Page 83 of Merciless Obsession

Nazai laughed and shook his head.

We were at his second house, in the basement. I had been working on hand-to-hand combat with Carson for a while now. He started off as a timid kid, but since he’d been around us, he’d been gaining more confidence. He usually was with Emmet, since he was good with computers, but today Nazai wanted him to get some training in.

I put my hands up. “A’right let me see that combo I showed you last time.” He nodded, getting into a fighting stance then moving his hands.

We went on for a little longer before finally calling it quits.

“Go grab something from the kitchen and wait for me. We’re gonna go to the shooting range next.”

Even though Carson wasn’t in love with shooting and preferred to use a knife like his sister, it was still good for him to know how to shoot and have decent aim. He never knew when he might need to use one.

Carson nodded. We slapped hands and I ruffled his hair. “Good job, kid.”

He walked off, grabbing his Switch before heading upstairs.

“Let’s go a round, big bro,” I offered, referring to sparring.

Nazai lifted his head and stared at me with a smirk. He stood, placing the sketchpad on the chair and grabbed a pair of gloves.

“Don’t be mad when I kick your ass,” he said, strapping his head gear.

I snorted.

With everything that’d been going on, we hadn’t been able to just take some time to ourselves. Nazai had jumped in headfirst as the head of the family, that along with his club and starting a family kept him busy. My caseloads and keeping an eye on Ziora kept me occupied. It felt good being able to kick back with my brother like old times. Out of all my brothers, Nazai was the one I typically used to follow around when we were kids.

“You been good, Ez?” Nazai asked, blocking a jab and taking one of his own.

“Yeah, why you ask that?”

“Just making sure. You been different since Ziora and this whole Veil thing came into the picture. I wanna make sure you’re not in over your head.”

Faking a head punch, I threw one at his stomach instead. “Fuck, that was a good one,” Nazai choked out with a laugh.

I stood straight. “I’m good.”

“You haven’t been to The District in a while either. Normally I can’t keep yo’ ass out.”

I smirked, blocking my face. “Yeah, well something else became more appealing to watch.”

Nazai stood straight, assessing me penetratingly. “I admit I was hesitant when you decided to pursue her. Then bringing her in and doing business with her was a risky move.” I went to speak but Nazai continued. “She knows her shit though. She’s passionate and doesn’t back down. I don’t know what you two have going on, but I can tell she’s having an impact on you. You’re more impulsive and distant. At the same time, it’s been a long time since I saw you have this much drive and passion for something other than the courtroom. You really care about her?”

I stood straight and rolled my shoulders back.

Care about her?

I wasn’t even sure if I could put how I felt about Ziora into words to make it make sense to others.

“Ziora has become the main attraction in my life. She’s a hard ass and doesn’t let people close to her easily, but that only makes my pursuit of her even better. She’s a puzzle that I have to figure out and put together to get the perfect picture.”

Understanding passed through my brother’s face. He glanced in the direction of his sketchpad. “Normally I don’t try to get inside your head and understand you because you’ve always had a way of processing outside the box. But this time I get it. The second I laid eyes on Cashlynn, she became my muse. No one else after that mattered.” He paused for a second.

“I know I’ve been riding you hard, but that’s just because I don’t want you to go off track and lose focus. I trust you, I know you’re smart, and at the end of the day you would always have the family’s back, but sometimes I worry you’re too engulfed in Ziora that your judgement becomes clouded.”

Nazai turned his attention back to me. I released a small breath and kicked one side of my mouth up. His observation was valid, and I understood his concern, however…there was onesmall difference between me and Nazai. Ziora was more than just my muse. She had become my greatest masterpiece.

____

It was after nine and I was leaving my firm. I had been there with my investigator going over what he’d come up with so far for my trial next week. Instead of heading home, I used my key to open Ziora’s door. I had tried calling and texting her with no response. Her location said she was home. After how she left the meeting house yesterday, I gave her the rest of the day to calm down, but now I was done with that.