BEAST
It’d been over a week since Allison’s too noticeable absence around the gym that Leo paid enough attention to the ongoing tabloid gossip to get a clue. Maybe if he’d paid closer attention, he might’ve reached out to her sooner to ask how she was doing.
Ever since he got the text over a week ago, he’d wondered if maybe that was why her texts and times she approached him had gone dry. Maybe she didn’t believe he hadn’t heard about the ongoing gossip about her sister that started around the same time he’d gotten that cryptic text from Allison. Now it seemed all the crap he’d been trying desperately to avoid hearing about on the news and everywhere online may have had something to do with Allison as well.
It was beyond irritating that, of course, the girl he was trying so hard to not think about would have a sister who was a tabloid magnet. As if trying to keep Allison out of his every thought wasn’t hard enough. Even before all the crap in the news started, she’d been distant. Aside from a smile from across the gym or a weak little wave, she’d hardly addressed him before she all but stopped showing up. But even then, those few and far between greetings he ever got from her were like goddamn crumbs he’d eat up like a starved man then try desperately not to follow up on them. So, her not showing up for her workouts this past week felt almost like a punishment.
He was done for the day and getting ready to walk out of the gym when he stopped and did a double take at one of the TV screens up on the wall. It was footage of Allison getting out of a car. Her hand was in a brace, and she covered her face with her purse as she rushed into a building surrounded by body guards. The sound was off, but he read the caption:
First public sighting since the attack
“Attack?”
Instantly, Leo’s blood began to simmer. The camera was back to the reporter in the studio, who had more to say as the still photo of Allison remained in the background, but he couldn’t hear anything. Then they moved onto another story.
“What the fuck?”
His mind raced as the familiar sensation of his blood thrumming at his ears began. Could this possibly be what he’d feared most all this time? Who the hell would want to attack her? Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he scrolled through his texts until he got to the last one between them, the cryptic one where she asked about an Eva. He hit the call button because there was no way he was waiting for her to respond to a text.
It rang several times before it went to voicemail. With a near growl, he stopped to tap furiously at his phone’s screen, sending the text saying he needed to talk to her ASAP. Pacing by his motorcycle and taking deep breaths, he refused to get on in case she called while he was driving. He kept checking his phone for anything, even a text response.
After waiting impatiently for several minutes with no response, he hit call again and waited. To his surprise, she answered, “Hey, I was trying to text you back, but I’m a little handicapped right now and—”
“What happened? Who attacked you?”
She was quiet for a moment as he cracked his knuckles with the fingers on his free hand. “A girl . . .” Her tone was a strange one, and she paused momentarily. “You didn’t know about it? It happened last week. It’s been all over the news. Hold on. Thank you, Gio. Yeah, I’m out of here.”
Leo’s head was still obsessing about her initial two-word answer—a girl—when he heard that last part and spun around. “Are you here at the gym?”
“Yes, I’m just leaving actually.”
He searched the exit and parking lot frantically as he started back to the front door. “Where are you? I need to talk to you.”
His heart pounded just from the thought that he’d be seeing her again, and here it’d only been a little over a week since he’d last seen her.
“I’ve been using the VIP entrance in the back to avoid the paparazzi.”
“VIP entrance?” he asked, slowing down, then stopped and started toward the back of the gym in an almost sprint. “Wait for me, please. I’ll be there in a sec.”
He didn’t even know they had a VIP entrance, but he supposed it made sense with all the celebrity athletes that visited the gym. As he turned the corner, his heart began to calm a bit and thudded now at the sight of her standing near a town car, facing the other way. But she looked like she was looking for someone—looking for him.
“Allison,” he called out, and just like that, the sight of her had him nearly smiling again until she turned to face him.
Feeling the air sucked out of him, he nearly choked at the sight. The attack was more than what he’d begun to imagine. Her face looked like she’d been beaten. The bruises appeared to be fading, but Leo was no stranger to healing bruises. It’d been over a week, and they were still significant. Suddenly, the inferno inside him was blazing again.
The closer he got, the more he thought he might lose his shit. The moment he was close enough, he searched her eyes, taking in all the damage. “Who the fuck did this to you?”
She shook her head, her brows furrowing as if she didn’t understand his anger, but then, how could she? “I told you some girl on campus.”
“Why?” he demanded, bringing his fist to his mouth because he could hardly stand it. The longer he stood there looking at her, the closer he felt to blowing up.
This close he could see the scratches and just how bruised she really was. Girl or not, he felt ready to fucking kill someone because his gut was screaming there was more to this than just some cat fight. More than anything, seeing sweet Allison like this was something he’d never anticipated.
She started to tell him about the girl who’d approached her in the school parking lot, saying something about her boyfriend.
“Ms. Allison.” The driver apologized for interrupting them but then reminded her about a plane she had to catch.
“I’ll have to tell you the rest later. Or Google it. It’s everywhere.”
“No wait,” he said, feeling every hair in his body stand at attention when she turned to the driver and he saw the bruised bump on her delicate temple.
“I gotta go.”
“Fuck!”
She jerked her head back in response to his outburst. Seeing the shock on her face had Leo spinning around, and he stalked off, not stopping even when she called out for him. He had to. He needed to get away from her before he blew.
The whole way he raced home on his bike he cussed under his breath and banged at his handlebars in a fiery rage. He knew it was irrational to think this might have anything to do with him, but instinct told him it had everything to do with him. Something told him sweet little Allison’s attack wasn’t just some random thing as she seemed to think.
By the time he got off his bike in his garage, he felt out of control. He’d always known his demons had only been dormant. That they’d be ready to blow the moment they were triggered and this was proof.
Pacing furiously back and forth, it was all he could do to keep from roaring at the top of his lungs. “Motherfucker!” He lifted a box of tools and smashed it against the wall.
Tool after tool, box after box that crashed loudly where he smashed them only fueled the firestorm inside him, not relieved it like he hoped it might. Visuals of Allison’s sweet face all bruised and scratched as she held her hand to her side cautiously only assaulted him, making him growl louder and smash things with even more fury.
He didn’t even notice Nine and O in the garage, yelling for him to calm down until O jumped in front of him. “What the fuck, man?”
Leo flung the wrench in his hand at the window in the back of the garage with one final growl, not even flinching at the loud crashing sound. Nine and O stared at him wide-eyed, but neither said anything as he stood there, breathing hard and trying desperately to calm himself.
They hadn’t seen him like this in years but knew better than to ask for any explanations. Not at that moment anyway. Leo glanced around the trashed garage, surprised by the amount of damage he’d done in what felt like such a short time.
No one said anything for too long, but Nine began walking around assessing the damage. With his breathing still labored, Leo somehow managed to speak calmly. “I’ll clean this shit up after I shower.” Before O could say anything, he added, “I’ll pay to have the window fixed. But I’ll board it up in the meantime.”
Without another word, he stalked out of there, leaving his stunned roommates standing there, speechless. There was no time to explain now. His mind was already racing with how to fix this because more than anything his gut was sure now. Allison had been attacked because of him. He didn’t know why, but he’d be getting to the bottom of it. Probation or not, Leo had to make sure this didn’t turn into another nightmare.