Page 23 of Obsessions of the Heart

Luca’s voice thundered over Cinzia’s. “We don't know that! You were the one who flagged her account as odd and wanted to check her out. Now that I’ve met her… I just had this feeling like she knows more than meets the eye. All I was planning to do was interrogate her, but I got distracted.”

“Right, right,” Elio sounded, then his voice dropped, “but what you’re forgetting is that you should’ve looped in Cin and me.” His voice turned up, getting louder and louder. “Instead, she’s missing, and it's all your fault!”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Luca tried to fight back, but it was two against one, and I knew better than anyone that Luca was going to lose.

Cinzia barked out a warning. “All I’m saying, Luca, is that if a single hair on her head is harmed, I'm coming back here to take my pound of flesh from you.”

“Don’t fucking threaten me, Cinzia! I’m your brother!”

“Brother or not, I told you before I brought her here that she’s my friend and will be treated as such. You don't get to drug my friends with no consequences, Luca!” The sounds of foot stomps and a slamming door made me smile until I remembered that Luca had drugged Rin.

This was why I didn't want her here. Didn't want her to be a part of this. She wasn't built for this, and she was already getting dragged into something she knew nothing about. Fucking Riccis', too smart for their own good.

“Elio—”

“No, Luca. Cin's right.”

Luca sounded desperate and confused. “What the fuck is going on with you two?”

“Cin has finally made a girl friend, and she doesn't want you or any of this to ruin it. And me, mate, I’m just fascinated by her. If I didn't have that job Wednesday, I would’ve been in class trying to find out what makes her tick.” I didn’t like the way his voice turned wistful in the end, like he was desperate for more time with her.

My teeth ground as my body vibrated. I wanted to fucking punch my fist through Elio’s face then hang Luca and watch his body squirm as he died slowly. My hand had closed around the door handle, ready to do just that, when Rion’s stupid voice called out in the back of my mind.

We have a plan. We need to come from a position of power before we drop the hammer on anyone. Then Rin will be safe and be ours.

I tilted my head, working out the kinks in my knotted neck. Later. I could deal with them later. Right now, I had a future dead man in the room and plans to make him pay for touching what wasn't his.

Letting go of the handle, I turned around, closed the door, and retrieved the tied up body. I needed to get out of here, take care of this vermin, and tell my brothers what I’d learned. Yes. Then the three of us could make better moves starting tomorrow.

This fucker was heavier than he looked. I dropped his ass, head first, on the ground before I rubbed my shoulder out. I couldn't get locked up just from carrying his ass all the way here.

He’d woken up once on the way, so I had to knock him out again. If I were Ravi, I would have convinced my prey to come with me, walking his happy ass to his grave all on his own.

I didn't have that kind of patience.

Glancing down at him, flashes of Rin shoving at him, her eyes dull and clouded, worked though my brain. My rage was surging again, and the urge to start this worked its way up my spine. His hands and legs were already tied up like a pig. My mind played out a vision of me setting him up on a spit and roasting him alive, listening to him beg as the flames licked against his skin. I’d get more and more excited when his pleas turned into screams once the realization that no one was going to save him set in.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the night sky, feeling the moon's rays as I played out my barbeque fantasy—the smell of burning flesh, desperation and death in the air—immersing myself in the vision of my dreams. I wished I had that kind of power, the power to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Rules, laws, and morality be damned.

“You know you look like a crazy person when you do that.” I growled at the abrupt sound of Ravi’s voice, interrupting my solace.

My brothers walked out of the shadow of the trees in all black, both holding metal spray tubs in hand like we’d done hundreds of times before.

“You came earlier than usual. I haven't even started yet.”

My serious brother's eyes darkened. “Yes, well, we were ready as soon as I saw you carrying her to her dorms. What’s going on, Roux?”

I kicked at the fucker on the ground, and he groaned, caught between being awake and asleep. “After this,” I said, pointing to my new toy, “I'm too worked up for chit chat.” Rion nodded and waved Ravi forward, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small vial of the smelling salts he’d handmade for just this occasion.

Travis sucked in a large breath, eyes going wide when he found he couldn't move. He squirmed on the ground like a worm, croaking, “Wwwhats ggggoing on?”

Ravi stepped back quite a few steps, into the cover of darkness with Rion, giving me a wide berth to do what I had to do. Without answering him, I grabbed him by the rope tied between his bound legs and arms and threw him into the deep grave already made for him. His pained groan came out when he landed, and I smiled before saluting my brothers and dropping into the hole beside him.

He was already weeping, mumbling about how he could have such and such money in my account in an hour and wouldn’t tell anyone if I let him go. It was always like this with the weasels. Their instincts told them they needed to do or say anything to get out of the dark, out of this hole, but that would never happen.

Letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, I focused on my other senses. The sound of his feet scraping into the dirt like he was trying to dig himself out was loud and clear. I reached down, finding his legs, then took out my pocket knife and cut off the ties binding his limbs.

He scrambled around in a state of terror and panic, but I remained still, letting my rage fill me, replaying the scene I’d walked into until my bones began to vibrate. The need to cause pain and destruction flowed through me like a whirlpool, sucking me down into the abyss of depravity. All the thoughts that made me Roux were shoved into a box in the back of my head, and the embodiment of death took over.

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