Page 37 of Monster
“I hope so.” The words died on my lips as the front door slammed open. I held my breath because I knew without looking that it was her. I could hear her heels on the floor bringing her closer with every step.
Gypsy grinned at me. “She will.” Schooling her face into a wide smile, Gypsy turned to the door just as Angela approached and her smile faded.
Angela looked like hell. Her eyes were red rimmed like she had been crying. Her makeup was flawless as it always was but no amount of skill could hide it.
“What’s happened?”
Looking around wildly, Angela seemed to shrink down into herself. The smile she flashed in my direction was strained. “It’s nothing.”
Moving towards her, I curled my arm around her shoulders, tucking her into my side. “Well I have something I want to show you. Something that will hopefully put a smile on your face.” Leading her towards the table in the corner, I kept glancing at her face.
Angela was chewing on her bottom lip.
“Monster we need to talk.” Her steps faltered. “Can we go somewhere private?” She dragged me to a stop just feet from the table where the gigantic white box with its matching bow sat. Her face twisted as she stared at it.
I frowned.
“Sure we can, but open this first.” With a grin over her shoulder to Fang and Gypsy who were watching us non-to-subtly, I made my way around the table and pushed the gigantic box towards the very edge. But she still didn't look at it. She didn't even look at me. Her eyes were downcast.
“Angela.” I hated the whiny sound in my voice. I had heard my club brothers use similar tones when talking to their old ladies but I had never in a million years thought I would hear it coming from my lips. “I promise you it will make you smile.”
Still she didn't make a move. My frown deepened. What the hell was wrong with her? She had been happy that morning before she had slipped out of bed and disappeared, only telling me she had some errands to run. What the hell could have happened in the space of a few hours to make her look so dejected?
Slowly, as if she didn't want to touch the box at all, her fingers slid over it. I flashed a smile over her shoulder again. Excitement bubbled up in my chest. This was it, the moment she saw what I had got for her and realised how much she meant to me.
Our whole relationship might have started off as a business deal but it was more than that at that moment. She meant more to me than I had ever thought possible. “Open it, it won’t bite.” I urged.
She lifted the lid an inch and then another. Angela’s eyes went impossibly round as she gazed down at the dress that was nestled between the flimsy sheets of white tissue paper, and then they filled with tears.
This was her dress. Her dream dress. So why was she crying? Where were the smiles and the laughter and her throwing herself into my arms so I could carry her back to my room and let her thank me properly? Almost timidly she reached in, rubbing the lace reverently between her fingers like someone in a trance.
And still she didn't look at me.
“Isn't it the right one?” I was sure it was. Gypsy had sent me a picture along with the designer's name, and with Cyber's help I had tracked it down in her size. It was ex-sample but it was still the same dress. It should have made her happy. She was going to have her dream wedding dress after all, so why did she look so sad? “If it's not the right one, I can...”
Finally, she lifted her eyes to me. The box lid fell back into place.
“It's the right one,” she muttered. It happened in slow motion - the hardness settled back on to her face. The lofty indifference. She pushed the box back across the table. “But I can't take it.”
Behind me, I heard Gypsy gasp. I wanted to gasp as well. “What do you…?”
She didn't let me finish. “I can’t marry you, Monster. I've decided to marry the man my father has chosen for me and…”
I barely heard her. The noise in my head, which usually I could keep quiet, screamed into life. There was nothing but the sound of my anger as it boiled my blood. On the outside I looked calm. I always looked calm outwardly, but inside I was screaming like a wounded animal.
“I’m sorry, Monster, but it's for the best and we both know this was only a deal, a chance for you to make a quick buck. I don't need your help anymore. My dad is going to...”
My hand shot out, not to strike her but to grip the edge of the table. For a second I thought I was going to fall down. I swayed where I stood, my head spinning.
Was that all I was to her? A business deal? Did I truly mean so little that she could throw me aside the moment a better offer came along? I was shocked when I shouldn't have been. I had known what Angela was like. I had always known. She was my angel, but she was a fallen one. I had been a fool to think she was anything but the manipulative, bitchy woman I had been told she was.
“Don't apologise to me.” The words ripped from my lips in a sort of hoarse croak. The anger was there, bubbling red hot just under the surface, but I had better control over it now.
Angela made a whimpering sound in the back of her throat and fresh tears fell from her eyes. I hardened my heart against them. I had been a fool to let myself feel anything. Especially for a woman like her. She wasn’t my soulmate because such things didn't exist. She was nothing but a wet pussy who had used me for what she could get from me. Now I was no longer of any use to her, she had thrown me aside.
I had let my guard down with her and it wouldn't happen again.
Turning on my heel, I walked away.
