Cruel Seduction (Underground Kings 2)

“Your funeral.”

“Yeah, but it will be a fucking beautiful one, ya know?” Zeke pats my back and guides me to the interrogation room. His briefcase is large, leather, and black. It looks like it holds a lot of secrets, mine included. “We don’t need a guard.” Only it sounds like ‘gahd’ which makes my mouth twitch with a smile.

When we get into the room, Zeke shuts the door, and I sit in the metal chair on the left side of the table. “What the fuck were you thinking, eh? I told you not to go get arrested, and what did you do? You went and fucking got arrested. Jesus Christ. It’s fellas like you who give me a job. Always in and out of shitholes like this.” He takes a cigarette out of his pocket, places it between his lips, and lights it with a match instead of a lighter.

The smoke swirls for a second before it clears. Zeke sits in the chair opposite me and crosses his legs, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “So,” he asks impatiently. “What the fuck, Sebastian. Eh? Come on, you know better than to get arrested.” Only it sounds like bettah which makes me want to smile again.

But he isn’t joking around. He is pissed.

“Zeke, you have to know, I didn’t get arrested on purpose. Do you remember Gabriella?”

“The poor girl that your brother had.”

“Yeah, well she was with me on her own free will. We found her. Kendrick did awful things to her. I didn’t kidnap her, and the last thing I remember before waking up here is hiking in the Avenue of the Giants with her. Everything after that is black. She isn’t with me. Kendrick has her, Zeke. We have to get her back. Who knows what will—”

He holds up his hand to tell me to shut up while he opens his briefcase. “I know all about your Gabriella. Officer Howard and I have been in communication. I have all the pictures, testimony, and everything.”

“You know Officer Howard?”

“Ah, yeah, he and I go way back. I owe him some money actually.” Zeke waves his fingers at me, the ones that hold the cigarette. “I fucking don’t like owing people money.” He runs fingers through his hair and inhales the smoke, blowing the fog from his nostrils. “This is a problem, Sebastian. A big problem. You have a record. How do we know this guy, Kenny—”

“Kendrick,” I correct him.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Kenny. Hell, where was I going with that thought? Eh, must not have been that important.”

It doesn’t seem like it, but Zeke is one of the best lawyers in the world. His record is spotless. He only had winning cases. He has never lost one.

Some of it has to do with getting his hands dirty, but that is life— getting your hands filthy until you see the outcome needed.

“Your bail is already posted. We can go home.”

“Go home? I don’t want to go home, Zeke. I want to find Gabriella.”

“And how do you expect to do that? You can’t do that here. Officer Howard has information for us that could help. Ya got to stop taking on so much by yourself. We can find her together. Between me and Officer Howard and your fucking computer skills, we are going to rescue her in no time. Okay? We are going to get out of here. I’m going to get all charges dropped. They don’t have enough on you, especially with all this information on Kendrick. I’ll say I got it, not Officer Howard. He’ll owe me one for protecting his dirty cop hands.”

“He isn’t dirty.”

“Sebastian…” Zeke chuckles as he stuffs the papers in the briefcase. “Everyone has a little filth on them. If they don’t, they are lyin’ to ya.” He locks the gold snaps in place and stands. “Okay, let’s go. We don’t want to wait. Kenny might be doing something to your girl if we don’t get a move on, right? Whew, those pictures were rough. Poor thing. If I were you, I’d let her have some revenge, you know? Once you get your brother in the right position.”

“Are you threatening someone?” The cop who let me out of my cell places his hand on Zeke’s chest.

Zeke glances down, then looks at me, then down again, and he laughs, smoke puffing out of his mouth. “Can you believe this guy? I can’t believe this guy, Sebastian.” Zeke inhales on his cigarette and blows the smoke in the cop’s face, then he flicks the butt on the ground, smashing it with his Italian leather shoes. “If you don’t get your fucking hands off me, the threat is going to be directed toward you and this small town, back wood, county jail, and I will fucking crush you. Don’t. Fuck. With. Me.” Zeke plows through the cop and a few other officers sit behind their desks, afraid of my lawyer’s remark.

Everyone knows Zeke. Everyone also knows the lengths he’ll go when it comes to his word.

When we get outside, we climb into his Porsche and make our way back to the Cliff House.

All I can think about is Gabriella.

“I saw the footage of you being dumped at that department, ya know. It was Kenny who did it. It must have been one of his goons. I got the name in my briefcase and some information you’re going to find goddamn riveting. I think I know what they want to do with Gabriella. Before we smash that out, I need a drink to tell you. I’m going to sound loony.”

“You realize all your jabbering makes you sound that way, right?”

“Hey, my mouth is what got you out of that place. Ah, shit, that didn’t sound right either. Sounded like I sucked a bunch of dicks. I didn’t,” he clarifies. “I haven’t done that since college. I don’t know how women do it. I ain’t complaining. I love me a woman who can suck a cock, ya know?”

“Jesus Christ. I didn’t need to know that, Zeke.” I rub my eyes and lean my head against the window and think about the last time I was with Gabriella. I had gotten us lost. So damn lost. I threw my phone out of anger and that is the last thing I remember.

“Oh, you getting all soft on me? Okay, won’t talk about that anymore. Why do you guys live in this town? It’s small. Where do you go to get laid? Ya know what, don’t answer that.”