Series: The Circle of Monsters Series by Sam Crescent
Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
“I will. Shut up.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re not fooling anyone.”
He grabbed his burger and took a large bite. There was no way this woman was going to get under his skin. No way at all. When the call came from Viko to kill her, he’d gladly pull the trigger. Circle of Monsters was not in the habit of keeping people alive.
“You know I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Skye said.
She was determined to talk even though he didn’t want to listen.
He glared at her.
She held her hands up in surrender. “Fine. I get it. You want silence, but bear in mind I’m a nanny. I’m used to kids talking all the time. I love talking. I love the sound of their laughter.”
“You’re paid to hear the sound of their laughter. It doesn’t count.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re truly cynical, aren’t you?”
“I’m just saying what it is.” He finished off his burger in three bites. When he was on a job, he often ignored his hunger.
He didn’t believe in giving in to the basic needs his body demanded. Galen was used to pushing himself to the limit. That was why he worked for the Circle of Monsters. There was nothing in life that appealed to him. Nothing.
He’d always been like this. Even as a child. While other kids were screaming, laughing, enjoying life, he found it all rather empty. Some of the foster parents had been so concerned with his lack of empathy, they’d tried to get him tested. That was when he learned his way to bullshit, hiding who he truly was.
A killer.
A hunter.
He had no feelings.
He didn’t care.
There was nothing out there in the world for him.
And that was the way he liked it.
“I wish I could be like you,” she said. “Not caring. I mean, I bet it didn’t even bother you seeing all that blood.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“How?”
He shrugged. “I just don’t care. People die. It’s a part of life.”
She frowned at him. “Ugh! I don’t know how you can be so cruel.”
“Cruel because I accept the world for the way it is? I’m not living in a fantasy.”
“The world is not like that.”
He raised a brow. “Are you being stupid on purpose? It’s a dog-eat-dog world.”
She grabbed her burger and took a bite. “I like to think there is good in all people.”
“So you think there is good in Petrov?” he asked.
“There must be. He has children. They have the best of everything.”
He snorted. “What if I were to tell you that Petrov had children and women killed in the past? There’s a rumor that he likes to rape women.”
Galen wasn’t sure if that was true, but he had a suspicion it was.
The more he spoke, the more horrified she became.
“That’s … oh God, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“You better do it in the sink,” he said, pointing toward it.
There was no way she would throw up, but then he heard it.
“A waste of good food. You know, people are starving.”
“Shut up. It’s not like I can help it. That is so gross. I don’t…” She stopped and he heard her vomiting again.
“A weak stomach. Does it help that it’s just a rumor?”
“And you were willing to accept money from this monster to kill me?” she asked, peering at him from her place at the sink.
“Money makes the world go around.”
“You’re horrible. I can’t believe I worked for him.” She shuddered. “Do you think … no, forget it.”
Galen frowned.
He didn’t care one bit, but there was something in her tone that got to him. Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore it as he finished off his second burger. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” She ran the water, and he stared up at the ceiling, hoping he could let it go.
Yeah, he had to let it go. Only, he didn’t let it go.
“Do I think what? Don’t forget, I’ve told you to shut up and now I’m talking to you, so stop giving me the fucking runaround. Do I think what?” He repeated the last part and felt his anger building. Asking questions didn’t mean he cared.
Skye finished cleaning his sink and returned to the table, holding a towel over her mouth. She was pale. Who knew a basic description of a monster would make her feel so rotten.
“That he planned to do … what you described to me?”
Galen frowned. “Why do you think that?”
“When I first started to work for him, I rarely saw him. I had to do a job. Not even to be seen or heard. I expected that. I’ve had a lot of jobs where people don’t even want to acknowledge they have children.” She shrugged. “In the past few weeks, before I saw what he did, he’d been more attentive. He started to open doors for me. When I was trying to hide, he made himself very visible to me.”