Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2)

by Shantel Tessier

  I go to move, but he turns around and faces me. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he growls out of breath.

  I look up at him wide-eyed. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demand, but just the sight of him has my tense body relaxing and my shoulders sagging.

  His hard chest rises and falls as he breathes heavily. “A simple thank you would be nice.” He lifts his hands out to his side, and I don’t miss the scars on them. The light from the apartments above us hits them just right.

  Brecken, the owner of Seven Deadly Sins, stands before me looking like a savage. “A thank you? Did you follow me?” I shout. I go to stand, and he reaches out his hand to me as my knees threaten to buckle. I push it away. “I don’t need your help.” I wobble but find the strength to stay up.

  “Says the woman who can barely stand.” He bends down and picks up my purse. I reach over and rip it from his hands, and he frowns. My gun is in there. What if he were to find it? I don’t know this man any more than the guy who just tried to attack me.

  I breathe heavily as I stare down at the man who still lies motionless on the ground. “Did you kill him?” I ask only half caring. What kind of man attacks a woman?

  “Not yet,” he replies simply.

  I sigh. I have one man who just tried to attack me and another who is stalking me. “You can leave now,” I say flatly now that I’m finally regaining myself. I’m thankful for the fact that he helped me at the club, but I don’t have time for a drug dealer to stalk me. I’ve been trying to run from that life for as long as I can remember. I don’t want to welcome it.

  He shakes his head. “It’s not safe to be out here by yourself. I’ll see you up to your place.”

  “You will not!” I growl.

  “Your friend is already missing. You can’t help find her if you’re dead,” he says flatly.

  It’s as if he threw ice-cold water on me. Tiffany. That’s why I was out here so late, after all. “Plus you’re bleeding. I’d hate to save you only for you to bleed to death.”

  I lift my hand to my face and feel blood. I sigh as I look down at my hand. It’s not much, but the brick must have cut me when the guy slammed me into the wall. I turn, giving him my back, and run up the stairs to my apartment. As soon as I open the door, I storm in. “Tiffany?” I yell out. “Tiffany? Are you here?” I call out praying that I’ve been wrong, that the cops were right, and she has just been having wild and crazy sex with some stranger. But nothing!

  “She’s not here?”

  I turn to see Brecken now standing in my apartment. He’s shut the door behind him. “Obviously not,” I say with bite. “What do you want?” I run my hands through my hair. “Why are you here?” I ask trying to keep myself together when all I want to do is scream at the top of my lungs.

  “I want to help you.” His deep voice sounds sincere.

  I just stare at him. “Why would you want to help me?” I reach my hands out to my side. “You’re a busy man, after all.” I take a jab at him for not being able to see me earlier when I was at Seven Deadly Sins, and his body stiffens. Instead, I waited out in my car for hours for him to leave. “I can’t pay you.” A man like him likes things for his time. “I have nothing to give you,” I say honestly.

  “I’m not offering to help you because I think you can give me something,” comes his clipped reply. He sounds as if I offended him.

  “Then why are you?” I demand.

  “Does it matter?” He sighs heavily as if he’s tired. “Either you want my help or not.”

  He’s all you got, Skye. Are you going to push away someone who can help you? Someone who has connections in this town? He probably has more pull than a cop. But he’s lying. A man like him doesn’t come for free. I’ve seen it before. I’ve lived it before. I told myself that I would never let myself go there again. He’ll cost me everything I have in the end. The question is what am I willing to pay? For Tiffany, I’d pay anything.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  BRECKEN

  I see the apprehension in her eyes. I get it. Right now, she’s not sure what to think of me because I blew her off earlier. She had to beg me for help, and now, I’ve followed her to her place. I can almost hear the alarms going off in her head. But she said it when she left my club earlier. I’m the only one who is helping her. So here I am. Proving to her that the first impression I gave her is not the guy I really am.

  “I’m not—”

  She raises her hands. “We don’t have to do this. I know who you are,” she interrupts me.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “And who is that?”

