Deadly Obsession - Chapter 18 (Patreon)

I can’t breathe. But then again, can I ever really breathe? I’m always suffocating. Dying. Hell, I died the day Romelo’s mother snatched me from my existence. Now, I am a former shell of myself. I gasp awake as I’m doused in cold water. The shock yanking me from my reprieve.

I open my mouth, coughing and sucking in as much air as I can. When I look up, Romelo is standing in front of me, a psychotic smile on his face. He drops the bucket of water, making his way over to me. He pushes my soaked hair out of my face, placing kisses on my cheeks.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he mumbles. I squeeze my eyes shut, whimpering in pain. My skin is stinging like crazy. There are multiple welts on my body from Romelo’s attention. He didn’t hit me hard enough to break the skin, but damn if he didn’t make sure that I feel the after effects. A pained sob escapes me, as he brushes against my stomach.

“You know what I was thinking, Charlie?” I shake my head, trying to focus on something other than the pain.

“I was thinking, I want another mark on you. Another symbol,” he says. I open my eyes, and immediately begin to struggle.

“No!” I manage to scream. His eyes darken, and he raises up from my stomach, grabbing my chin between his fingers.

“No?” he snaps. I squeeze my eyes shut, more tears falling down my cheeks.

“Please. No.. no more pain..” I sob. The room is quiet. My labored breathing is the only sound coming out. I’m afraid to open my eyes. Afraid of what I may see. Afraid of what awaits me. Afraid of him. I expect pain. I expect screaming, and something to teach me about begging. I know better. I know that I’m not supposed to do it, but it’s automatic. It’s all that I can do to hold onto the hope that someone will rescue me.

I open my eyes as I feel fingers brushing against my cheek. Romelo is looking at me with all the love and adoration of the world. It’s scary. Because I know, that he may not be in his right mind right now.

“What do I have to do for you to understand, Charlie?” I’m shaking in fear. I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut.

“I..understand...,” I whimper. He shakes his head, his cold gaze turning hard.

“No, you don’t. You say you do, but I know you don’t. Are things too overwhelming? Am I doing something wrong?” He walks away from me, shaking his head in disappointment. I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding.

He looks into the burning fire in front of him, and I pray he doesn’t pull one of those brands out.

“Is it the marriage? Is the marriage clouding your judgement?” I don’t respond, and he turns to face me.

“It is,” he says reading right through me. He begins walking towards me.

“It’s my behavior isn’t it? The way I have been with you in public, versus at home.” He stares me down, as more tears well my vision, and spill over. He lets out a sigh, shaking his head, and a small laugh escapes his lips.

“Dammit, Charlie,” he murmurs. He looks up at me, and reaches above me, undoing the bonds holding my arms in place. Once I’m freed, we both sink to the floor, him cradling me in his arms.

“I told you nothing was going to change between us, Charlie. That’s just the show that I put on for the world. They wouldn’t understand our relationship,” he says. His fingers are soothingly rubbing my back, as I keep my head buried in his chest. His heartbeat is thudding loudly against his chest.

“I didn’t mean to confuse you that much. I thought you were mature enough to understand.” I don’t respond. He slowly stands, wrapping his arms around my legs and picks me up effortlessly. I just let myself lay against him, enjoying the warmth his body gives off.

“I sometimes forget how naïve you are.”

* * * * * 

I open my eyes, my body automatically waking up. I’m in Romelo’s bed. The room is dark, like it always is. I slowly sit up, and realize I’m wearing a silk night gown. I don’t know what it was about last night that changed Romelo’s mind on marking me up further, but I’m glad he decided against it.

I slowly sit up, and freeze in my spot. Romelo is sitting on the edge of the bed. His back is to me, but he knows I’m awake. He turns to me, a blank expression on his face.

“I’ve been doing some thinking. Maybe.. we should fake your death.” My eyes widen in shock.

“What?” I whisper.

“You’re too fragile to handle the scenarios we have been going through. And it’s only going to get worse. If we fake your death, you don’t have to be confused anymore. The world won’t even know you exist.” He smiles softly at me, but my heartbeat is pounding in my ears. Tears are welling over my eyes. I shake my head.

“No.. you can’t,” I stutter. He raises a brow at me.

