Page 14 of Their Stolen Obsession (Phantoms and Obsession Duet #2)

Her Predator

Saint

W e needed to be in the club. Our eyes scanned everyone who set foot in Sinful Saints after what we had discovered. The ring.

I thought all damn hope was lost with the footage of Liv’s kidnapping, but I had been wrong.

Too focused on that motherfucker rotting away in our penthouse and almost certain we could get an answer from Sebastian.

A name, a location, anything, but the damn bastard was hell-bent on keeping everything to himself.

Prick. Fuck. We never even needed him. He was a waste of space, eating away at precious time.

The clock ticked down, and we didn’t know how much time Liv had left.

Goddamn it, we didn’t even know if our girl was alive. I hated the thought, where my corrupted mind went to the darkest wirings in my brain.

No. Liv was a survivor. She’d outlive us, and we’d be the ones to take our last breaths.

We were her phantoms, the darkest part of her, her protectors.

The men who followed her until the sun set, and we haunted her dreams. There was no escaping us in this life or the next because she was our missing piece.

A knock sounded at the door and broke me from my screwed-up thoughts, a fucking exhausting hell of its own torture I only brought on myself. Without an answer to where Liv was, my madness had worked in overtime. I was ready to rip my hair out because of this agonizing uncertainty.

Sin answered the door.

Our bouncer stood on the other side dressed in black with a snarled lip and tension plastered all over his face. His temple veins throbbed. Annoyance never suited him and made him ugly as fuck, but damn, he was savage.

I never knew his real name because we had always called him Mad Max. He had earned the nickname after a huge fight in the club, and he hauled all rule breakers out on their asses. He had worn a wig, but some asshole customer snatched it, and the fake hair piece had ended up lost in the street.

We hired him not long after that incident because he was fucking perfect for the position. The shine of his bald head and his bulging muscles were his most alarming features. Along with his fuck with me and find out attitude.

“We have a problem.” Mad Max huffed with squinted eyes like he had a headache that wouldn’t piss off. “Liv Valencia’s parents are here searching for her and ready to call the cops.”

“Fuck,” Sin hissed and ran a hand down his face.

Sin glanced back at me, and I felt the same sting of frustration. We didn’t need this unplanned bump in the road. More like a fucking pothole, causing alignment damage and a missing hubcap.

Christ. We had to deal with Liv’s parents before more shit hit the fan. The only problem was, Frank and Gloria Valencia barely knew us.

I wasn’t the nervous type, but the lump in my throat proved I had turned into one.

This was Liv’s parents. I had every fucking right to be on edge.

They were the people responsible for bringing our precious girl into this world, two people who we’d always want approval from to be with their daughter.

To love her, cherish her, and protect her. But we had failed.

To make matters worse, our first encounter with Liv’s parents was completely unplanned. No matter how much we thought they had loved us, which I fucking think they did, we were strangers. We had to prove we could be the only men in Liv’s life that they could trust, and fuck, we’d do it. Damnit.

I nodded at our bouncer. “We’ll take care of them.”

Sin did a double take at me. “Have you lost your fucking mind? They’re Liv’s parents.”

Sin went as pale as Casper the fucking ghost.

“Nope,” I answered with a pop of the P and tapped Sin on the shoulder, giving him a squeeze. “We’ll take care of them. Right?”

There was a pause while Sin and I stared at one another. I swore I saw his left eye twitch. Good. Fear gripped both of us.

Sin exhaled lengthily. “Fuck.” He turned around to walk past Mad Max and out the door.

I followed closely behind and felt like I was walking into a goddamn war zone.

We had experienced the worst on the battlefield, but no bloodshed could compare to this.

All the uncertainty, fear, and guilt. Nothing could get a man ready to confront the parents of Liv Valencia, the most beautiful woman in the world whom we had devoted ourselves to, and tell them the painstaking truth.

Kidnappers had abducted their daughter for ransom. She was being held against her will.

Shoot me in the dick. Let’s get this over with.

Sin stopped .

I stood beside him and pointed straight ahead. “There.”

“Fucking hell,” Sin cursed, but I barely heard him over the music in the club.

At two in the morning, the dance floor was sparsely populated, with a half hour remaining before Sinful Saints closed.

The beat was loud, and I caught the DJ’s attention to kill the tunes.

He stared with confusion as I gave him the silent command no one else would understand.

