Chapter 5

It's been two days, and she has done nothing but sit in her room. Mabel brings her food three times a day, but the stubborn woman only turns the platters of food away. She hasn't explored the mansion or the rose garden just beyond her windows. It's why I insisted she have the Queen's suite. The gardens are for her. Why hasn't she explored her new home?

Because of you. The voice in my head goes off with the truth. I hurt her, and she feels unwanted. I need to correct that, but how without getting pulled into her orbit where I lose control? Wanting her the way I do will only lead to misery for her. Once she learns I'm the beast everyone calls me, she will regret letting me touch her.

I should have killed her father and walked away. Why the hell did I ever fall into those pretty green eyes and let her talk me into accepting her soul in place of her father's?

Because she makes me weak with hope every time I look at her, is why. I meant every word I told her. I lose all my good sense in her presence and a man in my position can't afford to be weak. People get killed when that happens.

I watch my rose through the security system. It makes me a bastard to invade her privacy but I don't give a shit. Every property I own is loaded with cameras. I'm known as the king of paranoia, but the people under my care are safe because of it. That matters to me.

I pinch the screen of my cell phone and zoom in. Mabel has left yet another tray of food for her on the side table, but Bella has left it untouched. She sits with her legs crossed on the window seat as she looks out over the gardens below. Sunlight plays through the thick waves of her hair. What I wouldn't give to be sitting next to her right now. I would pull all that red silk away from her face and kiss her neck, her cheeks and her lips until she forgave me for being the asshole I am.

I turn the volume up on my phone and hold the speaker close to my ear only to be gutted by what I hear. I started out life at the knee of a born killer. He trained me to ignore my emotions and feelings. But hearing Bella cry erases everything my father beat into me and she makes me feel every nerve ending in my body at the sound of her tears. Good or bad, her quiet sobs lure the blackness from the depths of my soul and she makes me want to be a better man for her sake.

Another tiny whimper has me almost forgetting about what I have to do tonight so that I can ease her pain.

Christ. I need to focus.

Acid mixes with blood in my veins. I should be there with her, but business keeps me away. The night I accepted her deal I swore she would never shed another tear under my care.

Here I've already broken that promise.

I left her a new cell phone with the capabilities to only call me. I've waited every minute since placing that phone in her room for a call, but there's only been silence in return. I can't blame her. I admit though, I expected an angry "fuck you" and a swift hang up.

But no. I'm learning my sweet Bella rather make me suffer with her silence. I crack a smile. The woman takes stubbornness to a whole other level. I pivot the camera to where I placed the phone and sure enough it's in the same place I left it while she slept the other night. She didn't even bother to crumple up the note I left behind to call me if she needed anything.

She wipes at a tear that leaves me gritting my teeth in frustration. I kill the live feed to her room and pull her name up on my phone. My thumb hovers over the call button.

I scrape a hand down my face. What the hell am I doing? She is so young. And alone. I know the feeling. I'm excellent at reading people and Bella is a sad soul.

I should set her free. Raven could pick up a plane ticket, and she could be in London in a handful of hours.

I pull the feed back up to find her standing from the window seat. The sun is setting and before long the moon will be out. Does she like daytime walks or does she prefer the night? I have a million questions to ask her.

My screen fills with the view of her shedding her clothes. First her shirt and then a pair of sweatpants Mabel provided her with my instructions. She's done crying and a gut feeling tells me I should worry more about her exchanging her tears for a pair of running shoes.

How long before she tries to test my rules? Would I chase her if she tried to get away? Without a fucking doubt.

My thoughts and emotions are shredding my nerves until the ends feel like they are on fire. For the first time in my life I can't decide what to do. Let her go?

I'd be a better man for it. I know it. But my demons have a louder voice and I'm, by design, a selfish man.

She gave herself to me and that makes her mine. I watch her undress like a fucking monster. I can't force myself to look away from her pure beauty. She's everything I am not. Gentle. Kind and so damn beautiful it physically hurts to be away from her. I'll dirty her the second I touch her again, but I can't help myself. I need to have the feel of her warmth under my hands.

I pull up my messages and tap the number to her new cellphone.

Will you have dinner with me tonight?

I pause and then add in:

Please.

Jesus H. Christ.

Have I ever said the word let alone typed it?

I hit send and flip back to the cameras to see her pick up the phone. My heart clenches as her thumb hovers over the little bubble with my invite. Will she take me up on my offer or use this opportunity to finally tell me to get lost?

This woman has my insides actually fucking quivering with anxiety like I'm some teenage boy confessing his love for the first time.

"Sir. They're here with the package."

Raven raps me on the shoulder and juts his chin toward the opposite side of the empty basement we're standing in.

I turn the video off as she tosses the running shoes aside and lowers herself to the edge of the bed.

I slide my phone into my pocket. The faster I get this dirty business over with, the sooner I can get back to Bella and we can start our life together. I'll do whatever it takes to win her trust and her heart. A woman who doesn't back down when I get growly or flinch at the sight of my scars deserves better from me.

When I return to the manor, we can hit the reset button. I'll show her who I am and she can decide for herself if she wants me or not. I'll do everything in my power to show her I can be the man she deserves. I only hope it is enough.

We are back in the same underground basement from the night I met Bella. It's empty of anyone else at the moment and eerily silent. On the drive here I thought about that night from every angle, but I come back to the same conclusion. I'd take her up on her offer if I had it to do over again.

Fluorescents throw the middle of the expansive cavern into stark white light while leaving the corners in deep shadow. That is where I stand alongside Raven and watch a body bag get dragged under the lights and dumped.

It's not long before the contents fight to be let out.

