Josie noticed the same thing. She sat up, trying to struggle away from me and getting nowhere. Her focus was on the wannabe dealers climbing onto their stage and scurrying off with a briefcase.
That simply wouldn’t do.
I was her one and only concern now.
“Get the fuck off me,” she hissed, throwing an elbow at my face.
Laughing, I rolled until she was on her back and I was above her, knee between her legs. My hand captured both of her wrists and pinned them to the floor above her head. My body smashed against hers everywhere, so close I could feel the heat of her wrapping around me.
Josie bucked her hips, spitting and snarling like a wild animal.
I let her, never losing my smile. When was the last time I came across a woman with so much fight?
Fuck, had I ever?
I didn’t think so. She was unique. And that made me wonder what her deal was even while she thrashed against me, stirring my dick to life.
Against anyone else, she would have gotten away already. The woman was capable, that was for sure. She tried to bite my damn nose off every time I brought it within range and her fury was a landslide—unstoppable once it started. My curiosity grew by the second.
Why did she waste time hanging with these fucking two-bit losers?
Surely, if she fought half as hard as she was fighting now, she could’ve been under contract by now.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her, grunting when she tried to get enough leverage to knee me in the balls for the fifth time in the last few minutes.
Gradually, her engine wound down. She was panting by the time she went still completely, and the flush beneath her skin made her glow. My eyes traced across her face, taking her in at my leisure now that we didn’t have company.
Because we were alone now. The mill was once again abandoned. It was only us and the lights mounted on the floor.
She realized it at the same time I did and swallowed thickly, eyes darting. When she turned to the side, I got a closer look at the painful-looking scar going down one side of her face. The itch that normally took over my entire body became a focused point right over my heart. Screaming and shouting with a singular demand.
“Who gave you the scar?” My voice was deeper than I’d ever heard it. Pulled straight from the abyss. Ready to swallow entire cities whole if it meant tearing the asshole who had wounded her limb from fucking limb.
“Why do you care?” she spat in my face, flashing her teeth.
“Because I want to kill him for you.”
Her glare eased a fraction, eyes searching mine. “Do you hear yourself right now? You sound insane.”
As if I gave a damn about that. “Tell me if I’m lying.”
She rolled her eyes. “How should I know? I don’t even know you. Now, are you going to keep me here all night or what?”
Her wrists jerked against mine, a reminder that I had her smashed between me and the floor.
“Are you going to run if I let you go?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Of course not.”
And that the answer was a total and complete lie.
We stared at each other for a moment, taking the other’s measure. I released her wrists and got to my feet, offering her a hand. Josie stared at it for a moment before ignoring my peace offering completely.
She stood, brushing sawdust from her clothes. A duffel bag a dozen feet away caught her attention and she tried to let her gaze slide over it as she swung her attention back to me. “So, what now, big guy?”
Now, you’re mine, I thought. At least until I figured out why she set the savage in me at rest.
Was the effect permanent?
If I kept her around, could I live a normal life and enjoy it?
Could she put the violence in my veins to rest for good? Or at least make it bearable?
“Grab your shit,” I ordered. “You’re coming with me.”
To my surprise, she did what I asked. Should’ve known that was a sign shit was about to go wrong.
Josie reached into the duffel bag, and I was already sighing before the snub-nosed revolver appeared in her hand. The barrel was pointed directly at me, and her hands were steady, even if her form was awful.
I took a step forward. “You’re not a killer.”
Her lips twitched, eyes smiling. “Are you sure you want to gamble on that theory?”
Another step towards her. The sound of her cocking the hammer on the pistol was unnecessary, but it got her point across. “You cost me a payday, Monster. I should shoot you just for that.”
My jaw clenched, hands fisting at my sides. She backed away, moving towards the edge of where the light reached. The thought of losing her set screws to my chest that tightened each time she took a step into the shadows.
Then she was gone, swallowed up by the darkness. I strained my ears to try and hear any sense of movement. Was she there still, lingering somewhere out of my vision? Was she already working her way around the labyrinth of this warehouse and vanishing without a trace?
I wasn’t sure. But either way, my decision was the same.
She would be mine.
I raised my voice. “This isn’t over, pussycat. One way or another, I will find you!”
***
As it turned out, finding someone who didn’t want to be found was harder than the movies made it look.
I wasted three days searching on my own and had nothing to show for it other than the colossal wreck that was currently my office.
Pacing back and forth across the hardwood floors, I ignored the many, many eyes following my every move. Taking in the computer I had trashed. The documents scattered everywhere. The pens and pencils and keyboards thrown all over the place.
Having glass walls had seemed like such a great idea when Jason and I started our agency a few years back. He’d convinced me that it would make people feel like their six-foot-seven boss was more approachable—the glasses were part of that as well.
Now?
When I couldn’t miss the way they flinched each time my heel struck the ground?
