some of the blood off my hands. “He was a spy, but he never got inside the gate.”

“Perfect,” Adam growled, seconds before he unleashed his anger, pounding into the flesh of the battered man until his organs finally gave out and his heart surrendered. The man slumped dead. His face was unrecognizable in the chair he was still tied to. Adam pulled back. “You risked the safety of my wife. You deserved to die.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

ACE

The call into Adam’s office wasn’t unexpected, but I still had no desire to go. I’d just gotten out of a meeting with an investor on a joint endeavor Ferrari Industries planned on signing onto. It was repetitive, boring, and so damn mind-numbing that all I could think of was a nap.

I dragged my feet to the top floor of the building, past the smoky, noise-filled floors and guest rooms, to the office suites. I ignored Adam’s receptionist, opting to go straight to his office. I’d never checked in for a meeting, and I’d not do it now. He may have started this company, but we built it together, and our shares were nearly as solid as his.

I pushed open the door and stalked inside, letting the door automatically close behind me. Adam and Merc were already waiting, their feet up on a coffee table, their bodies lounged casually, with glasses of whiskey in their hands. This was a type of meeting I could get behind. My fingers automatically went to my tie, loosening it. “Why didn’t you give me a heads up that this was what you’d planned? I would have come faster.”

Merc snorted. “I’d never encourage premature coming, you know that.”

“Jackass.”

“The one and only.” He took another sip of his drink.

“Get yourself served and sit,” Adam ordered, and he didn’t have to tell me twice. I had been craving something to numb my mind since the second I woke up this morning. Running into Bellamy in the hall on the way to breakfast only compounded the need for alcohol. I didn’t know what it was about this girl that had my skin buzzing just under the surface. Annoyance maybe? Repulsion? Desir?—

No.

I didn’t desire her.

I couldn’t allow myself the luxury.

I took a glass out of the cabinet and opened his ice bucket, taking out a large cube of ice and placing it in my glass. Then I poured myself some whiskey and took a seat across from them, using the same coffee table to rest my feet on.

“We’re ready to go forth with the build. I think as much of a pain in the ass that this resort will become, it will be an amazing income. People love taking their sniveling little shitheads on vacation with them.”

“I believe the correct term is children. And the vacation is taken as a family. That is the reason for the getaway.”

I scrunched my nose up. “You sure about that? Seems like an automatic disappointment.”

Adam let his head fall back, resting it against the back of the couch he sat on. “Usually is. But this resort will offer childcare services. Imagine the cash flow that will bring to our hands.”

“Groundbreaking is two days from now. Will you be there?” I asked, tasting my drink, closing my eyes against the familiar burn as it touched my throat.

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