Monster: A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance

by Vanessa Waltz

  Which was why I’d poked at her.

  “Why didn’t you set me straight?”

  “Newsflash. You’re an unfeeling monster.” Evie stowed her tools and pushed my abdomen to move me out of the way, rippling warmth to my groin. “None of this would be a surprise if you’d bothered to get to know me.”

  “What exactly are you?”

  “A goldsmith,” she murmured. “I appraise gems, refurbish watches, and cast rings and necklaces.”

  I stared. “Show me.”

  Evie turned her head, sweeping her hair aside.

  I closed the distance between us and brushed the stray strands. Softly, my breath fanned her face. I traced her ear, and she inhaled slightly. My heart pounded as I fingered her earring.

  Three pearlescent spikes stuck out from a golden loop. I twisted it in all directions, the stones shifting from cream to green and blue. It was a playful design. Simple but pretty.

  “What’s it made of?”

  “Fourteen karat gold with three opals.”

  A faint glow of pride warmed my chest. “Where did you learn this?”

  Evie gazed at me as though judging whether my interest was genuine. “Mom taught me, and her mother taught her. She started when I was little, setting stones and things like that.”

  I dropped her earring and thumbed her neck.

  “Tell me more.”

  Her heartbeat throbbed against my finger. “I design rings, cast metal into molds, and I buy old stuff to fix up. I began with jewelry people donated. I melted them down. Then I’d add alloy and make them into belt buckles, rings, whatever.”

  Fucking cool.

  I was silent for a while, processing.

  Impressive as hell.

  No wonder Christian fawned over her.

  “Go ahead. Get it over with.” Evie threw back her head, her nostrils flaring. “Tell me it’s stupid and a waste of time. Insult me like you’re dying to do.”

  I grasped her chin, and her startled gaze crashed into mine. “I kind of love that you’re secretly a badass who works with fire. Show me more.”

  Shaking, she swiped open her cell, flicking through a gallery of stunning images. I made her enlarge them. I gaped at a man’s antique watch, studying the bright stone making the knob, the blue hands, the flawless leather.

  Beautiful craftsmanship.

  It was something I would’ve worn.

  “I refurbished it,” she explained, flicking through photos. “Here’s a before and after picture.”

  I couldn’t believe this. A war raged inside me. My mind refused to combine images of the woman in the leather apron with the biker girl I’d married. She’d blown me away.

  “This is a seventy-thousand-dollar watch.”

  Pink patches burned on her cheeks. “I’m glad you think so, but I’ll probably sell it for twenty-four thousand. You know, to cover my end of the bills.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I’m trying not to dip into your savings. I want to make my way in the world without leaning on my rich husband.”

  “You live in my house. You eat my food. You just charged twenty grand on my credit card, hon.” I cupped her burning face and stroked her frown. “What part of you is independent?”

  “The one that’s going to slap you.”

  I grinned, removing my hand. “So I’m not allowed to buy your jewelry?”

  She shook her head, and my chest prickled with heat.

  I wanted that watch.

  “I’m not an idiot, Tony.” She shoved the phone back in her pocket, sighing. “This is temporary.”

  “I’m in no rush to set you free. Especially now that I know you’ll be a hit at cocktail parties. Have you any idea what the average mob wife is like?” I slid off the bench, strolling to another workstation with a giant drill. “High-maintenance, stupid, and useless for everything except fucking and breeding.”

  “Yes, I’m sure that’s why you were unmarried for so long. Because they’re boring.”

  She had a point.

  I’d never married because I was constantly in a drug-induced psychosis. I had too much noise in my head. Drugs were the only thing that made it stop. Frankly, it was a miracle I didn’t stumble into a Vegas chapel with a showgirl.

  I pushed a switch, and the drill screamed to life.

  Tutting, Evie shut it off. “My workshop isn’t a playground. That’ll rip off your thumb if you’re not careful.”

  I was itching to poke around. “I still can’t believe this. I thought you’d dropped twenty grand on a diamond.”

