Beast

  “Nothing, but his younger brother Scar was locked up this year, and as soon as he got out, he set up an attack.”

  “On you?” His brother’s eyes were instantly ablaze.

  “No.” Leo explained about Allison’s fight at the school, Lila’s confrontation on the video going viral, and how Scar was back in jail again.

  Felipe was staring at him too seriously. “So, this is your chick he attacked?”

  “No.” Leo shook his head a bit more adamantly this time. “But she is someone I’ve been seen with at the gym. Went to lunch with a few times.”

  He explained about the interview and how persuasive this very young girl was about interviewing him more than once. He also explained his theory that someone could’ve gotten the idea that maybe something else was going on between them.

  “But there’s not?” Felipe asked, peering at him.

  “No. Not at all.”

  “You and her tight?”

  “No. I just hung out with her the few times, and we’ve gone back and forth, mostly about the interview texts and shit, but no, I hardly know her. She’s way too fucking young. But—”

  “How young?” Felipe asked then mouthed the word “Legal?”

  “Yeah, she’s legal,” Leo said, feeling the frustration mount. “She’s nineteen. Still, that’s too young, and I think she has a boyfriend.” He added the latter for good measure because, even after all this time of not seeing his brother, he already recognized the stupid twinkle in Felipe’s eyes, and the guy didn’t know the half of it. “But she’s a . . . sweet girl, you know. She’s already been in the ER for something I think has to do with me.”

  He explained quickly about her sister and the whole extortion story. “But I’m not buying that shit. I mean maybe he decided to try and make a little money while he was at it, but that’s not all that attack was. And now there’s guys lurking around her place. Two guys were arrested this past week, and I looked into it, and they’re thugs, Flip. Drug-dealing thugs like Scar and Chente. I just need to know if she’s in any danger.” He glanced down at his fisting hand. “Is this some kind of message?”

  His brother’s eyes were on Leo’s fist as well, and then their eyes met. He nodded, alarming Leo to no end but didn’t elaborate. Leo knew he couldn’t.

  “You have to call them off,” Leo said, lowering his voice. “Whatever’s happening, she has nothing to do with it. Have those fuckers come after me if they want. I’ll deal with them, but if they touch her again . . .” Leo glanced away.

  “You sure nothing’s going on between you and this . . . young girl, Fiera?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” Leo looked Felipe square in the eyes because he knew what his brother was already implying by using that name. That if there was, this could be unleashing Leo’s past.

  Felipe glanced down at Leo’s fisting hand again and then up into Leo’s eyes. “You got special permission to come here tonight to see me, even when you know this could out you, just so you can demand I help you with this. For a girl you have no feelings for and she’s just a friend?”

  “She’s not even that,” Leo said through his teeth. “Allison’s just an innocent girl who doesn’t need to be involved in any of this shit. She’s not like any of the women in our world. And worst of all, she has no idea she’s even in danger. She really believes that whole Scar thing had everything to do with her sister and nothing to do with me. I just don’t want another Kit on my conscience.”

  His brother’s expression went hard. “That was different and you know it. No one went after her. It was just bad luck. It wasn’t your fault, damn it.”

  “I’m not here to talk about that, Flip. Just answer me this. Is Allison in danger?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll find out. I will say this though. I haven’t seen you in years. You’ve been here all of ten minutes, and already I know you’re full of shit about not having feelings for this girl.” Felipe shook his head with a frown. “I see it every time you say her name. That fucking vein on your head getting ready to bust over the possibility that she’s in danger scares the hell out of me. If you’re this transparent in here, no wonder they’re assuming there’s more going on, and if there is, be careful. We knew the possibility of who you are to me would get out eventually. If that’s the case, if that’s what’s happening and they’re trying to flush you out, you need to be real fucking careful. Think of your future, Leo. No girl is worth your going backwards now. You’re doing so good. Promise me you’ll keep your cool.”