It was pissing me off more and more by the second. The itch was back in full force, crawling beneath my skin. Demanding that I do so much more than break a few silly trinkets.
A knock sounded and my head snapped to the side, heart pausing its furious march for a moment. I had called in a favor earlier this morning. Except I could do nothing other than play the waiting game while, hoping that tree of possibilities would bear fruit.
For a moment, I thought that moment had come.
Then Jason flounced into my office, his suit such a bright pink it was like lasers were being stabbed directly into my eyes. I cursed, loudly.
“Oh, don’t give me that look, Taylor,” he said.
It was weird hearing my real name after finally adopting my other role.
Jason moved towards a plush, overturned chair, and righted it before taking a seat. “You’ve been throwing a hissy fit for the last few days. I was trying to give you a little bit of space, but I’m beyond desensitized to your mood by now.”
“Is that right?” I scrubbed a hand over my jaw, fingers rasping across the shadow of the beard I hadn’t bothered to trim. The real me was becoming more and more prevalent as time passed. “Then you won’t mind when I tell you to get the fuck out?”
Preferably before I threw him out.
Being freed from the leash and chains that had bound me for so long came with side effects I hadn’t expected. The main one among them being that it was harder than ever to put the violence back in the bottle now that it had been uncorked.
The monster within my soul had tasted freedom. That fleeting taste was all it took to establish the hunger.
Jason crossed his legs at the knee, hands going to his lap. He sat perfectly upright in the chair. “Was that you asking me to get the fuck out or telling me? Because it could’ve gone either way.”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I prayed for patience
. A pointless task if there ever was one. If there was a god I believed in, it was Ares. God of War. And while I was somewhat out of date on my mythology lessons, I was pretty sure he wasn’t big on patience either.
He seemed like more of a separate their heads from their bodies and let Hades sort them out type.
That was the kind of god I could get used to.
“Is this a bad time?” Jason. Again. Because of course he was still here, reminding me of his presence when I had just stolen away a moment of something close to distraction.
A moment without thinking of forest green eyes disappearing into the shadows.
A moment where I stopped wondering if one day soon, the monster would swallow the man completely and I would be responsible for razing everything I had built to the ground.
“What. Do. You. Want?” I ground out, hands going behind my back so he wouldn’t see the tension in them.
Control, I told myself. Find some.
I cracked my neck and took a deep breath, stalking around my desk. I leaned on the thick slab of granite since it was about the only thing not shattered into pieces.
“Sorry,” I told my only real friend while I pictured a black hole sucking away the rage. It didn’t work, but it helped me focus. The reminder that he deserved better from me did the rest.
Our three-story office on the edges of downtown Oakdale held a few dozen people at any given time. Mostly other realtors and their assistants. Out of all of them?
Jason was the only person who knew I was a member of the state’s most notorious biker gang. He was the only one aware of the Monster that lurked just beneath my skin, always read to come out and play.
My flamboyant best friend was the person I modeled my business persona after. Calm. Polished. Professional. He’d taught me everything I knew about being a civilized member of society.
“What’s got you so worked up?” he asked, watching me steadily. “I haven’t seen you like this in a while.”
“I’m waiting on news from the Sinners.” My foot tapped an impatient beat against the floor. “You know I’m not great with patience.”
Jason frowned. “You expect me to believe that’s the cause of all this?” He waved his hand to indicate the trashed state of my office. “I had to start a rumor that your wife left you unexpectedly and took the dog to explain the behavior shift.”
What?
“What wife?”
He flashed a wide smile. “The one who just couldn’t take it anymore. All those long hours you spend in the office. The anniversaries you’ve forgotten. It’s no wonder the poor girl was devastated.”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Am I?”
I stared at him and he stared back, grinning like an idiot. Would I put it past him to do something so immature and ridiculous? No. No, I wouldn’t.
Moving the hell on from that clusterfuck.
I grabbed a pen and twirled it between my fingers, just to have something to do with my hands that didn’t involve breaking anything else. “Have we gotten anywhere on that other thing I wanted you to look into?”
He nodded. “I’ve made a list of some of the most likely places the guy you’re looking for could disappear. Most of them are trailer parks scattered here and there across town and in the surrounding areas. They’re not exactly well known for doing detailed credit and background checks.”
I hadn’t told him about Josie. All Jason knew was that the job Creed had me on involved someone getting away. He didn’t need to know either. Not yet.
If he learned I was sniffing around a woman, he would never shut up about it.
“Will you send that list to—”
“Already in your email.” He laughed. “Maybe if your laptop hadn’t been used to punch a hole in the coffee table, you would’ve seen it already.”
Grumbling, I stood again and stomped over the mess. I cringed while random shit broke beneath my feet. The cleaning bill for this mess was going to be outrageous and I had no one to blame but myself.
I gripped the edges of the laptop with two hands and yanked it from its place of impalement before placing it on the desk. Flipping open the lid. Marveling at the fact that the screen lit up and worked despite the spider web of cracks going across the surface.
