Page 53 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

“Ziora’s life will never be in danger as long as I’m living. The Veil might be powerful but so is The Bloodline.” The conviction in his voice caused my heart to beat rapidly against my ribcage.

“In all my years as a judge I’ve had two instances where The Veil was rumored to be involved.

Each time those cases fell through. It won’t be easy to bring them down.

They’re masters of staying hidden and nonexistent.

Because they have other people doing their work for them, their hands are always clean and faces never shown.

No one even knows how many are involved in the operation. ”

“My sister was thirteen years old and innocent when she was taken and killed. If I have to uncover every single secret in this city to find them, I will , no matter who I have to expose in the process. I’m good at what I do, Dominic, and I’ve been working on this for a long time.

The Veil might cause fear when they’re mentioned, but that’s not going to deter me from taking them down. ”

Nora whistled. “Looks like Nazai isn’t the only one with his hands full,” she mentioned.

“That’s my Bumblebee.” Ezra gave me a crooked grin. “Now you see why I’m into her.”

“Mhm, yes. I’m starting to understand.”

Dominic suddenly stood up. “Ziora. We need to speak in private. Follow me to my office.” He didn’t wait for me to answer. He started across the room.

I glanced at Ezra. His eyes went to his dad and his jaw ticked. “It’s okay. I’ll be right out here.”

I glanced toward Nora who calmly sipped her drink. Dominic wanting to talk to me caught me off guard, but I was interested in what he had to say.

I stood and followed Dominic. On the way to his office, I admired the artwork on the walls.

There were also a bunch of photos of the family.

Some included all the kids, some of the family, others of them separate.

They started from when the brothers were kids into adulthood. It was clear they were close.

Dominic stopped at the closed door and pushed it open, allowing me to go in first then closing it behind him. I looked around the office. Nicely organized, not even a book out of place on the shelves behind his desk and the adjacent wall.

Dominic walked to his desk and sat on the corner of it. He crossed his arms and peered into me.

“Do you understand what you’re getting into when it comes to my son?” he asked.

I thought he was going to talk more about The Veil but it appears I was wrong. “If you’re talking about what he does with his brothers then?—”

Dominic put his hand up. “No. Although that is sensitive information that’s not supposed to be shared with just anyone.

I’m talking about Ezra in particular. My son, although I love him and he’s my prodigy, is different from the rest of his brothers and those around him.

From a young age I knew he wasn’t like everyone else.

He didn’t like to share as a kid, even with his brothers, he would hyperfocus on things, and the first time he saw death he didn’t flinch.

Ezra didn’t cry much as a kid and hardly ever showed any emotions, but when he became passionate over something, there was no reasoning with him.

Growing up we made sure his urges were controlled.

I never wanted to put a label on my son, but after his incident when he turned eighteen, I knew I needed to get a better handle on his erratic behavior. ”

Incident at eighteen? I had looked into Ezra and nothing stood out. Of course, with their resources it could have easily been buried and hidden.

I shifted on my feet and rubbed my hands together. “So what are you saying? He’s clinically a psycho or something?” I laughed it off, but Dominic didn’t join in. Instead the deadpan expression on his face grew.

He stood and walked around his desk. He fumbled with his desk for a second before pulling a tan file out and coming back around. He held the file out. I hesitated for a second before stepping forward and grabbing it.

I peeked at Dominic then opened the file and scanned the material inside. It was medical files.

My brows furrowed seeing Ezra’s name on the top of the report. My chest grew taut as I read the notes.

Exhibits traits aligned with psychopathic conduct.

Thrives on manipulative behavior.

Superficial charm.

Impulsive.

Shows signs of obsessive behavior.

The more I read, the more my stomach sank. A knot built in my throat.

I went to the next page:

Behavior: confident, often feels bored, lacks empathy, remorse or guilt, compulsive actions

No substance abuse.

When I finally got to the end of the forms, I blinked a few times, flipping back and forth on the forms to reread them.