  “Just do whatever you have to get them called off,” Leo said because he wasn’t about to make any promises he knew he couldn’t keep.

  If after only a few minutes his brother already knew what Leo wouldn’t even admit to himself yet, he knew it was futile to try and argue that part. So, he didn’t address any of the rest of his brother’s rant. Getting confirmation that his gut feeling had been spot on only pissed him off further.

  “Done,” Felipe said. “But it may take a few days, so until then, you just need to warn her to be on high alert. That whole fight thing with Scar’s girl was creative, and you could be right—the greedy fuck might’ve just been trying to make an extra buck while he was at it—but you know how this works, Leo. He didn’t need to do all that, not when all he was probably asked to do was send a message, which I’m sure now that’s all this is. Anyone who knows anything about you, knows how little it’ll take to make you blow. They’re looking to hurt me, not her.” Felipe pointed at himself, leaning in closer to the window between them. “You remember that. They hurt me by getting to you, and if they do something that’ll get your ass thrown back in jail, then they win. So even if someone just spooks her from now until I can call them off, you keep your fucking cool, you hear me?”

  Leo nodded, knowing the gesture would be far from convincing. Felipe sat back in his seat in defeat because he knew Leo all too well. “Just try, okay?”

  “I’ll try.”

  It was all Leo could give him. If anyone knew Leo, it was Felipe. He and his brother were one and the same when it came to their irrepressible fury. All Leo could promise was to try. But both knew how impossible it’d be to keep that promise if he ever witnessed Allison being hurt, or even spooked.

  “I’ll try,” he said again after they were interrupted with the two-minute warning.

  Leo warned Felipe he’d be back in a week to talk to him again if he didn’t call before then to update him on this. He needed to make sure his brother had been able to call this shit off.

  The first thing he did once he got back to his phone was call Allison. Fuck the texting. He needed to warn her she might be in danger, and she needed to hear him say it so she’d know how serious this was.

  “Leonardo?” she said after only one ring, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she sounded anxious.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong?” he asked, already mounting his bike in anticipation.

  “Nothing.” She sounded a bit breathless. “It’s just ironic that you’d call right now. I just pulled into a police station parking lot here in Boyle Heights.”

  “Why?” Every muscle in his body went taut. “What happened?”

  “I could be wrong, but I got the feeling someone was following me. They didn’t follow me in here, but I’d just parked and was trying to decide what to do.” She paused, laughing nervously. “I think I’m being paranoid. I’m just gonna keep going.”

  “No, no, no,” he said quickly. “Wait for me. Which station is it?”

  It took some persuading, but he was finally able to convince her to stay put until he got there. After getting the information, he put his helmet on, gripping the handlebars, and reminded himself not to speed. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over, but it was a damn challenge.

  If they do something that’ll get your ass thrown back in jail, then they win.

  Leo replayed his brother’s words over and over in his head to try and calm the adrenaline already pumping through his heating veins.

&nbsp
; Seventeen

  Allison

  Her heart hadn’t stopped pounding from the moment Allison decided to pull into the parking lot of the police station. She knew it could very well just be another unrelenting photographer following her. The paparazzi had really gotten out of hand lately. But it’d been impossible to get Leonardo out of her mind this entire past week. So, the seed he’d planted in her head, that maybe there was more to the thugs lurking outside her place, was hard to ignore. What if someone really was looking to hurt her?

  Now she just felt silly. Her heart beat erratically for an altogether different reason now. She checked her face for the millionth time as the lights that flooded the parking lot weren’t him again. She’d just finished applying lip balm to her lips when she heard the roar of Leo’s motorcycle engine, and her insides did all kinds of flips. He hadn’t even pulled around to park next to her yet, and she was already smiling so big she was sure she looked psychotic.

  The moment he killed the engine, he was off his bike and took his helmet off. Allison rolled the passenger side window down for him, trying to calm her crazy insides. “I feel stupid now.”

