Monster A Dark Arranged Marriage Romance - Vanessa Waltz Page 0,89

I’m not—stop it!” She slapped their attempts to lead her to the car. “Tony!”

“You’ll return when it’s safe.”

But I wouldn’t be around.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” she bellowed as they peeled her off the wall. “Let me go!”

“Sorry, Evie.”

“Tony, you can’t! Please don’t do this!”

The guards restrained my wife, the sight stabbing my chest. I closed my eyes when she screamed, unable to watch as they dragged her into the waiting van.

When I opened my eyes, a haze of tears obscured her from view. I blinked them away and sank on the curb, hollow and weakened. I’d ripped her out of my life, but my heart would never stop loving her.

I’d wanted justice.

All I got was heartbreak.

They say that the best revenge is to have enough self-worth not to seek it. I tried, but the MC tested the monster in me. I’d done too much damage. There was no way out. I dug my own hole too deep and I wouldn’t drag the woman I loved down with me.

Goodbye, Evie.

Jett was killing time at The Cuff.

Time to put the fucker where he belonged—behind bars. Snitching on my enemies wasn’t my style, but my love for Evie wouldn’t let me kill him. I couldn’t hurt her, even if she wasn’t in my life anymore.

My stomach hardened with a nauseating ache that’d gripped me ever since the hospital. It was like withdrawing from heroin. The fix was right there. The need to go to her burned in my veins like fire, and no matter how often I told myself I’d get through this—I wouldn’t. I couldn’t enjoy life without her. Hell, she was the reason I looked forward to waking up.

I cased the black building in Chinatown. In my youth, I’d visited every strip club in Boston but steered clear of this spot because of the faded paint on the door marking it as a one-percenter hangout.

I’d listened to countless horror stories from the girls at Sanctum. Strippers invited who had made the mistake of accepting that invitation to this bar by outlaws worked without pay, were drugged, gang-raped, and often beaten. Those who stuck around were fed a steady diet of drugs and coerced into prostitution, just like the club girls.

My phone buzzed.

I answered it, holding my breath. “Hey.”

“Is it done?”

Cainan’s voice, not Evie’s husky whisper.

My insides clenched with disappointment. “They’re on their way. Judge Gilstrap issued the warrant five minutes ago.”

“This will be a huge blow to their morale.”

I didn’t care. “They’ll have a new president in an hour.”

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m there. Watching.”

“Tony,” he warned. “Don’t.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“I know you. Self-destruction is your favorite defense mechanism.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Freud.”

I hung up and got out of the car. I stood on the street. An edgy, twitchy feeling crept over my limbs. I let it overtake me as I strode to the bouncer.

I showed him my license. His dull eyes barely flicked at it before he stepped aside. Faint shock rippled down my spine as I stepped into the club. Flashing lights illuminated feminine silhouettes, twirling on stage. Bikers drooled over the strippers, ignoring me as I climbed to the office. Nobody guarded the door.

I shoved it open.

A girl bobbed between a man’s widespread legs, giving head. Jett leaned back on a sofa, his skin flushed. His fingers were knotted in her hair and her face was a mess of tears and mascara.

I unholstered my Glock and pointed it at him.

Jett’s eyes slid into focus, as though wondering if I were really there and not a mirage. Then he shoved her aside and yanked his jeans over his cock.

“Costa. You’re alive.”

“Disappointed?” I ripped off my coat and handed it to the girl crawling toward the door. “Call yourself a cab and get out of here.”

She wrapped herself in my jacket and took off.

Jett stared. “How the hell did you get in?”

“Bouncer didn’t even recognize me. You must be scraping at the bottom of the barrel for prospects.”

“That’s your fuckin’ fault,” he said hoarsely. “Where’s my daughter?”

“Gone.”

“Gone where?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I growled, my arm trembling from not squeezing the trigger. “She’s out of my life forever.”

“She’s dead?”

I remained silent, seething. I wanted him to know that he would never see Evie again, but clearly, Jett didn’t give a flying fuck. A flicker of remorse wrinkled his brow as he hiked up his pants.

He didn’t care.

I grappled with the urge to fire between his legs, but he’d bleed out before I got anything useful out of him. I promised myself I