Monster: Made & Broken (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance)

by Nora Ash

  The video cut off shortly after, static filling the screen.

  I sat back on my sofa, numb. I don’t know what I’d imagined I would find, but it certainly wasn’t that. I’d expected something money-related, not… intimate family issues that stretched way beyond your standard petty feuds. I recalled my mum not speaking to an aunt when I was a kid, all because someone hadn’t given back a sugar bowl they’d borrowed. This was something else entirely.

  “Well, well, our little honey trap caught a nice, fat fly!”

  I squealed at the unexpected voice from behind me, adrenaline spurring me off the couch and onto my feet. I spun around, only to come face to face with Leo Brigs.

  I gaped, staring at the wide-set man as he looked over my shoulder at the screen. “What are you doing in my flat? Get out!”

  “I came to see if you were still alive, sugar tits. Didn’t entirely expect you to pull one over on that big brute, but look at you proving me wrong! Seems uncle was right when he said you’d be perfect for the job. I’d have picked one of our high-class hookers, myself, but Marcus is into chunky girls, huh? Did he give it to you good?”

  He leered at me, and my shock gave way to disgust.

  “I want you to leave,” I hissed, folding my arms across my chest and wishing I’d put a bra on underneath my t-shirt.

  “Sure. Just give me the pen drive. Though once we’ve had a look at it, I’ll be back for details on your night with the Steel freak. For research, of course. Maybe we can reenact parts, eh?”

  I looked from his outstretched hand to his filthy smirk, and something snapped in me. The thought of this creep watching the video of Marcus’ father betraying his family made my stomach clench. I didn’t know why the Brigs wanted it, but I knew they’d use it against him somehow. And as I looked at Leo, standing there so self-assured in my living room, as if he had every right to be there even though I hadn’t invited him in, I knew I couldn’t let that happen.

  Without further thought, I bent and pulled the pen drive out of its socket, snapping it clean in two.

  “What the fuck did you just do?” Leo’s smug voice morphed into a furious roar. “What the fuck, bitch!”

  I had time to feel maybe two seconds’ worth of triumph before Leo’s right hand closed painfully around my wrist as he yanked me forward, putting his face an inch from mine. The rage distorting his features made me swallow hard, a fresh rush of fear flushing away any hint of triumph.

  “You are going to regret that, you stupid little cunt.”

  * * *

  The housing block Leo took me to wasn’t the usual place I had my meetings with the Brigses.

  It was in one of the absolute worst parts of town, with most of the windows in the red brick, rundown buildings around the filthy street either broken or boarded up. A few junkies sat against the wall next to the door leading into the building, but they were so far gone they didn’t even look up when Leo dragged me across the asphalt by my arm, heedless that I was stepping in broken glass and dirt with my bare feet.

  Inside, complete darkness met us until Leo hit his hand against the wall, triggering a worn light switch. A dim, naked bulb spread a sickly orange light, revealing a narrow corridor and a flight of stairs. It reeked of vomit and feces, and smears of a questionable nature covered the walls.

  Leo continued down the hallway, never releasing his painful grip on my arm, and when we turned a corner and were faced with a flight of metal stairs leading to the basement level, he pulled me down them so fast I nearly tripped. Only his hold on me kept me upright.

  Another hallway marked with brown patches led past several closed doors with peeling paint. By the seventh, Leo stopped and turned the knob, opening it.

  I swallowed thickly at the sight inside—a single chair bolted to the floor with leather straps attached. And underneath it was a grate. A power hose hung on the far well, and by the door was a small desk with an old office chair. The scene was lit with a naked light bulb only slightly less orange than the ones lighting our path here.

  I hadn’t bothered pleading with Leo since he dragged me from my home. I knew enough about how they operated to know that no amount of begging would help me. It wasn’t something I’d thought about when I’d broken the pen drive—it had been a purely instinctual reaction caused by an overpowering urge not to let this man and his uncle hurt Marcus.

