He heard me?
I toyed with my hair, hot around my neck. “I didn’t realize the cameras picked up sound, too.”
“They sure do.”
He pulled up a chair and sat behind me, his presence sucking the air from the room. My pulse slammed my throat as he leaned forward, his mouth finding the space between my neck and shoulder.
“What are you up to?”
“Working,” I whispered, finding it hard to concentrate with the lips pressing into me. “Are you going to sit there?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“It makes me self-conscious.”
He made a discontented sound. “Why? I have no idea what I’m looking at. It’s not like a painting. I can’t see it coming together.”
“Well, I’m not ready to show you.”
“Intriguing.”
He moved closer, his fingers encircling my wrist. The rough bite and my position reminded me of a few nights ago. I’d unsuccessfully tried to block those hellish hours I spent naked, tied up, and drugged.
I wheeled around in my chair, sorrow centering over my chest.
“Tony, I’ve been thinking…I know I should let it go, but I can’t stop thinking about them. There were so many girls.” I took his hand and traced his calluses. “What’s going to happen to them?”
“Nothing good.”
The bluntness turned my stomach. “Can’t we save them?”
“Put it from your mind, Evie.”
“How can you say that?”
“This is what I do for a living. I’ve worked for years to disrupt them and I’ve barely dented their operations. Busting trafficking rings isn’t as simple as calling the police. They have connections everywhere. The only reason I found you was because I know someone who knows someone.” He shot me a hard-eyed glare, startling me. “They’re dangerous, and there’s nothing a twenty-two-year-old can do about it.”
“That’s not true. I could make a statement to the FBI.”
Tony’s mouth hardened. “That won’t get you anywhere. Trust me.”
His stern attitude baffled me.
“Tony, I can’t just do nothing!”
“I’m not telling you to do nothing, but I want you to set realistic goals for yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Play to your strengths.” He scooped my hand in his and pressed his lips to my knuckles. “You’re an amazing jewelry designer. Make a line of bracelets and give a percentage of the proceeds to an anti-trafficking charity. Cut the MC out of your life.”
How would that help anything?
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Follow your heart, Evie. It’ll never lead you wrong.”
Tony rubbed my back as the gravity of that sank in my chest.
My heart wanted me to do stupid things, like give my body to my husband whenever he wanted. It begged me to float into his arms, hold him tight, and never let him go. It was sick of fighting. I met his gaze. His eyes were like black satin, beautiful and dark.
“What if it wants you?” I left my chair for his lap, winding my arms around his neck. “I want you, raw and unfiltered. Rough sex. Romantic dates. You holding me when I sleep.”
He smiled. “Anything else?”
“Model jewelry for me. My social media page needs content, and you have nice hands.”
He let out an incredulous laugh. He gave them a glance, and shrugged.
“Never heard that before.”
“It was one of the first things I noticed about you.”
“Not for me.” Tony’s gaze fell to my neck and down my halter top, and his voice dipped to a sultry caress. “I was preoccupied with your mouth and how badly I wanted to use my cock to shut it up.”
“Too bad you didn’t. It would’ve salvaged the night.”
He laughed. “I doubt that very much.”
“Who am I to criticize how a man makes love to his wife?”
He grinned, shaking his head. “God, I wish I had a pair of your rainbow-colored glasses.”
I mimed taking them off and setting them on his nose. “Your turn. What do you want?”
“What do I want,” he mused, dragging his fingers through his hair. “Besides taking out my wife and having her float on cloud nine all night, I can’t think of anything.”
A baby.
A family.
“Tony, it’s been five months. What happens in a year, when I’m not pregnant?”
“We stay together.”
“What if I want kids with you?”
My heart broke as his eyes shuttered. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. Doubt flickered in my mind as Tony’s phone shattered the agonized silence. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he pulled away to answer. I imagined him leaving me in the same way as my mother.
Mom hadn’t stuck around. Dad was a lying sociopath. My husband was the only stable element in my life, and he was an unpredictable beast. He was forced into marriage. Sticking it out for me.
For now.
How long before his promises were broken?
Twenty-Seven
Evie
I’m grateful that I am not hateful.
Five men.
Five broken families.
Their faces splashed on the evening news as I finished my breakfast. The three bikers who’d attended the ill-fated diamond appraisal were found dead with horrific injuries. Days before, a shooting killed two at Olaf’s, a Legion dive that served decent bar food.
Articles blasted Boston’s endemic gang violence, pinning the blame on motorcycle gangs and their territorial disputes. The mayor held a press release decrying the bloodbath, calling on Congress to pass a bill that gave harsher sentences for repeat felons.
Months ago, I would’ve turned off the TV to mourn with everyone else, but I was glued to the screen. This had Tony Costa written all over it. He had to be responsible for the flood of anti-biker propaganda on social media.
“Don’t visit the club,” whispered Jennesy’s voice from the phone’s speaker. “Seriously, Evie. You don’t want to be here. Martha’s old man is on life support. He was shot at Olaf’s. She’ll kill you if you show up. Even my dad and I got into it because I went on one date with Christian.”
I rubbed my head, hating that he’d put me in this position. “How was dinner with Christian?”
