Page 85 of Monster

“You’ll bludgeon us to death?”

I swallowed hard. “Where’s Teo?”

She shrugged. “Where he should be.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “And that is?”

“At home, in bed.”

I blinked. “I’m not following.”

“It’s okay, you guys. You can drop your guns.”

I didn’t even clock the fact that the men had their guns trained on me until I watched them holster their weapons. So, in a show of good faith, I tossed my heels back into the closet.

This woman officially had my attention.

“Who are you?” I asked.

The woman cocked her head. “I know who you are.”

“Which is why I’m asking who you are.”

She took a step toward me. “Charlotte Pettigrew. Firstborn and only born of one, Gloria Pettigrew.”

“Cute. You know my mother’s name.”

She grinned wildly. “Thirty-two years old, has ambitions to take over her mother’s firm, favorite color is rust red, most hated food is—”

“Hash browns,” we said in unison.

I felt my stomach tie itself into knots. “How do you know any of this?”

She clasped her hands in front of her body. “I have my ways. Just like Teo has his.”

“So, you know Teo.”

She nodded. “Very well.”

“How?”

She waved her hand in the air. “Gentlemen, go search the rest of the house. I want to speak with Miss Pettigrew alone.”

The guy with the blonde hair finally spoke. “Ma’am, I don’t think that’s such a—”

The woman pressed her finger to the man’s lips without even looking. “You have your orders. Now, go. I’ve got my own personal gun in case she wants to come at me with her heel.”

I wasn’t sure what I was most shocked by: the fact that Teo was missing, the fact that this woman was here, or the fact that the men she had protecting her were American.

What the fuck is going on?

The men headed out of the room and shoved their way back into the stairwell. The door opened with a slam before their footfalls rattled down the steps, making their way back to the main part of the beachfront property. I watched as the raven-clad woman eased the door closed behind her, leaving nothing but a slit of a crack as she stopped it just before it closed all the way.

“Wouldn’t want to get stuck in here,” she said.

I shrugged. “I’m used to it at this point.”

Her eyes whipped up to mine. “So, you’re a captive here.”

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