Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,57

forth from the lens. Unpolished girdle. Facets that didn’t overlap. Clouded. Worthless.

I set it aside and examined another.

Same thing.

My hands trembled as I worked through the pile, praying to find one that wasn’t shit. Sweat beaded on my upper lip as I combed the stack of low-quality diamonds. A weight settled over my chest.

Gunner tapped my shoulder. “Evie, are we good?”

Not even close.

I exchanged a look with Gunner. Judging by his whispered “fuck,” he got it loud and clear.

“I need to talk to Dad.” I bolted upright, jabbing through my purse’s contents. Light from my cell flared through the screen. Tony was still on the line.

Angry voices erupted through the wall. Suddenly, Dad burst in, his face flushed.

“You’re five grand short,” he snarled at Creep, who slowly stood. “Evie, what’s the appraisal?”

“The diamonds are crap. They’re cloudy, the cut quality is horrible, and many of the stones aren’t eye clean.” My ears pounded as Creep’s stare drilled into me. “So I’m going with ten—ten thousand.”

“What’s this?” Dad bellowed, charging into the biker at Creep’s side. “You time-wasting piece of shit. I ought to blow your head off.”

“Relax, Jett. The coke I gave you makes up the difference.”

“The deal’s off!”

Creep’s crooked smile stabbed my heart. “If I were you, I’d take the hit and move on.”

“You tried to rip me off. Fuck you. “

Dad yanked me into the other room, which was chaotic. Drugs and money were stuffed into bags.

“Let’s go!” Dad roared, shoving his way through. “We’re done here.”

The door flew open.

My back smacked the wall as Dad flung me aside.

Bikers poured inside, shotguns pointed in our faces. They prodded Dad, Gunner, Clyde, everyone in the room.

Outnumbered.

Outgunned.

“The hell is this?”

“A robbery.” The silver-tongued devil stood behind Dad, playing with the cheap diamonds. “Pro tip—bring more backup.”

I opened my purse, hands shaking as I grasped my buried phone. It slipped from my fumbling fingers and smacked the carpet.

Shit.

Creep grabbed the phone. He ended the call, cutting off Tony’s shouting. Then he pulled a knife and slashed the phone’s casing. He fished out the SIM card and threw it aside.

I ran for the door.

A thick arm banded my waist, pinning me to an iron chest.

“Ah-uh,” he chimed in a singsong voice. “You’re coming with me, pet.”

You’re not safe.

“Dad!”

My father lunged for me, but four of them tackled him. They stomped on his face and shoved him against the floor, hitting him with heavy thuds that numbed my body.

Creep dragged me next door. I yelled for Gunner, I shouted for my husband. My breath jerked back and forth as though Creep had stabbed me, and then he smothered my mouth with his giant hand.

“Shhh. That’s a good girl. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. Your dad…well, let’s just say he had it coming.”

Hollowness gaped in my stomach. Terror filled the space where there was panic. The sounds of my dad’s beating dwindled to static. The ringing in my head drowned it out.

I’ll never see Tony again.

Nineteen

Evie

I’m grateful that I had a good life.

Tony warned me.

Did I listen?

Creep manhandled me onto the couch. He’d imprisoned me in his iron grip and I was as limp as a rabbit in a wolf’s jaws, unable to fight. My pale hands twitched with the need to punch this motherfucker.

He tutted as he rolled a palm over my shoulder, rubbing me with an intimacy that I’d only craved from one man. My gaze traveled along his crisp white shirt, stretched over bronzed skin to his hideously normal face. His brown eyes burned with a perverse intensity.

Lead bottomed my stomach.

“Let go of me.”

“Shh. Be a nice girl.” My skin chilled where his unwanted touch skated up my arm in a nauseating caress. “Do you like drugs?”

I shook my head.

He fished through a side pocket, producing a vial. “What about fentanyl?”

I clenched my mouth shut.

“I’ll give you a taste. It’ll help you relax.”

Pain shot into my teeth from my clenched jaw. I shrank from him as he produced a knife. He dabbed something onto the blade. The knife waved in the air as I shook with full-body tremors. The dull edge kissed my mouth. He slid the steel between my lips.

I shoved his hand off me. The blade went flying, and I sprung from his lap.

He yanked my waist.

I slammed into the man’s bruising embrace. He cinched me to his chest, smothering my scream. His other arm pinned my elbow, and then a fierce pinch stabbed into my shoulder. I yelped as I glanced at a syringe protruding from