Chapter 6

I"d never experienced anything so amazing and torturous at the same time.

"Do you want any coffee?" Kim asked Beasty in the cramped kitchen as he watched her from under his lashes. He was so fucking bashful with her.

That in itself was wild. The last few years, he"d really come out of his shell.

I wouldn"t call him a social butterfly. He still retained that aloofness that was part of the drawl in the model world, but when he wanted to be, he was charming. Resourceful.

He"d learned how to turn it on at the drop of a hat.

Yet here he was, stumbling over his words and whispering to her like she"d hear what he said from across the kitchen.

Joaquin came around the corner and headed straight for the coffee machine. He shot a blank look at Beasty, opened his mouth, then thought better of it as he shook his head and fled without his coffee.

Atlas brushed by him as he was on his way out.

His steps slowed when he caught sight of Beasty standing at the sink, looking out the window.

She"d been here a week and we"d barely talked to her. She seemed to be excited to be here, but quiet. Real fucking quiet.

And she was also freakily clean. Cleaning up after herself and us. Every time Joaquin left a glass on the coffee table, it was gone before I"d even seen her breeze through. Like she had some kind of radar on our movements.

Impressive since Atlas grabbed the coffee that Joaquin had started before scooting out of the kitchen like his ass was on fire.

Those two did that. When they thought no one would notice, they did little things for each other. Sometimes for us, but not nearly as much as they did for each other.

Atlas walked to the table with thick, sludging steps. I had to smirk. He was being hella quiet. Peeking over his shoulder, he glanced at Beasty, who was still staring wistfully out at the ugly-ass building across the street.

He sat his ass down and watched her while pretending to study his coffee.

"We need to leave at ten," I said to Kim as I gripped the edge of the counter I leaned on.

Today, Kim had a job with Valencia, an Italian designer here for a low-key show. The last few years, Kim–and Atlas–had gained such popularity, they didn"t have to do the small shows anymore. But Valencia was a big designer, and it was in the best interest of his career to take the job.

She also held a lot of sway in the industry and this was our bread and butter.

Kim nodded and turned his body toward Beasty without looking at her. It was cute as shit.

He was taking his time coming out of his comfort zone where she was concerned. As infuriating as the slow pace was, I understood it. Hell, we all did.

We were all living vicariously through him.

"Beasty, do you want to come with us? See what I do?"

She startled, like she hadn"t expected anyone to talk to her. Turning her head, she glanced at him, then me. I wasn"t smiling when she turned to me.

Shit, I had a terrible dick face expression. I was going to scare her or piss her off.

Without blinking an eye, she glazed right over me to Atlas, then returned her attention back to Kim. That stung.

"Are you sure?" She chewed on her thumbnail, or what was left of it. Was she a nail biter? I didn"t think she was.

Atlas had never said anything about it.

"Yes," Kim breathed, a giant smile sliding over his face. "I want you to see what I do. Maybe we can dress you up while we"re there too, you know–"

"No." I didn"t shout, but that was a firm hell no. They stripped the models down in the same room together and touched everything. A model had no secrets when they were being dressed.

They weren"t getting within a foot of Beasty.

"I didn"t mean that they would dress her. I would." His voice was stiff. Kim was miffed.

"Not a good idea." I held his stare and at first, I thought he was going to argue, but he relented.

His body softened and he canted himself toward Beasty. "I"d love for you to watch me work."

A soft smile broke over her face. "Sure. When should I be ready?"

"At ten," Kim repeated what I"d said minutes earlier.

She dipped out of the kitchen as Atlas finally faced her head on, even if it was her retreating back. We didn"t say anything. Just exchanged glances like how the hell did we end up here? And not really caring because this was everything we wanted.

This was a fucking bad idea.

I ground my teeth as I stood off to the side with my arms crossed. Beasty was next to me, and if I thought she would be okay with it, I"d shove her behind me.

Valencia was a rod-thin woman over six feet tall, with the personality of a raging prickle bush. But she knew her fashion. And Kim loved her. Except today.

Every time he looked to Beasty, whether trying to speak to her or just to check on her, Valencia would go off on some kind of jealous spree.

The woman was old enough to be his mother and looked it too. With all the money she had, she chose to age gracefully, something that was controversial in the fashion industry. Yet she did not like that he brought a friend along.

