Free Monster: Made & Broken (A Mafia Bad Boy Romance) by Nora Ash Page A

the explanation needed.
    I gaped up at him, too stunned to even argue the insanity in his premise. If he thought I was going to agree to this, he was nuts. Sure, I was inexplicably happy enough to spend the foreseeable future as his pretend-girlfriend until Brigs was no longer a threat to either of us, but a baby? Nuh-uh. Not going to happen.
    But… I could always pretend like I agreed. I was on birth control, after all. All I’d need was to find an excuse to get him to take me by my flat and I’d have three months’ supply of baby-nixing pills at my disposal.
    And what was the alternative? Spend the next few weeks in this cell?
    “ Okay,” I said, my voice a bit shaky even though I knew I wasn’t planning on following through with this part of our deal. Saying the words out loud still felt scary. “Okay, I’ll have your baby.”
     
    * * *
     
    The car ride to Marcus’ flat passed in silence, like it had the last time we took this journey together. Only this time, the electric silence in the car wasn’t so much sexual tension as it was… I didn’t even know what the hell it was. I glanced at Marcus by my side, whose focus was purely on the road ahead of us. The moment I’d agreed to his crazy arrangement, it was as if a switch flipped behind his dark gaze and most of the resentment disappeared. He had even carried me to the car so I wouldn’t have to walk on my bandaged feet.
    For all intents and purposes, Marcus seemed to be completely over my betrayal and everything that had followed.
    I wasn’t anywhere near over any of the things that had happened in the past day, but as I sat with my head leaned against the car window and watched the darkened city rush past us, I felt inexplicably calm. Whatever else Marcus was, there was not a bone in my body that didn’t believe he could keep me safe from Brigs. He might be a thousand times more terrifying than Gerald Brigs, but in the depths of my soul I knew he wasn’t going to unleash the terrifying darkness he carried around on me. In fact, sitting next to him as we drove through the dark streets made me feel more safe than I had in a very long time.
    I frowned into the darkness. I’d seen him literally shred another human being, seen the all-consuming rage in his eyes where no shred of humanity remained. Not to mention, he basically wanted to use me as a broodmare—not something a sane guy would suggest. But still… it felt better than I could put into words knowing that no one would hurt me ever again, as long as Marcus was around.
    When he pulled into the parking basement underneath the fancy high-rise his penthouse was located in some twenty minutes later, I had given up trying to sort through any of the day’s events. I was too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, to even begin processing everything, and when Marcus walked around to the passenger side and picked me up as if I was no heavier than a child, I simply rested my head against his arm and let him carry me to the elevator.
    He didn’t put me down until we were inside his flat, easily disposing of me on the kitchen island before he shrugged out of his woolen coat and headed over to look into the fridge.
    I looked around the familiar space and let my hands slide over the countertop. It seemed like an eternity ago he had had me up against this very counter. The memory of his lips on my throat sent a ghost of warmth through my battered body. I had been able to lose myself completely in the sensation of joining with him then, and right now, forgetting about everything for a couple of hours seemed like the perfect idea. Tomorrow was plenty early enough to start thinking again.
    “ Marcus,” I called softly.
    He looked back over his shoulder at me, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly in question.
    “ Come.”
    He obeyed, somewhat to my relief—I was way too sore everywhere to climb off the counter and walk over to him myself. Now that the last of my adrenaline had left my system I was all too