“Amazing. He was so nice. Just like you said, a total gentleman. He took me to an Italian restaurant on the waterfront. Everything was perfect. I’ve never been spoiled like that.” She let out a heartbroken sigh that resonated in my chest. “I’m hoping this craziness dies down so we can go out again. I canceled our second date.”
That was my husband’s fault, too.
“Jennesy, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. I feel horrible.”
“Don’t blame yourself, babe. There’s nothing you could’ve done to stop him. Guys like Costa can’t be bargained with. He’s damaged goods.”
I opened my mouth, and then shut it. What was the point of defending my husband? Tony’s reputation had taken a nosedive, and swearing to Jennesy that he’d never hurt me didn’t make him an angel.
A baby’s cry broke through the speaker.
“I should get going. Ben’s getting fussy.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Give Ben a kiss for me.”
“Will do. Bye.”
A ringing sense of loss cut through me as I hung up. Visiting my cousin was out of the question, and would be for months. She sure as hell couldn’t visit me. They were probably retaliating against Tony right now.
Wasn’t isolating me from the club his plan?
A vein in my neck pulsed, but grief quickly swallowed my anger. My throat tightened as I imagined five coffins sinking into the ground. The club would never take me back. I’d always felt like an outsider, and I’d never gelled with biker culture, but they were my only family. Tony had ripped away that support forever. I was dependent on a man who didn’t love me.
This was proof.
Tony still thought of us as rats that needed to be exterminated.
I pictured the rage in the clubhouse, the drinking, the utter chaos that these deaths would cause.
For hours, I was glued to the TV. My stomach roiled with nausea that’d stuck with me all day, interrupted by a vicious craving for sweets. I was totally off-kilter. Stress-eating. A vicious headache pounded behind my temples. Light blared from the television, filling the rooms with a pulsing glow. I sat in my chaise, facing the Boston skyline.
The door opened.
“Baby, I’m home.”
His singsong voice landed on my ears like a slap.
I winced, burrowing into Tony’s faux-fur afghan. I had no energy to confront him, but a spike of adrenaline forced my spine to straighten.
A man-shaped silhouette stepped inside, his beauty marred by a pinch in his elegant brows. He grabbed the remote and stabbed the button, shutting off the noise.
Tony fingered balled up tissues littering the coffee table, prowling around until he found me. One look at me all bundled up, and he seemed to get it.
“It takes a monster to kill a monster, Evie.”
“Well, you definitely are one.” Pure acid bubbled from my throat as I fought the urge to launch at him. “What you did was evil. How could you?”
His lips curled in a contemptuous sneer. “I’ve done a lot worse, but this? This isn’t even in the minor leagues of fucked up.”
“You’re proud of that?”
“Absolutely.”
I stumbled from the chair, clutching my stomach as though it’d hold in the hurt. I couldn’t believe I’d admired him. I must’ve been desperate, searching for virtue where there wasn’t any, taken in by his charm, his support, his generosity, his willingness to go the extra mile, but he was deranged.
The fire in his stare dimmed.
He sighed. “Evie, you don’t understand.”
“You have a vendetta against the club. I’m your excuse to maim as many bikers as you can. It’s disgusting, but pretty easy to figure out.”
His nostrils flared, and he tightened his fists. “I honored my part of the deal. All they had to do was leave us the fuck alone, but Jett couldn’t handle that. He just had to undermine me.”
“Tony, you murdered five people.”
“So what? Have you ever heard of Darfur? Hundreds of thousands men, women, and children slaughtered. Did you bat an eye? Did you join Amnesty International? No. I off five piece of shit bikers, and you throw a fit. I feel zero remorse for taking out the trash.”
“So we should kill them all, shouldn’t we?”
“It’s a start,” he said without a hint of sarcasm. “I’ve seen how your people live, Evie. The chain-link fences. No landscaping. Kids running around with no supervision. Nothing to entertain them but a rusted playground. There are prison yards with more charm. It’s fucking sad.”
I threw up my arms. “God forbid we lack the resources for Japanese maple trees on our front lawns!”
“It’s not about the goddamned aesthetics. You grew up in a violent place that treats women worse than animals. I’ll purge this city of every biker scumbag if I have to, because it needs to stop.”
I faltered in the silence that engulfed us. Shock and disbelief rooted me to the ground. Hot tears slid down my cheek. I squeezed my eyes shut, warding off disturbing images of Tony slitting Patrick’s throat.
“There is something seriously wrong with you, Tony.”
“There’s a lot wrong with me. Has been ever since Legion kidnapped me.”
“I need to leave.”
“No, you don’t.” Tony grabbed my wrist before I stepped away. His arm looped my waist. He clasped me to his body, his reassuring scent clashing with his biting grip. “You’re staying here. You’ll get over this, and it’ll be all right.”
“How? Do you think my father will take this lying down? He’ll hit you back. Hard. Did you even consider the consequences?”
“I was too busy saving you from being raped. I had no clue where you were or who took you. You screamed before the phone cut off. You can’t imagine the fear. The utter fucking helplessness. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to rescue you.”
