Page 35 of Their Stolen Obsession (Phantoms and Obsession Duet #2)

Their Universe

Liv

T he 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 taunting them 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.

It was okay. I had nothing to worry about because the sharp spikes stopped them from escaping. All I had to do was hold up the meat and the dogs would chomp it off the knife. I could do this.

The pit bulls were harmless . Their bars trapped them, just as my cage had confined me. These dogs couldn’t hurt me, and I wouldn’t bring pain to them.

Suddenly, there was a growl, a loud whimper as the dog in front of me got bit. Startled, I retreated backward, away from the cage. I had waited too long, and another dog attacked the one I was going to feed.

“Hey, it’s okay…” Sin took the knife from me. “I’ll do it.”

I wasn’t ready. Although Sin was only trying to help, I remained unprepared to face the animals I once loved. These dogs were starving and made into monsters. Preston had used their hunger to his advantage, so they were thirsty for blood, but my phantom was about to change their cruel destiny.

“Here, doggy, doggy…” Sin chanted with a whistle and held the meat up to the fence. “Who’s a good boy? ”

Sin sweet-talked the animals, and one yanked the steak off the blade.

Loudly, the dog chomped, the tender piece ripped apart by three jaws.

The others barked, wanting a bite too, and Sin threw pieces of meat over the wire.

The sound stopped, and all I heard was the gnawing of teeth against meat.

Some dogs even lay down to chew on the bone.

I whispered, “I guess I’m not ready.”

I was defeated.

“It’s okay, darling, healing takes time,” Saint said as he hooked an arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze. “We’ll be right by your side to help you get there. Right, Sin?”

Saint patted Sin on the shoulder.

“Yes,” Sin replied as he fed the last piece of steak to an animal and reached his hand through the chain links.

“No, don’t do…” My warning ended when Sin petted the dog’s head.

The ferocious beast didn’t bite Sin. There was no pain, injury, or need to worry.

The damn dog’s leg twitched to the itch that Sin had reached when the animal couldn’t.

Another smelled his hand and licked his palm.

Sin made a disgusted face that made me giggle when he turned over his hand with slobber on it.

They were friendly dogs, tamed by their new master, and they cleaned up the last hint of raw meat on him.

“See? I’m a damn dog whisperer,” Sin joked and wiped his wet hands on his pants. “I knew these fuckers would love me.”

Zane asked, “Should we release the hounds?”

“No, not yet,” Saint answered and glanced down at me, “I don’t think Liv is ready yet.”

Saint must’ve felt me tense up when Sin reached into the dog’s prison.

I tried to stop the tremor running through my bones, to push away the terrible memory haunting me, but nothing would go.

I couldn’t even contain the small tremble in my lower lip, and I bit at it to hide the fear consuming me inside.

Sin peered at me. “Why don’t you go with Saint? He’ll show you how to use the controls.”

Vigorously, I nodded my head. Sin knew too. My body language must’ve given me away. Damn . I didn’t want to show weakness, but I had survived trauma, and I had to learn that I’d never be the same.

Saint winked at me. “Come on, darling. Let Daddy Saint lead the way.”

I smiled.

My phantoms tried to ease the pain. A new side to them they had revealed to me not even a handful of times. The men I had always viewed as my dark shadows twenty-four seven were now my glimmer of hope. My protectors, saviors, and the loves of my life.

With his brawny arm hugging me and tucking me under his dark wings of safety, Saint led me away from the pit bulls’ cage.

The inside of my belly stirred with butterflies and ignited a light I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

The protection of his embrace made me warm, content, and giddy like a fucking teenager about to head out on a first date.

Except this was no romantic experience. We were about to commit murder.

“Is everything set?” Saint asked as he let go of me.

“Good to go,” Zane answered and patted the unconscious body on the chest.

It was Preston, strung up with shackles around his ankles and he was upside down, held up by a chain.

Zane placed him in the same cruel situation I’d suffered in that room; he would receive the same punishment, only far worse.

We’d show him no amount of regret. No remorse for what we were about to do because he had done that to me.

The butterflies in my stomach grew. More fluttered, my pulse raced, and my heartbeat in my ears.

Excitement coursed through me, and I couldn’t wait for the bastard to open his fucking eyes.

I wanted him to stare me in the eyes right before he was about to die .

As if Saint sensed my enthusiasm, he rammed his fist into Preston’s junk. “Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey.”

Preston’s eyes shot open. Veins popped out of his skin, the blood rushed to his head, and I knew all the pain he felt because I had already lived through it. I had survived his torturous tactics, forcing me to listen, but now it was his turn. He would answer to me and my men.

“Happy you could join us, asshole.” I smiled at Preston.

“Bitch!” Preston blurted out.

His chains clanked together while Preston wiggled like a slimy worm.

He was sweaty. The moisture beaded against his neck and rolled down his beaten face.

Dampness clung to his shirt, and he gave off an awful stench.

I hoped his pit stains came from fear—anxiety that the end might be near.

The same fright I had experienced while strung up to die in pure panic at being eaten alive.

Saint reacted and punched Preston in the nose. The bone cracked and was past broken. The wounds reopened, and blood dripped down to the ground.

“Preston, Preston, Preston…” I tsked and shook my head. “Watch your mouth.”

“Please…” Preston choked out, red spit came out of his mouth .

“Please?” I whispered with bitter tears in my eyes. “I don’t recall you listening to me when I begged for my life.”

Preston’s pit bulls howled in the background.

“Because you had lessons to learn.” Preston breathed heavily.

