The flannel stretched tight across his chest and back was soft and incredibly warm. Considering every time I was close to him was comparable to standing at the mouth of a volcano, I felt safe in the assumption that he would outlast me if it came to a match of who can survive the elements the longest.
The second reason that entire situation was going to remain hypothetical was that I couldn’t just leave him in here now that he knew where I lived. How he came by that information was a can of worms I was going to have to open another time. Abandoning the trailer meant abandoning the only things I never carried with me.
My magnets.
Monster paced back and forth up the hall, huge shoulders blocking most of the view. Good thing I didn’t need to see my magnets to remind myself. I knew what each of them looked like by heart.
They were a reminder of how far I had come to get to where I was now. To get both of us here.
Mom and I could start over somewhere else. I could probably even replace the magnets. But they wouldn’t be the ones I had picked with the little bit of change I had left in my pocket after making sure there was a roof over our heads.
A total eclipse of the rest of the room, combined with the telltale scent of lavender drifting around me, had me lifting my gaze to find danger staring down at me.
And he was; dangerous, that is.
But so was I.
He would do well to remember that when he was getting all snarly and pissed-off.
I lifted a brow, waiting for him to fill me in on what had his panties in a bunch.
“We’re getting lunch,” he said gruffly, crossing towards the front door in one long stride and holding it open. “Let’s go.”
The need to be a pain in the ass was strong, just not stronger than the tightness in my belly. Being poor came with lots of adjustments, especially when it came to pride. That was something I had a lot of, but it wasn’t going to get in the way of me and having a free meal.
Like I said, adjustments.
The cramp of your stomach when you were hungry was impossible to overlook. It was always there—a sharp nail digging in, prodding at the reminder of how badly the body needed sustenance to continue to function.
Monster narrowed his eyes when I threw my duffel bag over my shoulder and walked out into the glare of the sun. I was sure he expected more of a fight. Any other time, I would be game to give him one, but not about this.
“Where to?” I asked, flat-out ignoring how weird the last week of my life had turned out to be.
Case in point, I was going to lunch with a stranger who broke bones without blinking and seemed to think he was entitled to my entire body. He was also the best kisser I’d ever met.
Idly, my fingers drifted over my lips. They were still swollen and warm. I dropped my hand quickly when he stomped by, heart hammering at the thought of being caught. He would be even more insufferable than he already was if he knew the effect he had on me.
Thankfully, his mood served as a great distraction.
Humming a song that had been playing in the nursing home on repeat last night, I trailed in behind him. Watched the muscles in his back roll and flex with every step. I took special note of my neighbors when they stuck their heads to the windows.
Monster’s tattoo was completely covered up. There was nothing to mark him as one of the Sinners. That didn’t stop people from taking one look at his angry stance and the way he carried himself before they let their blinds fall closed.
“For fuck’s sake.” Monster turned, bearing down on me again.
I stayed put, and then he was all up in my space, stealing the oxygen my lungs needed. His presence alone struck a chord somewhere in my body that sent a pleasant hum between my legs.
He scowled. “If you walk any fucking slower, I’m throwing you over my shoulder.”
My hands met inside the front pocket of my hoodie while I cocked my hip. “You can try, big man. I’ll let my knee meet the side of your head this time.”
His hands flexed and loosened, a muscle in his jaw pulsing. I thought he would try to pick me up and haul me away for a moment. Then, with a visible effort, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The chaotic energy he was throwing off eased enough that I stopped waiting for the ground around his feet to shatter. A minute passed, then two. Time ticked on long enough that I started to wonder if he was asleep on his feet.
Testing my theory, I reached out and poked him. His eyes flashed open and he caught my hand, pulling me against him so that I crashed into his chest.
Monster stared down at me, eyes blazing, and for the first time, I felt a shiver of genuine fear. There was heat in his stare, same as there always seemed to be when he was looking at me. But there was something else as well.
Something older. Meaner. Crueler.
A hint of the man that had killed without a single ounce of mercy or concern.
Then he blinked, and the beast was gone.
His hand went to the small of my back. He kept it there as we walked side by side around a few corners until we got to a shiny, black SUV parked between two buildings. I was surprised to see the tires were still in place. That was the way things usually went on this side of town.
Then I thought about my neighbors hiding inside their houses to escape his notice. Any lookout worth their weight would’ve told their people to steer clear of the flannel-wearing giant and his ride.
Monster opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
“What do you know, chivalry isn’t dead.” I batted my lashes. “Except I don’t think I heard a please at the end of that. Which is probably the least you could do after...you know, breaking into my home and everything.”
Monster sighed and I tucked my grin away for later.
“Please,” he muttered, finally taking his hand away from my lower back to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Just get in the fucking truck.”
“Really? Isn’t this more like an SUV than—” His loud growl had me laughing. I patted him on the chest, only somewhat using it as an excuse to feel those muscles shift, and climbed inside.
Bad idea.
