Page 27 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

EZRA

I scrolled through the photos I took of Ziora last night while Lucas cut the stitches from the top of my hand.

We were at his private clinic in his office.

It was fun texting her from an unknown place to her.

The best part was knowing if Ziora wanted to find me she could but chose not to.

The game we were playing was just as thrilling for her as it was for me.

Last night, when I got the notifications from that hook up app through her clone phone of the date she was heading to, I stopped what I was doing and had to process what was about to happen.

I was at the office, in the middle of looking over some information one of the researchers at my firm had found to get one of my clients’ charges lessened when I saw the first message come through.

The guy and Ziora messaged back and forth a couple times before agreeing to meet at the hotel later that evening.

I thought my Bumblebee would have learned from James that I was possessive over my things and didn’t like to share.

Call it middle kid syndrome if you want, but knowing she was going to meet some random guy at a hotel and what the two had planned caused my stomach to boil and me to see red.

Thankfully for them I was in a good mood last night and Maine got to keep his life.

Once I found out who he was, I was able to get to his address and catch him just as he was leaving to meet Ziora.

While he was still breathing, it was hard with the few bruised ribs I gave him and he’d probably need crutches thanks to his kneecap meeting Wilma.

I made sure he knew not to contact the girl from the app last night before busting his phone.

Of course I made sure to wear a mask so he never knew my identity.

After the James incident Nazai lectured me about being impulsive, especially when it concerned an innocent.

I had to remind him how he cut a man’s hand off just for touching his wife, but I did promise next time I would try to control myself.

“Ezra, are you listening?” Lucas called out, bringing my attention back.

“Yeah.” I swiped on my phone again.

“Tell me what I just said then.” My eyes lifted to my brother and I grinned.

“Tell me one more time.”

He gave me a level stare. “Stretch your hands and tell me if you feel any tingling or numbness.”

I did as he said. “You didn’t have trouble picking up anything or holding items did you?”

“Nope. It was like it never happened.”

“Okay good. That means she didn’t nick any nerves and there doesn’t seem to be any long-term damage.”

“I could have told you that, brother dearest of mine.”

He pressed his lips together then shook his head and started cleaning up.

The door to his office opened as I prepared to leave. I turned around and my eyes landed on Nazai. He stared at me with annoyance in his eyes.

“How’s it going, big bro?” I nodded in his direction. “What brings you by?” I shot a glare at Lucas then back at Nazai.

“We need to talk and you know that, but you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’ve been busy, you know, being a lawyer and defending my clients and all.”

His jaw ticked. “You haven’t been that busy.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “That shit you pulled the other day. What the fuck were you thinking?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I knew I could only avoid my brother for so long. Nazai was the head of The Bloodline now and I knew it was his job to make sure it ran smoothly, but that didn’t mean I needed him always lecturing me.

“She’s not going to say anything.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do. She wants to bring justice to the city just like we do.”

“Just a month ago she was writing articles tarnishing our family name. How the hell do you know you can trust her? Because you’re sticking your dick in her?”

I stood, feeling a dark veil covering me. “Watch it, Nazai,” I warned lowly.

“Or what? You put the entire family in jeopardy due to your recklessness.”

“It’s my job to keep this family out of trouble, you remember that, right?” I stepped closer to my big brother. “If I thought Ziora was a threat I would have handled it.”

“That’s what you were supposed to do in the first place!” Nazai’s voice rose.

“If you two are gonna fight, take that shit outside and not in my office,” Lucas cut in.

“When you brought your wife into the mix I was on your side. I even welcomed her in.”

“ My wife ! Not some random girl who is hellbent on exposing our family!”

My hands balled at my side. “Ziora understands what we do and how it benefits the city, that’s not something she’s gonna compromise. She’s not some random girl either, she’s my girl , and it’s better she learns what we do now. Plus, she can be an asset to use.”

“He’s right, Nazai. Ziora can be an asset. Imagine having two Emmets on our team. It would take a lot off him too,” Lucas cut in again.

Nazai was quiet for a second. I could see him pondering our words in his head.