"I can have Joaquin come pick you up," I murmured to Beasty without taking my gaze off of Kim.

I really didn"t fucking like this. One of the other guys would have to come with me if she came to any more shows. The models and staff were eyeing her up like fresh meat, and that wasn"t going to happen.

It didn"t help that Beasty fit the model image.

Tall, slender. She wasn"t conventionally beautiful. Not according to Hollywood"s standards, but she was interesting. For some designers, that was like free cocaine on the buffet. They couldn"t resist.

She also gave off a "fuck you" vibe. It was fake.

I knew it. Kim knew it. It was why he was trying so hard to bring her in and make her feel comfortable.

"No," Beasty snapped. Then gave me wide eyes. "I"m sorry, that was too much. I want to stay and watch. And I don"t want to put anyone out."

"Beasty–" Kim called.

"I think these pants need to be pinned here." Valencia"s heavily accented voice grated over my nerves. She stood to the side so we had a full view of her fingertips gliding over his ass.

Kim stiffened and his gaze became far off. I doubted anyone else realized what was going on or that there was even a problem, but I knew.

"You"re crossing a line," I barked at Valencia. I didn"t give a fuck if she thought she was a big fucking deal or not.

Beasty jumped at the crack of my voice but Kim was still dazing off into space.

The old hag laughed and the throaty noise grated over my ears. "Kim, your bodyguard thinks he has some power here." She straightened to her full height, and with her four-inch heels, she was taller than Kim. Almost my height.

Squaring her shoulders, she faced me. "This is my show. Either Kim follows my rules or he doesn"t work for my brand. If you don"t want to be the reason he loses work, then I"d suggest you do what guards do and pretend you don"t exist."

Turning back to Kim, a deep frown tugged on the side of Valencia's lips.

When Kim looked back at me, there was finally some life there. Fire. That was better than whatever the hell he"d been exhibiting for the last hour.

"Valencia, you know I"m such a fan of your work. I"ve been following your career since before I entered middle school," he purred and she melted. It was missing his usual charm, but either she didn't notice or just liked the attention no matter how it came.

She snapped her fingers for one of her underlings, and the girl raced over with a cord draped around her neck with tons of extra pins. She handed a couple to Valencia.

Most of the color had drained out of Kim"s face, but with his soft smile pinned in place, Valencia ignored it. She was happy to have his full attention again.

Kim met my gaze and shook his head. He was trying to say it wasn"t worth the scene.

Old angers bubbled up under my skin. The kind that hadn"t been there since Atlas and Kim first entered the industry, and we had to go through a monumental learning curve to see if they could do it.

A maintenance man passed through with a ladder and knocked the tail end into Beasty and she stumbled back into the wall.

"Watch yourself!" I yelled at the man, catching the end of the ladder before he could turn and take out a whole row of people. Glancing back, I made sure Beasty was okay. She was righting herself and didn't seem bothered. But I was, this guy was an idiot.

"Sorry! I didn"t see her," he muttered and ducked his head, scramming before I decided to land my fist in his face.

Twisting my head to the right then left to crack it, I tried to release the taut tension that started building as soon as we stepped out of the car.

He had seen her, he just assumed she was unimportant. Otherwise, he would have taken out the two other models being fitted three feet in front of us. He chose the lesser of two evils to get by instead of acting like a human being and asking us to step back.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Beasty tugged on my arm.

Her eyes were pinched as she darted her gaze around the crowded room. It was a madhouse with different stations set up for fittings, makeup, and the line for the show.

Checking my watch, I sighed. They were running late. The show should start in ten minutes and they hadn"t even gotten the full lineup yet.

I raised my chin at one of the security guys I"d made connections with. He worked for the agency and was often leased out to the venues given his expertise with running security at shows. It made everyone feel a little better to have a familiar face who knew event protocols.

"What"s up?" Josh asked as he walked over.

"Beasty has to run to the restroom. Can you escort her there and right back?" I dropped my brows over my eyes and met his stare head on. He raised his own but didn"t comment on the uncharacteristic action for me. I was usually a fly on the wall, just like Valencia expected of me and the other guards here with the bigger names.

"Sure." To her, he held out his arm so she could take his elbow. "Shall we?"

