Chapter 14
Beast
Laying here in bed watching Bella sleep half on top of me and in my arms is the highlight of my mornings and nights. Her beautiful heart-shaped face looks so at peace and relaxed. These are rare moments for me to see on her face these days. I treasure every single one of them and her every day.
I can’t believe it’s been over a week since our 4th of July party here. Bella did great that day with all our company and since then.
She was also really good with me fighting, better than I could have ever imagined. I could tell how nervous she was at first, then how turned on she got watching me. I wanted her wickedly afterward and her offering to jack me off almost did me in. Almost. I squashed that image of her hand on my cock hastily. She may have been turned on, and I may have been horny as fuck, but I would never have done anything with her. Not in the garage with my brothers, Jules and her sister milling around just outside. That had me calm my shit down immediately.
In the middle of my thoughts, someone starts banging on my door. I almost jump out of bed wide the fuck awake with my heart pounding in my chest. Bella stirs on top of me but stays put as I hold her tighter to my chest. She blinks her eyes waking up slowly as she stares at me.
“This better be fuckin’ good, motherfucker,” I growl loudly to whoever is at my door. My door swings wide open and slams against the wall causing Bella to squeal and making me chuckle. I look up from her and see Ace entering my room shutting the door behind him. He and Blaze are my only brothers that have a key to my room and I theirs.
If looks could kill, his would kill me right now. He has murder shining in his eyes. That’s not good.
What the fuck is going on now?
“We got trouble, man. Church is in ten minutes,” Ace says in a rush.
“I’ll be down in ten,” I say looking down at Bella watching her reaction. She still looks half asleep, but I can see the worry cross her eyes.
“Do you know where Jules and Gigi are?” she asks him in a sleepy voice as she turns her head towards him. He tries really hard to hide his smile, but I caught a glimpse. This sonofabithch is so taken with Jules, and he’s been trying hard to hide it from me. I know him too well and seen it too many times in their eyes from the first time he laid eyes on her in her apartment. He needs to get his shit together and man up before he loses her like I almost lost Bella.
“Gigi’s with the horses and Jules went to the store with Red. You two do realize it’s almost eleven, you’re usually up early,” Ace says with a smirk. I can’t believe we slept this late, I barely drank last night or these days for that matter. I do it to keep myself in check and have a clear head around Bella.
“Get your ass moving, Beast! We’ve gotta get down there.” “Give me a minute, asshole,” I say giving him a look to leave me alone with Bella.
“Tiny’s waiting to take Bella to Gigi,” he says as he finally leaves my room. I turn to Bella giving her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Princess, duty calls. I’ll find you after Church. It’ll be good for you to spend some time with your sister alone. She needs more one on one time with you.” I give her a good morning kiss, a kiss I reluctantly have to end too soon. Then I get out of bed heading to the closet, quickly change into my jeans, a clean t-shirt, and my kutte. I throw my socks and boots on before leaving.
When I walk back in the bedroom, Bella has another one of my shirts on and her Vans sneakers. She always looks sexy as fuck, she’s wearing my black Metallica shirt. Although, where the hell does she think she’s going looking like this? She’s not going to walk around the clubhouse in front of my brothers in just my t-shirt.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going dressed like that?” I ask her shaking my head as she gives me a great big ass smile. What the fuck?
“What do you mean? I thought you liked me wearing your shirts.” She still has that big smile on her face. She’s right, but only in this room. What is my little Princess up too? I saunter closer to her by the side of the bed placing my left hand on her right hips. Then placing my right hand on the hem of the shirt I lift it up, slowly. She doesn’t make a move to stop me, only giggling as her cuteness filling the room. That sound goes straight to my hardening cock. I lower my eyes down her body and see she’s wearing jean shorts. Short jean fuckin’ shorts, way too shorts for my liking. That’s what that big smile on her face was all about, she’s getting a kick out of my reaction. Ah, my girl is going to be the death of me.
“You think your funny huh, baby? Tie that shit up, so my brothers don’t think you’re naked under my shirt. And Princess, next time you pull a stunt like this I will take you over my knee and spank your pretty little ass red.” I place the shirt in her hand and give her a kiss on her nose. Her face turns red as she bunches up the shirt around her waist pulling it tight to her back tying it up with her hair tie from her wrist.
