Page 19 of Veil of Obsession
Princess
Iwatch him.
Not in the flesh. Not yet. But I’m watching him through the soft glow of the monitors. The footage may be grainy, but at least I get to see him.
The cameras are mounted around his luxurious Manhattan apartment in places where he’ll never look or even think of. He’s sitting to the side of his brother, who is at the head of the table. Lucio’s jaw is tight, his hands flexing against the armrests like he’s holding back the urge to destroy something. Or someone. His brother is ripping into him.
As I lean closer to the screen, my breath fogs the air in the tiny space. It smells of stale coffee and burnt wires, but I don’t give a shit. This is where I belong: in the shadows, in the dark where I rule. My world is here, in these screens, in him. I’m biting on the corner of my thumb, an old habit, and pressing the tips of my fingers harder into the desk to keep them from shaking.
They’re not alone. Their younger brother is with them, of course. Emiliano, the oldest in the trio, the boss, speaks with the kind of authority that demands obedience and tolerates nothing else. The younger one, the strategist, leans forward, trying to calm them, his calculated words slicing through the air. Their cousin, the second in command, stands far off, his back to the wall, but his eyes jump between the brothers. And then there’s the enforcer of the Camorra, who looks like he’s cracking jokes as if he’s a comedian. As if the situation they’re in is amusing to him.
But it’s him—always him—who holds my attention. Even in silence, he draws me to him like a moth to a flame.
They’re talking about her. The girl. The dead girl. The one I made disappear.
Something in my stomach twists, and her face flashes in my mind. Her eyes wide and terrified, the sound of her choking on her own blood. I clench my fists, digging my nails into my palms until the pain cuts through the memory. The killing is the hardest part of being in his world.
It’s my fault. And I know that. But what else could I do? She would’ve ruined everything. Would’ve pulled him away from me. I know I’ll never have something real with him because people like me never end up happy. We always end up alone.
She shouldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have touched him, smiled at him,existed in his space.
He’s mine. Didn’t she know that?
The older brother slams his fist on the table, and I flinch. I should’ve installed audio with these damn cameras. He’s calling the shots, trying to clean up the mess I made. He thinks this was a rival, an attack. They are at war with the Chicago mafia, or at least that’s what my uncles have been talking about.
I hold my breath, waiting for Lucio to reveal that it was me, his stalker. And for him to give them my number. Fuck. It wouldtake thirty minutes, if that, for his younger brother to find me. I’m good at what I do, but not as good as Matteo Folonari. But Lucio never reveals who it truly is.
Looks like my little obsession is withholding important information from his own. A little secret between us. It makes me giddy.
I press my finger against the screen where his face is, wishing I could reach through the glass. Wishing I could tell him I’m doing this for him, for us. He doesn’t understand, not yet, but I’m the one keeping him safe. Keeping himmine. He doesn’t get the sacrifice, the obsession. But soon enough, he will.
The room on the screen grows quiet. His brothers look at him, waiting for him to speak, but he doesn’t. He just stares at the table, his jaw flexing again, his thoughts miles away. I wonder if he’s thinking about her. About if she felt any pain in her death.
She didn’t. I made sure to end her life quickly. I don’t enjoy killing them, let alone torturing them. If they had stayed away from him, they would’ve lived. Alas, they didn’t.
But the fact that he’s thinking about her, even for a second, makes me hate her all over again.
I exhale slowly, my lips brushing the edge of my coffee cup, though the liquid’s long gone cold. They’re unraveling; I can feel it. A thread pulled loose by my hand, and now it’s all coming undone.
But he’s safe. And that’s the only thing that matters to me. Even if it means that I’m the monster in the shadows, watching him from a distance, making sure nothing and no one gets too close.
Glancing at the clock, I see that dawn is approaching, but I’m not leaving this room ’til he’s alone. The men stay seated around the table, discussing what their next steps are, before they all fileout the front door. Lucio is left sitting at the table all alone, in the dark.
I narrow my eyes and watch as he slides his phone out of his pocket and types something. My phone buzzes on the table, and I watch him as he lays his phone on the table, the light illuminating the dark space. Picking up my phone, I scan the message.
Lucio
Why’d you do it?
Me
I told you. She’s not good enough for you.
Quickly pressing send on the message, I flick my eyes back up to the screen to watch for his reaction. A single side of his lips lifts up in an uneven smirk.
Interesting.
He types something on his phone, and I’m back to biting the skin around my thumb, waiting for his text.
