Page 17 of Monster
She had balls of steel.
“Maybe. But isn't that what we both want?” Gio laughed. “You are a very astute young woman, Angela.” He nodded towards her. “Monster, you are a very lucky man to bag yourself such a beautiful and intelligent fiancée. I look forward to the invite to your wedding.”
I blinked stupidly, not understanding what was happening. Had I somehow just got engaged?
13
ANGELA
“Well he wasa scary son of a bitch wasn't he?” Totally at ease, I flopped down onto Monster’s bed. I didn't get intimidated easily, but the coldness of Gio’s stare had almost done it. Opening my eyes, I watched as Monster started pacing up and down the length of the window. He was scowling. The look on his face was murderous.
“What’s wrong?”
He froze before spinning on his heel. He glared at me. “What do you mean what’s wrong? Everything is wrong. I can’t marry you, Angela and… What are you doing now?” He watched me as I slipped off the bed and moved towards him. I stopped just in front of him, my hands slipping up his chest to rest on his shoulders.
“Why not?”
“Because …” He shrugged. “This is a fucking mess, Angela. We barely know each other and what we do know I’m not sure we particularly like.”
Sliding my arms around his neck, I reached up on tiptoes and pressed my lip to his. It might have been our first kiss; I couldn't remember if we had kissed each other in Vegas or just got naked and straight down to it. I let my tongue slide across his bottom lip.
“I like you just fine, Monster,” I whispered against his lips. “And I think you like me as well.”
“That isn’t a good enough reason to get married, Angela. We don’t know each other.”
I rolled my eyes, uncertain why he was acting like that. It was a good deal for the both of us. And a year sharing his bed wasn’t going to be that much of a hardship. Not if the past was anything to go by. “We can get to know each other Monster.”
“What about love?” A look of shock swept across his face and I stifled a giggle. He hadn’t meant to say that.
“What about it?” Over and over again, I brushed my mouth over his. His lips remained hard and motionless under mine. Unyielding. “Are you seriously that old fashioned, Monster?”
“No.” He shook his head, snapping out of his daze. “No, I don't believe in love. But if we are going to do this and it’s a big IF, then you have to realise I’m not going to fall in love with you.”
Throwing back my head, I laughed. “I don’t expect you to. It’s nothing but a business deal, Monster, a business deal with some really good sex thrown in and at the end, a financial reward.”
Finally, his lips opened under mine. His tongue swept into my mouth and claimed ownership. I melted against him. When he pulled away, I was breathless. And so was he, although he tried to hide it.
“So, is that a yes then?” I wanted, no, I needed to get the ball rolling on the plan. And to do that I needed to know that he was all in. I needed him to say yes.
He owed me that much. If he hadn’t played his little porn trick I would have had longer to sort this whole marriage thing out. By leaking those videos to the press, he had forced my hand.
“It’s a maybe,” he muttered, his hands on my hips tightening harshly. He pulled me snug into his front so my body was pressed to his. For a man who confessed to not liking me much, he sure had a hard time keeping his hands off me. And his lust was something I could definitely work with.
“Thank you, Monster.”
His eyes darkened. “I haven’t said yes yet, Angel, I haven't agreed. There’s a few things we need to hash out before I do.”
Arching my eyebrow, I stared at him. He had been calling me Angel and not Angela all morning. He seemed to be doing it without thinking and that was fine by me. “Like?”
“Like an actual contract and…if I could actually stand to spend time with you daily, where we would live, that kind of thing.”
I grinned, plastering my body to his. He was talking like it was already a done deal. I preened silently. God, I was good at this. I had assumed Monster would put up more of a fight, but at the end of the day, he was the same as any other man.
Weak.
“So, what do you want to do now?”
I searched his face with my eyes, all the while my hands tangled into the hair on the back of his head. I could already feel what he wanted to do. It was pressing thick and hard against my hip. And if I was honest with myself, I wasn’t against getting down and dirty with him. Good sex always made a man more susceptible to my wishes. And I needed Monster eating out of the palm of my hand.
