Page 85 of Monster
Vincent
Present
“Come on,it’s time for breakfast,” I say to Essa through the door separating us. After I showered, I felt a hundred times better even though my entire body still fucking aches from passing out in the chair.
The door cracks open in front of me, and I drop my gaze to Essa’s timid figure. Her minty-orange scent assaults my senses and I close my eyes briefly as I breathe it in.
“Let’s go before it gets cold,” I say as I spin away from her and do something stupid like run my fingers through her still damp hair and fucking steal the breath from her lungs—literally.
The light scrape of the stool across the kitchen floor at me gritting my teeth in annoyance. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Essa takes a seat and twists her fingers in her lap. The sun shining through the glass reflects on her pale skin, and it makes the scars on her shoulders and neck stand out.
Neither one of us speaks as I take a seat next to her. Tearing my eyes away from her scars, I reach out to grab the plate of pancakes and dish out two for each of us. I then grab the bacon and give her a few pieces before serving myself. After setting the dish back down, I glance back at Essa and she’s running her hand back and forth across her neck. My brows draw together in confusion at what she’s doing.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask abruptly. My voice shatters the silence surrounding us and it almost feels painful to break it—almost as if we were in a trance.
“I— nothing.” She drops her hand back to her lap and begins twisting her fingers together again. I shoot my hand out and grip her small wrists, squeezing them together. A small whimper escapes her lips as I feel her bones grinding together, but even the sound of her pain doesn’t bring a smile to my face.
“I asked you a fucking question, Essa. You best fucking answer me.”
“I was rubbing my scars. It’s not a big fucking deal, Vincent.” She sneers my name and it has me clenching my jaw.
“That’s not what you were fucking doing.”
“Yes, it was!” she shouts. Her face begins to pink with her anger, and she attempts to yank her arms away from me, but I tighten my grip on her, yanking her forward as I stand and shuffle as close to her as I can in our already close proximity. I lean down until the tips of our noses brush together and our hot breath floods the space between us.
“Don’t fucking treat me like I’m stupid, Essa. That is a sure fucking way to piss me off. And you don’t want me pissed off, do you?” I ask. She tries to take a step back, but my hold on her makes it impossible. I chuckle as a small smile pulls at the corners of my lips.
“You fucking embarrass me when you stare at them!” she screams in my face, and I jerk back, surprised by the venom lacing her tone. Her words are like a punch in the gut. I take a step away from her and automatically loosen my grip on her wrists. They drop to her sides and her gaze quickly follows, but only for a moment before she brings her eyes back to me and our gaze’s lock.
Her green eyes are full of so much fucking anger. Anger and pain. So much more pain than I ever remember seeing.I lean down until my lips are barely brushing over hers. Her breath hitches and mine stops all together.
“You’re—” I’m cut off by the shrill ringtone of my phone. I pull away from her too tempting mouth and glance over at my phone which is lying on the counter by the stove. There is an incoming call but I’m too far away to see who it is. I force myself away from Essa. I walk over and pick it up and the name on the screen has my entire body locking up in trepidation.
“Go to your fucking room,” I spit out at Essa, and I hear her scoff behind me.
“No.” I turn my head around to glare at her, and she crosses her arms across her chest.
“Essa. Don’t fucking start this shit right now. Just fucking go,” I sigh, exasperated.
“I fucking said no, Vincent. I’m no dog that is going to listen to your every command with my tail tucked between my legs.”
“Nah, baby doll. That’s where you are wrong. Youarea little fucking bitch whowilllisten to my every fucking command. Or did you forget who you’re speaking to?” I stalk towards her as my phone continues to ring loudly in my hand. As badly as I want to answer it, I can’t with her in the same fucking room as me.
I reach out and wrap my hand around her throat and squeeze. I feel her throat work underneath my palm as she attempts to swallow. I smirk. Squeezing tighter, I walk forward, forcing Essa to shuffle backwards. I keep my glare locked on her as I shove her backwards and she falls on her ass on the third step of the stairs.
“Go to your fucking room, Essa.” My phone’s ringtone cuts off, and the house goes eerily quiet. I clench my fists and grit my teeth in annoyance that I missed the fucking call. He better call right back. Sure enough, less than ten seconds later, my phone is ringing again. I hit the answer key before pressing it against my ear.
“Hold on,” I grunt to Mike before pulling my phone away and hitting the mute button.
“Go.Now!” I yell and she jumps up and begins walking up the stairs. She mumbles under her breath as she stomps up every step, but at least she’s fucking moving. I roll my eyes at her retreating figure and unclick the mute button as I put my phone back to my ear.
“Okay, I’m back.”
“So, you didn’t exactly give me a lot of time, but I think I got the information you were looking for.”
My entire body locks up as I take in his words. So therewassomething to be found.
“And,” I say, prompting him to continue.
