Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

“Probably won’t be for long. Someone’ll find her,” he said, his voice low and quiet.

“Where do you think she is?” I asked, flipping my hair over my shoulder as I smiled at him again. He turned in his seat and leaned in towards me.

“You always ask this many questions?” His eyes peered into mine and my heart sped up.

“I - um - I was just curious, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” he said, bringing his face even closer. “You a reporter or something?”

“Me?” I exclaimed, putting my hand over my heart and leaning away from him slightly. “No way, not at all!”

“Then why else would a girl like you come to a place like this?”

“I just wanted a beer, that’s all,” I said, my heart feeling like it was about to pound its way out of my chest.

“There’s only one reason a girl like you comes in a place like this,” he growled, the kindness I’d thought I’d spotted in his eyes earlier draining away. “And it ain’t beer.”

“Oh!” I said, grabbing my beer and putting it between us. Thankfully, he pulled back and sat back on his stool. I took a deep breath, and tried again. “Do you think that’s why that girl on the news came here?”

“For what? To get fucked?” his friend asked, and then began roaring in laughter. “Of course she did!”

The bartender nodded and then joined in the laughter. I giggled nervously, now at a complete loss for words. Once again, I wished that I’d thought this out better before coming in.

“And you know that fucking asshole from the Deadly Sinners is fucking her every which way right now,” he said, slamming his hand on the bar loudly and laughing.

“Well,” the handsome one growled, “he better enjoy it, because once everyone catches up to him, he ain’t gonna be fucking anyone. He’ll be ripped to shreds!”

They howled in laughter together and I nodded silently, an awkward crooked smile on my face.

“Does anyone know where they are?” I asked quietly.

“Not yet. But it won’t be long before they find them. Hell, half the fucking city is looking for them. They’ll be found and soon.”

I took another swig of my beer and nodded.

“Well, have a nice day guys,” I said, before throwing down a ten dollar bill on the bar.

This was a really bad idea, in fact, it was the last of a string of really bad ideas. Coming here the first time was the first. Bragging about it to my best friend was the second.

I suppressed a groan as I walked out back into the sunlight.

Gabby’s disappearance was all my fault, and I shuddered to think about what she must be going through right now. She might not even be alive, for fuck’s sake. Tears stung my eyes as I walked back to my car. I was the worst friend in the whole fucking world.

“Hey!”

I turned toward the voice and saw the handsome guy from the end of the bar walking towards me. He was young. Extremely hot. And there was something about his eyes that yelled mysteriousness and mischievousness, all at the same time. He reminded me a little of the boys from the neighborhood, the Italian guys that walked around like a bunch of peacocks like they were born with confidence dripping from their veins. The cocky guys that I’d always had a weakness for, even if I knew they were full of shit.

“Yeah?” I asked, feeling him out, just as I did every man who approached me. It was a constant game you had to play with yourself as a woman. Danger or safe? Murderer or nice guy? It could go either way, and all I had to go on was my intuition, which unfortunately steered me wrong every now and then. For the most part, though, this guy seemed harmless. Maybe it was the playfulness in his eyes, or maybe the smile that disarmed me, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

“You looking for Gabby?” he asked, grinning.

“You know Gabby?” I asked, my heart jumping in my throat.

“I heard you asking about her. Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m her best friend. Her roommate. Bella Balducci,” I said, putting out my hand. “What’s your name?”

“Romeo,” he replied, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it, flashing me that smile, drawing me in closer. “Why don’t you come with me? I know where she is. I’ll take you to her.”

“Why should I trust you, Romeo?” I replied with a playful smile, my nipples hardening under my black lace bra.

“Who else you gonna trust, right?” he asked. “Not for nuttin,” he said, his eyes raking over my body, undressing me, “but you look like my kind of girl. Maybe we can get to know each other a little better.”

I smirked and walked closer to him, bringing my lips inches from his gorgeous face.

“Maybe so,” I whispered. “But right now, I’m worried about my friend.”

“She’s safe,” he said, with a grin, “trust me.”

“My Ma told me to stay away from men like you,” I teased.

“You always do what your Ma tells you?”

“Pretty much never,” I smirked.

“Good girl,” he growled, his eyes hungry with lust.

“So, you’re going to take me to Gabby, huh?” I asked. “Why don’t you just tell me where she is? I can go myself.”

“I would, but it’s easier to show you,” he said, running his hand through his hair. He was sexy, beyond sexy, actually. Just drinking in his mysterious sexiness made my body sing. He was one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen, and yet I had to remind myself that he was a stranger. Was I really just going to disappear with some handsome stranger - again?

For fuck’s sake, Bella, what are you doing? I thought. I sighed, knowing I was going to give in, despite the warning signs. What else was I going to do? He said he knew where Gabby was.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go,” I said, turning to my car.

“No way,” he replied, shaking his head slowly, his eyes raking over my body again. My nipples hardened under my blouse and my stomach quivered.

“Get on my bike,” he said, pointing to a shiny black Harley parked behind me.

“You’re a biker, too?”

“I guess you could say that,” he shrugged, strutting past me, dripping with confidence that I would follow.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, doing just that. I followed him like a desperate puppy, those first threads of desire beginning to grow in my belly.

He handed me a helmet and I pulled it over my head, ruining the blow-out I’d spent so much time on earlier. I slid behind him on the bike, my stomach filling with butterflies as I assumed the intimate position behind him.

My pussy, my breasts, the insides of my thighs pressed against him like we were already lov

ers. I shook my head as my body shuddered with desire, my nipples hard as diamonds as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

We roared out of the parking lot, the gravel kicking up behind us as we headed out of town.

Gabby

After frantically making love again, I’d left Dante dozing in the bedroom once again to make lunch. Bear watched me move around the kitchen, his lazy eyes following me as I opened cabinets and the fridge, trying to find something to cook. There wasn’t much outside of sandwich makings, so I set about making a few for us.

I knew Dante would be starving by the time he woke up since both of us had skipped breakfast and spent the last few hours fucking like rabbits. Talking seemed useless and we were getting nowhere, so by the time he’d kissed me, I just submitted to his touch and let him take me back to the bedroom…again.

This was becoming a habit, I thought.

It was just so much easier than fighting, though. So much better than flinging accusing words at each other.

Yeah, okay, so he’d lied to me, but I could almost understand why. He didn’t have the same trust in my father that I did, and that made sense, because who in their right mind would?

My father’s reputation preceded him, always. I’d learned that long ago. I learned it by the look in a stranger’s eye as soon as they learned who my father was. It never failed. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say most people didn’t trust me either when they learned my last name.

I guess that’s why I’d been so into Dante not knowing who I was at first. That’s what was so thrilling about going into Otto’s in the first place. I’d spent all my life wishing I was someone else. It was nice to pretend for a minute.

Unfortunately, there was no more pretending. The proverbial cat was out of the bag.

I’d just finished cutting up a tomato, when Bear began whining at the door. I put the knife down and wiped my hands on a towel and walked to the door to let him out. The morning sun had moved overhead, shining directly down on the cabin, the dew on the leaves long dried up. Birds chirped loudly, their song so clear and beautiful out here in the peacefulness of the woods.