Page 21 of Obsessions of the Heart

A glass shattered in the distance, causing both of us to look in the direction of the house. His lips turned down before he put his glass down, standing up as he said, “I need to take care of that. I'll be right back.”

I waved him off. “Go take care of your house. I’m fine out here.” I mean, I figured something like that would happen when you had drunk people in your house, but by the look on his face, he was ready to tear off heads and take names.

Seconds later, a familiar urge reminded me that I hadn’t gone to the bathroom before we left, which meant that the two red bulls, one coffee, and two bottles of water in my bladder were ready to exit.

Getting up, I felt a little rush in my head, but my bladder was waiting for no one, so I quickly made my way into the house. I bypassed whatever commotion was happening in the living room and continued on the hunt for a bathroom.

That rush in my head started to make me dizzy, so I put my hand on the wall to steady myself. I had made it down one hallway and turned the corner, my head now pounding, when I bumped into someone.

“Sssorry,” I slurred, and I tried to get out of their way.

Unfamiliar hands grabbed my shoulders. I jerked to get away, but they just tightened instead of giving me space. “Whoa, hey. Are you okay? Are you looking for a place to lie down?”

My vision was slightly blurred, but I could tell it was a tall guy with black hair and a crooked nose. I shoved out of his grip, mumbling more to myself than anything, “I need the bathroom.”

“Oh.” He smiled and pointed down the hallway. “It's the second door to the right.”

Waving my hand in thanks, I made my way to the door he’d pointed out and shoved my way through. It was dark, so I reached around for a light, and as soon as I turned it on, the black-haired stranger entered the room from the other side. The click of a lock sounded.

“You looked like you needed some help.” He walked closer, and all my warning bells went off. Something was wrong. Why was my vision hazy? Why was I dizzy and barely able to keep myself upright?

Hands slid around me, and I tried to pull away from them again. “No. What aaare you dddoing?” My slurred speech didn't sound like me. I was shaken out of my thoughts when hot breath met my neck.

“I knew I wanted you the moment I saw you, but the Riccis kept you to themselves. They always keep the most prized ones to themselves. But then you just landed in my lap like this! It's fate.” The lust in his voice had me wanting to vomit.

I made another move to get away from him, but his grip was strong and my body felt weak, betraying me like it had a mind of its own. I stumbled back, but he took advantage of that and circled my waist, lifting me up enough to twirl me around and shove me up against the wall.

“Nnnoo. Lea meee aloone,” I cried out, my speech getting worse by the second.

“Aw, come on, baby. I promise I’ll make you feel so good.” He made a trail of wet, sloppy kisses down my neck. I cried out, hoping that someone would hear me, but the guy just chuckled. His fingers lifted my shirt, and he roughly grabbed my breast, squeezing hard enough to make it hurt.

“I might not be in this fraternity, but I know these rooms are soundproof. No one will hear your cries of pleasure, so go ahead and make as much noise as you want, baby.” Desperation filled me. His hands burned my skin, making my stomach roll in disgust, and my body grew weaker until I had to sag against the wall just to stay upright. Tears gathered in my eyes as black spots formed in my vision, and I let out a whimper, a plea for someone to help me. Cin, Luca, Elio, anyone. Please. Someone just help me. I don’t want this.

Before everything went black, a dark shape crept up behind the guy. With a deep, guttural voice that embodied the promise of pain and destruction, the figure said, “It sounds like she said no.”

There was a cry and a sickening crunch before something dropped to the floor. My eyes rolled back in my head, my body giving up, then I crashed down too.

Chapter 8

Iwas this close to saying fuck it and going on a killing spree. The visceral anger scorching my veins was making it hard for me to see anything but red. I didn't just want to have blood on my hands, I needed it, but the girl in front of me needed me more.

It took all my strength, every scrap of willpower I had, to leave that sack of shit on the ground so I could focus on Rin in my arms.

The only reason I was even here was because Rion said he’d left a document in the safe and wanted me to get it. This year, we had finally gotten permission to have our own place outside of the Alpha Sigma Xi house, which was what we’d always been working toward. It was hard enough as it was to try to make sure only one of us was seen at a time, making our time in this house very difficult with the others always looking for ways to screw us. Well, to screw over the prince of Foedus, R. Ambros.

It also worked in our favor to have our own off-campus place since Rion concocted the plan to have Rin here at Messores with us. We wanted to keep her exposure to Foedus, and guys here in general, to a minimum. The less she was around these people, the better. She normally kept to herself anyways, so we thought it was going to be easy. At least that was until she made friends with Cinzia Ricci, the youngest and only daughter of the Ricci family head.

What a fucking mess.

Rion swore up and down that he’d coded her room to be a private one, but the Riccis weren’t dumb. They were Foedus’ hound dogs for a reason. No matter how careful we’d been, they would have found something fishy when it came to Rin being here. We just had to make sure they didn't look too deep. We really needed them to write her off as a girl with no connections.

When I snuck through the window of our old room, I thought this would be an easy, annoying job that would take seconds to complete, but as soon as my eyes connected with Rin’s scared face, tears in her eyes while some dead man pawed at her, I lost it. I couldn’t think about anything but ripping him to shreds for ever laying a single finger on her.

I stalked over to him, and as he said, “Make as much sound as you want, baby,” The beast inside took over. I didn’t even know what I said as I grabbed a handful of his hair and smashed his face into the wall so hard it made a dent. He easily crumbled to the floor, but I didn't give a shit about him. He was going to be dead soon.

Rin sank as her eyes closed, and I snatched her into my arms before she fell to the floor. She was just as light as I remembered. Didn’t Rion give her money? Why wasn't she eating enough? Stupid girl.

I went to lock all the doors, making sure no one could get in since I wanted to come back for my prey when I had time for him, and found them already locked. Glaring at the guy on the ground, I promised that I would make his last moments horrific, but that needed to be after I took care of Rin. Pulling her up, I hung her over my shoulder before I went out the way I had come in—the balcony. It was a little awkward with a body over my shoulder, but not impossible.

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