Page 72 of Their Stolen Obsession

“What happened just now, darling?” Saint asked, concerned. “Where did you go?”

Tears bit at my eyes. “I was backthere.”

“What was happening?” Sin questioned me as he sat down beside me, and he didn’t touch me, no matter how much he wanted to.

Sin treated me as if I were a delicate flower, which I hated. He was always forceful, in control, and his dominance turned me on, but he knew I wasn’t ready. The damage was done, and now he wanted to pick up all of my broken pieces. He wanted to fix me, but I wasn’t sureI could be.

I stroked the cat to calm myself down while the terrible memory played in my head. It was like a movie scene, featuring me that I didn’t want to see, but someone held me down and made me watch it. I couldn’t turn away from the damn screen, and terror froze my mouth shut, preventing me from screaming. I was numb with fear watching the horrific moments frame after fucking frame.

“Zane took me to these men to clean up. He left. They made me strip naked, but I wouldn’t listen. So one of them… He…” I got choked up.

“It’s okay. You’re safe.” Sin pet Rocko alongside my hand.

I was brave enough to continue.

“He ripped off my bra and hit me. They wanted my dirty underwear off next, but I knew if I did, they’d…” I swallowed the lump in my throat, tears fell down my cheeks. “I fought back, but I was no match for them. They sprayed me with cold water from a hose on full blast and the temperature was so freezing it stung.”

Sin stopped stroking the cat and formed a fist. His knuckles cracked, his eye twitched, and he clenched his jaw. He was beyond pissed and did everything to hold the madnessin.

“Did they—”

“No. Knoxlee came in. She tried to stop them, but they turned on her. One man made her perform oral sex on him.” I was numb, my hand frozen on Rocko’s furry coat. “She only wanted to get them away from me. To save me because I had fought back. But he wouldn’t stop.”

Sin asked, “Who, sweetheart?”

A second went by, a few more beats of my injured heart, as I could still sense him hurting me. His arm wrapped around my neck, restricting my lungs from breathing while I clawed at him. The pain from his unwanted touch on my breast and his pure violation of me.

Saint pressed, “Who hurt you, darling?”

I blurted out, “The guy with the fucking vacation shirt, okay? I… I don’t even know the guy’s goddamn name.”

Snot dripped from my nose, and I wiped it away. Unable to stop the deep ache inside that formed a bottomless pit of despair. I was numb until everything hurt all over again.

“Okay,” Sin said, glancing down at my hand that was shaking against Rocko’s fur, and he took my hand into his. “Vacation shirt guy. Did he rape you?”

Rape.The term was easy to pronounce. Except rape was one singular word that held much brutality.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Sin cursed. His reaction mixed with Saint’s silence was all I needed to make me cry. The tears were uncontrollable because I had held them back for so long. The shock of the sexual assault set in at full force, and my phantoms let me lose all control. They knew the horrible truth.

It took several minutes for me to stop sobbing, but it felt like hours had passed. Saint gripped the back of the couch to keep from consoling me while a slight hiccup escaped my mouth. He let Sin connect with me in my time of grief over all I had lost. My dignity had been stripped away by a nameless man who only brought me agony, and I knew how much he wanted to kill him.

Sin dared to ask, “Is he dead?”

“Yes,” I choked out and wiped my tears away with one hand. “Zane shot him.”

“Good,” Sin said.

Saint didn’t utter a sound while he took my hair, and he parted the locks into three sections. Repeatedly, Sin stroked the pad of his thumb over my hand as his best friend made a crisscross pattern throughout the strands. The braiding technique soothed me, creating calm after the storm. No more turbulence and the violence was gone.

“I think we’ll book you a massage. How does that sound?” Saint asked as he secured an elastic band on the end of the braid to hold it in place.

I shook my head. “I can’t afford that. Sebastian has vanished. Because they’re investigating his disappearance, the police will freeze all his assets.”

“Our treat,” Sin said as he squeezed my hand and reached into his pocket. “But you’ll have to promise to wear this.”

The rose pendant. Sin and Saint’s gift they had given to me. I thought I had lost the necklace.