Page 5 of Their Stolen Obsession

I shook with adrenaline and pain. Fearful as I was, I fixed a cold, hard stare on the devil and his ruthless dogs. I’d never back down from this fucker. Preston Pitrone was remorseless, extremely dangerous, and had made his point, but he was a walking dead man. He had only secured his death wish.

I glared back. “Yes.”

He simply said, “Good.” And turned his back to me as he walked away.

I couldn’t help my panic. “No! Wait! Please don’t leave me here! I’ll be good!”

Only the savage animals answered me as they gathered at my feet after their master gave awhistled command, and their growling resumed. The beasts lay in wait for any mishap as the lights went out and blackness consumed me once again. Sinful laughter left scars on my soul, and I worried I wouldn’t make it out of here in one piece. This mind fuck would be hard to escape. I was stubborn, a force to be reckoned with, but the brave could only bear so much.

Three

Their Universe

Liv

My entire body hurt. Pain blasted through my skull when I tried to open my eyes, so I settled for glancing through tiny slits instead. I had to see where I was. I had to keep my guard up.

I wasn’t suspended in between the balance of being eaten to death or dangling for dear life. I was no longer hanging upside down. I must’ve passed out from the blood loss, the fear of being alone with savage beasts, or my fragile body. Hell, I probably lost consciousness from all three.

Someone had tied me to a chair, my wrists bound with rope to the armrests and my ankles fastened to the legs. I was weak, fucking tired and hungry. I couldn’t remember the last thing I ate, but I could remember the smell of coffee.

Goddamn, Imissed the taste.

I could use a cup of java right now to give me a burst of energy, get my thought process back on track, and get the hell out of this place. My fiancé owed the Mafia money he shouldn’t have taken, and he had threatened my life as his soon-to-be bride. His greed had placed a target directly on my back, and I paid the price.

Suddenly, I heard the smack of skin. A harsh slap that caused me to turn my attention to the scene in front of me. The bright light caused an ache in my temple, but I forced myself to focus.

“Don’t get mouthy with me,” Preston seethed through clenched teeth and struck again. “Give her the damn needle.”

I recognized the same woman from before. I imagined her being frazzled, scared, and frail after being abused the way she had. Not only by one brother, but by two. Phoenix had physically assaulted her right in front of me, and now Preston was hitting her. Instead of standing before him a broken woman, she stood there emotionless, but deep down, I knew her pain because I had been there too. Beaten, shattered to pieces, but our attackers could never see our torment. Never experience their twisted accomplishments because they’d win, and women like us wouldn’t let men like them win. Inside the broken depths of our souls, we were desperately trying topiece ourselves back together because we wanted to live.

She took the second blow as if it was nothing. Her head jerked slightly in my direction, but her fierce green eyes peered down at the floor. I knew she experienced shame, embarrassment from letting Preston do such a thing, but she had no choice if she wanted to survive. I got her. Her name was unknown to me, yet I understood her. This secret bond made me want to get to know and understand her. I wanted to know how she’d ended up with these brothers—these monsters.

While facing her offender, she argued, “I’m not a damn nurse, Preston.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” Preston spit in her face and placed a needle in her hand, clamping her fingers around the syringe. “We can’t have our ransom sick with rabies.”

“Then you shouldn’t have put her in the pit,” she said. She wouldn’t meet his stare and peered down at the needle. “Everyone knows what happens there.”

“Well, I didn’t kill her, did I?” Preston questioned.

His chest heaved, and he grabbed her by the shoulders.

He shook her until she squeaked out a wobbly, “No.”

“She got off lucky, but you might not if you don’t do as you’re damn well told.”

“You wouldn’t dare. Phoenix would kill you,” she challenged him.

Her strong-willed, striking emerald gaze met Preston’s.

“He’s not here to save you. I could make your death a terrible accident with my beloved dogs simply escaping their cage,” Preston explained and turned her roughly toward me. “Now, go play nurse and give her the rabies shot.”

Rabies?Right. A possibly rabid dog had bitten me.

The Pitrones couldn’t risk me getting sick because that would be a deal breaker. No ransom would mean no money for them. Little did imbeciles like these brothers know, Sebastian doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me. He wouldn’t pay them shit. I was as good as dead in his eyes. He might have only wanted me back to torture me some more while he thought no one was watching.

Except my phantoms were.