Deadly Obsession

by Beck, J. L.

  Standing just outside his office, I push the door open and listen as it creaks. Matteo looks up from something on his desk and to me as I pop my head inside.

  “You asked to see me?”

  He waves me inside, and I stop right in front of his desk. “Yes, I want you to go with Sophia and pick out a dress for the event. I also want you to get your hair done.”

  My brows furrow. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “Of all the things you can fight me on, you fight me on your hair?” He lets out a chuckle. “Just get your hair done, please. It looks dull.”

  I’m tempted to tell him to fuck off, but that would derail my plan completely, so instead, I bite the inside of my cheek.

  “When is this Sophia woman coming?”

  Matteo’s gaze flicks to his watch and then back up to me. “Should be here any minute now.” I nod, ready to turn around and walk out. Why subject myself to his bullshit any more than I have to. “Also, pick something out that isn’t too revealing but gives a tiny peek. I want people to be talking about us for weeks to come.”

  “Of course,” I mumble and step out of the office. I go upstairs and get a pair of tennis shoes before coming back downstairs. Lingering in the foyer, I wait for this shopping lady to show her face. Just as Matteo claimed, she shows up a few minutes later. Priding myself on being someone who never judges a book by its cover, I try not to judge the woman who comes walking into the mansion like she owns the place, a sneer of disapproval on her face when she spots me waiting for her.

  “Dove?”

  “The one and only. You must be Sophia.”

  “That I am. Now, I’m not one for pleasantries, so let’s get on with the shopping. We have money to spend and dresses to try on.”

  Well then. I follow her out to an SUV and climb into the back seat while she takes the passenger seat up front. One of Matteo’s men drives and another comes as security. No one says anything to me the entire drive.

  The rest of my day is spent trying on dress after dress while Sophia critiques every single one. That one is way too short. Ugly. You look fat. Are just some of the remarks I have had to withstand. By the time we’re done, my ears are bleeding, and I feel like going back to the mansion and drowning myself in the bathtub, but that can’t happen because first, I have to get my hair done. Sophia ships me off to the hairdresser, whose name is Bernarto.

  “You’re gorgeous, sweetheart,” he purrs in my ear while running his fingers through my hair. For the first time all day, I smile.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  “What shall we do…” He drums his fingers against his chin and takes a step back, eyeing my head. After the day I’ve had, I don’t really care what he does. Making up his mind, he gets to work, and three hours later, my hair is colored, trimmed, and styled. Surprisingly, I feel a little better. Sophia scoffs when she sees me and rolls her eyes before typing out something on her phone. Then, all over again, we’re getting into the SUV and heading back to the mansion.

  When we arrive, I all but dart from the car, needing to put some distance between Sophia and me. She didn’t say anything directly to hurt me, but she sure as hell didn’t make today fun either. Walking through the front door, I can make out the sound of voices. They’re loud and manly and carry down the hall and into the foyer.

  Both I know, one belonging to Zane and the other Matteo. Tiptoeing down the hall so I can hear more of the conversation, I hold my breath when Zane starts to speak.

  “Fuck! I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me. All I want in return is to know that you won’t marry her off to someone. Promise me you won’t do it.” The anguish and despair in his voice makes me take another step forward. There is a pause, and Zane starts to talk again. “If you’re doing this to hurt me, then I’ll break it off with her. I won’t be with her anymore, but please, don’t ruin her life just to get revenge against me. Dove deserves more than that.”

  A chair creaks, and I know it’s Matteo’s. “Listen here, boy. Dove is my daughter, and because of that, I get to make the rules here. She is marrying whoever I choose, when I decide. I’m not doing anything because of you. I’m doing this because it’s my right as her father.”

  Zane growls, and I can feel the sound in my bones. “I won’t let you do this. You’ve hurt her enough already.”

  Matteo chuckles, but it isn’t filled with amusement, no it’s the kind of humorless laugh that makes your shiver and piss yourself.