Damn, my girl looks sexy as fuck with my shirt tied around her waist, stomach peeking out above her daisy dukes.
Fuck, my cock is growing so hard, I’m in for a world of hurt for this. I can’t walk into Church will a hard-on the size of Florida.
“Better.” One simple word out of her sassy, sexy mouth with her lips curled in a mischievous smile. She may be inexperienced in the sex department, but I see the sparkle in her eyes every time I mention spanking her perfect ass.
Damn, I want her naked and under me desperately. I need to get my shit together and get out of here before I can’t control myself. I would never hurt her, or attempt to fuck her too soon.
“Yeah, Princess, but you still look way too good to be around my brothers,” I say shaking my head again to clear my dirty thoughts.
“I got to go, I’ll find you when I’m done.” I lean in to kiss her softly on her lips, and she stops me placing her small hand on my chest flat over my heart. I give her a look raising my eyebrow wondering what’s wrong.
“I want to walk down with you. If that’s alright,” she says in the sweet, sultry voice that does things to my heart and cock. I nod as I take her hand in mine before giving her that kiss. Then I take her downstairs leaving her with Tiny in the kitchen with one last kiss.
I enter Church and see the guys around the conference table watching my every step. I immediately get slammed with a feeling of dread. I place my gun and phone in the basket by the door on the way to my seat. Whatever is going on, I know I’m not going to like it one bit. The icy cold feeling shoots down my spine, and my senses are on high alert.
Once everyone’s seated Gator slam the gravel on the table calling our meeting to order. “I called this emergency meeting for a few different reasons. I’ll start off with the thorn in my ass. First, those mother-fuckin' Macks are fuckin’ with our club business. Those assholes need to be dealt with once and for all.” Everyone start to voice their opinion at once, and Gator raises his hands to stop them and continue.
“I know I pushed them on the club, but new information has come to my attention. Beast found a warehouse thirty miles from here in an alias name linked to them. It’s filled with drugs and guns for the fuckin’ Colombian cartel.
“I sent Hawk and Wolf to check it out last night. They heard a conversation between two of their idiot prospects, the cartel is making some huge deal with them that will go down soon. They want to use us on the runs to take the fall with the drugs so the other cargo can fly through the cracks.
I don’t trust these motherfuckers to use us to keep the Feds off their asses. We need to fix this. Now!” He slams his fist on the table and takes a breath. The guys bitch and argue about what to do.
I knew they were up to no good that’s why I’ve been keeping tabs on them and found this information out. I’m sure there’s more I just haven’t found it yet, I’ll keep working on it.
“We need a vote on what to do about them,” Gator says as he goes around the room.
Ten minutes later and to my astonishment, we come to a unanimous agreement. We’ll get out of our deal with them and hope it doesn’t start a war. We have to do this the right way, or a lot of blood will be shed.
“Next, there has been two more abducted from downtown Orlando. Throttle’s been lookin’ into with no luck. The girls were only 19 this time that vanished. I don’t know what the fuck is going on over there, but we need to get on top of this shit now. I’ll check in with Maddox and find out if he has any news.”
That must make twelve girls or more by now. What the hell is happening over there to these poor young girls? Something’s defiantly up, and we need to figure it out fast. Just more shit to add to the pile of what needs to be dealt with around here.
“Now, onto other important business,” Gator says with a strange look on his face. I have a horrible feeling in my gut that this is about my girl.
Shit’s about to hit the fan, I can feel it in my bones. Fuck, what now?
Gator looks straight at me with a look of apprehension and something I can’t place. Maybe it’s dread or anxiety. Whatever it is, it’s certainly means something's bad is up.
“Beast, you’re not going to like, we got trouble with the Families. I gotta heads up this mornin’ from Ricco in Chicago. He said there’s talk that the girls didn’t just vanish, that we stole them.” I clench my jaw, and he holds up his hands for me to hear the rest. “I told him I didn’t know what he was going on about. I think he bought what I was selling for now.”
