Beast, Part Two (The Church #5)

Watching

chapter sixteen

Beast

“ I ordered the food. I think everyone will be happy with the options.” Summer says to Ms. Reese as she diligently goes over her checklist for the date night she’s planning.

She’s been bubbling ever since she walked in the kitchen this morning announcing to everyone her plans for a date night she’s hosting in two weeks. She wanted everyone to come. All the females seemed happy for the news. The guys didn’t put up much of a fuss, but I can tell they weren’t all that elated.

I’ve watched her all morning go to everyone and ask their food and flower likes and dislikes. She seems happy to be doing something.

I’m just glad to see her smile. I wasn’t there when she woke up in my bed this morning. Even though I laid there and watched her sleep for an hour. I knew that if she awoke in my arms it would lead to questions. Questions that would lead to answers she didn’t want to hear.

Feeling as if I was stalking, I leave Summer and Ms. Reese in the kitchen and head down to the gym. We have another hour before Alicia and the other ladies of the D.O.E show up to go over their satellite findings today.

The moment I step off the last step, Maksim walks around the corner. He stops in his tracks eyeing me.

“How’s your lip?” I ask.

He touches the cut gently. “It will heal. How’s your headspace?”

I nod. “Clear for the moment.”

We stare at each other in silence for a few seconds. After calming down and spending a few hours outside of the house, I was able to think more clearly. Everything Maksim has done with and around Summer has led me to believe he sees her as a friend. There has been nothing to suggest otherwise.

I scratch the back of my head. “Look,” I start, but he stops me from speaking.

“You didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done if I’d thought someone was pressing up on my girl. But I want to make myself perfectly clear, Summer is my sister. I would never disrespect you or her in that way.”

As I said, after having time to think it over, I already knew this to be true. But I respect him for making it clear.

“I know,” I say.

“Good. But I will also tell you, little brother, that will be your last time pressing a gun to my head without me kicking your ass.”

A slow smile spreads over my face. “You could try.”

Maksim laughs. He walks over and pats me on the shoulder. We part ways. I spend my downtime in the gym, working out before showering and heading upstairs to join the others in the dining room.

Everyone is already there when I walk in. Hawk and Zel are sitting beside each other talking. Albany, Priest and Lucien are at the end of the table looking at something on Lucien’s screen. Many is talking to Maksim as they lean against the wall. Ari, Kyra, Deidra, and Alicia are going over something on the large computer monitor. As if she could feel my gaze on her, Alicia looks up from the screen. The moment our eyes connect she sends me one of her warm smiles.

She walks away from the others and over to me. I meet her halfway.

“How are you?” she asks.

“Good. Thanks again for letting me crash at your place those three days.”

Ten minutes after I stormed out the house that day, my phone rung. I was expecting it to be Priest. I was shocked when I answered, and it was Alicia. She was calling to get help with searching for the other two names on the excommunication order. She said that she could hear in my tone I was stressed and invited me to come to her place to get space. I initially wasn’t going to do it, but she promised me I wouldn’t be disturbed. She and I ended up talking for hours that first night and every day after. She’s easy to talk to.

“No problem,” she places a hand on my arm. “You are always welcome. I’m usually the last person my sisters come to for help in situations like that, so it felt good to be able to offer it to someone.”

I fully understood that. My brothers would call on me for certain things, but none of them really leaned on me for comfort. The only one that would go out of their way to spend time with me is Seth. I have no doubt all of them loved me, but they all had their favorites amongst each other. Hawk and Lucien were most alike. Zel would often seek out Many or Hawk for company. And of course, Lucien always had Seth.

“Well thank you for opening your door for me.”

She smiles up at me and I notice not for the first time how pretty and straight her teeth are.

“Let’s get focused,” Priest says drawing my attention from Alicia’s face.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Alicia says walking back over to the other ladies.

I watch her leave until she’s standing beside Kyra. A burning feeling on the side of my head has me turning in that direction. Maksim is watching me, his brow arched. He looks over to Alicia and then back to me. He narrows his gaze but doesn’t say anything as he places his attention on Priest.

“What do you have for us, Deidra?” he asks the caramel skinned girl with the curly hair.

“It looks like our next confrontation will be Franklin Smith.”

“What do you know about him, Maksim?” Albany asks.

Maksim shakes his head. “Not much. He didn’t have many dealings with Corbyn. I know he’s the CEO of a multinational holding company and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods.”

“That he is,” Kyra says. “And at the moment, he’s in Paris. However, he will still be easier to get to than Dominique Katz.”

“So what, we wait for him to come back state side, or are we going to Paris?” Hawk asks.

“We have his business calendar pulled up and it looks like he will be back stateside in a few weeks. I think it best we wait to get him when he’s back here. Trying to get to Paris allows for a lot of things to go wrong and out of our control,” Alicia says.

Plus, being that far with the excommunication order on our heads and not knowing where Corbyn is didn’t seem like a smart move.

“I agree with Alicia on this.”

She turns and grins at me.

“Oh, I bet you do,” Maksim sneers rolling his eyes.

I’m confused by his tone and his actions. Alicia had a good point, why wouldn’t I agree?

“I’m with Beast and Alicia,” Priest says. “We’re all anxious to get this done, but we will always move smartly. The end goal is to come out of all this alive and with as few enemies as possible.”

“Alright,” Kyra says. “We will keep track of Franklin. The moment he’s back in the states we will let you know.”

That concluded our meeting for the day. I hated that it felt as if we weren’t getting much done, but in a short period of time we’ve gotten at least one person to withdraw their name and we’re on the way to the next one. In no time, we can put all our effort into killing Corbyn and then I will disappear for good.

Even though I know the plan and what I need to do, I still find myself heading outside to the back patio. Summer is here with a tape measure and her notebook. I don’t say anything to her, and she doesn’t notice me. But I sit in the chair watching her, just needing to be near her.