Page 4 of Beast

“You really think I’m interested in Julian?”

“Oh, let me see, you had your tongue down his throat, so yeah, I really think you’re interested in Julian.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Oh please, I saw it with my own eyes.” She takes a predatory step toward me. “But I’m interested to know, what is it you want from him? It can’t be his dad body or his exciting personality, and let’s face it, he hardly won the lottery in the looks department. So what is it? You think you can fool around with my husband and play mommy to Aurora, then squeeze me out of my own home? Is that it, Belle. Do you want to be me?”

“What? No. You’ve got this all wrong. I’m not interested in Julian and for the record, it wasn’t me who initiated the kiss. Or the wine. I was trying to leave when he?—”

“Get out. Get out of my house now and don’t ever come back.”

My thoughts turn to Aurora and how this will impact us both. Looking after her has been the only decent thing in my life lately.

“Dani, please…”

But no amount of pleading is going to make Dani see her husband is to blame and that I’m an innocent bystander caught in the middle of this nightmare.

It’s raining hard by the time she throws me out and slams the door closed behind me. I stand on the stoop to gather mybearings and decide to call an Uber, but as I pull my phone out of my pocket, it begins to ring.

Its freezing, and I’m shivering as I answer. “Hello?”

“Hi Belle, its Lavinia from the casino.He’s here.”

My stomach sinks and I close my eyes at the news.

“You asked me to call you when he showed up.”

“Yes, thank you. I appreciate you calling me.” I feel sick. “I’ll come now.”

The Uber is seven minutes away, so I endure seven minutes on my ex-employer’s stoop, listening to Dani yell at Julian, while Julian continues to blame everything on me.

According to him, I’m a temptress and I wore him down with my blatant sexual aura. Not to mention my provocative clothing.

I look down at the Iron Maiden T-shirt, jeans, and well-worn converse high tops and shake my head.

Yeah, I’m a real seductress.

Inside, I hear Dani call me a whore.

It stings because for a while there I really thought I’d found a place I belonged.

She quickly followswhorewith the wordslut.

If I had a shred of pride left in me, I would wait for the Uber farther up the road in the rain. But after six months of barely affording to eat, pay rent, and keep my head above water, I’m not too proud to stay on my ex-employer’s stoop and at least keep dry.

When the Uber finally shows, it’s a ten-minute ride to the casino, which is just enough time for me to gather my thoughts and realize how fucked I am now that I’m unemployed.

Tears form behind my eyes but I clench my teeth and hold them back.

No point in crying. I’ve already survived so much. This is just another bump in the road.Right?

By the time I arrive at the casino, I’ve managed to keep the tears and self-pity at bay. Feeling sorry for myself has never worked. No point starting now.

As far as casinos go, St. Bon’s isn’t anything to write home about. It doesn’t have the razzle and dazzle of some of the bigger casinos, and the overpriced drinks are watered down and questionable at best. But it’s popular with the locals, and one of those locals is my uncle, Maurice.

Uncle Maurice likes to gamble. Unfortunately, he isn’t very good at it and has lost more than he would care to remember.

He struggles with his addiction. It’s the reason I came back to St. Boniface. He needs someone in his corner right now, and I’m the only family left willing to help.

---