Page 15 of Merciless Obsession

“You’ll go home when andifI let you. Now, as I was saying, my brothers are on the way here and I’d rather not have to cut any of their eyeballs out for seeing parts of my toy they shouldn’t, so I advise you to go upstairs and put some clothes on. I left some on your bed.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I had to play this smart. Ezra liked to play mind games. With him being a lawyer, I wasn’t shocked. The only problem was, I hated games, but in order to leave I would have to fake it. I didn’t know what his angle was, but if I played it right, I could get away. I wasn’t sure what I would do following that, it wasn’t like the police would do anything to a Tavarez, but at least I’d be away from this psycho.

“Fine!” I huffed and pushed past him, rolling my eyes.

Ezra chuckled, causing my frustration to increase. He might think things were funny now, but I would be the last one laughing later.

____

Me and Ezra, along with all three of his brothers, sat inside his living room in silence. They got here about five minutes ago. My eyes bounced around, taking them all in. Nazai was the only one I’d seen in person and that was because I went to his club The District before and he was in attendance. All four were handsome, had similar qualities in one way or another, but it was easy to see Ezra and Nazai looked the most alike.

Nazai’s eyes bored into me. His eyes were dark and free of any emotion. Lucas was on his phone, texting away. Emmet seemed the least interested in being here. He sat back on the couch with a Rubik’s cube. Ezra sat next to me.

“We didn’t come here for a staring contest.” Nazai finally spoke, breaking the silence. “Did you find out why she’s coming after us?” He glanced at his brother.

Ezra didn’t speak right away. He reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. I yanked away, but he did it again, this time gripping it. “That’s what we’re here for today.”

“You’ve had her all this time and have nothing?” Nazai’s nostrils flared.

“Relax, big brother. Sometimes it’s fun to play with your food before you eat it.” Ezra twisted his neck, facing me, and winked. I rolled my eyes and leaned back, crossing my arms across my chest.

“Considering your brother kidnapped me, it’s clear my accusation about your family being bad people behind the scenes was valid.”

Nazai chortled and ran his hand down his mouth. “I respect what you do, exposing predators and even those who abuse their power, but that’s not my family.”

My eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you.”

His face went blank. “Frankly, sweetheart, I don’t give a fuck what you believe. What I care about is you constantly slandering my family’s name.”

“It isn’t slander if it’s true. You all hide behind your well-respected jobs, but in the end you’re all a bunch of crooks, just like your daddy!”

Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Emmet’s hands freeze.

Ezra spoke up. “You seem to have a vendetta against my dad. I saw your evidence board in your office. You have his picture and name on it too. Why?”

My jaw clenched as my eyes circled the room. Now I had all four brothers’ attention. Opening up to people wasn’t my specialty, but it looked like I had no choice at the moment.

Closing my eyes and releasing an exasperated breath, I began.

“Nine years ago my little sister Charlie was kidnapped. She wasn’t the first girl to get snatched up, but just like the rest, the cops didn’t seem to care. I was sixteen at the time and every day for three months straight I called the police station, asking them if they had any leads. Eventually the detective stopped returningmy calls. It was clear I was annoying him and everyone else, but I didn’t care. All they saw was a little Black girl from a low-income, dysfunctional family. They suggested maybe she ran away but my sister didn’t run away. Our lives weren’t perfect, but she wouldn’t leave without me. Three months after she was taken, her body showed up in an alley, thrown away like trash. She had been beaten, raped, and strangled. According to the cops, they had no leads, but to me it was like they weren’t even looking.”

Pausing, I took a few breaths, feeling myself starting to get upset about the situation all over again. Ezra gave my thigh a squeeze, reminding me that his hand was still there. Oddly, it eased some of the building tension.

“Fast forward a couple weeks, an arrest was made. I don’t know all the details but the guy was found with my sister’s bookbag, which she had on her when she went missing. I wasn’t familiar with the guy, but when I looked him up he had a sexual assault and stalking charges that were filed by his girlfriend when he was eighteen. The cops didn’t believe my sister had anything to do with the other missing girls because she was murdered. They tried to chalk him up as some creep that preyed on little girls. When it came time for his trial, your dad was the judge. It was barely a month when a mistrial was declared. The guy committed suicide by ‘overdosing’ before they could schedule another trial. He left a note confessing he couldn’t take the guilt anymore or some dumb shit.”

Nazai raised a brow. “You don’t believe he overdosed?”

“Oh, I know he overdosed but it being a suicide is bullshit. He was the scapegoat for whoever he was working for.”

“Our dad doesn’t protect predators, especially ones against kids.”

I scoffed. “So the guy that happened to be charged with my sister’s murder and assault was let go in his courtroom coincidentally?”

“If he was let go, then there was a reason.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he would defend his dad.

“On your board, you had child trafficking ring written in the center,” Ezra mentioned. “That’s why you think your sister was taken.”