Page 84 of Monster

It was locked from the outside.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed.

Teo left me to be a sitting duck, and he still didn’t trust me enough to keep my fucking door unlocked.

I’m going to kill that bastard myself.

All at once, multiple footsteps barreled up the stairs. Not only did I hear that clicking sound, but I also heard heavy footfalls. Almost as if someone were wearing boots. I backed away from the door and made my way for the closet, ready to put another barrier between myself and whoever the fuck thought they could barge into this house for me. And as I raised the black stiletto heels over my head, I saw shadows underneath the door.

Before someone tried to jiggle the handle.

“Key,” a voice said.

A female voice, to be exact.

Who the hell?

I had no idea who was on the other side of that door, but the fact that they possessed a key was obviously bad. I mean, who the fuck had a key to anywhere in this place other than Teo?

Holy shit, did something happen to Teo?

Tears rushed my eyes at the idea of him being hurt. Maybe he was somewhere in the dark, all alone, bleeding and unable to get to me. Maybe someone had taken him right off the street and already killed him, leaving his body somewhere that might never be unearthed. The thought made me sick to my stomach. I felt a tear cascade down my cheek as I braced myself for my inevitable death.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t work?” the female voice asked.

I held my breath as the doorknob jiggled again before a thunderous crack pierced the air.

“There. Got it. Fuck him and his false keys,” the woman said.

Every single worst-case scenario rushed through my mind as that door slowly eased open. I knew my body would do me no good if a woman was involved. Especially a woman that knew Teo well enough to get to his keys. Well, his false keys at least, whatever the hell that meant. My hands trembled and my knees quaked as I held my ground as much as I could. Darkness swallowed the entrance to the bedroom whole as I felt a presence staring at me from beyond the shadows.

A presence that crept into the dim light of the moon that poured through the bedroom window.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?”

The smooth Italian accent hit my ears and almost lulled me into a trance. Her voice was smooth and luscious, and not at all indicative of the woman it was attached to. As she came into the light, her features igniting in a dance of recognition, I clenched my hands around the heels from the party.

Because the woman was from the party, too.

“You?” I asked.

The woman smiled, but just like Lorenzo, it didn’t reach her eyes. “I suppose that answers that mystery.”

I swallowed hard. “Who the hell are you?”

Two lean and sturdy men appeared behind her wearing full-on tactical gear, complete with camouflage clothing. The woman’s raven black hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail that hung low against her neck. And the all-black suit she donned accented the darkness of her smile.

As well as the darkness behind her dark green eyes.

The woman from the party.

What the hell was the woman from the party that night doing in Teo’s house? With two fully-armed men?

“You work for Lorenzo, don’t you?” I asked.

She grinned. “You really do have an imagination, don’t you?”

I held my heels out in front of me. “If you come any closer—”

---