“Who are you?”
She spun around, pressing a hand to her chest when she caught sight of a much older man. He had short, black hair with grey tips at each temple. He was tall, taller than Dwayne.
Her mouth went dry, and she looked past him toward the door. Dwayne wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Dwayne brought me here?”
“You’re not Dwayne’s type.”
She frowned, shaking her head at the same time. “I’m not Dwayne’s girlfriend.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m here to tutor him.”
Who was this man?
****
Beast Carson didn’t like having strangers in his house. In fact, he was really fucking pissed that not one of his men told him Dwayne had a girl over, but also that she’d been left alone in his fucking library.
He was … angry.
Clenching his hands into fists, which she couldn’t see as he had them in his pockets, he stared at her.
This woman … girl was not his nephew’s type. First, she was on the chubby side. She had a lot of curves, and even in the large-ass shirts there was no way she could hide that body. With her tits pressing against the front of her shirt and her hip cocked to the side with her hand on it, she was all woman in the right places. Again, his nephew didn’t appreciate curves, nor the luscious brown hair falling in waves down her body. It was long, and Beast liked long hair. Something to wrap around his hand as he took control.
What he found even more interesting was the look in her eyes. There was pain there, and something else. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, which he didn’t like. At thirty-seven years old, no one had been able to hide from him. He discovered their secrets within seconds. It’s what he’d been doing for a long time, but when everyone turned to him as their leader, he didn’t have much of a choice. His father had once been the head of the family. They weren’t related to the mafia, but they had their own set of illegal dealings. Chaos and shit rolled through his life like it was natural. He made the decisions. In his world, he was the judge, jury, and executioner, which raised the question—why was she here?
“You’re here to tutor?”
She nodded, moving toward the desk and pointing it out.
“You’re not here to screw my nephew?”
“Ew, no. He came to me to help him. I’m just trying to help.” She shook her head folding her arms around her body as if she was protecting herself. He didn’t know what she was trying to protect herself from, but he didn’t like it.
“I see you’re grossing out my tutor. Hope, I’d like you to meet my uncle, Beast.”
“Your name is Beast?” she asked.
“Let’s just say my mother thought it would be a joke to my father.” He shook her hand, feeling the strength within her grip. There was something alluring about her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said.
“Likewise. I appreciate my nephew taking an interest in his education.”
“I’ll help where I can.”
He held her hand a little longer than was appropriate, but she didn’t show any nerves at the action, which he found alarming. Anyone else would have been worried. Glancing at Dwayne, with one look he let the kid know that he was going to want a word with him. No one came to the house. It was his rule.
Moving toward the back of the library, he glanced back over to see Hope lower herself into her chair and watched for a few seconds as she tutored his nephew. Dwayne’s father was six feet under, and had been for over ten years. Beast had gotten custody, dealing with the boy’s father the only way he dealt with traitors, killing them.
It hadn’t cost him anything to put a bullet in the bastard that was beating his blood. Dwayne had sported black eyes, fractured ribs, and other pains. For that, Beast had made sure his brother was made an example of. Anyone who threatened or hurt what belonged to him, what he considered his, he’d kill. Simple as that.
Dwayne was his nephew. Beast had gotten attached to the kid years ago, and he wouldn’t have anything happen to him.
She didn’t flirt with Dwayne. Instead she kept a distance and simply tutored him. Hope. He’d never heard his nephew talk about her.
Leaving them alone, he made his way into his office to deal with the legal side of his businesses.
His father was long since dead, but all of the businesses fell to Beast, and he’d spent all of his life learning everything.
He had to have strong sons, and Beast being the oldest of three, he’d had to learn the ropes. Rafe, Dwayne’s father, was dead, which left him and Caleb. His youngest brother entered the office and took a seat.