36. Cashlynn
CHAPTER 36
CASHLYNN
“ W here are you taking me? What the hell is going on?” I asked, looking around, attempting to gauge exactly where we were.
Dante, Jackson, and Luke stayed silent. My legs bounced as my irritation grew. I wasn’t sure what was going on, except Nazai had called and told me Dante was waiting for me downstairs. No one told me anything further than that. My stomach had been funny all day and the last thing I wanted to do was play games.
The area we were in wasn’t too far from the church we had attacked just last week.
The street we turned onto was full of rundown houses. Some looked better than others but they all could use some upkeep if you asked me. When the car stopped, I went into my hoodie pocket and gripped my gun. The moment we started toward The Sticks, I went into my bookbag and grabbed it. While I didn’t think Nazai would do anything to put me in harm’s way, I wasn’t going to be caught off guard again.
The back door opened and Jackson was standing outside of it. My brows furrowed. Dante said nothing. Luke was now out of the car.
Tossing my hood over my head, I slowly slid out of the car. My hand gripped my gun tightly and my finger rested on the trigger.
“This way,” Jackson said, preceding me across the street. It was late at night so the street was dead besides the few houses with lights on and a couple cars that passed from the main street we’d turned off of.
Jackson opened the door to a red house. From the streetlights, I could see the paint was chipped and one of the front windows had a broken shutter.
My frown deepened. “What the hell is this?” I stopped, not wanting to go further. Staying alert, I bounced my eyes around the entry of the house and the porch we were on. My heart pounded rapidly.
“Everything’s fine, Wildfire. You can release the gun.” Nazai came out of the darkness into view with a crooked grin on his handsome face. He dropped his eyes to my mid-section before lifting them back to my face.
“Nazai? What the hell is this?” I stomped past Jackson to my husband.
He reached out and pushed my hair back. “You just wouldn’t be you if you weren’t difficult, huh?”
I bit the inside of my cheek, attempting to keep my irritation down. “I don’t like being thrown into situations without knowing what’s going on.”
His smile grew. “Fair. Follow me.” We walked to the back of the living room into the kitchen. I was confused until I laid eyes on Neil who was beaten and hanging from the fan of the low ceiling.
“Now, aren’t you glad I brought you?”
Smiling, I walked further in the kitchen and circled Neil.
“How did you find him?”
“Emmet’s the best in the business.”
“Mhm.” I noticed the bruising on his face. His head lifted slowly and his eyes fluttered open.
“It’s…you,” Neil strained out. His lip curled into a snarl.
“Hello, Neil. I heard you were looking for me.” I grinned.
His nostrils flared and his eyes burned with hatred. I was caught off guard when he attempted to lunge at me. Nazai grabbed me, pulling me back.
“You bitch. You killed my son!” he bellowed.
Nazai released me and stalked toward Neil, cocking his arm back and sending his fist forward. “Watch your fucking mouth when addressing my wife.”
“Fuck you and your wife” He spat, but Nazai avoided it.
He threw two more punches at Neil, the impact of his fist connecting sounded throughout the room.
Blood gushed from Neil’s nose. It made my stomach churn and I held my midsection. It was clear the baby did not agree with the sight in front of us.
Nazai stepped back and flicked his glove-covered hand, flinging specks of blood.
“Now I planned on making this easy because I just wanted you gone, but since you want to continue being disrespectful, all that’s out the window.” I watched in curiosity as Nazai walked over and grabbed a chair from the table. He sat it down and looked at me.
“Take a seat, baby. Enjoy the show.” I wondered what he had planned but I didn’t question it.
“You know when you sent someone to shoot me, I was hit twice, right?” Nazai spun around, facing Neil who was now breathing heavier.
“I hate that I hired such an idiot and he missed. You should have died.” Neil leveled his eyes on me.
I smirked. “Too bad only your son suffered that fate.” I crossed my leg over my knee.
“Bitch!” he spat.
“Uh, uhn!” Nazai pulled his gun out and aimed it. He pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into Neil’s right arm.
“Fuck!” he cried out.
Nazai pulled it again, this time hitting Neil in the side again, causing him to cry out. His body jerked. “Doesn’t feel good, does it?”
Nazai looked around. “Now I wondered what would make this experience more enjoyable for my wife? She already took out your pedophile ass son.”
“Pedophile? My son wasn’t a fucking pedophile?” he gritted.
I laughed. “He was and that’s why he had to die! I wish I could kill him all over again too,” I called out.
Nazai looked down at me and smiled. His eyes were filled with adoration and warmness. “Now, now, wife. Just sit there and look pretty. I got this.”
I cut my eyes at him. Nazai tucked his gun away and walked to a gas can near the wall. Picking it up, he walked back over to Neil.
Neil’s panting was heavier now. His eyes widened as he watched Nazai. Amazement filled me as I watched him spray Neil with the fluid.
“No, what are you doing?” Neil coughed out, blood now dribbling from his mouth. His wounds leaked. He attempted to break free, but Nazai had him secured well.
“I told you I’m tired of playing with you. You’ve had me chasing after you for too long. So now I’m going to show you what I do to people who waste my time.”
Nazai dug into his pocket and pulled out a book of matches. Neil quickly started shaking his head from side to side.
“Please, no, no!” he begged. His body twisted and turned.