  “I mean, not yet. Though diamonds are always my bestsellers.” Evie frowned at her ring, grimacing at the stone. “But they’re my least favorite gemstone.”

  “In my defense, most women aren’t jewelry designers.”

  “I made you a ring. I had it ready weeks in advance. I wanted to size it, but you never showed up to the meetings. You were an ass at the wedding, so I torched it and used the gold for something else.”

  My jaw hardened.

  Her gaze flicked at me. “You’re supposed to apologize now.”

  “Nobody ever said sorry for making me what I am.”

  “A rude jerk with no self-awareness?” She’d turned away from me, flaunting her perfect ass. “A sadistic, murdering, jaded rich boy with too much free time?”

  “I’m not a boy. I’m a man. You should know that from when we were last together.”

  I snagged her by the loops in her jeans and tugged her into my arms. She let out a gasp as her back hit my body. I fisted her hair and wrenched hard.

  She yelped, her heartbeat hammering my palm. Crimson climbed up her neck as I traced her breast.

  “What is with you?” she growled. “You don’t talk to me for days. Then you show up here, yapping about credit limits when you make a fortune every hour, and next thing I know you’re copping a feel.”

  Yapping. She even made flapping motions with her hand to mimic a mouth.

  I had to admire the sheer gall. “I have the right to be concerned about my wife’s money laundering scheme.”

  Evie paled, saying nothing.

  “Sorry, are you not laundering diamonds for Jett?”

  Evie looked at me, her eyes large and liquid, two pools of misery.

  Grim satisfaction seared my chest.

  I was right, but I hated her tears and I loathed her father for forcing her into this position. No wonder he’d downplayed her business as a “hobby.”

  “I’m not a criminal.”

  “Of course not, sweetheart.” I kissed her temple, and she shuddered. “You’re a real artist when you’re not helping Daddy with his illicit deals.”

  A blush ran like a shadow across her cheeks.

  “What, no clever comeback?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Fine. I’ll comb through your financial records. Your tax returns. They’ll tell me everything.”

  Her arm spasmed.

  I let her go and headed for her office.

  “Tony, hold on.”

  She seized my wrist, and blood rushed to the spot where she touched me. An unwelcome flush heated my cock as she fit her hand in mine. She squeezed, dragging my attention to her beseeching gaze.

  “You’re right, okay? Dad calls in favors, and I do my best to help him. Trust me, I’ve wanted to break free for years. It’s hard when your father is all you have left.”

  That sank in like jagged claws.

  Too familiar.

  “I’ll set you up with a business credit card. If you want to buy precious gems, equipment, whatever, that’s great. Have at it.” I held up a threatening finger. “But he is not in your life anymore.”

  Her glare burned through me, but I refused to bend. She needed to stop visiting her outlaw family.

  “Evie, I expect you to test boundaries and act out. I’ll be watching for it. Just know that I’ve seen it all, and I’ll be there every time to catch you. And then I’ll put you in
your place. You won’t like that, but I will.”

  Ten

  Evie

  I’m grateful my husband respects my boundaries.

  Why should I let him win?

  I went to the clubhouse twice after snapping my credit card in half. Once, for my cousin. Jennesy turned twenty-four, so I zipped there on Wednesday for her birthday party. Then I went again two days later, just to prove that I wouldn’t be controlled. I stayed until Christian told me we had to go or Tony would kill us both, which was what brought me to Sanctum.

  My cutoffs did not go over well with the hostess, who glared at them a full five seconds before the guard mentioned my name, after which she became ridiculously accommodating.

  Christian made a sound of disgust. “Cazzo.”

  “What does that one mean?” I harassed him when he spoke Italian, determined to pick up the language.

  “Cazzo?” Christian’s hand flew in his hair. “Dick, shit, damn, fuck. It can be a lot of things, depending on the situation.”

  “Cats-oh,” I tried it out. “I should practice before I see Tony.”

  Christian’s face went up in flames as a woman in pasties waved at him. “The girls here are so young.”

  Since we’d gotten to Sanctum, he’d done nothing but cringe.

