Page 71 of A Beast Captured My Heart

Laughing at that because I knew it was true, I shook my head at both of them as they went back and forth with one another. These two always debated and argued over little things.

“I’ll send your hundred as soon as I get relaxed, Carlos. Y’all give me a hug, my feet are swollen, and I need to shower and lay down.” I smiled as Icella embraced me first.

She always smelled so good. Every time I asked what her fragrance was, she would just smile and wink. She didn’t want any other females smelling like her. She told me that she created her own body fragrance. Next, Carlos hugged me and placed a kiss on my scarred forehead, which made me cringe a little. The gesture made me think about Praise, and my stomach got butterflies just thinking about him. I forgot to text him back hours ago. He claimed he was out here and ready to talk. It made me nervous, but I knew it was something that had to be done. Our baby was literally due any day now, and we desperately needed to be on the same accord.

“See you next week, pretty girl.”

I blushed and looked away. Carlos was a charming and polite type of man. He was a natural flirt without trying to be. Turning around to unlock my door, I heard Carlos exchanging words with someone. When I heard that someone’s voice, my stomach dropped, and my hands became so slippery that I left my keys inside the lock and slowly turned around to face the voice that made me weak in the knees.

Carlos was smiling as he dapped up Beast. I assumed they knew each other from their interaction. Carlos didn’t know Beast on the intimate level I knew him on, which is why he didn’t see the dark look in Beast’s eyes as he smiled sinisterly.

“What you doing out this way, boss man?” Carlos spoke excitedly as Beast’s facial expression lacked zero emotion.

“Here to see my baby momma.” He nodded his head my way.

Both Carlos and Beast looked at me. Carlos looked shocked and started to explain our closeness, but Beast cut him off and smiled.

“I ain’t tripping, young buck. She fine as fuck, don’t ever touch her again, though.”

Icella snickered as she waved her hand goodbye. I knew she was going to call me later and ask a million questions. I wasn’t ready to be alone with Beast, and I wished she could stay. Shifting my weight to my good leg, I sighed. There was no point in asking Beast how he found me because he would always know where I was, even if I didn’t want him to. He didn’t even give me a chance to respond

“Stone is outside. You should go holler at him before he takes off and leaves.” That was Beast’s way of dismissing Carlos, so he could get to me. I took in his appearance; Beast was sinfully fine as fuck. His rough, bad boy appearance could turn any woman in near sight on with one look. He gained more weight, and it was all toned well with his tall frame. His muscles were on display even with his shirt and shorts on. He rocked a Celine white shirt with white sweat shorts. You could tell his all-white Air Force Ones were fresh out the box. His crispy line-up and seasick waves made me damn near drool on myself.

A thought crossed my mind of him being booed up with that mixed model-looking chick, and jealousy took over me fast. Beast belonged to me, no matter how we were at that moment. This fine ass man was mine.

“Open the door, Kayori, so we can talk, pretty girl,” he mocked Carlos as his cologne invaded my nostrils.

I wanted to feel some type of way about him calling me by my name and not my nickname, but I understood we weren’t on that level right now. His gray eyes looked into my soul, making it hard for me to turn around and open the door. Praise Brownston was here in the flesh, and his powerful aura nearly choked me.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and let us both in. The scent of lavender invaded my nose, instantly calming me down. Seconds into being inside my house, Beast’s cologne took over the living room area, and he was forcing me to focus on only him.

“Would you like a beer or water?” I asked nervously.

“The fuck you got beer in ya house for? Carlos?” His jaw clenched as he placed his eyes on me, daring me to say yes.

“He and Icella come over from time to time. They both like beer, so I try to keep some for my company.”

“Good hospitality.” He smiled as he took a seat on my leather sectional.

“I’ll take a shot of Remy.”

“I don’t keep hard liquor here.”

“Bet.”

We stared at each other for a couple of seconds too long. Walking away, I went to the kitchen to grab him some water. I willed myself to myself calm down. I needed to put my big girl panties on and gain some sort of control. I couldn’t read Praise; he was confusing the hell out of me. I didn’t know if he was Beast or Praise, which was new. I could always tell which one he was. This person in front of me seemed cold and distant. He was holding a grudge against me. I needed to break the ice.

Walking back into the room, Praise sat comfortably as he texted and smiled at his phone. Clearing my throat, he still didn’t look up. I placed his water on the coffee table and started to speak.

“Look, Praise…”

“You can call me Beast,” he spoke unfazed, never looking up from his phone. I could feel the anger rising up in me. He knew what he was doing.

“Well, your real name is Praise, so I’ll call you that for now.”

“That’s cool too, Kayori. We’re the same nigga anyway, ain’t no more separation. I am Praise, and Praise is Beast. I would just prefer people that I’m no longer close or intimate with to refer to me as Beast.” He smiled, making eye contact, and hurting my feelings at the same time. It was good to know he was working on himself, but the way he was acting towards me had me deep in my feelings.

“Okay, Beast, I just wanted to say…”