Tame his Beast - Claire C. Riley Page 0,39

No one does.”

“That what you believe?” he said with a shake of his head and a dry laugh.

I shook my head and smiled, feeling anger burning through me. “That’s what I know. I’m leaving now. I’m going on my date. And yeah, maybe we’ll have sex, maybe we won’t and he’ll just be thinking about it all night. But whatever happens it will be my choice and on my terms. Either way, I won’t be stuck in here with you.”

His expression darkened and I had a feeling that if he weren’t restricted to that bed he would have me by the throat and up against the wall. But I didn’t care anymore. Anger coiled and writhed inside me like snakes in a pit and I finally understood why he clung to this feeling so much—why he embraced it. It felt good, especially when I saw the hurt spark behind his eyes. After everything he’d said and done in the past weeks, I enjoyed hurting him, just a little. It served him right. I knew the night was already ruined though, because the guilt was going to eat me up as soon as I left.

That wasn’t me.

I didn’t treat people like that.

“I own you,” he snarled, his expression growing harder.

“No one owns me. No one, and especially not you! But hey, here’s something to think about: Do you want to know what women think about when they’re on a date?” I paused, putting my hand on the doorknob as I forced myself to use a crude word. “We’re wondering how small their dicks are in comparison to their over-inflated egos.” I pulled open the door and looked back at him. “And let me tell you, Beast, nine times out of ten, it’s a disappointment to us.” I glanced at his loosely covered crotch area with a raised eyebrow and left.

I turned and left, slamming the door shut after me.

“I’m the one motherfucker out of ten, bitch!” he yelled after me.

I pressed my back against the door, listening as he threw the cup of water across the room and yelled something unintelligible.

The prospect stood up with a grin on his face. “All good?” he asked with a chuckle. Something else crashed to the floor in the room and I winced, wondering if Joey was going to yell at me as well, but instead he laughed some more. “Fuck, guess he didn’t take the sexy getup too well.”

I smiled, feeling stronger than I’d felt in…god, I don’t know how long. But I felt strong and it felt good. It felt good to finally answer back. To actually say what was on my mind instead of bottling it all up.

“He may need one of your extra-special hits later,” I replied. Something else smashed and I winced again. “Maybe even two.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And you’re good with that?” he asked, sounding amused.

“He can do whatever he wants. I don’t care anymore,” I replied. “We really need to get a plastic jug in there too, because the rate he’s going through them is absurd.” I started walking away, listening to the prospect laugh again.

“I’ll get right on that once he’s calmed down.”

“Not my problem,” I called back.

And for that night at least, it wasn’t.

That night, all I cared about was owning it.

Chapter Fourteen

~ Belle ~

I pulled up to Dela Roma’s only thirty minutes late, which was good, all things considered. And at least I didn’t appear too eager. I checked my cell, seeing that no one had called it, which I took to be another positive sign. Surely if Beast had sent out an order to kill me someone would have been in touch to warn me first.

I took a deep breath, feeling restless and frustrated, but I was determined to enjoy the night. Lorenzo was perfect, in theory, and I already knew that we got along, so there was no reason that everything shouldn’t go well. Getting out of my car, I looked in through the window, seeing that the restaurant was busy as usual. I wondered if we’d actually have time to talk or if he’d get pulled away constantly with work matters. It didn’t really matter; that was part of being a successful business owner.

Pushing open the door, the maître d’, Aldo, greeted me with a warm embrace and one of his handsome smiles.

“Belle, so beautiful tonight. Lorenzo is a lucky man.” He released me, placing his hand on my lower back as he guided me through the busy restaurant. “And you