Deadly Obsession

by Beck, J. L.

  Closing the door behind me, I ignore the destruction beneath my feet and walk into the bathroom. I have to focus on the now. What I need to survive, to find Zane. Which leads me to the entire reason I came back here. Money.

  Opening the medicine cabinet, I scan the bottles, which, surprisingly, haven’t been touched. Finding the bottle I’m looking for, I pop the cap, and smile when I see the cash rolled together inside. I used to laugh whenever I’d hide money in here, thinking how ludicrous this was, but look who’s laughing now. Sliding my fingers inside, I tug the money out and squeeze it in my clammy hand. I drop the bottle into the sink and close the cabinet.

  I don’t want to stay anywhere too long right now, not with just having escaped Matteo. Leaving the bathroom, I walk to the bedroom, my shoes crunching against the floor. The room is destroyed just like the rest of the house, but I make do, finding some clothes and a backpack to shove them in. Tossing everything inside, I sling the pack over my shoulder and walk out. In the kitchen, I find an envelope from a bill on the floor and a pen sitting on the counter.

  Part of me had hoped like hell that Zane would be here when I walked through the door, but he wasn’t, and that’s okay. I’ll find him, and we will be reunited again. On the off chance, he does happen to stop by here, I write a note, letting him know I’ve escaped and that I’ll come back here in a few days. Leaving the note on the counter, I walk to the door.

  I should probably get rid of the car. Now that I have some cash, I can take the bus or a cab. I start walking down the sidewalk with every intention of passing Alberto’s car, but when I spot two black SUVs coming around the corner, I freeze. Yes, it’s just an SUV, but it’s the speed that it’s coming around the corner. Danger zings through the air, and my gut tells me to run.

  The first SUV speeds up, and now I’m certain whoever is driving is coming from me. Springing into action, I rush around the car while unlocking it with the key fob. As fast as I can, I slide into the driver’s seat and start the car. The engine roars to life, and I’m barely able to pull out of the parking spot before they’re catching up with me.

  The street is filled with the sounds of tires squealing and cars speeding away. Driving like a Nascar driver, I punch the gas, zooming away from them. Every fiber in my body tenses when I look in the rearview mirror and see that they’re right on my tail.

  They could be Matteo’s men, or Christian’s. The least scariest possibility is that they’re Xander’s, I couldn’t see them chasing after me though, not like these cars are. Turning down an alleyway, I drive through two trash cans and make a sharp left back out onto a street. Headlights flash behind me, and I know they’re still there.

  Slamming on the gas, I weave through traffic, nearly hitting three cars in the process as I try to get away from them. If they catch me, I’m trapped. It doesn’t matter whose men they are. I’ll be a pawn on one of their chess boards when all I want is to be free. Taking another sharp left, I peer over my shoulder and see only one SUV.

  Where did the other… The thought gets lodged in my head and scatters like puzzle pieces shoved off a table when out of nowhere, the second SUV comes barreling down a side street. Its headlights are blinding, and I squint, trying to figure out what they’re doing. It only takes a second to realize they’re heading straight for me. The nose of their car slams into the rear of mine. My teeth clatter together as the impact sends the car into a tailspin.

  Tires squeal, and headlights flash in front of the car, making me dizzy. All I can think is to run. With sweaty palms, I reach for the door handle and shove it open. I don’t think about where I’m going, only that I have to get away.

  My lungs burn and my heart thunders in my chest. It’s almost the only thing I hear as I dash from the car and out into the street. Crazed, I pause for one second and look over my shoulder just as the sound of car doors opening meets my ears.

  “Get the girl, but don’t kill her. I want to be the one to do that.”

  I know that voice. Christian. Shit. I didn’t escape one crazy-ass mob family to be tossed into another. Forcing my feet to move, I start running down the sidewalk. I make it all of ten feet before a muscled body plows me into the ground with the force of a wrecking ball. The air expels from my lungs, and my hands scrape against the concrete as I try and break my fall. Twisting in the assholes grasp, I drag my nails down and across his face. A hiss passes his lips, but he doesn’t release me.

