Page 12 of Sadistic Obsession (Rise of Phoenyxx #1)

P hoenyxx

Damn...I feel confident and strong. Val is by my side, striding through the main building.

My eyes are lined heavily in black, my hair teased and poofed.

The final touch is the pair of black combat boots on my feet, courtesy of my bestie.

We walk arm in arm, heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. I am going to slay this day!

Synn

I gape in disbelief as I watch Phoenyxx and Valley strut down the hallway, laughing at something.

I stay back in the shadows, observing. How is she okay?

She doesn’t even look like she’s been hurt that badly.

I can see the shadows of bruises on her face under the makeup she slathered on, and some bruising on her upper arm and leg.

What we did should’ve broken her. What the fuck is this girl made of—Teflon? I am clueless as to what might shatter her world.

I need Purge to dig deeper into her background. He is our computer hacker. What he can do with technology is no joke! He's hacked into government files and into some of the top businesses and criminal underground activities. He can break through virtually any encryption.

My thoughts are chaotic. I wonder if taking her against her will would do it? Something tells me even that won’t do the trick.

I sigh heavily, digging my phone out, as I silently move out of the building, aiming for the boys’ dorm.

I thumb through my contacts, stopping on Head Dickhead, aka my father.

I hover over it, dropping my finger, realizing I need to join all of us in on the conversation.

Instead, I hit the contact for Razor, hoping he can round everyone up.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Razor’s voice comes through.

“We need to meet in the room. NOW. It's time to call all of our fathers. I was watching our prey, and she seems unaffected. We need another plan,” I mutter.

“Really? Damn, that’s one tough bitch! I’ll text the others. Be there in a few.”

I hang up, my heart pounding in my chest. Everything is so scrambled and out of control.

My schedule, my routine, all of it. I can feel I’m going to snap soon, and when I lose control, people bleed and die.

My life is rigidly structured, down to the last detail.

This bullshit has knocked over my carefully laid dominoes.

I am going to need to hit someone soon. I'm heading to the gym after this meeting to beat the shit out of the heavy bag.

Maybe one of the guys will spar with me.

Phoenyxx

I smile at the spread, my rumbly tummy loving all the food offered here. I'm feeling some bacon, eggs, and pancakes this morning. I turn towards the tables, following Valley. Students are gawking and whispering as we pass. I hear some calls of “slut”, but I block them out.

We get to the table with a view of The Six’s area. I blow out a sigh of relief when I see it empty. I laugh as Valley starts making faces towards their table.

“Fucking assclown morons,” she vents. I crack up, loving her insults.

“Where do you come up with this stuff? It’s awesome!” I cackle.

She shrugs. “I’m creative, I’ve had a long time to come up with ways to call fuckers out. You know, with my parents and all. And...” she trails off.

“And? What, Val? Did they hurt you?”

“I don’t want to...not here. Later, okay?”

Before I get a chance to respond, I hear my name called. “Phoenyxx!” I look up, seeing Bryan heading towards us, waving madly. I grin, turning to Valley. “This is the guy who helped me when those whores made me do that naked walk, Bryan.”

“Oh shit! Cool! Hey!” She waves back. He beams, holding his own tray. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Please do! Thanks again, by the way, for your help!”

“No thanks needed. We’re friends, yeah? And who’s the cutie?” he asks, turning towards Valley.

She blushes and grins. “I’m Valley! Nice to meet you, Hero!”

“Hero?” he laughs. “I don’t know about all that. I just did what any decent human being would do.”

“Well, you’re a hero to me,” Valley blushes again.

He moves closer to her, wrapping his arm around the back of her seat. He leans in, kissing her on the cheek. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. A kick-ass friend, and a beautiful girl to get to know.”

I smile so much, my jaw aches. I can see the sparks between them. I really hope they can find love with each other. Something I’ll never have, but it would be nice to watch.

Synn

My jaw aches from clenching my teeth so hard. I share a look with my brothers, seeing the same stress and anger on their faces. But this must be done.

Our families are linked by secret partnerships within the criminal underworld. No one would believe members of the Italian Mafia and Russian Bratva would willingly work together. It's widely known in criminal circles that the Russians and Italians don’t get along. Yet—here we are.

“Alright, I’ll call my father and put it on speaker. We'll go from there. Everyone calm? Able to hold your tempers?”

“Sure, bro. I want to put my fist through my old man’s face, just for these bullshit orders, but I’m good,” Trikk declares. Trikk has the best relationship with his parents out of all of us. They actually seem to give a shit. Unlike the rest of ours.

