Beast (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #4) (The Righteous Outlaws) by Savannah Rylan Page A

sarcastic, which my mother can’t seem to grasp after twenty-nine years.” I cut myself off, having no idea why I was babbling.
    “Don’t apologize.”
    “Okay, then I take it back.”
    “Good.”
    Beauty started squirming, and I placed her back on the ground. She ran to the edge of the road, and sniffed along the curb. “So, you just happened to be out for a run when I was?”
    “Yes,” he said with a hint of a laugh. “I know you don’t believe me, but this is a normal thing for me. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we bump into each other. Though you really shouldn’t be running by yourself in the middle of the night.”
    “Oh, but it’s okay for you?”
    “I can handle myself.”
    “And I can handle myself as well, thank you very much. So, you can keep your sexist remarks to yourself because I don’t want to hear them.”
    “Like you handled that drunken asshole?”
    “Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of my life? It wasn’t even my fault.”
    “No, it was your fuckhead of a partner’s fault.”
    “Seriously, why do you care?” I asked, wanting to know what made him tick. Wanting to see if he’d give me more than a shrug of his shoulder, or a dismissive few words.
    “I don’t like seeing girls get hurt, that’s all.”
    “Why?” There had to be a deeper reason that made him feel so strongly on the subject. Did he have a sister maybe? A girlfriend in the past who was abused by someone else? I knew I was digging much further than I needed to be, but Chris was right. I liked to find out what motivated people to do what they did. Everybody had a story and, nine times out of ten, that story was the reason they were the way they were. If I could figure out Beast’s story, I could figure out him.
    “I just don’t, that’s all.” It clearly wasn’t going to be tonight, but that was okay. I was here to stay, and dealing with the Outlaws was going to be an ongoing thing, so I had all the time in the world to start piecing the puzzle that was Beast together. “Maybe we should start moving. Don’t want to look suspicious.”
    “How would we…” I stopped myself, realizing he was right. Two people standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night would definitely cause concern for the homeowners on this block. “Feel like jogging?”
    “Always,” he said.
    Which, for me, made him even more interesting. Most of the club members were smokers or heavy drinkers. Their nighttime activities wouldn’t include a run around the neighborhood. It seemed completely out of character for a motorcycle club member. Then again, if I learned anything in my life, it was to not judge a book by its cover. It could cost you an investigation or could even be a fatal mistake. Never assume you knew someone before you actually knew them.
    “Beauty, let’s go,” Beast called out to the little dog, who trotted over to his feet and landed belly up on his sneakers. “Really?” he groaned.
    “What’s the matter?”
    “She loves to come with me, but, after the first few blocks, she prefers to be carried.”
    “Spoiled little thing, isn’t she?”
    He grunted, and then scooped Beauty into his arms. She was a small dog to begin with, but against Beast’s big frame, she was absolutely teeny tiny.
    He started jogging without warning, and it took a minute for me to catch up. I was just about to fall into step with him when we passed under a streetlight. The light caught his backside, and I noticed a massive tattoo covering almost his entire back. In large script, the words Semper Fidelis curved around a globe with a bald eagle perched on top and an anchor under the globe. Beneath the picture in straight, bold font, was the letters USMC.
    United States Marine Corps… Beast was a marine? Suddenly, the comment he made to me about war became clear. He wasn’t just making a reference. He was speaking from experience. He, at some point in his life, was a marine who served our country.