"No." I shook my head once and the grin died on his face.

"Yeah, ok." He pointed toward the back corner where the restrooms were. "I"ll follow you."

Beasty tossed a confused look over her face before she led the way.

"All right people!" Valencia clapped. "Get in line! I"ll reorder you if necessary but find a spot based on your number!"

I stepped next to Kim and lowered my voice, making sure not to touch him. He was always a little raw after a show or shoot, and today, it would be worse with all of Valencia"s shit. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and swallowed. "I don"t know why that got to me so much. She"s such a bitch."

She was more than.

"I"ll take care of it."

One of the other male models started crowding his back. He looked like he wanted to say something else but didn"t. Instead, he took his place in line in the prearranged order.

Valencia stood at the front of the line so she could inspect and tweak each outfit before the models walked out.

I moved toward the back wall, close enough to the bathrooms where Josh would spot me as soon as he brought Beasty back, and where I could do a little of my own work.

The room started to clear as the models lined up. There were still stations set up so the models could be redressed and touched up when they come back from their first walk, but it was calmer than five minutes ago.

With my back to the wall, I kept an eye on Kim while actively searching for Valencia"s assistant, Rich. He was a nasty weasel, but he had his purposes.

When he appeared around the corner, walking with his nose glued to his tablet, I whistled to get his attention.

Rich stopped and glanced up. A sneer started to form before it morphed into a cheeky grin. "Lake." He winked, like I didn"t peg it for the fake greeting it was.

Everyone in fashion was fucking fake.

"Come here. I want to talk to you for a second." I kept my voice low so no one would notice. During a show, it would take a meteor crashing into the building to get these self-absorbed idiots" heads out of their asses, but I wasn"t going to be stupid about it.

"I only have thirty seconds. You know how Valencia is during a show night." He rolled his eyes, showing exactly how he felt about his boss.

"About that." I took a small step forward to push us even closer. He tilted his face up, a coy expression lighting his features. I ignored it. "Remember when you did that hit and run last year, killing the elderly woman on a crosswalk?"

His eyes bulged and he started coughing. I caught his arm as he tried to bolt.

"That wasn"t–That never happened," he choked out, trying to wave me away.

"Oh, but it did." I glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention.

Kim stoically faced forward, already in the zone for his walk. No sign of Beasty and Josh yet. As soon as Kim went out, I was hunting her. She shouldn"t be taking this long.

"I swear!–"

"I don"t give a damn about that." Not outside of using it as leverage for situations just like this. "What I do care about is finding out every dirty little secret on Valencia. You can help me do that, can"t you?"

He wildly searched the room for her, and when he saw that she had her back to us as she fussed over the first model"s outfit, he deflated. "I need this job."

"You"ll keep your job. I"m just looking for a little leverage. I hate being called just a bodyguard." I raised one shoulder nonchalantly as if this was an issue with my ego.

I didn"t give two shits about that. I cared that she was touching Kim when he didn"t want to be touched. That she was abusing her power and treating Kim like he was some kind of doll for her pleasure.

Clamping my hand down on his shoulder, I pulled my wallet out of my pocket.

When I was sure he wasn"t going to bolt, I let him go and pulled cash out. "Now. I"m going to give you three hundred as a show of good faith that I don"t mean you any harm. Your secret is safe with us." I handed over the bills.

"Us?" He gulped.

"My friends. The four of us all know. We have no secrets from each other. But, like I said," I dropped my head toward his, "we don"t care about you. You have one week to get me a file of everything you can find on Valencia that even smells bad."

Movement caught my eye and I glanced to the side. Beasty was just a few steps away, and she eyed the money still clutched in his fingers.

"Call me." I gave him a warning look then stepped back. Beasty stopped next to me just as Kim walked out onto the stage.

Her lips twisted to the side and her brows pushed up in the middle as she watched him disappear. "I can"t believe I missed his first walk. We can"t sit in the audience?"

Stepping back, I leaned against the wall, letting my arms hang loose by my sides. You never knew when an asshole would pop up and try to sucker punch you. Which had happened more than I"d like to admit at these shows.

Especially, if there were new or useless security running the show.

"Afraid not," I grunted.

As much as I wanted Beasty to be able to watch Kim, and as much as I wanted Kim to have that too, it was just too dangerous for Kim if I left.

