“Mason,” I sighed, my body stiffening as I forced myself not to throw myself into his embrace.
“Belle, I just need to explain.”
I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes again. Everything was crashing down around me all at once.
He took a step forward, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he looked me over. “What’s wrong? What happened? Did someone hurt you?”
I bent down to slide off each of my heels. “You mean besides my best friend marrying my high school sweetheart, My step-father sitting front and center for the humiliation, and you –”
“He’s in there?” Mason asked, not bothering to let me finish my sentence.
I nodded, unable to speak without letting tears fall.
Mason’s eyes went wild. He looked feral like an uncaged beast looking for his next meal.
As he stepped toward me, my eyes darted to the empty street. “What are you doing?” I asked before he lurched toward me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me from the ground. I let out a squeal before his large palm clasped over my mouth, muffling my screams.
“I’m going to make this right, Beauty.”
“Shhh,” I whispered as I took her to my car, parked just around the corner. “I’m not going to hurt you, Beauty. I’d never hurt you.”
She stilled, no longer fighting my hold on her and I wasn’t sure if it was because she knew that was true or her fear had paralyzed her. But she didn’t have to worry. I meant everything I said to her. I’d die for Belle. I’d kill for her.
But not before I could tell her the truth.
Yanking open the passenger door of the car, I sat her on her feet. She wobbled as her eyes darted to me and back to the vehicle.
I smirked, thinking back to the day I’d met her; the day she mentioned not to let someone take her to a second location. I slid my palm against her smooth cheek, and she leaned int to my touch fractionally. “I know I don’t deserve this; I don’t deserve you. But I want you to know the truth.”
She worried her lip between her teeth before she glanced behind us at the sound of people leaving the church. “We better hurry,” she whisper-yelled, grabbing her dress and slipping into the car. I slammed the door shut and hurried around the front of the car to the driver's side.
The car roared to life, and I glanced in the mirror to see Hunter standing in the parking lot as we disappeared behind the building and out into an alleyway. I stepped on the gas, wanting to put as much distance between us and the rest of the town as possible. I just needed a few minutes alone with Belle, and then they could do what they wanted to me.
“You’re going to kill us both,” she said with panic, pressing her palm against the dashboard. I let off the gas slightly as she tugged the seatbelt across her chest.
“I’m not the monster that they say I am.”
“I know,” she replied, but her voice wavered.
“Beauty, look at me,” I growled. Her eyes snapped to mine, watery with unshed tears. “That’s not who I am.”
“Who are you, Mason?”
“I’m going to show you.”
We pulled up to the front of the house, dust clouding around the car. Thankfully, no one was coming up the narrow path. Not yet, at least.
I rushed to Belle’s side of the car, but she was already stepping out into the sunshine, her eyes dancing over our home.
“Belle,” I huffed. Her eyes fell to my outstretched hand. She slid her fingers over mine, and I grasped her tightly as I pulled her toward the front door. But when we got inside, she pulled back from me. “I can explain.”
“Start from the beginning.”
I hung my head. “The night we met, it wasn’t a coincidence.”
“What?” she asked, and I glanced up to take in her wild eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Roland, he owed me money. He couldn’t pay.”
Her arm went across her stomach. “He...”
“I would have never hurt you. Not for a second. If you wanted to stay in the hotel room, I would have left you.”
“But he didn’t know that.”
I shook my head. “No. He had no clue what I would do to you.”
“But why?”
“Cadence comes from old money. He wanted to get his hands on it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Why didn’t I what?”
“Those girls,” she whispered, and I felt like she’d stabbed a knife into my gut. What did she think I did to those girls? What kind of twisted animal did she think I was? “Mason, I saw the building. The rooms –”
“I was helping them.”
“You’re sick,” she snapped, tears spilling over the apples of her cheeks. She turned toward the door as my fingers circled her arm to stop her. When she spun back around, the palm of her hand connected with my cheek hard enough to cause my head to snap to the side. I released her, taking a step back.
“I saved them,” I growled. “They were abused, Belle. Like you. Some were raped and beaten. They had no other way to escape. I gave them that,” I snarled, unable to contain my anger.
She was shaking, her breath coming out raggedly. “What about the girl who was murdered? Did you know her?”
“Some people can’t be saved,” I conceded, my shoulders sagging. I’d never forgive myself for what happened to that woman. She trusted me.
“She had my card. She looked like me.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“She reminded me of you. She was so scared and so timid. I just wanted to help her. I don’t know who hurt her, Belle. But I will find them. I won’t stop until I make sure they can’t hurt anyone else again.”
