Page 59 of Their Stolen Obsession
I was afraid she’d vanish.Poof. Gone into thin air. But she didn’t.
Liv was still there.
“Do you feel any better?” I asked.
“Kinda.” She stood up and walked to the countertop.
“Kinda isn’t good enough.” I trailed in close behind her, scared she might collapse. “Is there anything else I can do?”
The weak spell had passed, and Liv could walk on her own. The sugar rush provided her with energy, almost like a second wind. She also had a newfound strength from the caffeine after it had kicked in.
Liv surprised me and yanked a knife from a butcher’s block. The blade glistened as she twisted it from side to side. She examined its sharpness, and I almost ejaculated in my pants. Fuck. She was sexy as hell when she took charge, and I was digging this new side to my girl.
“You can help me kill Preston.” Liv touched the tip of the blade. “Take me to him.”
Preston.Liv was ready to deal with that motherfucker. I was more than willing to grant her wish.
I grinned. “Atta girl.”
Thirty-Two
Her Predator
Sin
The dead were at our feet as we trudged over corpses, blood, brains, and body parts. Romance was in the air. The romantic scene would go down in my books as the best lovey-dovey moment of my life. One of many with the love of my life.
I hummed a tune as we held hands and walked down the hall. The sound helped soothe Liv, who gripped the handle of the knife for dear life because she knew where we were headed. To the pit.
As upset as I may be with her need for extra safeguard, she had every right to protect herself. I couldn’t fucking blame her after everything I could only imagine Preston had done to her. I had a bad feeling the dog bite was the least of hisawful torment.
“Wait.” Liv stopped, her hand sweaty, but I wouldn’t let her go. “I need a second.”
Liv glanced around and, from the fear in her eyes, she recognized where she was. I could only imagine the memories she had that came rushing back, and I fucking wanted to push them away. To keep her safe from all the darkness on replay in her head after I couldn’t protect her the day Preston had let his pit bulls loose.
I went to touch her face, but Liv gasped. She retreated backward and let go of my hand. Our magical spell of romance was broken by my idiocy.
Stupid. Too much, too fast. Too goddamn soon.
“Please don’t fear me,” I pleaded with Liv.
My obsession was somewhere else. She was in a place that was not mine, a nightmare I wanted to control. Not Preston fucking Pitrone. He had no place in her life until he had forced his way inside of her brain, into her deep subconscious and ruined everything.
My anger boiled over, seething at the seams. Smoke could puff out of my fucking ears because that was how mad I was. Pissed at the knife she still had in her hand, the Mafia for taking her away, and the world. But above all, I raged at myself.
Ihad done this to Liv. Saint and me. Ifwehad only fought our addiction, only watched her from afar,maybe none of this bullshit would have happened. Sebastian would have her tucked away in bed with him right now.
Fuck.
Fuck!Fuck!Fuck!
I loathed the panic in Liv’s brown eyes, which used to excite me. She’d turn me on, and I’d be hard as a fucking rock from the delightful sight. But this fear wasn’t because of me. The fright was because ofPreston.
A throaty groan crawled up my throat, and I got ready to release a scream. The beast inside of me was rising from the hot molten lava, and I was teetering on the edge of no control. I had to blow off steam.
There was a corpse slouched against the wall. Its head tilted, mouth agape, and eyes wide open with death. I pummeled my fist straight into the chest cavity, bones cracked, and my knuckles came back bloody. The next punch was a blow to the skull, an opening to the guts of the brain, and the texture made me want to do it all over again. I released my fury repeatedly until a hand touched my shoulder.
“What?” I roared.
