Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

“I regret walking in it. Don’t contact me again,” I said, pulling open the door with shaking hands and walking out onto the street. I ran back to my apartment with angry tears welling up in my eyes.

By the time I was back in the penthouse, I was sobbing and furious rage was rushing through my veins.

Bear

I held Chloe in my arms while she cried. I was so pissed that her dad had approached her again and upset her so much. I hated that if it wasn’t for her marrying me, he probably wouldn’t have shown up at all.

Greed has a fucked up effect on some people.

“Maybe if I just give him some money, he’ll go away,” I suggested.

I wasn’t prepared for her reaction.

“No fucking way!” she cried. “I’d never do that.”

“It’s just money and if it makes something better for you, than I’d gladly pay him to go away, Chloe.”

“Fuck him,” she said, drying her tears and shaking her head. “He doesn’t deserve a dime. Why should he profit off of me after all these years? What kind of man does that?”

“It sounds like maybe he did you a favor staying out of your life, honestly. A person like that could never be a good father.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. “I’m thankful for that, too. As bad as Matilda was, at least she wasn’t that screwed up.”

“Matilda loves you,” I said.

“I know,” she replied. “She just loves herself more.”

I pulled her into my arms, my heart breaking that she was in pain. And fuck that guy. I wanted to pummel him for upsetting her.

“Is there anything I can do to help, Beauty?” I asked.

“Just hold me,” she whispered, burrowing into my chest.

“Always,” I said, pulling her tighter. I pressed my face into her hair, inhaling her intoxicating scent deeply. I loved her so goddamned much, it was astonishing.

“How’s the nursery coming along?” I asked, hoping to take her mind off of Randy.

“It’s adorable,” she said. “I’ll show you in a little while.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” I said. She’d been crying when I got home from the cabin and I’d sat her down and made her tell me everything. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you, too,” she sniffled.

“You’re so strong, Chloe,” I said. “You’ve grown by leaps and bounds in these last few months.”

“I’m trying,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

“You’re doing great. I’m very proud of you, babe,” I said.

“Thanks, Bear. That means a lot to me,” she said. Her words were muffled into my chest and as we lay there on the couch, I couldn’t help but count my blessings again.

“You and the baby mean everything to me, Chloe,” I said. “I don’t want anyone upsetting you again. If he comes back or tries to contact you again, I want you to stay away from him and tell me right away, alright?”

“Sure,” she said. “I don’t think he will, though. I made myself pretty clear.”

“I hope not, but don’t be surprised. If there’s anything I’ve learned, is that greed makes people persistent and relentless.”

“Duly noted,” she said. “I’ll let you know. I don’t want to talk about him anymore. How was your time at the cabin?”

“It was…weird, I guess,” I said. “I’d already gone through everything when I was there before and I was hoping I’d find something else,” I said. “The journals were vague, but there was this entry at the end that gave me pause. Something happened with Bruce’s last case. I don’t know what exactly but I’m getting closer to finding out.”

“What do you think happened?”

“I’m not sure. I found a CD last time I was there. I didn’t tell you about it because I wasn’t sure if it was important or not. It’s a recording of a conversation between two men talking about a transaction. But I don’t know who they are.”

“And you think it has something to do with Bruce’s death?”

“It’s possible. There’s something else, though. Last night, I went for a run. When I came back, someone was in Bruce’s cabin. He was going through his things.”

“Oh, my god, Bear!” she said, her head shooting up. Her eyes were full of alarm. “What happened?”

“I waited in the dark, watching him. He was about to go into my cabin, but I distracted him and he took off.”

“Bear, that sounds dangerous,” she said, her brow furrowed.

“I’m fine,” I said, shrugging. “Nothing happened. He didn’t even see me. I contemplated confronting him, but I followed him and got his license plate number instead.”

“I’m so glad you didn’t do that!”

“I’m sure I could have taken him,” I shrugged. I didn’t want her to be worried. That guy was three times my size, of course he could have hurt me. But she didn’t need to know that.

She kept looking at me, though, and I knew she was worried.

“Chloe, it’s fine.”

“Bruce died, Bear. You think someone killed him. You have to be careful! I can’t risk anything happening to you!” Her eyes were wild with alarm.

Goddammit. I’d done the one thing I’d wanted to avoid. It was a fine line between being open with her and protecting her from the truth.

“Chloe,” I said, pulling her back into my arms, “stop that. Nothing is going to happen to me, trust me. I promise. Do you think I’d do anything to put myself in danger of not being here for you and the baby? I would never do that, babe. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Just be careful,” she said again.

“I promise, babe,” I replied. “I promise…”

Hours later, I untangled myself from her naked limbs. I stood over her, looking down at her breathtaking beauty. My eyes traveled down to her barely swollen belly and I marveled at the fact that our child was in there. I couldn’t help but smile, my heart swelling with love for someone I’d not even met yet.

I settled in my study with the journals and my cell phone. I called Charlie right away, hoping he had some information for me by now.

“You’re in luck,” he said. “I was able to get some good info for you.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear, brother,” I said. “Tell me everything.”

“Okay, so Rio Santiago is indeed out of the slammer. He’s back in his old neighborhood, still running everything like the biggest cock on the block. Back to dealing drugs and women, or so I hear.”

“You get a hit on that license plate?”

“Sure did. Registered to Vito Alonzo, who just happens to be Rio’s cousin and right-hand man.”

“I knew it!”

“Yep, real dangerous mother-fucker, that

guy. Good thing you didn’t confront him.”

“Whatever, I could’ve taken him,” I replied.

Charlie snorted.

“Fuck you, Charlie,” I said, with a smile.

“They make bullet proof vests out of money these days? Or maybe you afford a few bionic parts?” he teased.

“What else did you find out?” I asked, ignoring his dig.

“Okay, so the case. I snooped around and heard some interesting rumors going around the DA’s office.”

“Like what?”

“Well, as you know Rio’s case was Bruce’s last one. And it was real ugly, too. Lots of infighting within the department. Apparently, some key evidence came up missing, but nobody will say what it was. I’m still working on that.”

“Do you think it was the CD?”

“I sure do. The case numbers match. And I gotta tell you, Bear. Lots of people blamed Bruce, maybe not to his face at the time, but the word on the street is that Bruce was suspected of withholding evidence that would have ensured Rio stay behind bars for a long time. Instead, his sentence was miniscule. I guess there were a lot of people pretty pissed at Bruce. He denied it, of course. But with him quitting right after the case, it only increased suspicions.”

“Why didn’t they do anything about it?”

“To save face, I guess. The didn’t want to look incompetent.”

“I see,” I said. “Alright. Anything else?”

“Not yet, I’m still digging.”

“Alright, thank you, Charlie. Oh, hey, do you have an address for Santiago?”

“I do,” he said, rattling it off to me as I jotted it down. “You aren’t thinking of going to see him by yourself, are you?”

“Not sure,” I lied. That was exactly my intention.

“Bear, that’s a bad idea. At least take me with you. You could get yourself in a sticky situation. And I fucking know you aren’t bionic, so don’t even try to fool me.”

“I’ll let you know,” I said, “thanks again, brother.”

“Alright,” he replied, warily. “I’ll call you as soon as I have anything else, but try not to get yourself killed in the meantime, okay?”

“Goodnight, Charlie,” I said, hanging up the phone.