Page 4 of The Filth Kings II

I snatched the bottle of cognac from the floor and opened it without a second thought. Monster’s truck cut through the emptiness of the night. He gripped the wheel with one hand as his fingers drummed against the leather with an unreadable expression. I inhaled the rich scent of liquor then lifted and tilted it back, letting the fire slide down my throat.

One gulp wasn’t enough, so I took another. I kept the bottle glued to my lips and kept sipping until half of the bottle was inside of me…Burning and numbing what I told myself to let go. I closed my eyes and savored the slow warmth that swirled around in my chest. It was a temporary escape from the hell that ate away at my mind.

I had too many memories and the weight of my past weighing on me. Cognac was the only thing that kept me from falling over the edge.

“Damn…” Monster finally spoke in a low rumble.

“Shit is that bad for you… the continued disrespect to my wife cooking dinner for the three of us to eat, is insane. Let alone to my pockets…” He glanced over at me and frowned.

I exhaled then inhaled and thought about killing off the rest of the fifth of cognac. I shook my head against that because we had about forty-five more minutes before we made it to my house. I needed to stretch the bottle that I had in hand for now.

“You disrespected my wife two Sundays in a row, that’s like saying fuck the extra money that I contribute for dinner for your mouth to feed,” he added.

Monster gripped the steering wheel tighter. It was no surprise that he counted up every dollar he spent as if he didn’t have an endless amount of cashflow. The Decebal men would never go broke, that was a fact. We could use the cash that we had took from Impurity to wipe our asses with if need be and still have a fortune left for generations to come.

“Disrespect Natavi? When you got a half dead muthafucka in the trunk with his blood smeared all over the back of your hands and fingers? Shut the fuck up, Monster.” I tilted the bottle back up to my lips and took three big gulps.

“My wife accepts and knows me well,” he retorted.

I chuckled dryly and burped loudly; I shook my head from side to side.

“Oh really? Last I checked… you had trouble in paradise—” The car swerved intentionally.

Monster’s wild dark eyes locked with mine then back on the road.

“There’ll be trouble in hell if you don’t watch what the fuck you say,” he grumbled.

“You just watch what the fuck you say to me. Mind your fuckin’ business and don’t worry about me coming to eat dinner. I don’t care to see your damn wife. She want to look at me with knowing eyes when she knows that bitch Angel is wrong! She knows what the fuck?—”

“Detavio, this is still about Angel when you said you was letting her go. Octavio looks forward to seeing us at least every Sunday. He’ll ask questions, and you’re more normal than me to answer them. I’m trying to let him in since he is one of us. I try to show him better than I can tell him.” Monster’s words trailed off.

It was hard for him to have a logical conversation.

“Well, you will show him alright… showing up to dinner with a man in your trunk and blood on your hands.” I chuckled.

“I don’t have shit to hide. He’s just as twisted as us…it’ll come out and be on display soon.”

Chapter3

Octavio

The candlelight flickered against the polished wood of the dinner table. It casted a comforting glow in a tension filled space. The scent of rosemary and roasted meat lingered in the air. The only sound that could be heard was Monster’s fork and knife stabbing at his Tomahawk steak. Monster’s hands were dark as night and slicked with blood. His hands stained the fresh white cloth beneath his plate. Per usual, Monster was Monster…He didn’t give a fuck.

I shifted my eyes across the table to look at Natavi. Wearily, she shifted in her chair. Her hand curved over her swollen belly as she darted her eyes between him and me. Maybe she’s thinking what I’m thinking…whose blood is he rocking and why?

“Baby? Do you want to pause from eating so I can clean you up?” She asked softly, voice laced with concern.

Her hand left her stomach and moved to her right arm. She stroked her arm lightly in a soothing manner. I swallowed down, my throat grew tight as I looked down at my own clean hands. I glanced back at Monster’s hands and instantly, my hands felt just as tainted as his.

He lifted up his dark, unreadable eyes, a slow smile tugged at his lips. Whenever Monster smiled it hardly ever reached his eyes. In the short couple of months that I got to know my big brother, there was no doubt in my mind that I loved him and was happy to be in his space. Although, being in his space most of the time felt suffocating. In a short period of time, I was able to adapt to Monster’s characteristics. I could also feel his past trauma and the pain that he carried on his shoulders that he hadn’t let go.

“Are you gonna eat?” Monster asked me.

I blinked my eyes twice then looked down at my plate. I forgot all about the food, all I could focus on was the wet blood that started to dry up on his hands.

“Yeah, I was uh—um… waiting on Detavio.” I cleared my throat again.

“No need to wait on him… He’s not going to come,” Monster muttered then gave Natavi his attention.

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