Dirty Obsession (Dirty 1)

He closes his eyes and then opens them. “You…”

“Shh, just rest.”

“You have power now,” Arlo barely gets out.

It takes me a second to realize what Arlo is saying. But he’s right. I have power now. Nina gave it to me the second she saved me.

“Move aside, Matteo. If he’s not dead already, I need to finish the job,” Enrico says as he walks toward me.

I stand slowly, putting my body between Enrico and Arlo. “No.”

“You don’t get to tell me no. Now, move,” Enrico says.

“No, you don’t have any power anymore. I have all the power. Nina chose me. Now, back off.”

Enrico glares at me while holding the gun, aiming it at my heart.

Instantly, the men in the room all aim their guns at Enrico. They are my men now, and they will protect me without me having to say a word. Even from their old master.

Enrico lowers the gun and takes a step back. I exhale. I have power. Now, I just have to get Arlo to a hospital, and he’ll survive.

But, before I can give the order for my men to transport him to a hospital as fast as they can, shots ring out.

They stop almost as fast as they started. But, when the smoke clears, it’s easy to determine what happened. Enrico shot Nina, and my men shot Enrico. My heart drops when I see them both lying on the floor. Both possibly dead in a second.

I walk past Enrico. I will deal with whatever is left of him later. It hurts to walk past him. He was, after all, my father. But I have two more important people that I need to ensure stay alive.

I run to Nina. He shot her in her already damaged leg, but it was enough to knock her unconscious and make her breathing weak. She won’t survive much longer without immediate help.

“Get Nina and Arlo to the hospital. Now,” I give the command and watch as the men immediately break into two groups, one group going to each of them.

I walk back to Arlo, mainly because he’s awake and I’m not sure how I feel about Nina at the moment. I still love her, but right now, she’s pissed me off for making such a stupid decision.

“No…” Arlo croaks.

“Shh, I don’t know what your deal is with going to the hospital, but you are going whether you like it or not. You need to be in surgery. I can’t save you.”

Arlo shakes his head. “Nina. Make sure she’s safe.”

I smile at my brother. Always the martyr. “I’ll protect her to the ends of the earth. She’s safe. Always,” I say, keeping the same promise I made to Arlo when he came to me almost seven years ago.

* * *

“You are the worst patient ever, you know that?” I say to Arlo as he tries to climb out of bed for the hundredth time this week.

“I don’t give a shit. I need to see her,” he says as he stumbles out of bed, probably popping his stitches in the process.

I grab hold of him to keep him from falling. “Fine. I’ll take you to her if you let me push you in a wheelchair.”

He grumbles.

“It’s not like you have a choice, not in your state, and even if you were healthy, I have the power now. I have dozens of men who will keep you in this bed forever if I told them to,” I joke.

He glares at me, not appreciating my joke.

I sigh and go get the wheelchair. I help him into it before wheeling him down the hallway toward Nina’s room. I’m not sure why he wa

nts to see her so badly anyway. She’s not awake yet.