Page 60 of Deadlier Obsessions

Untying me from the bed, he yanks me up, and once I’m standing, he pulls me out of the room while Lucy sobs my name repeatedly.

Turning to her on my way out of the room, I flash her a sorrowful look. “Do what he says, alright? And tell them I love them.”

GAGE

When the dickhead took her phone, I was able to screenshot a very quick image of him, only seconds before he smashed the phone. If he touches a fucking hair on her head, he’s a dead man. I nearly snort at myself because that’s a lie. He’s a dead man regardless. Taking our women is a crime enough for punishment by death.

Sebastian runs a hand through his hair. “What if we don’t get there in time, Gage? He said he was going to kill her. Chances are, he’s hurting her already.”

I grab his hand and try to ease his agony. “As long as he doesn’t move them, we’ll get them back. The idiot doesn’t seem to realize they have three men tracking where he’s got them.We already have the address, and we’re getting them back. And then,” I run my tongue over my bottom lip, imagining everything I’m going to do to him, “the fucker will pay.”

I glance at Mav who appears a little like a bomb ready to explode.

“You with us, man?”

He nods slowly. “Yep. Kill the fucker.”

Shaking my head, I say. “After. We find the women, make sure they are safe, andthenwe kill the fucker.”

We pull up to the address I tracked, and I become immediately concerned. I assume the doors are locked, and we won’t be able to go through a window, since every single one appears to be boarded up.Fuck.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

LUCY

I think we both completely underestimated this situation, and this one guy who has taken us. Sure, he looks like some young frat boy, and he’s relying on a gun to keep us under control, because anything else and we’d have fought him more, but now he has Stella, and he’s hurting her. I fight to break free of the handcuffs, but they’re metal, and I’m just too weak to do anything to free myself. I try sliding my hands out of them, pulling my thumbs in as much as I can, but it’s impossible. I’m just sitting here like a fucking loser, while he hurts her! She needs me, and I can’t get to her.

I hear another scream, and something crashes against the wall, and I’m so scared its Stella, that I’m screaming her name. How can this be happening? Why are we here, and where the hell are our men? Do they really think we just ran from them? Are they sitting in a bar somewhere, drowning their sorrows, while Stella might be dying? What about her baby, oh god, what if he hurts her baby?! I start screaming even louder, begging him to free her, or to hurt me instead. Why can’t he bring her back to me? I’ll take the pain for her this time, she doesn’t need to always be the one putting herself in danger for me.

“Please! I’ll do anything! Stella!!!”

It falls quiet in the room beside us; no more crashing, or screaming, just silence, and I’m terrified that it means she’s dead. What if he just killed her? My best friend. My sister fromanother mister, or whatever the expression is. We were signing books for people, we were having fun, how can this be the result?

There’s a sound, and it’s not coming from the room where he took her. It’s behind me, where there’s simply a wall and a boarded-up window. What’s he doing now? Is he planning to kill me next?

“Stella,” I sob, curling up on the floor by the bed, wishing he’d just bring her back so I can make sure she’s alive. I’m terrified that she’s not, and I’m equally terrified she is alive, but she’s in so much pain that she’s wishing for death. Our men should be here. They should be fixing this and saving us. Where are they? This shouldn’t be the result of our time together. This shouldn’t be our future. If Stella’s dead, I want to be too. I can’t live without her with us. Or with me, if our men truly don’t come for us.

When he comes for me, I won’t fight him. I’ll just let him do it, because… my heart sinks even further as I realise I’m making a unilateral decision here for my baby as well as me. I should fight for him or her, rather than just giving in, shouldn’t I? It isn’t just about me anymore, just like Stella would have been fighting hard for her child, I need to do the same.

I don’t want my baby to be hurt, and I don’t want them to die before they even get a chance at life. We would have had a great life together, with our babies growing up together, and being siblings, literally from different mothers, but siblings, nonetheless. They deserved that chance, we all did.

Where are you, Mav, Gage, and Sebastian? Why aren’t you here to save us? Why couldn’t you save Stella and that poor unborn child? Why won’t you save the two of us either? Do you really think we’d just run from you without a word?

You said you’d never let us leave you, so where are you? Was it all bullshit? We’ve seen them kill for us, so why aren’t they here to do it again?

There are more noises behind me, movement, a person, but despite my desire to fight for the baby, if not for myself, I’m frozen with fear. I’ve heard of fight or flight, but right now it’s more like I want to do both, but neither is possible.

Someone grabs me, and I try to scream, because even though I know he’s going to kill me, and I know I’m not capable of stopping him, I can’t fight the fear that fills me again, like a fire burning its way through my body, and telling me I can’t give up.

GAGE

We break in through the back door as quietly as we can, so this dipshit isn’t alerted to our presence. The second we make it into the filthiest kitchen I’ve seen in my life, we all freeze momentarily when we hear screaming. Not just screaming, blood curdling screams.

Stella.

I whisper to Mav and Sebastian, “We need to split up. I’m going toward the screams.”

The fact is I’m only hearing Stella, which means either they’ve been separated, or Lucy is already dead. The mere thought of it leaves a pit of dread in my stomach. The only thing more terrifying than the sounds of her crying out, is the sudden silence. It’s eerie, and I already know whatever we find is going to send me flying into a rage.

---