by Vi Carter
A DEADLY OBSESSION
A DARK ROMANCE
BY VI CARTER
Other Books by VI CARTER
A BROKEN HEART SERIES
SAVING GRACE
CLAIMING AMBER
TAKING LAURA
WILD IRISH SERIES
RECKLESS (prequel)
VICIOUS #1
RUTHLESS #2
FEARLESS #3
MERCILESS #4
HEARTLESS #5
THE BOYNE CLUB
DARK #1
DARKER #2
EPILOGUE
ELLA
The cold concrete under my hands penetrates my skin and worms its way into my veins. Small pebbles feel harsh against the sensitive area of my hands as I scramble up the steps. All I can focus on is two black wooden doors ahead of me.
Freedom, they scream.
My bare foot slips on the edge of a step in my haste to get away from the madness behind me. My chin takes the impact of my fall as it hits the concrete slab. I don’t stop as a metallic taste fills my mouth. I need to reach those doors before he reaches me.
My palms cry out as I slam them repeatedly against the black doors, but they don’t budge. My frantic heart sends my temperature spiking, sending the cold that I briefly felt racing away. A sob that I can’t keep down trembles on my lips before it forms fully. I blink, allowing the tears to fall as I push with my shoulder. Something shifts under me, and the smallest breeze that escapes the crack of the door, has me pushing harder. With every ounce of strength I have, I manage to get the doors open and spring from the basement.
Grass still covered in dew blankets my feet as I race across the front lawn. I don’t dare look back; I don’t dare let that final image flood my mind. I want to scream for help; I want to beg someone to help me. But no one is around. Holding up my white bloodied nightgown, I continue my race for freedom across the lawn that feels more like an endless meadow. The wind whips hair across my face, the feel of it is frozen and harsh against my skin.
My fingers dig into the wooden fence as I pull myself over it. The shouts from the house, along with lights being turned on along the porch, have my heart fluttering and my vision tinges with black along the edges. Dread pools in my stomach as I fear I might pass out. The shouts mingle along with the blood that pounds in my ears as I fall across the fence and onto a hard surface. My fingers race across the tarmac.
A road.
I am on a road. Standing, I wobble as I spin around. More tarmac, more trees. My tongue feels heavy in my mouth and I wonder when was the last time I’d had something to drink. I couldn’t remember. My feet start to move again.
I freeze. The noise of someone coming has the blood running cold in my veins. My chin scrapes against the tarmac as I throw myself down on the ground. Fear is consuming me; something I can’t control, my vision blurs and wavers. Feet appear out onto the road. A whimper pulls at me and I close my eyes tightly. Warm liquid rushes down my face.
He can’t see me. He can’t see me.
My skin crawls and I’m too afraid to open my eyes. Another part of me wants to scream so this will end. I open my eyes slowly and the feet race past me. My heart hammers in my chest as I wait for them to stop and come back, but they don’t. The whimper leaves my chattering lips.
Get up, Ella.
Pushing myself up on shaky arms, I spring from the ditch and start to run in the opposite direction that the other person had gone. My eyes shoot around the landscape as my mind tries to push the images back in front of me. Like a detective sliding a gruesome image in front of the murderer to make him crack.
He wanted me to break.
He wanted to break me.
My lungs burn as I race around a bend in the road. I don’t know how long I’ve been running for, but I haven’t seen a car. My mind won’t decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
Red thin lips. I cover my mouth to keep the scream in, the scream that’s building inside me and wants out.
The noise of a vehicle cracks through my thoughts and without slowing down I throw my body to the left of the road where most of the undergrowth is. My skin burns from the sharp thorns that pierce my skin and drink my blood.
As I lie still once again, the cold ground becomes comforting, it reminds me that I’m out here and not in there with that monster.
The one blond curl wrapped in red. Stained in blood. I tighten my eyes as my mind tries to conjure the rest of the image.
Move Ella.
I leave the road completely and start to run across an open field.
Help me.
My frantic mind won’t slow as my feet dig deep into the grass. I don’t remember how I got here but when I stop and look up I’m standing outside my house.
“Mam.” My lip trembles as my voice cries for my mother. My body shakes and dips like it’s giving up. I am a yard from my own front door. A yard from my home.
“Mam,” I shout louder as I find the use of my legs and start to run.
“Mam.” My roar is said with a pounding heart. How long had it been; weeks, months, a year?
“MAM!” My fists hit the door; the overhead porch light burns my eyes from the darkness of the night.
“Mam.” My cries grow and when the door opens I collapse on my knees, at my mother’s feet.
CHAPTER ONE
BEFORE
ELLA
My mother swipes the yellow dress that I’m holding, right out of my hands.
“That color does nothing for you and we want him to pick you.” She finishes her sentence while holding my face in her hands, her touch is gentle but her words are firm.
“I like that dress,” my words fall flat as I face her back. She’s been packing these bags for most of my life, waiting for the day that I’m swept away to Lucas Andrew the third. Honestly, so have I. He’s been my bedtime story since I was a child, my reward when I complied, my punishment when I didn’t.
