Page 35 of Unruly Obsession
“Find out who’s supporting them. We’ll offer them a better deal,” Luca says.
“Yes, boss.” Crippling Henrith Taylor's business and waiting to force him into a position to sell to us shouldn’t take long.
“Good. Keep me updated. I want this all sorted quickly. I don’t want any loose ends when I return. I only want to focus on my wife and unborn baby.”
“Yes, boss.”
The line cuts out, and I listen in on Lily greeting someone who sounds like a butler.
My screen lights up again, and my eyebrows furrow.
It’s been a while since I spoke to my younger brother, Dante, and for good reason. I’m ready to kill the little fucker myself. Our last phone conversation didn’t go so well. Or the ones before that with years in between them.
“You have a lot of nerve calling me,” I grit out. “Can I assume you’ve reconsidered?”
His arrogant laugh comes through the phone, and I feel my temple pulse. I know he does it on purpose. He’s always known how to irk me.
“Do you really think I’m going to change my mind because you stopped sending me money? I never realized you thought I was so cheap.”
My jaw grinds as I keep tabs on Lily during the conversation. “We had an agreement. You’d go all the way through with your studies, and I’d fund it. I wanted a better life for you.”
The humor drops from his tone. “It was you who wanted me to become a hero, not me, and I dedicated the last twelve years to becoming a surgeon. Don’t pretend like I haven’t put in my time while you commit petty crimes.”
Petty crimes.This smug little asshole knows exactly what I do and what I’ve been up to, considering he was trained for the same thing by our father from the day we could both fucking walk.
It was because I wanted to give him a better life that I encouraged him to do something useful with his hands—helping and saving people instead of following in my footsteps and hurting them.
“I just called to remind you I don’t need your money, Lorenzo. I never really have. And I wanted to let you know thatthe guy you sent to follow me? Well, he’s not exactly able to work anymore. Don’t send anyone else, or I’ll start sending body parts as gifts.”
This little fucker. “Might take some time coming from London, don’t you think?”
He chuckles. “Who said I’m still in London?”
I listen in as Lily excuses herself to the bathroom.
“So, what will you do now?” I question.
“Oh, you know me. I’m an opportunist, looking to see what work might be around.”
That’s never a good thing. The reason I forced him to agree to study something with a noble cause is because of his unfavorable personality. And whenever he decides to go rogue, it's never a good thing.
But I have bigger fucking problems right now.
“I’m not bailing your ass out when you get into trouble,” I warn.
His patronizing chuckle comes through the phone again. “Stay out of my business, Lorenzo. Playing hero has never looked good on you, has it, big bro?”
The ghostly sound of my little sister's scream immediately echoes in my head, and I hate how his jab hits the mark. The memory of my outstretched hand trying to grab hers in time, knowing it was already too late.
That day changed everything.
It changed both of us, and I’m furious that he uses it as a weapon.
I hang up the phone, only now noticing how my knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel.
Fucker.
I refocus on the task right in front of me.
