Page 100 of King of Obsession

Eyes clashed, brows arched.

I stepped forward, pulled aside one of the synthetic screens, and whistled under my breath.

Here was the reason for the Caputos’ secrecy, what they’d gone to such lengths to protect, their dirty little fuckin’ secret.

A freakin lab.

It stretched out in the vast space.

Workbenches lined the walls, each laden with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners, and microscopes.

In the center of the room, a series of massive, cylindrical tanks hummed and bubbled, their contents hidden behind a veil of frosted glass.

I reached to touch one of the reservoirs, my fingers hovering just above the transparent surface.

‘Dio,’ Cleo breathed, coming alongside me. ‘They arecooking meth.’

My eyes darted around the room. Bags of innocuous shit were stacked in the corner, waiting to be processed. The scale of the operation was staggering.

Sucking my teeth, I pulled out my phone and began snapping photos, documenting the evidence. We had to move fast before-

A voice cut through the silence like a knife.

‘What the actual fuck?’

CLEO

Alessio’s entire frame locked beside me.

His arm went to me, pulling me behind him as he sauntered out of the makeshift lab.

I followed, heart thudding.

Three men stepped through the mangled fissure we’d punched into the dim-lit barn.

The lead was thin and tall, with a jagged scar twisting down his cheek, distorting his fierce expression.

The second man’s eyes were bloodshot, pupils dilated.

He was twitchy, fingers drumming restlessly against his thigh. Meth, probably.

The last appeared like he’d gone a few rounds with a brick wall and lost. One eye was almost swollen shut, mottled purple and black.

‘If it’s not the three Conti stooges,’ I called out. ‘Why’d y’all miss out on morning mass? Your black souls not good enough for church?’

‘Well, well, look who it is,’ Rocco sneered, his dark eyes glaring at Alessio and me. ‘You the reason we were woken with a fuckin’ bang?’

‘Don’t knock it. It’s our one-off home delivered good morning,’ Alessio drawled.

Rocco glowered, ignoring him, eyes fixed on me. ‘Queen Cleo, scurrying around in our shithole barn like a rat. You could have knocked on the front door, darlin’? We’d have let you in. After all, this will be your forever home with our father.’

As much as I wanted to spit in his ugly, scarred face, we had to play this smart. We were outnumbered and outgunned at the moment.

I glanced at Alessio, who appeared at ease, leaning casually nonchalantly against a stack of hay bales. His calmness reassured me.

‘Your freakish delusions are off the charts, Rocco,’ I said. ‘Downright weird.’

Rocco’s eyes flashed with malice. ‘Funny. I was about to say the same about you, Cleo. Isn’t it weird to be slumming it in barns with some random jackass instead of prepping to be our father’s long-awaited bride? Or did this shithead accompany you to hand yourself into us before our father arrives?’

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