Page 66 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

ZIORA

“ G od I’m so glad I can go home today,” I groaned.

After spending a week in the hospital I was finally being discharged to go home.

I had just come back to my room after getting the cast for my foot.

It was annoying that I would be on crutches for the next few weeks.

The symptoms from the concussion I had suffered were less intense than they were last week.

I still had headaches and some fuzziness.

Good news was I wasn’t nauseated anymore, or dizzy.

I had seen the video of my accident but still couldn’t recall it.

They wouldn’t allow me to have any screens outside of watching the video on Ezra’s phone.

There was still a tube in my chest due to my lung collapsing and I was still receiving oxygen therapy. I had minor trouble breathing too. The swelling in my nose had gone down. Thankfully, it wasn’t broken but it was still discolored and sore.

Lucas told me it would be a few months before I fully recovered from all of my injuries. My body was still achy.

“You’re better than me because there’s no way I would’ve been sitting on my ass this long knowing someone was coming after me,” Cashlynn said.

Ezra’s protectiveness was now on steroids. He had two bodyguards standing outside my hospital room twenty-four- seven. Then he always made sure someone was here with me when he couldn’t be. He had court today and Inaya had to work. Somehow he had convinced Cashlynn to sit with me.

I looked over at her. “Sorry I’ve barely been able to go to the bathroom without feeling like I was about to pass out.”

She rolled her eyes and rubbed her stomach.

I eyed her belly. “Do you know what you’re having?”

Her hand paused for a second. She lifted her eyes and peered into me with an unsettling intensity. “A girl.”

One corner of my mouth rose. “You don’t sound excited.”

She shrugged. “Having a boy would be easier, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Easier? Doesn’t every girl want their own mini me?”

Cashlynn stared at me blankly. “I’m a killer.

From the moment I was able to walk I was taught to shoot and kill.

My childhood wasn’t filled with cartoons, family dinners, parks, and laughs.

It was survival mode, psychological torment, shooting ranges, and learning how to end a life before you could blink.

Why would I want my daughter to have that too? ” Her head cocked to the side.

My brows shot up. From who her parents were I shouldn’t have been shocked by how she was raised, but still, her childhood made mine look like sunshine and rainbows.

“How did you deal with it? It couldn’t have been easy.”

Cashlynn blinked slowly and one of her eyebrows hiked up.

“You don’t learn to deal with something when it’s all you know.

My parents homeschooled me until I was in the seventh grade.

Until then I didn’t have a lot of social interactions with people.

The way I grew up was all I ever knew at that point. ”

I tried to keep my face emotionless. Cashlynn didn’t seem like the type to need or want sympathy, however, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

She never got to experience childhood. Even with my shitty parents I still got to be around other kids and learn that there was more than the toxicity I grew up in.

“What changed then?”

Her head cocked to the side. “Changed?”

My head bobbed slowly. “I mean you’re married and about to have a kid.”

She snorted. “Not by choice. Believe it or not, killing doesn’t bother me. I’m good at it too. Me being married and a soon-to-be mother isn’t going to change that.”

Rolling my lips into my mouth, I eyed Cashlynn carefully.

The impassive expression on her face reminded me of the one I’d seen on Ezra one too many times.

To them, taking a life was like breathing.

They could do it without blinking and go home and sleep easily at night.

Unlike Ezra, I suspected Cashlynn was more of a sociopath.

My eyes fell to the foot of the bed, locking on the pink cast on my foot.

“I read about your parents, they had a lot of enemies. Did they ever find out who killed them?”

For a second Cashlynn didn’t speak, which caused me to turn my attention back to her. The smile on her face sent a chill down my spine.

“No and they never will.”

“Did you ever try to find out?”

The smile never dwindled. “At some point the student must surpass the master, Ziora. My parents’ deaths are proof of that.”

I swallowed hard, reading between the lines. Cashlynn was terrifying yet fascinating at the same time.

The room grew quiet. Cashlynn had pulled her phone out and was reading something when I called her name.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hasn’t stopped you so far.” Her eyes stayed on the phone.

I snickered. “Yeah, I’ve always been an inquisitive person. Learning excites me.”

She lifted her eyes from the phone and peered into me. “Go ahead.” She sighed and rolled her hand for me to continue.

“I want to learn how to shoot. Can you help me?”

