Monster: Made & Broken (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance) (19 page)

I bent to kiss her, enjoying the way her breath caught as much as the sweet sensation of her mouth under mine. I could have loved her without ever knowing what it was like to have my feelings reciprocated. That she loved me, too… nothing could ever compare.

“
Mr. Steel?” a vaguely familiar voice called out. I broke from the kiss and narrowed my eyes over Evelyn’s head. I recognized the man as one of Blaine’s men and the tension in my body eased some. My family had kept the hospital under highest watch while I’d been recuperating.

“
Yes?”

“
If you’re ready, I’ve got a car waiting. Your father has requested you be taken directly to his house. Your brothers are there too, along with Blaine’s wife and child.”

I heaved a deep breath. As much as I didn’t want to bring Evelyn anywhere near my father, I knew it was inevitable. With Brigs openly having me shot down, we had to circle the wagons—which meant convening at one location, where everyone could more easily be protected. At least I knew that, if Blaine had brought Mira and Aidan there, he was damn sure it was safe.

I glanced down at Evelyn and saw a worried frown marring her pretty face. “I’ll make sure you’re safe, always.”

She looked up at me and managed a small smile. “I know. I trust you.”

No one had ever trusted me before. Not fully. I knew my brothers trusted me to have their backs and that I would never screw them over, but it was different with Evelyn. She trusted me to protect her, to keep her safe and happy. She wasn’t scared of me, like everyone else was. She’d seen the monster and still she trusted me. Loved me.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her safe.

* * *

Evelyn held her head high as we walked through my father’s mansion-like house, but I could tell from the strength she’d latched onto my arm with that she was nervous.

Not that I could blame her—even the building itself was imposing with its dark, wooden panels and high ceilings, but echoes of mostly male voices and running feet rang through the house from all corners. It was packed with our men, and she’d made it plenty clear that she wanted nothing more to do with the mafia if she got a say in the matter.

I led her through a couple of rooms past the entrance halls, toward the drawing room on the ground floor my father usually used for meetings, intent on getting Evelyn introduced as swiftly as possible.

He was seated behind the large desk, the twins and Blaine standing around it, and they were obviously in the middle of a discussion that broke off the moment we entered.

His steely eyes narrowed, even as one of the twins offered us both a welcoming smile.

“
You’re up! Glad you have decided to stop lazing about and lend a hand, brother,” the redhead said, winking at Evelyn. “Hello again, love.”

“
Dad, I want you to meet Evelyn Embry. My fiancée,” I said as we stopped in front of the desk, deciding to face the potential problem head on.

His cool eyes flickered across Evelyn. It made my heart swell with pride that she didn’t shrink under his gaze—I knew strong men who practically shriveled up under less scrutiny than what she was currently receiving.

“
Fiancée? And why have I heard nothing of this
fiancée
before now?” His gaze was back on me, but his tone made my three brothers suppress a cringe. It was obvious he wasn’t happy with them for not mentioning Evelyn, either.

“
It’s new. I was going to introduce her to you the day I got shot,” I lied smoothly, returning his gaze without blinking. Somehow, having Evelyn by my side made me feel stronger than I ever had when I faced the man who had ruled my life so brutally from the day I was born. “She stayed at the hospital with me—if you’d come to see me, you would have met then.”

My father scowled. “A king can’t leave his castle in the middle of a war. Even if his blood has fallen. I am, however, glad to see you are recovering well. And as for the girl… you are not married yet. She is not family.”

“
Where I go, she goes.”

He arched an eyebrow at me and continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “She can stay with Blaine’s wife—safe, but out of the way.”

It was a better deal than I had hoped for, so I nodded my agreement. Evelyn would be safe and sound, if a little bored, until we had Brigs beat, and then I could take her back home. Thankfully, my father seemed only mildly irritated at my timing and otherwise completely uninterested in my choice of bride. I should count myself lucky—not fight down a small jab of pain that he was so uninterested in my happiness.

He had murdered Jeremy and put Isaac in jail. That he had little interest in me apart from the power my strength could provide him wasn’t a surprise. But it still hurt.

“
Blaine, take them to your wife’s room. And after, you can show Marcus the little trump card we have in the basement.”

Trump card? I lifted a brow at my older brother, but Blaine just turned around, heading out of the drawing room with a nod at Evelyn.

We both followed him in silence, my mind racing over what—or who—he could possibly be keeping in the basement. There was a soundproof room down there, with concrete floors and walls, and more than one unlucky sod had spent some unwilling time in it over the years. Did we have a hostage?

I glanced down at Evelyn. As much of an advantage a high-ranking hostage would be against Brigs, I’d rather she never learned about it. I was pretty sure keeping people prisoner was the exact sort of thing she didn’t want any involvement with.

Blaine’s right-hand man, Rob, stood leaned outside a door on the second floor. He looked up from the process of cleaning his nails with his hunting knife and gave Blaine and I a nod when we walked down the hallway.

“
Rob, this is Evelyn. I need you to guard her as well as you do Mira, understood?” Blaine said, looking back at the ginger girl by my side. “Any harm comes to her, you’ll be dealing with my brother.”

Rob didn’t try to hide his grimace as his eyes flicked from Evelyn to me. “Got it.”

“
Evelyn, this is Rob—my right-hand man. He’s a solid bloke. Don’t hesitate to ask him for anything you need, yeah?” Blaine said.

She nodded, though I could tell from her arched brow that she likely had a few comments about this whole arrangement she was biting back.

