Page 100 of Beast

What the fuck was wrong with her family? I didn’t understand rich people. My mom worked two jobs to support me. She still lived in the same crappy thirteen hundred square foot house I grew up in back in Sacramento. Even when I brought my ex-fiancée back home to meet her, she hadn’t changed one thing about my room. Hadn’t Annie’s parents wanted something to remember her by when they thought they’d lost her forever?

“Can I see Gabriel’s room?”

“He…he doesn’t have a room. He sleeps in here. I like him close.”

“Are you serious? This place is huge and he doesn’t have his own space? Where does he put all his toys?”

“We play outside, and in the basement. He doesn’t have too much stuff.”

I swallowed around the knot in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. “Why don’t you and Gabriel move in with me?”

“What? I thought you wanted to take things slow.”

I took a step closer so my knees bumped hers. I lifted her chin with the tips of my fingers. “I do. Physically. But I want you around me all the time and I love that little boy. He can put his trains and toys all over my place.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t want to impose. I haven’t even seen your place yet.”

“That’s fair. Tomorrow you guys come by and I’ll make you dinner.”

“What about dinner here, tonight?”

“I’m sorry, Annie. I tried, but I really don’t feel comfortable here.” I wanted to tell her what her father had said to me, but my desire to protect her made me keep it to myself.

“Okay. I’ll walk you out.”

I followed her down the stairs to the entryway. Her parents hovered behind her; Gabriel sat in the corner, seemingly hypnotized by an iPad. Her mother’s face was Botox-tense and the smile she wore was more of a sneer. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead turned to pull Annie in a hug. They shared a look which I caught from over Annie’s head. Fuck them. I didn’t need their approval. If anything, they should want their daughter to be happy considering what she’d been through.

We bypassed her parents and went down the hallway, out into the yard, and back down to the driveway. I looked up at the expansive glass windows, and could see her dad watching me. I wasn’t intimidated by him. He wanted to watch? I’d give him something to watch. I pulled Annie to me, cupped her face, kissed her lips. She was mine, and I wasn’t going to hide our relationship from anyone. She’d spent enough of her life hiding.

A moment passed and I just stared at Annie. Even though we’d only known each other for a short time, there was an ease and comfort level between us that I’d never experienced with anyone. “I’ll pick you up at five.”

“Sounds good.”

I slid into my truck and drove away.

It wasn’t just that her family was loaded; I couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right with her family. And I was going to find out what it was. For Annie’s sake.

29

Patrick

THE NEXT DAY, WE DROVE in silence to my tiny one-bedroom apartment in Pacific Beach. It wasn’t much to look at, but it had a small courtyard for Trigger and was close to all the shops and restaurants.

I showed Annie and Gabriel my medals in my apartment. Gabriel was happy to play with a toy SEAL boat I’d bought for him. Annie seemed impressed and asked a ton of questions about my job. I was touched that she seemed to really care about my career, more so than the typical girl. Most Frog Hogs saw us as nothing more than a notch on their bedposts, a real life hero from one of those sappy romance novels. The SEALs in those books had little resemblance to real Team guys. First off, most SEALs never ever told people what we did for a living. I would’ve never told Annie I was a SEAL, but I needed to make her understand I was capable of saving her. I always told everyone I met that I worked at the airport in baggage claim. Another thing, we never gave details about our missions to civilians, whether we were fucking them or not. And we sure as hell didn’t leave our careers to chase women across the world. Most of the authors who wrote that crap had never even met a SEAL, let alone been fucked by one.

I cooked them dinner, nothing fancy just spaghetti and a salad. Gabriel wouldn’t touch the spaghetti but he was happy eating crackers. I enjoyed taking care of them.

Annie reached for her phone. “I have to call home. They’ll worry.”

“Worry about what? You’re with me.”

“After what happened, they freak if I stay too long at yoga.” She picked up her cell phone and dialed.

“Hi, Dad . . . We’re good.”

She shifted her phone to her right ear, probably so I couldn’t hear her dad tell her what a piece of shit I was.

“Whatever, Dad. I gotta go.”