by Eva K. More
“How did that work out for you? I mean, following his orders, or ‘being a lapdog,’ as you said. Somehow, I can’t imagine you following orders so easily,” Kat said after a moment.
Beast was now leaning against the kitchen counter opposite her, hands holding the counter loosely next to his hips. “It’s my job to take orders,” he clarified, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.
Lina had said that Ivo was his boss, but Kat thought that he behaved like a leader himself. And the way he talked about Ivo made her believe that he had little respect left for him.
Kat crossed her legs and swiped her long hair from behind her neck onto her right shoulder. “Why is Ivo your boss?” In her opinion, Beast was perfectly capable of ordering other people around. He did that with her quite often. Like he was used to people listening to him- it all just didn’t add up.
Beast’s stoic expression didn’t change much. It was in moments like these that she wanted to see him without the mask. It didn’t matter to her if he were deformed beneath it; she just wanted to observe the muscles on his face. Would there be a tick in his cheek? Would she notice if her questions struck a nerve? If he were telling her the truth or lying? It was easy to lie when hiding behind a mask.
“I don’t care much about handling business with the girls,” he declared finally.
That allegation made even less sense. “You’re still doing that by working for him.” Kat crossed her legs and leaned on her arms, looking at him with wide eyes.
With a sigh, he brushed his hand through his unruly hair. “Listen, it’s my job to eliminate any threats that come Ivo’s way, but I’ve got nothing to do with the brothel.”
Kat would have objected again if it weren’t for the vehemence in his voice. He had sounded almost offended, and it was as fascinating as it was confusing,
“It’s just that–”
“Leave it!” he interrupted her rather brusquely, his brows furrowed.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and lifted one eyebrow. “But I don’t get it. You–”
“I don’t expect someone like you to get it.”
She bit her lip in annoyance. “Someone like me?” His relentlessness in keeping information from her was aggravating her. And his interruptions sucked even more.
His deep sigh wasn’t sincere but mocking. “Yeah, someone who cares little about anything else other than partying and defying common sense.”
Baffled, Kat narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Maybe girls her age where generally so, but he couldn’t be more wrong.
Beast narrowed his eyes and pushed himself off the counter, leaning in over the island he glared at her. “You can’t mean to tell me you’ve never flaunted your dancing ass in front of a stranger.”
“Well-” it had been only once so far. And why was Beast looking at her like he dared her to defy him? “What does having fun have to do with anything?”
Beast raised one eyebrow. “Exactly that. How can a girl whose life has been about fun understand what goes on in the mafia? Don’t be nosy, little bird.” Even though his voice wasn’t condescending anymore, Kat still felt miffed.
Silence followed in with them both glowering at each other, but eventually, Beast eased off.
Kat sighed deeply. He had managed to not only veer her off-track of their conversation about him; he had also made it all about her faults. But it was much too early for her biting attitude to show, so instead, she felt chastised and slightly hurt.
The sun had peaked over the horizon, casting the kitchen area in a golden light. Beast’s messy black hair gleamed in a brownish hue.
“I’m not a bad girl. I’ve never hurt somebody; I’ve never come into contact with drugs or anything else illegal. I’ve never stolen anything, and if you tried hinting that I’m an airhead, I’d have you know that despite my hair color, I’ve always been an exceptional student. I don’t deserve what happened to me just for being curious by nature or for wanting to have fun and experience new things,” Kat said dejectedly.
Beast then rounded the counter with deliberate steps. His massive body shielded her from the warm sunlight streaming through the windows, and a gentle finger on her chin tipped her face up. Gunmetal colored eyes hypnotized her, and a rosy tint colored her cheeks.
Only a few days ago, this hard man had frightened her. Now, his soft touch evoked a different emotion in her, dazzling her differently. His naked torso was much too close for her comfort, yet she didn’t feel threatened by him anymore.
“I know,” he said. The mask couldn’t completely conceal the velvety baritone of his voice. “But you should learn to control that nosy streak, following it hasn’t turned out to be your best choice of action.” There was no malice in his words, just a strange kind of sweetness.
Drawn to his presence, Kat could feel her fingers itching to pull the latches on the metal obscuring his face. She yearned to see the features of the man soothing her now.
Maybe it was the morning atmosphere, engulfing her like a warm blanket, but she felt strangely languid. At this moment, her worries were forgotten, pushed back into a faraway chamber of her brain. Would Beast kiss her now if he were a normal man?
Thankfully her disturbing thoughts were interrupted by a faint vibrating sound, and he let go of her immediately to fish his phone out of his right pocket. She didn’t see the caller ID, but his frown portrayed his discomfort.
“Yes,” he said in a steady voice.
With one last look at her, he turned and stalked out of the house. Barefoot he went down the steps and sat in the car, talking to whoever was on the phone. Kat thought his actions were much too dramatic, but obviously, he didn’t want her listening in on his conversation.
What the hell had she been thinking about him kissing her? Beast was no ordinary man, and she was in no usual situation. If anything, this disruption had served for her to be reminded of it. Her everyday life didn’t include masked hunks.
