Page 35 of Deadly Obsession
“Brian, are they both dead? What did you do?”Thiscame from Jade.
“I don’t rightly know! I heard something at the front door and couldn’t find Lola. I stepped out here and found James hovering over her… like this!” The tears were starting to leak from the cracks in my armor. “Go get the bag! Quick!”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the unconscious man below me. My right hand clenched tightly around the shotgun, the barrel hanging directly above his chest.
“I should kill you for what you’ve done!” I bit out as I struggled to hold back my emotions. “You stole her from me!” My finger crept towards the trigger. “Sick fucking?—”
“Brian, what the bloody hell is going on down there?” Sera yelled from the upper deck, pulling me from my dark thoughts.
“Stay up there, Sera! You don’t want to see this!” I replied, briefly taking my eyes off James to glance up at her.
The expression on her face broke my heart but there was a lot of that going on at present. As my glare returned to James lying at my feet, I realized my entire body was trembling and my stomach was still twisted up. I was no soldier. I was nothing of the sort. I sold insurance for a living. Violence was something that appalled me, just as much as gore. Yet, here I was, standing over another man with a gun in my hands while the woman of my dreams lay dead beside him.
The sound of crying stole my attention, and I turned to find Danielle with my bag in her outstretched arm.
“Hold it for me,” I said before setting the gun on top of the tailgate and unzipping the duffle bag.
She glanced inside as I shuffled around the contents. Multiple neatly wrapped bundles of Shibari rope all freshly buttered. I’d taken lessons for months leading up to this trip and had hoped to impress Lola. Now, I was about to use them on her killer instead.
A tear escaped from the corner of my eye as I pulled two bundles of black rope from the bag and a roll of black duct tape. “Danielle, I want you to take the gun and go inside. All of you girls need to stay in the living room,” I told her without looking in her direction, and then I began to bind James’s wrists and forearms together.
Second rope.
I was certain handcuffs would work better but I only had the fun mock kind with pretty soft insides. James certainly would have the real deal somewhere, but I needed to get himrestrained before he woke up and could kill anyone else. So my newly-acquired Shibari skills were getting their debut like this.
After a few minutes, his wrists and forearms were bound as well as his ankles in a double-column knot, just in time for him to start stirring. I looked back over to the cabin, my eyes focusing on the steps.
Well, he wasn’t likely going to stay unconscious much longer anyway.
Grabbing James by the rope tied around his ankles, I dragged his limp form to the stairs and up, his head cracking against each wooden step along the way.
“What the fuck!” he growled out, flailing his body and trying to rip out of my grip.
“Don’t bother, mate!” I replied as I continued to drag him into the house and over to the large walk-in pantry.
“Brian, it’s not what it looks like! You got to hear me out! There’s someone out there!” he yelled, attempting to rock himself into a seated position.
I grabbed the roll of duct tape, pulled at the end, and held it to the side of his head as he struggled.
“Brian, you aren’t fucking listening! Sera! Her hu—” was as much as he got out before I secured his mouth, his eyes burning into me while I undid his ankle binding and tied the ends around the base of the bolted-in pantry shelves.
I hesitated a moment before I stood and walked to the door. He sounded so serious, like he actually believed what he was saying.
Shaking my head, I turned back to watch him struggle. “We’re going to get the constables out here as soon as possible. Until then, you will stay put.”
I was about to shut the door when a mix of loud voices gave me pause. But before I could fully pivot to look, something hard collided with my side.
“Brian, what the fuck! Let him go!” Sera screamed.
I had to reach out and plant a hand against the nearbywall to prevent myself from falling over as she landed a solid tackle to my side. However, in the time it took me to regain my footing, she was inside the pantry, crying out to James while cradling his body.
“Sera, no!”
TWENTY-TWO
SERA
“James!” I screamed as I practically fell into the room and dove onto his body.