  She lowers her hand to her sides and sighs. “You’re Brecken. You and your best friend, Case, own Seven Deadly Sins. People in this town fear you.” I can’t help but smile. “You buy and sell drugs and are so connected that even the cops are afraid of you.” I go to open my mouth, but she continues. “You obviously have no shame in following women you don’t know—”

  “I saved you,” I say interrupting her.

  “So you say.” She shrugs carelessly. “But I needed to know if he had seen Tiffany.”

  “Wait?” I frown. “What do you mean you needed to know if he had seen Tiffany?” I ask slowly.

  “I asked him if he had seen her.” She rolls her eyes. “The fact that I told him my apartment number probably wasn’t the smartest thing.”

  “You what?” I snap.

  She doesn’t answer as she continues. “But I have a gun in my purse. It may have taken me a few more seconds, but I had control of the situation.”

  I let out a laugh. One that makes my entire body shake. I haven’t laughed like this in a long time, but this bitch is crazier than I thought. “Oh, you have a gun?” I ask still laughing. Her dark green eyes narrow on me.

  “I do,” she says matter-of-factly as she lifts her chin with pride.

  “Where was it when you were being attacked fifteen minutes ago?” I ask crossing my arms over my chest.

  Her chin falls. “I told you. In my purse. I just had to get to it …”

  “Pull it out,” I demand. “Show it to me.”

  She reaches into her purse and pulls out a .22. I laugh again. “Point it at me,” I say ready to prove a point.

  Her eyes widen, and she inhales sharply. “I will not …”

  “Is it loaded?” I interrupt her.

  “Of course,” she answers sounding offended.

  I look down at it, and even from here, I can see the safety is on. Even if she were to shoot me, it wouldn’t be the first time someone filled me with a bullet, and I doubt it would be the last. “Point it at me,” I demand this time.

  She starts shaking her head quickly. “You’re crazy.” I’m crazy? She was the one just attacked. This woman is the one to fear—not because she’s fearless but because she’s careless. The only thing on her mind right now is to find her best friend. She’s gonna get herself killed in the process. I’m gonna prove that she needs me on her side.

  I take a few steps putting myself closer to her. I don’t know if it’s the fact I want her to point her gun at me, or I want to touch her. I had just pulled into the parking lot when I saw him charge her. I didn’t even think as I darted from my SUV to take him down. My only thought was save her. “Lift the gun, Skye, and point it at me,” I order softly. I can honestly say that’s the first time I’ve ever said that to a woman.

  “I will not, Brecken!” she growls, but at least, she knows I'm serious.

  I see the fear of possibly shooting me in her green eyes. She’s never fired a weapon before. Hell, she’s probably never had to pull it out of her purse. So I go to plan B.

  I take another step closer to her, closing the little space left between us. Uncrossing my arms, I reach out and grab a handful of her brown hair and yank her head back. “What the …?” she cries out.

  I lower my head down to hers, and her eyes search my face. The smell of something sweet hits my nose, and I inhale sharply. Her eyes are wide and breathing heavy
. What will he do to me? is running through her mind right now. “Do you want me to attack you like the man downstairs did, or are you gonna point it at me?” I demand, keeping my voice even. How stupid she was to let me see her up to her apartment. She’s too trusting. All I had to do was mention Tiffany, and she forgot everything else. Even her own safety. This woman needs me.

  She gasps and her green eyes harden as her nostrils flare. “Let go of me,” she growls, trying to pull her hair free of my fist. I take a quick look at the gun; she still has it pointed away from me. It’s not gonna happen. She’s only gonna hurt herself.

  “Make me,” I say with a smirk. Let’s see what she has to work with. Let me see how well she can fight her way out of a life-or-death situation. Because I have a feeling that her friend didn’t have a chance. But then again, not many women do. The ones who do are just lucky.

  She lets out a huff and then lifts her knee. I let go of her hair, and I fall to the floor like a boulder falling off a cliff. Bent over and unable to breathe, I feel as if I am about to puke on her living room floor.

