Page 47 of His Obsession
Her worried expression turned to ballistic anger, and she stomped off into the house, slamming the door.Goddammit!
I turned back and watched him scramble to get in his car, almost shutting his leg in the door. Once the gates closed back up, I picked up the shook bags, walked through the house, and threw the food on the counter. Liz must have gone back upstairs to her room. I hit Tonk’s picture on my phone and put it to my ear. I would take care of her later—right now, I needed to fill Tonk in.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“He knows where she is,” I said. It shook me. Had it been any other enemy coming after me, I wouldn’t be. I’d handle it like all the others that came after me. This wasn’t about me, though—he was going after her. I didn’t know how to play defense and protector simultaneously.
“What happened?”
Filling him in on the details, I hung up as he pulled into the driveway. Ten minutes later, Tonk walked through the door, and Liz still hadn’t come down.
“Jake is on his way, and I called a team out to sit at the corners, heavily armed. It’s going to look like Escobar’s Columbian mansion, but it’ll be secure, unlike his,” he reported.
“She’s been asking for a gun.Hetook hers.” I told him.
“Okay, I’ll have Jake pick one up from the armory before he gets here.”
“Don’t bother, I have one. I just couldn’t decide if I would give it to her. Now, I will. I want her training with Jake every day after work.”
“Okay, we can get the gym set up for that,” Tonk broke into the sushi, inhaling a smashed roll. “Where is Liz?”
“She ran off after I yelled at her to get inside. I think she is in her room.” I shouldn’t have treated her that way, but I couldn’t shut off the fury as it charged my body, and she got the brunt end of it. The boy was lucky he came out unscathed other than a puckered ass and a near heart attack. “I’m giving her a moment.”
Tonk shoveled in another roll and talked around it. “She’s volatile like Mentos and Coke, you keep shaking her up, and she’s going to explode on you.” He swallowed, then put down his chopsticks. “Her record shows it, she’s resilient, but she can only handle so much, just like any other ‘self-supporting’ woman.”
“That sounds sexist, Tonk.”
He shrugged. “Call it what you want, but it’s the truth. Liz doesn’t have experience with this life, but she will bullshit her way through and treat it like she does. Watch her closely, she’s going to do something stupid. I can feel it.”
I pulled out a sushi roll and cracked open the plastic lid. The roll sat crushed and flat inside its tray, no longer looking perfect but still good enough to eat.
Iwas so stupid. I couldn't believe I fucked him. I opened up to him and gave him a chance—what was I thinking?
I threw the rest of my clothes in my bag and headed for the door. Before I could touch the knob, the door swung open, and Alek stood on the other side, blocking the exit.
I tried to shove past him, but he wouldn’t budge. “Move,” I ordered.
His eyes landed on my bag, and he asked, “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m leaving. I’m going back tomyhome or somewhere other thanhere.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and loomed over me in opposition.
“Because you want a repeat performance of Saturday?” he asked with derision.
“Fuck you, I’ll take my chances,” I seethed. “Now, move!”
How could this one man invoke all these emotions that created such turmoil? How did one combat these feelings and lived a normal life without ending up deranged and being doped on medication to manage it all?
“You’re not leaving. Let’s talk about this, Liz.” He grabbed my bag and pulled it out of my hands.
“Argh, now you want to talk? Move. Now. I want to leave!” Heat crept up my face, and I clenched my fists, ready to strike.
"No. I told you. You aren't leaving; it’s not safe. Now, stop!" His voice got louder as he walked into the room and slammed the door behind him, forcefully stopping me from leaving.
"Fine, I don't need my clothes, anyway. I'll just wear Lucy's." I darted around him, narrowly missing the handle with my fingertips, when he seized my waist and forced me on the bed. Dropping my bag to the floor, he climbed on top of me, pinning me down with his weight.
"Get off me!" I roared, flailing my hands, clawing at his arms, and trying to hit him any way I could.
He grabbed my arms and crossed them, fastening me down like a straitjacket. “If you can’t getmeoff of you, you don’t stand a chance againsthim,” he fumed. “Calm the hell down.”