29. Nazai
CHAPTER 29
NAZAI
C ashlynn lifted her head from the crease of my neck. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. Sweat beaded on her skin. Her breathing was heavy and minor tremors passed through her body. I ran my eyes down her frame, pausing at her breasts. My initials glistened brightly.
“I’m not done with you,” I announced, running my hand between the valley of her breasts and licking my lips, savoring the lasting taste of her essence. She moaned and her stare wavered. Moving my touch to her breast, I brushed over her hardened nipple. “When we get home, I want you all night.” Leaning in, I swiped her bud with my tongue and circled it before pulling, causing Cashlynn to hiss and clutch my arms. I knew the drug in her system had her body more sensitive to touch and heightened her senses.
I grinned and lifted my gaze into her eyes. All night I’d noticed how Cashlynn watched me with lust in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to jump on me all night but held back. Even back in my bedroom I saw the desire beaming from her but she never acted, instead she looked uncomfortable and uncertain. Cashlynn had an issue with displaying her emotions, especially ones that were new to her. If she needed a push to act on what she was thinking, I had no complaints.
“I need to clean up,” she uttered breathlessly.
Glancing down, I watched the way my juices and hers coated the inside of her thighs. Possession grabbed at me.
“I don’t know… I like seeing me seep out of you.” I reached down and touched her pussy, pushing the mixture back into her. Her leg twitched and she bit into her bottom lip. I had just pulled out of her and already missed her snug walls wrapped around me.
Removing my hands from between her legs, I helped her off the desk. She stumbled, causing me to steady her.
Cashlynn looked up at me with confusion flashing over her face while she blinked slowly. “My head is spinning,” she groaned, leaning into me.
“We’ll get you some water,” I said, positioning her against the desk. I lifted my slacks and briefs from around my ankles, rebuttoned them, and headed over to the mini fridge on the wall. Grabbing a water, I went back to Cashlynn, opening it and handing it to her.
“Drink.”
She took the water and took a large gulp. “It’s so hot.”
I smirked and looked around. “Let’s get you dressed.”
Moving around my office, I collected her clothes then walked back to her. The water was gone, but her body was still flushed. Kneeling, I helped her into her shorts, not bothering with her panties, then stood to put her shirt back on.
“You need another water?”
Cashlynn shook her head as her body sagged into me. “Sleepy.”
I chuckled.
Making sure I grabbed my gun and tucked it into the small of my back, I led us out of my office, keeping a hold on her so she wouldn’t fall down the steps.
“Sir, there’s someone waiting near the bar who requested to speak to you,” Jackson said.
“Who is it?” I asked, tucking Cashlynn into my side. I enjoyed high Cashlynn; she didn’t give me any lip and complied easier.
“Not sure. I can ask.”
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s probably a guest. Where’s Ian?”
“He didn’t want Ian. He wanted the boss.”
I sighed and nodded. “A’right.” The last thing I wanted to do was deal with a complaint after having a mind-blowing orgasm.
We moved through the club. The crowd was thicker than before we went upstairs which wasn’t shocking. It was going on one in the morning and there were no signs of slowing down.
“Where is he?” I asked Jackson when we got to the bar. “Stay here,” I told Cashlynn, placing her on the stool.
“You’re not the boss of me,” she complained, giving me a pout.
Grinning, I moved in and pecked her lips. “I am. We both know that.” Her bottom lip poked out more and her eyes lowered.
“Sabrina!” I called out to the bartender, lifting my hand to gain her attention.
“Wassup, boss man?” she shouted over the loudness.
I leaned in. “Get my wife a water.”
She nodded.
After making sure Cashlynn was good, I turned to Jackson. “Where is he?” I looked around, not noticing anyone.
He frowned and did the same. He spoke into his earpiece. “Where’s the guy who wanted Mr. Tavarez?”
Impatience filled me. “It seems he left to go downstairs.” Jackson’s eyes scanned the area again.
“I’m not going down there right now. If he needs me, he’ll make his way back up here.” The District was always so much more congested than upstairs. I didn’t have it in me to deal with the unruliness.
I checked in with the bartenders, making sure everything was running smoothly and they didn’t need anything before giving my attention to my wife.
“Let’s go back to the section,” I announced to Cashlynn, helping her off the bar stool.
She clutched her water and stumbled into me. “I always forget how much of a lightweight you are.” I laughed, leading us to the section.
