Page 53 of Monster

17

Mateo

“I feel you staring, Miss Pettigrew.”

I could’ve sworn I heard her gulp as I eased myself into the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror above the sink and studied the handiwork of the woman I had somehow come to not hate down in my basement. She had a fire in her eyes that was hard to find in a woman on the islands. And her desire to be the best and have information at her disposal at all times matched my desire to always be in control. To always know what cogs were turning at what time so I could exploit them to my advantage. Like I said, in any other universe she would have been mine.

My partner.

My wife.

The bearer of my children.

But, in this reality, I’d have to deal with her being my dirty little secret.

My fingertips danced along the stitches as I studied Miss Pettigrew’s handiwork. Not bad for someone who didn’t know her way around stitches. But damn it, that knife got lodged pretty deep. The man wielding the knife had no sense of anatomy, though. Or aim, for that matter. So, the knife didn’t even penetrate major organs.

“Thank fuck,” I murmured to myself.

“What was that?” Charlotte asked.

I slid my hand through my hair before turning to face the bathroom door. Her voice echoed off the corners of my mind as I eased myself back toward Miss Pettigrew. And as her eyes danced over my body, I felt a grin twitching my cheeks.

By the puckering of those luscious tits of hers beneath her clothing, she really enjoyed what she saw.

“Something on your mind, Miss Pettigrew?”

Her eyes shot up to mine. “What just happened up there?”

I blinked. “Nothing. Why?”

She pointed. “A knife wound isn’t nothing. What happened? Am I in trouble here with you?”

I grinned. “Do you not already find yourself in trouble right now?”

She sighed. “All right, let me rephrase that: are the people that did that to you going to come back and do that to me?”

I felt my eyes darken. “Even if they tried, I’d kill them first.”

She swallowed hard. “Why did someone want to hurt you tonight? Can you at least tell me that?”

I turned her question around in my head as I slowly approached her. She backed up, matching my steps as her eyes continued to grow wide. Her hands reached out for the mattress as she attempted to sit. But, I got to her before her ass could touch down against the edge of the bed. And when I fisted her shirt, I drew her to me before backing her against the wall.

Pinning her there, with my knee pressed between her legs.

“Teo,” she whispered.

I slid my hand around her throat. “You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

Her eyes grew determined. “I’m an attorney. It’s what I do.”

I rubbed my knee against her clothed pussy. “Then, you’re good at assessing situations, yes?”

“Yes.”

My eyes danced along her face. “Then, tell me this: in all of those scenarios you played out in your head tonight, did you ever consider the fact that I had done something good to deserve it?”

She blinked. “I’m not following.”

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