He had told her to trust him, and she had no choice but to do that with her life, but it was apparent he didn’t trust her in return and that he kept many secrets, like the conversation he was having right now. It was a glaring display of their unequal status. He was the criminal that held her life in his hands, and she was the small, unruly child paying for her disobedience.
But to herself, she had to admit that there was a sort of morbid attraction that drew her to Beast. It was the same pull she had felt in the club with the stranger, the same longing in the pit of her stomach, but with a sinister touch. Was that also a rebellion after years of repression? Did her upbringing somehow program her brain to be attracted to danger? Not that the club situation with the stranger had been dangerous. Albeit, the man had also oozed something dark.
Kat decided it was best to leave the big room and avert disaster. Watching him over the window only made her resolve stronger. She should trust him, but he would never tell her more than merely the surface of the scandal she was involved in.
She began walking into her room, thinking about spending the day in there, sulking, when she noticed the ajar door of his. Yesterday, she had taken a look inside. Beside his duffle bag filled with clothes, there was nothing else to catch her interest. It was similar to her room, rather sparsely furnished with a double bed and cupboard.
Still, she thought curiously; maybe he had left something more interesting inside now. Pushing the door slowly open, she was about to head back, disappointed that it still looked the same when she caught something in the corner of her eye.
The bed was unmade, but there was something blue peeking out of the white linen. Some kind of familiarity teased Kat’s brain, so she forewent her sense of good manners and stepped into his room.
She had to put one knee on his bed to fish the object out from between the sheets.
A low wailing sound escaped her lips, and she gasped in outrage at what she was now holding in her hands.
It was her purse.
ot caring that she was in B
east’s room, Kat spilled the contents of the bag on the bed. Her phone, her wallet, her keys, and her small make-up kit were all there.
Not hesitating even for a second, she grabbed her phone. Of course, to her utter dismay, it wasn’t working. Probably the batteries had died in the last few days because of her grandparents’ constant ringing. She checked her wallet and found all her cards and even her cash still in place.
How was this possible? Had Beast found her purse somewhere, surely it would have been empty or at least emptied of her more valuable possessions. Then an idea occurred to her. What if Beast had had the bag all along?
Then he knew her address, her full name… had he maybe even looked through her phone? Why then didn’t he bring her home? He would know he was the only one that knew of her identity. Especially if she hadn’t yet been listed as a missing person – which should have been too late now, unfortunately.
A bad feeling settled in her stomach. Why had he lied to her? He had let her believe her bag was still missing, only a hairs’ breadth away from being found by Ivo and his men.
“Well, you weren’t supposed to find that.”
Kat yelped and turned around. Beast was lounging in the doorway; his impressively artistic arms crossed over his muscular chest. He appeared irritated, and the hard look in his steely eyes made her cautious. Finding her purse in his bed had unsettled her, had thrown her off-course. Where moments ago, she had at least believed that he wouldn’t harm her, she was frightened that everything he had said up until now had only been a lie.
But he had warned her, hadn’t he? He had said he wouldn’t kill her but never said he wouldn’t hurt her. He had even told her not to trust him, she remembered.
“Why do you have it? Have you had it from the beginning? Why didn’t you tell me?” she forcefully told him, holding her tears at bay. Even though she knew he wasn’t a ‘Good Guy,’ the disappointment was inevitable.
“Calm down,” he harshly said while closing in on her. His eyes darted from her form to the bed and the rumpled sheets she was fully sitting on now. With a flick of his hand, he took a sweater hanging on a wooden hook on the wall and pulled it over his head.
She decided, despite her rising alarm, that it was sort of an appeasing move, giving himself time to think about how to get his ass out of this mess. Now that Beast was no longer half-naked, it felt less intimate to be in this closed-up space with him.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she spat angrily, the tears inevitably running down her cheeks. “You lied to me. You knew who I was from the beginning! You even know my address.”
Kat threw her wallet at him, hitting him on the shoulder. Beast didn’t even flinch, but his frown deepened. He stopped his calm stroll right in front of the bedposts and looked down at her. From her point of view, she felt diminutive in comparison to his towering, menacing figure.
“Yes. I know all about you, Katherina Meyers. Twenty-three years old, born on the third of October. It’s really stupid of you to carry not only your ID card with you but information with your phone number and address as well.”
Not liking her disadvantage, she crawled to her knees and pushed herself up. Beast still towered over her, but the added height gave her a feeling of security and more control.
“How dare you?” She replied, scooting closer to the edge of the bed. She wanted to hit him, but instead was now poking him in the chest with her finger. “You lied to me. What else did you lie about? Oh, my God! Why? Have you hurt my grandparents? Why am I here? You could have brought me back home in time; there was no way for Ivo to know anything. Are you even more twisted than-”
“Quit it!” Beast ordered and grabbed her hands roughly. Then he pulled her up to his chest, putting one of his knees on the bed so he could loom over her.
She stared up at him in shock.
“Good,” he muttered once he realized that she froze in his grasp. “And now listen to me.” He jerked her slightly forward for good measure. “Yes, I lied to you about that bag, I’ve had it from the beginning. But it was for your good. Ivo will never find it that way. As for you, well, he has enough resources to find out still who you are and where you live.”
