Page 21 of Their Stolen Obsession (Phantoms and Obsession Duet #2)

Their Universe

Liv

A ll I could smell was fucking potatoes, and I hated them. I loathed the carbs from them and the taste. They were the worst vegetable ever to exist, and the burlap sack over my head kept their scent. Rotted old potatoes.

Yuck!

The instant I caught the aroma, I wanted to rip this bag off my head, but my hands were bound behind my back. Nothing like riding in the back of a car, unable to see where I was while on the way to my worst nightmare with the smell of one food I hated most in this world. Talk about bad luck.

The Bravata deal was about to go down, and I’d be stuck right in the middle of it.

There were bumps in the road as the noisy car drove, and I wanted to be anywhere other than here. Stuck in the backseat with an asshole who had fish breath with his hand resting on my thigh. His touch was unwanted, but I had nowhere to go.

I could barely see out of the burlap sack as I fidgeted in the back seat. “Quit squirming, whore.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, my breath hot against my face.

The makeup Knoxlee had done wouldn’t be pretty by the time we arrived.

The smokey eyeshadow would smudge because of being smothered inside a hot potato sack, and my hair would be a mess after this stupid thing came off.

But the outfit she had picked for me before I had left the Pitrone hellhole would hold up fine.

If this scumbag beside me decided to follow orders and not rip the black sweater dress off.

Zane had stood guard while I got dressed after the warm shower he let me have, and he kept his back turned as he had promised.

Asshole was a freaking gentleman when he wanted to be, and I didn’t get him.

He has had every opportunity to abuse his power and violate me, but he never did, which made the answer simple.

Zane was into men.

Zane swinging the other way would explain much about him and the mystery I always had when he was around. But his sexual orientation still doesn’t answer a huge question that lingered between us. Where did he get his scar?

Suddenly, the vehicle came to an abrupt halt and threw me up against Mr. Fish Breath.

The displeasing friction against him made me cringe, and I immediately pushed off him.

Roughly, the bastard pulled me back into his orbit, and I wanted to turn around and bite him to teach him a valuable lesson.

But I couldn’t do anything with this damn sack over my head.

I wanted to scream but resorted to a kick of my high heel hitting the bottom of the backseat. Goddamn it! That was supposed to be his leg.

“Woah, baby! Stop coming on strong,” Mr. Fish Breath whispered in my ear.

“Let go of me, asshole,” I hissed with disgust. “Fuck off.”

I thrashed against his hold, his arm locked tightly around my shoulder, and he grabbed my tit. Unable to stop him, he pinched my nipple, and I cursed at him. My slouched posture and position in his armpit revealed his greater size. His broad shoulder trapped the back of my head.

“Oh, but the fun is only getting started, baby,” he whispered.

I wanted to throw up; the bile collected in my throat and formed a large lump, but I had to swallow it back down.

I had to win the fight against my fear because I wasn’t about to puke into a rotten old potato sack.

I wouldn’t puke and have my last meal end up all over my face.

Instead, I focused on fighting against him in whatever way I could.

I turned my head and bit at his skin, but the stupid burlap only made a barrier, causing him to laugh at me.

Without warning, he forced his hand between my legs. I snapped them shut, trying to fight him off, but he wouldn’t stop. The tender skin of my thighs rubbed against a coarse material and his fingers were against my clit.

Aggressively, he rubbed against my most sensitive spot and I screamed, “No! Stop it!”

“Would you shut her up already?” someone hollered from the front seat.

My pleas for him to stop did nothing and begging turned into a desperate cry for help. Every instinct within me fought as he groaned with frustration at my determination not to let him have me.

“Feisty whore, sit still.” He breathed heavily, irritated.

“Fuck you!” I yelled, twisting to get away from him.

Adrenaline seared through me. A curse came in the near distance and the sound of a car door opening caught my interest. Light blinded me as the burlap sack lifted off my head, and I could breathe properly again. Quickly, I blinked to adjust my vision and came face-to-face with my attacker.

I headbutted Mr. Fishy Breath as hard as I could, full of passion. My defense mechanism was powerful, everything spun, but I wouldn’t black out. Those dots dancing before my eyes couldn’t make me because I had to save myself. I couldn’t survive another violation.

Instead, I reacted and jumped out of the car. “Hey!” someone yelled at me, but my legs kept moving, unable to stop.

A rough hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up against a firm body. I thrashed, screamed, and even resorted to my legs going limp when nothing else worked. My dead body weight should’ve dropped to the dirt below me, but the jerk held me up.

“What the fuck?” he hissed with annoyance. “Where do you think you’re going?”

The man who I butted heads with exited the car. “Bitch!”

Mr. Fish Breath slapped me across my face. Pain bit at my cheek and brought on a sudden headache. Tears burned my eyes, but none fell.

“You idiot.” The man who held me cursed and pulled me backward. “Hands off the goods, goddamn it. ”

“Fuck,” Mr. Fish Breath fumed as he spat at the ground and kicked at the dirt with frustration.

He was pissed.

At me, himself? Who the heck cared? The guy was scum.

“Let’s get this over with before she swells up like a damn balloon, buffoon.” He pushed me forward, holding my tied wrists, but I resisted. “Come on! Move it.”

“Please, no, don’t do this,” I begged.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but we got our orders.” He gave me a shove, and I had no choice but to move forward.

I couldn’t run while he twisted me in the direction he wanted me to go, and I shook uncontrollably.

My teeth chattered behind my pressed lips as I tried hard to stop the tremors, and I walked right through the main door of the warehouse.

I was about to be sold off as a profit for the cartel.

Dealt to a devil I didn’t even worship, and I didn’t even know.