  “I’m warning you now because I know Dove is fond of you, but if you interfere in any way with the plans I have for my daughter, I will have you killed and disposed of at the bottom of the harbor. Do you understand me?”

  His statement sends shockwaves rippling through me. I’ve always known that Matteo had the power to try and take Zane out, but part of me never thought he would. Now that I’ve heard the words come out of his mouth, I know he’ll follow through. Just like Zane won’t ever give up on protecting me, making sure that my father doesn’t marry me off to some man just for the sake of it.

  Zane’s determined, and he’ll die before he ever lets Matteo do something I don’t want.

  “No, I don’t understand, and I never will. Dove’s happiness should be your number one priority. Marrying her off to some douchebag isn’t going to make her happy.”

  “It isn’t? Are you sure about that? Are you sure it isn’t you who is more worried about Dove being married? After the initial shock wore off, she hasn’t voiced a single concern or complained again. Truthfully, I think the only problem is you. And we both know what must be done with problems.”

  Dread consumes me. I know right then and there, what has to be done and it’s going to kill me. It’s going to rip me to pieces, but it’s the only way I can save Zane and myself. The only way I can ensure that we have even a sliver of a chance at a future together.

  “Kill me, but it won’t change a thing. In fact, it will only make Dove hate you more.”

  “I don’t think so,” my father says, and I’m sickened by the sureness in his voice. He doesn’t know me at all, but he thinks he does, and that’s my advantage in all of this. I’m playing him, and he doesn’t even know it.

  “By the time this is all over, you’ll have made an enemy out of her.” The disgust in Zane’s voice can’t be missed.

  “We’ll see,” my father says.

  Turning, I rush down the hall and up the stairs to our bedroom before either of them can hear or spot me. By the time I reach the room, my heart is racing out of my chest, and there are tears in my eyes. What I have to do is going to kill me, but it has to happen if my plan is going to work.

  15

  My blood boils in my veins, burning me from the inside out like acid. Putting on the uncomfortable suit Matteo is making me wear, I wonder how I’m going to make it through the night without killing someone. I can’t fucking believe I agreed to this. Going to this event as Dove’s bodyguard. Of course, it’s not like I have a choice. Fuck.

  After I slip into my shoes and clip on the tie, I leave the room and head downstairs. Dove is getting ready in one of the guest rooms on the other side of the house. Matteo had a whole crew of stylists coming to get her ready. As if she needs a spec of makeup to be the most beautiful creature at this event.

  Taking a seat in the foyer, I wait for Dove and Matteo to be ready.

  An involuntary growl slips out when Matteo comes down first, his hair slicked back, an Armani three-piece suit covering his body.

  “Down, boy.” He chuckles, only infuriating me further.

  Lucky for him, I’m distracted the next second when I catch sight of Dove at the top of the stairs. I’m pretty sure my heart skips a beat. No, she doesn’t need an ounce of makeup to be beautiful, but it does accentuate her beauty. She starts walking down the stairs, and as cheesy as it sounds, I feel like she is an angel descending from heaven. I stand without thinking and greet her at the bottom of the stairs.

  I don’t care if her father sees how awestruck I
am by her. She’s my one and only true weakness in life.

  “You look beautiful,” I say as I place a kiss on her cheek. The stylist must really know what they’re doing because her makeup looks perfect, and the cream-colored dress she’s wearing makes her seem virginal and pure. At this rate, I know for sure now that I’ll end up killing someone tonight. Not being able to go to this stupid event as her date is going to be torture at its finest, but way better than being stuck in this mansion all night without her. With heels on, her head reaches the bottom of my chin, and I kinda like her being a little taller.

  Her glossy pink lips tilt up into a smile. “Thank you, and you look rather handsome yourself.” She wraps her arms around my neck and leans into me. The dress she’s wearing isn’t form-fitting, thank god, but it’s short enough to tempt those wanting to take a peek.

  “It’s going to take a serious amount of effort not to strangle every motherfucker that looks at you tonight,” I whisper into the shell of her ear.