  “Feisty. I like it.” The bastard sinks his fingers into my skin with bruising force. “Keep fighting me. I love it when they do.” The weight of his body disappears, and just when I think I might have a chance of escaping, he yanks me up off the cold ground and starts dragging me back toward the cars.

  “No, please...please, let me go,” I resort to begging because I know what happens if I get shoved into one of those cars.

  “I got her boss,” the bastard dragging me behind him announces proudly. In a few steps, we’re at the SUV. The door opens, and no matter how much I struggle against the hulk of a man, I’m picked up and placed into the backseat of the vehicle, beside one of the most villainous men I’ve ever met, next to Matteo.

  The door is slammed shut, and it feels like I’m being encased in my own coffin.

  “We meet again,” Christian says, his voice drips with anger, rage that is suffocating. It’s like trying to breathe underwater.

  “Let me go,” I order. Like a cat, I claw at the door of the SUV, tugging at the handle, but the door won’t open. The vehicle starts to move, and no matter how much I will myself not to cry, I can’t hold back the avalanche of tears.

  “Why would I do that when I just got you back?”

  “So, you gonna put me in a cell again?”

  “No, Dove, you’re coming with me to my place this time. I’ll let you stay in my room if you behave.” He smirks, and I have to force the bile rising in my throat back down.

  “What do you want from me? I have nothing of yours… Zane is… we aren’t together, and I don’t know where he is, and Matteo wants me dead if you think he cares about me, you’re wrong.” I look up at the man through thick lashes, tears clinging, no matter how hard I try to blink them away.

  A sadistic grin pulls at his lips. “That’s the problem, Dove. You think you have nothing, but really you have everything, and by the end of this, I’ll take it all from you.”

  Confusion seeps into my pores, but before I can try and piece anything together, Christian produces a needle and stabs it into the side of my neck, pressing the syringe down and injecting me with some unknown drug.

  “Night, night, little bird, when you wake up, all will be different.”

  21

  “If you keep pacing like that, you’re gonna leave scuff marks on my carpet,” Xander growls from his desk, annoyance lacing his words. That makes two of us. I’ve had enough of mob bosses telling me what to do.

  “If your men would hurry up and find her, I wouldn’t have a reason to pace.” I pin him with a stare that’s sure to get me killed. I still don’t trust Xander, and I’m not sure what his real intentions are, but right now, he is helping me, so I need to really rein in my anger.

  “They’ll find her,” he snaps before returning his attention back to his laptop. I have no doubt that they will find her, but I fear that it’s going to be too late by the time they do, and I don’t want to imagine the condition she’ll be in by then.

  “I just can’t wait around any longer. I’m going to go look for her myself.”

  “I already told you, it’s best to stay here until we know what’s going on. My informant gave me too little information to act right now,” Xander explains again as if I didn’t hear him the first ten times. Apparently, Xander managed to get one of Matteo’s men on his payroll. That guy called an hour ago, saying that there was an incident at the mansion. Alberto is dead, and Dove has disappeared. Whether she escaped or was taken is still not clear.

  Fuck, I hope she escaped. If not, I’m burning down the world until
I find her.

  “At least check the surveillance in Dove’s apartment again. If she got away, she would go there, I know it.”

  “It’s still pulled up on my computer. If she goes there—” He pauses mid-sentence, his eyes fixed on the computer screen. “She just walked in…”

  I’m across the room and around Xander’s desk in two seconds flat. My eyes fall onto the computer screen and catch sight of Dove… my Dove, walking into her ransacked apartment. Through the grainy screen, she doesn’t appear to be hurt or really even frightened. In fact, she looks strong, like a queen. Her gaze scans the ground, looking over her destroyed belongings before moving up and right into the camera. She doesn’t know where I hid the cameras, but somehow, she manages to look straight into it.

  It’s like she’s staring at me, beckoning me to come for her.

  I’m coming, baby…

  “Ivan and his team are outside and ready to go. I’ll stay here and continue checking surveillance. Go!” Xander commands, and for once, I have no problem taking his order.