  “Don’t.” To her surprise, he got into the passenger side and dropped his helmet at his feet. Just like the only other time he’d been in her car, his presence in it was enormous. “Was it a black pickup truck that was following you?”

  “Yes,” she said, feeling her eyes widen. “You saw it?”

  I saw it cruising by when I first drove by,” he explained. “So, I kept going then turned around, and sure enough it was cruising by again.”

  “Did he have a camera?” Allison asked, trying not to jump to scarier conclusions.

  “No, babe.” He glanced around the parking lot. “No camera.”

  “Oh my God, so what do you think he wants? Should we notify the police? Walk in there and tell them?”

  “No. If what I think is going on, really is, just like the other two who were arrested last week, this guy will only be replaced if we get him arrested too. I need to make sure this ends now.”

  Allison stared at him, knowing she should be feeling more alarmed, but somehow his calm demeanor calmed her too. The fact that he’d referred to her as babe only made her insides crazier when she knew she should be feeling alarmed. “What do you think’s going on?”

  “It’s a long story, and we don’t have time right now.”

  He pulled his seat back as far as it would go and lay back all the way. Taking him in from top to bottom, Allison chided herself for her inability to focus completely on what should be a very disquieting situation. But seeing this man sprawled out in her car was incredibly distracting.

  “Right now,” Leonardo went on. “What I need you to do is drive. Go out just like you came in and drive up Soto and make a left on one of those small industrial streets like Folsom or District.”

  Allison started driving, despite her apprehension. Again, just like earlier, something about having Leonardo in her car with her made her feel safe. Lila would be livid should something happen tonight and would question why Allison hadn’t just walked into the police station.

  Just ten minutes into her drive onto Soto, she spotted the truck tailing her, and now her heart was hammering for the right reasons. “He’s following me again,” she said, glancing up at her rearview mirror.

  “Good,” Leo said. “Pull into one of those streets I mentioned.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  “See if he wants to talk—explain why the fuck he’s following you.”

  The truck stayed at least a half a block behind her. She turned onto one of the streets Leo had mentioned. “What street are we on now?”

  “Folsom,” she said, her eyes on the rearview mirror again.

  The street was a quiet one and, at this hour of the late evening, abandoned. Most of these businesses—auto and recycling shops—had likely been closed for hours. Allison gasped when she saw the lights of the truck turn into the street behind her.

  “What?” Leonardo asked anxiously.

  “It’s him. He turned onto the street.”

  “That’s perfect,” Leonardo said an in assuring voice. “It’s what we want. Now slow down.”

  With her heart at her throat, Allison did as she was told, wondering if she’d lost her mind. If the guy following them was armed, he could kill them both in the alley-like street, and no one would find them until morning.

  The lights behind them closed in on them as Allison slowed even more. “Is he still following?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, so stop the car, but stay closer to the left of the street.”

  “Why?”

  “So it’ll encourage him to approach you from the passenger side if he gets out.”

  Allison stopped the car. Leo there or not, she was terrified now. Why hadn’t she thought in terms of weapons sooner? As big and menacing as Leo was, he couldn’t beat a bullet. “What if he doesn’t get out?”

  “Then I will.”

  “What?” Allison’s heart threatened to beat right through her chest now. What in the world had she gotten herself involved in? “What if he’s armed?”

  “He probably is.”

  Her stomach took a diving drop. How could he be so calm about this? “Then you can’t get out. You shouldn’t. Oh shit,” she gasped again.

  “What?”

  “He got out.”

  “Perfect. Now lean over this side and roll down the window. Maybe that’ll get him to come this way.”

  Once again, Allison did as she was told, her heart beat speeding up when her breasts inevitably pressed his hard body as she leaned over him. Trying not to react too prissily about her body lying over him, she concentrated on rolling the window down.

  “Okay, now get up and see where he’s at.”

  “It worked,” she said, not sure it was a good thing. The guy was walking slowly, cautiously, toward her passenger door.

