Page 35 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

Spinning on my heels I headed back for my car.

I checked the time and knew it was time to head back across the bridge.

I agreed to take a job at The Den with Inaya tonight.

She was working the bar and convinced her boss Wise to let me serve drinks.

Apparently, the guy who frequently came and flirted with her would be there.

Once a month The Den hosted an all-in pot where high rollers came to play big.

The buy-in was bigger than any other night and the stakes were high.

This wasn’t the first time I worked at The Den, but this was the first time I was on a mission.

____

I was on my way out the door to meet Inaya at her house so I could carpool with her to The Den.

I was required to wear a white, short-sleeved button up shirt that hugged my chest, a tie, and black, high-waisted shorts with black suspenders.

My hair was half up in a ponytail with the rest cascading down my back and I painted my lips with dark red lipstick.

My goal tonight was to capture this guy’s eye and hopefully get him to talk to me.

Inaya said he loved a pretty face and nice ass and I had both.

As much as I wanted to look into the community center and the connection with the girls, I didn’t have time.

I did text Emmet a list of names so he could see if they were connected in any other ways.

On my way home from The Sticks I also called Lucas and asked if his friend was connected to the center.

He mentioned her cousin did volleyball camp there before and also joined the big sister program when she moved with her grandparents to help the void of her parents not being around. That wasn’t a coincidence.

I grabbed my black crossbody, making sure my phone, recorder, and taser were inside before walking to the front door. I slid my feet in the black Chanel tennis shoes. Inaya got them for me last year on my birthday. I hardly ever wore them but tonight seemed like a good time to bring them out.

I opened my front door and noticed a notecard taped on it.

My heart trembled. I hadn’t laid eyes on Ezra since he dropped me off at home when I left his house.

He had left notes for me every morning with a rose attached, but I hadn’t seen him nor had he been watching me, from what I knew at least. He had texted me frequently, but that was all the communication we’d had.

I still hadn’t tracked where he was when he texted me about watching me.

The thrill of it was too exciting to ruin now.

I looked around and didn’t see a rose, that along with it being late in the evening was different for him.

Sometimes he left a picture of me he had taken, either with my knowledge or without.

It was like he wanted me to know he was always around.

As if he wanted to embed himself deep inside me.

I hadn’t tried a hook up since I was stood up.

I took that as a sign. With Ezra always lurking I didn’t want to risk what happened to James happening to someone else.

I pulled the white envelope off the door and flipped it to open the tab. When I opened it and pulled the black notecard out, my stomach dropped. Something fell on the ground when I pulled it out but I focused on the words, written in white like the first one.

Last warning, back off or next time it won’t be a note.

Swallowing thickly, goosebumps flooded my arms and a chill rushed up my spine. My eyes darted around the dark street. Nothing stood out to me. I must be on to something if these people were leaving notes at my house now.

My eyes shot down to the picture that fell.

It was a Polaroid photo. With shaky hands I kneeled down and picked it up.

My heart fell into my stomach and my blood ran cold.

Tears pooled in the bottom of my eyelids.

It was a picture of Charlie. The picture was old and worn, but I knew it was her.

She was on a tattered bed, sprawled out.

Her neck was clearly bruised along with other areas of her body.

She was only in her panties, ripped, hanging off her hip.

This must have been when she was killed.

Bile rose in the back of my throat, I leaned over and gagged as the sub I had eaten earlier threatened to come out. I gripped the picture tighter and tears started down my cheeks.

Sniffling, I licked my lips and eyed the photo again.

Keep searching and you’ll be joining your sister.

Adrenaline flooded my body. My chest became tight and my lungs struggled to pump accordingly. My breaths came out quicker and my head began to spin. I fell back into my open door, falling onto my ass. My vision was blurry.

Whoever this was knew where I lived. All the measures I took to keep myself hidden didn’t matter because they found me. I wasn’t sure what to do now. If my alarm was activated I had it set up where I got motion detection from my front door camera, but since I had it off, I missed whoever it was.

I closed my eyes, attempting to ease my racing heart. I thought about mentioning it to Ezra, but decided to hold off for now, at least until after this party.

