Cruel Seduction (Underground Kings 2)

I rub my temples as a headache starts to form. Zeke is a great guy, good attorney, but Jesus, he is one of those people who has to talk to fill the silence. It drives me nuts. I only want to focus on getting Gabriella. That is the most important thing to me right now.

And I am currently out on bail, for another fucking crime I didn’t commit. I really hate my brother, and I can’t wait to see him dead.

“Back in New York, it’s as easy as me hiring a guy, and boom, my problem is solved, ya know? Fish gotta eat too. Why don’t you just hire someone.”

“We are the hired someone’s, Zeke. You know this.”

“Eh, not really. You aren’t hired hitmen. I tell ya, that’s what you fucking need. You need a guy who isn’t afraid to go back to prison. I can make a few calls. Kendrick wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Feed him to the sharks or some shit. Whatever you people have out here.”

I want to laugh at the way he says sharks, but I keep my mouth shut. The one thing I know is to not fuck with Zeke. He is a dangerous man. The mouth might go nonstop, but that is only because his mind is going a million miles an hour. He is always thinking, always plotting, always planning a kill.

I don’t have to tell him where to go as we drive. He has been to the Cliff House before. It has been a few years. Probably since Jaxon got out. It isn’t too often that we need his help anymore, but it is a good thing Jaxon keeps Zeke on the payroll. I’d be fucked right now.

His Porsche turns onto the road that leads to the house, and as we get closer, I see everyone outside waiting for me, including Julia, the new housekeeper.

“Hey, who is the blonde babe? Damn,” Zeke whistles.

“That is Jaxon’s pregnant wife.”

“I can be down with that if he is,” Zeke jokes.

I think he is…

It’s another thing I'm not going to press.

“Sebastian! Thank God, are you okay?” Quinn runs up to me when I get out of the car and hug me tight.

“My head is killing me. Owen, I need two pain relievers. Kendrick hit me over the head.”

“No problem, man. I’m glad to see you’re okay.” Owen pulls me into a hug and slaps my back. Heaven does the same, and Grayson shakes my hand.

It’s good to see everyone.

“I found a location on Kendrick,” Grayson says. “We have a lot to talk about inside.”

“Ya, we do. I got some information on him and his little group of wackos. Kind like you guys, but you guys aren’t all that coo-coo,” Zeke swirls his finger next to his head and bends down to grab his briefcase out of the car. “Stop staring at my ass, Quinn. Actually don’t. If you want, you can touch it. I do lots of squats. Fucking bounce a quarter off these buns. Go ahead. I dare ya.” He shuts the door to his Porsche once he has his briefcase and winks at her before going inside.

Quinn looks perplexed, and Jaxon, instead of getting mad, just laughs and guides her toward the house. I hoped he explained Zeke’s ways to her.

Once we are inside, we all go to the living room, and Zeke grabs a beer out of the fridge before joining us. Owen gives me some painkillers and I toss them in my mouth and chew them instead of swallowing them so they can get into my bloodstream quicker. They taste awful. I steal Zeke’s beer and wash the medication down.

I hand it back to him but, Zeke stares at the bottle like it will give him leprosy. “I don’t fucking want it now. It has your germs all over it.” Zeke goes to the kitchen and grabs another. I stare at all the guys, and all of them are rubbing their heads.

Quinn looks amused. She would be. For now.

“Okay,” Zeke says, plopping down on the floor. He opens his briefcase again and chugs his beers. There are a few naked pictures of a w

oman suddenly, and I turn my head away, but Heaven looks over Zeke’s shoulder to get a better look. “Ya like that? Yeah, that’s Ms. South America. She had…”

“Zeke. To the point. I don’t want to waste another minute or I’ll go after Gabriella myself. Every second she is with him, is a second I can’t get back. Fucking show me the proof you have before I throw you over the damn cliff myself.” I am seething at this point. There is a time and place for joking, and this is not it. Gabriella’s life is in danger, and the least he can do is acted like he cares. Instead, he is flashing a piece of ass around, a woman he probably doesn’t care shit about.

I love Gabriella, and that comes first over some chick he’s banging on the side.

“Right. You’re right. I’m sorry. I apologize. You know me. I get sidetracked. No harm.” Zeke carries on and on before he takes out the file that has Gabriella’s name on it. “Okay, this is what we know. Kendrick is an abuser.” Zeke lays out all of the pictures Officer Howard took the other day, and Quinn gasps, burying her face in Jaxon’s shoulder. “Yeah, it ain’t real easy to look at, is it, sunshine? I know. Poor girl.” Zeke continues to lay out photos until the pictures change from Gabriella to men I don’t recognize. Then he lays my brother’s pictures out, the one mugshot he from when he was sixteen.

Zeke stands and guzzles his beer. “Okay, this is what I’ve come to know. Your brother, he isn’t as indiscrete as you think. He just runs with a different crowd of people. People that no one takes seriously. These three men?” He points to the guys I don’t recognize. “The blond? He’s dead. Butcher knife to the chest. Officer Howard informed me they found the body on the side of the road, in pieces. Anyway, I hear your girl killed that guy. Good for her. I love a tough broad. Anyway, these other two? They have been in and out of mental health facilities since they were teenagers. Their parents said they practiced dark magic, witchcraft. These fuckers think they are wizards. This isn’t Harry fucking Potter, you know? This is the real world. Anyway…” Zeke waves his comment away since it doesn’t matter.

“Kendrick, here. I dug some dirt up on your brother. Whew, he is not a good guy. He owes money to the wrong people. He stopped kidnapping and killing women around the time he met Gabriella, hold the phone, not because he loved her, but because he truly believes she is … what’s the word?” He pats his head. “Some chosen one that will give him and his people inhuman strength and power. It’s some witchy thing. The blood of a virgin and something to do with heritage.”