Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,61
stuck you with an EpiPen and hoped for the best. I thought I’d have to spend the next four hours digging a grave, but you pulled through. Good for you.”
He gave me a thumbs-up.
There was no bigger piece of shit in the universe.
I crawled to a seated position, trembling from the cold. I seemed to be in an upscale hotel room. He had to have a phone somewhere. My head swam as I climbed on the sofa, which strained my biceps. I was so weak, I could barely lift my legs.
“Are you feeling better?” He patted my head like I was a golden retriever.
Acid burned my throat.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Remember that you’re a slave,” he repeated, his mild voice rising. “You will address me as master until tomorrow.”
He hyperventilated as I hogtied him between two other bikers. Gunner had pissed his pants after I’d dragged him into the garage with an ominous, dark brown stain. A metallic tang hung in the air, not unlike the stench in slaughterhouses. The smell of death drove men crazy.
After I slashed the throat of his buddy, Gunner turned on the waterworks. Crying. Loudly. Crimson pooled on the cement as Cloud—or was it Clyde—lay facedown in a pool of blood, drowning. Gunner’s eyes widened as the red tide touched his lip.
Once, I’d experienced the same terror.
It was nothing compared to losing my wife.
“I hate you. All of you.” I pressed the knife into his cheek, and crimson welled around the blade. “I’d happily spend the rest of my life kidnapping scumbags like you, tying you up, and gutting you. I tolerated your filth to spread over Boston, but you’re incapable of behaving like decent human beings. And I’m tired. I’m sick of pretending you don’t disgust me! You’re a dog-shit-covered flea! You’re going to tell me where my wife is, or I will make you suck your dying friend’s cock!”
He whined something, and I slammed my boot into his side. Then I ripped off his patch, threw it on the floor, and stomped it. I smashed Gunner’s nose against the concrete, settling him right beside the corpse. He screamed, which made the other guy tied to him scream. The garage echoed with their crying, and I exchanged an exasperated look with Cainan.
“Can you believe this?”
“Yeah. You started off way too strong.”
Cainan looked out of place in his khakis and a crew sweater, but he was in his element. He cocked his head.
“Some guys don’t last. You know?”
“Isn’t that the truth.” I choked Gunner’s neck, and he gasped like a landed fish. “You might as well get used to this. You’re not leaving until my wife is returned to me. Until then, you’ll know nothing but pain. Humiliation. Degradation.”
Cainan’s hand weighed my shoulder. “T, he needs air.”
“I don’t give a fuck!”
I lifted the pressure anyway. Color flooded into Gunner’s face as he took deep, shuddering breaths. Letting him breathe battled against my instincts. I hated myself for losing my wife to these bastards. I swore I’d stamp out the biker shit when I took her in for her own good, but all I did was grind her spirit to dust.
Fuck me.
I had no idea where she’d gone. As soon as I’d figured out what motel, I called Cainan. He got there faster than I did, avoiding most of the rush hour traffic, but she wasn’t in any of rooms or the parking lot.
All we found was her smashed cell phone and several unarmed stragglers. I offered them a ride to the club. Knocked them out. Brought them to an abandoned auto shop that had plenty of space and no neighbors.
I didn’t have time to waste.
My chest tightened.
Evie. Hold on, honey.
The knot in my throat pulsed.
“Tell me what happened.”
Tears streaked Gunner’s cheeks. “The deal went south. They robbed us.”
“They who? Another biker club? The Mongols?”
“This guy in a suit. Goes by K.” He squeezed his eyes shut and whimpered. “He took your wife.”
Him.
A light-haired man with a warm smile burned in my mind. K was an opportunist who made his living on the flesh market. I’d lost count of the women he’d tricked, conned, drugged, and stolen so he could force them into slavery.
Not her.
Not my wife.
This had to be a nightmare, but the stench of death reminded me that it wasn’t. A horrific pain wrenched my heart