PROLOGUE
Wanted:Cashlynn Cavana
Reward: $250,000
Status: Alive
CHAPTER 1
NAZAI TAVAREZ
(Nah-zeye)
“You have three months until your thirtieth birthday and instead of taking things seriously you’ve been fucking off.” My dad scolded me while sitting behind his large, wooden desk.
“I haven’t been fucking off. Just because I don’t see the point in being forced into a marriage I don’t want doesn’t mean I’m fucking off,” I countered.
Dad’s jaw ticked and the vein on the side of his neck bulged, showing his irritation was growing. He leaned forward, folding his hands on his desk, cutting his eyes into slits.
“We’ve been through this, hijo. For you to take over the business, you need a solid foundation. Being a single unwedded man with no heir in sight is not a solid foundation. You’re not getting any younger, it’s time to take life more seriously.”
I widened my legs and clenched my jaw while my hands balled into fists. This had been an ongoing argument between me and my father since I turned twenty-nine last year. For some reason, to be seen as the true head of The Bloodline, I had to have a wife and kid. I never understood what they had to do with each other. Not that I never wanted to get married and start a family, but that shit wasn’t on my mind right now.
“You’ve been grooming me since I was old enough to talk to take over. Over the past couple months, you’ve been involved less and less, allowing me to take the reins and run things.Youknow I’m ready for this. Me not having a wife justifies nothing.”
Dad’s bronze face reddened. “Damnit, Nazai!” He slammed a balled fist on top of his desk but I didn’t flinch. While I loved my dad, we often butted heads. My mom said it was because we were too alike, too stubborn for our own good. “Youwillfind a wife if you want to take over. It’s a tradition in the family that you willnottarnish. In this life, nothing is guaranteed, you know that. Making sure you have someone to pass your legacy down to is just part of it. Having a family to protect gives you drive, not to mention a king with no queen is nothing to take seriously. Do you think I would have gotten this far without your mother by my side to help keep me grounded?” He spent his childhood between The States and the Dominican Republic, where my paternal grandfather’s family was from, settling in Silver Stone when he and my mom married. He barely had an accent, but it was present, mainly when he was upset.
My dad was in his mid-fifties. His Dominican and Black genes mixed well, causing him to still look like he was in his late thirties. Out of all my brothers, people said me and my second youngest brother favored him the most. My parents had been married since before I was born, meeting in their early twenties while my dad was finishing law school, having me shortly after, then the rest of my brothers. There were four of us altogether, my brothers were twenty-eight, twenty-six, and twenty-five.
What had made them want to give their lives up to one person so early was beyond me, but I never saw them show each other anything but love.
His bushy brows furrowed and his square jaw relaxed slightly. “Your mother is looking forward to my retirement. While I know you’re more than capable of handling things, I cannot break tradition and officially retire until you get your shit together. I’ve let a lot of shit pass when it comes to you and your rebellion, but all that is over now.” Dad pushed an exasperated breath out and sat up straighter. “Marco’s daughter is single and she’s had her eyes on you for some time now. She’s a beautiful young lady, raised around the business, will make a good wife. She’s loyal, trustworthy, and available. You two would look good together.”
A deadpan expression formed on my face as I pressed my lips together. Marco was an associate of my dad’s who worked under him at his law firm. I pictured Marco’s daughter and scrunched my nose. Marco’s daughter was far from anything he described. While in front of her dad she appeared to be the perfect wife, but behind closed doors she was a whore who opened her legs for anyone who batted their eyes at her. I chalked it up to not having enough attention from her old man. Still, little did my dad know, I’d already had her and it wasn’t worth the headache to keep around for the rest of my life. Not to mention, my brother Lucas had fucked her too, and I was sure he still was.
I snorted. “Not happening. I don’t need your help when it comes to finding a wife. Women line up for me to just breathe in their direction. The issue isn’t finding a wife, I simply don’t want one.” I shrugged. It might have sounded cocky, but it was the truth. My access to women wasn’t lacking. Women would love to say they’d trapped or locked down a Tavarez. It was one reason I never took any of the women I bedded seriously. The last thing I needed was to be trapped by some gold digger only after the money and power my last name brought.
The Tavarez family was one of the most prominent families on the East Coast. My dad built the Tavarez name by becoming the youngest black judge in the district, gaining the title at twenty-eight. He retired at fifty but still practiced law, running his own firm. This year he was due to pass the reins to my younger brother, Ezra. His brutalness was one reason they called him “The Shark” in the courtroom. Seeing how he argued and composed himself, you wouldn’t bat an eye after learning that behind closed doors he was a killer with a lethal group alongside him. The plus side was we had so many city officials in our pockets that no one batted an eye at our dealings.
Me and my brothers were seen as successful businessmen, each contributing to our dad’s success and adding to the Tavarez legacy. The business we did outside of that, only few knew about, and that was only if you knew how to find us. The Bloodline, as it was referred to among us, had been functioning for the past three generations and I planned on continuing that legacy with pride. Because me and my brothers had a range of different skills, each one of us contributed to how things were run. The connections built and the loyalty we showed was another reason we’d never had issues keeping business going.
My family got hired for a different variety of jobs. I was the eliminator. Whenever someone needed taking out, I was called. There were times my brothers accompanied me, but their skills often played a role for other things. Each role contributed to the wealth of the family. Multiple streams of income kept us in the upper echelon of the city. When I took over, my role would be to distribute those jobs and make sure they were executed correctly. The leader role would be something I’d take on with pride, but the directing I could do without. Still, my dad was putting faith in me and that wasn’t something I took lightly. Finding a wife was the hard part in all this.
“Stop the bullshit and get serious!” my dad demanded sternly in Spanish before switching back to English. “You have three months to find a wife and get her pregnant by the end of the year. If you don’t, then youwillmarry Marco’s daughter and that isn’t up for debate. I’ve been patient but you’re testing me. Three months or we’ll do it my way.” With his tone, he left no room for argument. I tightened my jaw and bit the inside of my cheek. “You can go now. Be ready for a call tonight.” He waved me off then reached for his phone, dismissing me.
Standing up, I turned and stalked out his office. Anyone who knew me knew I hated people attempting to tell me what to do. My dad was the only one who could get away with talking to me like he had. I passed one of the housekeepers, making my way to the front of the large house, thankful my mom wasn’t home so I didn’t have to stop and talk to her. Irritation flooded my body as I snatched the front door open and stepped outside in the heated summer air.
Once in my blackout Maserati, I checked the time. I had another meeting following this one before I headed to my nightclub. It was a separate business outside of what my family did. It was proof that I could build something on my own and make it successful. While I knew it was my birthright and I had no issues taking over, I wanted to prove I could make a name for myself outside of my family.
____
“I’m looking to up my intake,” I told Major Montgomery as I sat across from him. He ran drugs through Silver Stone. Anything a person needed to get their hands on, he was the man to talk to. His family also ran a large pharmaceutical company that fronted their wealth. My family had done a few jobs for him, mainly my brother Lucas who was a surgeon and my brother Emmet who was a whiz with computers. He also had Ezra on retainer in case one of his guys ever got caught in some mess.
As for me, our business was simple. He supplied me with the pills I sold through my club. I had been doing so for the past year and people took to the idea quickly when the word got out. The pills were a secret menu thing and customers had to know what to order to get what they wanted, but it seemed like we were going through inventory faster than we could carry it.
“I had a feeling you were going to make this move. Business has been good then I take it,” Major replied.
My grin grew. “Better than good. Adding the pills to the club only increased traffic.”
