The girls laugh again, but I’m trapped in his eyes. The way he looks at me is like nothing I’ve ever felt in my life. He stalks toward me and stops directly in front of me, lifts his hands and grabs my face roughly before he leans down and kisses me. It isn’t just a kiss. It’s a claim. He’s staking his claim in a bruising, powerful kiss that has my heart pounding in my chest and my body is melting inside.
“What are you laughin’ at?” I hear Viking’s voice. Monster pulls back from our kiss and looks to the girls.
“Yeah. What the hell is so funny?” He looks intrigued by their laughter and it makes me smile.
“We were just talking about you Monster.”
My cheeks flush.
“What about me?”
He stiffens. I run my hand up and down his chest. I’m trying to relax him a bit. He’s on edge all of a sudden.
“Just about how much you like her,” Carnie says.
“Oh yeah? And what did you tell her?”
His demeanor changes in a second. He’s calmer now. He’s more comfortable than he was.
“That you have that look in your eyes.”
“What look?” Viking asks.
“He loves her.”
Chapter 21
Monster
Love is a strong word. I’ve only ever used it once before. I don’t even know if you’d consider that love seeing as how I killed the bitch. I look at Kyza and she smiles. It eats at me wondering if what the girls said the other day is true. Do I love her?
“You got your head in your ass?” Mason asks as he sits down next to me.
“No. Just thinkin’ is all. You get anything on the girl Ortega is after?”
Mason shakes his head. The meeting we had with Ortega is wearing thin on me. He was pissed that half of his shipment got busted, but we were pissed at what he was pulling on us. Death is the ultimate ending for him, but for now we play by his rules. Running into his house and killing him and shit ton of armed guards isn’t the best plan, so for now we lay low.
“No. Not much to go on either. The fucker is basically havin’ us chase a ghost. Some chick fucked him over and he wants her back. That’s all he gave us to go on. Protectin’ his family,” Mason says shaking his head.
“What the fuck did she do?”
“She was helpin’ the Feds is what he said. I don’t know how he lost her if he knew that.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth my chest tightens. I look at Kyza. She smiles and runs her hand over Carnie’s stomach, no doubt she’s feeling the baby move. Her eyes are bright and lit up just like they should be.
“He has a kid then?”
“You know that.”
“Only one?”
Mason watches me pull my gaze from Kyza. It doesn’t completely make sense, but some of the pieces fit.
“What the hell are you thinkin’?” Mason asks as Viking and Grinder come to sit with us.
“When we left Ortega’s Kyza said that there was a car pullin’ in and that the girl in the back reminded her of her sister.”
“Kyza has a sister?” Grinder asks as I nod.
“Little younger than her. Her past is fucked up brother. She went through a lot of her own hell. She’s told me stories.”
“And what are you thinkin’? She might be the one Ortega is lookin’ for?” Mason asks narrowing his eyebrows.
“I don’t fuckin’ know. Her last name is Owens not Ortega. Some of what you just said makes sense though. Kyza was with a guy, who ended up being FBI. Dad found out about the traitor being her boyfriend and planned to kill him only she did it first. She also killed a few others that raped her.”
“She what?” Viking roars pulling some attention. Grinder pats his shoulder trying to get him to calm down. “She’s killed before?”
“Yeah. A few times. I don’t know what any of this shit means Viking. She said her family lived in Louisiana. She ran because she knew her dad was gonna kill her.”
Grumbled words move around the table as I take down the rest of my beer. Grinder walks away, but no one says a word about it. We drink for a few more minutes before he returns with a laptop in hand. He sets it on the table in front of us and my stomach drops.
“Gail Owens, married to Matthew Owens. They had two daughters. Guess where they