Owning the Beast(17)

My very own flesh and blood had left me to die. My father’s brother. My beloved uncle and godfather. The man who had helped raise me was blinded by greed and jealousy. And now, once more, he wanted what I had. What he couldn’t possess, he decided to take from me.

I took another slow step and spotted my Angel from out of the corner of my eye. One of Vincent’s men had an arm around her neck and a gun pointed to her head. She was thankfully dressed in one of my long button up shirts, but her legs and feet were bare. My sweet beauty was sobbing silently and I could see the terror written all over her face. “Let her go, Vincent. Let her go this instant and leave our home. Maybe I will let you live.”

“Our home?” He sneered. “Just a day with my bride-to-be and already, you are playing house.”

I looked over to Annabella and saw her eyes widened. The shock of his statement must have been clear on my face as well because a crooked smile crept onto his face.

He looked over at her smugly. “Oh, you didn’t know, did you, sweet child? You were meant to be my virgin bride last night. But by some odd coincidence, you were sent to my nephew instead. No worries though. He may have taken your innocence, but I still want my prize. You’ll make an excellent addition to my staff as the house whore. All the help are looking forward to it. I was going to be the first to f*ck you, but now that you’ve been broken in, the guards can have their fun. They do enjoy group activities.”

I could see the panic in Annabella’s eyes and she started to cry harder. Reaching up, she clawed at the arm holding her neck, trying to break away but to no avail. The man merely smiled before pushing the gun closer to her head.

“Stay calm, Angel. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I tried to keep my voice even and calm, willing her some of my strength. Inside, I was a fury of wrath that was yearning to unleash my hate.

I caught a small movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was another one of Vincent’s men at first, but at a second glance, I realized it was Logan. He was slowly making his way around the perimeter of the house, trying to stealthily move into position behind the man holding Annabella hostage.

Logan signaled discreetly to me that he had his gun and intended to use it. I didn’t have mine on me so it looks like I get to kill Vincent with my bare hands instead. I was going to enjoy that. I made a motion with my hand to let him know that I understood his plan and was on board. Meanwhile, I kept my eyes on Vincent. The motherf*cker was going to die, preferably today.

I needed a distraction to give Logan time to set up his plan. But I also needed to know the truth. “It seems like it’s quite a ‘coincidence’ that Annabella was meant for you but ended up here instead.”

“Ah. Perhaps I had a little something to do with your mix up. Your usual whore, Candy, was more than willing to divulge some personal information for a small fee. She was happy to pay me a visit and sell you out. Poor girl. She should have kept her mouth shut. Some whores just don’t know what their mouths are for.” He was smiling when he said that, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Candy was now a casualty of Vincent as well.

“I am giving you one last chance to end this and walk away with your life, Vincent. Let Bella go, and you will live. But try and take what is mine from me and you will die here today. I have waited a long time to get my revenge for what you did to my parents. Protecting my Bella will just be the icing on the cake.”

His smile slipped and I knew he was afraid. He should be.

“I never forgot what you did that day. How you killed my parents and left me for dead. Today is the day you pay for what you did.”

Logan crashed through the doors at that very moment, taking out the man holding Annabella with a single shot. He went down instantly, taking Bella with him. Vincent lunged at me but I was stronger and faster, and I grabbed his neck with my bare hands, cutting off his air. He went to his knees immediately, grappling at my hands, trying to pry them off. “You were the reason why I was left alone in this world. Your greed and your jealousy,” I seethed through gritted teeth, squeezing with all my strength, taking pleasure in the fear that bloomed in his eyes. “It wasn’t enough to leave me without my parents. You had to come and take her too.” Blood vessels burst in his eyes and his lips started to take on a hue of blue. I glared right into his eyes as the light started to leave them. “You will never take anything from me again.” With that said, he finally stopped struggling and went limp in my grip. I felt the moment when the light left his eyes and life drained out of him.

I dropped his dead body to the ground, and I stood, frantically looking around for Bella. She was on her knees a few feet away, eyes wide and tearful, a deer in headlights expression etched onto her face. She had splatters of blood on her but I knew that they were from the dead man who had previously held a gun to her head. Logan stood behind her, his cell phone to his ear. I could vaguely hear him speaking with my security before calling the cops. I just stood there, rooted to the ground with my dead uncle at my feet; my heavy breathing and pounding heartbeat filled my ears. I never took my eyes off my Angel’s. I was terrified of what she had just witnessed and what she must be thinking of me right now.

I trudged over to her slowly before falling to my knees in front of her.





CHAPTER 7 Annabella





Griffin’s expression was one of pure agony as he dropped to his knees in front of me. Everything had happened so fast. I could still feel the splatters of warm blood. When his eyes met mine, the turmoil and sorrow I saw in them were my own undoing. He looked so lost and so alone. I still remembered the words he had uttered earlier, “you were the reason why I was left alone”, and I wanted him to know that he would never be alone again. Without hesitation, I threw myself at him. Catching me, Griffin pulled me onto his lap and I clung to him, breathing in his musky scent. He buried his face into my neck and I could feel him shaking, his breathing hard and uneven. I held him tighter to me, letting him know I wasn’t going anywhere.