20. Cashlynn
CHAPTER 20
CASHLYNN
I sat on the couch, sipping my apple juice, scrolling through The Shadow of Silver Stone latest blog post when my name was called, gaining my attention.
Confusion hit me and my face balled up seeing my brother dressed and standing next to Nazai.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, bouncing my eyes between the two. Both were dressed in dress pants and short-sleeved button ups.
“Carson’s spending the day with me today,” he said.
My frown deepened. “Uh no.” I looked at my brother. “Carson, what’s going on? Is he forcing you to go out with him?” I dropped my phone and sat up straighter.
Carson shifted slightly on his feet. “No, I want to go with him.”
“You want to go with him? For what? You don’t even know him.”
“I am his new big brother. Don’t you think we should spend time together?” Nazai grinned.
I reached over, setting my apple juice down, then stood up. “Actually, no I don’t.” My hands balled at my sides. “If this is some sick game, so help me…”
“Cash, it’s not!” Carson interrupted. “I asked Nazai to hang out. We’re gonna do guy stuff.”
I cocked my head back. “Guy stuff? What exactly is guy stuff?”
“That’s for us to know. Your brother’s in good hands, Wildfire. You don’t gotta worry. I’m not on any funny shit.” My stance didn’t soften. “I saw what happens to those who fuck with your brother. I got too much on my plate to add dodging knives in my own home too.”
“Says the guy who tried to drown me and put a gun to my head.”
He chuckled while my brother’s eyes widened and fell on Nazai.
Nazai smirked. “Don’t worry, kid, that’s all in the past. Plus, your sister liked it. Ain’t that right, Wildfire?”
My eyes narrowed. I turned them back to my brother, ignoring the way my stomach fluttered. “Carson, are you sure you want to go with him? If he’s making you, then you can tell me.”
“He’s not.”
My eyes bounced between them. Finally, I sighed and my shoulders relaxed slightly. “Okay, fine. But you better look out for my brother, Nazai. I don’t know what you two are up to, but nothing better happen to him.”
Truth was, I was starting to trust Nazai. After what he did with Maddox and let me have the kill, it showed maybe he wasn’t that bad. Still, my brother had been through a lot. People preyed on him because he wasn’t the toughest kid and I refused to let that happen to him again.
He smirked. “I got this. Let’s go, Carson.” He stepped into me and gripped the bottom of my chin, tilting my head upward. He licked his lips, making my heart lose its rhythm in my chest. “One day you’re gonna realize I’m not your enemy and you can trust me.” He dipped his head and kissed me. I sighed against his lips and closed my eyes, but it was over before I could fully enjoy it. That was another thing that scared me. I didn’t flinch at Nazai’s touch anymore. Kissing him wasn’t awkward for me anymore. Sometimes I felt like a completely different person around him.
“A’right lets go.” Nazai stepped away and turned to leave with Carson behind him. He unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Oh, my mom is on her way to get you. Make sure you’re ready.” He and Carson were leaving out front door before I could protest.
I stood there dumbfounded.
A second later, my phone vibrated on the couch. I glanced at it and squinted, seeing a text from Nazai’s mom.
The in law
Be there in 10. Be waiting in the lobby.
____
“It’s a shame you and my son have been married for almost a month and this is the first time we’ve gotten together since dress shopping.” Nora took a seat next to me on her couch. “I got the pictures back from the photographer and they’re stunning.” She handed me the thick manila folder.
I glanced up at her then down at the folder. The last thing I expected was for her to bring me to her house. I didn’t know much about my mother-in-law, except that she was part of the one percent of socialites in the city. She never left the house with a hair out of place or makeup not done. She was just who I’d picture when I thought of a high-powered, ex judge’s wife with dark secrets.
Blinking slowly, I opened the folder and pulled out a pile of photos. My lips parted as I searched through them. I couldn’t believe the girl in the photos was me. Although it was all fake, I looked like a real bride. Pausing on a picture of me and Nazai at the altar, I lifted it and studied his face. The way he looked at me made goosebumps form on my skin and my heart stutter. His eyes weren’t the ones of someone marrying someone just because he had to. I could be mistaken but he actually looked like he adored me.
