Page 50 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

What the fuck? All the colour drained from my face, and Monster started pacing, visibly shaking with rage as he glared at Sean. Just to wind him up more, Sean lifted his arm and placed it behind me, along the back of my bench. It was a subtle reminder to obey. I stood up immediately, causing Monster’s attention to shift to me. Our eyes locked.

You can do this. You’ll win. You’ll always win for me, right?

He cracked his neck to the side, and I took that as a sign he could read my mind.

An overweight man ripped his shirt off as he stepped forward from the crowd and picked a machete from outside the cage. A fucking machete? Oh, my god.

Before he’d even swung it, Monster had broken his arm and yanked it from his hand before slicing open the man’s abdomen. Blood covered the floor before his knees buckled and he fell into a pool of his own organs. Monster swung the machete in his hand and roared at the crowd, daring anyone else to set foot in his cage. My shoulders relaxed a little as I realised he now had a weapon and anyone else would be a fool to enter.

Unfortunately, there were many suicidal idiots in the crowd. A pile of bodies was building inside the ring. Monster was covered in so much blood I could barely see his tattoos. And he was tired. He was breathing harder, and he wasn’t as quick on his feet as before. The floor was slippery, and when the next man stepped inside with a spiked baseball bat, Monster lost his footing and didn’t dodge away quick enough. The spikes impaled ‌his side ,and I slammed my hands over my mouth with a gasp. Monster dropped to one knee, clenching his teeth as the man ripped it out of his flesh with gleeful disbelief plastered on his face because he’d actually injured the champion.

I could taste the acidic bile in my mouth as Monster grabbed his side and tried to stand, before falling forward and bracing his hands on the floor. Sean stood up next to me, the first sign of panic appearing on his face as the man lifted the bat above his head, getting ready to swing it down on Monster’s skull.

It happened so fast that even the crowd fell into stunned silence as if they’d missed something. A spear had embedded itself through the man’s body, entering through his stomach and exiting at the back of his neck. His arms dropped along with the bat, and then his body fell sideways. Monster sat back to his kneeling position on the floor, panting.

The silence was deafening. No one cheered. They were all too shocked.

The speaker glanced in our direction, locking eyes with Sean. The Irish Boss dipped his chin.

“And there we have it! He’s held onto his crown. What a performance! Give it up for Monster!”

My God. Sean had been in control of that entire circus. He could have stopped it at any point. He was testing Monster. Seeing how far he’d go to protect me. My whole body trembled. My fists clenched. I’d never felt so enraged.

A few claps filtered through the crowd as Monster pulled himself to his feet unsteadily, his hand still pressed against his side. He hobbled out of the cage, ignoring the way the crowd all gave him a wide berth because they were ultimately terrified of him. They thought he was evil incarnate. Yet just an hour ago, they’d been chanting his name.

Sean stood up beside me and brushed his hand down the front of his suit jacket. “Well. That was entertaining. He took twelve innocent lives, just as I knew he would. I had to test his endurance levels for what I have planned.” I turned to look at him. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, sweetheart. He’s just made me a very rich man, and he’ll get rewarded for his efforts. Maybe I’ll give him another whore and see if he’s bored with you yet.”

Before I could stop myself, my fist connected with his cheek in the hardest punch I’d ever thrown. I knew how to throw a good punch; my brothers had taught me from a young age, and Sani liked me to use him as a human punching bag to prove I could. I think he’d be proud of that one.

Sean stumbled back, more in shock, I suspected, than from impact, but I still beamed as if I’d just won a gold medal as a red mark appeared. The soldier behind me grabbed my arms, restraining me, but I just kept smiling at Sean’s shocked face.

And then he started chuckling, lifting his hand to the soldier to release me. “Well, well, well. You are quite the surprise, Soraya Buccini. I’m impressed.”

Impressing him was the last of my intentions. I shoved past him and made my way back to the back room, needing to see Monster.

The moment I entered, Sean’s men piling in behind me, I found Monster leaning over the old desk with his head hung between his arms, and the doctor who had injected him cleaning his wound. I stormed over and grabbed the antiseptic rag from his hand and shoved him out of the way.

Monster lifted his head. His black eyes, the only part of his face not covered in blood, peered at me.

“What’s the damage, Little Monster? Will I live?” he wheezed, coughing after each question.

I bent down and checked the oozing holes the spikes had made. Luckily, location-wise, it had probably missed any vital organs, but it didn’t do any favours for those already battered ribs. I pressed the antiseptic cloth hard against the wound, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Sean waltzed in seconds later with a smug grin, and I felt Monster tense.

“As the Italians like to say, Bravo! Magnifico! Che spettacolo!”

I glared at him before returning my attention to dressing Monster’s wound. Monster stood up straight, letting me work on him but sent hostile body language Sean’s way.

“You set that up.”

Sean bobbed his head. “The bet was on how many you would kill. Of course, I rigged it to stop at twelve.”

“I could have been killed way before that,” Monster growled through clenched teeth.

“You should have more confidence in your depravity, Monster. We both know you could have taken a few more. Anyway, don’t be so sour. I’ve read your list of requests, and they’ll be in the bunker when you return. You’re welcome.” Sean glanced at me with a sinful expression. “Make sure you patch him up good, Princess.”

With that, Sean turned out of the room, leaving us both seething. As soon as we were back in the bunker, I forced him under the cold shower and braved it myself to scrub all the blood from his skin. We didn’t talk; there was too much in my head to voice, and I needed to process everything I’d heard and seen tonight. Monster seemed to be too exhausted to even try, standing motionless with his head resting back against the tiles as he let me wash him with a flannel.

When I was done, we entered the main room, and I froze when I spotted the rewards that Monster had won. There was a composition notepad and pencils on the table, a bar of my favourite chocolate and a keyboard in the corner where his punching bag used to be. His clothes rail was half-filled with women’s clothes and the single bed now had a pillow and a thick duvet. He rolled onto the bed, sighing as his head met the pillow and lifted the duvet for me to climb in beside him.