It was clear she wasn’t expecting me to ask her that. “Ezra might like that hammer but he knows how to use a gun too. Why not ask him?”

My hands went over my thighs and I cleared my throat, feeling myself getting winded.

“Ezra is treating me like a damsel in distress now.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’ve never been one and I don’t like being treated like one either.

When we finally find these assholes I want to be the one to take the shot that ends whoever.

They killed my sister, tried to kill me.

I can’t let them get away with that and I don’t want Ezra to think I can’t take care of myself. ”

Cashlynn stared at me, unmoving, before lifting one side of her mouth in mirth. “I can respect that.” She rubbed her stomach.

“Of course I’ll wait until you have the baby.”

Cashlynn waved me off. “No need. I can still shoot a gun, even pregnant. I respect those who don’t wait around for someone to help them and don’t mind getting their hands dirty, but Ziora.

” She leveled a stare at me. “Taking a life isn’t as easy as everyone thinks.

It’s different than watching someone get killed. You sure you’re up for that?”

I wet my lips and nodded. “I’m sure.” I cleared my throat and rubbed my chest, wincing when I got close to the tube.

A mischievous grin formed on her face. “Looks like little Bumblebee is ready to put her stinger to use.”

I smirked while releasing a snort.

My hospital door busted open, causing me to jump and Cashlynn and pull a gun out before I could even blink.

“I’m glad you’re on guard, sis, but it’s just me,” Ezra said with bemusement on his face.

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today or you’d have a bullet in you.” Slowly, she lowered her gun, tucking it in the side of her opened jacket.

“I thought you had court all day,” I said, surprised to see him.

Ezra slid his eyes to me. His smile dropped and his eyes went blank. “Can you give us a minute, Cash?”

My eyes narrowed at his dry tone. Clearly something was bothering him.

“Whatever.” She shrugged, placing her hands on either side of the chair and pushing up. “I’m going to the cafeteria.”

“Make sure James goes with you.”

Cashlynn glared at him. “I don’t need a damn babysitter.”

“Yeah but if my brother finds out you went somewhere without him then it’s my ass on the line.” He was speaking to Cashlynn but his eyes were still locked on me.

“I’m a grown woman so you and your brother can fuck off. Ziora, I’ll call you once you’re healed and we can get started.”

“Started with what?” He cut his eyes into slits.

“That’s a surprise. Now I need you to grab my bookbag because I refuse to tip over attempting to get it.”

That cracked the stiffness in Ezra, causing him to stifle a laugh. He walked over to the chair and bent down, picking her bag up and handing it to her.

“I’ll be back.” She flicked her hair behind her shoulders and headed out the room.

The tension in the room grew the moment it was just me and Ezra. “They put my cast on today. Hopefully this tube will be gone later too so I can go home.”

You would have thought he had a pound of Botox injected in his face by how still it stayed.

“Something’s bothering you.” It was an observation not a question.

His eyes grew darker. Going inside his pocket, he stepped closer and tossed something on the bed.

I squinted and leaned forward, ignoring the stiffness in my body. My stomach dropped and my mouth grew dry.

“Why do you have these?” My voice shook as I stared at the picture of my sister and the notes I had received.

“No, the question is, why didn’t you mention you were being threatened?” His voice was steady but it was clear by how he was staring at me that he was pissed.

“Why were you in my office? Why were you at my house at all?”

“Ziora.” Oh yeah, he was pissed if he was real naming me.

“This isn’t the first time I was threatened, Ezra. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Obviously it was or you wouldn’t have been in the fucking hospital for the past week!”

My eyes bucked. Ezra never raised his voice at me. He was always laid back, smiling, and laughing. His irises were the color of coal. It was nerve wrecking.

“I didn’t think they were serious.” It was a weak excuse but it was honest. Although I used an alias with my blog, I still received threatening messages and comments due to the content I posted.

“That’s a picture of your dead sister and a threat attached to it! You didn’t think that was serious?”

My eyes dropped to the picture of my sister. I hadn’t looked at it since I received it, not wanting to see Charlie’s lifeless eyes staring back at me.

I examined the picture, bouncing my eyes around it when something caught my attention. My mouth turned upside down and I brought the picture closer.

“Something’s not right,” I mentioned.

“What?” Ezra asked.

Ignoring him, I brushed my hand over the photo.

“Ziora, what is it?”