“How do you know she’ll be able to accept what we do? Not just we, me and my wife. Did you forget we get hired for kills that aren’t always for justice.”

“You don’t have to worry about her. She’ll understand. She does understand.”

He pushed a deep breath through his nostrils and rolled his neck between his shoulders.

“If she causes trouble or becomes a threat to this family I won’t hesitate to put a bullet between her eyes, do you understand me, Ezra?

The Bloodline comes first and it’s my job to take out anyone who’s a threat to it. ”

I stiffened my stance. “It won’t come to that.”

We stood in a stare off. I admired my big brother as much as I did my dad.

I knew Nazai had a lot on his shoulders when he took over the business.

Dad put a lot of pressure on him and Nazai not wanting to go into law was a big deal to our dad.

He wanted to make his own path and be more than just the head of the family, which he was doing.

I had no plans to hurt his position or this family.

In my position I could have written up an NDA for Ziora to sign to make sure my family was protected but my gut told me I didn’t need to do all that and I always went with my gut.

“A’right.” He nodded. “I’ma hold you to that and step off. But Ez…make sure she stays in line.”

“I got this.”

Nazai pushed a deep breath out and rolled his shoulders back. “Good, now that that’s out the way. I asked around and apparently there’s some organization that’s been working in the dark for a while now. No one knows who they are directly, but they’re shady as hell.”

“Wait, are you talking about The Veil?” Lucas’s eyes widened then narrowed.

“The Veil?” My face balled up. “They’re just a myth, just like The Consortium.”

Both The Veil and The Consortium were rumored to be powerful secret societies in Silver Shadow.

The Consortium was said to be a group of power families around that, with mutual influence, used their power to benefit one another.

There had never been proof they existed, but it’d been said if you were invited into the circle, you weren’t only protected but also a part of the trade, whatever the hell that was.

As for The Veil, they were more or less the same, except darker.

It’d been said they were a shady group. No one knew who ran it or if they were even real.

Anytime someone came close to unmasking them they came up dead or missing.

In order for them to stay so far off the grid they had some high connections.

Nazai nodded and shoved his hands into his front pockets.

“Cashlynn said she thinks she remembers hearing her parents mention them before. But as you know, they’re a group of ghosts in a sense.

They have people who do their bidding for them but the actual people behind the organization are unknown.

Whoever they are have some deep pockets and connections too in order to go under the radar this long.

And even though I hate to admit it, they may run deeper than ours. ”

Lucas was now at my side. This information was more important to him than either of us.

“They were the ones who took Adrian? The Veil?”

Nazai leveled a stare on our brother. “I don’t know, Luke, but it’s a possibility, yeah?”

Lucas ran his hand over his head and went to adjust his glasses but must have remembered he wore his contacts today because his hand shot down and balled up.

It would make sense if The Veil was involved with all this being that no one has been able to get a lead on these kidnappings and murders.

“It’s not a lot but it’s a start. I’m going to see what else I can learn, but Lucas, I don’t want you going off the books and doing something crazy. We don’t know who these guys are or what they’re fully capable of. We need to play this smart… if Adrian is alive.”

“She is!” Lucas interjected.

Nazai pressed his lips together tightly. “Then we’ll find her, but I don’t want you to have false hope. This could be a bunch of bullshit and just rumors. We don’t know.”

“So we find out.”

I crossed my arms and bounced my eyes between my brothers. It was a lot to swallow for Lucas and Nazai showed he was meant to take over. He was a resourceful man when he needed to be.

“I’ll see if I can learn more, but I need to get going. I gotta get Carson from Emmet’s then Cashlynn has a doctor’s appointment before I head to the club.”

“I’m out too,” I mentioned.

We said our goodbyes but Lucas didn’t seem to care about that. He walked around his desk and took a seat, waking his computer.

“You know he’s gonna hit the ground running with this, right?” I told Nazai when we were outside.

“I know, but Lucas is smart. I know he’s anxious, but I don’t think he’ll do anything stupid. I only got one brother who does shit without thinking sometimes.” He narrowed his eyes, causing me to chuckle.

Nazai smirked.