Page 39 of The Dark Obsession

My phone rings and snaps me from my bubble of internal misery. I step out of the shower and wrap my towel around me. I grab my phone from my jean pocket on the floor. I hear my brother and father laugh from downstairs as I answer the phone.

Rafael speaks fast. “Dale is at your house, Rosa.”

My heart thuds faster than ever as the sound of light footsteps move on the stairs. I close the bathroom door and hold myself against it. “Raf, he’s here,” I say in a barely audible whisper.

“I’m on my way right now. Don’t worry.”

The phone cuts out.

With all my might, I push my body hard against the door, bracing myself for Dale.

“Rosalie,” I hear his whisper against the door, and the handle twists.

I push my body against the door harder now, my knees cracking violently on one another. I count the seconds in my head, praying for Rafael’s arrival. I try to shout, to scream for help, but my words are trapped inside the prison I like to call my brain. My wet bare feet slip across the white tile floor as he applies pressure. “Please …!”

“I just want to talk, sweetheart.” He nudges the door once, easily able to overpower me.

I move backwards, clenching the towel around me. My heart’s battering rhythm that’s booming in my ears deafens me, and I scramble to the corner and sink to my knees.

He smiles when he sees me—a gentle smile, the type of smile one has when talking to a child, a sickeningly sweet smile. He’s in a black suit. His tie is loose around his neck. “Why are you acting crazy?” He steps closer.

“Just stay away, and we can talk.” My voice breaks near the end. My stomach flips angrily. A wave of nausea causes my forehead to sweat.

He charges towards me and proffers a hand. “Stand up, love.”

My body tenses harder, my leg muscles cramping. I ignore his hand and stand.

He grabs my arms and pulls them apart.

I swing my arms outward, knocking his hands out of the way, and throw my palm against his chest.

Dale grunts as my hand hits him and smiles again; this time, his teeth are bared.

I stare at his face, fear forcing its way up my chest. I squash myself farther up the wall. With a small gasp, I reach to my back to secure the loosening towel around me and hold it as close to me as possible. “Go away,” I growl through gritted teeth.

His grin distorts and turns into an angry frown. His eyes become snakelike slits as he tightens his grip on my upper arm, his nails digging into my soaking wet skin. He holds my arm at a dangerous angle, my shoulder smarting with pain. “What are you trying to hide from me?” He releases my arms but grabs my wrists and pins them against the wall above my head. His tongue flickers playfully over his own lips as the back of his hand moves over my neck and slowly reaches my chest. His fingers push roughly against my towel, forcing space between it and my skin, and with his breath held, his fingers reach farther.

I squeeze my eyes shut and swallow a cry that’s building in my desert-dry mouth. I’m sure my heart has stopped, its usual thunder frozen alongside my muscles. An unusual silence fills my ears.

“Dale.” Rafael’s deep voice breaks the eternal silence.

Dale’s one hand moves from my body to his side. His other hand keeps my hands pinned above my head. I hear a string of swear words as my brother’s face appears at Dale’s shoulder, and one of Benjamin’s hands clench Dale’s white-blond hair.

“Get out of my house,” Benjamin whispers almost seductively.

Dale chortles—a wrong move, as not a second passes when Benjamin’s fist collides with Dale’s perfectly structured cheekbone. He releases my wrists, leaving me to collapse in a wet, shaking heap on the floor.

“Ben,” Rafael says and reaches for Benjamin in a lazy attempt to stop him from hitting Dale in the gut.

I shake my head.“Stop!”

The room freezes with confusion as Ben and Rafael stare at me.

“Just go, Dale,” Rafael murmurs.

Benjamin’s chest heaves. His clenched fists tremble.

Dale regards me with watering eyes and a ripe bruise forming on his cheek. “You have me wrong. I mean her no harm. What have I done but love her?” He leaves the bathroom.

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