Page 40 of Merciless Obsession

“Just do what I said. You can’t help with this part anyway. Ezra, we’ll talk later.” He said the last part in Spanish with his stare leveled on me.

I knew Nazai wasn’t happy about Ziora being here, but she was mine. And she needed to get used to this part of my life. The sooner the better. He might not get it now, but that was no problem to me, I had faith that Ziora could be trusted.

I led Ziora out of the barn without much fight. I could tell she was trying to process everything, so I let her be.

“I’ll follow you back to your house,” I told her.

She pushed some curls out her face and nodded slowly. It was refreshing not to get any push back from her. I knew it wouldn’t last, and she was mostly still in shock, but I would accept it for the moment.

“Ezra!” Emmet called out behind me. I turned to face him.

“Here.” He held out a flash drive. “I looked into the people you asked me to and this is what I found.”

“’Preciate you, E.” With a clipped nod he turned and started back for the barn. The information on this flash drive would help one of my clients. I had two other cases I was working on outside of Felix’s and this was the golden egg for one.

Sliding the flash drive in my pocket, I walked to my car and popped the truck, grabbing the duffle bag and tossing my gloves and Wilma inside. I would clean her later.

Closing the trunk I walked around to the driver’s side door and climbed inside. If today showed nothing else with Ziora, it showed we were locked in this forever.

____

Now we were back at Ziora’s house and she hadn’t said much. We sat on her couch, she had one of the suckers I got for her in her mouth while she stared off in the distance. I gave her the time to process on the drive here, now it was time to hear what she was thinking.

After finishing the text to my assistant I laid my phone on the coffee table then turned my body so it was facing her.

“A’right, Bumblebee, let’s hear it.” I reached out and touched her leg, causing her head to whip toward me. She stared at me as if seeing me for the first time.

“Your family is a gang of killers,” she finally said, blinking slowly, pulling the sucker from her mouth.

My shoulders lifted. “If that’s what you want to call us. Some might say we’re a crime family; some might call us vigilantes.”

“And what do you call you guys?”

I licked my lips and ran my eyes down her body. “We’re The Bloodline. A family that right the wrongs the law let slide by. We help for those who can’t defend themselves. Each of us plays a part to make sure business runs smoothly and is handed accordingly. If one of us messes up then the whole operation can crumble.”

“Operation,” she mumbled, shoving the sucker back in her mouth, taking a bite of it this time.

“My abuela was attacked after she and my abuelo moved here from the Dominican Republic. The law did nothing to find and prosecute her attackers because to the cops they were just some low-level immigrants who didn’t matter. My abuelo did a lot of side jobs for some bad men. He made connections and eventually was able to find out who hurt my abuela and get justice for her. He started taking more high-risk jobs, gaining more traction in the underground world and building his wealth from the ground up. By the time my padre came around, my abuelo had singlehandedly made a name for the Tavarez family and my padre took what my abuelo started to another level to get us to where we are now.

“I’m not going to say we’re good people. Some may believe what we do is wrong, but would you rather have us out there handling business or those predators out there constantly hurting people with no consequences.”

I grinned and waited for her response. Ziora pulled the sucker out of her mouth and stared at me with intense determination in her eyes.

“I heard rumors about your family over the years not always being on the up and up like you guys portrayed. I’ve read the articles posted about you guys. The books and literature published by your dad, some even refer to him as a philanthropist. It was always quite comical to me how highly respectable he was and now learning what I did today…” Her words trailed off. “Your dad didn’t believe in the same system he worked for.”

I stifled a laugh. “My father became a judge to have control in the courtroom and to protect our family. I told you everyone is a piece in the puzzle.”

“And how do you know I won’t expose your family? Your brother wasn’t happy that you brought me to that place today.”

“I don’t, but something tells me I can trust you, Bumblebee.” Lifting my hand, I pulled on her curls and wrapped a few around my finger.

“If I decide to blast you all, then what?”

I sighed and tilted my head slightly while a toothless grin played on her face. I moved my hand up and gripped her curls tightly. Her eyes narrowed.

“I’ve got a lot of blood on my hands, all justified for the most part at least. Truthfully, killing is nothing to me. However, Ziora, if I had to choose between taking your life and keeping you hidden from the public until you learn to keep your mouth shut, well you’d become my permanent roommate it seems. If that’s what you want, we can make that happen whenever you’re ready.”

Her breathing picked up, her chest rising and falling at an accelerated rate. Her freckled cheeks flushed with heat.