When he shut the door, I found myself surrounded by him. Male and leather and lavender mixing together. I shifted on the seat, thighs clenching as I tried to stave off the growing ache.
Think food thoughts, I told myself while the other door opened and Monster climbed inside. He started the engine and it came alive with a deep purr.
I peeked at him from the corner of my eye and immediately wished that I hadn’t. One of his huge arms was over the back of my seat and he was turned so that the strong profile of his face was in clear view.
I had an unobstructed view of his features in all their glory. The square cut to his jaw, covered in a shadow of dark-blonde stubble. The long fingers lazily caressing the steering wheel while he guided us backward out of the space.
Why was he so handsome?
How?
Did aliens bring him here?
Had an artist with more skill in their hands than I would ever have in my entire body painted the epitome of masculine glory and gone full Dr. Frankenstein to bring it to life?
Both of those made more sense than a man like him simply existing—free to roam the world and drop panties everywhere he went.
There was a thought that shouldn’t have made my nails bite into my palms, but it did. Whatever his current obsession was with me, it wouldn’t do to let myself get confused about it lasting for any significant amount of time.
For all I knew, he was the biggest manwhore around and I just happened to be his latest fascination.
That doesn’t explain why he’s so concerned with feeding you, an unhelpful voice supplied. I cut it out at the root, threw it in the trash, and set the whole thing on fire.
Once we made it onto the main roads and left the shadier side of town, the panic I should have felt when he came strolling from my bedroom found me at last. Cold, spindly fingers wrapped around my nerves and gave them a shake l
ike a snow globe.
In this case, my heart was the thing without an anchor.
It got tossed around so violently it was impossible to tell which way was up and which way was down.
Without the intensity of his gaze scattering my thoughts, I could focus on just how foolish I was being. He offered me something I wanted, and I jumped into his ride, no questions asked.
It was like I'd forgotten everything I knew about stranger danger.
Shooting what I hoped was a discreet glance to the locked door, I asked him, “Is this the part where you hand-deliver me to Creed?”
His silence made the passing scenery that much more appealing. Jumping from a moving vehicle wasn't ideal, and I was speaking from experience. Still, I would rather cradle a broken bone and pick pavement out of my flesh with tweezers than be anywhere near the Sinner's ruthless President.
The stories and rumors surrounding his bloody rise to fame were legendary. Some of them were so outrageous they had to be embellished. But this cat wasn't interested in sticking her neck out for curiosity’s sake.
Monster tightened his grip on the wheel, knuckles paling. “Why would I hand you over when I already told you that you're mine?”
Arrogant ass. “Does your boss know that?”
He glanced at me then, raising a patronizing brow. “It’s funny that you think you even register on his radar, pussycat. We’re the things that go bump in the night. You’re decidedly lacking when it comes to scare factor.”
“Why is that?” I crossed my arms over my chest, blood warming. Someone please save me from misogynistic pricks. “Because I have tits? Trust me, that hasn’t stopped me from sending grown men home with broken bones and deflated egos.”
The corner of his lip quirked, and his amusement annoyed me more.
“Don’t pull that bullshit with me.” He shook his head. “You know one of our core members is a chick, right? The people who disrespect her end up with all-new orifices decorating their body.”
That mental image had me shrinking back in my seat and turning the vents so that they blew warm air on me, warding off the sudden chill. Yeah, I knew exactly who he was talking about.
The Silent Sinner. Sylvia. A woman who owned more blades than most pawn shops combined and knew how to use them. I’d been glad to hear she was out of town when I first got here.
There at the beginning, a few hangers-on from the Cartel had tried to make a name for themselves. We were all lucky she had been otherwise occupied in another city. Her reputation was every bit as bad as Creed’s when it came to killing first and thinking about innocents or survivors second.
Hell, she was the reason those ex-Vipers had fled.
Except I couldn’t leave this alone for some reason. Even though I knew I probably should.
Facing out the window, I said, “What if Creed decides I am his business after all? What then?”
“I’m telling you; he won’t care.”
“But what if he does?” I pressed. “What if he orders you?”
“He won’t,” Monster growled, and the stress carried along with those two words told me he was over this conversation.
Just as well, because I was too.
He finally pulled into a diner and hopped out before striding around to my side while I played that conversation back in my head on a continuous loop.
I kept playing it when his huge arms banded around my middle and pulled me from the truck.
When my body forgot how to breathe simply from being in such close proximity to him.
When my breasts pressed against his chest and the flames between us surged and went to war.
I thought about everything he had just said, along with everything he hadn’t.
Whatever was happening here, his loyalty was to the Sinners.
He swaggered towards the front door, tossing a careless glance over his shoulder while he waited on me to follow. I bit down on the meat of my tongue until the tang of copper filled my mouth. Pain was much harder to forget.
And I used that pain to brand into my mind the fact that—if it ever came down to it—he would pick them over me.
I would do the same thing if the choice was him or Mom, so I wasn’t certain why that knowledge bothered me so much. But I wasn’t willing to give those thoughts fertile soil to grow.