Pulled out of her stupor, she started uselessly pulling on her arms, but his grip was much too tight. “Yeah, sure,” she huffed, the tears still uncontrollable. “And why didn’t you tell me then?” Her disbelief was evident in every muttered syllable.
“I thought it best that you didn’t know,” Beast said.
She struggled against his hold, and his grip tightened, “Of course you did.”
“Think about it, little bird. Really think about it! Why would I have done all this if I hadn’t wanted to keep you safe from the beginning? What else would have been my motivation?”
Her fighting ceased.
Suddenly, she noted how close they were. Her hands were nestled in the soft fabric of his sweatshirt, her face so close to his that her breath fanned over the silver mask. She could see the bright blue specs dusting the grey of his eyes, and his powerful thigh was pressed intimately against one of her bare legs. Her heart had been drumming from anger and fright only moments ago; now, it was beating to an unwelcome desire pooling in her loins.
Beast mistook her stupefied expression for understanding.
“Believe me; I will protect you.” He had already protected her, she remembered. “But I needed to hide your belongings, anything that might give away your identity should be sealed off. I should have known better than to leave the bag here, but I planned on giving it back to you once you’re safely back home.” Carefully he let go of her hands but remained standing where he was; his eyes searched her face for a moment.
“Okay,” she breathed in answer. “I believe you,” Kat said, more emphatically this time. She had told herself she wouldn’t trust him entirely, and she had been right, but opted to be compliant for the moment.
When he eased off, she could have sworn that his leg nudged hers on purpose.
“Good. I need to leave for an hour or two now.”
“Because of that phone call?”
He nodded.
“Was that Ivo?” Kat asked.
He hesitated before answering. “No.” At least this time she was sure he was telling her the truth.
Fearing that she might have already overstepped her boundaries and wanting to get some distance, she didn’t quench her curiosity by asking who he had talked to. From what she already knew of him, he wouldn’t tell her anyway.
“Aren’t you tired?” she quietly asked eventually. The question had a double meaning, as Kat didn’t only refer to Beast’s earlier arrival.
His gaze swept lazily past her figure to the bed. When he looked back at her, the hot flashes he was shooting made her flesh stand to attention.
“I don’t need much… sleep,” Beast said.
Sensing dangerous waters that she didn’t want to cross, Kat was about to leave the room when he tugged on her sweatshirt.
“The phone,” he said and stretched his arm in her direction, palm pointing upwards.
Kat glanced at him questioningly, but his narrowed eyes didn’t waver. She sighed after a moment of silence. “Fine. It’s not charged anyways.” But she may have tried to find a charger somewhere in this house.
Begrudgingly, she threw her phone on the bed and watched it bounce on a pillow.
***
Kat had been holed up in the house for the last few days. With every passing one, she had become more agitated and restless.
Beast had been there every day but only for a few hours and had kept mostly to himself. She wasn’t sure when he ever slept enough. He appeared non-human, but people like him were probably built differently than normal human beings like her.
When she had asked him if his colleagues hadn’t missed him, he had shrugged and told her that Ivo had him looking for her all around the city. He did the necessary lurking around to be seen by Ivo’s other people, but he didn’t see the point in wasting his time o
n the streets since he knew where Kat was precisely.
It had her thinking that perhaps the cabin wasn’t that far away from the city, that maybe Beast had driven in circles to make her think that they were somewhere a long way off.
It unnerved her that he didn’t bother to talk to her much. Leaving her mostly alone in this house, she had too much time to dwell on her seemingly hopeless situation. At the same time, she was relieved not to have to spend too much time with him. All because of her troubling emotions.
Ever since their moment out on the porch, and later the purse fiasco on his bed, she couldn’t forget how warm his body felt pressed tightly against hers. His earthy smell invaded her senses every time he stepped into a room, and on a couple of occasions, she had caught herself wishing he would take off his shirt to show her his sculpted body once again.
This attraction she was feeling couldn’t possibly be healthy. Her thirst for human contact had turned her into something twisted because Beast was the last person she should desire.
Still, Kat had started noticing the finer details of his being. The image from their first meeting in the alley and the time she had woken up in that strange room had become blurry. Instead of the frightening beastly man, she was now getting to know a different, more human persona.
After their last discussion, he didn’t intentionally touch her anymore, but he brushed softly against her sometimes. Occasionally, she would catch him looking at her with a gentle gleam in his eyes, and in other moments, she would notice a mix of desire and fear.
Of course, she also noticed the empty plates, which meant that he ate her food. Those things shouldn’t leave her feeling warm and fuzzy inside, but they did anyway—all the more reason for her to be anxious for her current situation to end finally.
“What is it?” Beast’s question startled her out of her thoughts.
They were sitting in the living room area, watching a movie. Kat had pulled an old cassette into the VCR and was watching the pictures in front of her. Beast sat on the single-seat, doing God knows what on his phone. It was such a mundane situation, almost surreal like they were two regular people going about their daily lives.
