Chapter 9
DAMIAN
What a mess.
A lowlife tied up in the trunk of my car. My best friend’s sister in the passenger seat, her arms wrapped across her middle, staring out the window like she wants to look anywhere but at me. The kiss is a distant memory.
I should’ve waited longer. Seen if Rico was bluffing. Now that he’s seen me, I can’t let him go.
I park out back, then hand Celine my key, our hands brushing. There’s that electricity again, that spark of closeness. “Wait in the house,” I tell her. “I’ll handle Rico and then join you.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she murmurs softly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is it your fault?” she asks. “I don’t know anything, Damian.”
“We’ll talk once Rico is secured.”
“Secured,” she repeats. “What does that even mean?”
“Tied up in my fucking basement. Go inside, Celine.”
She chews her lip, looking devastated. The Beast isn’t supposed to feel emotions, isn’t supposed to give a damn if I upset people.
Something in me softens. I didn’t know that was possible before her. This time, I gently touch her hand intentionally. “I know this is a lot. I’m trying to help.”
She looks so grateful for that small morsel of humanity. Taking a steadying breath, she nods, then pushes the door open and walks through the rear gate and overgrown garden.
I chose this property because the rear opens onto a park and some fields. No security cameras. Today, it’s quiet, with one dog walker at the other end of the park. I sit drumming my fingers against the wheel, telling myself I can’t kill Rico. Not yet.
But when I think of him in that alley, think of what he was going to do to Celine, I want to wring his neck.
Once I’ve stowed Rico so somewhere he can’t bother innocent women, I meet Celine in the living room. She looks beautiful and somehow out of place amidst the Christmas decorations. She’s still wearing her nurse’s scrubs, her hair disheveled, her cheeks flushed red.
Beautiful, every inch of her.
She springs to her feet as though she’s been working up to it. “I need answers. Now. Who is that man? Why was he following me? What exactly do you and Julian do? What did Rico mean when he said it’s difficult to be sure without a body?”
I put my hand up. “Wait. Stop. What do you mean?”
“That’s what he said at the hospital,” she snaps. “It’s difficult to be sure without a body. Was he talking about you? About that attack?”
Julian didn’t mention that. And he got shifty when I asked.
No.
Dammit.
No.
I can’t even go there.
There must be an explanation.
“I need to call Julian,” I tell her. “He has to be here for this.”
“I need answers!”
“Not without your brother. It wouldn’t be right.”
She rages across the room towards me. Stops so close to me I can smell her sweat, her long work day clinging to her. It makes me want her somehow more. Her natural scent. Like we’re animals, and she’s communicating with some primal piece of me.
“You didn’t care about my brother when you were kissing me,” she hisses.
That was a mistake.
Say it, Damian.
But I can’t.
“Nothing to say to that, huh?” she demands.
I reach into my pocket. “I’m calling Julian.”
“To tell him about the kiss?”
“Now you’re being petty.”
“Oh, excuse me for being petty when someone just threatened me with a gun!”
Her voice breaks, and tears slide down her cheeks. I slide my hand out of my pocket and take her in my arms. It’s instinct. I just can’t bear to see her cry like this—devastated, agonized.
She crumples against me.
I’m not even sure how it happens. One moment I’m holding her, then I brush hair from her eyes. The next our lips our fused together.
Did she lean it first? Did I?
No clue. But kissing me makes me hot all over, my heartbeat twitching out of sync.
I take a step back.
“Fuck,” I growl.
“Fuck,” Celine agrees, wiping her mouth and turning away.
I step into the hall and call Julian. Snap at him to come and tell him Celine is here.
The wait is awkward. I purposefully sit in the chair as far from Celine as I can get, fighting the instinct to hold her. She wipes her cheeks every few minutes.
Julian texts me when he’s here. As usual, he meets me around the back. My usually neat friend walks in, disheveled and distracted.
“Where is she?” he demands.
As we walk into the living room, Celine springs up again, rushing at her brother. “Who are you, Julian?” She hisses. “No bullshit – no half-truths. I need all of it right this second.”
Julian slumps onto the couch, resting his head in his hands. “Goddammit,” he mutters.
“That’s not an answer,” she snaps.
“I work for the mob,” Julian whispers. “I’ve worked for the mob for years. I was never in private security. Damian and I, we’re… enforcers, you call it. We get the jobs done that no one else wants to handle. We work from the shadows.”
Celine makes a choking noise, covering her mouth.
“Oh my God,” she whispers, gutted. “What sort of jobs?”
“Violence,” I say. “Intimidation. Death.”
Julian looks at me sharply.
I shrug. “If we’re going to tell the truth, might as well tell it all.”
“You knew,” Julian mutters. “I think you’ve known for a while. You never asked what happened to Damian, but you knew there was a reason we couldn’t go to a hospital.”
“Don’t tell me what I know,” she hisses, leaning against the wall, hugging herself again, protecting herself. “The mob. The mob.”
Julian stands. “Damian, we need to talk.”
He rushes me into the hallway, glaring.
“What the fuck, man?” he demands.
“Rico tried to assault her,” I tell him. “I had no choice but to get involved.”
“But you could’ve… told her something else.”
“Lied to her, you mean? She’s not an idiot, Julian. She would’ve known I was bullshitting her.”
“You could’ve tried.”
“She was in the crosshairs. That fuck was going to ruin her life. She deserves the truth.”
“That’s not your damn decision to ma—”
“Why didn’t you tell me what Rico said in the hospital?”
Julian takes a step back. “What?”
“Apparently, he said something about not being sure I was dead without a body,” I say, watching him closely. “Seems odd to leave that out.”
There was a brief pause, and then Julian said, “I didn’t realize he had said that. Celine was stressed when she told me. Fuck, man. This is all wrong. I’m taking Celine. I’m going home.”
“No.”
Celine is in the doorway, every inch of her etched with stubbornness.
“No?” Julian snaps.
“I’m not going with you. You’ve lied to me for too long.”
“If Rico came for you, others might. I need to keep you safe.”
She shakes her head. “I’d rather be in danger than be with you right now. You’ve insulted me by lying to me for years. At least give me the courtesy of respecting this decision.”
Julian lets out a growl. “Celine—”
“I can stay here!” she blurts out, then turns to me with a challenge. “Right?”
“I mean… yeah. You can. Sure.”
Julian winces. “So you hate me for being in the mob, but not him?”
“He’s not my fucking brother, Julian!” she screams.
“It might be good for some space,” I say quietly. “Some time to cool off. Plus, no one knows I’m here. No one will find her.”
Julian throws his hands up. “Fuck it. Like I give a shit.”
He storms through the house, footsteps making the whole house shake.
Celine squeaks as he slams the door on his way out.
“I can’t believe this is my life,” she whispers.
I know the damn feeling.