“An’ I’ll do whatever it takes to show you I’ll always protect you, Belle,” he returned.
He reached for me, pulling me against his chest, and I sagged with relief as the scent of him—of leather and smoke, of sandalwood and sweat and all things Beast—wrapped itself around me and finally I felt safe. Despite the awful woman currently asleep in my bed, despite the two men who would show up soon and try to kill me, despite Beast’s club hating me and probably still wanting to kill me too…I felt safe. There in Beast’s arms, I had hope.
The slam of a door startled me, and Beast quickly shoved me behind his back and pulled out a gun from inside his cut. I gasped at the sight of it, a tremble starting in my belly and working its way around my body.
This was it.
This was actually happening.
They were finally here for me.
We crept to the trailer, pressing our backs against it before Beast began moving around the side of it. I’d never seen that look on his face before, and it scared me. Gone was the man I had fallen in love with—the vulnerable, beautiful man—and in his place was a cold-blooded killer. I could see it in his eyes, in his stance, in the way his jaw ticked. I felt safe but terrified of him all at the same time.
The sound of an engine coming to life brought my thoughts back to the present, and Beast looked back at me with a scowl. We moved quicker, heading around to the front of the trailer, gun raised, just in time to see my mom taking off in my car.
Dirt and gravel flew up behind her as she tried to get out of there before she had to face me, and I gasped as I put the pieces together. The car was loaded with boxes on the back seat, and without thinking I ran from around the back of Beast and up the steps of my trailer.
Inside was a mess. Every cupboard door was open, the small sofa was in disarray, cushions scattered on to the floor, ornaments knocked over, and pictures hanging to one side.
She was looking for something…
“No!” I cried out, and ran toward my bedroom.
“Belle, wait,” Beast called after me, but I was already gone, throwing open the rickety door to my room.
The room had been tipped upside down, drawers emptied, the mattress dragged up. The door to the small closet was open and its contents were spilling out: clothes, books, CDs—my life was in an unwanted heap. I dropped to my knees in front of it and began rummaging through my things, searching for the rose-scented box where I kept my savings. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found it, but it was short-lived.
The lid was off it and the contents were gone.
A sob left me and I buried my face in my hands.
“What is it?” he asked.
I glanced up briefly. “My savings…she took all of it.”
Beast sat behind me on the edge of the bed, one hand rubbing my back as he let me cry out all of my disappointment and sadness. When there was nothing left in me, I rubbed at my cheeks and looked back at him, and his expression was haunting.
He knew my pain.
He’d lived it too.
The disappointment of a mother, of family, was agonizing. These were the people that were supposed to love and protect you. To keep you safe and pick you up when you fell down. They weren’t supposed to hurt you. They weren’t supposed to allow bad things to happen.
“How much was in there?” he asked.
“Everything,” I said, my voice hoarse. “All of my savings. Everything that Shooter paid me to look after you, and everything from before then. It was all I had in the world—maybe ten grand, give or take.”
“Jesus, Belle,” he sighed, dragging a hand down his chin. “Why would you keep that sort of money lying around here?”
“I was saving for an apartment. I just—I wasn’t sure if I could put it in the bank what with it coming from the club. I didn’t want anyone asking questions in case I got you in trouble.” I looked back at the empty box again, and then my eyes surveyed the mess my mother had left in her hunt for my savings. She’d torn the place apart looking for it. “I need to clean up,” I said sadly, getting to my feet.
“Hey,” Beast said, reaching for me, “come here.”
He pulled me to him and I buried my face in his neck, swallowing down the tears that were threatening to come again.
“I can’t believe she’d do this to me,” I mumbled against his skin.
His hands rubbed up and down my back, soothing me. “People are shitty, Belle. It’s just the way they are.”
I pulled away to look at him, his sadness matching mine. God, he was actually sad for me, and for some reason that made it more bearable. He got it, he understood. He was furious for me, but mostly he was just sad for me.
Beast pushed my hair back from my face and I took a shuddering breath. “People are shitty,” he said again, “but I know that there are good people out there too. And the good far outweigh the bad.”
“How can you be so sure?” I said with a sniffle.
He smiled and didn’t say anything, and I knew what he was saying without words, and I found myself agreeing with him. I surveyed the damage again.
“I’m never getting out of this dump, am I?” I said on a heavy breath.
“I’ll sort it out,” he replied, and I shook my head firmly. “Belle—”
“No, I have to do this myself.”
It was his turn to look frustrated then, but he nodded all the same. “All right, if that’s what you want. But maybe, when all this shit is behind us—because it will be soon—how about I put the deposit down for you and you just pay me back? Or not. Whichever.”
He smirked, and I smiled at him but shook my head. “No, but when all this is over, how about I let you take me out to dinner?”
“As long as it’s not Italian.” He winked, and despite the awfulness of the situation, I couldn’t help but smile. It quickly fell when I thought about Lorenzo, though, a frown replacing my smile.
“What’s this all about?” he said, indicating my frown.
“I need to speak to Lorenzo.” I looked away from Beast. “I need to end things with him.”
“Fuck him, he’ll know it’s over when he sees you with me,” he bit out, and I shook my head and looked back at him. “I’m serious, Belle, stay away from him.”
“I’m serious too. I need to break up with him. He’s not the man I thought he was; he’s a bully, but he’s just a man. I’m doing this, with or without your blessing.” I pulled out of his grip and started picking my things back up off the floor and putting them back away.
I noted certain things were gone as I cleaned up: my favorite dress, a pair of heels, some of my makeup, jewelry. I sighed with each new thing gone, a new kind of sadness growing inside my heart.
It took us over an hour to put my trailer back together, and the whole time Beast wouldn’t speak to me. I decided to take his silence as him brooding and not being mad at me, because that was easier to handle. I finally sat back down on the sofa in the small living room and looked back around at my home. I’d found more and more of my things missing as I’d tidied, and I no doubt would find more as the days went on. She’d pretty much cleared me out of food, which was the most hurtful. It was like, not only was she stealing my things—my clothes, my jewelry, my money, but she also didn’t care that I’d have nothing to eat, and as far as she was concerned, no money to buy food with.