Page 3 of Monster
“Wasn't the club paying for your little holiday, Monster.” Fang’s voice was unusually calm, almost cheerful sounding, and it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. If I didn’t know better, I would have said he was happy. His lips kept trying to do this strange thing that I suspected was a smile.
Fang happy? That was a new one for me. But I had a feeling it had something to do with his old lady. Gypsy was a firecracker and she kept him on his toes, but I hadn't seen him actually smile for months. Not since her crazed stalker had managed to get her alone and almost killed her. The things Gypsy had gone through didn’t even bear thinking about, but she was a fighter. And she had Fang. I had no doubt that they would get through it together.
“You could have stayed longer. No one would have minded if you let loose for a few extra days.”
I blinked at him in shock and then shook my head. “I hate Vegas. I always feel the need to shower the minute I’m away from all the fucking seediness,” I admitted ruefully. I knew what people thought about me, what Fang thought about me. I should have felt at home in a place like Las Vegas, but honestly, I couldn't stand it.
The desperation was just too much for me to handle for long periods of time.
“But with The Family paying...” Fang's eyes searched for my face. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for but if his frown was anything to go by then he didn’t find it. “We thought from looking at Angela’s pictures, you might have wanted to stay a little while longer, enjoyed yourself and…”
I stopped him before he could say anything else. “I’ve got what Gio wanted, don’t worry about that.” The smile that spread across my face was predatory and gloating. I couldn't help it. “I didn’t need any more time.” Smugly, I patted the name patch on my cut and the small metal flash drive hidden in my pocket underneath.
I was kind of offended that he thought it would take me more than a night with her to get her screaming my name. Not that I would ever say that out loud. Not to him. I liked my place in the club. And I liked my face looking the way it did.
“I didn’t think you hadn’t, Monster. Do you want me to...pass over the merchandise?”
I frowned at him. Did I want him to see what was on that drive? No. But in the same breath, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t watch it. Not with Gypsy at home, and even if he did, it wouldn’t be the first time Fang had seen me fuck someone.
“Sure.” Slipping it from my breast pocket, I slid it across the table, my hand half-covering it. I didn’t know why I was hesitating, but I was.
“I’m not going to watch it, Monster. If you say the job’s done, then I believe you.” He sounded bored. “I have no wish to see your fucking hairy ass, and you aren’t Gypsy’s type.”
I opened my mouth to point out that my ass wasn’t hairy and closed it again. A grin grew across my face. “You and Gypsy are in a good place then?”
In answer, Fang chuckled. “Yeah things are good, she’s good, you know? We’re taking things slowly. I’m letting her lead.” He shook his head as if realising he had said too much. “So, yeah, things are good. You’ll have to come over with everyone on Sunday. She wants to host a family barbeque.”
A family barbeque? I frowned. I wasn’t one of the members of the club with a family of my own, not like Havoc and Cyber and now Fang. I didn’t have an old lady and kids popping out everywhere.
Catching my look, Fang cleared his throat. “She classes you as family, Monster, so make sure your ass is there.” The jovial Fang was gone. It wasn’t a request; it was an order.
“Sure thing, Prez.” Slowly I sat back, finally letting go of the flash drive. “Anything else you want me for?”
Fang threw me a knowing look. “You’re good, go and enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it.”
He was talking about women and booze. The booze sounded good, but the women? I felt like for a day at least I would pass on the women. The memory of Angela’s body spread out under mine was still too clear.
* * *
After the endlessnoise of Vegas, my room seemed unnaturally quiet. With the door shut, I couldn't even hear anyone else still drinking in the clubhouse. And God I had missed it. The quiet.
I needed it. It helped me keep my thoughts in check. Without it, the monster that was inside of me came out to play far too often and people got hurt. Sometimes even people I cared about.
Bad things happened when I wasn’t able to be alone, to be quiet. They always had. Even as a kid, I had been prone to fits of rage. Violent outbursts that scared the neighbour kids and had me bouncing from sofa to sofa by the time I was fourteen. Not many of my so-called friends stayed around for long.
Not until I met Cyber, and it was him who introduced me to the Savage Sons. In the club I found a family. But even that was hit and miss when I was a prospect. I was too unpredictable, a man that the previous president never fully trusted. If Cyber and Hansel hadn’t vouched for me, I wouldn’t have made it in at all. Riding with the Sons gave me a purpose, and more importantly an outlet. Without them, I would have been locked up or worse.
Truth was, I needed them more than they would ever need me. They had saved me, which was one of the reasons I never turned down a job they gave me. Not ever. It didn’t matter how awful it was, I didn't say no. I owed them my undying loyalty.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind wander.
I had killed, maimed and tortured people for my club, but none of that played on me as much as what I had done to Angela. I had left her smiling, but I still felt like the biggest asshole in the entire world. The men I hurt were bad people. Angela wasn’t bad. She was just a way to get her father off The Family’s back. A means to an end. She didn’t deserve the shit storm that was about to engulf her life.
Her face flashed behind my closed eyes. The pouty lips, bare from any lipstick where I had kissed it off, her dark eyes hooded as she stared up at me from beneath her thick lashes.
She was an angel - a dark, sexy as sin angel, and I was about to ruin her life.
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