Page 79 of Beast

Annika looks out the windshield. “Even if he does something stupid because of it?”

“Like what?”

She brings her gaze back to me. “The moment Beast hears about Gaston putting his hands on you, he’ll let his emotions get the better of him. He’ll go rogue. Mow down everyone and everything in in his way to get to Gaston and then cut off his dick and make him eat it.”

The thought, if I’m honest, gets me a little excited when I picture it.

Watching Beast annihilate Gaston is right up there in the spank bank beside a shirtless Beast, fresh from the shower and wearing nothing but a tight pair of boxer shorts that outline his giant?—

“He will defend your honor or do something equally as stupid,” Annika adds.

She’s wrong. Because Beast doesn’t feel that way about me.

Even if yesterday felt more like the real thing than an act to fool the clubhouse staff. Him not coming home last night was the reminder I needed that this is nothing but an act.

I reach for my seatbelt and pull it across my body, clipping it into place. “I think you’re overestimating Beast’s feelings for me. You make it sound like he’d set fire to anyone or anything standing between him and his revenge on Gaston.”

“No, you’re the one underestimating what he feels for you.”

I consider telling her that Beast and I aren’t in a real relationship. That this is an arrangement only. Feelings aren’t involved. But I don’t want to betray Beast, so I keep my mouth shut. It’s better for him to tell her when he’s ready.

“Are you telling Ryder what happened?”

For the first time since meeting her, I see the inner conflict in her expression. She wants to tell her husband. Probably for the same reasons as me. We want our men to hunt down Gaston and pulverize him into a thousand tiny pieces.

She clips her seatbelt into place. “No, I won’t.”

I bite my lip as I weight up the options. “I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s up to you, Punchy. Normally, I would say tell him because I don’t like keeping things from my old man. But in this case, you need to consider if it’s information he needs to hear right now when his focus needs to be elsewhere.”

She has a point.

As much as I want to tell him what just happened, I don’t want him to go off half-cocked and get himself killed.

“I won’t tell him,” I say, and I see the relief in her eyes as well as a smidge of appreciation. She could be manipulating me. But I doubt it. She has nothing to gain from it. Besides, I can see the concern for Beast in her eyes. She loves him. And she genuinely wants me to do what’s best for him.

“Good,” she says, as she starts the car engine. “Now you’re talking like an old lady fit for a prez.”

“Let’s not get too excited,” I say, already doubting my decision to keep my mouth shut.

She pulls out into the street and we head toward the clubhouse.

“And honey, just so you know…” She gives me a sideways glance. “If Beast ever finds out Gaston laid a finger on you today, he’ll domore than burn down anything standing between him and his revenge. He’ll burn down the entire fucking world.”

CHAPTER 29

BEAST

The trickto being a good president is knowing when to shoot someone in the face and when to bite your fucking tongue. Unfortunately, today I have to bite my fucking tongue. I can’t hurt Boney for destroying the Knights fundraiser. I can’t break down the door and make him eat my gun, no matter how much I want to blow his brains out via the back of his head.

Because as president I have to look at the bigger picture and weigh up every move. Our focus is to take down the Psychos fake phantasia trade and I can’t risk any heat from the law while we’re cutting off the head of that snake.

So Boney will have to wait.

Well, not completely.

I might not be able to hurt the guy.

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