  She kneed me in the balls.

  I want to crawl into a ball and allow the pain to subside, but that would make me look like a fucking pussy. Instead, I try to take shallow, slow breaths as my balls feel as if they are going to explode. My vision fades in and out as I stare down at her red rug. I kneel, and I close my eyes tightly to keep from crying.

  Trying to pull myself together, I suck in a deep breath and speak through clenched teeth. “God,” I say breathlessly. “Didn’t … have to go … for my balls.” I take sharp breaths as I continue to look anywhere but up at her from my knees. She stands silent as I try to compose myself. Fuck, this is gonna hurt forever. The wave of dizziness has started to pass, but I still feel lightheaded, and my balls throb like they have their very own migraine.

  After a few long minutes of staring aimlessly at the floor and breathing heavily, I am able to get up off her floor. I pull my shoulders back and puff up my chest as if there aren’t unshed tears in my eyes. I’ve been through a lot of shit, but nothing hurts as bad as being kicked in the balls. I stand up straight, but the pain is still there. I try not to show it and look like a fucking pussy as she stands in front of me.

  Her gun is still in her right hand, hanging against her thigh as it points down at her floor. Her green eyes hard and her lips thinned. “You asked for it,” she replies flatly.

  “No, I told you to point your gun at me,” I say through gritted teeth, still feeling as if I could throw up all over her small apartment. I wanna yank her to the ground and force her to kiss them better. Just that thought has me feeling a little better.

  “As you wish.” She lifts her right hand and then her left as she holds the gun. Her demeanor has changed. She looks like a force to be reckoned with. A pissed-off woman on a mission to destroy a man who once broke her heart. She looks like the type of woman I would like to break. One I would like to look down at while she kneels before me. It’s hard to be prideful when down on your knees. If I hadn’t just been kicked in the balls, my cock might actually get hard from the look she’s giving me right now. “Now what?” she demands.

  Ignoring the pain in my balls and the unease of my stomach, I smile. I take a deep breath, and then without warning, I attack her again. But this time, I don’t give her a chance to fight back. I quickly raise my left forearm, shoving her arm up above her head while the right comes across and rips the gun from her small hand. Before she even realizes what just happened, I take my now free hand and wrap it around her throat and shove her roughly back against the wall. Once again, her eyes widen, and I feel her pulse beat frantically under my hand.

  “I prove my point,” I growl in her face. “This gun …” I lift my right hand that holds it, and I press it to her cheek. She whimpers as she closes her eyes. “Cannot and will not save you from that man downstairs or from me. You just proved to me that you don’t even know how to use one,” I snap, pissed that she kneed me in the balls and that she thinks this stupid gun could save her. “If you were even able to shoot your attacker, he would continue to come at you.” Her eyes open, and they’re full of tears. It makes them shine beautifully. “A bullet in the arm or shoulder, even a leg, would just piss them off even more. They would rip you apart with their bare hands and then feed you to their dogs like scraps. Do you understand me?” I grip her neck tighter and her soft pink lips part as she tries to take a breath but gets nothing. Her beautiful dark green eyes stare into mine. And it pisses me off even more that someone could have her in this position so easily. I don’t know anything about this woman except she’s on a suicide mission. “You have no clue what you are up against, but if you continue to do so, you will lose.” I’m shouting now, and her hands come up to my wrists as she tries to push me away, to free her throat so she can breathe. Her legs kick at me, and I press my body into hers, caging her against the wall. She has no hope. No way out. At this very moment, I decide her destiny. Does she live? Does she die? I’ll let her wonder for a few more seconds.

