Page 64 of Beast: Part Two

Maksim shakes his head. “Not much. He didn’t have many dealings with Corbyn. I know he’s the CEO of a multinational holding company and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods.”

“That he is,” Kyra says. “And at the moment, he’s in Paris. However, he will still be easier to get to than Dominique Katz.”

“So what, we wait for him to come back state side, or are we going to Paris?” Hawk asks.

“We have his business calendar pulled up and it looks like he will be back stateside in a few weeks. I think it best we wait to get him when he’s back here. Trying to get to Paris allows for a lot of things to go wrong and out of our control,” Alicia says.

Plus, being that far with the excommunication order on our heads and not knowing where Corbyn is didn’t seem like a smart move.

“I agree with Alicia on this.”

She turns and grins at me.

“Oh, I bet you do,” Maksim sneers rolling his eyes.

I’m confused by his tone and his actions. Alicia had a good point, why wouldn’t I agree?

“I’m with Beast and Alicia,” Priest says. “We’re all anxious to get this done, but we will always move smartly. The end goal is to come out of all this alive and with as few enemies as possible.”

“Alright,” Kyra says. “We will keep track of Franklin. The moment he’s back in the states we will let you know.”

That concluded our meeting for the day. I hated that it felt as if we weren’t getting much done, but in a short period of time we’ve gotten at least one person to withdraw their name and we’re on the way to the next one. In no time, we can put all our effort into killing Corbyn and then I will disappear for good.

Even though I know the plan and what I need to do, I still find myself heading outside to the back patio. Summer is here with a tape measure and her notebook. I don’t say anything to her, and she doesn’t notice me. But I sit in the chair watching her, just needing to be near her.

chapter seventeen

Date Night

Summer

Tonight was the big night. It took me the full two weeks to set my plan up. If everything goes smoothly, not only will I remind Gabriel of how good we are together, but it will also cut down the tension in the house and show everyone I can be an asset.

Although there hasn’t been another blow up like that day in the hallway or when Gabriel accused Maksim of trying to get with me, there is still a bit of hostility in the air. I’m hoping this will smooth everything out and help ease some of that tension.

“Where do you want these lights?” Maksim asks as he steps onto the back porch with the string lights I ordered.

I was able to convince Maksim and Zel to not only help me, but to join us tonight as well by bribing them with some of Malia’s fudge brownies.

“I’m going to hang them up in that tree where the fire pit is.”

He takes the lights over to the area I have designated for tonight. The plan for the evening is to enjoy dinner, dancing, and play some couple games. One of the reasons I’d planned it for two weeks out was because I wanted to make sure when we ordered everything it had time to show up. Everyone places their orders under Ms. Reese’s name.

“Summer, you have a package,” Ms. Reese says stepping onto the porch holding a small box.

I drop the flowers I was gluing to the arch and rush over to her.

“Is it my dress?”

Ms. Reese smiles. “I think so.”

I was so nervous my dress wasn’t going to make it here in time. The thing I’m most excited about showing tonight is this dress. Although green is my favorite color, black is Gabriel’s. Trina and I spent hours over the phone trying to find the perfect black dress. Something sexy, but not slutty. I wanted something that would make Gabriel’s jaw hit the floor but not too inappropriate that anyone else felt uncomfortable.

Taking the package from Ms. Reese I look over the label. It was indeed my dress.

Ms. Reese chuckles. “I can’t wait to see you in that dress. You’ve been dying for it to come for a week.”

I blush. I know I tore this poor woman’s nerves up about checking the arrival. All the other ladies ordered their dresses through Ms. Reese as well and they got theirs back quickly.