____

A Xanax later I was at Inaya’s house. She knew right away something was wrong, but I didn’t want to talk about the note or picture right now.

It being left might have scared me some but it also motivated me even more to continue my search.

I needed to focus on my task tonight, for Charlie.

I knew Inaya had questions, but she was going to let it go for now at least.

Now we were at The Den and I had taken a shot to help ease my nerves and it worked. I didn’t feel jittery anymore. My muscles loosened and my mind was quiet. I wanted to push the lifeless stare from my sister in that picture out my mind, at least for tonight.

My eyes scanned the room. There was a wall-to-wall bar on one side.

In the center of the room was a large card table with about ten chairs around it.

There were six people currently filling those chairs.

From what Inaya told me, everyone had until eleven on the dot to get here or they forfeited their chance at the pot and wouldn’t be allowed entry.

Usually there was a craps table in here along with two smaller card tables than the one in the center right now, but since tonight was a big night, they switched it up.

Security was tight, they patted people down for weapons before they could come in.

There were three girls, including me, serving drinks and an open bar option.

Wise wanted to make sure his guests were well taken care of and drunks tended to lack reason and spent more.

We were paid two thousand dollars to work if we stayed the full night, a thousand for working half.

Any tips, we got to keep. It usually ran late till the early morning.

It was a good gig if I had to say so myself.

The Den was an exclusive place, but this night was extra exclusive. Only a handful of people were invited. Usually the ones who spent the most during the month from what Inaya told me, or offered to pay the buy-in in advance.

I checked my watch. It was ten minutes till eleven. Whoever else was coming was pushing it.

“He’s here.” Inaya spoke from behind me. My eyes stayed locked on the floor. “Burnt orange bomber jacket, just took a seat. His name is Titan.”

I zeroed in on him. He didn’t look familiar to me, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be useful.

“At least he’s cute.”

Inaya snickered behind me. “He’s second-in-command for whoever he works for, flashy guy, big flirt, big spender, basically just stroke his ego and you’ll snag him.”

I nodded. The guy had his phone out texting away with a smirk on his face. Everything about him screamed arrogance—the large Cuban link chain, diamond encrusted watch, large rocks in his ears.

“I’ll be back,” I said, pushing away from the bar. I planned to start on him early. The other girls were talking among themselves. They worked at Ace of Diamonds and were familiar with each other. I wasn’t here to make friends so I wasn’t bothered.

I froze halfway to the table when someone else walked in with Wise, laughing.

What the fuck is he doing here?

Ezra being here tonight was not in the plans.

I spun around and looked at the bar. Inaya noticed him too and looked as surprised as me. I gave her a look to ask if she knew and her head shook.

This wasn’t good. In order to get to know Titan and get invited back home with him, I had to flirt with him. Ezra wasn’t going to let that happen in peace. I didn’t need him to fuck this up for me.

Pushing a deep breath out, I mentally talked myself down from another panic attack. Ezra being here didn’t stop anything. I was here for one thing and one thing only.

I undid the first two buttons of my button up. The bra I had on gave my breasts an extra cup, putting my cleavage on full display.

Propping a fake smile on my face, I continued to the table, bypassing where Ezra was standing, still talking to Wise. I could feel his eyes burning into me, but I refused to look his way. Walking to Titan, I stood on the side of him and tapped his shoulder.

“Care for a drink before the night starts, handsome?”

His eyes lifted from his phone up to me. He ran me over with his eyes and an arrogant grin formed on his face.

“You’re a new face.”

“First night.” I batted my lashes at him. His tongue ran over his plump bottom lip. “So a drink?”

“Yeah, let me get an Old Fashioned.” His eyes zeroed in on my chest.

“Coming right up, handsome.” He sank his teeth into his bottom lip and his eyes darkened.

Turning on my heels, I walked from the table. Ezra was still watching me, he had been the whole time I’d been talking to Titan.

I went into my pocket for my phone. Two minutes to eleven. “Old Fashioned already, ready,” Inaya said before I could tell her.