Page 19 of Twisted Obsession

Complicated. That's one way to put it.

Raking my hands through my hair, I sigh and sit down on the bed while she unwraps her cutlery from a napkin, stoically staring at the tray instead of me. “Look, I heard you humming before I came in. You really need to be quiet…”

Roisin sucks in a breath and presses her lips together, and I know I’ve upset her. “For your own safety, I mean,” I explain, trying to make things better. “We can’t risk anyone coming to investigate.”

“You said I was safe here,” she says woodenly, still not looking my way.

“You’re as safe as I can make you,” I agree, even though that means precious little right now, and I’m only just realizing that maybe my words and intentions aren’t as solid as I expected. “But Vito is relentless. He’s still looking for you, so I don’t want to take any chances, and I need you to be aware, at all times, of anything you hear outside.”

She nods, but pushes her meal to one side, and I know I’ve rattled her. “I’m going to talk to Mika about getting you out of here,” I tell her, climbing to my feet and heading towards the door. “This room is supposed to be unoccupied, so for now, try to keep it looking unused as much as you can. Don’t leave things lying around, and if you hear someone at the door, hide in the bathroom, so if someone looks in, it’ll read like an empty room.”

Roisin's head snaps up at that, her green eyes wide with alarm. She stands up, taking a step towards me. "Dominic, what aren't you telling me? What’s happened?"

I hesitate, weighing my options. Telling her the truth might scare her, but it might also make her more cautious, more willing to cooperate with any security measures we put in place.

"Vito's getting close," I say finally, my voice low. "He's narrowing down your location. And if he finds you..." I trail off, unable to voice the horrors I overheard, but I don’t really need to. She already knows.

The color leaches from Roisin’s face, her freckles standing out starkly against her skin. “Dominic,” she whispers, reaching out her hand. “Please don’t leave…”

“I’ll be back,” I promise. “I just need to talk to Mika first. Then I’ll come back and stay with you.”

Unable to stomach the abject fear in her eyes any longer, I slip back out of the door and hurry to find my cousin.

I find Mika in his office, hunched over a stack of papers. He looks up as I enter, his brow furrowing at my expression.

"What's wrong?" he asks, pushing aside his work.

I close the door behind me, making sure we're alone. "We need to get Roisin out of here," I say without preamble. “What’s the hold-up?”

Mika's eyes narrow. "What do you know?"

"I overheard Vito talking. He's planning to hurt her, Mika. Badly. And video it all to send to her brothers, so they capitulate on blocking his use of their ports. If you want to avoid a war with the Irish, we can't let that happen, and I’m starting to think the only way to avoid it is to get her back to her family."

My cousin runs a hand through his hair, looking troubled. "Releasing her is risky. You know I’m not fully in control of whatever is going down. I’m not even sure I know it all..."

"It's riskier to keep her here," I argue. "Vito's sadistic, you know that. What he has planned... it's beyond torture. It's evil."

Mika studies me for a long moment. "You care about her," he says finally. It's not a question.

I open my mouth to deny it, but the words won't come. Instead, I deflect. "That's neither here nor there. The point is, we're in over our heads here. Whatever game is being played, we're just pawns. And Roisin's the one who's going to pay the price if we don't act, and if she gets hurt, it’ll impact the whole organization. Where does Don Salvatore stand on all this?"

Mika leans back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. “My father is… strangely uninterested,” he admits. “It’s almost like he’s enjoying watching Vito and I spar like this. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if he’s losing it.”

“Jesus!” That’s all we need. “So, what do we do?”

"I've been trying to figure out the endgame here, " he says after a long pause. “But it's clear now that things are being manipulated by Vito.”

That’s not really news, but I keep the snark to myself.

I nod instead, my mind racing. "We need to be smart about this. What if we stage a rescue? Make it look like her brothers found her?"

Mika shakes his head. “That’s not going to work while they have Maricela.”

I rest my palms on his desk and lean in. “Then why aren’t we negotiating a swap?”

“That’s something Vito needs to do.”

“But he isn't, is he? Why not? What’s his game here? Come on, Mika. Is he trying to engineer a war deliberately? Because that’s what it seems like. Why would he do that? What does he gain? There has to be more to him risking war than just gaining access to the ports. It’s not like we need the money…”

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