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“Let’s talk for a minute.” His expression is somber and I’m not sure I want to hear what he has to say.
“What’s up?” I try to keep a calm outward façade but by the look on his face, I am failing miserably.
“You need to put a claim on Irene. Or let one of the other guys do it. She needs to be protected and the best way is for her to wear a property patch.”
I laugh loudly. “Have you met her? She won’t let anyone take care of her.”
“You need to make her understand. You know what I went through when Luna died, I don’t want that for you.”
His shoulders slump with the weight of the world and his sadness is palpable in the air. It breaks my heart to know that he’s hurting and there isn’t anything I can do for him.
“I’ll have a talk with her,” I say hoping he finds some reassurance in my words.
“Make her understand, Kelly. If something happens to her it may be the last straw, the thing that finally tears this club apart.”
He turns and leaves me alone in the conference room with my thoughts, but I don’t stay there for long. I need to find Irene and set this shit straight. Turning the corner, I can hear the raised voices before I even make it to my room.
“Because you are my fucking family!” Justice yells, getting right in Irene’s face, his breathing heavy.
She doesn’t back down from him. “It’s not your goddamn problem. I can take care of myself!”
Justice chuckles harshly. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Color suffuses Irene’s face as her anger spikes, and I know I need to step in before either of them say something they will regret.
“Enough!” Both turn to glare at me but I don’t care. “Justice, find Wolf. He is bound to need some help.”
My brother wants to argue but I level him with a look he knows means business and he leaves us alone. I close and lock the door behind me before hanging my cut over a chair in the corner.
“Let’s grab a shower,” I say holding my hand out to the woman I have fallen in love with.
There’s a split-second when I think she is going to push me away before she allows me to help her up and lead her into the bathroom. It takes some time to get her undressed while trying not to hurt her any more but I get it done. The darkening bruise on her rib cage has my vision clouding with anger but I contain my reaction.
Once Irene is undressed and beneath the spray, I quickly shuck off my clothes and join her. My heart breaks seeing her shoulders shake as she cries beneath the spray. I want to fix this for her, but the situation is a complete clusterfuck, so I do what I can.
I wrap my arms around her battered frame and hold her while she lets out all the emotion she’s been holding in.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
You Belong
Irene
Standing beneath the warm spray of the shower, I finally crack open. Beast holds me in his strong arms as emotions that I have been holding in for the past few hours come pouring out of me. He is probably thinking that I’m crying because of what Gerald did, and in a way I am, but that’s not all of it. It’s the pain of finally having everything I want and having to give it up that’s shredding me but there isn’t much I can do about it.
Beast shuts off the shower once the water starts to cool before helping me dry off and dress in one of his big ass t-shirts. We are both silent, each lost in their own thoughts as we lie beside one another in his bed. He holds me close to him like he knows I plan on leaving and my heart hurts all over again.
We lay like this for the longest time before he moves, pushing my thighs apart as he hovers over me. Even with the pain in my body and my heart, I want him. But Beast has other plans.
“I said we would talk but I want you to listen.”
His voice is soft but stern and I nod in the darkness, waiting for him to continue.
“You’re not leaving and I don’t want to hear a damn word about it. We are going to figure this out together.”
“How are we supposed to do that? Gerald will never let me be.”
“Everyone is working on finding a way to sort this out without making matters worse. I just need to know you’re not going to run off in the meantime,” he says.
