Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,56
life I’d left and the dream Tony had demolished. The white picket fence with a doting husband and two-point-five children seemed forever out of reach. He didn’t want that with me, and who could blame him? Keeping him tethered to me was selfish.
Hurt squeezed, deep inside me.
“You’re the one that needs to walk away. We’re done.”
“No, Evie—”
I hung up, and a hot tear rolled down my cheek. Better to end it now before I got even more involved with a man who couldn’t love me.
Who didn’t want me.
Who kept secrets from me.
I breathed deeply, waiting for the wave of catharsis. Instead I battled a fierce urge to cry. Wasn’t ending it supposed to make me feel better? Tears blurred my vision. My chest ached. I’d fooled myself into thinking Tony and I would work. It was only a matter of time before he tossed me aside like my mother.
Dad clung to the metal railing as I climbed to the second story. I wiped my eyes before I reached the last step, hanging behind Dad.
My father chatted with man in his fifties, who wore a suit just like Tony’s. My heart squeezed painfully. His unremarkable features would’ve made him blend in a crowd. His smile was pleasant, almost self-effacing, but it failed to touch his gaze.
I handed Dad’s phone back, and winced as mine rang. The vibration buzzed into my purse like an angry insect.
“Let’s go, Evie.”
He and Creep strode inside the room.
It took an age to move. My limbs refused to budge, and the knot in my throat swelled. I fiddled with my jeweler’s loupe, sliding the lens in and out of the case.
Gunner nudged me into the seedy hotel room with an en suite kitchenette. Legion guys packed the right side. An assortment of hard-eyed men and bikers seemed to be with Creep.
Dad gestured to the coffee table piled with aluminum bricks. Legion members counted cash as Dad motioned me toward the gems on a silk cloth.
“Go ahead, Evie. Take your time.”
I lined up my scale, scope, tweezers, and loupe, taking them out of the bag my father brought. I’d never felt a silence so thick with tension, broken only by the incessant buzzing in my purse.
You’re not safe.
A biker wearing a strange patch sat in front of me, his legs spread. Jeans wrapped his thighs. Silver teeth winked from a wide mouth, his hawklike nose dominating his tanned face. Shaggy black hair covered his head, as wild as a wig. His hollowed gaze drank me in like I was a treat he wanted to suck on.
“What’s your name, sweetbutt?”
Dad looked up, glowering. “That’s my daughter, and you’ll keep your fucking eyes off her.”
He lifted both hands in surrender, his grotesque smile stabbing my gut. “Just making conversation.”
I dug into my purse, brushing my vibrating phone. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I picked through diamonds. Still silence. I stabbed the call button and shoved it deep inside. Then I turned my attention to the gems, but the dim lighting made it impossible to analyze them.
“Dad, I need more light. I can’t see.”
“There’s a lamp in my room,” suggested Creep. “It’s next door.”
I’m not going anywhere with them.
I beseeched him silently, but Dad never spared me a glance. He motioned toward Gunner. “Go with her.”
“Sure thing.”
I packed my things, fighting the urge to pull the hem of my leopard-print dress down my legs.
The biker stood, six-something towering feet of formidable strength. Gunner wasn’t tiny by any means, but next to him, he was a midget.
My heart shrank.
Creep wrapped the diamonds and crammed them into a box. I flinched when his possessive gaze met mine. It swelled a ball in my throat. I couldn’t breathe without it aching. I followed Gunner and Creep next door.
“Sorry for the mess.”
Creep cleared the table littered with drugs and flipped on the lamp. He slid the gems and their silk wrapping underneath it. He sank into the couch, his suit melting in the faded black fabric. Creep patted the cushion beside him.
“Have a seat.”
No thanks. I kneeled on the floor.
“You’ve done this before,” he commented mildly. “Many times, yeah?”
I couldn’t quite place his muddled accent.
“Maybe.”
His attention never wavered, as though I were the most valuable object in the room. He rubbed his chin and stared.
I picked up a diamond with tweezers and held it under my loupe. I spun it in all directions, frowning at the feather breaking the surface. My mouth thinned as I spotted a broken culet. I moved it back and