Page 71 of Unruly Obsession
His shouting comes in waves as he picks up the bottle by the neck and turns it upside down. The liquid pours onto the floor as he storms toward me, and that adrenaline quickly mixes with fear.
A fear that maybe this time he won’t stop.
My back hits the wall, and an avalanche of cold dread rushes over me, freezing me in place. I see the maddening hate, the desperation, the rage in his eyes.
The absence of a father, I always hoped he’d grow into, but never could.
I dodge the bottle as it swings toward my face, clipping my shoulder instead. Glass explodes beside me as I stumble to the side.
The doors burst open, and it's like everything slows down as Lorenzo sweeps across the room in two long strides. The moment I see him, relief washes through me, until I see the murderous intent in those eyes that I’ve become accustomed to crinkling in the corners when he smiles. Now another monster has come into the arena, and I realize with startling clarity how small my father is compared to him.
Terror wraps around my neck like a noose, and I know without a doubt, he’s about to kill my father.
“Who let you in, you—” My father falls to the floor after the first punch, but Lorenzo grabs him by the shirt and punches him again and again, blood splattering the white plush carpet.
“Lorenzo!” I scream, grabbing for his elbow, but his strength is too much for me to hold him back.
My mother gasps from the doorway, where she gapes in horror at the scene. My brother stands beside her, staring, his eyes going wide as he takes it all in. How could they possibly attempt to intervene with a beast and his prey?
Or maybe they don’t want to.The dark thought cuts into my worry and fear.
This can’t be the way.
“Lorenzo! You’re going to kill him!” I scream, grabbing for him again. “Please, don’t do this!” I beg as the wild mixture of emotions—grief, mourning, courage—tumultuously roll through my stomach. I push down the bile that wants to rise, fighting against the one man in this room who is truly willing to defend me. But right now, he’s willing to take too much away, and I can feel it fracturing us, breaking apart whatever we’ve built during our time together into a million pieces alongside my heart.
If I don’t stop this now, there’s no coming back from it.
Lorenzo tries to shake me off, but I hold firm. He doesn’t even hear me right now; his movements are more like a wild animal than the man I love.
The man I love.
The startling truth of that statement burns at my insides, and I become more desperate to stop him.
For my family.
For me.
Forus.
I tug at him, praying I can calm the raging storm that’s his unleashed wrath. “Please!” I sob as I get a glimpse of my father, who is a bloody mess against the once-white carpet, gurgling, trying to breathe. “Please!” I say through tears. “He’s mydad!”My voice breaks. The glint of Lorenzo’s gun catches my eye, and without thought, I steal it from his pocket and point it at his head.
Lorenzo’s fist freezes in the air as my father hangs from his shirt, bunched in Lorenzo's other hand. Blood mars my father's face and Lorenzo’s fists. Slowly, animalistically, Lorenzo looks over his shoulder, and it’s the first time I’ve seen the killer beneath directed at me. He's more beast than man right now. My hands begin to shake as adrenaline courses through my veins.
But I know he’s still in there somewhere.
“Don’t make me do this,” I say, almost pleading for him to give me another choice.Don’t make me do this.
“Hehityou,” Lorenzo growls with a sneer that makes him look even more the predator. The gun trembles in my hand as I’m made aware of the pounding on my face from where my father struck me. Tears spill over my cheeks, making it hard to see Lorenzo anymore.
“It’s okay,” I find myself saying, even when I know it’s not.
“It’sokay?” he scoffs. “Over my dead body.”
“Please!” I say before he lands another hit. “Lorenzo, please. He’s my family.Please.”
Time feels like it stops as we stare into one another’s eyes, a wordless conversation passing between us. Just raw, vulnerable emotion. And I pray and beg him to do as I ask… just this once.
I don’t even know why I’m begging for my father's life when he’s done nothing but hurt me. I was ready to leave him, notkillhim. It’s all happening far too quickly to process.
