I lowered my glass and set it on the table. “Well, my darling wife…” I reached out and twirled the end of her hair around my finger. “Now that dear old dad is stepping down. It’s my job to handle the business, meaning all jobs we take go through me. Ezra will continue being the family’s lawyer and the connections my dad and my grandfather gained stay locked in the family.”
“What I don’t get is why it’s not you going into law. You were forced to marry because you became the ‘head of the family’.” She made sure to put the last words in quotations. “But you own a club.”
Leaning in my chair, I kicked my feet out under the table. “My main objective was to kill, running everything never appealed to me. The only reason Dad got into law and shit was to help the family business. I just so happened to be the oldest, so it fell on me. Ezra is into all that legal shit.”
She squinted and searched the room until stopping where Ezra was. Lucas was talking with River. He was grinning and drinking from a glass.
“Ezra is so unserious though. I’ve literally seen him joke and laugh when slamming his hammer down on someone’s hand.”
I chuckled lowly. “What you don’t understand is we’ve all been trained how to act in front of others. Ezra might joke and bullshit a lot, but my brother’s a shark in the courtroom. We all have skills that work in our everyday lives. I might be a club owner, but I’m the cleanest shot you’ll ever see.”
“It’s time for the family photos, come on you two,” Mom said after she walked over. “The press wants to interview the family as well, then your dad will do his speech before we cut the cake.”
“I’ll just sit here,” Cashlynn protested.
Mom narrowed her eyes. “When you got married to my son, you became a part of the family. So you’re gonna be in the picture.”
Cashlynn glared at my mom.
The stare off ended with Cashlynn rolling her eyes and cursing my mom under her breath. I chuckled as we walked over to where the rest of the family was.
“I don’t get why I have to be involved in this. I don’t even like the spotlight.”
“Just smile and look pretty.” I patted her head and she smacked my hand away.
The evening continued. Previous and current judges told stories about my dad, as well as DAs and a few members of the police force, including the chief and commissioner. The night ended with my dad giving some bullshit speech about how proud he was to have served the law for as long as he did.
“Wow, everything about your family is truly fake as hell. Your dad is the leader of secret criminals, yet he’s giving a speech about respecting the law.” Cashlynn mumbled.
“Illusions, Wildfire. Gotta love them.” I winked at her.
“I’m proud to say my middle son Ezra will be continuing the law tradition. Many of you know he’s a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom…” Dad said.
The end of the night came. Most of the people had left and only a couple lingered.
We were leaving the hall. Cameras flashing and shutter sounds surrounded us from the few reporters still on the scene who couldn’t get in. It was dark out and my mind was set on finishing what I’d started with Maddox. He was currently being held captive at The Barn on the outskirts of town. I barely noticed the black car creeping down the street.
“Get down!” I heard one of River’s guys who was working security yell before gunshots sounded.
Screams and panic replaced the celebration as bullets started flying. My family was quick to recover.
The car was outmatched by us along with River’s men. I rushed forward to the sidewalk, constantly pulling the trigger. The back window was shot out and tires squealed as it skirted away.
“What the fuck was that!” someone yelled.
My blood boiled and my body pumped with anger thinking someone was brave enough to come after me and my family.
“Is anyone hurt?” Dad asked.
I looked around. Reporters were on the ground, all cowering along with some pedestrians innocently passing by. What surprised me though was Cashlynn right next to me with a gun in hand. With everything going on, I hadn’t even seen her pull a gun out or start shooting with the rest of us. I didn’t even notice she’d followed me onto the sidewalk.
“Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to shoot at the fucking Tavarezes. Do they know who the fuck we are?!” Ezra boasted, waving his gun in the air. He came over to where we were and narrowed his eyes on Cashlynn. “And sis, I ain’t know you got down like that! You surprised the fuck out of me.”
“Yes, that was unexpected,” Dad commented as his jaw ticked and reddened. His eyes scanned the area then settled back on Cashlynn, sizing her up.
“I don’t take getting shot at lightly. Regardless of how you feel about them, my parents made sure I knew how to handle a gun,” she replied, her voice bland and her face calm but her eyes held a raging storm.
For a second I forgot my anger, staring at her in awe. There were so many things I didn’t know about her it seemed, but now wasn’t the time to try and figure it out.
