Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

Tears of frustration began running down my face. I was so sick of all of this. I was so tired of being a Loprinzi. I wanted to just run away, but I had no idea where to go.

My eyes landed on the open window next to Dante’s bed and goosebumps ran down my spine.

Dante’s truck was right outside this open window, just waiting for me to start it up. And the world was right down the road, just waiting for me to disappear into it, to leave everything I had ever known behind.

A new life.

A fresh start.

I crawled out of the window, heading for the truck as my thoughts raced through my mind. All I had to do was start up the truck and be on my way.

I could vanish into thin air.

I could leave behind the Loprinzi name.

Leave behind my father and everything that came with his fucked up legacy.

Leave behind everything I’d ever known about who I was and where I came from.

Leave behind Dante.

All of that sounded very tempting, except that very last part.

How could I leave him behind when I’d just found him? I’d just have to figure it all out some other time.

The urge to flee was so strong, I couldn’t resist. I still had the keys in my pocket. I ran to the truck and flung open the door and climbed in.

The key slid into the ignition easily, my heart beating a mile a minute. Dante’s face haunted my thoughts.

I’d gotten him into this and now I was just going to leave him when everything blew up?

Tears of confusion began drifting down my face and I placed my head on the steering wheel.

What did I owe him? My life? He’d saved me so many times. I never imagined for a minute the person that I’d thought about, fantasized about, wished so many times that I could have just one moment to thank, would actually walk back into my life.

Everything seemed like one big mistake, and yet at the same time, it was almost like it was just a cruel twist of fate. Dante was meant to be in my life. He wouldn’t have been thrown in my path again if that wasn’t true. I had to accept that.

There was no other explanation.

And if I left him now, what did that make me?

A coward. And a fool.

A big, ungrateful fool.

“I can’t do this,” I muttered, lifting my head and wiping the tears from my cheeks. I pulled the key from the ignition and jumped out of the truck. I shoved the keys back in my pocket and turned to go back inside. I’d just crawl back in the window and wait like Dante had begged me to do.

I reached the window and was just about to heave myself up to jump back in when I felt the barrel of a gun push into my temple.

“Don’t make a sound.”

Dante

I rounded the corner of the hallway with my gun drawn, ready for anything, my military training coming back like muscle memory. The sound of gunshots had a tendency to cause me flashbacks, but I suppressed all of that and pushed it far into the back of my mind.

I pushed away all my feelings for Gabby, because they made me vulnerable.

I pushed away all my fear of never seeing her again, because that made me weak.

I pushed away thoughts of Maggie, thoughts of my Ma, the club, my own mortality…because all of those things only served to incapacitate me.

I was a soldier, with only one thing on my mind. Survival.

When I rounded the corner, I saw Leo and another man by the front door. Leo had a gun pointed at a woman’s head and another man was pointing his gun at Romeo. As far as I could see, nobody was bleeding.

“Don’t make me fucking shoot you,” Leo’s man growled, his finger on the trigger, his gun pointed straight at Romeo’s heart. Romeo didn’t flinch, his gun pointed steadily at the man.

“Don’t shoot!” I yelled as I rounded the corner, my gun pointed right at Leo’s head.

Like Romeo, he wasn’t fazed either, in fact, a slow smile spread across his face, tightening the wrinkles around his eyes. He looked almost exactly how I remembered him from the day at the carnival. A little more grey hair around his temples, but he was still strong, still almost youthful.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice calm as a rippling stream. He had a reputation for being unflappable, and apparently, it was true. He pushed the woman to the ground, and she crawled away into the corner looking frightened as a child as she began sobbing loudly. Bella ran over to her and pulled her into her arms.

“It’s alright, shh, don’t cry…,” she whispered.

“Shut the fuck up!” Leo yelled, before turning back to me. “Now, again. Who are you?”

“My name is Dante.”

“You look familiar,” he said, his eyes looking me up and down. “You Santoro’s boy? The one that went into the service?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, wincing at the mention of my dead beat father.

“I knew your old man. Good guy. Hard worker.”

“He was a piece of shit,” I growled. “Left my mom all alone to raise me and my sister.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember that, too. Ran off with Cynthia from Yonkers, right?”

“Yep,” I snarled. “Like I said, a real piece of shit.”

“You’re the one from Otto’s,” he said, nodding slowly. “The one who took my Gabriella.”

“I didn’t take her,” I replied. “I saved her.”

“You also caused her to be in the middle of a huge bar brawl.”

“That wasn’t my fault,” I replied.

“Cut the bullshit. Where the fuck is my daughter, Santoro?” he asked, waving his gun at me.

“She’s safe.”

“Yeah? Safe, huh?” he said, “Is that so? Where is she safe at, Dante? In your bedroom back there?” he asked, gesturing behind me with his gun, taking a step in the direction of my bedroom.

“Don’t move, Mr. Loprinzi,” I stepped in front of him again.

“Look, Santoro, I don’t want no trouble,” he said, peering into my eyes. “I came to get my daughter, that’s all. If I go home empty handed, it’ll upset my wife. And I don’t like to upset my wife. You can understand that, right?” he asked, taking another step towards me.

“I said, don’t move, Mr. Loprinzi,” I extended my arm, my gun pointing right at his face as he closed the distance between us.

“What are you going to do, Santoro?” he asked, shrugging.

“Please don’t make me shoot you, Mr. Loprinzi.” I blocked his way. I wasn’t about to let him near Gabby. I didn’t know what my plan was. I didn’t have a fucking plan. I was hoping my guys would get here before any of this went down, and now here I was in a fucking stand off with Loprinzi, the most feared mafia Boss in the country and trying to keep him from his daughter. I wasn’t even sure why anymore.

“How about you just answer some questions for me, then? Eh?” He was inches from me now and I took a deep breath, doing my best to calm my racing mind. I had to figure out a way out of this and I needed to buy some time to do that.

“I’ll answer your questions, but don’t come any closer,” I said, taking a step back.

“Okay, fine, fine, Dante. It’s all good!” he said, holding up his hands, with a smile. “Relax! We’re all friends here.”

“What’s your question?” I asked, my face drawn tightly. I wasn’t about to fall for his friendly banter. I knew he’d rather shoot me than ask questions, and I knew he’d probably shoot me eventually, but I figured my only chance at surviving this confrontation was putting off the violence until my guys arrived.

“Tell me Dante,” he said slowly, his smile turning to a sneer. “What’s a man like you want with my daughter, huh? You’re from two different worlds. Probably don’t have nuttin’ in common, you know?”

“I was just protecting Gabby, Mr. Loprinzi. That’s all.”

“That’s all, huh? Come on, now. A strong, virile man like yourself. You sure you weren’t, well, you know…enjoying her company?”

I cringed, and took anoth

er step back from him. I needed space. Room to move. Room to think.