  “You don’t like this place, huh?”

  “No. I’m a traditional guy.”

  “You wouldn’t last a week in a clubhouse.” I laughed, imagining the gangly mafioso at a patchover party. “Actually, I know a girl who likes tall, modest guys like you.”

  He smiled. “Yeah?”

  “You’d be right up her alley.”

  I grabbed my phone, scrolling to a picture of Jennesy and me at a dive bar. I thrust it under his nose. He bent to look at it, clasping his hands around mine gently.

  “She’s hot.”

  “Want her number?”

  He sucked in his lip as though tempted, and then shook his head. “Can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “My wife passed away six months ago. Cancer. Too soon.”

  My heart ached as I took his arm. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “It’s not something I talk about, but I guess you bring it out in me.” His disinterested gaze passed over the women in the club, and he sighed heavily. “I have to get out there someday.”

  “Jennesy will probably still be single,” I said, opening my phone in an attempt to cheer him up. “I already texted her your photo.”

  “Did you really?”

  “Yeah, check it out.”

  He leaned in, squinting at the screen. “Ah, I see her reply. What do the eggplants and the drops mean?”

  “What do you think?”

  Christian burst out laughing, the full-hearted sound dipping me in a warm bath. His mirth died as a possessive arm snaked my waist, pinning me to a rock-hard body. It swelled with a huge breath.

  “Are you done talking my wife’s ear off?”

  A smile still hung on Christian’s face as he melted away.

  I glanced at my pissed off husband, who glared in Christian’s direction. His ferocious eyes flitted between me and my bodyguard.

  “He likes you too much.”

  “If you’re holding out on winning a popularity contest against me, you might as well cash in your chips.”

  “The cute act works on simple-minded fools like Christian, but not on me.” Tony moved in front of me, a panther that demanded my full attention. His stare trapped me in a battle of wills that we fought without moving. “You’ve been busy this week.”

  I would not be intimidated.

  “Yeah, it was fun. Best two days I’ve had in a long time.”

  Tony stiffened, his features thickening with rage.

  I palmed his cheek and smoothed his angry brow with my thumb. “I already ripped up your credit card, hubby. What else can you do to me?”

  He grabbed my waist and jerked me toward him. I gasped as he bound my wrists in one hand and pinned them behind my back. Pain sliced up my arm.

  “Plenty,” he purred, his breath scorching my lips. “Rip off your clothes. Fuck your mouth until you pass out. Make your ass permanently red.”

  I tried to kill the whimper as he brushed his lips over mine, licking them open. He pushed his tongue inside, swallowing my protests. I squirmed, fighting him, until he shoved me against a wall, his thick erection grinding into my thigh.

  Oh my God.

  His demanding mouth nipped at my neck. I could’ve shouted, but nothing escaped but his name.

  “Tony.”

  I could’ve fought harder. Kicked his legs, struck the hardness pressing into my hip, bitten his maddeningly sinful pout. Mixed feelings surged through me as our lips crashed. He was too big, too strong. My resistance weakened. His dominating presence had crushed it as I yielded to his powerful body. As his tongue flicked mine, an unexpected surge teased my pussy.

  Why does he do this to me?

  A small smile teased across his handsome face.

  He had me.

  He knew I ached for him. I writhed as he fucked my mouth with his tongue, closing his lips to suck and doing it again. The same movement he made with his head between my thighs. My shoulders relaxed, and I went limp. His taste drugged me. His manly scent filled my lungs. He ravaged my mouth, heat circling my nipples with every delectable stroke. My pussy smoldered, and it was all I could do not to spread my legs and beg him to fuck me.

  “You can’t hide what I do to you,” he taunted, ripping away from me. “Evie Costa.”

  I trembled as he nudged me toward a table, my balance off-kilter as he strode forward purposefully.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “My cousin wanted to see us. We’ll have a quick chat, and then I will sort you out. I want you to think about your behavior while I’m entertaining Vinn Costa.”

  My lips tingled.

  What would he do if I threw the apology in his face?