Talk about craftsmanship.
Accessing my email, I quickly browsed through everything Jason had compiled. A few places, I immediately ruled out. They were too trashy.
Josie was tough as nails and unafraid to show it, but she was smart too. Some of these locations would be nothing but trouble for a woman staying by herself. Trouble she wouldn’t want to bother with if she was intent on keeping a low profile.
Unless she’s shacking up with that piss-ant, Micah, an angry thought supplied.
My blood heated and I had to close my eyes, taking a deep breath that threatened to tear my suit jacket. There was something between the two of them. That she was willing to attack me to keep him from being strangled said a lot.
Then again, when push came to shove and I had taken her to the floor, he ran away just like the rest of the fucking cowards. I would place good money on her never forgiving him for that one. Besides, I was on the scene now. Whatever was between them was officially over.
Where could you be, pussycat?
My eyes swept over a particular plot of land just outside Deacon, a neighboring town even smaller than Oakdale. The trailer park that caught my attention was surrounded by trees and close to the lumber mill they were using as a rallying point.
This could be it.
In the next instant, my phone—safe from my wrath by virtue of being in my pocket—buzzed against my leg.
I saved the location in the back of my kind and grabbed my phone. Slid the screen open. Read and reread the message waiting on me while my blood pressure climbed to dangerous levels.
Unknown number: Seems like you missed a spot. Another fight is scheduled for two nights from now. Same place.
Me: Which one of you is this?
No dots bounced at the bottom of the screen. My glare sharpened and I squeezed the device painfully tight.
Not that anything showed up.
I lifted my phone over my head.
“Oh, no you don't.” Jason was suddenly there, peeling my hand open so he could take the phone and put it down. “If you were going for a record, I think you've beaten it. Time to stop smashing before you turn green.”
He was talking, and I was hearing him, but understanding was lost beneath the rising tide of rage and the thirst for violence.
Did they think I wasn't serious before?
Then again, that was probably my fault for going too easy on those outcast Vipers. I'd let myself get distracted by Josie’s presence.
Some part of me hadn't wanted her to see what I was truly capable of.
But I had a feeling she was going to be there.
This time?
I wasn't leaving without bringing her with me.
Even if that meant striding over corpses on my way out the door.
CHAPTER SIX
Josie
Why didn't waiting rooms come with better magazines?
Or better entertainment in general? Would it kill them to provide an actual book or two? Hell, at this point, I would’ve gladly settled for one of those triangle-shaped, puzzle games to pass the time.
I sat with my legs kicked up on the short coffee table, muddy boots in plain view. There was a wrinkled, musty copy of some interior decorating magazine spread in my lap. Going by the styles displayed, this thing was from the late eighties.
Although, it wasn't like I would have much use for it if it was current. The double-wide trailer I called home barely had enough room for me to wander through without turning sideways. Fancy lounge chairs and ostentatious chandeliers weren't in my immediate future.
There was a TV mounted in the upper corner of the lobby. Too small to make out the already grainy images. Turned up too loud, creating an annoying static-filled buzz
that grated on my nerves.
The older couple seated across from me shifted uncomfortably, eyeing my boots and leather jacket with obvious concern.
I’d ignored them the first four times, but holding my tongue any longer was impossible.
Using my fists was great and all. Still, I had no issue with wielding my words in the same capacity if the situation called for it.
I sat up and cocked my head to the side, letting my braid fall over my shoulder. “If there's something you want to say. Feel free.”
The man sniffed and turned away, facing the TV again. His wife—if the band on her hand and their gross, matching outfits meant anything—turned her nose up.
“No one ever taught you to sit like a lady?”
Her words punched me deep in the chest, a place I couldn’t defend. I covered my wince with a snarl. The surge of anger was familiar, welcome. It gave me something else to focus on other than the tile ceiling gone yellow in places from leaks that were never repaired.
The threadbare chair I was sitting in that grew more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
The stale, antiseptic smell hovering permanently in the air that never fully covered the clinging odor of urine and other bodily functions.
This nursing home was a fucking dump, and Mom deserved so much better. So, so much better. But this was the best I could do with the money I had.
It took every single dime in payments just to keep her here. And even then, I was late on those payments more often than not. Constantly begging for just a bit more time to pay.
Sometimes, it was almost ironic—the way time always worked against us. Especially since time was the main thing the two of us had been robbed of when disaster struck.
There hadn’t been time for me to finish high school or consider going to college.
There hadn’t been time for me to appreciate what I had before it started to slip away.
There damn sure hadn’t been time for us to sit around, chatting about how ladies should sit and act and carry themselves.
Even if we did, how would that help me now? Sitting prim and proper with my hands in my lap wouldn’t put food on the table. It wouldn’t keep a roof over my head, or hers. It wouldn’t allow me to take care of the one person I would always, always take care of.
Monster: A Seven Sinners Novel Page 5