“I can’t?” he repeats. I move from under the blankets, and crawl over to him on the edge of the bed. He’s watching me closely. I reach him and go to place my hands on his shoulders. He likes it when I massage his shoulders.

I gently place my hands on his shoulders feeling the muscle beneath my fingertips.

“I’ll do better, I promise,” I whisper. I give him a smile, but the more I look at him, the more I feel like he is seeing right through me. But he doesn’t say anything. He merely turns his head, and let’s me rub his shoulders. I do the best that I can, hoping that he will take this as my plea.

I’m so wrapped up in what I’m doing , that I jump when he places his hand atop mine. He interlaces our fingers, looking at my hands. He then turns slowly, and crawls on top of the bed, and over my body. His eyes are heavy, and his gaze grazes down my body.

He reaches up, placing his hand against my cheek, and reaches into my hair, wrapping it on his fingers. He then brings his lips to mine. He kisses me long and slow. I don’t know why, but I start crying. My tears are running down my face as he kisses me. And he notices. He pulls away from me, looking at me silently. A smile creeps on his face.

“Charlie. I’ve only kissed you, and you’re already crying.” He stands from the edge of the bed, smoothing his shirt. And walks towards the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask. He keeps his back to me.

“To call Luca,” he says as he exits the door. I stare at the now empty space. He’s going to call Luca? Is he going to make me fake my death? I don’t want to fake my death. I want to live. I want to be in public, and see the world. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life behind the same walls. I quickly jump out of the bed, running down the stairs. I head straight to Romelo’s office. He’s sitting in his seat, the phone already in his hand. He looks up when he hears me in the doorway.

A small frown appears on his face. Which makes my resolve all but crumble. I fear this man. I fear him more than anything in the world. I know that when he is smiling, things will be bad. But when he frowns is when his “playful” mood has completely dissipated.

“I..” I open my mouth, and trail off, looking at the ground. This is a bad idea. I swallow the lump that is now forming in my throat, and force my feet to move. One in front of the other. I slowly walk towards Romelo. I keep my eyes down until I’m standing next to him, and I slowly kneel. He doesn’t make a sound.

I place my hands on either side of his chair, rolling him so that he’s away from the desk. With shaky hands, I reach for the button on his pants. I let out a squeal when Romelo’s hands clasp mine. I look up and he’s watching me in amusement.

“What are you doing?” he asks. I look him directly in the eyes, ignoring the shudder that soars down my spine.

“Whatever it takes,” I whisper. Romelo glares me in the eyes. Then he laughs.

“Ok.”

* * * * * *

“I don’t think I like the neckline.” I grimace as I stare into the mirror. The plunging white wedding gown is showing off all of my marks from Romelo. Including his name tattooed across my throat. I look at Elise in the mirror and she’s agreeing with me softly. She decided to take me out for a wedding dress today. I personally thought that Romelo was going to decide on what he wanted me to wear, but I guess not. He didn’t seem to mind when Luca told him, in fact it was almost as if he encouraged it.

“We can find one with a lace neckline,” Elise suggests, understanding my reasoning. I give her a soft smile, nodding my head. It’s crazy to me that in a few short weeks, Romelo and I will be married. Wedding and all. I even caught him looking at honey-moon destinations when I passed him while he was sitting at the dining table on his iPad. It’s strange to think that he is actually going to treat this like the real deal, instead of just marrying and going about our normal life.

Elise sets Luciano down gently in his carriage. He’s a beautiful baby, but those eyes. They are so much like his fathers. Even at this young age he scares me what he will potentially become. She makes her way over to me, unzipping the back of my dress.

“Are you nervous?” she asks gently. I let out a bitter laugh.

“Nervous isn’t the word.”

“It’s crazy, I never thought of Romelo being in love let alone married,” she says. I tense at the word love. He’s not in love. He’s obsessed with the fact that I belong to him. Since I was a young child I depended on him. And even now, I still do. He just loves the fact that he is literally all that I have known, since I have developed a consciousness. He has seen me through everything. As I grew up into the woman I am today. He practically raised me.

“He doesn’t love me,” I murmur. Elise hears me, and looks confused.

“He does. In his own, twisted way,” she says. I shake my head.

“Things will get better. He’ll come around eventually.” I laugh at her naivety. I turn and look at her.

