Page 4 of Merciless Obsession

My stomach churned and my pulse picked up as I stared at the picture of me. I was leaving my house with a blow pop in my mouth. It was taken today. Right as I was leaving to meet James.

My throat throttled and my heart slammed against my ribcage. I was sure this was the same man who had been leaving the roses and notes on my door. This was the first time he made direct contact with me.

My teeth scraped under my bottom lip when another text came through.

Now be a good girl. Get up and walk out that man’s house before you make things worse for everyone. My patience is running thin.

The message sent a chill down my spine and caused the hairs on the back of my neck to raise.

“Ziora, are you listening to me?” James’s voice broke me out of the trance I had gone into.

“I have to go.” I jumped up without addressing the previous topic. I didn’t want anything serious with him and that wasn’t changing.

“That’s it? You’re just going to leave without answering me?”

I looked around until I located my jeans on the floor. “Look James, if you want to see other people, be my guest. If you want to end this, that’s fine with me. It actually might be for the best; so do what you feel is right.” I picked my shirt up next.

Whoever this guy was, was toying with me. I brushed the notes off, which wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but without going to the police I was a one-woman army. The guy didn’t give me much to work with and I wasn’t sure if he was a threat, but I refused to cower. Him texting my phone was personal. He had made a mistake not knowing what I was capable of. Soon as I got home I planned on tracking his number andfinallyfinding out who he was.

James was still talking, attempting to plead his case as I prepared to leave his room. I had long mastered the skill of dissociation. I could easily block those out around me for hours so I heard nothing he was saying.

Furiously, I tapped on my phone and pulled up my security app at my house, making sure to check both inside and out. Nothing out of the ordinary stuck out to me.

When I got outside James’s house, I looked around. His street was full of large highly-priced homes. All of the cars were expensive and mostly foreign in this area. I tried to see if I noticed one that didn’t match the criteria on the streets, but again, nothing stuck out.

Pushing stray pieces of hair out of my face and releasing an exasperated breath, I started toward my car.

“If you don’t stop being so closed off, you’re gonna end up alone and lonely,” James called out to me.

I tossed my hand in the air, waving him off. His words didn’t bother me. Growing attached to people only left room for you to get hurt. So his words didn’t reveal anything to me that I didn’t already know.

CHAPTER 3

EZRA

“Tara, call my three o’clock and tell them we have to reschedule and cancel any meetings I have after that and reschedule them as well,” I told my secretary through the intercom.

“Yes, Mr. Tavarez, but what about the consultation with the new client seeking counsel?” My jaw ticked and I ran my hand down my mouth, releasing a sigh.

“Pass her to Melvin. I won’t be back to the office after I leave the courthouse.”

“And what about?—”

“Tara!” I cut her off, losing patience. “I won’t be back in the office after court. Forward all my calls to voicemail or take a message. Any meetings, cancel and reschedule them.”

She was silent for a moment before replying, “Yes, Mr. Tavarez.”

Turning the intercom off, I brought my attention back to the paper laid out on my desk. Last night I followed Ziora to a house in a wealthy suburban area not too far from where I lived. When a guy opened the door, let her in, and embraced her, heat rushed through my body, my pulse raced, and my hand twitched to grab Wilma. She was in the house for forty-five minutes before finallycoming out. When I texted her, the urge to kick down the door and drag her out grew stronger each minute I had to wait. I had been watching her for going on a month and the need to have her grew stronger each day. Seeing her with another man caused my blood to boil and my muscles to tense.

While waiting for Ziora to come out of the house, I called Emmet and had him pull up the house I was at. It belonged to a James Russell, divorced, no kids, and a highly sought out plastic surgeon. Not stopping there I made Emmet do a deep dive into his life. He couldn’t find out how James knew Ziora but that didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was him touching something that didn’t belong to him and needing to be taught a lesson.

A smile split my face when I thought about Ziora coming out of the house looking confused and unnerved. The way her eyes searched around trying to locate me caused my dick to harden. Even now, just thinking about it had me pushing it down as it threatened to rise.

I scanned the documents and checked the clock on my desk. I had an hour before I needed to leave for the courthouse for my meeting with the judge. One of my clients was being charged with felonious assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder with a deadly weapon. Some of the evidence obtained wasn’t on the up and up and I was motioning to get it thrown out.

I moved the documents about James and reached for the other file on my desk. I had Emmet do a deep dive on not only my client but the accuser as well. Having a brother who didn’t have to stay in between the lines like my firm’s researcher was beneficial. I succeeded at my job because I made sure to cross all Ts and dot all Is. My winning rate was high, above ninety percent, and I didn’t plan on that changing anytime soon.

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