The Butcher of the Bay Part II - J. Bree Page 0,73

me. The sheet catches all of the blood and I roll her up in it once I’m done.

I call Frank when I’m ready to move her. He clears a path, gets his kids out of the way and I walk her through the back entrance and to my car without anyone seeing. Once she’s in my trunk and my tools are away, I wash my hands in the staff bathroom and check to make sure I’m clean enough.

Frank shakes my hand as I leave. “I’ll get the men out without a word. I’ll call the cops if need be, I’ve wiped the tapes already.”

I clap him on the shoulder. “Again, appreciate it, man. Anything you need, gimme a call.”

He smiles and waves me off.

I fucking love the Bay.

Chapter Twenty

Odie

I continue to keep up my training even if it's hard to do without le Loup around. I miss her quiet nature and the way she'd grin at me when I get something right. I also can only practice the same things she's taught me and after a few months of the same routine, over and over again, I find myself getting bored. I could just give it up or push through it anyway.

Instead, I follow mon Monstre down to one of his sessions and watch him in action. I watch the way he holds himself when he strikes at the punching bag and where he sets his feet. I count how many repetitions he does of the circuit, how long he spends at each machine.

I aim for half of what he does, half the weight and half the reps.

Even that feels impossible but I try and after a few weeks I feel stronger, leaner, more capable of taking down any man that attempts to touch me. When we make love, I see mon Monstre taking notice of the changes in my body but not once does he comment, only stroking at the curves of mine that will never disappear while my appreciation of bread stays so high.

For a while I think that maybe he doesn't like me leaner, that maybe this strength I now have will be some sort of thing on the list of reasons he adores me that gets struck off, but then I see him biting his lip over my legs when I step out of the shower and I giggle.

I should never underestimate his love for me, no matter how my body looks.

He loved me starved and broken, of course he'll love me leaner and strong.

My favorite practice will always be our time together in the gun range. I've gone from fearing the power and finality of them to being so proficient in them that I can clean and assemble any of mon Monstre's collection. I know which ones will do the most damage, which ones will keep a death clean and which will blow a man to pieces.

My own collection of guns gets bigger.

When we're done shooting for the day he takes me back out to the mats, intent on walking me through all of the positions le Loup has taught me. I’ve been so bored with the routine that little things have started to slip.

He pulls my arms down until they’re in a better position. “You need to keep up with your practice, baby girl. Gotta stay sharp if we’re staying here.”

I smile up at him so wide my cheeks hurt but the smirk he gives me in return is full of lust and adoration. “I guess I do, mon Monstre. Are you going to help with that? Are you going to instruct me? Show me all of your tricks and tips to take a man's life? Le Loup showed me so much but I want to know how you do it, too.”

I get him onto the mat and use my thighs to trap his arms. He could break out of the hold, I'm sure of it, but he lays there and lets me manipulate him the way I'd have to if I were attacked again.

If the Jackal's man grabbed me again like he did that night I'd kill him without a thought, I could choke him out and aim my gun at the Jackal, killing the man who dared to betray mon Monstre, his oldest and most loyal friend.

When I finally move to let him up, Illi grabs my thighs and holds me still. His hands move along the hard muscle there, bunched up like this my legs look less feminine and more like