Page 30 of Twisted Obsession

I take one last look at Dominic, but that was a mistake. I turn just in time to see the Viper wrench Maricela out of his grasp, knocking her to her knees, then dragging her across the ground. I can’t help the whimper that is ripped from my throat because I know exactly what’s in store for her. The thought is unbearable.

Across from me, Ciaran tenses and growls under his breath as he watches the same scene. For a moment, I think he’s going to do something stupid, but Callum puts a hand out to stop him. “Ciaran, don’t be a martyr,” he warns his twin, but I’ve honestly never seen Ciaran so conflicted. It makes me wonder exactly what’s been going on between him and Maricela.

My heart hurts for him because that’s a relationship just as doomed as any I might hope to consider with Dominic. More so, in fact, since she’s trapped in a hopeless engagement to the Viper.

He’s quiet on the drive home, but Callum makes up for it, grilling me about whether or not I’ve been mistreated.

I give them as much of the truth as I dare, explaining how Mika removed me from the Viper’s custody and ensured my safety. My brothers aren’t stupid, though.

“That’s implying you wouldn’t have been safe if he’d left you there,” Callum states, his eyes boring into me like he’s trying to see inside my soul and dig out the truth for himself.

“Mika was very upfront in that he wanted to avoid a war,” I say, trying to appease him.

“So it might have been a possibility, then, if things were left in the Viper’s hands?” Callum doesn’t let up. He’s like a dog with a bone, and right now he’s digging. “What does that mean exactly, Roisin? Were you in danger?”

I turn on him with my best scowl. “What sort of question is that, Cal? I was abducted by a rival organization, not sent to a holiday camp!”

It’s not the right thing to say. Callum narrows his eyes at me. “Did they hurt you?” he demands, and I can’t look him in the eye and give him a barefaced lie, so I glance away and immediately he pounces on my reaction.

“Feckin’ Jaysus. So help me god, Roisin, you better tell me what they did to you, or I’ll strip you off myself so I can check for injuries.” His voice rises with every word.

“You’ll do no such thing,” I shout back. “I’ve had enough manhandling without you doing more of the same.”

“Aha!” he crows. “I knew it. I’ll tear those bastards apart if they laid so much as a finger on you.”

“Stop it!” Ciaran’s voice, strident and harsh, cuts through the tension that’s been rising inside the vehicle. “We’ll have Roisinchecked out by Doctor Margaret as soon as we get home. Then we’ll sit down and discuss this like reasonable human beings once everyone has calmed down.”

He turns to me and places his warm hand on my knee. “We just need to know you’re alright,deirfiúr,” he tells me, using the Irish word for sister like an endearment. “And we need to know what to expect after everything that’s happened.”

I suck in a breath and blow it out again as I slump back into my seat because I always knew it would come to this, even if the only thing I want to do is hide in my room, have a good cry, and eat my weight in cookie dough ice-cream.

Chapter

Fifteen

DOMINIC

Iwatch in poorly disguised disgust as Vito drags Maricela along the corridor and throws her into his suite.

A couple of his foot soldiers snicker and I shoot them a dark look that quells them immediately.

Maricela’s scream is cut off as the heavy door closes on her torment when the Viper slams it shut, and I take the opportunity to escape to my room and make a call to Mika.

“He’s going to kill her,” I tell him without clarification or preamble. “Someone needs to intervene.”

“It’s none of our business, Dominic,” Mika warns. “She’s his fiancée. There’s only so much we can do without crossing the line.”

I shake my head, trying to keep my cool. “I don’t believe for one second you’re okay with leaving the Viper to beat her to death, and that’s where it’s heading,” I tell my cousin in no uncertainterms. “And it’ll sure as hell be our business when we have to clean up his mess.”

There’s a deep, frustrated sigh on the other end of the line, but I don’t wait for my boss to come up with a plan. “I’m going to stop him as soon as I can work out the best way to do so. I can’t stand by and let this happen.”

“Dominic, you need to be careful…”

I cut him off. There’s nothing more to be said. I know the consequences of interfering in the affairs of my superiors, but being with Rosin, seeing what she was subjected to, what may have potentially happened to her, has changed something inside me. I’m far more sensitive to this shit now, whereas in the past, even though I knew Maricela didn’t have it so good, I minded my own business. Not anymore though.

After pacing my room while I consider my options, I decide I just need to act before it’s too late. I’ve already changed into dark sweats and a long-sleeved black tee, so I throw open the door and make my way to the Viper’s lair with a half-baked idea and even less of a backup plan.

Raising my hand to knock on the door, I’m surprised to find it isn’t closed. I push it open with caution, pausing to listen, but there’s no sound, either. Something that’s somehow even more eerie. But I can smell the metallic taint of blood. After so many years of living and breathing it, the odor is unmistakable.

---