Page 3 of Beautiful Beasts

Yeah, no kidding. There are so many places I would rather be right now, but here I am once again in a bad situation because of my father. Because Griffin can’t fucking stay sober, and he loves to gamble everything we fucking have, including me.

“No shit,” I snap back. He pulls back, his eyes holding mine in his stare. I can see the amusement but something else flashes in his eyes, but once again, I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is.

“Your father is not here,” he says calmly.

I hate that he is calm after everything he does and continues to do to others; he doesn’t deserve to find peace; none of us do. We all deserve to suffer for the life we live. I know it doesn’t make sense, but nothing in this life fucking does. None of what happens on these streets and behind closed doors is okay.

“Yeah, no shit, captain obvious! Your bartender just told me that info,” I say, not hiding my irritation.

He tilts his head to the side as a smile spreads across his face and shakes his head. He is fucking gorgeous, but the part that annoys the fuck out of me is that he fucking knows it.

“You are a brat, you know that,” he says, amused.

He has no idea just how much of a brat and pain in the ass I can be. “Yeah, well, you are an asshole,” I say with a sweet smile.

“Really? Why is that?” He asks curiously. Does nothing rattle this man?

“Do you enjoy ripping families apart with your drugs and guns?’ I ask, venom dripping from my tone.

He doesn’t respond; his eyes soften, catching me off guard.

After a few seconds, he finally breaks the silence between us. “I enjoy a lot of things, Bella,” he whispers, causing my pussy to pulse, which pisses me off even more.

“I need to go find him,” I respond softly. I just want to go home, but that is not going to happen until I find my father.

“Let me take you,” Dante practically demands.

Yeah, no, that is not a good idea. “No, I got it, thank you,” I say, unable to break eye contact with him.

I lift my hands, place them firmly on his chest, and press against him. He lowers his hands from the wall and steps back, giving me the distance I need from him. Even though the distance makes my chest tighten and relief wash over me simultaneously.

Fuck me.

“Go back and watch your whores,” I say calmly, looking him in the eyes.

“I will see you soon, Bella,” he says softly.

“I hope that is not true for both of our sakes,” I snap again.

He smiles, shakes his head, and steps back, allowing me to move from the wall. As I walk past him, he grabs my arm and pulls me against him. His scent wraps around me as he presses his lips to my ear. “You are too good, too pure to be here, Sweetheart.”

I pull back and look at him, his deep blue eyes looking straight into mine. “I am not as good and pure as you think, Dante,” I whisper back.

He inhales deeply. Did he just sniff me? But before I could say anything, he released my arm, and I turned and walked away as quickly as I could without making it look like I was running from him.

No matter how much I have seen or talked to him in the past, he always has this effect on me. It drives me fucking crazy, but it also fills me with a burning desire. It is best if we both stay in our own lanes before someone gets hurt. And I know that one, if not both, of us will fucking get hurt. Love, there is no such thing as true love, the love I know only exists with fucking pain. I don’t know any different. Dante Calloway doesn’t need my shit on top of his own.

I am doing him a favor by pushing him away and keeping my distance. The truth is, if we give into what I know we both want but won’t admit out loud, it would fucking destroy us and everything around us.

He doesn’t know it, but I am his worst nightmare, not by my doing, but by others.

The best thing for him is to stay as far away from me as he can get.

I should just let him die in this fucking house, but what kind of person would I be to let my father die in a trap house?

I have thought about it, though, and had dreams about watching him die and suffer for what he has done to me. No one knows what has been happening, and honestly, no one fucking cares.

I am completely alone with a Beast, a man who was supposed to protect me but instead has been the one to break me. It started when I was young, and it just progressed from there. Looking from the outside, people would think I am his wife, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. I am his daughter, the daughter he has used, groomed, conditioned, and abused for years.

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