Page 90 of A Monster Is Coming

And with that, he got to his feet, and then gave me a date that was in three weeks’ time. “That’s Peter’s birthday, and he has never gotten a single gift, or card, or cake.”

Ivan left, and as he did, my three guards came back through the door.

I didn’t get the whole truth from Ivan, but I did know one thing. His wife may be gone, but the memory of her still lived in him, and that pain was driving him to do what he was doing.

****

The Butcher

“Have you finished playing matchmaker?” I asked as Ivan stepped out into the underground parking lot of Peter’s building.

“Not quite.”

I stared at Ivan, who had asked me to drop him off. For the past couple of days, he, The Beast, and I had been on a hunt. He’d done the final push on removing the men that surrounded Finn Byrne, and now it was about crumbling the protection detail that had been keeping him safe, and also well-kept. It would seem a lot of people owned Finn a great deal, including a shit ton of money as well.

Had he told Niamh her mother was dead? She’d been one of the first women I’d killed after we’d gotten Niamh to safety. I had expected her to ask me about it, to ask about her mother. Nothing.

I got the sense that mother and daughter were not exactly close. The more I learned about Niamh’s life and her family, the more I realized I had a much better upbringing than she had, and I’d been raised around death. Although, I had been trained to be the woman I was today, and I knew that was quite terrifying to most, certainly to some men.

When it came to my job, I was a fucking expert, but then I also wasn’t afraid to get dirty. Blood didn’t bother me. Pain was a comfort to me. My uncle had trained me well. I was the best at my job, and it also helped that I was able to blend in wherever I needed to go.

Ivan was playing a long game. I’d heard many rumors about him. Some a little more far-fetched than others, but what I had come to realize is there was no one box to tick when it came to Ivan Volkov. He was a crazy, calculating, manipulative, patient monster. He was a full package of trouble. I couldn’t help but admire him.

Whatever Finn Byrne had done to this man, Karma was being a right bitch to him. Ivan had his sights set on him, and he wasn’t going to let it go. He wouldn’t give up. Finn was all but a dead man, and yet Ivan was taunting him.

After I killed Niamh’s mother, Ivan had me send the body to Finn, which had been a bit of a problem, but I had done it.

From what I knew, that body had been dumped in a lake. Next, Ivan had given me the order to work on the oldest kids, so I did. One by one, I took them out, and it was quite easy to do, seeing as most of them were fucking bastards. The boys were a law unto themselves. Evil to the core, as were the girls.

Like I said, whatever Finn Byrne had done, he’d royally fucked up in targeting Ivan. It was only a matter of time before Ivan ended this for him once and for all.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Niamh

I didn’t need Ivan to tell me how to be nice. Even though I’d not experienced a lot of “nice” growing up, I hadn’t lost the ability to be nice myself. Rather than allow Peter and I to drift apart, I decided to do something different. I decided to become his wife.

It sounded strange, but it wasn’t. What this entailed was simple. First, I made sure I was awake before him, and I set the coffeepot on, cooked breakfast, and also prepared his lunch. I took care of his laundry, cleaned the penthouse, and did some shopping with my guards. With his birthday three weeks away, I wanted to start preparations now.

I didn’t have a clue what to get him as a birthday present, so I’d decided to buy him a wedding ring. Yes, I knew it was corny, but that’s what I decided. A wedding ring, because he didn’t have one, whereas I did.

In a weird way, I was hoping he would get the message—that I was here to stay. I was not going to step away from our marriage. If Peter didn’t want to be set free, then I wasn’t going to allow him to be. In my head, it sounded romantic, but on paper, it kind of made me feel like a bitch.

I did love Peter. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

After Ivan had left, I couldn’t help but think back to that moment when he chased after the car to protect me, to save me. I didn’t know if he acted like that because he was doing his job, or if it was because he did in fact have feelings for me. I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t going to dwell on it either. I’d made my decision and this time, I was sticking to it.

My leg had also started to heal, and it had been a few weeks since my tattoo. The scab was almost gone. The right treatment had meant for an easier healing process, at least that’s what I liked to tell myself.

So, one evening I’d made seared steaks and potatoes, and I met him at the door. My guards, like always, left, and I helped take Peter’s jacket.

Each night, he’d grab me around the waist, pull me in close, and kiss me. We hadn’t had sex since the last time, and not with the ink on my leg, that was proving to be a bit of a pain. Now that it was all healed, the last few weeks had been a lot of fun. I’d played the role of wife, but it didn’t feel like I was playing. It felt right.

He wrapped those large arms around me, pulled me close, and took possession of my lips. That butterfly flutter in my stomach came back to life, and I closed my eyes, loving the feeling and not wanting it to go away. I loved him and I was done fighting it. I wasn’t going to leave him. That was my choice.

Ivan and the Volkov could have everything that was Byrne. I’d never been a Byrne, it was just my last name because my father had insisted on it. All his kids had to have his last name. I guess it was the only decent thing my father had done.

Peter pulled away from me and I couldn’t help but lick my lips. “I, uh, I made dinner for you.”

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