I signal one of my crew to move in. Claw tugs at the zipper and out falls a man with acid green hair and a snarl on his lips.

"What the fuck is this?" He comes out swinging but when I step from the shadows, he falls to his knees.

Claw and Raven flank me on either side as I approach my enemy's misguided enforcer. Whatever drove him to convince Bella's father to turn against me will cost him tonight.

"Beast. You can't do this."

He understands there is a good chance he is not leaving this basement alive.

"I can and I will."

The other man's hands tremble when he drags them through his hair. "Darrion will have your head if you do anything. You wanna restart the war between you two?"

I lower my weight to the balls of my feet in front of Abel. Darrion's best fighter looks ready to piss his pants.

"You should have thought about that before organizing a fight on my property and getting my best enforcer involved." I pull my weapon and put the barrel to Abel's head.

"I'm sorry. We need the cash flow, is all. I didn't mean any disrespect."

"Yes, you did. Or, you would have come to me. I'm not against making money. All you had to do was ask. Kincaid knew this, but you both went behind my back. What did you need the money for?"

"I don't know man, the boss doesn't tell me shit like that. He just said to do it, so I did. Whatever it took."

I rise to my full height and lower my gun. Leaving him alive will give me more answers than if he's dead. Darrion is up to something and I need to know what that is before it's too late. He's always been a slippery son-of-a bitch. We've done this dance before and it's how I ended up with the scars on my face and back. Darrion has been after my territory since our father died.

"You can't blame me for following orders, man."

"You're going to tell me what my little shit of a brother is up to. Do that and we will see if I let you live or not."

I take a step back, and the man reads my intentions wrong. He takes my reprieve as weakness. His error will cost him in pain.

I don't know why Abel thinks he can get the better of me. Maybe it's the chemicals in his hair dye or he's taken one too many punches to the head. My brother's enforcer lunges for me, but a life of fighting has me prepared for the incoming punches.

He swings, but his attempt at rearranging my face fails and the second his hands drop I drive forward, landing a blow to his jaw.

I don't stop until I see red and hear the crack of bones.

If you make the first move you better hope I go down fast, because once I start I won't stop until I smell blood.

With every inhale, the scent of his pain feeds my thirst to see him dead and in a grave for costing me my best enforcer. More so, for causing an innocent woman unbearable pain.

I stop only when his knees hit the rough cement and he holds his hands in front of his face.

"Stand up. You want to go against me, let's finish this."

Abel sways, but manages to drag his weight onto two shaky legs. "Wait until Darrion hears about this. Go ahead and kill me. Dump my body wherever you want. He'll take you down for this as soon as I don't show up tonight." He comes off as exhausted and ready to give in physically, but his mouth has no problem shooting off.

My mind flashes back to the time when my brother let his greed ruin our family. It was the night of our father's funeral. Darrion demanded I step down and hand him the De La Rosa fortune and throne. I don't do well with threats. When Darrion couldn't take the throne by force, my sister and mother fell victim to his psychotic violence. I learned not to trust anyone that night. I never forgave him for his betrayal. It's a pet peeve of mine now. But this man doesn't deserve my wrath for what my brother did.

"Don't worry, Abel. You'll show up. But get crawling sooner rather than later because it's going to take you a while." I pull my gun and bury bullets in either of his knees caps. Piercing screams echo off the bare cement walls. "Tell your boss I'm ready for a fight anytime he wants to bring it anytime he feels he can take me on."

I turn to Raven who looks ready to end some lives and get on with his night. "Take him to Darrion's lines and dump him in a back alley. Let him crawl back to his boss."

"Why don't we keep him? Your brother is up to something and I have a few fresh ideas on how to get this fucker talking."

"This bottom feeder is right. Whatever Darrion is up to he is keeping close to his chest. This one can't give us anything and I'm not patient enough to deal with him. Return to sender. Darrion will get the message."

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out to see Bella's peaceful face fill the screen. I snapped a picture of her sleeping the night I left the burner cell phone on her night table.

I go to tap the answer button when I pause. Blood covers the backs of my scarred knuckles.

She's too beautiful for a monster like me. Too pure. I know I should let her go, but I can't find it in me to say the words or do what is necessary to see her returned to her father. How twisted and fucked up is that?

When I don't answer the call, a text message comes through.

Dinner sounds nice. Thank you. We should talk. What should I wear?

Thank you.

Out of everything she said those two words strike my heart with a fierceness that has my blood turning cold. She is thanking me for being a decent human being to her. Barbed wire wraps around my heart. I tap out a quick reply.

Change of plans. Maybe some other time.

I shoot off the message before my demons convince me I'm too far gone to care about sullying an innocent woman's soul with my filth. I can't have her while I'm like this. She deserves better.

Abel spits blood on the cement, drawing my eyes back to him. He leans his weight on his heels and lets out a choked laugh. With the few broken ribs he earned I imagine the pain jacking through his system right now makes him want to pass out. His breathing is labored and he winces through every deep chuckle.

"It's only a matter of time before her father comes after you. I'll laugh myself into a grave when it's a lowlife like me who ends you."

Abel's slurred words hold some truth to them.

Raven loads the crying enforcer into the body bag and Crawl drags him to the door they brought him through.

"After you two dump him in Darrion's territory, find Kincaid."

Raven's face turns into a pucker of confusion."Mind me asking why?"

"He'll come for her and he'll use whatever means he has available. Mainly my brother. We either wait for whatever he's planning or we take him out first."

"What about the girl?"

"Bella must never find out."

No one can have Bella. No one but me. But before that can happen I have to rid the world of everyone who could take her from me. Then I have to wash the blood from my hands and learn to be the man she needs in her life. Not the beast she sees now.