The Bad Boy's Addiction

......... Kiara ......... “Thank you for letting me tag along and for listening to my stupid rants,” my sister, Merlot, says, causing me to drape my arm around her shoulder and pull her against me before pecking the side of her head. “You’re welcome,” I tell her, and she looks at me with a smile. “You didn’t say anything stupid, and I’m always here for you,” I add, and she wraps her left arm around my waist before leaning her head against my shoulder as we make our way back to the car. I’m glad she tagged along too. I missed spending time with her. I’m her big sister, she needs me, and I haven’t been able to be there for her as much as I would have liked to be with the career I chose. I’m a model and actress, and my job makes me travel a lot, so I’m barely home, and I'm missing a lot in their lives. Just then, her phone rings, causing us to let go of each other so she can take it out. She does and smiles, looking at me after looking at the caller ID, and I know the look. It’s mother. “Mom,” she replies, and I return the smile, but it falters when she looks away. I'm worried Mom. She probably called me too, but I left my phone in the car. Everything that's happened set her back. It took her to the dark times she had left behind. The moment the sun goes down, and we are not in the house, she calls us, wanting to know where we are, and it breaks my heart every time. I spoke to her about going to counseling again and she says she does. Merlot tells her she’s with me again, even though we told her when we left. She also tells her we are down at the beach but are on our way home now. . . It’s 8:30 pm, and Merlot and I came down to the beach for a walk. I love evening beach strolls. It’s something I got from mother. She loves evening beach walks, and when my dad was alive, they used to walk together, and I would sometimes join them. When my dad died and she and Uncle Chris got back together, they did it together, and I would sometimes come along then too. My mother is not my biological mother. She’s my stepmom, Merlot’s mother, but she loves me as if I were her biological child, and I love her the same. I always have, even before she and my dad got married. She and my father were friends for a long time before they got together, and she was there for him, for us. I did all mother and daughter things with her, and. I don’t know my biological mother that well. She left when I was a baby and returned when I was eight, but her stay was brief. She died with my father. I was twelve when Mother and Nana finally told me the truth about her death. She died protecting my father from a man she had teamed up with to destroy my father’s marriage. In the months leading up to her death, my stepmother was kidnapped, and my mother was arrested for it. My dad and stepmother tried to keep the truth from me because they wanted to spare me from the pain, but it was all over the news. There was no hiding it. I never questioned their version of events because I knew they didn’t enjoy lying to me; they were doing it for me. But I could never stop thinking about it, and the questions kept me up at night. So finally, four years later, I couldn’t take it anymore, and one day, while visiting my grandparents, I asked mother the truth about what happened that day, and she and Nana told me. I thought I was ready for the truth. I thought I already knew it and only needed them to confirm it, but I was wrong. I sank into a deep depression after they told me. The pain of losing my father came crashing back, and, for the first time, I also allowed in the pain of her neglect. When I was growing up, my father told me she left me because she wasn’t well, and every day, I prayed for her to get well. I loved her, and I wasn’t angry at her. I used to tell God that even one day with her would be enough but little did I know that one day with her would cost me the person I loved more than anything in this world. . . My father died sixteen years ago when I was eight, and my stepmother and uncle Chris, her first husband, got back together, and he adopted me, my sister, and two brothers. Although he adopted us, we kept our father’s family name. So we have two last names now. I love Uncle Chris, and I’m glad it was he who adopted us. My grandparents offered to take me after my father died since they didn’t know how Chris would feel about raising someone else’s child who wasn’t even my stepmother's, but he didn’t have a problem with it. I was also asked if I wanted to remain with my grandparents or go with my stepmother to her new marriage, and I chose her. I love my grandparents, but I love my mother too. She’s the only mother I’ve ever really known, and remaining with my grandparents would have separated me from my siblings. Yes, I would have seen them whenever I wanted to, but it wouldn’t have been the same, and I could never live without them. They and mother are the closest things I have to my father. So I chose this family, and I have never regretted it once. Uncle Chris has been like a father to us. There’s not even one day where he let us feel like we were not his biological children. Even his whole family loves us. They still love us the same even though Uncle Chris and Mother were blessed with a child of their own eleven years ago. . . Merlot ends the call after speaking to Mother, but we come to an abrupt stop when she cries out, lifting her foot. “What’s wrong?” I ask her, crouching down to look at it, and she tells me she’s stepped on a shell. I told her not to walk barefoot, but she said she was okay. She