It took me a couple seconds but when I lifted my eyes back to Dominic he was watching me, waiting for my reaction.

“What is this?” I asked thickly.

“I had my son evaluated when his behavior became too serious to control on my own, discreetly of course. While the medical professionals don’t like to use the term, I will. Ezra is a psychopath. He exhibits antisocial personality behavior and that’s something not everyone is prepared to deal with.”

It was a little too late to warn me. Since I first met Ezra I knew there was more to him than met the eye.

I had my suspicions but seeing the words in black and white was different.

It completely removed whatever blinders I still had on.

“Well, even if I didn’t want to deal with it, I’m not sure your son will let me go easily. ”

“This isn’t a game. If Ezra is forcing you to be with him and that’s not what you want, you need to let me know now before it gets too out of hand.”

I shook my head and gripped the files tightly. Dominic didn’t understand that, that ship had sailed a long time ago. He had already forced himself into my life and made it hard for me to remember what life was like before him.

“Who all knows about this diagnosis?”

“Just immediate family and now you. My son is a distinguished, highly respected and sought out attorney. The last thing I would do is allow certain words connected to him to undermine his credibility.

“You’re not the first woman that he’s set his sights on and that situation didn’t end well. That situation is only known by me and River. It could have been a shit show if not handled correctly.”

I licked my lips and thought back on all of Ezra’s actions, the way he spoke and moved. It all made sense. When I would call him a psycho, he never rebutted my assumption either. In fact, he often seemed amused.

Hearing I wasn’t the first woman Ezra felt this way about didn’t feel good. The thought of him being fixated on another woman caused me to feel something I’d never felt before.

Jealousy.

Was I jealous at the thought of Ezra giving his undivided attention to someone other than me?

“You have nothing to worry about,” I assured him. “I’m a big girl and can handle myself. If I feel like it’s becoming too much then I’ll handle it.”

Dominic shook his head. He muttered something in Spanish then cut his eyes at me. “Foolish girl, are you not understanding what I’m telling you? The deeper this thing gets, the more invested my son will get, the less likely he’ll be to let you go in the end.”

I blinked once, then twice, then stepped forward, holding the folder out. “Who said I want this to end?”

“Do you get that he’s incapable of loving you?

He’ll never be able to feel remorse and you’ll never have a normal relationship.

What he feels for you will never be love, it will only be a sense of possession.

He can feel deeply about you, but it will never be love.

He’ll forever see you as an object and not a person. Are you able to accept that part too?”

I swallowed hard. “I never said I was looking for love.”

He didn’t look satisfied with my answer but he didn’t keep trying to convince me to turn back either.

“I hope you know what you’re signing up for,” he grumbled as I turned to leave.

When I stepped out of the office, I jumped seeing Ezra waiting outside the door. “You okay?”

His eyes darted behind me to his dad. “I’m fine.”

“She doesn’t need you being her guard dog, Ezra. I had no intention of hurting the girl.”

“What did you talk to her about?”

“I needed her to understand everything when it comes to you and this family.”

Ezra’s eyes became vacant and distant, almost as if a switch was flipped. It made me freeze briefly. The switch was alarming.

“And what do you have to say about what he told you?” Ezra stared at me with a void look. The hairs on the nape of my neck rose.

Swallowing hard, I stepped forward, ignoring the uncomfortable pounding of my heart and wrapped my arms around his neck. I pushed up on my tip toes and pressed my lips into his. “I told him I understand and I’m a big girl that can take care of myself.”

A crude, self-assured grin formed on his face. The switch in his eyes flipped again and came back alive.

“Thatta girl.” He kissed me again then pulled back.

Dominic was speaking behind us, but in Spanish. Ezra replied to him and the conversation continued for a few minutes before they came back to English.

“Let’s go find your mother,” Dominic said, stepping past us.

All of this was a lot to digest. Even though I was putting on a brave front on the outside, internally I was wondering if I was honestly built for the kind of man Ezra was behind the self-assured, swoon worthy, charismatic smile.