Page 76 of Stolen Matrimony

“Remember Cashlynn, I’m not your enemy unless you make me one.” With that he turned to leave. I stood there frozen. I hadn’t heard my real name fall from Nazai’s lips in months, so I knew he was serious. My body was still rigid, and my breathing remained shaky as my tongue dragged over my now dry lips.

I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths as I reminded myself that my parents were gone and storms couldn’t hurt me, real or fake ones.

My eyes scanned the barn. It felt like the walls were closing in suddenly. I turned and hurried to grab my bag before rushing outside and inhaling the fresh air.

“You good, sis?” I jumped when Ezra grabbed my shoulder.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “You good?”

Instead of responding, I searched the yard, scanning the distance between the barn and house until I located Nazai who looked to be in a heated debate with Lucas while Emmet stood off to the side looking bored, fondling with his Rubik Cube.

When I approached them, both grew quiet and all faced me. “I’m ready to go home,” I told him, ignoring the way both brothers were watching me. It was clear they weren’t fans and the feeling was mutual.

“We’ll finish this later,” Nazai told Lucas and looked at Emmet. “I want whoever runs that page’s information. Everything else takes second until we find out who it is.” He narrowed his eyes. Lucas clenched his jaw.

I didn’t know what that was all about and at the moment I didn’t care. My head was in a bad place. Between learning the Rhodes were still after me and Nazai’s twisted “punishment”, I needed some time to regather myself before I snapped.

CHAPTER 25

NAZAI

“Bro, I think you fucked up. Did you see how she was looking at you?” Ezra uttered as we watched Cashlynn make her way to my car. My eyes narrowed.

“Don’t worry about my wife. I have everything under control.” I waved him off.

I had speakers set up in the barn and connected my phone to put the thunderstorm sounds on. Since the barn lacked windows, the door being closed and turning the lights off caused it to go pitch black. Cashlynn needed to learn her actions had consequences. Regardless of how sexy I felt they might be, sometimes she needed to be knocked down a notch.

“You need to get a handle on her, Nazai. She’s a loose cannon. Even bigger than Ezra,” Lucas commented.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Our younger brother turned and stared at him with a bewildered expression.

“Sometimes you can be impulsive and ignore reasoning.”

“Cashlynn isn’t like that,” I protested.

“She stabbed you last night.” Lucas added.

A smirk formed on my face. “She didn’t mean it. Cashlynn’s bark is worse than her bite…most of the time.”

“She could have shot Ezra today.”

“Trust me, if my wife wanted to shoot him, she would have. I’ve seen her targets at the range and she’s a great shot.” Since she used the gun range at my house often, it wasn’t hard to peek in on her and watch her. Cashlynn had a shot that almost came close to mine.

Lucas narrowed his eyes on me. “You’re letting her get away with too much shit. If you don’t get her under control, she’ll fuck everything up. You think scaring her is gonna make her fall in line.”

“I don’t need you to tell me how to deal with my wife. My marriage is none of your concern.”

Lucas stepped closer to me. “When your wife is irrational and it could affect the family, then it is my concern. Her recklessness might turn you on but not the rest of us. Now we’re in a damn war because of her. Before you brought her in, the family didn’t have these issues. She’s gonna be our downfall.”

I squared my shoulders and clenched my jaw. “If I remember correctly, I was put in charge of the family business so I’ll handle things how I see fit. Anyone who poses a threat to my wife will be taken care of. Neil Rhodes made an enemy of us the moment he disobeyed my orders and came after us.”

“I’m not gonna let that woman and her bullshit ruin everything we’ve built. Dad would have never let this happen.”

“Dad isn’t in charge anymore. I am.”

“A’right y’all chill. This isn’t even us.” Ezra stepped up, bouncing his eyes between us.

“Lucas, enemies come with the territory. Even when Dad was in charge we had them because of who he was and people unhappy with some of his rulings. Shit happens. As long as we show them the Tavarezes aren’t the ones to fuck with, we’re good.”