Page 35 of Ruthless Beasts

“Are you ready?”

“I’m not actually sure, if I’m honest.” He was standing by the window, and I knew he was watching her. Was he thinking of regret? Wishing she was someone else? He turned away from the window and came to me, sitting on the couch beside me as I clicked the file.

There was a delay, always a fucking delay with old equipment. We watched the circle spin, the programs struggling to perform before a screen popped up. At first, it took a few minutes of watching to understand what we were seeing. It was Bellamy’s father, in what appeared to be his kitchen, mixing a drink.

It wasn’t until Bellamy walked in, bright smiles and gorgeous, that the reality sunk in. He was mixing a drink, but not for himself. That powder he put in wasn’t a flavoring aid, as I had originally thought. I gripped the computer hard, the soft metal cracking under my strength, and beside me, Adam wasn’t much better.

“This can’t-“ He was shaking his head, unwilling to believe what we were seeing, even as we knew it to be true. “That’s his daughter.”

Still, when her movements grew sluggish, her balance teetering, we knew. We fucking knew that the monster she called her father had absolutely no regret in drugging her. When she collapsed, he caught her, only long enough for his men to step forward, snagging her out of his grasp.

The clip cut off when they were out of view, only to reconnect at a meeting where they passed her off to Accardo. Another cut off before the video connected the image of a bed with an unconscious Bellamy on it, lying next to the naked son of Accardo.

There was a chance I might vomit, right here, right now. We didn’t need to see more. Hell, I didn’t fucking want to. If he thought he was revealing a big secret, he was only partially correct. We already knew about the baby, but the father?

Adam swallowed hard. “I’m glad he’s dead. I’d kill him all over again, if I could.”

He was shaking, physically trembling, trying to hold in the fury of what he just witnessed, and my temper wasn’t far behind him. A father was supposed to protect their child, not be the reason for their harm.

His voice was gruff when he demanded, “Bring me Belle. Get Ace on the phone. I want her father in our basement by this evening, no fucking delay.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BELLAMY

“Lady! Come here right this moment!” I shouted, even as the dog ran with all her might to the wild overgrown bushes at the far side of the property. I’d never ventured over this far, never felt comfortable enough to. But as I got closer, a few things stuck out to me.

It wasn’t just overgrown bushes. It appeared to once have been an overgrown garden. The bushes were a border, some type of fencing that towered over me, and through a hole in the bushes, I saw just enough to note a stone fountain overgrown with vines. What happened to this once beautiful garden that it had gotten this bad?

“Bellamy?” Mercer’s voice startled me, as he called me from a distance, searching me out.

“Damn it, Lady. You’re going to get us in trouble. Where are you?” I looked over my shoulder at Max and Drew, who followed me, but had been respectful enough to keep a distance.

The dog barked, and I turned to the left, following the sound of her. The grass was high. Who knew the last time it wastrimmed. But I trudged along, praying I didn’t step on a snake. “Lady!”

Another bark, and I turned around the bush structure, only to find an iron door, with Lady scratching at it. My fingers reached up, touching the latch, the metal cool against my skin.

“Bellamy.”

I jumped, spinning around to meet the gaze of Mercer.

“It’s dangerous over here. Nothing has been kept up in years.”

“I was trying to get Lady,” I offered, knowing that getting Lady may have been my priority, but curiosity was close on its tail.

“Adam would like to speak with you.” He reached up, rubbing a dried leaf between his fingers, deep in thought for a moment.

“Is something wrong?”

His eyes looked over at me sadly, his gaze lingering on my stomach for a moment too long. “Everything is fine now.” He sighed and dropped his hand from the leaf. “I’ll get Lady and meet you in Adam’s office.”

He stepped past me, whistling for the dog, who had run off the moment she saw her owner, trying to play hide and seek in the brush. I waited until he was out of sight before I walked toward the house, dread pooling in my stomach. After the appointment, Adam seemed to avoid everything but the most basic of contact with me. It was unnerving how this man could be hot one moment, cold the next.

He refuses to look at me while putting my sonogram photos on the fridge.

He works late, while ensuring I’m taken care of for anything I need and more.

He avoids me, while leaving me flowers.

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