Page 91 of Their Stolen Obsession

“She’s twenty-four,” I answered.

He asked another question, “When is her birthday?”

“August eighth,” Saint replied with a crack of a knuckle. “Why?”

“I need to know who I’m dealing with…” Dr. Stevens moved his pen. “She’s a water sign, a Leo. Confident, charismatic and loyal. She’s probably full of playful energy and extremely spunky.”

Bang on. I almost laughed out loud at how on point the shrink was. He didn’t even know half of her sassy attitude and her stubborn will to have her way. She was so defiant sometimes she made me rock hard thinking about it.

I shifted in my seat. “Okay. Enough of the twenty questions. How do we help her?”

Captain obvious shot back, “Why do you think she needs your assistance? She could’ve come here herself.”

“No, she can’t. We don’t want someone else screwing with her head after those motherfuckers did their worst. She’s not supposed to fear anyone or anything but us.” My hands shook and I had to wipe them on my pants to steady them.

Dr. Feelgood, who didn’t make me feel great at all, asked another damn question, “Why not?”

The shrink irritated me.

I snapped, “Why all these fucking questions with no proper answers?”

Saint sensed my unease.

My best friend sat down and patted my knee. “What my friend meant to say is fear heightens a body’s reactions, and we replace her fright with pleasure, and she feels good. When someone orsomething else makes her scared, it’s harder for us to navigate.”

“I see…” The shrink rubbed a hand on his chin. “But Liv’s response doesn’t always have to involve a sexual experience. She can receive help from you both in other ways.”

“How?” Saint and I asked in unison.

“The answer is simple. Unfortunately, Liv has a fear of dogs called cynophobia…”Fuck. I already knew this shit. Come on, shrink, spit out what we need to know.“She needs to experience dogs in a safe environment with gradual exposure where she can learn more about the animal, which helps her reduce her fear responses. Visiting an animal rescue to pet, bathe, walk, play, and feed them could be a good option. She can even buy items for dogs such as toys, bedding and food to drop off at an animal shelter.”

“Well, shit, shrink, that seems like a hell of a lot of work,” I admitted.

Dr. Stevens glanced at me and Saint. “Do you both love Liv?”

We looked at each other.

“With all of our fucking hearts and tortured souls,” Saint responded without hesitation.

“Then, gentleman…” The shrink stood up and saluted us. “You have work to do.”

Finally, this Gen Z was speaking our language! Fuck. I might just like this kiddo, after all.

Immediately, we stood up and returned our respect. The badge of honor we wore with pride anywhere we went. A coat of arms full of blood, boots on the battlefield, and carnage we had survived through, but we had a new mission at hand. We had to heal Liv’s mind before her fear took over and there was no way for us to make her horrific phobia end.

Forty-Seven

Their Universe

Liv

“Where are you taking me?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Sin led the way by pulling on my arm, and Saint was right behind us. I glanced back at him, and he only playfully winked at me. He pushed up the sleeves of his dress shirt; his ripped black jeans were tight they made my mouth water. He was an angel I wanted to run my hand over after that erotic massage.

Ever since that appointment, I couldn’t stop the dirty thoughts running through my head about the men who haunted my dreams. I fantasized about them twenty-four fucking seven, and it didn’t help one bit that I lived with them. They never let me leave their side unless they had businessto attend to and left me with their damn bouncer, Max, who was their security turned bodyguard.

Max was a damn grump, but I knew how to ruffle his feathers and get on his nerves, which ended up in a friendly game of cards. I usually won because he wasn’t very good at card games, but I let him sneak in a few victories. He needed to loosen up and not be Mad Max every damn minute of the day while I needed to pass the time.