Page 102 of Brutal Obsession

And I won’t return without her.

If Harper doesn’t come out of this alive, neither will I.

Chapter 30

Harper

Metal clanks against cement.

I jolt awake, hazy and disoriented.

Consciousness is a slippery fish swimming around inside me, unpredictable and difficult to catch. I’m awake, but maybe not for long.

Restrained wrists. Pounding head. Desert-dry throat. An aching pain coming from somewhere below my chest, so sharp it hurts to breathe.

A musty aroma.

The pain clears my mind for just a moment. I don’t know what happened to my rib cage, but I remember what Enzo promised me just before the drugs pulled me under.

He told me the next time we met, he’d introduce me to his dick, that repulsive, wilted organ he shook at me while his accomplice strapped me down to a stretcher.

My insides wither like poisoned plants.

The realityof enduring sexual assault at Enzo’s hands sends me spiraling out of control into a world of panic unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

My body is about to be violated, if Enzo De Luca has anything to say about it. Beyond what’s happened to my torso already.

Cian pops into my mind, and fresh tears wet my closed eyes.

There’s still a thorn or two in my heart.

It’s longing. Bitter, angry, dissatisfied regret.

I never got to tell Cian that I care about him.

At least I got to kiss him, that one last time.

My thigh itches.

Something small—like a fingertip—drags up and down the side of it.

Shock and panic pry me further awake. I’m not alone.

Someone’s here.

Enzo.

I buck against my restraints, and a fresh wave of aching soreness pulses through my body. The pain crushes me flat.

A chuckle brushes over me from somewhere nearby.

“Thank you for my engagement gift.” Enzo’s distorted voice warbles through my ears. “I’ll treasure it always.”

My eyes roll open and closed, adjusting to the semidarkness of the space we’re in. Enzo stands over me, a horrific, too-wide smile plastered to his face.

Between his fingers, he holds a tiny, beigesomething. He rubs the little thing over and over, like it’s a precious gemstone.What the fuck is that thing?

“See this?” Enzo holds the back of his hand close to my face. Tattoos cover it, but two words stand out, even in my drugged, delirious state.

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