I swallowed hard, lowering the picture and continuing to skim through them. “The photographer did an amazing job, didn’t she? I want to get this one framed.” She grabbed the picture of Nazai putting the ring on my finger.
I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. My eyes dropped to my left hand where the large rock sat on my finger.
“Nice choice,” I said, feeling a tingling through my veins. A weird sensation passed through me.
“You know my son’s birthday is next week. Have you thought about what you’re going to get him?”
“Wait, it is?”
Nora lifted her head and stared at me blankly. “You mean to tell me you married him and didn’t even bother to find out basic information about him.”
“Yeah, well it wasn’t really on my agenda considering I hated your son when we first got together. Why would I?”
Nora continued staring at me with judging eyes. “You said hated. Does that mean your feelings for my son have changed now?”
I pressed my lips together tightly. I didn’t know what I felt when it came to Nazai. I had never been in this situation before. Before him, boys and feelings were never even on my radar. I was raised to kill and keep my emotions bottled up. I’d never had a boyfriend before. It felt like I was being pulled in two different directions. Part of me thought I was catching feelings for Nazai. The other part still resented him for dragging me into this situation in the first place. My life was fine with just me and Carson.
Before I could answer, Dominic came into the living room. He loosened the tie on his neck and when his eyes landed on me, they widened in surprise.
“Cashlynn.” He walked over to us and pressed a kiss on his wife’s forehead then turned to me. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Why?” Narrowing my eyes and furrowing my brows, I frowned.
“I need to discuss some things with you. If you’ll come with me to my office.”
I looked at Nora. “Go ahead. I never been the one for all that business talk.” She waved me off and started collecting the pictures.
“Fine.”
Dominic leaned down and whispered something in his wife’s ear before kissing the side of her face and standing up straight.
“Follow me.”
The Tavarez family house was huge, almost like a maze. As I followed Dominic, I realized just how big the house truly was.
We got to the office, and once inside, Dominic went behind his desk and took a seat, folding his hands on top.
Following suit, I sat on one of the chairs across from him.
“Who are you?” he asked.
I gave him a blank stare. “I’m sure you had Emmet do a search on me.”
“You and I both know that’s not what I mean. I mean the fact that you jumped into a shootout without blinking an eye then I hear about your torture of the Rhodes kid. So I’ma ask you again, who are you?”
“You act like you don’t know who my parents were. It should be no shocker that I know how to defend myself. As for Maddox, he had it coming.”
Licking my lips, I sat back in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest and crossed my ankles.
“Who do you think I am?”
He smirked. “I told my son marrying a Cavana was trouble, but after seeing you in action I see you could be an asset. My only question is can you be trusted?” His eyes narrowed and head cocked to the side. “My grandfather and father put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into making our name what it is today. Not to mention all the things I’ve done to make sure the Tavarezes remain standing where they are. You might be married to my son and he may be due to take over, but I only see a threat to what I’ve worked so hard to build and maintain that will be eliminated.” I didn’t blink at his threat.
A normal person would be frightened by Dominic, knowing what he was capable of, but good thing I wasn’t normal.
“If I wanted to harm your family, mainly your precious heir, I already would have. You keep forgetting one thing, Dominic. I didn’t come after your son; he forced me to marry him. I was good before I met him.”
Dominic smirked. “You mean when you were bouncing around low budget motel rooms to make sure no one cashed in on the bounty on your head.” I bit the inside of my cheek and balled my hands into fists.
Dominic sat straight and loosened his tie more. “My son seems to think you’re trustworthy and I trust my son’s judgment or I wouldn’t be about to hand The Bloodline to him. Do you understand what we do exactly, Cashlynn?”
My tongue dragged over my top teeth. “I know the rumors.”
“And what are those rumors?” His voice was calm.
This time I leaned closer. “You guys are known as the cleaners. There’s no proof it’s you but apparently in the past your family was known to make other people’s problems disappear and that hasn’t stopped since you’ve taken over as head of the family, except that’s not it, right?” I lifted a brow. “You also take the law into your own hands, right?”