“I have known Romelo my whole life. My whole life. I’ve known him longer than I knew my parents. He was my first love... and my first heartbreak. He saved me, and he destroyed me. Then, he built me back up again so that I am now his. Every part of me has been specially trained for him. He will never come around, Elise. He isn’t like your husband. He’s... He’s insane. The only person that can control him is your husband.”

Elise’s eyes widen as I speak.

“He’s a danger to any and everything. There isn’t an ounce of humanity left in that man.” I think back to the corpses of his parents.

“You haven’t seen what he’s capable of...,” I whisper.

“I fear him more than I fear dying,” I say.

“I’m sorry,” Elise says with a shaky voice. I look up, and there are tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t know... And here I am dressing you up like a pig going to a slaughter. We don’t have to get-”

“No,” I interrupt. I begin to fiddle with the silk on the dress. “I want it. This will be the first thing I’ve ever picked for myself,” I say, a deep blush of embarrassment crawling up my cheeks. All my life things have been picked for me. Even my wardrobe now, Romelo has always bought and brought home. Dressing me to his liking. When I look up, Elise is crying.

“Then we’ll pick you a beautiful dress. And Romelo will be blown away by your beauty on your wedding day.”

The day stretches on, and the dresses come and go. I have a hard time deciding on which one. But I finally pick. It’s a lace wedding dress, with sleeves and a wrap around collar. It’s beautiful, and I love it. The price is high, but both my father and Romelo said to spare no expense. And that’s what I’m doing.

We’re about to leave the store when I turn to Elise, handing her the dress.

“Take this, please,” I say. She raises a brow at me.

“Why? “ She asks.

“I.. I want it to be a surprise for him. On the wedding day. And I know he’ll make me show him if I take it home,” I say. Elise’s words earlier have stuck with me. I want to see his first reaction of me in the dress. To see him think I’m beautiful, when I’m not writhing in pain. Elise gives me a soft smile.

“Of course.”

We’re leaving the dress shop, when as soon as we step onto the sidewalk, two men come towards us. They’re wearing regular day clothes, and sunglasses. They both give us soft smiles, when out of nowhere Luca’s men step in. One placing his hand against the mans chest.

“That’s far enough,” he says. The man looks smug as he stares me down.

“Oh, we’re not here for his wife. We’re here for the senator’s daughter,” he says holding out a badge. He’s a policeman? I look to Elise in confusion, not knowing what to do. Romelo will be so angry if I go with these men, but I don’t want to put Elise or her child in danger. I give her a reassuring smile.

“It’s ok,” I say, stepping around the guards. They seem unsure of what to do as well. I’m not in Luca’s jurisdiction. And as long as Elise is out of harms way, they aren’t authorized to act. So I step around them, going with the police officers.

“I’ll tell Luca to call Romelo!” Elise calls after me. Those words should be reassuring, but they’re not. If anything they make the dread settling into the pit of my stomach even worse. He’s going to be very angry that I got in the car with these men.

I quietly get in the back of the police car, and we head for the station. Once we arrive, they immediately take me to a room. It’s a dimly lit room, with a one sided mirror in it. They leave me alone for a few minutes, and I’m staring at my reflection. I look like I feel. Terrified. I begin to fiddle with the choker around my neck out of habit. Romelo let’s me wear this one when I leave the house due to the paparazzi. But all those times I was with my father. Now, it’s just me, and some strangers.

The door to the far side of the room opens, and in comes one of the officers. He takes a seat in front of me with a drink in his hands placing it on the table. He’s a good looking man with warm eyes and a nice smile.

“So sorry to pluck you off the street like we did, Miss Hearn, we just never seem to be able to get you without your fiancée around.” He smiles at me. I don’t respond, and he pushes the coffee towards me.

“I brought you some coffee, do you want any suga-”

“I don’t drink, coffee,” I murmur, keeping my eyes down. My palms are sweating like crazy, and my heart is about to give out from beating so hard. The atmosphere of this room reminds me of one of Romelo’s “games” and It’s making me nervous. I can’t even talk to this man. I have no idea how to interact with people other than Romelo and up until recently Elise.

“You’re not in any trouble, miss we just wanted to ask you a few questions.” I feel tears welling up in my eyes. I shouldn’t have gotten in the car.

“Please... turn the lights on...,” I whimper. But my voice is too soft. He can’t hear me.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” I look up at him, and he gasps in shock.