  Tony dragged me to a booth. The boss of the Family sat there with his very shell-shocked wife, who gaped at the surroundings. Tony’s heavy arm draped my shoulders, the solid weight of it comforting. Knowing how much he hated intimacy, I nuzzled his neck and hooked my hand over his thigh.

  Tony cleared his throat and waved over a waitress. “A glass of the Dog Point Cab, and a gin and tonic for her.”

  The waiter disappeared to do his bidding. Moments later, a glass slid into my fingers. My nose wrinkled as I inhaled the sharp scent of my G&T, but I tried it anyway. Heat bloomed everywhere, though I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the anxiety from sitting next to him.

  I looked at Tony, who swirled a glass filled with purple liquid. “Should I be worried about you?”

  Darkness laced his tone. “I can control myself, Evie. Most of the time.”

  Gooseflesh prickled across my arms as a vivid flashback to our wedding night burned in my head.

  “Nice to see you two together,” said the Costa boss, his glare like a bolt of lightning. “You are getting along?”

  “Absolutely.” Tony turned his head and planted a wet kiss on my cheek. “Can’t get enough of this woman.”

  My gut clenched.

  A tinge of sarcasm layered Tony’s words. Judging by Vinn’s growing voice, he hadn’t missed it.

  “Our entire alliance hinges on you behaving yourself.”

  Tony’s pitch-black presence dwarfed the table, consuming everybody. He grabbed his wine glass. He swiveled its contents, sniffed, and sipped a small amount. His eyes lit in rapture. “That’s good. Vinny, would you like some?”

  “It’s Vinn, and no.”

  Tony drank more. He closed his eyes as though wrestling with the urge to have more.

  A chilled silence smothered the table. Vinn’s glacial stare followed Tony’s movements. He reacted to Tony like a dog who’d scented a rival male in a fighting ring. Tony’s oblivious drinking seemed to be a direct provocation. Gunpowder choked the air. They were on the verge of blowing it
up and beating the shit out of each other.

  I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering who would win. I sized up the larger Vinn, but what my husband lacked in pounds he made up for in cruelty. His eyes were alive with it.

  “I’ll never forget the day Dad brought Vinny to my house,” blurted Tony. “He’d just murdered his father.”

  Liana rapidly turned bright red.

  “Vinny was fourteen,” he continued, his mouth tight and grim. “Crazy fuck stabbed his father seven times. Then he calls my dad for help. So my father goes over there. Cleans up the body while Mom makes Vinny a bed in the guest room.”

  A subzero chill swept my belly.

  What was he doing?

  I seized his knee.

  Tony sipped more wine, exchanging an unfathomable look with Vinn. His dark eyebrow rose in amused contempt.

  “I begged Dad to let him stay longer. Always wanted a little brother, but Dad wouldn’t have it. He thought Vinny was a total psycho,” Tony mused, ignoring my hard pinches on his thigh. “But when I looked at Vinny, I saw a boy wearing my hand-me-downs. I still see that.”

  Please shut up.

  Shut up.

  A harrowing silence gripped the air, which Vinn didn’t break with a denial. I took in his whitened lips and the vein throbbing in his forehead. Vinn shot upright, upsetting his glass. It spilled, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  “You’re a waste of oxygen.”

  “Careful, Vinny. You used to be the loser, in and out of rehab.” Tony’s bewitching smile flickered in Liana’s direction. “Didn’t you know that?”

  “She knows everything about me, you piece of shit. What about her?”

  A muscle jumped in Tony’s jaw. “I’m sure Evie has Googled me.”

  “Not everything’s online. Like where you were a year ago, and what you did.” Vinn wrenched his jacket over his shoulders, tugging Liana from the booth. “Maybe you don’t want her to know that about you. I wouldn’t.”

  Wow.

  The effect that had on Tony was alarming.

  “Shut up.” His dead-eyed gaze speared Vinn. “And get out. Or I’ll jam this butter knife in your eye socket.”

  I grabbed Tony. “Tony, please stop.”

  Tony swung toward me, his eyebrows raised. His attention danced over my face.