Despite him having all the charm and sophistication of an alley cat, Joey suddenly dropped to one knee in front of me and took my hand in his.
“You’re an innocent, Belle, and a friend of the club. We would have protected you until our last breaths. You have to fuckin’ know that. And Beast…shit, bitch, he was punishinghimselfby killing you. In his eyes, this was his cross to bear.”
I looked up then, my gaze meeting his, and I felt even worse because it was unwavering. I should have told one of them. I could see it in his eyes that he meant every last word of what he was saying. Joey would have died protecting me. He would have given his life to save mine if need be. I wasn’t sure about the others—I hadn’t looked into their eyes—but despite everything that had happened, I trusted Joey enough to know that he wouldn’t lie to me.
“I don’t know this world,” I whimpered, wanting to be strong but feeling so weak. “All I know is that I was asked to nurse a man back to health, and in doing so I’ve been beaten, had my family threatened, terrorized, and then almost killed.”
I stated it as simply as I could in the hopes that he could understand; black and white, good versus evil. Beseeching him to appreciate where I was coming from.
Joey leaned over and pulled me into his arms, and I didn’t fight him. All my fight was gone. The only thing left was a puddle of despair and worry. I’d been agonizing over this stuff for weeks, and to have it all out in the open was like breathing fresh air. Joey held me and I sobbed quietly, hating how pathetic I was, but glad to be able to let it all out. Glad to be able to confide in someone.
The door to the Church, or whatever it was called, suddenly opened and Beast stepped out first, his eyes flaring in annoyance when he saw Joey holding me.
“What the fuck is this?” he yelled, storming forward.
Joey let me go and jumped back up to his feet. “Sorry, just comforting her.”
Beast stormed forward and grabbed Joey by the front of his scruffy black tee so quickly I barely saw him move. He slammed him against the wall hard, so much so that I felt the vibrations through my feet.
“Oh yeah, comfortin’ her? You keeping her real happy, prospect? You making sure she’s well looked after?”
The murderous intentions on Beast’s face were obvious to anyone who looked. Anyone but Joey.
“Yeah, for sure, Beast. I’ve been looking after her for weeks!” he said innocently, and it seemed I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t cut out for this life.
Beast slammed Joey against the wall harder and I jumped to my feet. I grabbed Beast’s arm and pulled, but his muscles had solidified and turned to stone.
“Get off of him!” I practically screamed. Beast slowly turned his gaze on me and my eyes narrowed. God, I hated him so much. “What is wrong with you? You’re unhinged!” I tugged on his arm again, but he still wouldn’t budge.
“You letting the prospect keep you cozy now, Belle? First the Italian, then me, and now him? You working your way through a lot of men.”
I glared at him before reaching back and slapping the side of his face so hard my hand stung and I yelped in pain. But I wasn’t done. I wasn’t even nearly done. I hit him again, and again, slapping and kicking and growing more infuriated by his lack of response.
“How dare you!” I screamed.
“Beast!” Shooter yelled as the rest of the men came out of the little room. “Let the fucking prospect go! Gauge, grab the bitch before she hurts herself.”
I could feel the anger emanating from Beast. It was like the beams of the sun—heat and radiation vibrating from him and burning everything it touched—but he made no move to stop me from hitting him, or to hit me back. He just glared and took my anger.
Gauge stormed toward me. He grabbed me around the waist and dragged me away from Beast even as I continued to yell and scream, all self-preservation out the window.
“I was crying, okay!” I shouted. “I was crying becauseyouwanted to kill me, Beast, and Joey was hugging me and telling me I was an idiot for not coming to the club about this. He was telling me that he would have protected me—thatyouwould have protected me!”
Beast’s nostrils flared like a bull ready for a fight. His gaze never left mine and I let out a shaky breath. I was so done with all of this. It was too much. How did they live with this every day of their lives? How did they survive this drama? This heartache? This fear?
Beast suddenly let go of the prospect. He looked Joey up and down, his jaw twitching so violently I wasn’t sure why something hadn’t broken in it. The room had fallen into silence; a tense standoff between me and Beast. Gauge was still holding onto me, his arms locked around my waist. I was breathing hard, practically panting in equal parts fear as anger, and Beast looked like he was having the same problem too. His chest was heaving, his nostrils flared. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill me, beat me, or fuck me. But the look on his face said that it was maybe all three.
“Who the fuck is Joey?” Casa said, cutting the tension like a chainsaw through butter: messy and completely unnecessary.
“The prospect,” Rider said.
“No fuckin’ shit!” he returned with a grin. “Well, Joey, prospect, kid that almost got his ass whooped into oblivion, I suggest you go do some errands before Beast breaks out of whatever fuckin’ stupor he’s in and decides to tear you motherfuckin’ apart.”
“I was just trying to help. She looked sad,” Joey tried to explain.
Beast broke our fickle bond to glower at Joey, and the poor kid paled before moving quickly out of his reach.
“Fill the bikes up,” Rider said as Joey left without another word. He turned to me. “Shit’s about to get real dark, darlin’.”