They made him whatever they needed to at the time. All I knew was that I was raised for him and only him.
I tighten my legs together now as I remember the uncomfortable examination I had to go through, only days ago, to prove I was a virgin.
“Ella, you’re slouching.”
My spine straightens at my mother’s words. It takes me a moment to catch up with her.
“Sorry mother.”
A quick nod and I return to the dresses laid out on my single bed. So many green ones, ‘Just like your eyes’ I can hear my mother chirping. I glance at her now and can see her excitement in how quickly she moves about the room. Our eyes clash and she stops, folding a snow-white nightdress in her hands.
“Don’t be nervous.”
These are her first words of encouragement, and my lips tug up into a smile that she mirrors. She loves when I smile. ‘It’s your best asset’, she’s told me a thousand times.
“I’m excited.” I want to gush about how handsome he is, but this is my mother. A brief nod of her head sends me back to work, packing.
“I think that’s it.” My mother’s cheeks are red as she glances around the room, and over the five suitcases we have packed. My stomach tightens. This was it.
Our eyes meet over the suitcases and her brown ones soften. “My baby is now a woman.”
I hate the sadness that fills her eyes. “Mam, once he picks me,” she smiles at my confidence, “we can see each other.”
Her smile slips, but she recovers by giving me a nod and counting the suitcases.
“I’ll get Larry up here.”
I stare at her back as she leaves me in my room
for the final time. I wonder now, as I look around at my neatly made bed, when will I lie in it again. I walk over to my dressing table and sit down, picking up a brush that still has some long black hairs in it from this morning’s brushing. Automatically, I start to pull them out and place the loose strands in the bin.
I meet my eyes in the mirror, wide green eyes full of hope. Smiling at myself, I inhale and exhale a deep breath.
“Ella, stop admiring yourself and come along.”
“Yes, Mam.” I glance away from the innocent girl in the mirror and follow my mother and Larry outside. All my suitcases are now being stowed into the back of the car.
No one speaks as Larry opens the back door for mother and me. Once everyone is in, Larry starts the engine and I use this final moment to stare up at our two-story family home. It’s perfect, from its white walls to the manicured lawns either side of us. The red shiny front door moves past us and my stomach jerks.
“Remember, there are rules Ella.” My mother speaks like she is on autopilot.
“Mam. I know. I’ve been listening to them for the past nineteen years. Always mind my P’s and Q’s, never eat everything on my plate, always smile. Always be respectful. Don’t befriend the other girls.”
“Don’t slump. You have a tendency to slump and it’s very unattractive.”
My spine straightens once again at her words.
The car slows down and I’m surprised at how quickly we arrived. I knew we lived close by, but it felt too quick. Nineteen years of waiting had boiled down to this moment.
Two large white steel gates face us now. Larry rolls down the window to speak to a man in a small hut. I pull myself forward, trying to see who he’s speaking to. A hand on my shoulder pulls me back.
“Ella, sit back. A lady doesn’t get all excited, only children do.” I sit back and try to contain my excitement.
“He can’t see me right now.” My lippy words have my mother’s eyebrows rising in unison.
But I stay seated as I glance out the window as we are ushered into his estate. It’s just as I pictured. Endless lawns, all freshly cut. Flowers of every color weaved in sync on both sides. Trees are sporadically planted throughout the lawns. I can see me and Lucas having a picnic under one of the trees. A giggle threatens to burst from my lips, but I swallow it.
I keep shifting as we drive up the winding driveway, the house at the end has me looking up and up. My hands smash against the window, ignoring my mother’s earlier warning.
“Wow!” It’s like a castle. Forbidding, intimidating, but marvelous.
My mother’s tut has me leaning back in the seat, as I watch my handprints disappear from the glass.
The large, black, double-front doors open and my heart starts to do a dance. Is it him? Will he greet me? I sit straighter and want to touch my hair, but I don’t. I don’t want him to think I’m a fidget.
My mother’s hand wraps around my upper arm as I reach for the door handle. When I look at her from over my shoulder, I end up fully facing her.
“What’s wrong?”
She looks … odd. Like a captain standing on a sinking ship. I blink the image away and as I do, she lowers her lashes. When she looks at me again, she doesn’t wear that terrified look.
“Nothing.” She pushes a piece of hair back behind my shoulder. Her actions tell me everything.
“Mam?” I question.
“Nothing. Just, I will miss you.”
I let out a relieved laugh. “I will miss you too, mam.” I would, but I was also eager to start this stage of my life. I had waited forever for this. When I reach for the door handle, my mother doesn’t stop me as I step out on the tarmac.
Two men dressed in tailored suits take my bags from Larry, who helps them. I inhale the fresh air, the smell of a new beginning. My mother doesn’t get out of the car.
“This is goodbye, Ella,” she says as I lean back in the door. She won’t look at me. The trunk is closed and has me glancing at Larry through the back window. He circles around and gets into the driver seat.
“Goodbye, Mam,” I say and wait.
