“Can you show Carson the bathroom?”
“Of course.” Macy smiled down at Carson. “Follow me.”
Carson looked hesitant but I gave him a nod of assurance. He stood up and followed Macy, looking over his shoulder at me and nibbling on his bottom lip.
“Why little dude look like he be ready to jump out his skin?” Lucas asked.
My eyes cut to him. “He just doesn’t trust people easily,” I defended. No one would understand Carson’s behavior because they didn’t go through what he did growing up.
“You would think the boogeyman was about to jump out at him,” Ezra joked, but I didn’t see anything funny. My grip on the knife in my hand tightened. My body grew hot. Nazai must’ve noticed because his large hand covered mine and clenched it tightly. Shooting a tight glare up at him, I bit the inside of my cheek.
“When do you plan on having the wedding?” Nora asked.
“In two weeks,” Nazai answered.
I bit the inside of my jaw again, this time harder. I still wasn’t happy about being forced into this marriage. “That quick?” Ezra asked.
Nazai shrugged. “I only got two months left, why wait?”
“What about the bounty?” Emmet asked. Those were the first words I heard him say all night.
“What bounty?” Nora asked.
“Ah yes. I do recall there’s a two hundred and fifty dollar bounty on your fiancée’s head. What do you plan to do about that?” Dominic jumped in questioning with a smug expression plastered on his face.
“Once word is out Cashlynn is my wife, everyone will know not to lay a hand on her or they’ll be killed. The bounty is non-factor at this point.” I couldn’t deny the confidence in Nazai’s tone was attractive as hell. He spoke so sure of himself and with authority in his voice. If only his personality wasn’t so shitty, maybe this marriage thing wouldn’t be so bad.
A few minutes of silence passed between us. Carson returned and took his seat, going right back to eating. I hated how invisible my brother always made himself. When he was younger, he was such a vibrant kid, but my parents made sure to kill that light quickly.
Dinner wrapped up after a while and I couldn’t be happier. Nazai’s mom wasn’t bad, and even his brothers, but the longer I sat at the table with his dad, feeling his judging stare, the more I wanted to react.
“Cashlynn, I know dinner started off rocky, but don’t mind my husband. He’s just protective of his kids. We want to welcome you both to the family.” Nora caught me off guard when she pulled me into a hug. “Try anything funny with my son and I’ll slit your throat myself,” she whispered and released me with a smile on her face. Her husband stood at her side. The brothers had already left, leaving just us three here still.
My body stilled at her threat. I blinked slowly at her.
“Son.” Dominic held his hand out for Nazai. “Come to my office tomorrow. We need to discuss a few things and how we’re going to announce all the changes happening.” He shifted his eyes to me but didn’t speak further.
When we finally left the house and got back into Nazai’s car, I turned to say something to Nazai but he was already facing me with cold, darkened eyes. He grabbed the collar around my neck and yanked me forward. “If you ever disrespect either of my parents again, I’ll hang your naked ass from the ceiling for a week and use you for target practice. If you’re gonna be my wife, then you need to learn some fucking respect.” He shoved me away and pressed the button to start the car.
A heavy breath pushed through my nose and fire raced through my veins. Who the hell did he think he was throwing out threats and demands? Nazai was getting too comfortable with how he handled me. It was time to show him I wasn’t gonna be some meek wife he could control.
____
Later that night I changed into black leggings and a black hoodie, put my hair into two braids and pinned the bottom so none was hanging before covering them with a black cap.
I grimaced looking in the mirror. The black collar on my neck could be seen as a fashion statement. It had a heart metal lock in the front, but that wasn’t what bothered me. It was the tracker inside. I attempted to pick the lock when Nazai dropped me and Carson off to go handle business, but it seemed to need a special tool to unlock it.
I shook my head, not bothering to think about it right now. I had more important matters to tend to. I checked my phone, making sure I had the location of my next kill. A rideshare was on the way to take me to my car. Thankfully, both my favorite gun and butterfly knife were in the truck of my car. I didn’t want to leave Carson here alone, but it wasn’t the first time and the security in this place was top notch so I knew he would be safe.
Leaving the bedroom next to Carson’s, I went to his door and knocked. Nazai thought we were about to share a bed and I refused. I didn’t trust him and wouldn’t be able to sleep next to someone I didn’t trust. As soon as he left, I took my bags out of his bedroom and moved them downstairs to the second floor. I wasn’t his child for him to demand anything from me.
Pushing Carson’s door open, I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. “Hey, bud. I’m going out for a bit. Will you be okay here?” I asked. He lifted his eyes from his Switch and faced me.
“Do you still need to go? We’re safe now.”
I sighed and looked around the bedroom. It was a nice size, but empty. I made a mental note to take him shopping to get some things to fill it. Since Nazai was gonna take care of my Rhodes situation, I was free to use my debit card without fear of being tracked. There was over thirty-five thousand in my account. It wasn’t a lot but enough to get Carson comfortably set up here.
“I know you don’t get it, but we’re still not safe, Carson. We don’t know Nazai and he can kick us out at any time or things could go wrong. I wanna make sure we’re always prepared for anything. I won’t be gone long, okay? Don’t leave this floor and I have my phone if you need me. Do you have yours?”