said she likes to feel the sand beneath her feet. I do too, but I don’t walk barefoot from the car. I check her foot and see the small shell stuck to it. I remove it. Luckily it didn’t go deep, it’s just a little cut, and she should be fine. After rubbing her foot, she gets up, and we make our way up the stairs, heading to the parking lot, but my brows furrow in question, noticing how dark it has gotten as we make it to the top of the stairs. All the lights are off on this side of the parking lot, but I could swear they were on when we arrived. I would say the power is out, but the other side of the parking lot is lit. “Were these lights off when we parked?” Merlot asks, looking around, and I shake my head, doing the same. “I’m not sure, I think they were on,” I reply as we get to the top of the stairs, but we come to an abrupt stop just as our car comes into view. There’s a guy in black sitting next to it. He gets up upon seeing us and stands for a minute, looking at us before walking to another parked car and leaning against it. I look at Merlot and find her looking at me, and I can tell she’s just as freaked out as I am by the guy. He’s wearing all black and doesn’t look like someone who came for a swim, either. He looks away from us, and just then, his phone rings, and he takes it out of his pocket and walks away. I grab Merlot’s hand, and we quickly proceed to the car. My heart beats faster as I look around, an eerie feeling washing over me. We don’t say a word to each other, but I can tell Merlot is just as spooked as I am by the grip of her hand on mine. There's a little tremble to it. I unlock the car, keeping my eyes in the direction the guy went in, but my heart stops seeing three guys dressed like him exiting the car the guy was standing next to, looking at us. “Run,” I whisper tremulously, letting go of my sister’s hand as we start to jog. She runs to the passenger’s side while I run to the driver’s, not even looking at the guys as my heart continues hammering against my chest. But my breath catches in my throat just as I grab the door handle when I’m suddenly held from behind. I scream, my knees hitting the floor as I get ripped away from the car and thrown to the ground, and I look over to find Merlot being dragged away from the vehicle as well. I cry out to her, fear slicing through me like cold steel as she screams, writhing, desperately trying to get free. “Please, no!” I beg, looking back at our attackers as I'm pulled back to my feet. But my head snaps back to Merlot again when one of the guys holding her screams, cursing. I realize she bit him, and then she knees the other one in the crotch, causing him to let go. She makes a run for it, and I use the opportunity while the ones holding me are distracted to elbow one in the throat. He groans and lets go, staggering, and without even thinking about it, I headbutt the one in front of me. I hear the crunch of his nose breaking as he also lets go, cussing, and I fall to my knees, dizzy. I have never head-butted anyone before. I crawl before scrambling to my feet, and I make a run for it, following after Merlot as she dashes into the bushes on the south side of the parking lot. I call out to her while also calling for help, hearing the guy’s footsteps behind me. But I scream as I slip and fall down a steep hill of sand before rolling down to the bottom, the sand getting in my mouth and eyes. “Help! Someone help us! Please!” I cry out, scrambling to my knees, trying to get up, hearing the guys’ footsteps behind me. But I fall and roll on my back, kicking them when they grab me from behind. “It’s okay. It’s okay. We are not going to hurt you,” someone says, holding me as I continue, screaming at the top of my lungs, fighting them off, terrified, and I realize it’s not the same guys. It’s three guys who look as if they came out of the water. “My sister! They have my sister!” I tell them, starting to run in the direction of the bushes again, and they follow behind me. We enter the bushes, not even hearing Merlot’s screams anymore, and they shine their torches as I continue calling out to her, but it’s dead quiet. There’s no sign of Merlot anywhere. I continue calling out to her, my voice breaking as I continue running, not even sure if it’s the same direction anymore, and they start calling out to her as well. “Please, God. Please, don’t let them hurt her!” I cry out, terrified, but the words die in my throat when I see something white on the bush floor in front of us. I run to it, my knees trembling, even more, the closer I get to it as it starts to look more and more like Merlot’s shirt. “Oh God, please, no! Merlot!” my knees hit the ground, realizing it is her shirt, and I hold it against my chest, feeling all the strength draining from my body. “Please, no! Not my sister, please!” ................................................................. ⚠️ Before starting the story, be warned that there are multiple POVs. All my books have multiple POVs. They don't repeat the same thing, but if you don't like multiple POVs, be warned. ................................................................... ................................................................... This is book three of the Obsessed Series. It is about the children, mainly Kiara and Cameron. There's also a crossover, Alaric, one of the main leads from Deadly Mafia Bonds. I wrote the book to be readable as a standalone, so don't worry even if you didn't read the prior books; you will catch on ....................................................................