My jaw clenched so tight it may break. They will not get to them. I would die before I let them go. All of them are under my protection and as God is my witness, I promise I will keep them safe with my life if I have too.
Ricco Del Mara is the top dog of all the Italian Mafia Families here in the US. He’s based out of Chicago. He’s been at the realm for over twenty years, and his son Dante’s next in line to take over.
Ricco is the worst of the worst, the scum of the earth, in my opinion. He’s the type of man that would sell his own mother for the right price.
“I see that look in your eyes, Beast. We’re not going to let them get to those girls. They’re family, and you know we protect our family, brother. It’s not going to be easy, and this could start a war, but we all agreed to protect them,” Gator pauses and takes a couple of deep breaths before going into the heavy shit.
“Ricco, throw me a bone for you. He apparently doesn’t know exactly what went down in New York just Antonio’s story which I don’t think he’s buying completely. He apparently likes you still. He may end up being an ally before this shit is over.
“He said Antonio has made arranged to take over the organization in the Castellani boys absents. Now, in order for him to do that he needs Bella’s hand in marriage,” Gator says, and I cringe.
“He has a judge in his back pocket arranging for their marriage to be legal. He’s going to do this without Bella’s presence or consent to move along the process of his take over. All of this will happen by the end of this week.
“He still wants her, but he doesn’t need her immediately. He also wants her sister and friend.” That only leaves us two days - not including today - to figure this shit out.
He turns and points to Ace who looks mad as hell.
“Ace and I have come up with a solution for this problem, but it will confirm our involvement and lead them to her faster.
“She’s your girl, so the decision is ultimately yours. You have the final say, brother. We want this to work to keep her and the girls here and under our thumbs.”
My head is spinning. How can we stop this tornado and keep them safe? He has a fuckin’ judge to bind Bella to him without her consent. What card do I have left to play? This thing just went from shit to fucked in a flash. How am I going to fix this and keep her with me, keep them all here and safe?
“First, let me tell you this. I’ve had Throttle working on finding the girls brothers and friends we have a good lead on them all. Our Intel places them are in the country, four men fitting their descriptions were seen hiding out in our sister chapter’s territory in Key West. I sent Ryder and Bear down last night to check it out. If it’s them, they’ll bring them back here safely.” Holy fuckin’ shit, that really is good news! Bella and Gigi are going to be ecstatic when they see their brothers again and know they’re safe.
“Skully - President of Dragons Breath outside of Staten Island - finally got back to me. They had some business recently with Antonio, and he slips about the friend. He found her friend, they’ve been holding him in the Castellani’s basement beatin’ the shit out of him for information. He hasn’t given them a thing because he doesn’t know where the girls are. I’m working with Skully on getting him out of there and hereby next week,” he says, and I take all this good and bad shit in. Dragons Breath is considered a cousin club from another state.
Years ago the original Prez and VP split up, and the VP went north to take care of his sick mother and Autistic sister.
He missed the Brotherhood, so he started his own chapter up there. They now have ten clubs between New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
Skully has been a great Prez for the past eight years. If he says he’ll get Cesare for us, he will, and he owes our club a few favors that have piled up over the years.
My girl is going to be ecstatic when she sees him. I can’t wait to see their faces when I tell them Cesare will be here soon. I just hope he’s not in too bad of shape when he arrives, or my girl’s going to take all the blame for it.
As for Val, I knew he was resourceful enough to keep the guys safe and get them here. He knows mom and I are in Florida, and he knows if anything were to happen to Bella I would do whatever I took to help her. He also knows me well enough to know if shit hit the fan I would bring her here. It’s the best way to keep her safe and close.
Smart man, my best friend is for sure, that must be why he’s here in Florida. Now, I just have to get them here so we can figure out how to get the organization back to its birthright.
Killing Antonio slow and painfully will be my kill for sure. I will cut that motherfuckers balls off, then shove them up his ass for what he’s done to my girl!
