Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

I remembered that night. We’d celebrated till the early morning, Bruce completely beside himself with happiness.

“That was a good night, brother,” I said to the empty room. I kept telling myself he could hear me, even if it wasn’t true. It just made me feel better to talk to him. I kept reading.

My first week as the DA did not go as planned. It was fucking hard. Harder than I expected, even though I know the job backwards and forwards. It was the internal office politics that threw me. The people who didn’t vote for me are pushing back against my decisions hard and I have to fight to stand my ground. I have to do it, though, or they’ll never have faith in my ability to do this job. I have to appear confident about every decision, even if I’m not one hundred percent sure at the time. It’s exhausting…but goddamn, do I love it!

I could hear his voice as I read on.

I made a huge mistake. It was late, my defenses were down. Lacey was there working with me. We were alone in the office and I don’t know what happened. I’ve been working so much, I’ve been neglecting my physical needs. I never should have let that happen, but one kiss turned into more and then there we were—naked on the couch in my office. If she tells anyone, my career is ruined…

My eyebrows raised at that entry. So Lacey and Bruce slipped up, huh? She’d certainly not shown any indication of anything like that. I wasn’t surprised. Why would she tell me? Maybe that’s what I was sensing at her office. I knew she was being short with me and with Bruce being my best friend, she probably thought I already knew. I was a little disappointed that he hadn’t told me, actually, but it was his secret to do with as he pleased. Besides, these entries were from a long time ago. So much had happened since then. I put away the early journals and pulled out the more recent ones. If I was going to find any clues at all, they’d most likely be in those.

These entries were shorter, angrier, full of the frustration that had enveloped Bruce during his last years at work.

I can’t believe I lost that case. I was sure I had it in the bag. I failed myself and I failed the victims. And then, I decided to throw fuel on the fire and let my guard down with Lacey again. I have to stop doing that. She keeps flirting with me and I know it’s so wrong. Not only is she my employee, but if her fucking husband found out….I don’t even want to think about it. Another night of drinking myself to sleep and trying to remember that somewhere inside this flesh suit is a good man….

Six months passed before there was another entry and this next one was from the last few months of his working as the DA. It was also the very last one in the book.

Fuck Rio Santiago. I can’t believe I’m in this position. How did this fucking happen? I thought I had it all under control, and once again the rug gets pulled out from under me. I never could have prepared for this obstacle, though. I should tell Bear. But I know what will happen if I do. He’ll try to fix the problem with his money and money can’t help me now. Rio’s figured out my one weakness. If I don’t do what he wants, I’ll lose the one person in the world who means anything to me, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to let that happen. I have to do what he wants…

My blood ran cold, my head spinning. What the fuck was he talking about? How in the world could I be involved? Just as before, I was left with more questions. I needed to know more about Santiago. I needed to figure out where he was now and what the hell happened during that trial.

I knew one person who could help me with that.

I picked up the phone and he answered on the second ring.

“Dalton!” he answered, his voice bellowing through the phone.

“Hey, Charlie. How are you, brother?” Charlie Iverson was the man I called when I needed knowledge. He could discover anything you tasked him with. He had a network bigger than my own and if you needed information that maybe wasn’t supposed to be surrendered to you, well Charlie had ways to get around things like that. He was discrete and thorough. I trusted him completely.

“I’m doing alright. Not as good as you, though…”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you and your pretty young bride, you crazy old man. How do you keep up with a girl like that at your age?”

“Shit, you’re older than me, Charlie. You don’t have room to talk.”

“I know, that’s why I’m asking! You have one of those little blue pill prescriptions?”

“I don’t need any help in that department right now, if you must know. And how the hell did you know I got married?”

“I’m a private investigator, Dalton. It’s my job to know things.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s actually why I’m calling you. I’ve got a job for you…”

Chloe

“You’re going back up there?” I asked, my brow furrowed. “How long will you be gone?”

“Just for the weekend,” Bear said. He’d just sat me down on the couch and told me he was going back to the cabin upstate. When he explained why, I realized I had no place to argue. He’d filled me in on what he’d read in Bruce’s journals and told me that he needed to keep investigating. I understood, but I still wished he wouldn’t go.

Nothing he did was going to bring Bruce back. However, I realized that what he was going through was the many stages of grief. What he needed was closure. And if digging through Bruce’s past was what got him there, who was I to get in the way?

“I’ll miss you,” I said.

He pulled me close, kissing me gently.

“It’ll be a quick trip, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Well, I suppose I do still have a lot of work to do,” I said. “I’d be too busy to have any fun with you anyway.”

“How’s Violet working out?”

“She’s amazing. Thank you for putting me in touch with her.”

“I knew you’d hit it off. She’s competent, smart, and she has great intuition. Did the two you go look at the retail space I told you about?”

“Yep, we went today,” I replied. “It was absolutely perfect, Bear, you were so right. The fact that you own the building is even better. No rent? I am so blessed. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Oh, you’ll be paying rent,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“You’ll be paying rent, love, just not in dollars,” he said.

“Oh, I see. You’re going to take it from me in other, more creative, out of the box kind of ways?”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be in your box,” he said, laughing.

“That sounds like a fair price,” I said, our laughter echoing through the house. It was a cold night and the fireplace was roaring, the faint sounds of the city lingering in the distance.

Bear’s kiss was gentle, yet demanding. I wrapped my arms around him, melting under his touch, falling back onto the couch. He laid on top of me, his hands running over my rapidly growing curves.

He stopped kissing me when he touched my stomach. He propped himself up, staring down at me, his eyes filled with love and wonder.

He leaned down, kissing my belly gently.

“Remember when we first met? And you said you didn’t want kids?”

“Yes, and you agreed.”

“It was a big lie,” he winked. “Now, I can’t wait to hold her, to smell her, to hear her adorable little cooing sounds…”

“Bear Dalton, I dare say you’re becoming a big mush ball!”

“If that’s so, it’s all your fault.”

“Well, there are worse things to be guilty of.”

“I never thought I could be tamed like this, Beauty.”

“You? Tame? You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not. I used to fantasize about the next fear I could conquer, or how I was going to find a way to buy a building that someone didn’t really want to sell. I was an adrenaline junkie. Now? Nothing sounds better to me than picking out baby clothes and staying home and making love to my wife.”

“W

ell, if you’re looking for an apology, you’ve come to the wrong place,” I laughed.

“I’m not looking for an apology,” he said, kissing me again, harder this time.

“What are you looking for?” I asked, arching my back, teasing him, doing my damnedest to seduce him.

He looked into my eyes then trailed his gaze down my body, lingering on my swollen breasts, my rounding belly. I’d taken to wearing long flowing dresses and I smiled when I saw him reach down and lift the skirt of it. He scooted down between my legs and I opened my thighs, welcoming him.

He smiled and winked.