  I lower my face to hers, and our noses almost touch. I can smell the fear that has set into her bones, and it arouses me. In a sick and twisted way, it turns me on to know I can make her this terrified. She should be scared. I’m one of the good guys. “Do you wanna die?” I demand. Her dark green eyes stare into mine as they fill with tears. I’m captivated by the way they change colors, at how the tears lighten them, and then I watch the first tear slide down her cheek, down over the corner of her lip. It then falls off her chin and onto my arm. I look back up at her eyes, and they’re no longer wide with fear. They’re half shut. She can't breathe, and she’s about to lose consciousness. Her hands fall from my wrists, and her body softens against mine …

  I let go of her neck and remove the gun from her face. This time, she is the one down on her knees. Coughing and gagging as her dark hair falls over her face, she sucks in shaky breaths. I tighten my hand that was around her throat into a fist. It feels so empty now. So cold. Her throat was hot, and her pulse was wild. I haven’t always been one to choose violence. But I do love the way that it makes me feel alive. The way she stared at me hopelessly. She made me feel something for just a second, and it was breathless.

  She looks up at me through her hair. Her green eyes glisten from new tears. Lips parted and chest rising and falling fast. I imagine this is how she would look if I’d just fucked her—a beautiful mess. The tears that fall run through the streak of blood that flows from the cut on her cheek. “You’re a bastard.” Her words are breathless. Soft. I smile.

  She slowly stands as she rubs her reddened neck. My handprint shouldn’t turn me on, but it does. I hate how easily I could have taken her life. How simple it would have been to hold on a little longer. But I’m not the bad guy here. I’m not the same guy who was about to have his way with her downstairs. Or am I? “I won’t quit looking for her.” Her voice is hoarse, and her breathing labored.

  She is a losing a battle. “It’s a shame,” I say as I look her up and down. She truly is beautiful. Her long dark hair and dark green eyes. Her soft lips and little button nose. She’s small—the perfect size for me to toss around a room as I fuck her a hundred different ways. Her skin is soft and flawless. She has lips that would look amazing wrapped around my cock. If only I hadn’t just tried to kill her. If she were to come into the club on any given night and hit on me, I would take her up on her offer. Too bad that’s not why she went there tonight. Plus, there’s the fact that she is totally fucking crazy. I’ve dealt with crazy before, and I’m in no mood to go down that road again.

  I turn giving her my back and mumble, “It’s your funeral.” Then I toss her gun to the floor.

  “I’m not afraid to die,” she rasps.

  I come to a halt and turn back around to face her. I can’t help but laugh at her words. “You’re not afraid to die?” I laugh once again. “Big words for such a small girl. For someone who has never faced death or fear.” I cross my arms over
my chest, glad to know that my balls are only throbbing a little bit now.

  “Never faced fear or death?” she growls. “What do you think that was downstairs?”

  “That was reckless,” I shout. “That was you being ignorant—”

  “My best friend is missing,” she cries out, interrupting me. “Look around.” She gestures to her apartment. “She is all I have.” Tears fall from her eyes again, but this time, they are from anger. I can tell in her voice how trapped she feels. How helpless she is. “Haven’t you ever known someone worth dying for?” she asks, and my chest tightens. “She is worth everything to me. She was there when no one else was. You expect me to give up on that?”

  “I expect you to be smart about it,” I growl.

  She hangs her head as she shakes it. When she looks back up at me, her dark green eyes plead with me as if they’re begging me to save her. But I don’t know who needs saving more—her or her friend. “She would never give up on me.” I swallow knowing exactly what she means. I would never give up on Case, either. “No one cares about a poor drunk woman who saw a man in an expensive suit and left in a limo. You say I’m stupid. I say I’m desperate. Now, are you here to help me? Or kill me?” she demands. “Because I have shit to do.”

  I take a step toward her, and she doesn’t take a step back. She stands her ground, which proves how crazy she truly is. I just cut off her air, yet she’s still standing right here in front of me. I see the madness in her eyes. They turn a darker green, and she narrows them on me. Does she really think I would kill her? Does she really think that I would follow her here only to kill her in her apartment when we were alone at Seven Deadly Sins? I’d already made up my mind to help her when I decided to follow her here.

  She licks her lips, and my eyes drop to watch her run her tongue along the blood that her tears trailed down her face from her cut. I remind myself I came here to help her, not take advantage of her.

  SKYE