Page 8 of Monster's Claim
Lara didn’t even know one kiss could feelthat amazing, had the power to make her forget, even for a second,where she was.Who she was with.A monster.Except now that sheknew his name and saw the hidden depths under that merciless gaze,Matthias Severin couldn’t be just defined by that one label.
Damn Matthias for taking her by surpriselike that.For making her have doubts.For making her feelsomething other than fear and hate towards him.
Little bird.
Lara shivered, wrapping her arms aroundherself, unable to forget how sensual those two words sounded onhis lips.
How did he know?A lucky guess, maybe?
We own this city.
It wasn’t an arrogant claim.Rumor has itthat the Severin Familia swept the city clean of its competitorsyears ago, rival gangs and cartels included.Now, localpoliticians, police enforcement, and reputable business ownersanswer to them.
Matthias would have access to resources.Maybe he had access to her file.Perhaps he was just that good athis job.After all, he’d been doing this for a long time, or so heclaimed.A dangerous man to tangle with.
He could have strung her up on that hook orthreatened her with any of the bladed implements hanging on thewall.Matthias had done none of those things, simply put his mouthon hers, giving her a taste, the promise of something, beforepulling away.God.Even now, she remembered wanting,silently daring him to do more.
“What’s wrong with me?”she whispered.
Matthias was a master at this, she realized.He probably manipulated women all the time.Once he found the weaklink in their armor, he zoned in for the kill.She blew out abreath.What the hell had Skip gotten himself into?
What was that bastard thinking, when hedecided to cross the Severin Familia?Of course, they’d come forthose closest to Skip, assuming she was still that rat bastard’sgirlfriend or something.It wouldn’t surprise her that Skip didn’tthink about her safety at all.She ran her fingers through her nowcropped hair, pissed.
“Why did you cut your hair?”
Matthias’s voice startled her.
He reappeared in front of her, holding out awater bottle.“See?Sealed.No tampering.Drink up.”
Matthias set it by her feet, along withgeneric energy bars local supermarkets stocked up.She tentativelypicked up the bottle and examined it closely.“What kind of game isthis?”
“No game.I want you to be comfortable.Answer the question.”
“I used to like my hair long, until he—” Shetrailed off.Lara looked at him.A dark expression crossedMatthias’s face, not because she didn’t answer him.It was as if heknew.Lara let out a laugh, changing topic.“If you want me to feelcomfortable, then take this off.”
She pointed to the chain connected to herankle cuff.
“How long has he been hurting you?”
Heated anger she understood.She had learnedto handle that on nights Skip came home in a foul mood.The quietrage in Matthias’s voice, all ice, she didn’t know what to doabout.Truthfully, it scared her.A kind of predatory stillnesscame over him.So intense.
She opened the water bottle and took onesip, then several, not realizing how parched her throat was.Whenshe set it down, Matthias still hadn’t said a word.She couldn’tbelieve they were having a conversation about her pastrelationship, or maybe he’d already started his version of aninterrogation.
It didn’t matter.Lara needed to get thisoff her chest anyway.
“I was stupid, okay?Skip seemed charming atfirst, kept telling me I should feel lucky because he settled forsomeone like me.”Saying the words out loud made her want to punchherself for letting a manipulative guy like Skip string her aroundfor the past few months.
“You’re a smart woman.You know that’s nottrue.”
She reached for one energy bar, tore itopen, and took a bite.Feeling ravenous, she finished it in acouple of bites.“He convinced me I wasn’t good enough.Skip hadthis way about him.He got under my skin.When you’re alone in acity like this, it gets lonely sometimes, and I—”
“You settled.”
Guilt hammered home.Matthias was right.Hermother didn’t raise her to be weak.Growing up, she’d admired hertough mama, who single-handedly raised her while juggling two jobs.She made one mistake with Skip and swore she’d never do itagain.
Being chained in a killer’s, a professionaltorturer’s, private dungeon meant her future wasn’t going anywhere.In a blink of an eye, Matthias could snuff her life out if hewanted.She balled the wrapper and set it down.The food and drinkdidn’t seem to be tampered with, and she needed all her strength tobe able to mount some kind of escape plan.
It wasn’t game over for her yet, not whenMatthias seemed to be sympathetic with her.For the moment, atleast.
