Page 123 of The Monster and the Masochist

“This will only take a second! It’s about that special item you asked me to order, the wedding gift for your wife? I just picked it up today, and I thought you might want to have it before you left.”

This caused me to stop so abruptly that Alyssa almost crashed into me.

“Eep! Sorry, Mrs. Walker!”

“Show me,” I gasped, already reaching for the baby blue Tiffany box Alyssa was trying to hand me.

Sliding my Chanel up to my elbow, I opened the box, feeling a rush of hope course through me as I took in the silver bespoke charm and chain set I’d had made for Theo.

The long, thin, box-chain I’d custom-ordered snaked through my fingers as I pulled it out to examine it, and I smiled. I’d made sure the chain was long enough that it would hang almost to her navel, so she could easily fiddle with the charm whenever she needed it. And the charm itself was… perfect.

Fuck.

Tiffany was expensive, but you got what you paid for.

The attention to detail was exquisite.

Only Tiffany & Co could make a Q-Tip look elegant.

The Q-Tip pendant was made of two teardrop beads that were connected to a delicate two-inch silver rod. I’d also taken the liberty of asking them to embed a tiny diamond on each end. I didn’t know if diamonds had any ‘magic,’ but I couldn’t imagine adding them would hurt.

Theo deserved all the diamonds in the world as far as I was concerned.

I ran my thumb over the true-to-size re-creation of Theo’s makeshift magic wand, and I couldn’t help but smile as I tucked it safely back in its box.

“Thank you, Alyssa… This is… Well, I really hope this helps…”

Alyssa gave me a nod, her expression grim.

I knew she was aware something was wrong based on how distracted I’d been all day, but she knew me well enough not to pry.

“I’m sure Theo will love it,” she said, and I squeezed her hand in thanks.

“I hope so. Now, I really need to get going. I’ll see you in the morning. Please check in on Nolan… Make sure the man doesn’t fuck everything up.” I winked at her, and she giggled before heading back to her desk.

With Theo’s silver Q-Tip in my purse, I was feeling hopeful on the drive home that I’d have a good starting point to open up the conversation I wanted to have with her.

Any hope I’d had dissipated when I entered my condo to find it empty.

My gut swooped in disappointment, and my monster released an annoyed huff.

‘She went to the fight,’ it said, and I nodded, making my way to our room to change into something more appropriate for an underground street fight.

‘I know.’

‘She needs to understand that she is no longer permitted to hurt herself like this,’ my monster growled. It was pacing its cage in agitation, and I sighed. ‘Make her come back.’

“We can’t make her stop fighting. It’s her whole life.”

‘No. WE are her whole life. She will come home, and she will obey.”

“She’s not going to like it,” I whispered, and my monster snarled.

‘Too bad.’

Alexa Play: Let You Down by Three Days Grace

My gym bag, thankfully, had still been at my father’s grave, where I must have left it the night before.