Page 39 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

“Ziora’s gonna get the address on this guy and I want you to have some guys put on him.”

River nodded. “Got it.”

“Okay. Fuck! Get this shit cleaned up and go the hell home. We’ll meet back here tomorrow. Is that good for you?” Nazai faced Ziora.

Ziora pulled the sucker out of her mouth. “I’ll have everything about this guy down to when he took his first shit by the end of the day.”

That gained her a choked laugh from my big brother. “Let’s go, Wildfire. You should be in bed anyway.” He turned to his wife.

“I’ll get this cleaned up,” River mentioned.

Lucas was already starting to clean the room.

“C’mon, Bumblebee.”

Ziora took one last look at Titan before spinning and allowing me to lead her out of the medical room in the back of The Barn.

“Are you gonna be a’right?” I asked her once we were outside.

She inhaled a deep breath and closed her eyes before slowly pushing it out.

“That was a lot,” she started quietly. Lowering her head, she faced me again.

She drew her mouth in thoughtfully. Her forehead creased.

Her eyes showed exhaustion and a wave of mixed emotions.

“I understand it now though. This was the first time I’ve ever been a part of something like this, and instead of feeling fear and disgust, I felt…

I don’t know… exhilarating. Like I’m actually making a difference in a bigger way than writing words on the computer.

Titan knew Winston was buying young girls and did nothing about it.

That makes him and the rest of his crew just as guilty as he is. I don’t feel bad about him dying.”

A lopsided grin spread on my face. “Killing isn’t easy for everyone, seeing dead bodies either. You handled it well though.”

“I’ve seen a lot of crime scene photos. Even if seeing things like this in person is different, I have long gotten rid of the squeamish feeling.”

My arm went back around her waist and pulled her into me. “And that, Bumblebee, is why me and you are meant to be together.” I thought she would fight me but instead a faint smile lined her lips.

My body was still wired from the past couple of hours.

I knew I wouldn’t be heading to sleep anytime soon.

My eyes dropped to Ziora’s awaiting lips.

They had a slight red tint from the sucker she was sucking on previously.

Licking my lips I dipped my head and pressed my mouth against hers.

It didn’t stop the adrenaline passing through me, but it did soothe me some.

I pulled back and locked my eyes on hers. “Next time you have some grand scheme like tonight, key me in. The guys you’re going to be looking into aren’t good people and a lot of them won’t care that you’re a woman. Tonight could’ve ended badly if I hadn’t showed up.”

Her brows slanted slightly. “What made you come tonight anyway? Did you know I would be there?”

The mask I wore slid in and my face went blank. I wasn’t going to tell Ziora I saw all of her texts and that was how I learned she would be at The Den. Soon as I found out, I reached out to Wise for a spot in the poker game.

Instead of responding, I kissed her again. “No more risks like tonight. Next time let me know and we’ll handle shit together.”

“I can handle myself, you know. I’m not some delicate flower.” Her mouth turned upside down.

“Oh the last thing I see you as is a delicate flower, Bumblebee. But that doesn’t matter to me. I won’t have you putting yourself at risk for any reason. A threat toward you is a threat toward me. From here on out, we move as a unit. Understand?”

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 do what 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 might want 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 I didn’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.