“What did shooting up a biker bar have to do with that?”
“That was a message to all those degenerates.”
“My point, you aggravating man, was that it was completely unnecessary!”
“My God, Evie. What planet are you on? They let K grab you. I would’ve given up my life to save yours, but no. They stood by and watched it happen!”
I wavered on my feet, more uncertain than ever. “We were outnumbered.”
“I don’t care! They could’ve stared down a machine gun, and I’d still be pissed off. They should’ve fought for you!”
“Sometimes y-you have to live to fight another day.”
“Evie. They knew what K does for a living and didn’t lift a finger to help—” His voice broke suddenly, and he squeezed his eyes shut. “I busted my ass to find you. I did everything in my power to get you home. Where was Jett? In a bar. Getting his drink on.”
I flinched, the energy leaving me like air from a ruptured balloon. Doubt hammered the glass walls surrounding my heart.
“I don’t believe you,” I said brokenly. “He wouldn’t do that. I’m his only daughter.”
His dark eyes reflected glimmers of light that weakened my knees. He blew a shaky breath and set his jaw.
“Evie, I’m so sorry.”
A heartbreaking silence followed Tony’s hushed words. They barely registered to my dizzied senses. I shook my head, weighing the structure of events against my husband, the only consistent force in my life. I was baffled. I shook off the pain and squared my shoulders.
Tony didn’t give a damn if he hurt me.
“You’re making shit up. You want me upset so that I’ll never see him again!”
“I don’t have to lie. I just have to tell you the truth.” Tony’s pained expression darkened, and he rubbed his temples. “Evie, do you remember what happened? After K took you?”
“Not—not really.”
Discomfort flitted across Tony’s brow before he melted into a multicolored blur. I wiped away tears as Tony grasped my hand and led me to the couch.
I dropped onto the cushions, numb.
“On the phone, you mentioned a truck,” Tony murmured, glancing at his lap. “What do you think was inside?”
“Guns or drugs.”
Seconds ticked by.
Tony sighed. “You need to confront this, Evie. What was K buying?”
I frowned. “That’s club business. Dad doesn’t tell me anything.”
“Take a wild guess.”
I blinked, my heart pounding. “I don’t know, cocaine?”
“Wrong. What else could it be?”
Memories stirred under the black fog obscuring those forty-eight hours. A giant door opening. Bare legs.
I’d seen the cargo—rows and rows of women.
That hit me like a sledgehammer to my ribs.
Oh my God.
Tony’s touch skimmed my arm and clasped my shaking elbow.
“Girls. The MC sold him girls.”
The images slammed into my head like stills from a graphic crime scene. A dozen girls in varying states of undress, drugged out of their minds, crammed into tight quarters. K’s frowning face hovering above mine. Hay littering the floor.
I stared at a computer screen, immersed in the evidence connecting human trafficking with biker gangs. I connected the dots between Tony’s strange obsession with my tax records. He didn’t want diamonds from slavery linked to his name. No fucking kidding.
I was culpable.
I’d aided my father’s horrible acts. I could’ve lived with a drug possession charge but this? I shut the laptop and swallowed hard.
“I can’t believe my dad did this.”
Tony gave me a sad smile. “He sold you to me, d
idn’t he?”
My heart wrenched.
It was too much to take. My brain filled in the gaps with mounting horror. How many deals had I unintentionally helped? A pain fractured within me, stabbing deep like steel growing in my veins. The club girls—were they there by choice? Where did they go after they left? Where did the MC keep these captured women?
How many had I condemned?
I lost it, sobbing. I fell on my hands and knees, misery cleaving my body. Rotten feelings twisted up inside me. On some level, I’d suspected this. It made no sense why Dad rubbed elbows with traffickers unless he did business with them.
Tony dragged me into his embrace. I sagged into the wall of muscle. I shoved my face into the crook of his neck, making a mess of his shirt.
My life was a lie.
All of it.
“Evie, what can I do? Please…tell me what I can do.” He stroked my hair, the warmth from his gesture cutting me.
“I thought you were the monster. Turns out I am.”
“No, honey. You’re not.”
“I am.”
I pushed him away and staggered into the bedroom. A Harley-Davidson tank top draped the chair. I’d put it there months ago to fuck with him. Now my stomach turned at the cruelty of that taunt.
He must hate me.
Tony stood at the threshold, pale-faced.
I pressed my palms into my eyes, shaking. “I’m so sorry, Tony. God. I am such an idiot. I had no idea. It’s like you said. I was wrapped up in my problems.”
“Evie, I was angry and jealous. I regret everything I said that night. It’s not a crime to seek happiness.” Tony’s voice tightened as he wiped my cheeks. “You are nothing like your father. If you need any proof, look in the mirror. The fact that you feel this pain makes all the difference.”
“I should have known!”
“And I should’ve been the CEO of a tech company. Instead I became—”
“A man who fights for others, never himself?” I caressed his bronzed cheek, tracing his jaw line. “I wish you could see what I see.”
Softness dulled his gaze like black satin.
My swell of agony was beyond tears. I felt sick and out of control.
Monster: A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance Page 21