Page 11 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

EZRA

“ W hat about keeping a low profile don’t you understand?

” I glared down at Felix. He sat in his chair with an uninterested expression on his face, which only increased my frustration.

Felix was the brother of Wise Benson who ran the biggest casino in the area and largest underground gambling ring.

He ran in the same circle as my family, and just like my family, he had me on retainer for situations like this.

Felix was his younger brother and a spoiled little shit who was becoming more of a headache than I believed he was worth, but his brother was paying me handsomely to represent him.

He was being charged with racketeering, extortion, bribery, and witness tampering.

It wasn’t anything I was worried about, but Felix was a cocky, unruly kid who did whatever he wanted and thought he was invincible.

Felix slacked back in his chair and tossed his arm behind it. “I’m not gonna live my life like a monk.”

I leaned forward on my desk and folded my hands on top of it. “If you want to stay out of prison until you’re fifty then you will. We got lucky to get you out on bail, you going out and showing your ass isn’t helping you.”

“Listen, man?—”

I sat straighter. “No, you listen, you little shit!” I gritted, narrowing my eyes. “You’re facing a RICO charge and in case your peanut size brain doesn’t understand that. It’s serious and is not just something you’ll get a slap on the wrist for.”

The fact that this was a federal case and not local made it ten times harder which was why my representation fee was higher than normal.

Wise didn’t care; he just wanted his brother to stay out of prison.

Luckily I had some people on fed level in my pocket, including a couple judges.

He was out on house arrest but was seen throwing wild parties at his house frequently.

Felix was only twenty-one and had his whole life to live still, but that would be short lived if he didn’t get with the program.

His jaw ticked. “So what? You want me to live in solitude for the rest of my life?”

I smirked. “Would you rather live in solitude right now or behind bars for twenty years?”

Defiance bled from his eyes. In reality people like Felix entertained me, they thought they knew everything and couldn’t be touched.

While I would do my job and make sure they got off or the minimum sentence offered, I always enjoyed knocking them down a peg or two.

They didn’t call me “The Shark” in the courtroom for no reason.

I’d been bred and groomed to be the best lawyer in the city.

My services didn’t come cheap and my clients weren’t low budget petty crimes.

People came to me because they knew I would do whatever I needed to make things happen.

Because of my family, mainly my father, there were a lot of connections built which I used shamelessly.

People like Felix, however, I had to play it smart.

I would do everything in my power to defend him, but I wouldn’t use resources that could later come in handy with other cases for someone who would burn them before the trial was even over.

____

Me and my brothers—minus Lucas because he was called into emergency surgery last minute—our dad, and Cashlynn sat around the table at the house in front of The Barn. A few days had passed since my brothers came to my house to talk with Ziora.

“Are you gonna tell me what I’m doing here, hijo?” Dad asked, his eyes circling the table before going back to Nazai and stopping.

“Yeah.” Nazai sat up in his chair. “Recently we received some news that we know is bogus but still I would like clarity on what exactly happened.”

Dad’s face gave away nothing. With all his years in the courtroom, he had mastered the ultimate poker face.

“Go on.” Dad nodded calmly.

Nazai turned to Emmet and nodded. Emmet hit some keys on his computer and soon pictures popped up on the large screen on the wall in front of the table.

The Barn was used for more than just keeping people captive and disposing of them.

The family often met here when we had jobs that required all hands on deck or when something serious needed to be discussed.

“Do you remember this guy?” Nazai asked.

Dad’s eyes flickered to the screen, still his face gave away nothing.

“Or this girl?” Ziora’s sister’s face popped up on the screen next to the guy accused of her kidnapping and murder.

Dad studied the screen. “Should I?”

Nazai turned and glanced at the screen then cleared his throat.

“The girl’s name is Charlie. She was thirteen when she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered.

The guy is the man charged with all that.

You were the judge on the case and his case was deemed a mistrial.

Before he could be recharged he was found dead. Allegedly it was suicide.”

