There was a very good reason he called me Monster.
And being able to embrace that moniker filled me with brutal purpose.
They had no idea what was coming for them.
But they would.
CHAPTER THREE
Josie
“Who invited all these people?” Micah asked as we walked through off-kilter doors into the crowded space of the lumber mill.
“I don’t know,” I answered, casting a wary glance around the space. “But you just echoed my thoughts exactly. Whatever this is, I already don’t like it.”
And by not liking it, I meant I was tempted to turn around, walk away, and call the whole thing off. I was never one to run from a fight, but there was more than anticipation for a little carnage and bloodshed simmering in the crowd tonight.
The air was so thick I could almost push it out of the way. These things always ended up being a little chaotic. How could they not be when so many low-lives were gathered in one place? Then again, I wasn’t sure I was in a great position to point fingers.
Most of the people here probably slept in actual houses instead of trailers with a leaking roof and plumbing that only worked half the time.
But I was letting myself get distracted again.
I didn’t recognize most of the faces around me, and I didn’t like that one bit. These things were private for good reason. We didn’t need the extra attention amassing a large group would bring. Part of operating beneath the noses of the Sinners was accepting that there was a scythe somewhere out in the darkness, waiting for us to pop our heads up from the foxhole to come in for the kill.
Bringing around an entirely new batch of nobodies who might spill the beans? We might as well close our eyes and wait for the cold kiss of death.
Absently, I rubbed my neck, half-expecting to feel a welt going across it from how real that threat felt tonight.
Letting my hand drop, I nudged Micah with my shoulder. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
He sighed. “That Nikolai is hoping a bigger crowd will draw more money his way? Unfortunately, yes. I can’t think of any other reason for all this activity.”
A slow clap started in front of us as Nikolai and Bruno stood from their would-be thrones. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of snickering to myself about just how big their egos were. They spent their time sitting on cheap, fold-out chairs—the same kind that filled a thousand and one AA meetings and bible studies across the country.
“The guest of honor has arrived, ladies and gentlemen,” Nikolai said, basking in the adoration and excitement that pulsed through the crowd. He turned to me. “You ready to put on a show for us?”
I’m ready to readjust your face, you arrogant asshole. It might actually look better by the time I’m done.
Because the filter that was supposed to keep my attitude from running away had been lost sometime around the first month of poverty, my mouth was opening to say just that when the feeling of being watched lifted the hairs on my arms.
I turned swiftly and thought I caught a flash of movement in the crowd. Sadly, it was impossible to tell if that was because someone was evading being noticed or if I was just overreacting. On any given day, half the crowd could be people who had lost money betting against me at one point or another.
Angry stares weren’t anything new.
Yet I wasn’t inclined to think this was another case of a pissed-off gambler. Usually, I could tell when my life was about to step off a sheer clip and fall towards the waiting rocks. Didn’t mean I could do anything about it, but I could still tell.
Tonight was shaping up to be one of those nights.
I could almost edge my boots across the ground and see the rocks tumbling down the edge into the void.
If I was smarter, or less desperate, I would leave. Right here, right now. I’d managed to build up a decent enough sum. Most of that would be gone if I had to get Mom and I to another city, but it could be done.
Except I didn’t want to find another city.
It had been just the two of us as we made our way from Indiana to North Carolina. All the while, I did whatever I needed to take care of us. Lying, stealing, fighting. Whatever it was, I always made sure it got done.
Survival was no place for morals.
And that was what I was doing every day.
Surviving.
So no, I wasn’t about to let the heebie-jeebies come between me and tonight’s payout. This would be enough to guarantee a nice nest egg. If the situation looked ruined beyond repair afterward, I could assess and decide how fast I needed to get the hell out of dodge.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, dropping my duffel bag to the floor with a heavy thud.
The bag itself had been patched up hundreds of times and contained everything I owned.
Nothing of value, of course. A thief wouldn’t find an entire five dollars; I had other places I kept most of my money. Still, it relaxed me to remember I had enough cash stored—along with some different clothes—to change my appearance and say goodbye to all of this if it came to that.
Nikolai continued to stare at me while he raised his voice. “Form the ring! We have show to put on. Vipers, bring your fighter.”
Ice water crashed over my head as I glanced towards the crowd that was already moving. Obeying his orders. Nikolai had said Vipers, plural. Surely, he wasn’t dumb enough to invite multiple members of a club the Sinners were actively monitoring.
Right?
A straight line into the ring formed before me, and on the other side I could see my opponent. Hmm...possibly opponents, depending on how this went down. Micah said I was going against a dude with a tiny star tattooed beneath his eye, and he was easy enough to spot.
Tall, built, snarling. Despite the chill outside, Rocco was sweating bullets in his stained tank top. Sweat ran down his face and dripped towards the floor while I watched. Meshed with his anxious shifting from foot to foot, and the mad grin on his face, I was willing to put good money on him being high as a kite.
