Page 21 of Dangerous Obsession

“Look, honey, you're going to do what I tell you to do so I don't have to hurt you. Nobody wants to shed any blood, I just follow my orders, and you do what you're told also.”

Trembling, I say, “You mean you're not going to kill me?”

“If you don't go get dressed and shut your fucking mouth I will. Because it'll be a hell of a lot easier to explain blood all over these walls than it would be to deal with you rebelling against me.” The expression he gives me is one I've seen a thousand times in the last forty-eight hours. This man is undoubtedly one of Leo’s brothers. I know he has like four or five.

Fear of death is a funny thing. It makes you do things you would under other circumstances never do. I walk past him back into the bedroom and he follows me. Swallowing hard, I turned to him and gesture with my finger in a circle. “Turn around,” I order.

“For what, honey? You think I ain't never seen no bitch naked?” He chuckles at me with a slightly smirk on his face and crosses his arms over his chest indignantly. He has no intention of giving me any privacy to get dressed.

“Does Leo know you watch his women get dressed?”

“Does leos woman know that I fucked every one of his exes except for you?” He walks closer to me; His eyes lusty and hungry like he's stalking me. He holds his hand up all of his fingers curled back except for his pinky. He uses the very tip of his pinky to brush a single strand of damp hair off my forehead and out of my eyes. As he does he says, “Who says you have to be an ex for me to fuck you?”

I shudder with fear and back away. I'm not afraid that he will hurt me, because I know that Leo will kill him if he does; it doesn't matter if this man is his brother. But the idea of being sexually assaulted by this man on the same bed where I just had sex with a man I think I might be in love with, only days after giving that man my virginity, well that thought makes me feel sick in the stomach.

With all the strength I can muster I walk around to the other side of the bed, pick up my t-shirt and shorts, slowly peel the towel away from my body and lay across the bed, and then quickly get dressed. It's degrading, and humiliating, and I want to go home, but I want to live even more than that. I want Leo to come back now. I want him to walk in here and see what this man is making me do. But he doesn't and soon I'm being swept out of the room and shoved into the back of a black sedan, where I’m being shuttled to God only knows where. I didn't even get to grab my bag. My feet are bare, and my chest aches from the amount of anxiety I've been under for days now.

For the second time in twelve years I want to call my father. Even if it risks his life. Because I want to go home.

13

LEO

From the instant I pull up outside my father's house I know something is wrong. Something is different; I can feel it in my gut. I took one of his men's cars, and went to the local bakery to grab some doughnuts and coffees for Willow and I to have for breakfast before we discuss our next steps. I carry them in my hand as I walk up the steps to the front door and open it. Rome stands at the bottom of the steps, a sentry guarding my father's best interest.

He looks at me calmly, though I get the feeling that he isn't at all calm. Ignore him and walk straight down the hallway to the room where I left Willow to shower and prepare for our day. The door is standing slightly open, and I left it shut. I told no one that I was leaving, but that doesn't mean they didn't hear me drive away. And I did give Dominic a very strict order to stay out of that room, though my absence from the room may have indicated to him that I was finished there. Still, I made it very clear to them what I expected.

So imagine my surprise when I walk into this room and Willow is gone. There's a towel draped across the bed as if she showered like I told her to. But her clothing is gone, the shorts and T-shirt she's been wearing. I set the donuts and coffee on the nightstand and walked to the bathroom. That door is also slightly ajar. The room is hot and steamy, as if she has only finished having her shower. Her panties lay there on the ground, but she is not here either.

My chest tightens with anger; I clench my jaw. If my father has done something to harm a single hair on her head I will murder him myself. I know what that means for my life, that I’ll always be on the run from my entire family, but willow is mine. No one will ever hurt her and get away with it.

I march out of my room and back up the hallway to Rome, who now stands with his hands clasped in front of his groin, chest puffed out, and shoulder squared. “Get out of my way, Rome.” At my order he stiffens his neck, as if he were going to stop me from mounting those stairs. He's younger than me, smaller than me, and I have bested him in every physical altercation we've ever been in. “Now.”

“Dad is getting his medication right now, Leo. You cannot go up there, because I was given strict orders to keep you away from him.” Rome's eyes dart back and forth between mine. He's testing me. He wants to follow Dominic’s orders, but I can see that he also doesn't want to anger me. That's a very smart position for him to be in with me at this moment. Because I cannot be held responsible for what I'm about to do if he doesn't move the fuck out of my way.

“Do you really want to put a bullet in me this morning, Rome?” I lean in so close I know my hot breath wafts across his face. He doesn't flinch, or blink. He doesn't move a muscle. “Because it's fine if Dominic sent the order to put a bullet in me, but we’re blood. We’re brothers. This disagreement is not between you and me, it's between me, Dominic, and our father. So if someone's going to do some shooting today, let it be one of them.”

Rome looks thoughtful for a moment. I know him, and he's loyal to a fault. But this is a complex issue and family loyalty means loyalty to me as well. I can see his wheels turning; he's thinking about what he should do or shouldn't do. As if there were a right or wrong thing in this situation. So I help him along in his thought process.

“I'm not going to hurt him. I just want to find out where they took her so I can get her back.” I don't back down. I continue breathing down his face, and he nods one solemn tiny nod. I know that he does not want to defy Dominic. So I make that easy for him by rebelling against his order.

I step around him and take the steps two at a time ascending to the second floor where my father lies in bed. I hear Rome following me, though he follows me calmly. I opened the door to the bedroom and walk in to see my father lying naked on his bed. His young nurse, about the age of twenty-five maybe, is giving him a sponge bath. He looks up at me, not even surprised to see someone walking in on him receiving his bath. Then he speaks to me in a stoic tone.

“I only did what was necessary to protect my family.”

The nurse continues washing him, dipping her sponge in the bowl of warm water then rubbing it over his aging frame. She studiously continues as if the conversation isn't even happening. I wonder how many times this has happened in the past. I also wonder how much he pays her to do this service for him, because I can't imagine it's pleasant for such a young woman to have to touch such an old wrinkly man in such an intimate way.

“Where is she?” I leave no room for doubt about how I'm feeling following my father's actions. My tone is curt, cold, and I expect an answer.

“You should not have brought her into this home, Leonid.” I don't understand how he can remain so calm when he knows how angry I am. If he were any other man he'd have a bullet in him already. The only reason I have respect for him is because he raised me.

“We had no other choice. They were on our tail. The truck I stole was running out of gas and we had no way to get to another safe house.” I clenched my hands into fists glaring at the nurse. She glances up at me and then looks at my father. Now she looks nervous, because maybe now she's getting the point that she is not wanted here. Still she continues washing him, except now her hands are shaking.

“Roman, please escort your brother out of my bedroom.” My father's order is final, and I know Rome will not defy him. In the interest of not causing a complete commotion where I may lose my ability to maintain self-control I take a step away from Rome.

“If you hurt her, I will kill you.”

“Very strong words for a man in the position you are in. Leonid, you have put this family at risk enough times. It's time for you to listen to my wisdom, because one day I won't be here to protect you. If you can't respect me while I'm here, then what will you do with Dominic when I’m gone?”

---