Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Priest glared at Boss. “I suggest you be careful,” Priest said.
“I helped to make you what you are, Priest. Don’t question me. I’m still your boss. You turned down the opportunity to have it your way, years ago, remember?”
Priest’s nostrils flared. Viko Fedorov had promised him everything he had hoped for, but the cost to be a Monster was too great. To become initiated into the Circle of Monsters required a test, one Priest hadn’t been willing to do.
He’d been asked to go to a secure location and to kill the suspects inside. It had been two women. Two cold, lonely women who looked petrified. He’d walked away because he refused to kill innocents and that was exactly what they looked like to him. Those lowlifes would kill puppies for breakfast and women and children on a whim.
With the Circle of Monsters, no details were given. They expected blind loyalty. A date, a time, and a location were all you got. You were expected to go in, kill, and get out. No questions asked.
He’d needed to know what those two women had done before pulling the trigger. Viko Fedorov had told him he’d never be Monster material. What he needed was men of action, of trust. Men without a conscience.
Priest had walked away without the information he needed.
He later discovered the two women he was supposed to kill had been pure evil. They had owned a care home, where they willingly took in children and hurt them in the vilest of ways. Torturing them for years. Making money off their innocence.
Viko had spent only twenty-four hours giving them a taste of their own medicine, and Priest was supposed to kill them.
He’d failed. But how was he supposed to know?
“I’ll go,” Cleo said.
****
Priest sat by her side, and Cleo knew he was having difficulties with her. One quick glance in his direction and she saw how much he glared, his brow furrowed as he stared off into space. He was pissed off, but it was different. They had been on the same page only hours before, but once again, there was this divide between them, and she had a feeling it was because of who she was.
Circle of Monsters.
She didn’t even know what that meant, but from the way all the men looked, they were not happy about coming to a secure location to meet them.
This was bad news.
Digging her fingers into her thighs, she tried to not think about who she was meeting. “It’s an ugly night,” she said, filling the silence. She had tried not to talk, but knowing she was about to potentially meet one of her parents, she was nervous and fidgety.
The men were not helping.
Why were they all so … good-looking. They all had muscles, some were heavily inked, and they all looked serious.
“How are you doing there, little monster?” Harb asked. He was the only one seemingly amused by what was happening. “From the moment I looked at you, I knew there was something familiar about you. I should have known you were Target’s kid.”
Cleo tensed up. “You’ve met him?”
“Yeah, had a few dealings with him as well. He’s an evil son of a bitch. Not a man I want to meet on a cold, wet day, that’s for sure.” Harb tutted. “It explains how you’ve gotten out of so many scrapes.”
“What do you mean?” Cleo asked.
“It means that Target has been around,” Gabriel said.
She had been introduced to Gabriel in passing. He’d been her driver once before.
“Can we be quiet?” Priest asked.
Harb chuckled. “You’re a selfish bastard, aren’t you?”
Cleo looked from Harb to Priest.
“I think silence would be best.”
“And you’ve given no thought to your woman and how she’s feeling? How did you even become a priest? You’re supposed to listen to people,” Harb said.
“You shut your fucking mouth.”
“Why don’t you get your head out of your ass, see what the problem is, and be a human for half a second. She’s about to meet her father, she’s on the most-wanted kill list, and her life is in danger. All you can think about is yourself.” Harb looked toward her. “She’s scared out of her wits. Have I covered it so far?”
Cleo’s eyes swam with tears. “I’m fine.”
“I get it. You’re falling apart at the seams and right now the weather seems like the most honest thing to talk about,” Harb said.
Priest glared at the other man. “My woman isn’t your fucking concern. Do your damn job and watch the road or we’re going to have a problem.”
“Yeah?” Harb goaded.
Priest rose up in the van, a hand on the ceiling, the other on his handgun. All the guys in the van started cursing, trying to calm him down, and urging him to sit back down. Boss told Harb to shut the fuck up.
This wasn’t good. None of this. Cleo didn’t want to go and meet the man who quite frankly had abandoned her and clearly awakened the killing instinct in the only men who’d shown her any kind of care.