“Now it’s your turn, Preston,” I whispered in Preston’s ear. “But first, I have some rules.”

My head darted out of range when Preston reacted to my threat. He cursed at me, yelled and threw a goddamn hissy fit. Fuck. It felt good to be bad.

Saint grinned. “Welcome to the dark side.”

A maniacal laugh escaped me and echoed as I followed Saint up some stairs and to a landing overlooking everything.

I was the ruler of the shadows, the darkness that brought death.

I was the sole person in control now—the one who called all the shots.

Not Preston Pitrone. He’d never hurt anyone again.

“He’s all yours now,” Saint said as he handed me the controller to Preston’s gruesome fate, and his eyes shone brilliantly. “Show him no mercy. Take ownership of the revenge you deserve.”

I nodded my head, but my mind worked against me. The goodness was still inside of me, screaming not to do this, refusing to give into the darkness. My hand wouldn’t stop shaking .

I can’t do this. I could not kill, no matter what Preston had done to me. This was wrong. I was powerless, broken, and weak.

“I can’t—” Saint put his hand over mine and held the controller with me.

“You can. Reclaim your power, Liv.”

I blinked and peered down at the person who used to hold the power. The brother was now a powerless man, chained to the destiny he had made. Preston was nothing, a low life drug lord who had to come to an end.

I knew what I had to do. Not only for me, but for everyone Preston had ever destroyed. This was for them.

“Rule one.” My command was loud, true, and seething with revenge. “Don’t ever try to run. I will hunt you down.”

I pressed the button. The mechanism jerked down, and Preston wiggled. He tried to push his upper body up, but he failed and fell back toward the ground. He cried out in pain, and I stopped the machine.

I gave my second order. “Rule two. You are in my territory, and your death will be on our terms.”

Saint whistled. Sin released the dogs, and they sniffed the air, smelling their former master’s blood.

The gruesome monsters were hungry for their main course.

They gathered below Preston, who squirmed in his chains, and his dress shirt loosened at his waist. He tried to keep his arms crossed in front of his chest, but they kept falling over his head and a dog jumped up at his hands.

Its jaw snapped, missed his fingers by mere inches, and my heartbeat escalated. He wasn’t close enough.

I tapped the button. The mechanism jerked and Preston screamed. The fear in his voice made me hold my breath in anticipation as I watched the dogs bark and growl below him. Quickly, I pressed the controller again and taunted him. I’d play with the mutts’ food before I fed them.

Preston was right in the underbelly of hell.

“And rule number three. Fuck with me, and you’ll find out,” I added with a lack of emotion.

“In other words, you’ll die,” Sin admitted with a shrug and petted a dog on the head.

“Exactly,” I added with a grin and pressed the button.

“No, wait, I—” A hound bit Preston’s hand and he wailed in agony.

The savage beast didn’t let go and sunk its teeth in at his wrist. The dog aggressively shook its head, and another jumped up.

Its jaw connected with his forearm while the dog at Preston’s wrist jerked and severed his entire hand from his body.

Blood spilled, Preston screamed like he had hit puberty, and Saint helped me make the ultimate move because I hesitated.

Frozen by what I was about to do, and he assisted me in sealing Preston’s gruesome death.

“No!” The dogs drowned out Preston’s terrified voice as they had a brutal feast.

Preston’s pit bulls howled, barked, and celebrated their revenge. I observed the control I had taken back, surprised by how good I felt, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.

Saint hugged me close, and I let him. My captivity was over. I was free.

I held the controller over the ledge, letting it go, and it smashed on the hard floor. Relief fell over me as I stared at the carnage below, and my vision blurred. Saint and Sin had never given up on me.

Sin met us at the landing, and he, too, wrapped his arms around me. My predators kissed the top of my head and held their entire universe tight, afraid to let me go.

Zane interrupted. “Well, that was fun, soldiers, but I gotta scram.”

Asshole.

“Where are you off to in such a goddamn hurry?” Saint asked with a raised brow.

“I can’t answer that. ”

Mysterious. Dangerous. Loyal. Zane was full of hidden agendas yet to be told, and I wondered who would tell the tale.

“Wait. Knoxlee?” I questioned in a panic.

Sin glanced down at me, clearly confused. “Who?”

“A woman. This place had her trapped, just like me. She unlocked the door for me after the explosion went off, and she disappeared,” I explained and pushed away from the boys. “I need to find her. She saved my life.”

I went to walk away, but Sin grabbed my wrist. “We will search together and retrace your steps. It’s not safe to go back alone.”

“Okay,” I whispered and looked at Zane. “Thank you for helping me. I guess I can forgive you for pushing me around. This time.”

Zane chuckled and pulled out a cigar. I swear he must’ve an endless supply tucked away in his pocket.

“On that note, I’m off,” Zane announced, shaking Saint’s hand. “Always a pleasure shooting shit with my fellow comrades.”

Sin patted Zane’s back. “Likewise, man. We owe you one.”

Zane turned around and glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll hold you to that. Don’t take too long in your search for Knoxlee because I have to call this in. ”

Zane gave us one last grin, and he lit his stogie.

He inhaled his reward for another kick-ass job to add to the tally and walked away with smoke clouds trailing behind him.

He’d probably report his blown cover, and cops would surround the place immediately.

We didn’t have a moment to waste, but I hoped Knoxlee had made it out alive because Preston was dead.

He couldn’t hurt us anymore, but as we searched, my skin crawled with dread. I feared my nightmare had only begun.