Page 76 of Deadly Obsession

Sage is next to me now, assembling her pizza since we decided to make two, each with our favorite toppings. I chose everything. Sage forwent the sausage, olives, and mushrooms.

She frowns. “Is it because your father wouldn’t let you?”

“Yes.” I pause, not sure if I want to talk about what I went through in my childhood, but it’s only fair sinceSage has shared so much with me already. “I blocked out a lot of my memories from my childhood because of him. Mostly the bad things. I remember the good parts, like playing board games with my mom and Lance when I was twelve. Mom also got me a Nintendo for my thirteenth birthday. I used to kick my brother’s ass atThe Legend of Zelda.But when I turned sixteen, my father threatened to destroy the game system. He said it was a distraction from my responsibilities to the QBM. I didn’t want Lance to lose the games, he deserved to hold on to his childhood as long as possible, so I pretended I was no longer interested in playing with him. I did everything I could to distance myself from him because if I showed him any sort of love or care, my father would have focused on him instead of me. I know Lance was upset about that, but I did it to protect him.”

Sage stops assembling her pizza and puts her palm on my forearm.

“Have you told him any of this?”

“I can’t. He would be heartbroken. He would blame himself. He already thinks I hate him. He thinks I blame him for what those men forced him to do to our mother. I didn’t blame him, but Ididshut him out. I regret it, but at the time, I was only sixteen. I feltguiltythat he had to be the one to do it. But I shut him out because I knew that my father would punish him if he found out. I told Lance not to say a word about that night. My father tried beating itout of him, and when Lance refused to speak, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. It was better that way. I was Percy Carter’s heir. He saw Lance as a mistake and the reason his wife was dead.”

Since both of our pizzas are nearly assembled, I turn from the island and preheat the oven.

“What happened after Del got out?”

“He was released when he turned eighteen. I picked him up and was an even bigger asshole, basically telling him to take care of himself because I didn’t have time to be a parent to him. Our father was diagnosed with cancer at that point, and he disappeared upstate to die in hospice. He refused to let us see him in his state. Not that we wanted to. I already had too much to take care of because of Percy. He forced responsibility over the QBM on me, and he left it such a fucking mess. Corrupt to the bone, his own soldiers not trusting him and going rogue.”

“I’m so sorry, Elias,” Sage says.

I take the pizza peel and slide it under her pizza then transfer it to the brick oven. She watches in awe as I repeat the move with my pie.

“It was a relief that he died. My father was pure evil. He eventually found out my brother was forced to slit our mother’s throat because he beat me until I gave it up. I think he was more pissed about being targeted than our mom being killed. He tried to connect Lenetti to themurders up until the day he died, then he left Lance and me all his notes. Now we’ve taken over the investigation.”

“What piece are you missing?”

“The actual order. It’s complicated, but I don’t want to start a mafia war until we have solid proof.” I lean up against the kitchen island, arms crossed, while we wait for the pizza to cook. “And we still haven’t figured out who blew up Noah and Lance’s apartment building.”

“I thought Noah said that was an accident? A gas leak?”

“Nope.”

Sage scoffs and shakes her head. Oops. Didn’t mean to spill the beans on Noah’s secret.

I push away from the island to stand in front of Sage. Extending my arms on either side of her to trap her in, I lean down.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”

She shies away from the compliment.

“Don’t lie. I feel so gross right now. I’m bleeding, bloated, and cramping.”

“Hmm.” My lips graze over the side of her neck, and she gasps ever so lightly. “Did you know sex can help alleviate period cramps?”

“Can it now?”

“Yep.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just know.” I slip my hand down the front of her leggings, and she freezes. “Have you never fucked while on your period?”

“No,” she answers, her word barely a whisper. “Chase thought it was gross, and I never considered it for any of my one-night stands.”

I tease her opening, my fingertip grazing over the string of her tampon.

She whimpers.

“Tell me to stop, and I will.”