I noticed Ezra was now in my section receiving a lap dance. Out of all my brothers, he spent the most time here, so it didn’t surprise me.
“Cashlynn Cavana!” someone shouted over the music when we were inches from my section.
I frowned and spun around. “Her last name is Tava?—”
Everything happened quickly. The man standing behind us pulled a gun from the inside of his brown leather jacket. The sound of the music drowned out the sound of the shot.
“Neil said an eye for an eye,” he aimed at my wife and pulled the trigger.
Instantly reacting, I pushed Cashlynn out of the way as the gun sounded off. A burning sensation slammed through the upper part of my body. I stumbled slightly, feeling the bullet rip through my flesh. He released two more, causing the people close by to make note of the gun shots. Chaos erupted around us and everyone was yelling and screaming. Everything burned, but I pushed through it.
“Code red!” I heard Jackson shout.
I gritted my teeth and quickly reacted, pulling my gun out, firing a shot. It hit the guy and Jackson quickly tackled him.
“What the fuck!” Ezra rushed over, gun in hand.
“Fuck, take his ass downstairs!” I shouted at Luke who rushed over too. I held my arm as blood seeped out of my wound, covering my hand. My right arm felt heavier than normal. An aching throb pulsated through me with each heartbeat.
“Nazai!” Cashlynn yelled, scrambling toward me from where she had landed on the floor.
“We need to get him to Lucas!” Ezra shouted.
“Call River and tell him to get here!” I demanded.
Too many things were going on around me. People in the club were all rushing to get to the stairs to leave. Adrenaline pumped through me as the lights from the club began to blur. My breathing became ragged, making it hard to fill my lungs properly.
My knees buckled, causing me to stumble. Before I could hit the ground my body was caught. “I got you, bro. Get the fuck out the way!” Ezra shouted.
My ears rang and everything spun before blackness overtook me.
____
My head throbbed as I slowly attempted to open my eyes. Confusion filled me at the bright lights hovering over me and the faint beeping sound around me. My head felt fuzzy and my sight was blurry. It felt like my body was being weighed down by pounds of heavy weights.
Pain seared through me when I attempted to lift. “Don’t move.”
The voice caused my eyes to shift over and Lucas stood next to me with a blank expression on his face. He shifted his eyes to the machine next to where I lay.
“Lucas?” My throat felt scratchy and dry as if I had swallowed sand. “Where?”
“You’re at the clinic. How you feeling? Do you remember what happened?”
Closing my eyes, I pushed out a deep breath as scenes flashed in my head.
“I was shot,” I gritted.
He nodded. “Once in your right arm, that went through and through, and then another on your left lower side. That one I had to remove the bullet. Nothing major was hit. You’ll be sore for a while but you’ll recover fine.”
The door opened, and Ezra and Cashlynn came storming in.
“About time you woke up. How you feeling, bro?” Ezra asked.
“Like I got shot. What happened to the guy?”
“River showed up after we left and had him taken to the barn after Ian dealt with the police.”
“How the fuck did he even get inside with a gun?” Lucas questioned. My jaw clenched. That was a good question. There was no way he should have even been allowed inside with a weapon. Only me, my family, and River’s people were allowed inside with one.
“I don’t know, but I’ma find out. The guy mentioned something about Neil,” I announced. Things were still fuzzy but I remembered that fact.
“We’re already on it. He’s in the wind,” Ezra noted.
Again, I gritted my teeth. “Raise his bounty to five hundred thousand. I want his fucking head!” I was furious. My blood boiled as my heart pounded in my chest.
Shifting my attention, I eyed Cashlynn who had been quiet, which wasn’t like her. I studied her. Her body was stiff, arms crossed over her chest with a blank face.
“Give me a second with my wife,” I demanded, never taking my eyes off her.
“Don’t do shit that’ll bust your stitches,” Lucas expressed. His eyes leveled on me then bounced to Cashlynn. “No fighting or fucking.”
He and Ezra left the room we were in. Cashlynn didn’t move. Her eyes remained unblinking.
“What the hell you doing all the way over there? C’mere.” I nodded and shifted in the bed, causing me to grunt. I knew my brother had me on pain meds, but the dull aching couldn’t be ignored.
Cashlynn’s eyes dragged down my body. It could have been the pain medicine but I swore I saw sadness pass through her face as she eyed me before her eyes hardened and she clenched her jaw and her arms fell from her chest. She balled her hands at her sides and stalked toward the bed.