  Hopefully the money would help. I glanced at my purse that swung from Leo’s grip. He’d grabbed it when he searched it for a copy of the pen drive and found the cash instead. I just hoped Gerald would make an appearance before his nephew hurt me so bad I wouldn’t be able to walk away from it. While Gerald was cold and cunning and unlikely to grant any leniency for my actions, he was also a businessman. Money was the only thing I’d ever seen change his mind.

  Inside the room Leo pushed me into the chair and pointed at me with a finger as if it was a knife. “Don’t even think about running, bitch, or I’m cutting off your toes.”

  I didn’t reply, but found it wisest to do as he said. I’d seen what he was capable of.

  We waited in silence for what felt like an eternity before footsteps rang from the corridor behind the closed door. Moments later the handle turned, and Gerald stepped in flanked by two of his usual goons.

  The elderly man looked severely out of place in the dank basement, his woolen coat and fedora sticking out against the marred walls like a sore thumb.

  His cool eyes slid over me in the chair and then to his nephew. “What’s this then, Leo? Your text said Evelyn is working for the Steels?”

  “That’s a lie,” I said, glaring at Leo. “I’ve never met any of them until last night.”

  Gerald turned his attention back to me. “Oh? And did things not go according to plan, my dear?”

  “They did, but I…”

  “She watched what was on the drive and broke it so we wouldn’t see,” Leo seethed. “That fucking cunt! Months! It took us months to track that lead!”

  Gerald’s eyebrows inched up half an inch. “You broke it? Now, why would you do something that silly, Evelyn? What could possibly have been on that video that would make you take such a silly, silly risk?”

  I bit my lip, my brain working overtime to try to come up with an answer that would help me out of this situation. It came up blank.

  “I… there was nothing on it, really. Just… it was a sex tape. Of Marcus. I didn’t… I didn’t want you to see it. He’s a nice guy, it would be humiliating.”

  Gerald narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at me. “You’re making the mistake of lying to me, girl. I wouldn’t advice you repeat that. Now, I’m going to ask you nicely one last time—what’s on that video?”

  “Please, I can pay you. I know I messed up, but I… I have ten grand in my purse,” I nodded toward my bag Leo had tossed on the desk. “Take it.”

  “Probably money Steel paid to make her fuck us over,” Leo growled from the desk.

  “It’s not. It was in the safety box with the pen drive. I stole it.”

  Gerald sighed sadly, but his eyes remained cool. “What was on that video is much, much more valuable than ten thousand dollars. It’s a pity—you had such a sweet face. I don’t know of anyone else who could have seduced Marcus Steel. But… all good things must come to an end. Leo—make sure she tells you everything that was on that video. And when you’re done, make sure no one will find her body.”

  * * * *

  Chapter 8

  Evelyn

  I told Leo what was on the video.

  And then I told him everything else he asked, in between sobbing and begging for the pain to stop. And while I did, I hated myself for having been so stupid to throw my own life away because I wanted to protect a man I’d known less than twenty-four-hours.

  “Please, stop! I’m sorry!”

  “You’re sorry? Guess you should have thought about that before you switched sides. How did he make you do it? Was it money, or did he just stuff your snatch that well?” Leo pulle
d back the hand he’d been punching repeatedly into my stomach, looking over his knuckles as if to see if he’d caused himself any damage.

  “He didn’t do anything,” I gasped between dry heaves. “I f-felt guilty. He was so kind to me, a-and I b-betrayed him.”

  Leo snorted. “Kind? Marcus Steel? Did he go down on you or somethin’?”

  “Yes.” I was beyond trying to make the savage brute in front of me understand complex emotions I hardly grasped myself, and if confessing to the physical details of what had happened between Marcus and I would stop the torture, then I was willing to surrender any scraps of pride I had left.

  Leo’s eyes gleamed as he gave me a lecherous smirk. “Yeah? He lick you real good? Did you return the favor?”

  “No. H-he didn’t want me to.”

