Page 25 of Beautiful Beasts

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I say, even though I am lying. I have always been a bad fucking liar.

“You can’t fucking lie to me. I have seen the way you look at both of them, the way you look at me. You are a whore, and you will be treated as one,” he says with disgusting desire in his tone.

He leans back, forcing me to turn my head away. I feel his lips and tongue against my neck, making my stomach twist into knots. The safety of this mansion, of this life, has been shattered by a man I thought I could trust—a man who is just like all the rest.

His tone gives him away. He wants one thing from me and is the type of man I have dealt with all my life. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants and has used me up and shattered another piece of me.

“Remember, Bella, I am watching you; you can’t escape me or your fate,” he whispers as he pulls back, dropping his hands from the counter.

My heart races as he backs away and disappears back into the darkness. I drop the empty bottle as I sink to the floor, wrapping my arms around my shaking body.

Once again, feeling dirty.

Once again, feeling unworthy of this place.

Once again, being reminded of who and what I am.

Once a whore, always a whore.

17

Harley

“Earned It” by The Weeknd

D ante finally called and checked in. He’s checked into a hotel and is safe for now.

I tried to get him to wait until morning, but he heard the rumors that someone wanted to try to take what belonged to him. As soon as I heard what they had been saying about him becoming weak, I knew he was going to go and set them straight, even if it was in the middle of the night.

He doesn’t listen to me, he thinks that he can handle shit, but the truth is he puts himself into situations that can go from bad to fucking worse, and I hate not being there to back him up. But he wanted me to stay here to watch over Bella, which I couldn’t fucking say no to that. I hate feeling as if I am being ripped into two different fucking directions.

I take a deep breath as I enter the security room. Gus is sitting back in the chair with his feet up on the desk, arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes moving from monitor to monitor on the large screen in front of him. I still don’t feel like we have enough cameras. There are still blind spots, and until we figure out who the fucker is that believes that Bella belongs to him, Dante and I will both be on edge.

“Is she still asleep in Dante’s room?” I ask, looking over the monitors.

“No, the whore is in the kitchen sitting on the damn floor,” Gus snaps at me.

My vision blurs, and before I can stop myself, I am behind him with my hand wrapped around his throat and my mouth inches from his ear. “Watch what the fuck you say, Gus,” I warn through gritted teeth. My body shaking with an uncontrollable rage.

If he needs to be reminded how to speak respectfully about those above him, I have no problem reminding him of his place.

“She is a whore, isn’t she?” He snaps as he struggles to break my hold.

My blood boils with his words as my eyes scan the monitors, stopping on the screen that shows Bella sitting on the floor. She has her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, and even though we don’t have audio, I can tell she is crying.

“You have a dirty fucking mouth. Watch how you fucking speak about her, or I will remove that dirty fucking tongue of yours and make you swallow it,” I warn darkly. He should know better than to say shit like that in front of me, but it seems someone needs a little fucking reminder of who the fuck I am.

“Okay, fucking okay, I get it,” Gus says in a scared yet angry voice.

I shove him out of my hold and watch Bella for a moment while I calm the fuck down. After a few cleansing breaths, I leave the security room and storm through the house to the kitchen. I slow my pace when I enter the kitchen and hear her sobbing. When I came around the island, I found her in the same position she was in when I saw her on the monitors, and I slowly kneeled beside her.

My heart aches to see her like this, a reaction I have never had to a woman before. I take a deep, shaky breath as I reach over and gently take her into my arms without a fight. She doesn’t say a fucking word as I pull her into my chest; she just wraps her arms around my neck and buries her face into my neck. I tighten my arms around her and leave the dark, cold kitchen.

I take her upstairs to my room, kicking the door shut behind me as I walk across the room and lay her gently on my bed. She continues to sob, and as I turn to go to my chair, she quickly grabs my hand, stopping me in my tracks.

“Please don’t leave me,” she begs.

“I’m not Bella, I promise. I am going to remove my shoes,” I say, trying my best to reassure her.

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