“You took a bullet for me,” she stated. “I was caught off guard and you had to save me.” Her voice was strained as she spoke.
My eyes narrowed. “Wildfire?—”
“Why?” She cut me off. “Why would you do that?”
I studied her face. She looked to be having an internal battle.
“Cashlynn. You are my wife! I don’t know what else I have to do to prove I have your back. I wasn’t about to sit back and watch you get shot.”
“If I was paying more attention and watching my surroundings I would have noticed. And then you wouldn’t have been shot.”
My brows furrowed. “No. That guy slipped in somehow; he caught us all off guard. You need to realize you’re not alone anymore. You have people that have your back.”
I was caught off guard when she leaned down and quickly kissed me. “Thank you.” Her cheeks tinted red and she hurriedly stood.
She licked her lips. Confusion raced through her eyes and her weight shifted. “Neil isn’t gonna stop until we kill him. This is the second time he’s come for me.” Her eyes flashed. “I should have taken him out when I had the chance.”
My eyes narrowed. “Don’t go do something stupid.”
“Stupid is letting him still breathe after we found out he shot at us the first time! I should have taken care of him right after I killed his damn son!” Her hands shook at her sides and her eyes burned with intensity.
The doors opened and Ezra came back into the room. “River’s on the phone.” He put it on speaker.
“Nazai.”
“How the hell did your men lose Neil?”
“Turns out he had a tunnel built in the house. By the time we were inside we realized he was long gone. We cleared the house of the couple of men who lagged behind.”
“Fuck! And the guy who shot me?”
“Tied up in the barn. You hit him when you shot, but we manage to stabilize the wound.”
“Get whatever information you can out of him but don’t kill him.”
“Wait for me.” Cashlynn spoke up, causing me to cut my eyes over to her.
“No.”
“You don’t get to tell me no. He tried to shoot me!” She stood stiffly.
“And River can handle him. You’re not going anywhere.”
Her cheeks puffed and her nostrils flared. “River, find out how the hell he got inside the club with a weapon and what he knows about Neil.”
“I’m on it.” He hung up.
Tension was thick in the room until Ezra spoke. “I’ll head to the barn and help River. Wilma’s been wanting some action anyway.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You aren’t going any fucking where!” I shouted, causing pain to ripple through me. The machine started going crazy next to me. “Until Neil is handled, you’ll lay low.”
“I can take care of myself! I have been my whole life.”
“You’re not invincible! Go sit your ass in that chair and?—”
“What the hell is going on?” Lucas stormed inside the room and made his way to the machine. He tapped it a couple times and then gave me a onceover. His eyes bounced between me and Cashlynn. “Didn’t I tell y’all no fighting?”
“Sis, just chill here. I don’t need you throwing up again anyway.”
“Throwing up?” I questioned, ignoring Lucas.
“It’s nothing.”
“She threw up?” I whipped my head to Ezra.
His nose scrunched. “Yeah, when we first got here.”
“It was the alcohol and pill I took mixed with the anxiety of everything. It’s no big deal.” She waved Ezra off.
I narrowed my eyes on her.
“I flushed her system; she should be fine now,” Lucas stated.
“I’m out. I’ll keep you updated with what we find out.” Ezra turned to leave.
Cashlynn looked annoyed. “I don’t like being treated like a damsel in distress.”
“Your husband was shot. Sit your ass down and comfort him,” I said, causing her cheeks to flush. She darted her eyes to the side.
“Soon as the IV finishes, you’re good to go home. I’m sending you home with pain meds and some antibiotics too. I know your ass ain’t gon’ listen, but you need to take it easy the next couple of days, Nazai.”
“I hear you, bro.”
He muttered something then lifted the sleeve of the gown to check the wound and moved to my side.
Staring back at Cashlynn, my mouth lifted in a lazy grin. “Come sit.” I nodded at the chair close to the bed. Exhaustion hit me out of nowhere. A yawn left my mouth.
Cashlynn glanced at Lucas before slowly moving and taking a seat.
“Are you still feeling sick?” Lucas asked Cashlynn.
“I’m fine.”
He eyed her intensely then nodded. “A’right.”
My brother turned and left the room, leaving me and Cashlynn.
Silence passed through us as my eyes grew heavier. I wasn’t sure if she said it or I imagined it but as I faded into darkness, I could have sworn Cashlynn whispered, “I’m glad you’re okay.”