  Without saying a word, I’m out of his office and running toward the front door. I almost take the handle off while opening it. When I make it to the front steps, I realize Xander wasn’t lying. Ivan is standing in front of a fleet of cars, seemingly only waiting for me to get in. He doesn’t have to wait long, because the next instant, I’m shoving into the passenger seat.

  Ivan jogs around to the driver’s seat, and we are off before either of us can buckle up.

  The ride to her apartment seems to take forever, even though Ivan seems to have his foot to the pedal most of the drive, it still feels like forever. Even if we were going a thousand miles per hour, it wouldn’t be fast enough when it comes to Dove.

  “She just left the apartment,” Xander says over the car speaker.

  “We’re almost there,” Ivan says as if he knows how anxious I’m feeling. Grinding my teeth, I hope and pray that we’ll catch her before she leaves. These last couple of days have been pure torture, and even if I am angry at her for pushing me away, I still want to hold her in my arms just to know that she is okay.

  A few minutes later, we pull up outside her apartment. I open the door and jump out of the car before we come to a complete stop. Looking around, I wish nothing more than to see her. I scan the entire area, up and down the street, but she’s nowhere in sight… gone.

  She’s gone.

  I fucking missed her.

  * * *

  Looking down at the envelope in my hand, I read over the note for the hundredth time.

  Zane, I escaped Matteo. Will be back in a few days.

  I love you, Dove.

  Refusing to return to Xander’s place, I meander back outside, I sit in the car and wait. I told Ivan he could leave, but he insisted on staying, mumbling something about how I might need him. Two more SUVs stayed as well, parked only a few spots behind us. I look out onto the street, watching every car that drives by and every person that walks out onto the street.

  If I have to, I’ll stay here until she shows back up. Either way, I’m not moving until we figure out where the hell she is.

  Xander has been trying to figure out where she went, calling in favors left and right while we wait around uselessly. When the phone finally rings, and Xander’s name flashes over the screen, I almost give up hope that he has some new information and is instead ordering us to return to the mansion, but that’s not what comes out of his mouth.

  “Christian has her. There was some type of chase, and now they’re transporting her to his place. I’m sending more men your way, but it’s going to be a good twenty minutes before they get there, and I’m not sure she has that long.”

  “We’re going there now,” Ivan says as the SUV roars to life. I clench my hands into tight fists at the thought of a fight. Why is he taking her to his place? What the fuck is going on?

  My heart beats in my ears, and all I can think about is rearranging Christian’s face, and wrapping my arms around Dove. Making sure she’s safe and secure. Clenching my jaw, I try not to think about what might be happening to her. I can’t believe this is happening again. I should have killed him when I had the chance. If they’ve hurt her in any way, they’ll be wishing for death by the time I’m done with them.

  “I’m guessing you know where to go?”

  “Yes, head east.” I continue giving Ivan directions until we arrive at Christian’s private mansion. It’s not as heavily guarded as Xander’s place, but it does have its own security. Luckily, I know that security system well, and if I’m lucky, he was stupid enough not to change my code to get in.

  “Is there a back way in?” Ivan asks.

  “No, but you can pull up to the gate and try to enter my code. It’s 891384.”

  Ivan drives up to the code pad and punches in the numbers. I hold my breath as he pushes the enter button, and I don’t breathe until the green light blinks, and the gate starts to creak open. I suck in a ragged breath as Ivan drives through the gate and toward the house.

  “I can’t believe he didn’t change the code.” Ivan shakes his head.

  I snort and say, “I can. He’s too confident, and that’s exactly what’s going to get him killed… tonight.” I half expect Ivan to tell me not to do it, that Xander wants to bring him in and torture him, but to my surprise, he only nods as if he was expecting me to say that.

  “Xander told me to kill him if you didn’t want to do it in front of Dove. I know you don’t trust him yet, but I can tell you, he’s nothing like Matteo. He actually loves his family, and now that Dove is a part of that, he’ll spare her any type of pain that he can,” Ivan says as we pull up in front of the mansion.

