Page 60 of Their Stolen Obsession

My chest rose and fell with heavy puffs of air escaping me. The light caress moved to my backside and drew small circles. The frustration eased, and my anger took a backseat.

Liv whispered, “I’m sorry. I—”

“Don’t youeverapologize to me for something you had no control of. I should’ve kept you safe.” I pointed a finger at myself. “I was supposed to protect you. Fuck. I should haveneverlet anyone take you away.”

I spun around. Liv didn’t back down. She peered at me without the panic in her eyes, and her concern replaced the fear. She was worried about me.

I let Liv touch my face. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Liv swiped her hand down my cheek, and she was blurry. Crap. I could see her beautiful smile. Everything was fucking fuzzy. I didn’t deserve her touch, but I never wanted the sensation she created to disappear.

“We didn’t know until you were gone,” Saint admitted.

Liv let go of me, and her fingers were wet. I ran a hand down my face. I was crying. Fuck. I sobbed like a goddamn baby right in front of my girl.

I should be embarrassed, goddamn pissed, for letting my emotions get the best of me. Instead, I wasn’t. I loved the way Liv stared at me with disbelief at the one thing I never wanted to shed in front of the woman I wanted trembling at my feet. Tears.Holy shit.I was pussy whipped.

Saint reached out for Liv and caressed her cheek. Eyes closed, she leaned into his touch. She lost her grip on the knife and it clanked to the ground. She took Saint’s hand and put it over her heart.

“I’m alive. You both kept me safe.” Liv grabbed my hand, placed it over my best friend’s and over her racing heartbeat. “In my heart is where you’ll always be.”

Liv didn’t speak those three little words, but I sure as hell felt them. One day, when the time was right, she’d tell us. She’d confess the love we’d always known. This was enough.

I was patient, but I wasn’t always kind.

Within this affectionate moment, I kissed Liv’s head. Saint pressed his lips to her temple, and he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. We stayed together in an embrace I wanted to last a lifetime, but there was a man with a death wish who still breathed, and he needed some attention.

Thirty-Three

Their Universe

Liv

The airwaves of howling crept up my spine. A sound I had never feared before Preston released his monsters on me. The ferocious beasts with salivating jaws and fangs for teeth.

The painful memory of the dog bite was a trigger for me. Their barks made me jump, frightened me, as Sin fed the savage animals and showed them some puppy love. I wanted them to fucking die, to stab each one with the knife I held until their noises stopped.

“Come here, Liv…” Sin waved me over toward the meat trolley. “Why don’t you feed one?”

I kept my cool front even though I shivered anxiously in the knees and ambled over his way. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I chewed on the inside of my cheek. A metallic taste formed on my taste buds,and I swallowed hard.

“Okay. Maybe just a bite,” I agreed to keep Preston’s death sentence moving forward.

I wanted Preston to suffer, to end his life. I needed him to experience everything I had and a cruel fate. Never had I wanted to take another’s life before, but that ended today.

I wasn’t the same woman. Dainty, controlled, and a goody-goody who let others walk all over me. My world changed the moment the cartel captured me. They forced me to become someone I barely recognized, and I needed to get used to.

“Give me the knife?” Sin asked.

I did.

Sin stabbed a tender piece of red meat. Blood oozed from between the juicy layers and dripped onto the table. He passed the handle of the blade to me as the steak dribbled.

Drip.Drip.Drip.

I tried to imagine the sound to drown out the barking of the ferocious beasts, but the damn dogs wouldn’t stop. A powerful urge came over me to clap my hands over my ears and force the echo to stop. I froze up. I couldn’t move and only watched them.

The pit bulls were behind a metal fence with sharp wire at the top, snapping their jaws and baring their teeth at me. Their howls for the tasty treat were endless, and I thought I was tauntingthem by not giving them what they wanted. I was frightened. Stuck. Unable to breathe as I stared at them, and the dogs peered back at me. Their big, dark eyes were full of hunger.