“Do you know how we got started?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “When my grandfather came over here from the DR, he wanted to build a better life for him and my abuela. He had done some things back home to survive but wanted to leave that life there. My abuela was attacked and raped one night and you know what the law did? Nothing. All they saw were illegal immigrants who didn’t matter. My grandfather did a lot of odd jobs when he came over here. He met some people who were able to help him track down who’d attacked my abuela and he made them pay himself. That’s when he realized no matter how great they say this country is, there are flaws; one being how immigrants are treated. My grandfather took that knowledge and built the Tavarez name by handling trash the courts wouldn’t. Eventually, he got noticed by gangs and other crime bosses, and they paid him to make problems go away.”
“So knowing all that, why go into the same justice system you don’t believe in?”
My question caused one corner of his mouth to lift. “Simple, to make sure my family is protected. When you have a man on the inside, you’re less liable to get caught. Not to mention, the connections I’ve built have helped my family more times than I can count. Do you know why we’ve been able to stay hidden after all these years?”
“Because you were a corrupt lawyer and even more corrupt judge who makes sure of it.”
He chuckled. “You’re a smart ass,” he remarked in Spanish. “My son has his hands full, that’s for sure. We’ve managed to stay off the radar so long because we’re good at what we do and we trust each other. Each person in this operation has a role. Do you think my kids are in their professions for the hell of it? Hell no, each of them is doing something that ultimately helps the business.” My body went still. “Nazai, although I would have loved for him to go into law too, was groomed to take over the business. I know my son was destined to be a leader and born for greatness.”
“So what, you just see your kids as assets?” I asked tightly, gripping the arms of the chair just as tightly. Déjà vu of being around my family hit me.
“All of my kids are smart and talented and they use those skills to keep this family running. Because we are a family. No, I don’t just see my kids as assets, but they are assets. You can’t build a tower without a foundation. Each of the skills my kids possess are building blocks. Those blocks are what makes the Tavarez family who we are.”
I bit into my bottom lip. “I’m not a threat to your family,” I said slowly.
“ Our family, because whether or not either of us likes it, you are a part of this family now, Cashlynn. You might not want to tell me who you really are or what you do, but I didn’t get to where I am by being dumb. I know in ways you are your parents’ kid. And even though they were a disgrace as humans, they were good at their job. If they trained you to be nearly as good as them, then I’ll be proud to have you on our team.”
This time a sincere expression formed on his face.
I didn’t confirm or deny anything. This conversation gave me a lot to think about. What Dominic didn’t know was, the way my parents had trained me made them look like amateurs.
____
I jumped out of my sleep as my heart pounded in my chest, while clenching my covers tightly to my chest. The thunder went off again, louder this time. Rain poured and violently beat against the window near the bed. A few seconds later lightning flashed, illuminating the room.
Blood raced through my veins. I darted my eyes around the room before squeezing them shut as my muscles tensed at the thunder again. My breathing sped up and my chest became taut. I attempted to take a few small breaths to calm myself down, but the beating of the rain made it too hard.
Finally realizing sleep would not come easy, I snatched the cover off me and hurried out of the room down the hall. Stopping at the elevator, I hit the button a few times while bouncing my eyes around the dark hallway. Another wave of thunder came by, causing me to jump just as the elevator opened. Hurrying inside, I quickly hit the third floor button.
Pressing my back against the glass wall, I closed my eyes until the cart stopped and the doors opened again. Quickly, I rushed out of the elevator to Nazai’s door, pushing it open and going inside.
He was still up in bed, an overhead light lit, aimlessly moving a black, charcoal pencil on a sketchpad. His movement paused and he glanced up at me.
“Well, this is a surprise.” He smirked, eyeing me. My mouth clamped shut and I avoided his amused stare. “What can I do for you, wife?” Normally I wouldn’t come into Nazai’s room so easily. He hadn’t pressured me to sleep next to him, although every so often he would come downstairs and carry me into his room.
“I—” Just as I was answering, thunder roared, causing me to jump and hurry across the room. I climbed into the bed, ignoring the embarrassment I felt, and pulled the covers over me. My eyes squeezed shut and I moved so my face was pressed against Nazai’s body.
I felt him move around, heard a small click, then he was lowering himself so he lay flat. I didn’t want to talk about why I was in here and thankfully I think he sensed that. Moving up, I planted my face in his neck, then breathed softly, finally feeling safe. He turned slightly and placed his hand on my hip. My body tensed every so often at the sound of the storm outside, but I tried to tune it out and find sleep again.