“Okay, here’s the plan: Ace and I wanted to get you a leg up on that bastard, so I took the liberty of contacting Marcie - Twitch’s sister - at the courthouse, her husband, Judge Clifton filed for an emergency marriage license for you and Bella. Reverend John’s picking it up for us in the next hour on his way here to perform the ceremony for you two. You don’t have to go through with this, but if you don’t, he’ll have legal rights to her. It will also serve to keep her here legally bond to you.”
My fuckin’ head is going round and round in circles about to explode. I don’t know what way is up or down at this moment. Thankfully my brothers have my back because I need them now more than ever. I want to marry Bella and spend the rest of my life with her, and I have no problem marry her today, but she may not feel the same way. I would never push her, this is crazy, right. I have to talk to her, she needs to know all the facts. I can’t make this huge decision without her.
As I’m contemplating all this fucked up shit, Ace breaks me from my concentration. “Listen, brother, either way by the end of this week she’ll be married and you’re the better choice of the two. I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but it’s the only way to keep her safe and protected. You two love each other, and it may be too soon, but it’s the inevitable.”
When he finishes, there’s a knock at the door, then it flies opens and Tiny ushers Bella in the room.
My head is all over the place, and I can’t think straight, but one thing I know for sure is girls aren’t allowed in this room. Why is he bringing her in here? Did something happen to her?
I shoot up from my seat and head straight to her, looking at Tiny. I say in a panic, “What’s going on? Did something happen?” He shrugs his shoulders to me, looking clueless. I look Bella over from head to toe. She looks beautiful, scared, unsure, and panicked, but still beautiful. Other than that nothin’ seems amiss.
I take her hand in mine to comfort and reassure her.
“I had Tiny bring her in here. Perfect timing brother, go wait for her in the bar until we’re finished up,” Ace says before I get a chance to ask her anything.
I lead Bella to my seat taking her on my lap waiting for them to fill in the blanks for me.
I’m not going to leave her on her own in this room. We’re in this together, no matter what happens. There has to be a good explanation for her being in here.
“What’s goin’ on, brothers? Why did you bring her in here?” I look at Gator and Ace confused as all hell.
Ace knowing Bella a little better than Gator, so he leads the conversation telling her in a calm voice about what’s going on with her brothers and Antonio. He leaves out the Cesare part and also the marriage part, for me. When he finishes, he looks at me to finish.
“The rest is on you, brother….” He gives me an apologetic look, then turns to the room.
“Everyone out!” he yells. Gator dismisses Church as he bangs the gavel.
He and Gator stay in the room with us, but head over to the far corner by Gator’s desk giving us some privacy.
I turn to Bella and see so many different emotions flashing through her beautiful amber eyes as tears are falling from them.
I pick her up by the waist and place her on the table in front of me. Taking her tiny hands in mine and look into her eyes, taking in all her beauty and the gravity of this situation.
I hate having this conversation with her right now, but here goes nothing.
First, I need something if I’m going to salvage this somehow and not fuck it up for her.
“Ace, can you grab me a couple of things from my room.
“In my nightstand drawer on the right side of the bed, there is a box. You’ll know it when you see it, I showed it to you not long ago,” I say not taking my eyes off my girl as she stares at me confused.
“And grab the box under the bed. Thanks, bro.”
Gator follows him out of the room leaving us alone.
“Bella, you know I love, always have and always will, nothing will ever change that. I want you to know that since you’ve been back in my life, I’ve finally feel complete.
“I stayed away from you all these years out of respect for your father and brothers. Mostly, I thought it was best for you.” I pause and take a deep breath before continuing.
“I’m not a good man or good enough for you. I’ve done some shitty things in my life, I’m not the boy you once knew. I’ve killed men with my bare hands. These are hands of a killer!” I say as I lift our hands up to show her. Her eyes are shining with doubt of what I'm saying.
“I have killed for this country, for your father, for my club, and I will undoubtedly kill for you. I plan to hunt down that bastard and killing him myself for all the pain he’s caused you. I won’t ever let him hurt you again, Princess.”
I take a deep breath cleaning breath to relax my nerves. Her breathing is heavy, but she’s controlling her emotions.
“Can you still love me knowing what I am, a killer!” Tears running down her face with a big smile for me. Her eyes are shining with love.
