Page 28 of Divine Obsession

Carefully, I straightened and looked over my shoulder, expecting to see one of dad’s business partners in a perfectly tailored suit.

I wasn’t far off.

A man, not too much older than myself, though almost double in height and size, sat on one of the island stools, pressing a kitchen towel into the side of his body. Except both the towel and his white button-down shirt were soaked with blood.

My eyes widened, taking in the horrific scene. “Oh,shit!”

“Yeah,” The man breathed out in dry amusement, checking his wound. “Shit.”

He was too far into the shadows, that I couldn’t make out his face – though I doubt I would’ve recognized him as one of dad’s many business partners. He was eerily calm about bleeding out.

“Who–”

“You must be the new kid.”

My jaw tightened. “Whoare you andwhatare you doing here?”

“Friend of Salvatore’s. Meeting went sideways,” He explained as if that made perfect sense, but it just seemed like he was talking in a code I didn’t understand.

A sudden, dark thought entered my mind. If this man I didn’t know was covered in blood, then what about…

“Relax. Your father’s fine.”

“Then who…”

He scoffed. “A suicidal Russian.”

“So, that’s not your blood?” I frowned, confused. “Is he okay?”

The man looked at me.

Blinked.

Then blinked again.

“Is he in the ER? They’re sending him to rehab, right? He obviously needs help.”

The man stood, still pressing the towel into his side as he made his way towards me. Finally, the dim light revealed his sharp features, making me realize his cloudy, grey eyes had been piercing through me the entire time.

“Natalia, was it?”

His perfectly proportionate, harmonious, almost breathtakingly beautiful appearance took me by surprise, making me halter.

“Yeah?”

He stopped a couple feet away from me, towering over me in his height. “Thatbastardosneaked a knife past the bodyguards and stabbed me from the back.”

My mouth fell open. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he wanted to kill me.” He spoke as if he was dumbing it down for me. When I still didn’t respond, he dipped his chin and raised an unimpressed brow down at me. “So I slit his throat with his own blade.”

The confession washed over me like a bucket of ice water, freezing me on the spot. His words worked their way through my brain as I started making sense of what he’d just said.

Someone had just gotten murdered in my home.

And by the look on this man’s face, it wasn’t the first time. For himorthis place.

“Natalia, what do you know about the Morettis?”

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