She braced herself on the wall next to me, and we watched the ever-rotating line of models. Once they started coming back, the place became a madhouse all over again.

The closing calls were being made and Valencia"s voice could be heard over the speakers. Then without any fanfare like these snots were too good to be here, the models started walking back in.

Kim returned glowing. After every show he had this high about him. I liked that for him.

Sometimes out of all of us, he seemed the least fucked up. This momentary euphoria he experienced made me believe that even more.

He beamed at Beasty and hesitated before he came right over. I glanced around for Valencia, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I wouldn"t let that bitch ruin this moment for him. She"d get what was coming to her anyway.

Kim stopped when his toes almost touched Beasty's, simply smiling at her. She returned his dopey expression and my chest ached.

Thiswas the normal I wanted for him.

The rest of us might be too fucked in the head, but I wanted this for Kim.

"What did you think?"

Her smile went lopsided, and some of the dreaminess fled her eyes, but she nodded. "It was great. I loved watching how everything worked. It"s...a lot though."

"Yeah..." Some of his happiness died too, and I knew both of them were thinking of Valencia and her fucking ego.

"Maybe later today we can watch a movie or something? I"m a huge fan of rom coms." He pressed his lips together to suppress his smile.

I had to fight mine too, anger be damned.

"Kim," one of the other models called before he jogged over. "Are you going over to Valencia"s after party?"

I think his name was Break. Breck?

He was the exact opposite of Kim and Atlas. Where Kim was the aloof untouchable fairy and Atlas was the daring asshole, Breck was a twisted ball of surfer sunshine with long, blond hair and light blue eyes. He even had sun-kissed skin.

This guy also ate up everything the fashion industry had to offer, including the drugs and partying.

"No," Kim answered, then turned back to Beasty.

I had to stop myself from reacting. He always put on such an act, I hadn"t expected for him to be outright rude.

Breck turned to Beasty, and he made a show of slowly looking her up and down. "Well...who is this interesting creature?"

Kim and I both stood taller.

"Beasty," she said and held out her hand.

Breck grinned, grabbed hers and pulled her in for a full body hug. Her hands went to his side as he stuck his nose in her hair and took a long whiff. Beasty tried to push away from him, but he tightened his hold.

"We"re all friends here. Don"t you know that friends in the modeling industry are very close?" Breck"s voice dropped.

I reached for Beasty at the same time as Kim, and we both pulled her away from him.

"Breck, that"s enough. We"re leaving." Kim positioned himself between Beasty and Breck.

Good, because if I could reach him, I"d throat punch him.

"Don"t be like that, Kim," he huffed, good-naturedly.

Kim slipped his fingers through hers, and I almost tripped. He didn"t touch anyone unless he had to. Everyone always touched him.

Beasty had no fucking idea how big of a deal this was. But Valencia popped up and her eyes narrowed on their joined hands. "You have one of my designs on, Kim. They"re not leaving the building."

"Fine." He dropped Beasty"s hand and started stripping down to his white briefs.

Josh appeared at my side with Kim"s bag. This asshole Breck had me forgetting my job.

Kim tossed his outfit to Valencia, hitting her in the face with his pant leg.

The entire time, Beasty held her head up high, pretending that she wasn"t affected. She couldn"t hide the tremble in her hands though. Not when I was this close to her.

As I followed them out, I got distracted by watching her ass instead.

My gut clenched. When had Beasty grown up?

And what the hell was I doing checking out her ass?

Oh shit, this was all kinds of wrong. I'd watched over her just like the guys. I was so much older than her. Fuck.

Yet all evening, I sulked around spying on Kim"s innocent interactions with Beasty.

She didn"t even pay attention to the rest of us. We avoided her and she avoided us.

The sign that I had fallen from what little grace I had, was sitting in the hallway with Atlas as we watched the back of their heads while they watched a movie.

They were halfway through the movie when I couldn"t take it anymore.

I still couldn"t get Beasty out of my head as I drove, paid for the service, or when I stripped down in the room.

When Esmeralda, which I was sure was a fake name, walked in and slapped me across the face, the cool burn finally started to clear my mind.

Beasty was going to have a normal life. Kim too. I"d make sure of it.

One thing was for damn sure. She was too good for me.