I touched her cheek gently, capturing her attention. “I’ll be back soon.”

“
You
should be the one resting up in a room,” she said with a frown. “You just got out of the hospital. I don’t want you running around and getting yourself into any more trouble.”

I ignored the amused flicker on both Rob’s and Blaine’s faces at Evelyn’s bossy tone. “I’ll be fine. I promise.” I planted a quick peck on her lips and couldn’t hold back a smile when she still looked rather unhappy as I pulled away. It was an entirely new experience that someone cared this much about my well-being.

“
Ah, young love. Come on, brother, before your lovely lady decides to shackle you to the wall. We have business to attend to.” Blaine’s tone was amused, but Evelyn flushed with obvious embarrassment at his comment. I glared at him, but if he noticed, he ignored me.

I gave Evelyn’s hand a small squeeze, a reminder of my promise to return shortly, and then left her in Rob’s care. As much as I’d rather stay with her and ensure her safety myself, I knew she would be as safe as possible with the man who was also responsible for Mira’s security. And I had a war to fight. I’d been out for far too long, and despite everything, I wasn’t about to leave my family alone to fight off our enemy.

Blaine led me down the stairs again and into the basement. It covered the full expanse of the house, and we made our way through our father’s extensive wine cellar before we came to the closed metal door where both the twins were waiting for us.

“
We caught a rat,” Liam said, but the smile on his face held little joy. I knew neither of my younger brothers enjoyed the violent aspects of our job, preferring to handle the more above-board aspects of the business. But war was war, and no one was going to get out of this without getting their hands dirty.

“
Brigs’ right-hand man. Well, after Leo,” Louis continued. “He’s been stewing down here for the better part of twenty-four hours, so I do believe he might be ready to talk soon.”

“
Dad expects some information before dinner,” Blaine said. His mouth had a grim set, and it dawned on me that he didn’t want to do what was necessary either.

“
You brought me to torture him,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“
Well, he
did
shoot you,” Liam said. “You usually don’t take that kind of thing very well, but by all means, if you want to have a cozy chat instead… it would certainly make clean-up less sticky than usual.”

A hot rush of anger washed through my body, setting off the so familiar tingle in my spine.
“
He
is the one?” The one who tried to shoot Evelyn.
Hurt
her. My hands flexed with the need to
maim,
and I took a step forward toward the door, nearly giving in to the darkness swarming in from all sides.

I don’t know where the tiny voice at the back of my mind came from, but it stopped me dead in my tracks as a single question rung in my head like a bell:
What would Evelyn say if she knew what I was about to do?

Unexpected nausea pushed the descending darkness aside. I shook my head to clear it.

“
We’ll
talk
with him,” I said, giving all three of my brothers a hard stare before I pushed through the door.

I didn’t recognize the man who sat tied to a chair in the middle of the room, since his face had been hidden when he attacked us in the park, but he had a bandage wrapped around his leg in the exact spot I’d shot him to take his aim off Evelyn.

Again, the darkness pushed up to battle against my self-control. This man had tried to
shoot
the woman I was meant to protect. My love. He didn’t deserve to live.

But Evelyn hated violence. Had nearly refused a life with me because of the brutality in my world.

“
You may remember our brother, Marcus,” Louis said as he closed the door behind us. “Recently out of the hospital after you gunned him down. Not your biggest fan.”

My attacker fidgeted in his ropes, his eyes roaming over my face. “The crazy one.”

“
Real smart move, aggravating him then, isn’t it?” Liam said, rolling his eyes. “How about this—you tell us everything we want to know about Brigs and his plans, and we let you live. You’re not going to get a better offer if our father has to come down here and speak to you himself, I can tell you that much.”

The man in the chair narrowed his eyes. “Yeah? How about this, then: you untie me and let me go, tell your daddy I escaped and take your beating—and I won’t tell him that the girl who’s been shacked up in your brother’s flat for the past few days is a spy for Brigs. I bet he would love to know that his son has been fucking the enemy, giving away his secrets for a bit of pussy.”

The beast inside me returned in an instant, much stronger than before. I knew what would happen if my father ever found out about Evelyn’s involvement with Brigs—he wouldn’t care that she’d switched sides. He wouldn’t care that I loved her more than life itself. He would kill her.

Every cell in my body itched to give in to the intoxicating rage bubbling in my blood, the monster snarling viciously to destroy the threat to my beloved. He dared threaten her—he
dared.

“
Or even better—how much is she worth to you? I saw the googly eyes you were giving her in that park. Perhaps we should be discussing the terms of your surrender? Unless you want to see the little tramp get butchered by your own father, of course.”

My blood pounded in my ears like a war drum, drowning out all sense until everything was darkness.

The monster demanded pain.

And I obeyed.

* * *

“
Marcus.”

The vaguely familiar voice penetrated through the shroud of fury, pulling me back up from the void as if hooking me with a line of clarity.

“
Marcus, come back to me.” Warmth seeped through my shirt to my skin where a soft hand touched me.

I blinked, my vision, still edged by blackness, slowly returning along with my conscience. My heart was hammering in my chest, my breathing ragged. I found myself kneeling in a pool of blood. My brothers were nowhere to be seen—and neither was the hostage. The man who had threatened my Evelyn.

But the pool of blood led to an unrecognizable corpse, and I knew what had become of him.

“
It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here now.”

She had come for me. She had come to pull me from the darkness.

Slowly, I turned my head and I saw her. She stood by my side, my own personal guardian angel. My Evelyn.