  “That’s a real shame. I reckon ol’ Marcus would have benefited from a good blowjob. Get some of the crazy sucked right out of his dick.” He grabbed me by the jaw and forced my head back, smiling down at me. “Let’s see if you can show me just how good you would have sucked his cock, hmm?”

  Despite everything he’d put me through so far, I paled when I realized what he wanted and my stomach lurched. “No!”

  The sting of his hand against my cheek shut me up, tears prickling my eyes. In front of me Leo fumbled with his pants, undoing his zipper and pulling out his semi-erect cock.

  Panic tore at my insides as I struggled against the ropes he’d tied me to the chair with. No. No, no, no!

  Leo fisted his cock and pointed at me with his free hand. “Now, you be a good little girl and suck, and the rest of our time together is going to be a lot less painful for you. But if you bite, I’m pulling out every last one of your teeth, you got it?”

  I didn’t reply, couldn’t, as panicked sobs tore up through my throat. I struggled uselessly in my bindings, wishing desperately for a miracle—anything to save me from getting raped. I don’t know why the thought of Leo forcing me to pleasure him was even worse than the torture, but it was, and when he grabbed my jaw again and forced my mouth open, I wished for death.

  A loud boom, followed by the unmistakable sound of splintering wood, echoed through the basement. Leo pulled back with a startled curse and spun around. I gaped up at the hulking figure who stood on top of the broken remains of the door.

  Marcus.

  An unmistakably pissed off Marcus, eyes as black as tar and pure hatred vibrating off every fiber of his being.

  I didn’t have time to wonder how the hell he was here before he stalked over to Leo and grabbed him around the neck with one large hand, his knuckles bulging as he squeezed.

  Leo gargled and swung at his attacker, but the blows seemed to have zero effect on Marcus. Growling like an animal, he lifted the other man up by his throat and, when Leo’s hand impacted with his head, Marcus grabbed it and pulled. The sickening sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing made me scream loud and shrilly, but neither of the two men paid me any mind.

  Leo gargled brokenly in Marcus’ grip, his eyes bulging as his face turned blue, but it was the pulsing blood from where his hand should have been that made me vomit violently onto the floor.

  With a snarl Marcus threw him on the floor like a rag, and then he pounced.

  He was vicious with his kill, like a beast descending on its prey. Blood splattered across the room as he ripped and shredded, his muscles bulging with the effort. At one point he tore so savagely that the backward jerk sent his arm into my chair, breaking it underneath me.

  I fell to the floor with a cry, but Marcus was too consumed with the gore to even notice.

  The only mercy was that as the chair broke, my right wrist and left ankle slipped free of their bindings. I scrambled on the floor to get away from the butchering happening by my side and managed to crawl to the wall, where I clawed at the ropes still shackling my left wrist and right ankle until finally, I was free.

  Carefully, I got to my feet using the wall for support, gasping from the pain in my body and feet.

  “Marcus.” I don’t know why I called out to the man still beating at the bloody, mauled corpse that had once been Leo Brigs. Perhaps because, despite the horror in front of me, and despite my terror at seeing someone killed so ruthlessly, I knew he had saved my life. Or perhaps some stupid part of my heart still clung on to the emotions he had awoken in me last night.

  The large man froze, his muscles trembling as a shudder rolled through his powerful body. Slowly, he turned his head to look at me over his shoulder, as if some part of him recognized my voice or the sound of his name.

  I gasped, unable to stop myself from cringing back against the wall.

  The darkness in his eyes was much the same as when he’d snapped while we had sex—all consuming, blotting out every trace of the man I knew lived behind it. But this time, there was a difference. This time, it was not lust or need flaming behind his gaze—it was a fury so deep it extinguished everything he was, leaving nothing but a raging monster in its wake.

  He looked at me for three long seconds, neither of us moving. Then, with a low growl, he turned back to the corpse on the floor and dug his fingers into the bloody flesh.

  My breath exploded out in a shaky gasp. Whatever he was right now, he wasn’t the Marcus I’d met. He wasn’t the same man who had cried in my arms and made love to me like I was the only woman in the world.

