Free How Beauty Met the Beast by Jax Garren Page A

She kicked at the confetti on the ground, wishing she could go back to the joyous festivities. “I guess I should go to the police. My car’s—”
    He shook his head. “No police. We get her back, you and me.”
    “How? They should know what happened to me. It could help.”
    His anger sparked. “What are you going to tell them? How are you going to explain that you got away and then didn’t bother to report it until this morning? The Underlight may have cleaned up the bodies, but if the police send a CSI team to the alley, they’ll find something, and that something may link them back to my people. You said you’d keep us secret. That means we work outside the system. I’m sure that goes against everything you’ve been taught by good-old-boy Reggie, but as someone who’s been burned by that system, inside and out, I’m telling you it’s corrupt and we can’t trust it. If you want my help, we do this my way.”
    Jolie couldn’t blame his outburst, but it riled her all the same. “So can you explain ‘your way’ before we start? Because if you think you’re going to turn me into your little thoughtl Kttlr all theess servant, you should know I’m not so good at following orders.”
    He rocked back on his heels and rubbed a hand across his face. “That’s not what I meant.”
    “Well, what did you mean?”
    He studied his boots with the focus of a man who’d never seen footwear before as he wrestled his temper back under control. Finally he met her eyes again and held up two fingers. “Two things. First, no involvement of police or other forms of so-called authority, including your dad and his media empire. Besides making me twitchy, involving outside sources makes it more likely the Underlight will be found. I want to help your niece, but there are a lot of children below who I’m honor-bound to protect.”
    Jolie considered that before nodding. “I’ll try it your way first. I don’t promise I’ll keep quiet if talking may bring about Whitney’s return, so I hope you have a plan.”
    Hauk’s lips thinned, but he nodded.
    “But if I do talk, I will stand by my promise to not mention the Underlight. Or you. What’s the second thing?”
    “We stick together. I want to trust you, Jolie, but I’d be an idiot if I ignored that Brayden’s solution, that your father sent you to infiltrate us, may be right.” He stiffened as if he feared the rejection of his presence in a personal way. It reminded her of their earlier interaction, before Whitney went missing and Brayden’s accusations, when Hauk first opened his eyes and was so clearly terrified of what the girl in his bedroom would say.
    The reminder made her relax. They were a team. He’d more than proved it when he’d left the Underlight. “No problem. Just don’t hog the covers again tonight.” His jaw dropped, and she curled her lips, smug. Any male who thought he could tell her what to do deserved a little harassment. “My car’s this way. Come on.”
    Truth be told, she felt better with Hauk on the case than all the police in Austin and the bureaucracy that got in the way of effective action. Appearances could be deceiving; a badge didn’t make someone a good person, and following the rules didn’t always lead to success. But she’d never been around anyone who so completely eschewed convention.
    Moving from ballet to burlesque was a tame kitten in comparison to moving from soldier to anarchist. Hauk may just be her new hero. And together, they would get Whitney back.
    * * *
     
    Hauk jogged to catch up with Jolie as she strode from the building into a nearly empty parking lot. He tried not to focus too much on the way her firm ass swayed with each step, but damn, it was hard. “You were kidding, weren’t you.” He tried to keep the hope out of his voice, to make it a statement of fact, but the image of her sliding under the covers beside him—because she wanted to this time—played through his brain in a tantalizing