Page 85 of Deadly Obsession

“Elias, what the hell is wrong with your leg?”

“Nothing.”

I narrow my eyes at his back. “Did you know when you lie to me, your voice goes up a pitch?”

“It does not.”

“It does not,” I say, mocking him.

He slumps his shoulders and leans up against the bathroom counter. “I may have another bullet hole in my thigh. Allegedly.”

I cross my arms and raise a brow. He holds up his hands in surrender.

“Get the fuck on the counter,” I demand, and after giving me a mischievous smirk, he complies, like the good big boy he is.

He might pretend to hate when I boss him around, but I see the way his eyes light up anytime I bark an order at him.

He’s been in control for far too long. He doesn’t trust anyone with it.

Maybe I can be the one he falls to his knees for.

Maybe I can convince him to let me be in charge.

Maybe I can take away all the horrible things that have happened to him, even if it’s just for one night, and replace those memories with ones of love, care, and pleasure.

Love.

It’s crazy to think I could give my heart out so easily to another man. Especially since it’s still being repaired after Chase abused it. But for Elias, I would be willing to risk the chance of another heartbreak.

Chapter 20 – Elias

Word of Finn O’Connor’s death, and the fall of the Lords, traveled fast. It’s all the news has been reporting on this week. I let my FBI contact take the win for busting the mafia operation, knowing that I’ll need a favor from the agency in the future.

I haven’t been home much since the shootout, spending the past four days cleaning up the Lords territory and taking down his corrupt business ventures. I suspected Finn was the one working with Chase. He’d been known to exploit sex workers, and being involved in human and sex trafficking, but he always managed to weasel his way out of getting busted for it. I’d hoped one of his soldiers would have provided the evidence needed, but Finn either kept all of them in the dark—even the higher up soldiers—or Finn isn’t involved at all, and someone is using his name to move up in the sex trafficking circuit.

I’d been at the Lords Mansion all day with my men, raiding Finn’s office, when my tech guy called me. He remotely accessed Finn’s computer and was scouring the files when he found something interesting: security video showing two men dousing Noah’s apartment with gasoline before setting it on fire, causing an explosion. Lance said it was taken from his feed. He’s a paranoid bastard who installs hidden cameras around the entrances and hallways of all his safe houses.

I suppose it makes sense since he kills people for a living.

He likely has as many enemies as I do.

Speaking of enemies, why the fuck would O’Connor have video of Noah and Lance’s building being set on fire? If he was responsible, he wouldn’t keep incriminating evidence on his computer. It feels like a setup. Especially after Lance and I also found a manilla folder with pictures of him and Noah entering Cillian’s apartment building the night he was killed. Someone was following them and snapped photos of the two.

We believe whoever took the photos didn’t know Lance and Noah’s true identities until the night of the Christmas party. Then they saw an opportunity and sent them to Finn. As if they wanted him to retaliate against the Empire and the QBM, especially after their engagement connected our organizations.

I just left Lenetti’s place in the Lower East Side after Lance and I went over these discoveries with Noah. I washappy to hear she woke up from her coma. I called Sage to let her know, but she didn’t answer. Noah said she’d already talked to her and the two women scheduled a bestie day later this week.

Sage was hesitant to visit Noah’s bedside while she was in a coma. I think she’s terrified of Lenetti. Especially after everything Noah has told her about him. He’s too unpredictable. Too hotheaded. She needs me to protect her.

And I will.

She’s the first person to give me hope that I could live a somewhat normal life.

I’ve always wondered what that would be like.

Would Sage let me marry her? Would she let me put a baby inside her? She’s let me fuck her raw a few times now. I suppose now’s not the right time to have a baby. I want to do parenthood the right way. I’d give my child all the love I never received from my father. I’d take them to the park, to get ice cream, to a baseball game, the zoo.

The zoo.