“The lights. Please. It’s too dim in here,” I struggle to get out. He sits back.

“I.. uh, I’m sorry, they don’t go any brighter.”

I close my eyes, letting the tears spill over. Visions of Romelo’s games are flashing through my mind, my skin is crawling just from thinking about it. I stand up from my seat.

“I want to leave,” I say.

“You can’t leave, we haven’t questioned you yet.” I look up at him, and grab the edges of the table.

“You can’t keep me here,” I snap.

“Miss, just calm down.. we just want to ask you some questions, then you’ll be free to go.” I eye him, and slowly take my seat.

“We’ll just jump right in,” he says sifting through the papers in front of him.

“Are you aware of your fiancée’s occupation?” he asks. I shake my head. I may have been closed off from the world, but I’m not dumb enough to tell the officer that Romelo is a psychopathic murderer.

“So you’ve known this man your whole life, yet you don’t know what he does for a living?” he asks. I look up at him.

“I said no,” I say.

“Are you aware that the woman that took you from your parents was in fact, your fiancée’s mother?” he asks. I keep quiet.

“In fact, it seems that years after you were taken, his parents came up missing? No sign of them, as if they never even existed,” he says. I keep my mouth shut. In all honesty, his words go through one ear and out the other. The fear of Romelo keeps me from opening my mouth. The officer is beginning to get irritated with me.

“Miss. We have reason to believe that your husband is involved in a mass homicide that will be occurring any day now. We are trying to prevent the deaths of hundreds of innocents.” I look up.

“What?” I ask.

“There is a man coming to this country, and his people. His followers will all be surrounding him. The occupation your fiancée deals in was associated with this group of people, up until a few months ago when relations fell thin. We have reason to believe that he and his people may be in danger. And if you have any information, even something that can help us lock him up for a few days, or weeks until the man leaves, we would be forever gra-”

The door to the other side of the room slams open, and in comes the man of the hour. He looks angry. And I immediately shrink back in my chair. Then I remember we are in public.

Romelo ignores me and goes straight to the man  seated in front of me, hauling him up out of the chair and into the wall. They collide with a loud thud.

“You have crossed the fucking line, officer,” Romelo hisses. I look up just in time to see Luca coming in behind him.

“Romelo!” He shouts, but Romelo isn’t listening. I’m watching his mouth as he grits out his next words.

“You’re fucking dead,” he growls. The officer smiles.

“Is that a threat?” Before he can finish his sentence, Romelo reaches for his blade.

“Romelo!” Luca shouts, grabbing his arm.

“Now’s not the time,” he says quietly. Romelo looks literally insane. He looks back to the man, and drops him, making his way towards me. He wraps his hand around my arm, and hauling me out of the seat.

“Are you ok, sweetheart?” His voice is abnormally gentle. I nod my head, my eyes wide.

“Thanks, boss,” he growls as we pass Luca. Luca is watching me with a gaze that would make the devil himself uneasy. Romelo pulls me out of the police department and we’re out of the parking lot in record time. He’s speeding through traffic like a wild man, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

“What did you tell them?” he growls out of the silence. I look at him.

“I didn’t say anything,” I say. He doesn’t believe me though.

“You know they will take you away from me, Charlie. Is that what you want? You want us separated?” he says angrily.

“No, Romelo I-”

“Shut up,” he snaps at me. He’s angry. So very angry.

“You’re just a liar. Are you ever going to be honest with me, Charlie. You willingly got in the fucking car. You want to be away from me, you want them to take you away.” He growls out. He swerves around a car, causing me to jerk.

“I jus-”

“I didn’t say you could speak. Don’t make me cut your tongue out,” he hisses at me.

“I don’t know what to do with you. It’s like I give you a little freedom, and you take off with it. You try and leave me. Me? The fucking man that saved your life. I saved you, Charlie. I OWN YOU!”

He’s so angry. All I can do is cry.

A horn blows as Romelo cuts somebody off.

“Romelo-” I start due to his hectic driving.

“Shut your mouth!” he shouts at me. Then, he laughs. It starts as a low rumble, and grows into a harmonious sound that sends multiple chills up my spine. He’s lost it. Gone is any semblance of Romelo the man. Now I am stuck with Romelo the monster.

“You’re going to fucking learn today, Charlie. I’m done being merciful.”