Page 4 of Their Stolen Obsession (Phantoms and Obsession Duet #2)

Their Universe

Liv

M y heart hammered with adrenaline in my chest. The organ made an erratic beat in my eardrums as I watched the door and prayed this would be all over in a matter of minutes.

I hoped that the moment had arrived when all hell would break loose, bones would crack, and limbs would be severed.

Hearts would stop beating and mine would be saved from captivity.

Frantically, I stared at the door for any movement outside of the frosted privacy glass window, but nothing happened. Nobody came. My heart skipped a beat, steadied, and waited to die.

“I’ll be right back,” the brawny, ugly-ass thug announced like we gave two shits. “Make a run for it, and I’ll gladly shove my dick down your throats.”

On the verge of tears, I watched him leave the room only to take guard on the other side of the door.

I blinked several times to keep the wetness at bay, but one slipped away and fell down my cheek.

Only for the woman in front of me to grab my chin and make me turn to her.

I peered into those green eyes as tortured as mine, and she pleaded with me not to crumble.

Not to cave and fall apart at the seams.

“My name is Knoxlee,” she whispered.

Knoxlee saved me in my moments of despair.

Knoxlee had seen my weakness, had witnessed my last shreds of hope fade in the blink of an eye as I realized no one came to rescue me. She caught my tear with the pad of her thumb and wiped the droplet away. There was no room for weakness, and she gave me strength.

“Knoxlee…” I whispered with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Knoxlee silently applied medical tape to my bandage, and her calmness helped me. She soothed me without understanding how much her strong will meant to me. This woman amazed me, and I didn’t even know her.

Talk about a girl crush leaving me weak in my seat.

Captivity had either gone to my head or Knoxlee influenced me.

Of course she had. She was at my aid, tending to my wound and about to administer a needle she clearly didn’t know how to.

Her hand shook, a clear sign she wasn’t kidding when she expressed she wasn’t a nurse.

It was my turn to put her at ease with a decision she had no choice over.

“It’s okay. I’ll be all right,” I lied as I nodded toward the syringe and hoped I could help her. “I promise.”

Knoxlee closed her eyes, took a deep, shaky breath, and exhaled through her nose.

The ends of her nostrils flared, her eyes shot open, and she injected me.

The initial prick stunned me, the flush from the vaccine stung and instantly made me dizzy.

Black dots danced over Knoxlee’s fearful face as I lost my grip on reality.

I fought to keep my eyes open, but I lost the battle.

The aroma of sweat mixed with body odor was all I could smell.

Quickly, I realized the stench came from me.

The days’ worth of grime that had built up as the hours went by and I didn’t know how much time I had lost being kept from the world I had once known.

Despite the arranged engagement and my futile attempts to correct my father’s errors, I missed my life, even though it was off track, and I paid the ultimate price. But I did not miss Sebastian.

I missed them . Sin and Saint. My missing pieces I never knew I needed until they were gone.

Until the love they forced upon me wasn’t forced anymore.

The strong affection had broken me piece by fucking piece until all I saw was them, and all I wanted was my dark phantoms because I was their universe.

I was everything to them and now I was gone.

Missing. Dead, for all they knew, but I knew that wouldn’t stop them.

Those blackened souls would find me and bring me back to them.

I prayed to the God I wasn’t sure existed because I could feel my strength slowly slipping away.

The stubborn will to pull through was dwindling after days rolled by that I couldn’t even account for, and I experienced weakness I had never known.

A tiredness before a raging storm. Frail, unsure, and cold. I was freezing.

Where the hell was I now?

My arm ached as I remembered the injection. The needle Knoxlee had administered before all the lights went out.

Where was Knoxlee?

I couldn’t see. Everything was dark. Frantically, I glanced around on a cool hardwood floor and tried to sit up. Once. Twice. But the third time was the magic key .

My nerves eased when my eyes adjusted, and I saw a stream of light.

The brightness illuminated from a small hole no bigger than an eye.

I crawled along the floor toward the light as if it was my last hope, and I clung to its radiance unlike anything I had ever known.

I needed to see something, anything, other than the blackened hole I had been tossed into.

I was in an enclosed room with no window and a door, but I could only make out shadows underneath on the floor.

The bit of light gave way to a single mattress and a bucket, but nothing more. No human should live in such a room of filth, and here I was, thrown right inside of it. No other solution and no way out as I reached for a doorknob to discover there was none. Assholes locked me in from the outside.

Who does that?

Monsters. Evil beings with no regard to human emotion. Preston Pitrone did this to me, executed this plan while my goddamn abusive dirtbag fiancé started it all, and now I fought to stay alive.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from the other side and pressed my ear against the door.

Ready to pound my fist against the wood for help, but I thought better of the natural reaction.

Whoever was on the opposite side of the door was an enemy.

No one here would help me escape and lead me to freedom. I was on my own.

Instead, I listened. Eavesdropping could assist with an escape plan. Besides, I had nothing better to do than sit here and rot.

“The latest shipment is coming in at midnight,” a rushed voice said with a shuffle of shoes on the floor. “Boss wants us there a half an hour before the beans arrive.”

“What for?” another male voice questioned.

“Because, you idiot, he has a big shipment of drugs rolling in.” A smacking sound followed.

Illegal narcotics. The candy of choice.

Easy bundles of fun the Mafia imported to make millions off. Sebastian was in deep, and I was in more trouble than I had imagined.

“Ouch. What the hell, man?”

“You best smarten the fuck up or you’ll be as good as dead.” Another shifting of feet went across the dirty floor. “They’ll lock you up like this bitch awaiting her execution.”

Me. The asshole was referring to me. I knew it.

I could imagine him pointing at the door and cussing at his low-life friend. His buddy appeared uneducated about his job as a criminal and would probably end up face-to-face with Preston’s savage beasts soon. Unless his thug pal helped him out .

“Shit. I’m sorry. Okay?”

“Jesus Christ! You better pay attention when a job comes in through Cuppabeans. We need to be on top of this stuff.”

Cuppabeans. I knew that product! I had tried their coffee, but it was awful. No wonder. The java came with a load of coke.

I tore my ear from the wall as their voices disappeared, and I leaned back against the door. I shivered, not from the cold, but from fear. Preston wouldn’t return me to Sebastian even if he paid back the money he owed. I was as good as dead.