She takes her hands to both sides of my face and stares in my eyes.
“Gio, I don’t care about what you’ve done or will do. I know what’s what I feel in your heart,” she says placing her hand over my heart.
“I know you made your first kill for my father when you were seventeen, and it doesn’t bother me. What man in my life hasn’t killed someone!
“I love you no matter what you’ve done! I want to be with you regardless. I always have, and nothing is going to change the way I feel in my heart about you.
We finally have our chance, and I’m not going to let it slip away.”
With her confession, I can’t hold back anymore. She’s filled my heart with more love than anything ever could. I stand up taking her in my arms and kiss her, throwing all the passion and love I have for her, tasting her salty tears in the process.
In the middle of our kiss, I hear the door open. One of them clears his throat breaking our moment, I turn to see Gator closing the door.
Ace walks to me and hands me the two boxes I sent him to retrieve. One, small black velvet box and the other a long rectangle box wrapped in a metallic silver paper with a pink bow in the center.
“What are these?” Bella asks as she wipes her tears away. Her smiles returned to her beautiful face making me chuckle a little at how she lights up.
Her beauty radiates beyond this room.
For a girl who grew up with everything money could buy, she sure loves when I give her a gift. Any kind, as long as it’s for her.
“These, Princess, are two very special gifts for you.”
I hand her the big box first. “I’ve been holding on to this one since your birthday. I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
I never gave her the kutte for the 4th party because I knew the guys would see her with me and leave her alone. And it just never felt like the right time.
She takes it from me and tears into the box in seconds. The guys and I laugh at her enthusiasm and childlike nature. I can’t help but beam myself from the look on her face. She’s happy and excited at this moment.
Once the box is open, she stares at what’s inside with an animated sequel that pierces our ears. The look on her face of pride and the tears roll down her cheek make it all worth it.
She resembles the girl I left all those years ago. A young, happy, innocent and a vibrant girl. La mia bella Principessa that I’ve been missing.
She takes her kutte out of the box staring at the back. ‘Property of’ is on the top, our club Dragon on a Harley in red, gold and black in the center and my road name ‘Beast’ on the bottom. Her official ol’lady kutte, making her mine officially in the club, forever.
She hugs the kutte to her chests and looks at me with the most stupendous smile on her face. The pride, love, and adoration shining from her eyes are making me what to be giddy like a school girl.
“It’s just like yours. Does this mean I’m finally yours now in the eyes of your club?” The look on her face as she says these words fill my heart with hot lava about to explode with happiness.
It tells me she adores it and she’s honored to be part of my world. Her emotions are infectious to the room with her megawatt smile that shines across the world.
“You’ve always been mine, Princess, since the day you were born. But yes, in the eyes of the club you are officially mine. Also, this shows the other clubs that you’re our club property, my property. We still have to get you inked.” She nods accepting as she slides her kutte on. She looks amazing wearing my brand on her back. I can’t wait to fuck her with just that on.
Now, it’s time for the big question. The question that’s going change everything between us. The make it or break it kind of question. The most significant life changing question.
“Princess, as I told you before in the eyes of the club you’re mine. It’s a commitment much like a marriage; we’re forever,” I say pausing a second to compose my thoughts.
“Since Jules made that call and you came back in my life, I knew I’d never be able to let you go ever again. I also knew one day we would be married when you were ready. And I would never want to rush you into something you’re not ready for. But with that being said, you need to know why I’m asking you this today and not waiting.
You need to think about what you're ready for and want. Anton wants you legally married to him immediately to take over the organization. And he can do this without your consent or presence.
“Your mine and I want to make this official today, not just because it will give him no way in hell of getting his grubby hands on you again. I want you to be mine officially in the eyes of God. I want to make it legal.”
The small black velvet box with my grandmother’s engagement ring is still in my hand. The ring that was intended to be hers, I just never thought it would find its rightful home on her finger in this lifetime.
She’s crying again, and I’m not quite sure how to proceed with this conversation.
In my heart, I know this is the right thing to do, but my head is saying this is too much to ask of her so soon. I don’t want to scare her away or cause her to panic. I’m at a total fuckin’ loss for words.
