Bullseye (The Monsters Within Duet, #1)

by Monica James

I’m thirty years old, and I have no idea where I’m headed. Not just literally, but figuratively as well. I have no skills, no trade, and no special talents. I was just a punk ass kid who should have studied harder in school.

I don’t deserve happiness. I gave up that right when I made the biggest mistake of my life.

I’ll forever be imprisoned to the day I picked up a gun and shot a man in cold blood. However, the only regret I have…is that I got caught.

Prison taught me how to lie, cheat, and steal. I wasn’t interested in being anyone’s bitch, so I transformed from the gangly teenager to a six-foot-four, two-hundred-pound fighting machine.

Like a butterfly, she is so beautiful, but all I want to do is tear off her wings.

My story doesn’t end with Prince Charming saving the princess and living happily ever after with her because…I killed the fucking prince.

“I’m out. Twelve years pale in comparison to a lifetime of hell you’ve endured because of me.

His darkness dances with mine. I can feel it. This darkness inside me has been festering since everyone I loved left me. Everyone has a cross to bear, but mine seems to become heavier and heavier with each step I take.

“You go out there and don’t allow anyone to make you feel worthless ever again. Underneath this fancy façade,”—I toe Derrick’s limp body—“is a weak, pathetic coward. But you, you’re real. Never forget that. Never lose sight of who you are. And what you want.”

“If you’re looking for a good time, then I can do that. If you want someone to”— he pauses, before smirking—“fuck you and lick your pussy until you’re screaming for more, then I can be that man. I can rough you up if you want, make you beg.” My pounding heart almost spills onto the floor. “I can be whatever you want me to be. I just can’t be your forever. I do what I want, when I want. I don’t do romance. This is who I am. Don’t try to fix me because I was broken long ago.”