He made a brief announcement, and the boos echoed in pursuit.

It was time to close shit early because there were far more pressing matters to deal with.

Liv deserved it, and her terrified parents did too.

Bouncers escorted unsatisfied customers out as some whined about the terrible service.

I didn’t give a fuck. This was our club, and we called the shots.

If they didn’t understand, they could find somewhere else.

It was late, and some intoxicated customers didn’t care, while others stumbled out quietly.

“Get your hands off me!” cried out a woman with busty tits, her skintight pants revealed too much. “I know the way out.”

The angry broad threw her plastic cup down onto the floor. The liquid content splattered. Some ended up on Sin’s shirt .

“Way to piss people off,” Sin said as he brushed off the spilled alcohol. “You beat me to it.”

“Yeah. Come on…” I sighed as I watched Liv’s parents glance around in confusion and pat Sin’s arm. “Time to bite the bullet.”

“After you, man.” Sin exhaled as he patted my shoulder, and I walked forward, one dress shoe in front of the other, over the sticky floor, but I stopped as soon as my eyes caught sight of the necklace.

The one Liv had worn. The gift we had given to her to help keep her safe.

To follow her, protect her from all harm, and make anyone’s life a living hell if they wronged her.

“Or…” Sin questioned as he stepped past me and took the lead. “Not?”

The tiny rose pendant dangled in Frank Valencia’s hand. His wary dark eyes found mine, and they turned to anger. I froze.

Fuck. This was ridiculous. I was a damn deer in the headlights with a transport truck barreling right for me. But the big rig was an enraged father, desperate for his only child.

“Where’s my daughter?” Frank shouted.

Goddamn, I was a coward. I never let nerves get the best of me, but Liv made me weak. She made me unsteady. The last memory of her blasted through my head at the sight of the pendant ripped from her delicate neck. The pain of losing her tore through me all over again.

“Sin, I—” my voice cracked as my best friend watched me crumble.

Sin stepped out in front of me, his hands in front of him. “Mr. Valencia, Liv isn’t here.”

“Then where is she? She disappeared from her wedding. We haven’t heard from her since.

We’ve searched everywhere except here…” Frank explained as he thrashed his hands in the air and glanced around, grabbing his hair.

“Sebastian is gone, too. Vanished. None of this makes any sense, and we hoped to find them here.”

“But Frank, our daughter wouldn’t step foot into a place like this…” Gloria expressed with worried wrinkles creased across her forehead. “She knows better. We raised her to stay away from places such as this.”

“But Sebastian did business with them,” Frank argued as he pointed toward us, and I felt a knife stab into my chest. “She has to be here.”

Fuck. The blade stung. Their words cut deep. The wound invaded my dark soul and left an infection no one could heal except them. Liv’s parents had to accept us. We had to make them.

Gutted. Torn. Heartbroken. I yearned for their acceptance .

“She’s not here, Frank,” I whispered.

Mr. Valencia shook, and the man was about to blow his top. If smoke could steam out of his ears, it would. I had only pissed him off.

“I’m calling the cops,” Frank said.

“No,” Sin said and crossed his arms. “We will handle this.”

Frank laughed sarcastically. “There’s no way I’m letting either of you take care of this. This is a matter the police should deal with. Our daughter is missing. She’s been gone for days.”

“We know that. As retired veterans, Mr. Sullivan and I have training in combat and rescue missions. We can find your daughter without getting the cops involved,” Sin explained in a calmer manner than I ever could. “If we don’t, she’ll be dead.”

Gloria gasped. “How do you know that?”

“Because we know who took Liv.” Sin answered and revealed the truth. “And Sebastian is the one to blame for all of this.”

“That sorry son of a bitch!” Frank grabbed a table ledge, and he pushed it to the floor with a crash. Glass shattered, but his angry cry for his daughter ripped a hole straight through my heart. “He put my daughter in danger! I’m going to kill him!”

“We’ll take care of Mr. Chamberlain,” Sin assured .

The mention of that motherfucker made me want to scream, too. I was as pissed off as Liv’s father and as damn torn up as he was.

Frank stopped. His eyes widened, and he quickly marched toward Sin. He grabbed my best friend’s collar and practically shook him.

“You know where Sebastian is?” Frank hissed through clenched teeth, a monster seeking vengeance. “Tell me. Tell me where he is!”

“Frank!” Gloria exclaimed with horror. “Frank! Stop it!”