Even worse? These monsters sounded far deadlier than the Pitrone brothers, who were more terrifying than anyone I had ever known. I’d be unlucky if I lived past the next twenty-four hours.

If the Bravatas wanted me, they’d take me.

I’d suffer unimaginably while I was dead inside, and my body still had a heartbeat.

My horrific fate was playing out before me, while I was trapped in a shell of myself.

They’d rip the rest of my heart from my chest and leave my soul lost for the afterlife.

My skeletal remains would be the only part of me left for this world, and I’d cease to exist. Buried in the earth while life walked over me and the world continued to go on.

As I was forced to comply, each step bringing me closer to my newest fate, I fought the tears. Instead, I glared at the new beasts devouring me and gnawing at the rest of my dignity.

“You’re late.” A man with ink on his face tossed his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it with the point of his shoe. “By a minute.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mr. Fish Breath said as he glanced at his wristwatch and tapped it. “Says here you’re fucking early.”

A gun cocked from behind the man with a cross design on his temple. He touched the tattoo and rubbed his forehead, clearly irritated.

“Don’t fuck with me. One signal to my men and they shoot you in the head,” he warned Mr. Fishy Breath and nodded toward him. “You got the goods?”

Mr. Fish Breath swallowed hard. I heard the gulp as he stood beside me, and I knew he was shaking in his boots. Served him right. Asshole.

“We got the goods,” the man behind me answered .

“Can I have a taste?”

Someone tossed a package his way. “Sure. Go nuts.”

The man pulled out a knife and sliced into the package. White power laid on the tip of the blade and he snorted the drug up his nose. Pinching the bridge of his nostrils and breathing, “That’s some good shit.”

“Always the best.” The man who held me pushed me forward with a grunt. “But we got something more to offer you.”

The Bravata man locked eyes with me, and my blood ran cold.

My heart raced, a lump forming in my throat as I heard the organ beat out of control.

The steady pitter patter rhythm was chaotic as he moved toward me and grinned from ear to ear.

A sinister sight straight out of the scariest motherfucking horror film, but this wasn’t a movie. This was my life.

“Who is she?” he asked.

“She’s a nobody, a plaything you can do whatever you want with…” my dealer voiced as he offered me up for money. “But she comes with a price.”

He smelled me. “How much?”

“One mil.”

The man with ink gave a low whistle and asked me, “What did you do, love? ”

I ignored him while tiny puffs of air escaped my lips. I couldn’t contain the tremble from them, my lower jaw quivering. Fear seared through me at an unthinkable speed as the man stepped back and peered over my shoulder. “I don’t have that kind of cash on me.”

“Bullshit.”

He laughed and pulled out a gun, cocked the weapon and aimed it right over my shoulder. Shit! Fuck!

I squeezed my eyes shut, and my nostrils flared with nerves. My fear was on fire, with the flames licking at me, ready to consume me whole. My voice repeated in my head, denial wanting to set in.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.

“Seriously? You want to fuck with me?” He fired a shot.

I screamed. The explosive bullet next to my ear silenced the sound, and the smell of gunpowder tickled my nose. My eardrum rang with a shrill noise and instinct wanted me to duck. To run and hide, but I was right in the middle of a fucking Mafia fight. A petty disagreement all about money.

“Jesus Christ!” The sound of the bullet ricocheted off a metal wall .

I heard the Pitrones ready their firearms behind me. The clicks were clear in the air after my ears calmed their constant ringing. I opened my eyes.

Fuck you, Sebastian! If you’re dead, I hope you’re burning in hell.

Deep down, I knew I had no one to blame but me. I had got into this life-threatening mess by refusing to leave Sebastian. He was a terrible man who thought only of himself. I had paid the price for his egotistical ruthlessness, and I still owed a hefty amount.

“Fine. You caught me.” The man in front of me shrugged as he eyed up his target. “Don’t mouth off again, though. I won’t miss next time. Are we clear?”

He pulled the gun away from the side of my head and tucked the weapon back inside of his waistband.

His deep hazel eyes were wicked, sinister, and spoke of all the things he wanted to do to me.

I stood still, afraid to move with guns drawn behind me, and I didn’t know what the fuck to do.

I had to let things play out or run and risk being hunted like a damn deer.

“Clear as a fucking bell,” Fish Breath muttered behind me. “Now, do we have a deal or not? My bosses are waiting.”

The Bravata man rumbled a low chuckle and snapped his fingers.

He had to be the man in charge. The guy behind him put his gun away and brought a briefcase forward to a table where the man with the cross opened it up.

I highly doubted he believed in God. He didn’t appear to have faith in anything but violence.

He turned the briefcase around and there were fresh paper bills all bundled together in rows. Definitely over one million dollars.

“We have a deal.” He said as he left the briefcase and walked toward me. “After I inspect her first.”

Slowly, the man who wanted to buy me confronted me, and he touched my cheek.

His fingers ran down my neckline as I breathed heavily and closed my eyes.

My skin crawled from his unwelcome caress, and I wanted to knee him straight in the balls.

The urge to hurt him was unbelievably strong, but I knew if I did anything, I was dead.

Shot on the spot with no one to save me from the gunfire.

“Hurry, man, we ain’t got all day…” someone voiced from behind me.

My eyes shot open when I heard the man grunt in annoyance, but his eyes were locked on me.

For seconds, his pupils roamed my features and then stopped cold.

I gasped, shocked as blood splattered my face, and I stumbled backward.

The Pitrones yanked me into their deadly grasp and held me back from the dead as his limp body fell to the ground.

“Now that I got your undivided attention, anyone want to tell me who the fuck this finger belongs to? ”

Saint?

I couldn’t mistake the heavenly darkness who had corrupted my soul. He had searched for me through the depths of hell, and he had come for me. My fallen angel had finally found me.