“That Dalton guy – those papers you had me sign... It was to give me ownership of your properties, wasn’t it? Why did you put the club and the house in my name?”
“Because I wanted to make sure you never had to worry about having a safe place to lay your head. I wanted to take care of you.”
She swallowed hard, and I could see she was holding more back.
“Did you want to take care of Rose?”
Her question stung more than the slap across my face, and I flinched. “I did love her, yes.”
“She was your foster sister?”
I shook my head. Hunter was a real bastard for telling her that. “She was Hunter’s foster sister. They’d lived together for years before I was ever adopted. I was practically an adult. He was in love with her.”
“That was her, at the coffee shop.”
“It was.”
Her eyes searched mine before she shook her head. “Do you –”
“No,” I replied, taking a step closer to her, wishing I could wrap my arms around her. “Not like I love you.”
She gasped.
“But there's something else I need to tell you.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
HE TOOK ONE MORE STEP forward, but the doors burst open, and behind me stood Hunter.
“What the hell are you doing, Mason?”
“I’m talking to Belle. I just need to –”
“She doesn’t need you anymore. She has me.” Hunter stepped in front of me as Mason pulled his hands from his pockets, clenching his fists. This was about to turn really bad really fast.
“What is it you want? It’s yours. Anything but her. You can have it all.”
Hunter’s heavy palm fell on my shoulder, and I jumped at the sudden contact.
“It’s too late for that, brother. She knows what kind of animal you are.”
“I’ll show you in the ring how much of a monster I can be,” Mason spat.
“You’ve already lost, Mason. While you were focused on the battle, I won the war.”
Mason’s eyes flitted to Dalton before narrowing in a murderous glare. “What is it you’re getting out of all this? Besides destroying my life?”
I expected Hunter to scoff or tell Mason he was crazy. But instead, a low chuckle rumbled from his chest, and he shook his head.
>
“You’re done stealing my life from me, Mason.”
“Everything I have, I’ve earned,” I growled, struggling to keep from murdering my own brother in our childhood home.
“That includes Rose? Does that include the belt you got from killing your opponent?”
I watched Beauty’s lips tug down in a frown. “What did you do, Mason?” She asked, her voice wavering.
“What did you tell her?” I growled as the doors opened again, and people began to file out around us. The entire guest list from the wedding was now overflowing on the porch like an angry mob.
“The truth,” Hunter responded as his arm sinched around my waist. Now with an audience, hunter raised his voice. “We all know about the girls.”
“Beauty,” Mason pleaded with me. “I’d never hurt any of them. You know that. You know me.”
My stomach rolled, and I leaned into Hunter’s side.
That’s when I heard him — his voice. Paul was beside me now. His face looked like he’d aged in the short amount of time I’d been gone. No longer the big bad wolf, he looked like a frail old man.
“It’s time you came home to your family,” he rasped.
“I’m her family,” Mason snarled, lunging toward my stepfather. I yelped as I was knocked out of the way by Hunter.
Chaos ensued. Mason was slamming his fist into Paul, and Hunter was on his back, slamming his elbow into the back of Mason’s head. They were relentless, growling like wild animals as they attacked each other.
I screamed, struggling to wrap my hands around Hunter’s arm and pull him off of Mason.
His arm swung back, his elbow colliding with my eye. I tumbled to the hardwood floor, and others descended, pilling on to Mason.
Then a shot rang out, and everyone stilled as crimson spilled out from beneath the pile of men.
TWENTY-NINE
THE SHERIFF SHOVED his way through the crowd and grabbed Hunter, yanking back from Mason, gun in his hand. He yelled as they wrestled him the ground. And I screamed as Mason rolled from Paul, blood coating both of them. I flew to his side, slicking my pretty yellow dress in the sticky liquid.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, my vision clouded by tears. My hand went to his that was clasping his side. “Mason,” his name ripped from my throat as his eyes fluttered closed. I fell against his body, sobbing as he went limp in my arms.
“We need an ambulance at the Locke home,” The sheriff yelled into his radio as he and another officer struggled to get handcuffs on Hunter.
Paul laid unmoving, with his eyes fixed on the ceiling above him. The bullet must have passed through mason and struck him in the chest.
“Get him in the car,” the sheriff growled as both men yanked Hunter to his feet. I focused my attention on Mason. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully like I’d seen him so many times before.
“Mason,” I sobbed, my palm against his cheek. “Mason, I’m so sorry. I love you too,” I chocked out before laying my head against his chest and listening to the faint thudding of his heart – calm and not at all frantic like my own.
It felt like the life was draining from my body, Beauty’s voice growing distant. But then I heard it – the reason for me to fight and not give up. She loved me. After all I’d done, she saw me for who I really was. She gave her delicate little heart to me, and I wasn’t going to crush it. I had to fight.