“You can’t be serious,” I said to no one in particular. “This is bullshit. Stims aren’t allowed in matches.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nikolai said, lying through his teeth. “But if you’re planning on backing out, you know that means you’ll be covering your half of tonight’s deposit.”
Clenching my teeth to keep from turning and throwing a fist at his face, I remained silent. I couldn’t afford to lash out or retreat from this fight, and he knew it. Why Nikolai had it out for me so bad, I wasn’t sure. But he was showing his true colors.
Mouth gone dry, I balled my fists and ignored the multiple sets of eyes waiting on me to join Rocco in the middle. I took a single step forward and felt a hand band around my upper arm. I let Micah pull me to a stop before I jerked out of his grip.
“Don’t be stupid,” he muttered under his breath so no one else could hear. “I know you’re not a stranger to getting a little roughed up, but this shit could go sideways in a heartbeat. Back out. I’ll pay the fee and we’ll choose someone else.”
My arched brow was a bow ready to fire. “And be in your debt? I don’t think so. Now do me a favor and buzz off.”
He glared. “Do you have to be such a bitch?”
“If the shoe fits and lets me keep kicking ass, might as well wear it.”
Before he could respond, I was heading into the center. Tuning out the cheers that rose around me. Eyeballing the three men standing behind Rocco. All of them were sweating and antsy. As I drew closer, it was obvious how blown out their pupils were.
Just because I refused to admit it didn’t mean Micah wasn’t right.
I didn’t trust these guys not to try and jump me if things started going my way. Hell, things going my way here was already going to be a big fat if.
The wayward Vipers might be on the lamb from the Sinners, but that didn’t mean they were pushovers. Creed and the rest were known for recruiting the cream of
the crop. There was a good chance this tweaked out asshole was a better fighter than me even high.
But I had to do this.
There was no other choice.
Once I was in the middle of the ring, the gap behind me sealed until there was a wall of bodies all around us. Rocco moved deeper into the circle and I did the same, unzipping my jacket so I was only in my sports bra. A few whistles made me want to slice my gaze around the room to find the culprits. Somehow, I pushed the urge away.
“Now that we’re all present.” Nikolai’s voice carried easily over the murmurs of excitement, scratching against my ears. “Do any wish to challenge the Viper’s right to face the Queen?”
I rolled my eyes while I went through a few stretches and jumping jacks, getting my muscles loose and ready for what was sure to be a hard fight.
Why did he always waste time with this routine? No one tried to challenge me. Not since the cocky guy a few months back that wound up going home with several missing teeth and pride so wounded it might never recover.
God, can we just get on with it?
I kept moving, trying to shake off the gloom hanging around me like I was standing in a funeral parlor.
The tension wasn’t going anywhere.
It was the monkey on my back. Picking in my hair. Making my scalp itch. I wanted to be far away from here before whatever I was feeling happened. Maybe once I was home in my bed, getting some much-needed sleep, I could stop wondering when the bottom was going to fall out on the day.
Then someone spoke, and I realized I was too late.
“I’ll issue a challenge,” said a deep, rumbling voice.
Whoa.
My eyes darted, searching for the source. In part, because I wanted to know what idiot was actually volunteering to fight. In part, because he sounded hot as hell. I needed to confirm that no one who sounded that sexy could possibly look good enough to match.
There was no way.
Such a thing went against all the imaginary rules I had decided on just now.
Then the crowd parted as a towering figure strode into the ring on my left, and most of my thoughts came to a screeching halt. Because...well.
Because holy fucking hell, that’s why.
The newcomer—and he had to be new since I would have definitely recognized him otherwise—moved with casual grace and the loping walk of a predator. Which was odd, to say the least, considering the way he was dressed.
“Who invited the accountant?” someone said on the tail end of a snicker.
He ignored them completely, eyes like twin whirlpools focused on me instead. I was busy reminding my lungs how to breathe. Maybe the concussion was even worse than I thought, and I’d somehow had a stroke in my sleep.
But no. Going by the audible sigh my heart released when he pushed a hand through his dirty-blonde hair, I was still capable of basic functions. It was just hard to remember how to do them while I was staring at what had to be almost seven feet of delicious man.
He was seriously overdressed for the occasion, but the three-piece suit worked for him anyway. The whole thing had to be a custom fit.
For the fabric to lovingly hug the wide expanse of his chest and bulging biceps the way it did?
For the pants to showcase his long, powerful legs?
Yeah, custom fit for sure.
Slowly, my gaze tracked back up the length of him, committing as much to memory as I could. This man was something else, and I could feel my body reacting as heat spread from my core, warming me up by degrees.
“Who the fuck are you?” barked Nikolai, bringing me out of my trance before my nipples had a chance to pebble.
Hopefully.
I glanced down, breaking free from that piercing gaze, and breathed a quick sigh of relief. My panties were another story, but no one could see that quite as obviously.
At least I was pretty sure they couldn’t.
“A reckoning,” the stupid hot stranger replied, sounding like something out of a cheap movie.
