Page 20 of Their Stolen Obsession
“Sebastian is useless! He’s trash and not willing to talk. He’s been rotting away for over a week, and we can’t afford to fuck around,” I interrupted and stared Saint straight in the eyes. “He doesn’t care aboutanyone but himself.”
Saint stared right back. His mouth clamped shut, but his mind seemed to reel with questions. Questions I had no answers to. Not yet.
Saint asked, “Did you kill him?”
“No.” I shook my head and tapped on the screen. “We’ll leave his sorry ass for Liv when she comes back. Understand?”
“Understood.” Saint gave a reluctant nod.
Saint didn’t agree. I didn’t either, but the decision was final, and the right thing to do. No matter how much we wanted Sebastian dead to keep Liv safe, the choice was hers, and we’d keep it that way.
My hand trembled as I laid my forearms on my legs and tipped the screen up so Saint could see. We were about to view our girl’s last moments.
“Are you ready?” I asked, my finger hovering over the play button.
“I’m ready to get her back,” Saint replied, and that was the only answer I needed.
I hit play.
I hated watching this damn video. Even though the contents contained our obsession, she wasn’t herself. Sebastian had broken Liv down, prepared her to marry into misery for the rest of her life. Her family had forced her to comply with a devil she should never have been with because she was ours.
We viewed each frame, every reminder that she was gone. She was weak, fragile, and taken. Stolen from us. The pain of her disappearance ripped a hole in me I never thought was possible because I had one too many. But this one was a crater, slamming into the depths of my dark soul.
“I can’t wait to strangle this fucker,” I whispered hoarsely when the video ended.
The last image was of Liv’s father desperately yelling for his daughter. His concerned face immediately showed shock as he realized a struggle had occurred; then, upon seeing our necklace, he fell to his knees. The chain discarded on the carpet as he picked it up with tears in his eyes. His pain was almost unbearable to see. I understood his agony too, and my heart was up in my throat.
Goddamn it. I rewound the video back, unable to take anymore. The first round was useless. I was too fucking distracted by my pain to focus. My will to want to reach through the screen and break that motherfucker’s neck who took her away.
“I got nothing,” Saint whispered, his voice hoarse with heartbreak.
“Let’s watch it again,” I insisted, even though my heart broke too.
“Wait…” Saint expressed as he put his hand on my arm and peered at me with concern. “Are you sure you can handle this?”
“Of course I can fucking handle this,” I muttered as I pushed his hand off me, and I ran a hand down my face. “Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something…”
My hand was wet.Fuck.Tears.
I wiped the wetness away. Angry at myself for getting fucking emotional and crying like a goddamn baby. I wasn’t a pussy, but Liv made me into something I had never been before: vulnerable. She was my weakness.
“It’s nothing. Jesus. Can we focus? Please?” I asked, but it was more directed at myself.
“Yep,” Saint answered with a pop of theP.
The video played again, and it took everything inside of me not to smash my phone in half. I held all the pain, vulnerabilities, and pure disdain back, searching for anything to give us a lead.
“Let me go, asshole! Help—” Liv screamed from the top of her lungs before her kidnapper silenced her with his hand over her mouth.
Fuck. I hated hearing her plead for help that I knew would come too late.Jesus Christ.My heart hammered like a drum in my chest, and I almost wanted to throw up, but I held the bile collecting inmy throat back.Shit!Fuck!The only satisfaction I received was from Liv biting his hand and his curse of pain, but I already knew what was coming next.
Chloroform. The fucking cloth covered her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut.
Jesus. I hurt so damn much.
The image shook until Liv’s necklace fell off. I held my breath and braced for the end. The last time I’d see her fucking gorgeous face. Until we had to watch this shit all over again and suffer through till the next ending. A finish line that would never conclude because we couldn’t get a damn answer!
Saint was right. This bullshit video was pointless. Another bad fucking idea on my part. To relive the most torturous moment in our entire lives.
