Page 61 of Monster

I scampered behind him as my eyes started darting around. In just a few of his words, I went from feeling like a princess to feeling like a dead woman walking. He showed me the door to the back patio and how two armed guards were seated down in the sand on either side of the stairs that led straight out to the beach. And as Mateo walked me around the house, showing me every escape point I probably would’ve found myself, I found armed guards and laser trip wires and cameras at every breach point.

“You really don’t want me leaving, do you?” I asked.

He clasped his hands behind his back. “I also don’t want anyone getting in this house to you.”

I paused. “You said you released some of those girls after you bought them, right?”

I watched his face harden into stone. “Don’t ask if you don’t want the answer.”

I stayed the course. “Then, why haven’t you released me? Because I have a hard time believing you’re keeping me here just to keep me safe.”

He fully turned to face me. “Miss Pettigrew, you were plucked off your own hometown soil, drugged, flown halfway across the world to the one place only a few people knew you’d be at—per your words, I might add—and you’re wondering why it isn’t safe to release you yet?”

I blinked. “You make some good points.”

“There is a threat to your life right now that supersedes planes and oceans and continents. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before. And because this trouble has come straight to the island, it’s my job to see to it that this place—and its citizens—are safe.”

I shrugged. “And my safety?”

He held out his arms. “Look around you.”

I knew it should have bothered me, the armed guards and the threat on my life, but honestly? I was just relieved to have more room to roam in this place. And if my life really was under siege—which I was almost convinced it was—then maybe this was the safest place for me. After all, Teo seemed like a capable man. Strong, and determined, and certainly resilient. And it wasn’t as if I was itching to get back to my fast-paced life after experiencing the serendipitous nature of this man’s beach mansion.

Teo’s voice pierced my thoughts. “Would you like to see the rooms upstairs? A couple of them even have an ocean view.”

I nodded mindlessly. “I’d like to see them, yes.”

“Very well. Follow me.”

I padded behind him as he led me up one flight of stairs. Then, we took a hard left and walked down the hallway toward another door that opened up to another set of steps.

“You have four levels to this place?” I asked.

He started climbing the steps. “For good reason, but yes.”

“Is that reason ‘because you can?'.”

He chuckled. “I suppose you really are getting to know me, then.”

I giggled as I shook my head, following behind his every move. And when we got to the top of the landing, Teo threw open another door. It dumped us out into what I could only consider a small apartment. We walked straight down a truncated hallway before the trail dumped us out into a living room set up with a mounted television on the wall and everything.

“What in the world?” I whispered.

Teo pointed. “Over there is the kitchen. I have it stocked with all sorts of things I’m sure you’ll need.”

I walked over to the bay window on the back wall of the house. “Look at this view.”

I felt him walk up behind me. “The door to your left is the bedroom. It’s got its own private balcony along with a closet already stocked with clothes for you. And the door to your right is the bathroom. It’s not an ensuite, but it is more luxurious than the one in the basement.”

I turned around to face him. “Wait, my clothes are already up here?”

He nodded. “Consider it a hunch.”

I giggled. “Well, your hunch is correct this time. I love it up here.”

“Then, it’s yours.”

I blinked. “Just like that?”

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