Page 88 of His Coveted Obsession

I was abruptly yanked off the man. That was when I noticed Annie screaming and crying. Easton took the knife from my hand as reality set in. A sob escaped me, and I tried to throw up again.

“Oh, god. Oh, god. I-I killed him. I was… happy about it!”

“You protected me,” he said.

“But… Ikilledhim. I had no other thought but to protect you. But then… all I wanted was to see him die for what he did to me.”

I should’ve been glad the man was dead, but the idea that I blanked out and didn’t care if I was killing someone was the most disturbing part. Even more troubling was the pleasure and anger that resulted from it. It showed what I was capable of. But why hadn’t it bothered me that Easton had just killed? It did, but not as much as me doing the killing. Plus, he was saving Annie and me.

“Dante, please take Annie and get her out.” Easton looked behind him and nodded toward Dante. “Ladies, go with him.”

“Tommy!” Annie cried out for me as Dante lifted her into his arms.

“I’m right behind you, Annie Boo.”

Easton placed a palm on my face. “We need to go.”

I nodded. “I know.”

My legs were shaking as I stood, and I felt the nausea rise again, but I swallowed it back. Easton took my hand and led me to Sully, who was pressing a hand to his bleeding arm.

“I don’t like being surprised,” Sully huffed. “If they ruined one of my tattoos, I’m going to be pissed.”

“You’ll be fine. Let’s get you back and take care of you.”

I glanced around at all the dead bodies, but my eyes landed on the dead man on the ground in a pool of his own blood. The one I killed was the only one I focused on. It was one thing when someone else did it. While horrifying, I could clearly disassociate. But not when it was me doing the killing. It was so personal.

“He hurt me the most.”

Easton kissed my head. “He deserves death, not your pity.”

I pulled away from him. “Pity? I don’t pity him. I…”

How did I explain what I was feeling? But before I could finish what I was trying to say, Easton swooped me up into his strong arms and carried me up the stairs and out into the cold, dark evening.

“Never pull away from me again. I don’t like it,” he said, putting me back on my feet.

All I could do was nod. I had too much to process between the past three days, all the death, and me killing someone. Annie and I were going to need some serious therapy. And I’d have to deal with Dad.

We were careful while walking back to the cars since none of us prisoners were wearing shoes.

Dante stopped at one of the SUVs and let the women climb in. “I’ll take you somewhere safe, then you can call your family or whoever you need to come get you.” They all nodded and whimpered, but didn’t say anything.

He looked over at us and waved. “I’ll see you back at the office.”

Easton opened the back door to the car, and Annie and I climbed in. He left for a moment, grabbing something from the back before returning and climbing into the driver’s seat as Sully got into the passenger seat.

He handed a rag to Sully, who pressed it to his arm to stem the bleeding. Then Easton turned to us and gave each of us a water bottle.

“There’s food where we’re going,” he said.

I nodded and stared out the window as he pulled away. Annie rested her head on my shoulder, her body trembling against me, so I held her close, feeling helpless. I also felt… I couldn’t describe it. Disjointed, like none of this was real, but I felt every punch and chill. The killing hit me the worst. I was glad the man was dead. That they all were. I had no doubt they hurt and killed many people. The world was better off without them in it. Still… Being kidnapped, tortured, and killing someone hadn’t been on my to-do list this week… this life.

One thing I knew for sure. My life would never be the same.

Mybodywasshakingagain as the adrenaline wore off. And with less adrenaline, I was faced with the diminishing of my innocence and morality. I’d really been living in a bubble, despite my father being an addict. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be kidnapped with my sister, see all that death, and kill someone. That was right up there with horror movies, if they were real.

We pulled into a parking garage underneath a building near the Capitol, and Easton parked the SUV.

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