  Her eyes were momentarily distracted by Leonardo’s flexing hands as if he were readying himself to give this guy a beating. It was an instant reminder of him telling her about ripping someone’s jaw off and his nickname—Beast.

  “What if he really is just paparazzi?” she asked anxiously.

  “He’s not.”

  “But if he is?” she whispered loudly because the guy was at the back end of her car now.

  “Then we’re good,” Leonardo whispered back. “Tell me when he gets to the back door.”

  Breathing hard, Allison nodded, watching the guy closely. “He’s there,” she whispered, and she knew Leonardo could hear him.

  The second the guy reached the open window, Leonardo sat up and reached out the window. Within seconds, he had the guy by the throat, pulling him in through the window. “Who the fuck are you?”

  The guy gasped as something clunked, hitting her car just outside the passenger side. Leonardo opened the door, pushing it open, even as he held on tight to the guy’s throat. The guy’s arms flailed about then tried in vain to loosen Leonardo’s hold on him.

  As soon as he was all the way out, Leonardo had the guy pinned to the hood of the car, face down. “Leave your headlights on and come grab his gun.” Leonardo leaned into the window then picked up and slammed the guy’s face against the car. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded into the guy’s ear. “And why you following her?”

  Allison scurried out of the car and around the front, still unable to believe this was happening. Feeling like an utter klutz when not once but twice she tripped over something, she rushed to where Leonardo said he’d kicked the gun. This man who was following her had a gun! Dear God, had he really planned on using it on her? She picked up the heavier-than-expected gun with her shaky hands.

  “That thing loaded,” she heard Leonardo ask the guy.

  Allison looked up just in time to see the guy nod. “You know how to unload that?” Leonardo asked.

  “No!”

  “Okay, then just put it in the car.” Leonardo turned back
to the guy still gasping for air and shook him “Talk, motherfucker, before I use that gun on you.”

  “I-I was just s-supposed to scare her.”

  “With a loaded gun! Bring me that shit, babe.” Leonardo slammed the guy against the hood again. “Who sent you?” When the guy didn’t immediately respond, Leo punched his side making the guy groan loudly. “Who, fucker?”

  Allison walked up next to Leonardo, almost afraid to hand him the gun, but she did, and he took it, immediately pressing it against the guy’s temple. “Leo, no!”

  “Get in the car!”

  As terrified as she was, she refused to continue to follow his every order anymore. Like a flash in her muddled head, it was suddenly clear as day. After tonight, Allison’s life may never be the same again.

  “No!” Leonardo’s head jerked back to her. “You can’t kill him, Leo—”

  “Get in the fucking car!” She began to protest, and he turned the gun on her. “Get in the car, bitch. Now!”

  With her heart at her throat, Allison fumbled around the car and then with the door latch and got in. She brought her shaky hands to her face as soon as she was behind the wheel.

  “I’m just gonna scare him, babe.”

  Leonardo’s sweet voice had her looking up at the passenger-side window where he was leaning in. “This is almost over.” His voice was as calm as he’d been speaking to her when this all started. “Just get ready to drive when I tell you to.”

  He went back to slamming the guy’s face against the hood again. Just like he’d gone from calling her a bitch to speaking to her so sweetly, he was back to yelling at the side of the guy’s face in a voice so full of fury even Allison was tempted to just hit the gas and get the hell out of there.

  But she didn’t.

  She sat there and listened to the muffled exchange between the two men. Then she covered her face while Leonardo proceeded to beat the guy with his own gun. It went on forever, and after a certain point, Allison was sure the guy was lifeless. “Stop!” she screamed. “Please stop!”

  The beating slowed, but she still heard a few more poundings before it finally ended. With the two men off to the side of the lights, not in front, Allison could only make out shadows and a fast-moving silhouette where she knew Leonardo was with her predator. There was a loud thud, and Allison knew it was the guy’s battered body landing on the ground. She saw nothing and heard nothing for a few long moments, and then Leonardo was in the car again. “Drive.”