Page 23 of Distorted Obsession (The Distorted Trilogy #1)

mason

“Weren’t you supposed to be watching game footage with your team?” I ask as I step through the front door.

He’s sitting in the living room with his computer on his lap while NFL highlights of the preseason games play on the TV.

“Colt and Coop needed to reschedule,” he mumbles, his eyes still glued to the screen. “They had some last-minute family thing or something.”

Dropping my bag on the floor, I kick off my shoes and walk into the kitchen to grab some water. “So, what are your plans for tonight?”

Liam is so engrossed in whatever he’s working on that he doesn’t acknowledge my question.

Sighing, I stride into the living room, stopping behind him to see what he’s doing. An image of Eva is on the screen—she’s in a volleyball uniform, sailing through the air as she hits the ball. The intense look of concentration on her facing as she’s spiking the ball makes my dick jump.

Fuck .

There’s no denying the attraction I have towards her, and I hate myself for it.

I could see her on her knees covered in my cum as she begged for forgiveness for all the wrongs her family has done.

But she’s the enemy, and I can’t give in to lust, regardless of how fucking tempting this brand of lust is.

Brains and beauty with a competitor’s spirit.

And that smile. Shit, those dimples. I can’t help but imagine what they’d look like with my dick down her throat.

“You can stop drooling on my laptop now, asshole.” Liam’s words catch me off guard, jarring me from the scene playing in my mind.

“What are you talking about?” I retort, aiming for nonchalance.

Snorting, Liam replies, “I’m talking about the heaving breath and the tight set of your jaw, Mase.”

My lips part to refute his claim, but he continues, “I know that look anywhere. Don’t try to deny it. It’s the same one you have whenever a girl catches your interest.

“Fuck off. I’m not interested in Eva.”

“Mhmm, sure. And the fist at your side—what’s that?”

Crap .

“Anger,” I quip, unclenching my hand.

Closing his computer, Liam angles his body to peer up at me. His eyes say it all. “Bullshit,” he hisses, standing up to fully face me. “Just admit this plan is shit.”

“Her family nearly ruined ours,” I say, hoping the words will stick so I remember the reasons why I can’t allow my attraction to Eva to grow—it’s the road to nowhere.

“Not her family, Mase— her Dad . But she’s not her father.”

His words strike me, lancing my chest and filling me with rage. It’s exactly what I needed—The perfect reminder. “The sins of the Father,” I growl.

Liam’s brown eyes blaze with fury. “How is this any different than what I did to her that day after class?” he challenges.

“I didn’t put my hands on her,” I lob back.

At least not in the way I want to. Thoughts of her body under mine as I cup her breast into my palm while I tease her nipple until she begs me to fuck her cross my mind.

No.

“Since when is the only way you can hurt someone physically?” Liam shoots back. “If anything, emotional scars are sometimes deeper because they are burned onto your soul.”

“This isn’t one of your poems, Lee, and had this been anyone else, you wouldn’t be arguing this hard for them,” I point out.

Shaking his head, he turns away from me and storms out of the room, slamming his door, effectively ending this conversation.

Thank fuck. He’s gone. This should make what I need to do easier. I wait for the victory to settle, but I’m met with a sour taste in my mouth.

I stare down the hall before plopping into the recliner my brother vacated and rubbing my forehead. Liam and I rarely fight—not even when we were kids did we argue over things. We’ve been a team since utero.

The fact that another Pierce is once again wreaking havoc on our family isn’t lost on me.

“I said she would be trouble,” I mutter to myself.

Grabbing my laptop from where I left it this morning before class, I begin digging further into Eva’s past. Then, I bring up the site and log in using the encryption key I purchased over the summer.

Initially, this was to get as much dirt on Rhion and Callum Pierce as possible, but that was before I knew there would be a perfect means of getting revenge. Typing a message onto the board, I wait for someone to bite.

It doesn’t take long for the person who helped me the first time to respond. I send them what I’m looking for, and then they send the cost. “Fuck,” I hiss. This is five times the cost for both Eva’s brother and father.

Z_Av3g3r: Why is it more expensive than the first price?

Bouncing my knee, I watch as the text bubble says they’re typing.

BW091220: Do you want the information or not? I’m not in the business of negotiating prices. They are what they are—take or leave it.

My nostrils flare at the dismissive response, and I wonder if I truly need this information right now. I haven’t exhausted all my original plans, so I’m dipping into my trust fund for more money when there’s a chance I can find what I need on my own or have Eva provide it as I get closer to her.

Before I can reply, Liam’s door creaks open, and I close my computer, not wanting him to know all the moving pieces of my plan.

“Look. I—” he begins. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to make the Pierce family pay for everything they did to our family business. I just?—”

I blink as I watch a range of emotions run across my brother’s face. He’s torn, and I recognize he might like this girl genuinely. “Don’t worry about it, Lee. I can do this?—”

Holding his palms up, he interjects, “No. I don’t know anything about Eva, and my feelings for her can’t be anything more than superficial—something brought on by lust.”

“You succumbed to the will of her pussy,” I joke, trying to diffuse the seriousness of the moment.

He tries to smile, but I can see the hurt. “It’s more than that, but like you said, there’s no chance after what I did in class that day. So, why risk our relationship and family for a what-if?”

“Lee, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to.”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m not putting her before us.”

A small smile appears on his face as he tries to hide his true feelings, which only makes me feel like shit.

“Why don’t you think about it more? It’s not like you need to decide right now,” I suggest. “Take as much time as you need. You know I’m always here.”

He nods and stands before exiting the living room, leaving me to decide how to proceed. I have no choice if I want this to have as little fallout for him as possible.

With my decision made, I open my laptop and log back into the site.

Z_Av3g3r: I’ll have your money to you by the end of next week.