Page 31 of Twisted Obsession

Withdrawing my handgun from where it’s tucked into the back of my waistband, I slowly enter the room, calling out ahead of me. “Vito? Are you in here?”

I think I hear a small moan, so I follow the sound into the bedroom, only to find a scene of carnage in front of me. “Fuck!”I stuff my gun away, only too aware of how incriminating this is going to look to anyone who comes across me with it in my hand right now. Because Vito Rossi is lying in a pool of blood, his eyes staring lifelessly, half draped over a battered and equally unresponsive Maricela Escobar.

My brain whirls, and for a moment, I can’t think. Can’t assimilate the situation or what I should do about it.

Shit. This has all the ingredients to goreallybadly. As much as I’ve tried to stay below the radar, it’s no secret Vito and I haven’t seen eye to eye lately, and he hasn’t taken lightly to Mika taking me out of the equation, especially with the bad blood that’s been rearing its ugly head. Not that I’ve ever been amongst the Viper’s inner circle. And that really doesn’t help right now.

I snap out of my momentary paralysis and spring into action. First things first. I need to check if there's any life left in either of them. Kneeling beside the bed, I press my fingers to Vito's neck, searching for a pulse. Nothing. His skin is already cooling. I turn my attention to Maricela, silently praying I'm not too late. Her face is a mess of bruises and blood, but I detect a faint flutter beneath my fingertips. She's alive, barely.

"Maricela," I whisper urgently. I don’t want to touch her anywhere else, because every part of her looks broken. "Can you hear me?"

Her eyelids flutter, but she doesn't respond. I need to get her out of here, fast. But I can't just walk out carrying an unconscious, battered woman without raising suspicion. I’m also afraid moving her will exacerbate her injuries.

Mika's words echo in my head, warning me to be careful, but she needs medical attention, urgently.

I move Vito’s dead weight off her ever so slightly so she can breathe easier and rush out of the room, checking to see if the coast is clear before I hurry back to my own quarters.

As I barrel around a corner, I almost collide with Kaiden coming the other way. “Whoa!” he calls out, raising his palms to stop my forward momentum and immediately narrowing his eyes when he spies the blood I didn’t realize I was covered with. “What the fuck, man? What happened?”

I grab his arm and tow him along behind me. “Are you hurt?” he asks with a hint of concern. I shake my head but don’t speak until we’re behind the relative safety of the closed doors of my suite.

Diving into the bathroom, I strip off my clothes and get cleaned up. Throwing the soiled garments under the shower to wash away the evidence.

“So, what’s the deal?” Kaiden asks from the doorway. “Because I’m supposed to be going to Vito with an update…”

I whip my head around and look at him. “Was it you?” I ask, looking him up and down. I know he’s armed; we all are. Even inside the compound, there’s nothing strange about that. You never know when something might go down, so it pays to always be prepared.

Kaiden frowns and tips his head to one side. “Was what me?”

“Vito.”

“What are you talking about, Dominic?”

I’m not sure Kaiden would admit to anything, even if he had pulled the trigger. But recent events put him right up there witha grudge. Still, I don’t want him to take the fall any more than me, since Mika and I promised to have his back.

Honor among thieves and all that.

“Do you normally report to Vito yourself, and is there a set time?” I ask him instead.

Kaiden shakes his head. “Honestly, I usually avoid the bastard as much as possible, but I was worried about Maricela…”

I purse my lips and stare at him. Maybe we’re not so different after all. “How do you normally arrange that?” I ask. “In person?”

“Nope, I just message one of his goons. They love that shit. Any opportunity to put themselves in front of him and into his good graces and they’re on it like white on rice.”

“Good, good,” I say with a distracted nod as I dig out clean clothes. “You should do that then.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asks again, and I shake my head.

“Plausible deniability. Take my word for it.”

He throws me a weird look but pulls out his phone and taps out a message.

“Now what?” he asks when he’s done.

“Now we wait. Shouldn’t take long, by all accounts.”

I’m not wrong. Barely five minutes later, there’s shouting in the corridor, and Kaiden swings around and stares at me. I hold his gaze. “What the hell did you do?” he asks in a pseudo-whisper.

---