Page 49 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

My heart was in my throat by the time we sat down in the gallery, overlooking the entire ‌main floor. It was a crazy scene below. I’d ‌never have believed this was once a place of worship. Hundreds of bodies were crammed into the space around a circular padded floor with wired fencing at least eight feet high. Booming music was blaring from speakers at the altar, and people were head-banging and jumping up and down with bottles of beer in their hands, sending alcohol sloshing all over the floor.

My anxiety rose, thick and fast, not only for watching Monster fight but because I always avoided places like this, full of so many people. And it was bloody loud. I twisted my hands in my lap, picking at whatever was left of my nail polish and tried to keep my breathing calm.

“You’re probably used to all this, aye?” Sean shouted over the music, leaning into my ear.

My body tensed at his closeness. I shuffled a little further away on the wooden bench, but there was a soldier on the other side of me so I couldn’t go far. I ignored him, but he didn’t take the hint.

“Your brother-in-law, Alessio, used to be an underground fighter, didn’t he? He was pretty famous in these circles. They used to call him… oh, what was it?”

I bit my tongue, trying my best not to react.

“Panther,” he said with glee, clicking his fingers. “That’s it. Panther. His father brought him to Ireland to fight a few times when he was young. I watched him tear off another man’s jaw.”

Then that should have been a big enough warning not to steal his fucking sister-in-law.

“It was the first time I’d seen a mafia prince, and heir, fight in the cage. Normally Bosses like to keep their first-born protected, wrap them in cotton wool and never put them directly in the firing line. But not Diego Barbieri. He had his son poised at the centre of glory. He may have raised Alessio with an iron fist, but look what good it did for him. He united all Italian Mafia under one regime and made himself a King. That was always Diego’s dream. Mine too, but for Ireland. In fact, we came up with it together.”

My head snapped to Sean as his lips curved into a slow, devious smile. What the fuck? Alessio’s father and Sean were allies?

The music died down as someone took the microphone and introduced the first fighter: a stocky man with a skull tattoo on the back of his head, who called himself Deathbringer. Sean scoffed next to me, finding the name thoroughly amusing, but my mind was still reeling about the fact that Sean once had connections with Diego Barbieri. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It must have been over twenty-four years ago, and it wasn’t unusual to have had business agreements with other countries. My family had one with the New York mafia, the French, the Colombians and the Croatians.

“You see, just like the Barbieris won Italy, I won the war over Ireland. But I didn’t waste time shaking hands and signing contracts with a commission. Power is taken, not given. Even though I lost my heir to achieve it.” I glanced at him as he peered over the crowd. “And my wife killed herself because she couldn’t live with the loss. Feeling sorry for me yet, Princess?”

I moved my gaze back to the octagonal cage, watching Deathbringer pacing back and forth, waiting for his opponent. Did I have empathy for Sean’s dead son and wife? Of course. Did I feel sorry for Sean as a person? No, not at all.

He chuckled when I didn’t give him an answer. “I got my revenge on the man who killed my boy.”

My insides twisted with anxiety as the speaker announced his opponent. “And fighting Deathbringer, it’s our reigning champion, the undefeated warrior…”

Sean leaned into my ear and whispered, “I murdered him and his wife and took his heir instead…”

“MONSTER!”

I froze as his words settled under my ribs, wrapping around my heart, and the image of the man I was falling in love with marched through the crowd with a lethal energy exuding from his very presence. The headphones were gone, and so was the leash. It was just him and his darkness.

I swallowed as he stopped just before the cage and scanned the chapel. His gaze lifted to the upper levels where we hid in the shadows, and when his eyes locked with mine, I held my breath. He was checking where I was. If I were okay. Even drugged and consumed by the need to kill, I still entered his thoughts.

Monster wasn’t just a captive. He was a mafia heir, but from which family? Or was Sean lying? Why was he giving me this information now? Everything Sean did was calculated.

Monster ripped open the cage door and stormed inside, his fist flying straight into the other man’s face. The fight was fast and bloody. Every thud and crack echoed through the acoustics of the church and made bile rise in my throat. I wasn’t squeamish. Violence and savagery normally excited me, but this… seeing someone I cared about on the receiving end of it… that was different.

The fight only lasted a few minutes before Monster had choked the man to death with his arm wrapped around his neck, legs around his waist, and held him in place on his chest on the floor until his body slumped and twitched.

The crowd was going wild, chanting Monster’s name, but Sean merely sat beside me with a confident smile on his face. He placed a cigar between his lips and lit it, puffing the smoke towards me.

“Did that turn you on?”

My nostrils flared as I tried to contain the rage inside. He wasn’t wrong. There was some dark, disturbed part of me that enjoyed seeing how easily Monster could take a life. When he killed those three men who were going to hurt me, yeah, my underwear was ruined. But not in this capacity. Not when he was drugged and blackmailed to kill for a narcissistic prick.

“Hmm.” He leaned forward. “Maybe you need to see more.”

My heart flipped and I glared at Sean. It was meant to be one fight. One fight only.

“He’s done it again! Monster is still our reigning champion, but as you all know, tonight is a special night!”

The crowd cheered, but Monster stood rigid in place. His chest rising and falling in aggressive pants as he lifted his gaze to Sean with fury on his face. Clearly, he had no idea what was about to happen. The blood rushed to my ears as I gripped the wooden balcony in front of me, panic rising.

“Tonight, we are offering you, the audience, a chance to take his title and winnings! Any of you can come up and challenge Monster, and to give you all an advantage, you’re allowed to take a weapon of your choice into the cage with you.”