Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

“I need you. Now,” I demanded.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“It’s Gabriella. She’s missing. It’s all over the news. I need to find her right away.”

“I saw that. I’m on my way, Boss,” he promised, his voice clipped and precise, like a perfect soldier.

He hung up without a word and ten minutes later he was at my door, ready to do anything I asked, to lay his life on the line, if necessary.

“Where are we headed?” he asked, as he opened the door of my Lincoln for me.

“Gabriella’s apartment.”

Dante

The fucking mob. Of course she was tied up with the fucking mob. A girl like her? Talking about her daddy all the time?

For fuck’s sake, I’d gotten myself into some shit before but this was serious. Hopefully, her dad was a low man on the totem pole and this wouldn’t be as serious as it could be.

I didn’t stop to ask questions. As soon as I saw her face on that TV screen, I pulled her out of the diner and put her on the back of my bike. I raced back to the only place I knew we would be safe…

We.

Fuck, I’d become a ‘we’ now. Fucking great.

I was surprised the guys weren’t there yet, but it was still early. A million questions were knocking around my head as I’d driven, and I was eager to begin questioning Gabby.

As soon as I turned off the engine and our helmets came off, I let this girl have it.

“What’s your family’s name? Who’s your Dad? Why were you even in the bar last night, Gabby? Who are you working for?”

“What?” she asked, her eyes shining with surprise. “You think I work for the mob?”

“I don’t know what the fuck to think!” I roared, confusion filling my head.

“Well, I don’t! What my dad does is his business. I stay out of it.”

“Your dad? Who is your dad?” I asked again.

“It doesn’t matter,” she hesitated, tearing her eyes from mine.

“Gabby! What is your father’s name?” I demanded.

“His name’s Leo,” she said, shrugging.

“Leo who?” I asked, my heart beginning to race. I already knew the fucking answer. My blood turned cold.

“Loprinzi. Leonardo Loprinzi,” she said finally, her voice full of exasperation. Her pretty eyes glued onto mine and stared me down, daring me to argue with her.

“Loprinzi?! What the fuck!” I yelled so loudly, a pair of crows fluttered out of the trees to my right. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? You’re Loprinzi’s kid?”

This couldn’t be happening. Visions of the past came rushing back like a freight train. The sound of gunshots whizzing over our heads. Her tiny little body shaking under me in fear. Those eyes.

Her eyes…

“Look, it’s no big deal —,” she began, her bottom lip quivering. “And I’m a goddamned adult…”

“— no big deal? No big deal!? Loprinzi’s only the biggest fucking mob boss in all five fuckin’ boroughs!”

“Dante, God! Who cares? It doesn’t matter, look we have bigger problems…”

“Yeah, like the fact that I just fucked Leo Loprinzi’s daughter!” I shook my head in disbelief.

Pain flashed in her eyes and I instantly regretted my words.

“Sorry that it was so bad for you!” she spat at me, turning away from me.

“Gabby,” I groaned, running my hand through my hair. I glanced down the road again to make sure we were still alone. With mobsters, you don’t usually get to see them coming. One minute, you’re alive. The next minute…you’re not.

“Look, that’s not what I meant,” I sighed, turning her back around to face me and pulling her into my arms.

“Well, what did you mean?” she asked, looking up at me. Fuck. I felt like such an asshole.

“Last night was wonderful. But you’re right. We have other things to think about now.”

“If you just take me to a phone, I can call my dad and he can take care of everything. He’s good at that.” She nodded firmly, as if there was no argument to be had.

“So I’ve heard,” I replied, dryly. She hit me on the arm and I laughed, despite the thoughts racing through my head. I couldn’t believe Gabriella Loprinzi was standing in front of me.

I’d waited years for this moment. I’d dreamed about this girl since I was a damn kid. Her eyes hadn’t changed one bit. That’s what drew me in back at the bar, and now all I wanted to do was fuck her again.

But there was no time for that… We had to figure something out and fast.

We were both wanted for murder, after all.

For fuck’s sake! How could this all be going down like this?

“Let’s get back on the bike. Take me to a phone. Come on, Dante,” she pleaded. I looked into her eyes, memories of last night haunting me, memories of our shared past haunting me.

As much as I wanted to do what she asked, the need to protect her was stronger. I needed to protect her, as much as I needed to protect myself - even though I had no idea why the urge to do so was so strong.

I barely knew her, and yet I’d have taken a bullet for her if necessary.

But I also had to protect the club. And protect my family. And protect myself.

“I can’t do that…” I said, turning away and walking into the cabin until I figured out exactly how the fuck I was going to do all of that at the same time.

Gabby

I rolled my eyes as he walked back into the cabin. This was all spinning out of control and if he’d just let me call my dad, I could make it all go away. It was simple. Hopefully.

“Dante, my dad…” I tried again, my words falling flat, but I had to persist. I was sure he just didn’t understand.

Or, if he did, then I wasn’t sure exactly why he was stopping me.

“Stop it! I need to think!” he said, thundering through the door of the cabin. Bear raised his head from his bed, grunted, and dropped his head back down when he saw it was us. Dante sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.

“Look, whatever we did - it was self-defense. Once we tell the cops that, everything will be fine once we talk to them. Hiding isn’t going to help us at all.”

“Are you sure you’re Leo Loprinzi’s daughter?” he asked, snapping his head up, his eyes full of fire. “All that talk of trusting the cops makes me think you aren’t a Loprinzi after all.”

“I trust my dad.”

“Of course you do.”

“Well, what’s the problem?” I demanded.

“I don’t trust him, Gabby,” he insisted. “I don’t know him. If I know anything about the neighborhood, it’s that news travels fast, and I’m one hundred fucking percent sure that your dad is looking for both of us by now. The scary biker that ran off with his precious, untouchable daughter? In your father’s eyes, I’m one of the bad guys.”

“That’s absurd. And even if it were true, all it would take is me explaining to my dad that you saved me.”

“Oh, yeah? Even if they took the time to let you explain, which isn’t likely with the fucking mob - who I’m sure you’ve heard aren’t exactly known for waiting to ask questions before whackin’ someone- what would you tell them? That I was just some guy you met in a bar who dragged you out and took you home and fucked you all night, instead of letting you go home like you asked?” His eyes flashed with emotion. “I don’t think that would set to well with your daddy, Gabby.”

Fuck. So maybe he was right. My dad’s motto was ‘act now, ask later’ and he insisted the men that worked for him follow it strictly. That was another one of those lessons I’d learned the hard way growing up.

“Well, then what do you propose we do, Dante?” I asked, my voice laced with exasperation.