She doesn’t turn and when Larry starts the engine, I close the door gently. I watch the car as it leaves, but my mother never looks back at me.
I’m the first girl to have arrived. This gives me the upper hand. I’m led from one enormous room to another. This place is just as I pictured it. I try to contain my excitement as Mark gives me a tour.
“This is the drawing room.”
Something inside me sings. This is a fairytale come to life. I run my hand along the velvet chaise lounge. My hand touches air, before the fabric under my fingers changes as I run them along a high back leather chair. I’m not focused on what I’m touching. My focus is on a large image hung between two bookcases. The image has my cheeks coloring while my heart beats a bit faster.
“That is Master Lucas.”
I glanced over my shoulder to Mark who just spoke. He’s standing close to the door, his hands held in front of him.
I turn back to Master Lucas. “I know,” I say as I stop at the picture. I could draw him with my eyes closed. My mother had given me a picture of him only two years ago. This one he is slightly older. His shoulders are wider. My stomach tightens.
He is so handsome.
He is a prince.
An exhale behind me has me swinging around.
“He’s perfect isn’t he?”
Red hair, so much red hair, that’s what I see when I stare at the girl who’s staring up at my Lucas.
“I’m Hannah, but you can call me Ann.” She reaches out her hand, a wide smile on her face. Her white teeth flash against her plump lips. She’s beautiful.
I take her hand slowly. “Ella.”
“Like Bella?” Hannah bites her lip hiding a smile.
“Just Ella.” I remove my hand from hers and glance up at Mark, who watches us.
“So, are we the first two?” She asks but doesn’t wait for an answer as she glances back up at Lucas. I have the urge to step in front of her and block her view of him.
Instead, I stare up at him. The image captures him perfectly, a small amount of light is cast across half his face, and it showcases his strong jaw, straight nose, and lips. He’s flawless. Inky colored hair reflects in his deep black eyes. The right side of his face is cast in shadows where the light doesn’t touch it, and there is almost something sinister in his right eye.
The high black polo neck stretches across wide shoulders and I can almost see the definition of his chest muscles. His arms hang either side of his perfect body.
“I wonder when we get to meet him?” I say the words but curse myself when Hannah smiles at me. I am here five minutes and I am already breaking my mother’s rules. I’m not to befriend any of these girls.
“Soon I hope.” Hannah doesn’t seem to notice the change in my attitude as I walk away from her. I keep taking peeks at Mark, who lets us roam around the room. He’s watching us with interest.
Hannah stays staring up at Lucas and I want to stay beside her. I ache for friendship as badly as I ache for Lucas. But I can’t have both, I know that. If I befriend one of these girls, I will get distracted.
The horrible thought of not becoming Lucas’s wife has everything in me freezing. I wouldn’t know what to do. He has been everything my entire life. I push the thought away like it is a dirty thing.
Movement beyond the drawing-room has me glancing at Mark, who’s looking out into the hall. I stand a bit straighter, it must be another girl.
My spine straightens as my whole body buzzes and vibrates. He is so much more than any picture or painting could capture. His presence is felt in every cell of my body.
Lucas has just stepped into the room and he doesn’t look happy.
CHAPTER TWO
LUCAS
“Master Lucas.” Mark nods at me as I enter the drawing room. His pasty white face and washed-out eyes, have me wanting to step back out of the room. “Where is he?” I glance over
the room. “Who are they?” I ask, turning to Mark. Why the hell were there two women in the drawing room?
“The ladies have started to arrive, Master Lucas.” His monotone voice has me gritting my teeth. Instead of reacting to Mark, I take a second glance at them. One of them is wearing an emerald green dress, that’s the same color as her large innocent eyes. She stares at me like a deer in headlights.
“For what?” I bark at Mark but keep my eyes on the deer. At my raised voice, she jumps slightly. I grin at her reaction.
“They are here for the selection as your future wife, Master Lucas.”
I exhale loudly and release the deer from my stare, giving Mark my attention. I take a step towards him. “I told you to cancel that for another week.” Another year or forever.
He has the nerve to puff out his tiny chest, which I want to crush. “The orders came from your father.”
I tighten my fists. He is a snake. He’s my father’s servant, not mine. Always watching, always running back with his tales. I have no argument and can’t change the arrival of these women, so I return to my reason for being in this room.
“Where is Henry?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, Master Lucas.”
I sneer at him. He knew. He is just protecting him like always.
I lean in closer and watch fear creep its way slowly into his gray eyes. “Don’t worry,” I whisper. “I’ll find him.”
I glance once more at the two women who haven’t moved a muscle. Puppets for the show my father is sure to have. One way or another, he would get the ending he wanted. I didn’t understand the whole point of this charade.
The idea gave me a headache that I would have to marry one of them. It shouldn’t be me. It should be Henry. But Henry didn’t want to, so Henry didn’t have to.
Leaving the room I make my way to the stairs, as two more women enter the foyer, both stop dead in their tracks, one steps towards me, her arm rising in a waving gesture. The stupid smile dissolves off her face as I pass her by, and take the stairs two steps at a time.