I blinked open my eyes. The constant beeping of the machine next to me seemed to pulse in my mind. I heard it tick up as I looked around the room from Belle – my Beauty.
“He’s awake,” she yelled from the hallway, and I felt myself relax. Either I’d managed to survive, or this was Heaven. Either way, I was with Belle, and nothing else mattered.
She was at my side in an instant, her eyes shimmering as she smiled down at me like an angel with the fluorescent lighting acting as a halo above her.
“You’re alive,” she choked out in disbelief.
My hand slid into her thick brown hair, and a smile tugged at my lips. “I couldn’t leave yet, Beauty. You still owe me that dance.”
EPILOGUE
IT HAD BEEN TWO YEARS since I fell into Mason’s Life. Two long years of feeling protected and safe, even when both our worlds crashed down around us.
I wanted to mark this day in our history and make it something special. We overcame the odds. And now, our story was about to get more complicated.
I sat the roast on the table. It was a simple meal, made from the crockpot, but it was Mason’s favorite dish. He would be home any minute. I rushed up the stairs, throwing on a pale yellow sundress and running the brush through my hair. My nerves were on end, causing my stomach to slosh.
“Beauty?” he called out from downstairs, and I couldn’t help the smile that plastered across my face. Every day was like the first. I still blushed at the sight of his massive stature, still couldn’t help the way butterflies took frantic flight in my belly when he rasped my name –Beauty.
“You’re late,” I sang as I hurried down the stairs. Just before I reached the bottom, his massive arms looped around me, lifting me into the air as he pressed his lips against mine. His hair and beard were still kept short, but he hadn’t shaved in at least a week. I liked the scruff, the way it marked my flesh when he pressed his hot lips against me.
“Sorry. I got caught up over at The Ballroom.”
“Let me come with you next time,” I replied as my toes found the ground, and he pulled back from me fractionally. “I haven’t seen the girls in a month.”
His large palm pressed against my belly, his fingers splayed across the soft material of the dress. “It’s no place for someone in your condition.”
“How did you know?” I asked, my eyes going wide in shock.
“You’ve been ravenous when it comes to food and me.”
I smacked him playfully on the chest. “I’ve always been insatiable when it comes to you. I wanted to surprise you.”
“I think I’m still in shock,” he teased, a deep chuckle rumbling from his chest.
“Well, then you may want to sit down for this next part.”
His thick dark eyebrows knitted together, and worry lines marred the edges of his eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“We’re okay,” I replied, my voice shaking. “Both of our babies are okay,” I sighed, my eyes searching his.
The moment what I’d said hit him, his eyes went wide before he lifted me into his arms again, crushing me against his body. I knew it had to frighten him; to know how things had ended so badly with his own siblings. But there was nothing we couldn’t do together, and if raising our family was our next challenge, I had no doubt Mason would be able to conquer that as well.
“Dinner smells amazing,” he rasped, lifting me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me into the dining room.
“Are you hungry?” I asked as he sat me down on the edge of the large table.
There was a mischevious glint in his eyes, and his lips turned up in a devious smile.
I giggled, thinking back to the day I told him about the silly romance novels I used to read when I wanted to know what love felt like. But I haven’t picked up a book in years, because none of those stories compared to what Mason and I had together. Loving someone like Mason Locke was like trying to tame a wild beast. He was ravenous and didn’t follow any rules, but when he claimed you as his own, you claimed you completely. All of my faults and bad memories – all of the scars that thickened and protected my heart – they were all his now.
“Always.” He lowered me until my back was flat against the cool surface, pushing the skirt of my dress up my thighs. “And now I’m going to devour you, Beauty.”
... and they lived happily ever after.
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Did you love Breaking Beauty? Then you should read Something Wicked by Teresa Mummert!
Drake Gibson was a movie star with a bright future and a very dark past. When he attends a movie premiere, he meets Gabriela Slone, a reporter who hates her job. She's supposed to get an interview for her magazine, but Drake doesn't make it easy for her and she lets her frustration get the best of her. She is soon thrown into his world and in over her head.
Read more at Teresa Mummert’s site.
Also by Teresa Mummert
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Honor Series
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Watch for more at Teresa Mummert’s site.
About the Author
TERESA MUMMERT is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her work includes word of mouth bestselling, White Trash Trilogy, which landed her a three book publishing deal with Simon & Schuster. She is also the author of the wildly popular Honor Series which chronicles the taboo romance between a student and her college professor.
Breaking Beauty (Twisted Tales, #1) Page 16