I can’t trust anyone anymore.
6
Mack
“They killed John,” Miller says as I push the slut off my body. Fuck. This is both bad and good news. It means one last person to deal with when this is all over, but it also means my guy at the FBI is gone. Will those assholes honor the deal without him? They fucking better.
“Anything else?” I ask, slicking my hair back. I can almost feel it, there is more bad news, something he isn’t telling me. Miller looks nervously around the room before meeting my gaze.
“Well, tell me, boy.”
“Eli and Amara got into a scuffle, and she ended up running.”
“Running?” I growl, moving from the bed. Gripping him by the shoulders.
“Yes, sir.”
Fuck. Eli and Miller were the two I had at the hole. They dealt with the little bitch so I wouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have relied on these fucking people to do anything.
“When? How long has she been gone?”
“Yesterday–”
“Yesterday? And no one thought it was a good idea to tell me until now?” I growl. Releasing him, I turn around, scanning the room for my jeans. Picking them up off the floor, I pull them on and walk out of the room, leaving Miller to hurry behind me.
“You said you didn’t want to be disturbed. We already moved everything. The body is gone, and we filled the hole up. There is no evidence left...” Miller keeps babbling.
Wringing my hands through my hair, I sit on one of the fucking flimsy chairs. This safe house is no good.
“We need to kill him. We need to kill all of them. With John gone, I don’t know what’s going to happen with the deal I made with the FBI.” I was okay with Enzo getting years and years in prison, so I could take his spot. But now, thinking about him being ten feet below, it will be better anyway. He deserves it.
“Where is Eli?” I ask, lighting a cigarette.
“Right here, asshole,” Eli’s voice sounds as he steps into the small cabin. His eye is slightly black, and his lip is swollen. Bitch had done a number on him. The biggest question is why the fuck did he let her out.
“Looks like the bitch got the better of you.” I smile, blowing smoke out of my mouth. “I didn’t think you would let a girl hit you.”
“That cunt kicked me in the balls.” His eyes never leave mine. “If it makes you feel better, I fucked her up a little too.”
“It does, but my cock up her ass would have made me feel even better.”
“That’s what I was thinking too,” he smirks, “that’s kind of why I let her out. I figured she would be too weak to fight. I was fucking wrong.” Eli was always one of the honest kinds. That’s why I didn’t think he would side with me at first, but he’s proven himself to be loyal to me, and I trust him.
“I know I fucked up. I just wanted to rough her up a bit. I wanted to fuck with her head and get my dick wet. You know most of us men haven’t had any company in a while…” I get what he is saying, but that’s no excuse.
“You fucking disobeyed my orders. John’s dead now. Amara is gone, probably back with Enzo, and you stupid fucks are responsible for it.”
“We didn’t—” Miller tries to say, but I reach out, wrapping my hand around his throat.
“You didn’t what? It would be best if you tread lightly with your next words because I’m about five seconds away from plunging my knife into your heart,” I say, blowing smoke into his face.
“It was my fault. I got her out of the hole. I didn’t intend for her to sucker punch me and run for her life,” Eli confesses. I narrow my eyes at him, releasing Miller with a shove.
“Then you’ll be the one to get her back. You’ll be the one to bring the bitch to me so I can bring the King to his fucking knees,” I spit. I despise the man.
For years, I’ve been his right-hand man, never receiving a thank you for half the shit I’ve done. Instead, I was always beaten into the ground.
He had everything while I had nothing. That’s going to stop now. I’m tired of being the fucking dirt beneath his feet. I’ll take every last thing from him. His home and empire have already been destroyed. But we both know that’s not what made him breathe. No, it’s the girl.
She’s gotten into the dark part of his mind and shined light on it. I’ll take her back, destroy him for who he is, and then kill both of them.
There will be a winner and a loser. Enzo King will lose…
7
Amara
Four days have passed since I last uttered a word to Jared or Enzo. I refuse to talk to the very people who ripped my world apart. Though Jared has been very nice to me, I still can’t accept him being related to me.
I’ve spent most of the time in this room, the bedroom I’m supposed to be sharing with Enzo. I make him sleep on the couch, too afraid I might slit his throat at night while he’s sleeping.
I’ve only been going downstairs when I’m hungry. After being constantly hungry in that godforsaken hole, I don’t miss a single opportunity to eat. Being hungry only reminds me of being a prisoner, so I shove food into my face every opportunity I get.
Sitting cross-legged on my bed, I flip through the pages of one of the books Jared brought me. I wish I could get lost in the story like I used to, but my mind feels like it’s headquarters for a beehive, the constant buzzing crippling my thoughts.
All I’ve done for the past four days is think. Think about all the fucked up shit in my life. I feel like I’m being pulled in five different directions.
Most of my mind is consumed with mourning my father. Even that is split in two. I mourn the man I knew, the loving father who was a part of my life. And then I mourn the man I last saw, dressed in an expensive suit, in my childhood home where he held me prisoner. Maybe I shouldn’t mourn that man, but I do. Because I can’t mourn one without the other.
I still don’t understand why he did the things he did, and I probably never will, but I can’t love him any less. I can’t hate the man who has always been there for me.
When I’m not grieving my father, I think about Jared and Enzo. The thought of Jared being my half-brother still feels odd. I grew up as an only child, never knowing what it feels like to have a sibling, and I definitely didn’t imagine gaining one in this abnormal way.
Jared has been very nice to me, even before he learned about our connection. I can’t lie and say that I don’t like him, or the idea of having him as my brother, but I’m still uncertain if I’ll be able to accept him just yet.
Finally, there is Enzo, who is the most frustrating person to think of. He betrayed me. I trusted him, and he betrayed me—twice. He believed Mack over me. That cut me deeper than I would like to admit. It cut me deep enough to leave a permanent scar, and right now, that scar is still red and angry.
Right next to it is a wide-open gash. He killed my father in front of me. He killed him, knowing how much that would hurt me, how much pain he would cause me. I don’t know if I can let that pain go, or if it will forever overshadow anything I feel for Enzo.