Page 39 of Dangerous Obsession

I pound on the trunk until my hands bleed, and he climbs in and starts the engine. He drives like he doesn’t care that he has a human being in his trunk. I’m thrown around in the tiny space, slamming into things he has in here with me, and then the car stops, and he drags me out by my hair.

“Fuck… ouch. Stop!” I swat at him, but he doesn’t ease up. He also doesn’t speak until he has me inside a large brick building. The windows out front are dark or boarded up, and a tiny bell hanging above the door dings as we walk in.

“Tell him we have her,” Carl snaps at a man seated next to the door. We pass him and Carl pushes me through an open door where a few other men are seated around a table playing cards. They look up at us and he shoves me toward them. I crash into the table, sending their cards flying to the floor and they jump up.

“What the hell, Baker!” One of the men, dark hair and angry eyes, stares at me as I stumble away from the table and push my hair out of my eyes.

“Willow Akers…. You’re welcome,” Carl snaps, and then he’s gone.

“Dumbass!” the man calls after Carl, but then he turns to me. “So you’re the bitch who started all of this?”

“What? No, I didn’t start anything.” I back away but I bump into a man’s chest. I whip around to see him glaring at me. Three other men close in on me too, while the sixth man in the room walks out with his phone in hand. “Please, I just want to go see my father. Detective Akers, please. “

“That’s not going to be possible,” another man says with a very thick Italian accent, and suddenly I see what is happening. The prostitutes tried to warn me that the Italians had people working in that precinct, and I walked right into a trap. Maybe they’d seen my face on the news or something. Why didn’t they just say that?

“Please, this has been a misunderstanding. This whole thing is just a mistake.” I’m trembling, hugging my stomach again, still dripping wet.

“The way I see it, you got in bed with our enemy. That makes you our enemy.” The first man runs his finger over my cheek. “Are you our enemy?” he asks, looking me up and down.

“No, uh, no, sir. I’m not an enemy. I just got sucked into this thing and—”

His hands reach up and tear the sweater open in front, revealing my t-shirt. “Well, we’re going to need you to tell us about Leonid Gusev then. Because he is definitely our enemy.”

“What are you doing?” I back away again, and again I run into the firm chest of a man. They’re all so close I can smell their sweat and the tobacco on at least two of their breaths. “Please, I just want my father.”

“Daddy can’t help you, sweetheart.” The man reaches up and grabs the collar of my t-shirt and tears it down the center in a few jerky movements. His muscles flex in his arms making the tattoo woman on his left bicep dance.

“Hey,” I shriek, but the man behind me holds me by the elbows, then slides his hands down my arms until he has both hands pinned behind my back. “Stop it!”

“Hmmm,” the man says, running a single finger over the curve of my boob, “this looks nice. Think maybe I might have to sample this, see what all the fuss is about.” He pushes the halves of my shirt and sweater aside, fully exposing my bra. “See, my boss was just about to have his sample when some piece of shit gunned him down. He was protecting you, wasn’t he?”

“No, please…” I squirm, trying to get away, but all I manage to do is put on a show for these sick fucks.

“Oh, yes. I think he was. He has it bad for you, which means you’re valuable to me. How would he feel if he knew I soiled his playground?” The man reaches for his belt and begins to unbuckle it, but another man walks in and everyone backs away from me. This man seems to command their attention.

“What are you doing, Ralphie?” The new man shakes his head and scowls.

“Sorry, boss.”

“Boss” glares at Ralphie then turns his attention on me. “I apologize for Ralphie’s rude behavior. That is not how we treat guests.”

“Sir, I just want to see my father.” With my wrists free I swipe at my eyes and pull my shirt closed.

“In time, perhaps. Right now, you need to tell me everything you know about the man who killed my soldier. Because if you don’t, you’re going to die right along with him, and your father will die too.” The boss takes a gun out of his waistband and something out of his pocket. He screws the metal rod into the end of his gun and watches me. It’s a silencer. He’s going to kill me.

My god, I need Leo. Why did I leave that safehouse?

23

LEO

My head pounds as I blink myself awake. My memory is foggy as to what happened to make me feel so groggy this morning. My neck aches from sleeping in an upright position on the couch; a six pack of beer with a few of the bottles empty sits on the end table next to me. I rub my eyes and roll my neck, stretching to ease the ache.

“Willow?” I stand and sway for a moment. I’ve never had a hangover like this in my life. Even my chest and arms feel heavy, like I’ve been drugged or something.

The sun is up, already warming the city for the day and I can’t believe I slept so late. I reach for my phone to see a few missed texts from my brothers. It’s already after eight a.m. I never sleep this late. And why is the sunlight hurting my head more?

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I head toward the kitchen. I hear the sound of running water. Willow must be in a shower or something. This is about the time of day she wakes up. I’ll just make coffee for both of us. I know the past month or so has been rough on her. There are times when I wish we could go back to normal life, but until this blows over, we’ll be stuck here. And given how my family refuses to help, it may take longer than normal.

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