Page 95 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

Her mind couldn’t keep up with the sight of the familiar black town car slowing to a stop in front of the warehouse. The car was still rolling when the back door popped open. Beckham stepped out and headed toward Reyna.

She was pretty sure she was hallucinating. She blinked twice and even contemplated pinching herself. This had to be a dream. Except Steven hadn’t let go of her arm, and her dreams never really got right how utterly gorgeous Beckham was.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Beckham?” she asked.

“He’s come to reclaim his whore,” Steven spat. He didn’t exactly drop her arm; it was more like he threw it toward Beckham as if he were offering a prize.

Beckham’s eyes left hers and looked to Steven standing behind her. Steven stepped backward as he took in Beckham’s immense size.

“Is this your ex-boyfriend?” Beckham asked.

“Yeah,” Reyna said softly.

Beckham grabbed Steven by the collar of his shirt. He hoisted Steven off of his feet until he was eye level with Beckham. “If you harass her or anyone she knows ever again, I will personally kill you. That’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”

Without waiting to hear if he would say anything back, Beckham threw him as if he weighed nothing at all. Steven landed hard on his back a few feet away. He scrambled to his feet. Fear was written all over his face.

Beckham could have done worse. She’d seen his speed and agility in a fight. Steven should just walk away. This wasn’t a fight he could win.

“Bloodsucking disease on our world,” Steven called. “You’re all the same. One day, we’ll rid the world of your plague.”

“But not today.”

Steven glared and then stormed away. Reyna breathed out a sigh of relief. As much as she despised Steven at this point, she didn’t want him to get himself killed for his insolent mouth.

Once he was gone, Beckham refocused his attention on Reyna.

“What are youdoinghere?” she repeated.

“You left the money,” he said. It was more of a statement than a question, and she didn’t know what he wanted her to say.

“Yeah.” She shrugged.

“Why? It was enough to support you, to keep you safe and secure, to have your own life.”

“Because I don’t need your charity.”

“It’s not charity,” he insisted.

“It is. You wanted to buy me out, but I can’t be bought. I’ll work and get a decent wage like the rest of the country. I won’t be indebted to you for the rest of my life.”

Beckham eyed her curiously. “I wasn’t buying you out. You said you wanted to leave. That was what you wanted.”

“And then younevercame back for me. You saved Penny. I get it. She was injured. I understand her being important to you. But you never checked on me again. Honestly, I assumed you wanted me gone.”

“I thought you wanted space,” he said.

Reyna cast her gaze away from him. “I was angry. After everything that happened that night, I was angry and scared. I didn’t know what I wanted. Answers, mostly. I guess I figured out your answer when you chose her.”

“Reyna, I had to take care of her.”

“I know. She was hurt, but you didn’t have to hammer the nail into the coffin. You said I made it clear that I don’t need you, but you’ve saved me more times than I can count now. I clearly need you in that life, but I don’tneedthat life. I have another one, equally terrifying in its own way, where I fight my own battles. But in your world, I can’t fight for you anymore. You won’t let me and it’s breaking my heart, Beckham.”

He reached out for her hand and took it smoothly into his. She locked eyes with him and saw something swirling around in his she had never seen before. A vulnerability that he had never shown her.

“Come back.”

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