Page 17 of Dangerous Obsession

He is so irritating, acting like this is my fault. I keep my mouth shut as we continue down the alley and across two more blocks traveling in darkness now. I assume he’s just trying to put space between us and the stolen car so it doesn’t get traced to his father’s place, but my foot hurts.

“Can we please stop for a second?” My tone is whiney; I know that. He doesn’t seem to care.

“If you want to die, yes.”

When he turns down a lit sidewalk, I sigh with relief. There are fewer stones on the sidewalk. The strap of my bag digs into my shoulder, but I press on.

“So what if your father just shoots me then? AM I better off on the street then for two more hours?”

Leo stops abruptly and turns to face me, and I almost slam into his chest. “My father is on palliative care. He’s dying. He’s not killing you.”

His nostrils flare and his chest is puffed out, so I shrink back. “I had no idea. I’m sorry.”

He takes my hand and continues down the street another half of a block before he nods at a house. “No talking now.” I gulp and try to keep a straight face. Leo mounts the stairs, still holding my hand, and unlocks the front door. It opens silently to reveal a dark hallway. There isn’t a trace of light. I feel completely blind.

“I can’t see,” I whisper.

“Shut up,” he whispers back and squeezes my hand so hard I almost whimper. I keep my mouth shut, following him down a long hallway past the stairs and into a room. Once inside, I hear the door click shut and then his phone illuminates. “Stay here,” he tells me.

“No, you’re not leaving me alone here. What if someone comes in? What if this is someone’s bedroom?” I’m angry, and my whispers come out more like quiet shouts.

“It is someone’s bedroom. This was my dad’s room before he got sick. Now he stays upstairs where the nursing staff is closer to him. Just stay here.”

“Leo, this is insane.” Our whispers keep getting louder and louder, and if he doesn’t put my anxiety to bed, we’re going to end up in a screaming match because I am not staying alone in the same home of the man who threatened my life and my father’s.

“This is the only option we have. Do you think I want to deal with my father being enraged by me? Just shut up and sit down and I’ll be back.” I feel his hands on my arms and I yelp quietly as I am forced backward until my legs bump into something. I collapse backward, and the bed breaks my fall. “And be quiet.”

I hear the door open and shut again and I know I’m alone. I half expect someone to flip on the light and scare the shit out of me, but all I hear are Leo’s footsteps silently retreating down the hallway. I sit up, leaving my bag lying on the bed. I kick off my one shoe and lift my sore foot up to rub it. There are still tiny stones stuck to it, so I brush them off. I hope he intends to get me some fresh clothing and a pair of shoes now, because I feel gross and naked.

This room smells sterile, like it’s been cleaned with bleach or something, and it’s cold. Their thermostat is set way too low. If I thought I’d be staying here, I’d curl up in bed and warm up, but I want to leave. When Leo returns—if Leo returns—I’m telling him I want out of here. We can just stay at a hotel. I have enough money to pay for it, at least for one night.

Leo is gone a while, and I start to feel restless. I still can’t see anything but my eyes have adjusted to the darkness enough to make out a window. I tiptoe to it and pull the drapes back, which allows just enough light from the alley out back to see around the room. The silver doorknob reflects some of that light, and I walk straight to it and open the door. I have to find out what he’s doing.

As soon as the door is open, I hear loud voices coming from upstairs. One of them is Leo’s voice, but I don’t know who the others are. His father maybe? Or one of his brothers. I tiptoe up the hallway toward the door where we came in. It gets darker with each step, but the voices get louder and louder until I’m standing at the bottom of the stairs and I can hear everything very clearly.

“Get rid of her.” The statement is followed by coughing. It sounds like an older man, so I guess that’s his father. I knew he wouldn’t want me here. Leo was wrong to bring me, and now I feel even more afraid that this might be my last night on Earth. Alexsi Gusev wants me gone, maybe even dead. The way my mind is racing, I wonder if I should just get my bag and leave. If I’m not with Leo I know I can disappear. Just need to stop at an ATM and then by a car rental place and I can be out of the city at first light.

“No. I won’t do it. You know me well enough to know I never did. She’s mine. She’s always been mine, and we don’t turn our people out onto the street to be left for dead.” That’s Leo, angry and standing up for me against his father. “They’ve tracked her down. They know who she is. If you want her dead you’re going to have to get out of that bed yourself and steal my gun.”

“Leo, don’t be stupid.” Another man’s voice chimes in. He sounds younger. It’s got to be one of his brothers. “No woman is worth risking your life and losing your family.”

“Yeah? What about Nanette? Huh? Would you risk your life for her?” After Leo asks the question there is only silence for several seconds. “Thought so. Now why is it that she is so dangerous? She hasn’t spoken to her father once since you sent her away, or tried to.”

So the older man’s voice really is his father. I knew it. I clench my jaw, half tempted to go up and give that bastard a piece of my mind, but fear keeps me glued in place for now. If Leo is having a difficult time fighting for me, my face appearing in that door will only make things worse for him.

“You take care of this, or Dominic will. Leonid, you make me so ashamed to be your father.”

Oh my god, what sort of man says that to his child? I cover my mouth to keep from talking to myself about how evil this man has to be. They want him to kill me, or they are threatening to do it. I’m not even dangerous. Sure, when I was living with my father, if he’d have found out about Leo and what his family was like, I know he’d have used me to get to them. But it’s been so long, there is no way they can think my father is still a threat. I want Leo to tell them Dad is out of the picture. I’m not a threat.

“Look, she’s not leaving. Not tonight. We’re sleeping downstairs. I’m locking the door and I’m filling my clip, so don’t even think of coming in unless you want a chest full of lead.”

At that, I quickly tiptoe back to the room and silently shut the door behind me. My hands shake at the way he spoke to his family, especially his father. A man like that is not to be double crossed. Why does he think he can say those things and get away with it? Leo seems fearless, like nothing on this planet matters more to him than me. But why does he feel like that? Especially after I took that payout from his dad and left. He should have been angry with me. Instead he followed me around and protected me.

I begin to think about it a different way now as I climb into bed and curl up beneath the covers. I shiver as I ponder how brave of a thing Leo did for me. Yeah some of the things he did were shitty, but he never gave up. He actually wanted to keep me in his life and he made it happen.

God, my heart feels so confused right now. This needs to be over, soon, because if not, the fear and anxiety are going to give me an early-age heart attack.

11

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