Page 88 of Unruly Obsession
“Is that my money on the table?” I demand of him. He curls into himself, becoming something I’ve never seen in my brother before. A coward.
“Your father’s business was going under,” Lorenzo starts, and takes a few steps back to lean against the railing. I can’t help but notice the space he’s creating between us, as if trying to make this more of a business transaction. Maybe our time spent together really was only in my head. “He made a deal with a man called Nicholas Wayne. He borrowed some money, and when it was time to pay it back with interest, he thought he could depend on his son to hand over the cash. Instead, Vince used it to save his own ass and gambled the rest away.
"He most likely thought they’d come for your father’s head, and it’d eradicate the issues he’s been dealing with being under your father's thumb with his expectations and demands.”
I look back over my shoulder at my brother, who’s still staring at the floor, and I know every word is the truth.
“What he probably didn’t realize was that it wasn’t your father they came for. It wasyou.”
Vince and I both gape at him.
“No,” Vince is quick to say. “I would never put my sister in danger. I might not be a good person, but I’d never hurt her.”
Lorenzo's lips stretch into a cruel smile filled with disdain. “The thing is, in this world, you don’t get to choose who dies when you’re the one dealt a beggar's hand.”
I begin to piece parts together. “It was never Ara they were after in Italy, was it?”
His brown eyes soak me in, and he simply nods confirmation. I release a breath. “Oh God.” My hand falls to my stomach. They were after me this whole time. I mocked Lorenzo for being so on guard that it was a stretch they’d be after me, but they were. “Who are these people? How much do we owe them? When will they come next?”
Lorenzo straightens to his full height. “They won’t come anywhere near you. My boss is generously willing to make an offer to get you out. In return, you’ll sign over your family's companies but still manage them on the front end.”
Vince scoffs. “I’m not giving you shit.”
Lorenzo raises an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’re certain with all the debt you have, that you can not only pay them with interest but all the others you owe, in enough time to ensure your sister's safety?”
My brother flinches with the realization of how royally fucked he is.
Lorenzo sounds so clinical, so cold, just like when we first began. A lump lodges in my throat as I say, “How convenient an opportunity for you and your boss to gain in this situation. Didn’t you say, after all, when your boss makes a profit, so do you?”
“When Ara asked me to watch you, my boss definitely seized an opportunity. Ara, however, had nothing to do with this. She was wholeheartedly concerned for your safety.”
I scoff, surprised he’s even defending her. “And you?”
He pins me with a glare, promising punishments and sweet nothings. My core floods with warmth, and I hate how my body betrays me. How much it yearns to be with this man who’s done nothing but flip my world upside down since he came into it. Then again, pieces were moving against me long before his intervention.
“If my brother signs everything over, and you get what you want, then what, you pay them off? Do I not even get a say in this when it’s my family's fight?Myfight,” I correct, because at this point it has nothing to do with the money or danger that lurks around the corner. I just need to know, no matter what, that there was some truth to the time we spent together.
I don’t know why, but it feels like the last piece that will keep me intact or break me apart. Through the pain, I’m just soangry.
Lorenzo’s expression softens. “I have only ever been fighting on your behalf.”
“But you want my father’s business. Was any of what you said about protecting me the truth?” My voice grows smaller. Because I trusted him, and I'm confused by the fact that I still do. But what I’ve come to learn is that everyone is only here for themselves.
“Yes. Every word,” he says on a breath, his fists clenched at his sides, and I want to laugh like a madwoman at the man who is still willing to restrain himself, all for his master.
“It’s a shame you’re in your own shackles, huh?” I bite out.
“From what I can see, sweetheart, you haven’t stepped too far out of yours either. A cage is still a cage, whether it’s of someone else’s making or your own now.”
His words are a slap in the face, but one thing I’ve always been able to depend on with this man is that he's not one to mince words, and he'll bite back tenfold when I shove him.
“So, Vince will sign over the companies, and you’ll save our asses. Then we have nothing more to do with you or those other people, correct?” I clarify, wanting to be anywhere but in a room with him.
“Lils, we can’t just sign over everything we’ve worked so hard to build!” Vince argues, and I snap at him.
“Why? You’ve already gambled it away. And did you forget that they’ve tried to kill metwice?Am I really that fucking replaceable to you?” He falls silent, and I can see the reality of his actions only just setting in. “Then, after I’m gone, if they still don’t have their money, they come after you or Mom. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not,” he quietly says.
