Page 20 of Beautifully Reckless

She’s the girl that was in the ute with my Angel.

Dee. Crow’s chick.

“Fuck. Where did she come from?” JD mutters quietly, but it’s loud enough for Dee, or Hush, or whatever her name is, to hear.

Her dark gaze cuts to him, head tilting in a way that sends chills right up my fucking spine.

This girl is a killer. I’d bet my hog on it.

If she really wanted Griffin dead, he would be already, and judging by his ready to flee stance, he fucking knows it too.

“Come on, Dee. Put it away and let’s all take a breath.” Amanda insists, and I wonder, just for a moment, why this little lethal killer would listen to the Angel sisters.

But she does, which means she works for them.

“Right, now that we have all calmed down...” Bec claps her hands together, now free of the weapons, as the little assassin shoulders past Griffin with a glare and moves to stand by Crow’s side. “Let’s get this situation sorted so I can go back to my date.”

Amanda throws her head back, laughing. “A bottle of red and a book is not a date.”

“When a book can give me more pleasure than a real, living man can, then hell yes, it is.” Bec shrugs, and I just shake my fucking head, my patience running out by the second.

“Where’s Abbey?” I snap, cutting through their bullshit.

Bec’s glare sharpens. “She’s not your concern anymore, biker boy. You were given a job, and you failed. So now we’re stepping in.”

“The fuck you are,” I snarl, stepping forward, but the little assassin is quicker, moving between us and cocking her head in challenge, those dark, unblinking eyes locked on me like she’s measuring exactly how much effort it would take to put me down.

“Ringo,” Ayden steps forward, cutting through our standoff, and just like that, my tension eases a fraction.

I stare at him, the guy I spent years protecting from my brother, Muz, before he finally died. Ayden is taller than the last time I saw him. More built too, packed with strong muscles that he didn’t have as a teen.

“Let’s just relax a little and sort this out, yeah?” Ayden suggests, and I fucking grind my teeth, because I fucking hate getting pulled into line by a guy that was a teenager a year ago.

Even so, I suck in my fucking pride and give Ayden a nod.

He’s right of course, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. But since my goal is my Angel, and I’ll be fucked if I’m letting anyone keep me away from her, I take a step back, roll my shoulders, and try to shake off the rest of the tension clinging to me like a second skin.

“Ringo, Bec is right,” Lexi snaps, stepping up beside Ayden. “I asked you to keep her safe, and instead, she ran from you. I want to know why.”

“Did you ask her why?” I snarl, and just like that, another fucker steps forward.

He’s built like a fucking tank, fists balled at his sides, body practically vibrating with aggression.

I remember this guy from my little brother’s funeral.

Garrett Cole.

“Lexi is askingyou!” he fucking bellows, his voice so deep that it shocks me for a moment.

“Stop!”

The single shouted word has everyone freezing, and for the first time in what feels like months, my fucking pulse stutters.

The group before me shifts, bodies moving aside to let someone through… and there she is.

My Angel.

Every ounce of anger drains from me in an avalanche of white noise.

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