Then she grabs my shoulders in a panic as everything hits her. “Gio, I can’t go back to him and let him hurt me again or worse, Gigi. I won’t lose you again because of him. I won’t be able to live through any of it,” she says panicked and scared, the last part so low so only I can hear. I can see the fear in her eyes and her breathing is off the charts. Her tears are breaking my heart. She can’t think that I would ever let him get his hands on her again. Or let him hurt her or Gigi. I take her in my arms to calm her down, and she rests her head over my fast beating heart.
“Princess, he’s never going touch you again, I promise. Don’t go there, please. I wanted this to be a happy moment for us. I want you by my side forever. I never wanted to do this now but under these circumstances….”
I release her from my grip and kiss her forehead.
Then I take a deep cleansing breath and wait a minute before bending down on one knee in front of her still sitting on the table. I grab the ring out of the box and placing it between my pointer and thumb presenting it to her.
If this is going to happen, she’s at least going to have a unique and memorable proposal. A moment I won’t let be tarnished by that jackass. This is a moment just for us, the start of our amazing future together. I hope.
“Isabella Marie Castellani, I love you with my whole heart. I want you with me, by my side forever. I’m never letting you go again, so let’s start that life together today. Make me the happiest man in the universe and do me the honor of being my wife? Marry me, Bella?”
I stay frozen on one knee on the floor while I wait for her answer. I’m dying inside a little by the second because I’m afraid I’ve pushed her too far.
After a minute or so the silence is broken.
“The bastard is trying to have a judge declare you legally married to him by the end of the week. We need to cut his balls off before the finish.
“Bella, I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but with that being said, you know Beast loves you and wants to protect you, your sister and friends. There’s only one way to do that and guarantee your safety. We all know it’s the inevitable anyway for you two,” Ace says throwing his two cents in.
She listens to him speaks not taking her eyes off mine. She’s studying me to figure out how I feel. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea here because I do want to marry her, I just never wanted it to be this way.
I had a plan, I was going to propose to her by the lake at the State Park over a romantic picnic lunch.
That’s what she deserves, not here in the clubs meeting room. And certainly not to keep Antonio, that evil, conniving bastard away from her.
The room stays silent giving her a few more seconds. The only sound in the room is her heavy breathing. Her eyes never leave mine as she contemplated.
I wish I could see a glimpse of what she is thinking, just one little clue would help, but I got nothin’. I can tell her wheels are turning, though I just don’t know what direction she’s leaning towards.
Finally, a smile graces her gorgeous face, and she lunges at me sitting on my knee. She kisses my face all over.
“Ti amo, Giovanni Sebastiano Valentino. I’d be honored to be your wife. Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes, I’ll marry you!” She squeals excitedly.
My girl is so strong and always sees the positive in every situation and runs with it.
She doesn’t know it now, but she will soon, my girl just made me a better man by filled my dark heart with light from all her love.
My life is finally complete with her in my arms and by my side. For now anyway, eventually having kids with her will be the ultimate accomplishment.
I slide the ring on her tiny finger, and it fits like a glove. The place it was always meant to be, finally. My grandmother had little fingers just like Bella’s. Her jeweler called them kid-sized fingers.
“It’s beautiful. How did you get a ring so fast?” Bella asks curiously, and I have to laugh.
“Principessa, this was grandma Geneva’s ring. Before she died, she gave it to me and told me it was to be only yours, one day. I guess she knew we were soulmates and would find our way back to each other.”
The ring is from Italy, pure platinum a vintage style setting. The center stone is a 2.5-carat princess cut diamond, one carat total surrounding the center stone in a halo of pave round diamonds. On each side of the band is a single row of a five round diamonds totaling two carats, one carat on each side.
The guys congratulate us, and Ace fills Bella in on the plan for the day. Ace informs us that Jules has something special for Bella in the apartment.
She insisted on us holding off the ceremony until five this evening instead of three this afternoon. She wants to give herself and the girl’s time to prepare properly.
Tiny joins us in the bar to escort Bella to Jules apartment. I kiss Bella goodbye before she leaves me to meet up with the girls.