I shake my head. “Rein it in. You must be at the top of your game right now.”

I pull out my phone, punching the call button, and hit the speaker on. “Son? Is everyone present right now?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Good. I am patching ALL of your fathers into this call.”

Frost pales, and Razor stiffens. I don’t know everything the rest have dealt with, but judging by their reactions, it must be pretty bad. I can fucking relate.

“So, to officially start this meeting...we have me, representing The Franco family.”

“Barbieri Family present,” Trikk’s father says.

“Volkov present,” Purge’s father says next.

“Aslanov family here,” Frost’s old man.

“Petrov present,” Ghost’s dad.

“Marino here,” Razor’s father confirms.

“Boys?” my father asks.

“Is this seriously an official meeting?” I bark out, cringing at my own outburst.

“Yes, SON. Now...roll call!”

“Joseph Junior here,” I mutter.

“Antonio,” Razor says next.

“Damien,” Frost grits.

“Nikolai,” Purge mumbles.

“James,” Trikk sighs.

Finally, Ghost says, “Aleksey.”

“Good, let’s begin. What is the report on the girl? We need exact details, boys. What have you done? Has she been broken yet?”

Fuck. “We have stripped her in the public hallway and all intimately touched her, without her consent. We also had Destiny bully her hard. She even cut off her clothes and cut her hair off, forcing her to walk through the gym, completely naked. Though some student stepped in, putting his own shirt on her,” I add.

I exhale, continuing. “We have hit her, kicked her, pushed her, and threatened her. Just yesterday, we pushed her down the stairs of the girls’ dorm. We followed her down, kicking and punching her until she blacked out. We did have to restrain her friend, Valley Bates, but that has been handled.”

“Who was the student who helped her?” Frost’s dad cuts in.

“It was a basic student, Bryan Lacoste. I haven’t seen him talk to her since,” I add.

“From Lacoste Enterprises? Good, they are not a threat to us. Keep an eye on him, though. Now, the girl, Phoenyxx?”

Crap, I feel like I might puke. “She seems to be just fine. Just this morning, she was laughing and walking to the cafeteria with Valley, like nothing had even happened. I did see bruising on her face and body, covered by makeup.” I sigh.

“None of this has done a thing to break her spirit. That girl is a born fighter. You knock her down; she jumps right back up.”

“There MUST be a way to ruin this small girl! Suggestions, partners?” my dad chimes in.

“I just had a thought, have you ever heard the phrase kill them with kindness ?” Razor’s dad replies.

“Holy SHIT! That's it! We’re going about this the wrong way! Love her to death, man!” Razor blurts out.

I raise an eyebrow, questioning the effectiveness of this plan. “So, we are supposed to go from beating her ass to pretend to love her? How is that even possible?”

“Naw, man, it’s the little things that will do it. She's not used to kindness. We need to be NICE. Flirting, compliments, paying attention to her,” Trikk adds.

“There is little to no chance that I could pull that off. BUT...Trikk, you and Ghost might have a chance. Trikk—you flirt, Ghost—give her the attention. If you two can do that, it’s possible it could work.”

“What is the end goal, though?” Razor asks.

“It is a simple equation. Get her to fall in love with you all, then break her heart. Ruin her world. Take away everything she thinks she has gained. Utterly destroy her,” my dad explains.

“Damn...that’s harsh! Emotional ruin. Why, though?” Frost asks.

“Yes, I am with Frost. Why is this girl so important?” I question.

“That is absolutely not information you have the right to know. You know better than to ask questions!” my dad seethes.

I bite my tongue and say, “Yes, Sir. We will get started on this right away.”

“Good. And boys? This is your absolute last chance to get your positions back. We are not patient men. We won’t wait long for results. Capiche?”

A chorus of, “Yes, Father,” goes through the room. The call disconnects, and I see Trikk smirking across the room. Ghost is muttering and pacing.

“I am going to assign a rotation of watchers to keep an eye on her. I will do today, then so on and so forth. We'll give her today; then tomorrow, the new plan commences. Trikk and Ghost—be ready. Subtle moves, nothing too major right away. Once you both know what you’re going to do, get with me and the others to go over it.”

“No prob,” Trikk answers. Ghost just nods, still pacing. I shake my head, hoping this doesn’t turn into an utter shitshow.

“Razor—can you accompany me to the gym? I need to spar.”

“Yeah, bro, I got you!”

We head out, my need to give pain is strong. I hope Razor is ready, I won’t pull my punches!