  Despite my trembling, I managed to make my feet move. As quietly as I could, I crept over to the desk and snatched my purse. And then I ran.

  * * *

  I didn’t want to go back to my flat, but I knew I had to. I needed to change clothes to something without blood smears, and I needed socks and shoes as well as my passport. I didn’t stop to pack any clothes, nor to take care of my badly cut and bleeding feet. I knew I had no time.

  I needed to be out of the city before nightfall, or I was dead. It didn’t really matter if Gerald Brigs or Marcus found me first; there was no way I would survive another encounter with either of them, so I did the one thing I could—I prepared to flee the country.

  But there was one stop I had to make before I left England for good: the nursing home where my mother lived. I had to tell my mum goodbye. Even if she wouldn’t remember, I had to see her one last time.

  My heart gave an achy spasm as I stuffed my passport into my purse with the cash I’d stolen from Marcus, and I wiped the beginnings of my tears away and closed the door to my flat behind me. There wasn’t time to grieve yet—there wasn’t even time to process all the horrible things that had happened since Leo broke into my home. Right now, I had to focus on survival, or I wouldn’t see another sunrise.

  I hailed a cab from the street and told him the address of my mother’s nursing home as I climbed in the back. The driver sent me a mildly concerned look through his rear-view mirror, probably because of the big bruise blooming across my eye where Leo struck me. I looked out the window and pretended like I didn’t see him, and after a second or two he set the cab in motion and pulled into the busy London traffic.

  The nursing home where my mother lived was as quiet as always when I entered through the sliding doors.

  “Evelyn, you’re here early this week,” Susie, the receptionist, said in greeting. Her smile faded when she caught a look at my face. “Is everything all right?”

  I touched a hand lightly to my eye, wondering if I should have taken the time to try and cover it up. “Yeah, just… an accident. How’s my mum?”

  The woman’s gaze lingered on my face for a moment longer before she seemed to dismiss it. “The nurses said she’s having a difficult day. But I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”

  I nodded and gave her a polite smile before I headed down the hallway to my mum’s room. I had hoped she was having a good day today, so maybe she would be able to remember my visit during her lucid moments, but there was no time to wait. I just had to hope that somehow she would know that I hadn’t abandoned her.

  My mother sat in the chair by the window, he
r hair fanned out around her shoulders like a white sheet as she watched the birds in the tree outside. I had paid extra to make sure she got a room with a bit of a view—she’d always been so fond of her garden. Some of my happiest memories involved our many long hours tending to her veggie patch.

  “Hi, Mum,” I called as I closed the door behind me.

  She turned from the window at the sound of my voice, her brows pulling into a frown. “What are you doing in my house? Are you an intruder?”

  I ignored the stab of pain in my heart that always happened on the days she couldn’t remember who I was.

  “No, Mum, it’s me—Evelyn. Your daughter.” I walked over and sat on the chair opposite her, knowing from experience the coffee table between us was enough distance that I wouldn’t scare her. “I’ve come to visit.”

  “I don’t have a daughter,” she said, staring at me as if I was trying to determine if I was an impostor. Then her expression softened a bit. “But… you do look like my sister, Agatha. She has such beautiful red hair, just like you. I… it’s so hard to remember these days. Maybe we should call her?”

  I reached out and took her hand in mine. It was as soft and warm as I remembered all through my childhood, even though it was so frail in my light grip now. “Yeah, maybe we can do that in a bit. I really just wanted to see you and chat for a while. I miss you.”

  “Oh. Okay.” A glimmer of what she’d been seemed to light up behind her pale green gaze, and she gave my hand on top of hers a pat. “Let’s chat a bit, dear.”

  I talked to her about nothing at all, just basking in her presence and kind smile and the warmth of her hand in mine. We looked at the birds outside the window and laughed at two squirrels chasing each other up the tree trunk until the sky began to darken and I noticed Mum’s focus started to slip.

  With a start I realized I’d been there for a few hours, and it was well past time I left if I wanted a chance to get out of London without risking another run-in with the city’s violent underworld.