  “Hate to break up the lovefest, but we’re on a schedule,” Matteo interrupts, “also, there will be none of this at the event. You’re her bodyguard. Nothing more than that.”

  Turning, I pin him with an icy glare. There’s a glint in his dark gaze, and he’s lucky, so fucking lucky, that I care more about Dove than ending his life.

  Taking a step back from Dove, a mask slips over my face to cover up the raging inferno that’s threatening to consume me. Every day, this asshole pry’s away another piece of the delicate armor I’ve erected to help stop from losing my shit on him. My patience is thin, and I’m reaching the point of no return. Once I fall off the deep end, I’m not even sure Dove will be able to reach me. Soon, there will be nothing left. No protect, no boundary, and it’s then that I will end him.

  “It’s time to go,” Matteo says, interlocking his arm with Dove’s.

  She frowns at me but doesn’t say anything, and even though she promised me she wouldn’t, I know she’s still leading him on, playing with fire, so to speak. She thinks she won’t get burnt, but I know better. I’ve done this before a time or two.

  An SUV pulls up just as we cross the threshold to outside. I tug at the uncomfortable collar constricting my neck. This is going to be the longest stretch of hours of my life. Matteo being the gentlemen he so clearly isn’t, opens the rear passenger side door and helps Dove in. When she’s tucked away inside the vehicle, he turns to me.

  “Don’t do anything fucking stupid tonight, or I’ll make you regret it.”

  “The only stupid thing I’m doing is dealing with you.”

  Matteo merely smirks before clapping me on the shoulder. “You have a lot to learn, and I look forward to watching you fall to your knees and beg me for forgiveness. After all, it wasn’t, but a couple days ago, you appeared in my office, begging me to relieve Dove of her family duties, am I right?”

  All I can do is grit my teeth and clench my hand into a tight fist because if I make the wrong move, if I do the wrong thing, it won’t just be me paying the price, it’ll be Dove too. Matteo releases me and walks around the SUV without another word, climbing into the back and taking the seat beside Dove.

  Forced to take the passenger side seat in the front, I climb into the SUV. As soon as I look over, I feel the need to drive my fist into the window beside me. The driver is none other than Alberto, who gives me a slimy grin as soon as I’m situated in my seat.

  “You look beautiful this evening,” he compliments Dove as he moves the car from park and into drive.

  “She really does, doesn’t she?” Matteo praises from the back seat.

  “Thank you, both,” Dove replies timidly, and all I can hear is the blood pumping through my veins.

  “Not to ruin the good mood,” Matteo says, “but I want to be very clear. The building the party is held in will be surrounded by my people if either one of you steps out, they have permission to shoot you.”

  Don’t lash out. Think of Dove. I talk myself off the ledge slowly and peer out the window, ignoring everyone, including Dove. I can’t think about her, or what we’re going through right now, without wanting to slaughter. For everyone’s sake, including my own, I hope no one touches her tonight because I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from painting the room red.

  * * *

  Misery. That’s what this party is, plain and simple misery. It takes place in a massive hall that’s connected to a hotel that Matteo owns. Of course, he’s invited everyone and their extended family for the homecoming of the century. It feels a little too formal for a homecoming though.

  I watch from the door closets to the table Dove is sitting at. She’s surrounded by Matteo’s men, three on one side, while Matteo sits beside her, and another two sit beside him. She’s a swan in a lake full of tar, beautiful, majestic but unable to escape her surroundings.

  Our eyes collide from across the room, the heat in those blues scorch me. Her gaze lets me know the most important thing of all. That even though it seems like the world is on fire around us, she is still here, burning in the same hell right alongside me.

  Dinner is served, and as her bodyguard, I watch the surroundings while she mingles and eats with her father. Jealousy is like a whip, landing against my skin every time another man takes her hand and presses a kiss to it.

  MINE! She is mine. I want to scream from the heavens. Forcing myself to look away, I scan the crowd. None of the faces look familiar, and I’m thankful for that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Christian sent some of his men here. Then again, maybe that was Matteo’s intention, after all, to bring him out of hiding.