With a quiet sigh, I trailed inside after him. If there was an uncomfortable pinch in my stomach when we sat down and faced each other, I told myself it was because I hadn’t eaten in way too long.
Yep. That has to be why.
CHAPTER TEN
Josie
No wonder Monster is as big as a house, was my first thought upon seeing the pizza placed in front of us a short while later.
Seriously, the thing was stupid big.
We were seated across from each other at a circular table towards the back of the diner, and almost the entire surface was covered by the piping hot food venting steam and deliciousness into the air.
It hadn’t escaped my attention that—in an otherwise busy establishment—this table with a perfect view of the door and nothing around it but a graffiti-tagged brick wall remained available. Also, there was the whole matter of us never getting any menus.
In fact, Monster hadn’t actually spoken to anyone since we walked in. I think he nodded to a couple of the waiters and waitresses and lifted his hand towards an older man behind the counter, but without actual words involved.
Which meant this pizza big enough to feed an entire football team was a regular thing for him.
How?
Why?
Who in the hell needed this much food?
There was even a small platter of breadsticks at the end of the table that looked lost in comparison. They were perched there like tiny oars on the side of a gigantic battleship.
“What are you staring at?”
As if the sight before me wasn’t jarring enough, when I looked up, Monster grabbed a linen napkin and spreading it over his lap like some kind of gentleman. When in reality, it was the most evidence yet for him being a total and complete psycho. Who neatly put a napkin on their lap in a pizza joint?
Wasn’t part of the fun supposed to be getting a little messy?
He caught me with my mouth wide open and raised a brow, repeating his question with barely restrained laughter in his voice.
“You didn’t ask for menus,” I said lamely, trying to get my brain back on track and functioning. Right now, the hamster wheel was all kinds of tuckered out and refusing to cooperate.
He was hot, brutal, polite, and could eat like a horse. The man was giving me serious whiplash and not in a bad way. Certainly not in the way I probably needed to keep my emotions centered.
Being around Monster made me feel like a pinball that kept getting stuck before being violently jolted in a different direction.
When he fucked me, would my eyes spin to announce a new high score?
Can I blame that on my concussion still?
I shook my head before the thought of him pinning me down sent the flush in my chest rising higher. “What if I wanted something else?”
Monster narrowed his eyes. “You don’t like ham and pineapple or something?”
“I mean...I do but—”
“Of course you do.” He rolled his eyes. “Everybody does. So, what’s the problem?”
“Everybody does? Are you kidding me? This is like, the debate of the century.”
Even I knew that, and I could only get online when people walked away from their computers in local libraries.
“I don’t see how,” he admitted, brows furrowing.
I was disappointed to find that the creases in his forehead were sexy. They gave him that whole broody and troubled look women went wild for, and I wasn’t exempt.
He said, “I order from this place almost every week, and no one in the office has ever complained.”
Where did I even begin to poke holes in his logic?
Oh. Never mind. I had it.
&nbs
p; Snickering, I grabbed a wet wipe from the dispenser and cleaned my hands. “Have you considered that they’re just too scared to say they want something different?”
“That’s ridiculous.” His instant response didn’t match the curious glint to his eyes. “They don’t know about my association with the Sinners. Before the other day, no one did.”
“And?” I went to grab a piece and Monster batted my hand away with a scoff.
I glared at him while he cut a slice and placed it on a plate for me. The only thing that stopped my glare was the sight of all that glorious cheese trailing from the area where he split them in two.
It was a good thing I wasn’t allergic to dairy. The moment I had my plate back in front of me—and yes, I was ignoring the way he wouldn’t let me fix my own plate because I could only deal with so much at one time—I inhaled the large slice.
So what the roof of my mouth burned when cheese got stuck to it?
That was a small price to pay for access to heaven’s gate in the form of the greatest thing I had ever tasted.
But Monster wasn’t done with the conversation I was no longer thinking about.
He grabbed a slice himself, finishing it in two precise bites that proved my theory about him being a regular, and part mythological giant. “It’s just pizza,” he said once he got done chewing. “If they didn’t like what I chose, why wouldn’t they just say so?”
“Oh…I don’t know.” I tapped my chin, pretending to think. “Probably because you look like you chew nails for breakfast and fight wolves for dinner. You might think you’re fooling the world with that fancy suit, but it’s about as useless as Big Blue wearing glasses when he’s in disguise. Doesn’t hold up to a second glance whatsoever.”
Monster tore into the pizza with gusto and I did my best to match him. While he was busy eating and contemplating, I could almost pretend he wasn’t there. I could close my eyes and picture a day where Mom was being taken care of full-time and I could go out and splurge on a meal like this without feeling like shit afterward.
And just like that—halfway through my third piece—my appetite shriveled and died. I pushed my plate away and sank back in my chair, glancing around. The curious looks we got upon our arrival had died down, so I could observe the rest of the guests laughing and joking and having a great time without a care in the world.
Monster: A Seven Sinners Novel Page 9
