Page 25 of Beautiful Obsessions
“It’s a warning.”
“Try not to get yourself killed,” she said, just as I moved past her.
I didn’t look back.
“Same to you.”
The office door was already open.
Atlas stood by the desk, one hand braced against the wood, the other wrapped around a glass he hadn’t touched.Raze leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his expression dark and unreadable.
They both looked up when I entered.Atlas didn’t waste time.
“Your phone call sounded urgent.”
I stepped into the room, but didn’t stop to close the door behind me.
“I know who put the contract out on me and I know why,” I said.
That got their full attention.Raze straightened.Atlas’s gaze sharpened.
“Who?”
“Baron Vilevski.”
The name felt like a detonation moving through the room.
Atlas’s jaw tightened, something dangerous flickering behind his eyes.
Before I could say more, Raze pushed off the wall, running a hand through his hair.
“That bastard’s been sniffing around us for months.”
“Then I’m sure you know what he’s after,” I said.
Atlas scoffed.
“He wants a lot of things,” he said.“Doesn’t mean he gets them.”
“He’s not a man that’s used to being told no.”
Atlas didn’t answer straight away.
His brow furrowed slightly, the line between his eyes deepening as he shifted his weight against the desk.The glass in his hand hovered midway to his lips before he thought better of it, lowering it slowly instead.His jaw worked once, like he was turning the words over, testing them for something that wasn’t immediately obvious.
“No one is,” he said finally, but there was less certainty in it now.His gaze flicked to me, sharper this time, searching.“I just don’t?—”
He cut himself off, exhaling through his nose as he dragged a hand down his jaw, fingers pressing briefly into the tension there.
“I don’t know what his problem with me has to do with you.”
Something wasn’t lining up in his head, and he didn’t like it.His eyes narrowed slightly, not at me, but past me—like he was trying to piece together a puzzle that had one piece missing.Atlas didn’t like not having all the pieces.
“He’s tried to get around your refusal to let him use your land for distribution rights,” I said, my voice steady, measured.“Every attempt he’s made has fallen flat.”
Raze shifted where he stood, arms folding tighter across his chest, his focus sharpening.
“How?”he asked.