  As my eyes pass over each face, something off to the right side of the room catches my eye. It’s only a split second that I see him. I can’t be too sure, but I swear Xander Rossi disappears through the door at the back of the room.

  Why is he here? Has he come to take Dove again? Fear pumps through me at the speed of lightning. I’m not sure if I should say something to Matteo or not. If I can find him, maybe I can strike up a deal with him instead.

  Before I can think too long on it, Matteo is shoving out of his chair and moving to the front of the room. He holds a flute of champagne in his hand and smiles out into the crowd like he isn’t a shark willing to shred anyone who stands in his way.

  “Good evening, and thank you so much for coming to celebrate the return of my long-lost daughter, Dove back into my life,” Matteo exclaims, and the room erupts in joy. “After her mother’s disappearance, I never thought I would find her, but here she is. At last, home… where she belongs.”

  I roll my eyes because the only other option is barfing, and I don’t want to make a scene. My gaze darts between Dove, Matteo, and Alberto, who not so casually slides his hand onto the back of her chair. Dove doesn’t seem aware of it, or she doesn’t care, which only enrages me further.

  I’m going to kill him. Murder him. Rip out his intestines and strangle him with them and cut up his body, and use it as shark bait.

  As I’m envisioning this, Matteo continues talking, but I’m too far gone to care what slimy bullshit he’s spewing. None of it is true anyway.

  “Tonight isn’t just about the return of my daughter though. It’s also about the legacy of the Castro family. As we all know, I’m not getting any younger, and my daughter returning to my life just happened to come at the best time.”

  My brow furrows as the thoughts of Alberto’s death slip from my mind. My attention is once again back on Matteo.

  What is this fucker doing?

  Looking back at Dove, I see that she’s just as confused by his speech as I am, though she could be acting the part. With her, it’s hard to tell which side she’s playing and when she’s playing it. The room falls quiet, and my stomach twists into tight knots. I’m bracing for whatever to come, but I don’t think anything could prepare me for Matteo’s next words.

  “I would like to announce the joining of my daughter, Dove Castro, to my finest and most fierce second in command, Alberto Salva
tore, in marriage.”

  My vision blurs for half a second, but the bloodthirst fog over my eyes turns to mist when I feel Alberto’s eyes on me. Our gazes clash, hate and venom spewing out of me, and snaking across the floor. I will make him pay. I will make all of them pay if it’s the last fucking thing that I do. A shocked gasp falls from Dove’s lips, but that’s the only response I get letting me know that she knew nothing of this incident. Matteo blindsided both of us.

  Before anyone can see Dove’s shocked face, she skews her expression and pulls her lips up into a tight smile. Like the perfect fucking couple, Alberto wraps an arm around her and tugs her into his side, his lips grazing her ear.

  To anyone, they look like the perfect couple, together and in love, and that’s the last straw for me. I won’t sit here and watch this. I can’t. I already feel the bile rising up my throat, the anger in my veins fueling my rage. I have to leave before I do something stupid.

  Tugging off my tie, I toss it to the ground and exit through the doors. Anger ripples through me like a seismic wave cracking through the earth. Rounding a corner, I clench my fists and try and breathe through my nose, but nothing is helping me at this point. I’ve left Dove back there with Alberto and Matteo, even though I didn’t want to because I just can’t stomach seeing it. Watching her act as if she doesn’t love me, as if that shouldn’t be us getting married.

  Fuck! Knocking shoulders with some asshole, I continue stalking wherever the fuck it is I’m going until he opens his mouth.

  “You could say excuse me,” he sneers. I almost chuckle as I turn around and stare him straight in the eyes.

  Cocking my head to the side, I except the challenge reflecting in his eyes. “I could, but I don’t really give a fuck.”

  “You need to be taught a fucking lesson on manners, don’t you?” This time, I do chuckle. I laugh hard enough that my abs tighten and my belly trembles. This asshole can’t be but a little older than me. He’s slim, with an athletic body, but he’s nothing to a killer like me, and worse yet, he’s just signed his own fucking death certificate.