Page 77 of Merciless Obsession

Ziora didn’t respond. Her eyes bounced around my face. A tremor touched her smooth, full lips.

“I should get going. I want to get a head start on looking into Winston.” She started to pull away from me but I kept her in my hold. I leaned my head down until my face was in the crease of her neck and inhaled.

“I don’t like my things broken or hurt. Your body is such a masterpiece and unblemished. I won’t allow anyone, including you, to cause any markings or harm to it. I’ll step in and dowhat I must to prevent that from happening, even if it’s keeping you from stepping into the fire.” Lightly pressing my lips against the side of her neck, I finally released her and stepped back. My hands went to my passenger door.

“Get in. I’ll take you home.”

Ziora watched me then gave me a stiff nod before climbing in the car. I hoped Ziora took my warning seriously because I meant what I said. I wouldn’t allow her to put herself in danger and I’d do whatever I saw fit to keep her protected, even from her own stubbornness.

____

After the long night last night, the last thing I wanted was to deal with some spoiled ass kid who looked unbothered at the fact that he was facing murder charges. Currently, I was in a conference room at my firm, meeting with Orlando, my new client and the governor’s son.

“The night before there were reports of yelling coming from your ex-girlfriend’s apartment. A few neighbors mentioned seeing you storming out and said that was normal for you two. What was the argument about this time?” I asked Orlando. Since I was playing catch up on the case I needed all the facts laid out for me. I already had my researcher and investigator doing a deep dive into the ex-girlfriend and the man who was also killed in her apartment.

“Does that matter? I didn’t kill her or the guy she was caught with.”

“Everything you do from this point forward matters, Orlando. Your case is high profile because of who your father is. You’re going to have eyes on you at all times and some mightwant to make an example out of you. So again, what was the argument about?”

We were in one of the conference rooms at my firm. Since Orlando walked through the door I knew I had my work cut out for me. He reeked of arrogance and entitlement. It wasn’t shocking, being who his father was, but it would make things that much harder.

He sighed and tossed his phone onto the table. “The same thing we always argued about. I was caught with my dick out and she wasn’t happy about it. Look, I love… or loved Kori but sometimes I had wandering eyes. She had texted me about needing to talk. When I got to her apartment I already knew it was about to be a fight. She was high and combative. Kori started yelling about me cheating again and being tired of my shit. Then she got to throwing things at me and eventually we were going back and forth yelling and me dodging things coming for me.”

“You said she was high? What was she on?”

“Coke.”

“And was that normal for her?”

He narrowed his eyes. “She wasn’t some addict if that’s what you’re thinking, but yeah, she used it from time to time.”

“Did you ever use it with her?”

Orlando stayed quiet. I bit down on my back teeth. “Listen to me, Orlando, if I’m going to do my job then you need to be honest with me. I don’t give a damn about anything else but getting a not guilty verdict. Now answer my question.”

Orlando swiped his nose. “A’right, yeah, sometimes, but only when I was drunk. It caused more of a rush.”

I wrote a note on my notepad. “And the claims of you being abusive. Did you ever hit her?”

“Kori had mood swings, okay? She would go into these rages and become irrational. Sometimes we fought, yeah, but Ididn’t beat her ass. I might have slapped her or restrained her forcefully but it was never anything over the top.”

I stared at the twenty-three-year-old in front of me. He hadn’t been in my office an hour yet and I had a feeling he was guilty but what I felt didn’t matter. I needed to make sure the jury felt differently.

“So you were broken up?” I continued.

“I mean technically.” He lifted a shoulder. “This was normal for us. I cheated, we fought and argued, then made up.”

“The guy in the apartment. Was she also cheating?”

His eyes darkened. “Kori would never step out on me. I think that guy was her new dealer.”

I continued my questions, trying to get all the information I could. By the end of the meeting I needed a few drinks.

CHAPTER 18

ZIORA

“Okay, so fill me in. What happened last night?” Inaya questioned.