Delivered (The Monster Trilogy Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Rodriguez doesn’t want me dead. He’s proved that much.”
    “You didn’t answer my question.”
    “A woman,” he confessed, though for some reason he felt strange admitting it in front of her. Part of his brain was still trying to align this woman—who must have been around his age, in her early thirties—with the young girl he’d fallen so hard for all those years ago. He’d been a child, but that hadn’t meant he’d felt his emotions any less deeply. There had been a period of several months when she’d been the only thing occupying his thoughts. He’d obsessed about her—innocent kisses and fantastical, romantic notions of them running away together. He hadn’t known his father had sent her away, but he was glad. Though he’d never wanted to admit it to himself, or think about things too deeply, part of him had always worried his father had known what had happened and had killed her for it.
    “I don’t even know your name,” he said.
    “Sophia,” she said with a smile.
    “That’s good to know, after all these years.”
    Her lips twisted, her gaze shifting away, before it fixed back on him. “I know what your father used to call you back then.”
    “Monster,” he confirmed, his cheeks heating. “He used to call me his little Monster.”
    “I remember. I assume you don’t go by that now.”
    He shook his head. “Only with one person. Others call me Merrick now.”
    She smiled. “Merrick. Suits you far better.”
    He wasn’t so sure.
    “So,” she said, her blue eyes narrowing slightly in contemplation, “what happened to the birthmark? I hope you don’t mind me asking. I mean, it’s still there, of course, but compared to what it looked like when you were a child …”
    Subconsciously, he lifted his hand to that side of his face. “It’s a recent thing,” he said. “My father never did anything. The woman I’m looking for is the one who helped me.”
    “Where is your father now?”
    “Dead.”
    “Good.” She seemed to realize what she’d said and cupped her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
    “Yes. Yes, you did. And that’s okay. I feel the same way.” He thought of all the dreams and memories of his childhood that were coming back to him as though someone was drip-feeding his brain. He’d shut out so much of what he’d experienced at his father’s hand, as though he’d been protecting himself, but for some reason now he was starting to remember more and more. Part of him was nervous about what he’d remember next.
    She hesitated, her teeth digging into her lower lip as she thought. “This woman who Rodriguez has … she’s the same one who helped your face?”
    He nodded. “Yes, she is.”
    “Is that the only reason you want her back?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I suppose I’m asking what happens to her if you find her. Are you looking to harm her in any way?”
    Her question surprised him, making him sit up straighter, despite the aches and pain holding his body hostage. “No. Why would you ask that?”
    “I don’t know. I guess the apple tends to not fall far from the tree.”
    Had she seen that in him—his capacity for cold-heartedness—even in the few minutes she’d been speaking with him? Or perhaps she’d seen it in him as a child, and worried he’d grown into the name his father had called him. But she’d also seen in him an ability for self-sacrifice, and he hoped she’d remember that now.
    “I love her,” he said. “I’m in love with her. I’d rather die myself than let anything happen to her, which is why I need to get her back from Rodriguez. Just the thought of what he might be doing to her makes my blood boil.” Even as he spoke, his anger churned up inside him and he tried to rise from the bed, to get to his feet.
    Sophia placed her hand against his chest, gently pushing him back down. The touch of her fingers against his skin made his heart beat harder. “You’re not going anywhere yet,” she