Dark Obsession

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, places, and incidents in this novel Dark Obsession are fictitious and products of the author's imagination. All names used are FAKE American names. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This story is set in New York City, USA, and is NOT a real-life story. It is a fictional dark romance created for entertainment purposes only. All characters are 18 years and older. Author: Uchechi Oleru. My name is Elena Rossi, and my life ended the night my brother brought his friends home. I was twenty-two, in an oversized NYU sweatshirt, hair in a messy bun, eating cereal on the floor of our tiny Manhattan apartment because we couldn't afford a dining table. My brother Ethan and I shared one bedroom apartment on 5th floor walk-up, paint peeling, heater broken, winter coming. We had 200 dollars left in our account after paying rent 1,800 dollars. The door slammed at 9pm. "El, they're here," my brother Ethan said. He is 25, my only family after our parents died in car crash 3 years ago. He looked nervous tonight. That was new. Ethan never got nervous, he was captain of basketball team in high school. Then they walked in. Four of them. The Blackwood brothers. I knew them since I was sixteen in Hamptons private school. They were my brother's best friends, rich kids, dangerous kids, boys who owned the school. Damien Blackwood — the oldest, 28, in a black suit, eyes like ice, CEO of Blackwood Enterprises fake company, billionaire. The one who used to ruffle my hair when I was sixteen and call me "little mouse" and buy me vanilla latte. Jaxon Blackwood — 27, tattoo on his neck, fighter, smirk that made every girl on campus stupid, CEO of security company. Kai Blackwood — 26, quiet, intense, the one who always stared too long, artist, dangerous silent type. Luca Blackwood — 25, the youngest, blonde, beautiful, and the most dangerous because he pretended to be nice, student at Columbia. I froze with my spoon halfway to my mouth. My sweatshirt was too big, falling off one shoulder, legs bare, no socks. "Elena," Damien said. His voice was deeper than I remembered, low, controlled. "You've grown up." He didn't say it like a brother. He said it like a man who hadn't seen a woman in years and now finally sees her. My brother cleared his throat, stepping between us. "Guys, this is my little sister. Remember? No one touches her. That's the pact. We agreed in Hamptons when she was sixteen. If one touches her, brotherhood breaks. We agreed." The pact. I had heard about it since I was sixteen. Five boys in a private school in the Hamptons, bound by blood oath. If one breaks the rule and touches Ethan's little sister, the others walk away from the brotherhood forever. They kept it for six years. Six years they treated me like glass. Jaxon laughed, low, eyes on my bare legs under my sweatshirt, on my shoulder where sweatshirt slipped. "That was when she was sixteen, man. Look at her now. She's not little mouse anymore. She's..." "Jaxon," Damien warned, one word, and Jaxon stopped. Damien didn't laugh. He walked to me, slow, every step expensive shoes on our cheap floor, and took the cereal bowl from my hands. His fingers brushed mine, one second, warm, and I felt electric. "You're cold," he said, low, only I could hear, not my brother. "Why are you on the floor? Why are you eating on floor like this?" "I... we don't have a table," I whispered, embarrassed. "We sold it for rent." Something dark flickered in his eyes. Anger. Possession. Not at me, at situation. "Tomorrow you'll have a table. And a proper apartment. With real lock," he said, like it was already decided, like he was billionaire who could buy building. Ethan frowned. "Damien, don't. We are fine. We manage." "She's living like this?" Damien cut him off, still looking at me, not at Ethan. "In this box? With that lock on the door any i***t could break? With heater broken? Ethan, you told me you had penthouse for her." My brother looked down. "We lost penthouse. I lost job. It's temporary." Kai stepped closer, behind me. I felt him, not touching, but close enough that my skin prickled, goosebumps. His voice near my ear, "Elena, you should have called us. We would have come." Us. Like I belonged to all of them. Not just my brother. Luca knelt in front of me, smiling that fake-nice smile that made girls fall, took my hands. His hands warm. "Little mouse, do you know how long we've waited to see you again? Three years since you left Hamptons. We looked for you." I stood up fast, almost tripping over my sweatshirt, pulling hands away. "I need to go to class. NYU class tomorrow morning. Art history." Four pairs of eyes followed me as I ran to my tiny bedroom, the only bedroom, and locked the door. My heart pounding like drum, face hot, legs shaking. I was not shaking from cold. Through the thin wall, I heard my brother say, voice hard, "Remember the pact. She's off limits. She's my sister. She's twenty-two but she's still little sister. No one touches her." Silence. Then Damien's voice, dark and final, low but I heard every word, "The pact just changed, Ethan. Because I don't think any of us can keep our hands off her anymore. I tried for six years. I can't. Look at her." Jaxon said, "He's right. She's not sixteen." Kai said, "She was always ours." Luca said, "We should have claimed her in Hamptons." My brother said, "No. No. You can't." I slid down against the door, my heart pounding, sweatshirt around knees, tears in eyes but not from sadness. My brother's best friends used to ruffle my hair and buy me latte. Now they looked at me like they wanted to ruin me, like they wanted to possess me, like dark obsession. And the worst part? A part of me, the part that was lonely in Manhattan, broke, cold, eating cereal on floor, wanted to let them. Wanted to be claimed. Wanted to be protected by four dangerous billionaire brothers who said tomorrow I'll have table. Outside door, Damien knocked, soft. "Elena? Open door. We need to talk about new apartment. I already called my manager. Upper East Side, 2 bedroom, doorman, safe." I didn't open. I whispered, "Why? Why would you do that for me?" His voice through door, "Because you are ours, little mouse. You were always ours. The pact was to protect you from other men. Not from us." I closed eyes. New York City noise outside, sirens, but inside this tiny apartment, four billionaire brothers waited for me. And I knew my life would never be same after tonight. To be continued... END OF CHAPTER 1 - DARK OBSESSION - ALL NAMES FAKE AMERICAN - FICTIONAL Author: Uchechi Oleru