Next, documents popped on the screen. “Ziora, who runs Shadow of Silver Stone , is the older sister of Charlie. She believes you were paid off to dismiss the case. Which we all know is bullshit. We clean up trash like this, not defend them.”

Dad’s brows furrowed as he read the police report on screen before relaxing.

“I remember this case,” he finally mentioned.

“The guy was obviously involved with someone bigger and hiding something, but the cops who handled the case were sloppy. Evidence was misplaced and mishandled; it was a real shit show.” Dad leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest.

One reason I always looked up to my father was because of his ability to always keep a cool head.

He was brutal when he needed to be, firm, and confident.

Many knew not to cross him because he was also an unforgiving man.

The impact he made in the courtroom from his days defending criminals to putting them away is phenomenal.

Nazai, while groomed to become the head of The Bloodline, never had an interest in law.

But me? I wanted to be just like Dad. Being a judge didn’t appeal to me, but I understand he did it to further the connections of the family and protect what we did.

“This Ziora girl, what exactly does she think I covered up?”

Nazai rubbed his jaw. “A child trafficking ring. From what she told us, the stream of unsolved kidnappings of young teenage girls is bigger than what’s being reported.”

“You didn’t tell me that.” Cashlynn spoke up, setting her glass of apple juice down and glaring at my brother.

“Not now, Cashlynn,” he said.

“Yes now, Nazai! Why didn’t you mention this to me?” Her nostrils flared and her eyes flashed.

I chuckled lowly. My sister-in-law gave my brother a run for his money and since becoming pregnant it seemed her temper had gotten worse. She didn’t back down like most when the two squared off or disagreed. It always kept me entertained when I was present.

“What difference does it make, Wildfire?” I could tell Nazai was attempting to keep his cool. It was comical seeing him practice patience. He didn’t like to be challenged or defied. That was one reason he and my dad butted heads so much.

“Did you forget who my parents were and what they were involved in? They tried to even sell my brother into that shit!”

Nazai narrowed his eyes at his wife. “Your brother is a boy, these people seemingly target teenage girls.”

“Doesn’t matter! My parents still were involved in shit like that! You should have told me.” Cashlynn pushed her chair back and shot up before storming away and snatching open the door to the room.

I laughed. “Sis-in-law gon’ fuck you up, big bro. You better be on guard when you get home.” Nazai shot me a look.

“You need to get her under control. She’s too emotional and that can lead to mistakes,” Dad mentioned.

Nazai frowned. “With all due respect, padre, don’t tell me how to handle my wife.

She’s pregnant and hormonal, that’s it. I’ll handle it.

” He turned toward the screen. He stared at it intently without speaking again for a long minute.

“Ez.” He turned to face me. “Do you believe Ziora is a threat to the family?”

“No.”

“Why?”

My eyes bounced around my brother’s face before lowering to read his body language. Something I exceeded at.

“Ziora wants justice for her sister.” I paused then grinned.

“Let me correct that, she wants to take down whoever is responsible for taking her sister away. She doesn’t trust the wealthy or the justice system.

She believed that Dad was involved and that’s why she targeted the family.

Just like Abuelo started this whole business we do to get the men who attacked Abuela.

She’s not so different from us, instead of freeing the world of the trash, she just exposes it.

” Pausing again I thought about my Bumblebee.

I had left her at home, locked in her room.

She had a bathroom, and before coming here I made sure to take her something to eat, but I didn’t trust her out and about in my home alone…

not yet. I knew a busy bee like her must be going stir crazy in that space.

In due time I would free her and allow her to buzz around, under my watch of course.

Nazai stroked his chin again. “Emmet, her computer, did you find anything alarming?”

“I needed more time with it. Her security is as good as mine so I wasn’t able to get full access, but what I was able to locate and unhide, no.

Most of the files I saw were related to the girls going missing.

” He tapped his keyboard a couple times and the screen switched.

“She was digging into a detective that recently ODed. I looked into it and the timing of it was random and unexpected apparently.” Again the screen changed.

“Donald Watz.” Dad scoffed.

“You’re familiar with him?” Nazai questioned.