Again, he made it work.
The hairs at the back of my neck joined my arms, united on the front that something bad was happening. Was the stranger the source of that discomfort?
Whoever said something about an accountant was right on the money—no pun intended. He looked like he would be more at home somewhere behind a desk balancing books than stepping into a winner-take-all fight club.
Then again, those muscles came from somewhere. And that twist to his lips hovered somewhere between amusement and cruelty. Whatever his deal was, I didn’t want to fight him.
Call it women’s intuition or just the survivor in me. But for a change, I was willing to listen to that voice.
Nikolai growled, annoyed at the unexpected turn of events. “No one will call ambulance for you, big man. However bad you lose is on you.”
“Call me Monster,” said the newcomer, moving to stand in the middle of the circle. Placing himself between me and Rocco.
I rolled my eyes and collected my jacket, slipping it back on before I could start to cool down. Men. So pointlessly dramatic. Plus, giving himself a nickname brought him down a few notches on the hotness scale.
Although to be fair, he had plenty of room to drop and still be the finest thing on two legs.
“Your funeral,” Nikolai said. “Get on with it.”
I was stepping back to join the rest of the crowd when slow, rolling laughter brought silence to the entire room. There was something terrifying about that sound. A dark, ominous cloud of noise drifting across the senses, promising the kind of chaos that was impossible to run from or fight.
For a moment, I looked around, searching for the source. But it was already apparent. He was standing right in front of me, suit jacket rising and falling with each mountainous chuckle, threatening the integrity of the fabric.
His hand went up, pulling his glasses off before he carelessly tossed them to the side. Whether they realized they were doing it or not, the people he tossed them towards backed up and let them fall at their feet. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see Rocco and his boys.
Whatever they were seeing was enough to stop their restless twitching.
The man shifted his weight and then he was stalking around the ring, movements slow and steady. A predator hunting its prey and knowing—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that nothing else in the jungle was above it on the food chain.
Sensing the same thing I did, Rocco moved too. They worked their way opposite each other until they had switched positions. I sucked in a sharp gasp as Monster’s face came into view again.
The accountant was gone.
Those cold eyes burned with madness and set off every warning bell in my body. Of course, the hottest guy I had ever seen was completely batshit.
Welcome to my life.
He didn’t adopt any kind of fighting stance, and he didn’t need to.
It was apparent his body was loose and ready for anything. So when he reached up and started removing layers, I wasn’t surprised Rocco remained motionless instead of trying to rush in for a cheap blow. Even when both of Monster’s arms were behind his back and the suit jacket was coming off, he looked like he was ready to snap a neck and drink the blood from it.
Possibly not in that order.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this,” he said.
No one knew who he was talking to.
No one dared to ask.
The air was almost too thick for me to breathe, but even I was taking short, quiet gulps of air to avoid drawing his attention again.
He tossed the tie as easily as he had the glasses, then his hands were on the buttons of his shirt. For the first time, I noticed the size of his fists. They were somewhere between dinner plates and shovels.
I did not want to be on the receiving end of them.
He beats Rocco. You’re up next, my unhelpful brain reminded me.
And because my life was never going to be easy, Monster slowly revealed the reason fo
r my well-placed anxiety.
“Y’all really thought we wouldn’t know?” Another button loosened. Another patch of tanned skin was revealed, along with the beginnings of a black and red tattoo. “You thought you could come here and turn a profit right under our noses? Without even sharing the cut?”
He laughed again, dark and malicious. I shivered and almost took a step back before I caught myself, digging my nails into the palms of my hands.
“And to top it all off,” he continued, shaking his head from side to side. “You thought you could run drugs through? God, it’s a surprise he didn’t send me before now.”
He didn’t continue the slow unveiling. His hands grabbed two fistfuls of fabric, and then he tore the shirt from his body with an audible rip that sent buttons flying everywhere. The full might of his heavily muscled chest was on display. Along with a tattoo everyone in this room would recognize.
The number seven was blood-red, practically dripping with intensity. Curving around it was a bold, black, capital S, decorated with hooks and barbs that looked like they were digging into his tanned skin.
As one, the entire crowd took a step back.
Gasps rang out.
Above it all, so cloying and pungent I could taste it spreading across my tongue: fear.
It was so very apparent that something was wrong with me, because I wanted him still.
I wasn’t sure who said it first. It could’ve been me and I wouldn’t have known the difference.
It didn’t matter.
The single word shattered the silence and echoed with perfect clarity. It was the blow of the horn to warn of danger lurking in the night. The ringing of the bell to signify the plague had come. The wail of the klaxons as bombers roared through the sky overhead, carrying an impending payload of doom.
Someone said, “Sinner.”
And just like that, all hell broke loose.
CHAPTER FOUR
Josie
The four Vipers surged into the ring at once, almost a thousand pounds of muscle intent on crushing Monster before he could get started.
And yet…
Monster: A Seven Sinners Novel Page 3