  “Then let’s go inside, get her, and kill the bastard who’s trying to hurt her,” I say while opening my door with my gun in my hand.

  As soon as we’re out of the car, a handful of Christian’s men pour out of the house, guns raised. I stay close to the car, using it as a shield while I raise my own gun and start shooting. The first bullet hits my target right between the eyes, his body crumbling to the ground. The second one hits another guy in the arm, but Ivan gets him in the side of the head without even blinking. The other two men retreat into the house but fail to close the door. Idiots. Not that a closed door is going to stop me from getting to Dove. I’ll rip this fucking place down to the floorboards to find her.

  More shots are fired, some by us, some by Christian’s men, but everybody is keeping themselves covered. I know I need to act fast; I don’t have time for a fucking standoff with these idiots. Taking the risk because a bullet to the chest is nothing compared to the pain Dove will endure if we wait any longer, I push off the car and spring up to the front of the house. A guard sticks his head out the door in a failed attempt to survey the area. Without thinking twice, I lift my gun and pull the trigger while running toward him.

  He falls back against the door and then crumbles down to the ground just as I get to the door. The last guard lunges for me, fear trickling into his features as if he knows the fate he’s about to be delivered. Expecting it, I greet him with a punch to the chest, knocking the air from his lungs. A gasp slips from his lips, and before he can recover, I press the muzzle of my gun to his stomach and pull the trigger. Like a tiger, I move through the foyer and toward the kitchen.

  A scream pierces the air and bounces off the walls of the house, and like a beacon, I’m drawn to it. Dove needs me, she fucking needs me, and I’ll be damned if I fail her again. Turning, I walk back toward the hall, where I hear a whimper instead of a scream this time. I’ll rip his heart out of his chest if he hurts her.

  Uncontrolled, and like an animal hunting its prey, I move deeper into the hall. I can sense Ivan behind me, his movements mimic mine, but he doesn’t intervene or try and stop me.

  “Time to go, princess.” Christian’s smug voice pierces through the heavy fog around my head, and I hide slip into the room, hiding behind the door. When I peer back around the corner, Christian is tug
ging Dove down the hall with him. I only catch a glimpse of her face; her cheeks are stained with tears. “Your little knight thought he could save you, but all he did was damn you. You should thank me for killing you and putting you out of your misery.”

  Dove’s cries are muffled, but I can feel her pain, taste her fear on the tip of my tongue. I have to stop them before they get to an exit and get outside. Christian wasn’t prepared for us to show up here, and so we have the element of surprise right now, but I’m sure he’s called more men in, and they’ll be here soon.

  Too bad Christian will be dead before that happens. Tiptoeing in the direction he went, I lift my gun, watching as he tugs Dove by her arm toward a door. She struggles in his grasp, and as she fights him, her gaze swings toward me. Panic. Fear. Adoration. Love. Each emotion reflects back at me.

  Shaking my head, I release myself from her trance. The door opens, and I lift my gun, firing two shots into Christian’s back.

  I don’t think, I pounce like a thief in the night, rushing toward them. Christian releases Dove at the last second, and before I can grasp what is taking place, he shoves her toward the open door. Fear like I’ve never felt before, pulses through me with its own heartbeat as I watch her disappear into the dark space. I hear every stair she hits, my heart cracking inside my chest, and as Christian turns to face me, a sadistic smile on his lips and a gun in his hand, I lift my own and shoot him in the head at point-blank range.

  Shock flickers in his eyes, and then blood and brain matter explode everywhere, painting the hall in death. Christian’s stare becomes vacant and reflects back at me. He crumbles to the ground, landing in a heap at my feet. I step over his body and rush down the stairs, my hands shaking, and my body vibrating with fear as I reach Dove.

  She is lying on her side, her arms cradling her head. I kneel next to her on the floor, not sure if I should pick her up or if that would hurt her more. I gently grab her arms and pull them away from her face, so I can get a better look at her. Brushing the sweat-slicked hair from her face, her eyes flutter open and find mine in an instant.