“Too late. Give your son a fuck you in hell.” Nazai struck a match and tossed it. Flames instantly engulfed Neil’s body, rushing up from his legs to his head. His screams were gut wrenching and struck my eardrums.
“Nazai,” I mumbled, holding my mouth over my hands. My stomach grew queasy as the smell of burning flesh flooded my nostrils. His skin began to char as he screamed and struggled to break free. The flames crackled and popped as the oxygen around us enhanced them.
“Nazai,” I called out again. Bile built in the back of my throat.
The rope holding Neil gave way and his burning body went crashing onto the ground. He was barely able to move. His body twitched as it continued to burn. His screams had died out. The smell of his flesh melting away intensified.
I hunched over, holding my stomach, attempting to swallow the bile threatening to come out. My eyes watered and my skin ran hot.
Nazai pulled his gun out and aimed it, pulling the trigger and finishing Neil off.
“Now it’s over.” Nazai turned and looked at me. His eyes bucked realizing the state I was in. “Shit!” He rushed toward me and grabbed me. “I guess my baby doesn’t agree with burnt flesh.”
He assisted me out of the kitchen toward the door. The fresh, cool air felt like heaven against my hot skin.
“Get this handled,” he told Jackson as we passed him.
“Will do, boss.”
Nazai led me to the truck where Dante was waiting on the outside. I took a few deep breaths of the clean air.
“How you feel now?” he asked once we were in the truck.
I held my chest and closed my eyes. “Better. Especially now that he’s gone.”
Nazai’s hand landed on my thigh. I peeked open an eye and looked over at Nazai. “I told you to leave it all to me. No one threatens my family and lives to tell about it.”
____
A week had passed since Nazai killed Neil and things were starting to settle. I had seen a doctor and learned I was eight weeks along. I had gotten pregnant the night of my wedding when Nazai took my virginity and hadn’t known it. It worried me since I had been drinking and had taken drugs, but the doctor said everything looked fine.
Now we were at the meeting house while Nazai led a meeting. I was starting to learn how things ran here. Each brother ran their own businesses, but there were times they needed to come together and work a job. Each brother was like a piece of the puzzle. Emmet was the brains who got the jobs in motion. Ezra was the legal help who stayed on standby if the family needed representation, but he also didn’t hesitate to take a job. Lucas was the doctor who patched everyone up when needed, but he and Emmet rarely went on jobs unless more hands were needed. Even River, as the muscle and protection, played a part in the puzzle. Then there was Nazai, now the leader, but once happily took the kill jobs. It was amazing watching all them co-exist and work together because I had never seen this before. Even when my parents were alive, it was always every man for themselves.
A lot of the freelance cases they handled dealt with attacks and assaults against women and children. When they used the portal Emmet had set up, the jobs could vary.
“Tell me what’s going on with the blogger, Emmet? Were you able to get inside her files when Ezra brought you her laptop?”
“The laptop was wiped clean.”
“What? How the fuck did that happen?”
“She had magnets set up that crashed her system if the laptop ever passed through her door. I’m sure whatever was wiped is backed up somewhere, but it’s gonna take some time to get it. Her security is tight and she’s not an amateur. It’s clear she’s been heavily looking into the trafficking and missing kids in the area. It’s obvious she hasn’t let what happened to her sister go. I’m not sure what she has on our family, if anything, but I plan to find out.”
Nazai pushed a heavy breath through his nose and rolled his neck between his shoulders. “And Ezra?”
“I’m handling it,” Ezra replied. By the tick in Nazai’s jaw, I could see his patience was growing thin with his brother.
“Make it sooner than later. We have much more important shit to worry about.”
I zoned out as Nazai continued talking. As much as it annoyed me that I couldn’t go out in the field like I wanted, I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t feel good to finally be able to sit back and not have to worry about anything for a change.
When the meeting was over and everyone prepared to leave, I watched as Carson followed Emmet. He was still mentoring my brother and Carson was enjoying himself. My brother was no longer that timid kid he once was and that made me happy. All I wanted was for him to be accepted and have confidence in himself.
“I spoke with my dad this morning. His lawyer friend is working on the paperwork to make us Carson’s legal guardians. He’s gonna make some calls and get it moved up and processed too.”
“Us?” I asked with my brows scrunched together.
Nazai enclosed me in the chair, placing his hands on each of the arms and leaning down. “Well of course, Wildfire. You are my wife after all? Wouldn’t that make the most sense?”
He grinned, causing my cheeks to heat. “I just wasn’t aware that’s what you wanted. You don’t have to do that.” My eyes shifted to the side.
“I know I don’t have to do it, but I’m choosing too.”
Slowly I moved my eyes back to meet Nazai’s. It was hard to believe we had only been married two months but had come this far. I still struggled with not being so defensive and allowing him to lead, but I was trying. Nazai had brought a lot of changes in my life, most importantly he showed me what love looked and felt like. We might not have expressed the words, I didn’t even know when I’d be ready to hear or say them, but I knew this wasn’t the same cruel man I’d first met when I broke into his house.
I was brought back to reality when Nazai leaned in and pecked my lips. “What’s got you thinking so hard?”
I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip. “Just thinking about how I made your life better by breaking into your house.”
He laughed. “I think you got it backwards, baby. Your life was shit until you met me.”
I rolled my eyes, making him laugh harder. I would never admit he had a point. If I hadn’t broken into his house, that day me and my brother might still be on the run and we would have never found out what it felt like to have a real family surrounding us.