“Let’s meet this Devon guy before we allow her to go with him willingly. Plus, isn’t Mack going to say something if she isn’t roughed up a bit? What about Devon? There has to be an apparent struggle. It has to look real,” James commented. Ugh. All this talk about death was starting to depress me.
“We’ll figure it out later. The plan is Bree and I meet up with Devon before we go out. Talk to him. Pretend all is normal, and in about a week, Devon comes and gets her. I’ll kick his ass and scruff him up a bit,” Zerro commanded.
“Whatever, but if she gets hurt… it’s on you.” Jared all but scoffed, pushing past Zerro. As the room settled, I stared at him, waiting for whatever it was he would say.
“Just know I will not let anyone spill your blood.” There was so much determination in his eyes it almost frightened me.
“I know. You don’t have to tell me,” I responded, stepping up onto my tiptoes so I could place a kiss on his lips.
“Good,” he said. There was a faraway look in his eyes. Whatever he was thinking wasn’t good. Not for any of us.
The afternoon passed with breeze as I sat on the couch and vegged out with James, and Jared. Zerro was absent for some time before coming out of our bedroom. There was a time when someone needed to be alone. I had been there, done that. I understood the need.
“Thank God! Tell Bree to stop making us watch this extremely distasteful TV drama,” Jared shouted to Zerro, smiling at me. Jerk.
“Hey, fuckface, it’s a hit TV show. Tell us what you created that’s a hit TV show,” I said shooting him a dirty look before directing my attention back to the screen.
“He didn’t create nothing, but I did…” James said, laughing gruffly. What was he talking about?
“Good one, Dad,” Jared said, laughing. Then it hit me… He created Jared and me. Well, kind of created us.
“Good joke, James,” Zerro said coming to sit down next to me. He had a Pepsi in hand, obviously knowing I needed some caffeine. I took the drink from him curious as to what was weighing on his mind.
“Everything okay?” I asked softly, hoping no one else had heard. Keeping his lips sealed tightly, he gave me a curt nod.
“Can we please watch Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleaders or even Football? Hell, I would rather watch Food Network,” Jared complained, which in turn caused me to chuck the remote controller at his head.
“Thank you…” he responded loutishly at me.
“Are you going to be ready to go soon?” Zerro whispered into my hair, one of his hands landing on mine. His skin caused mine to tingle, and the last thing I could think about was he and I going out on a date. I simply wanted him to take me back to the bedroom. Call me fucking crazy, but with all the pain, death, and hate surrounding us, being close to someone made it so much easier to get through.
“Uh, of course. When do you want to leave?” I asked. Zerro had changed so much. He went from being a man who was dark with more secrets than anyone else had to a man I loved. Even though those secrets still lingered, and sometimes I couldn’t decipher his next move, I knew he loved me.
“How about….” he said pondering…. “Now?” he questioned with an eyebrow raised.
“Whenever you want, Mr. King…” I giggled. Leaning real close into my face, his nose brushing against mine, he said, “If I’m the King, then you’re the Queen.”
The very words left me breathless reminding me of why I loved him so much. He might be a monster, but he was my monster.
Mack
“When are they going to come out of hiding? They can’t fucking hide forever,” I yelled throwing my phone against the mattress. I had been hiding out in this drab fucking cabin instead of the lavish mansion soon to be mine.
“I’m not sure they’re alone. That’s all I know, sir,” Miller added like he was some smart shit or something. He needed to keep his mouth shut before he found himself swimming with the fishes.
“No fucking way. Did you want a prize for stating the obvious?” I growled reaching across the table for his throat. I was angry and impatient. If blood wasn’t shed soon… I would start killing my own men until I could go out and do the job myself.
“Sir….” Miller sounded scared. He had a reason to be, but then again, why was some pussy like him working for me.
“Miller….” I yelled anger radiating from me.
“Calm down, sir.” Devon’s voice vibrated through my mind.
“Do you have any new info?” I growled turning my aggression to him. He looked like a kid… hardly old enough to be chasing after people like Alzerro, who would kill him on site?
“I think I have an idea of where they’re staying. I’m going to go scope it out this evening.” His voice never wavered, and his eyes stayed on mine. He wasn’t lying.
“Good and you best bring back something to tell me. I’m going crazy sitting here waiting.”
“Sir, we could be shooting or throwing knives…” Miller added. Ahhh, yes we could be.
A Texas-size grin showed on my face. “You’re right, we could. Get my knives, Devon,” I ordered. I had some aggression I needed to work out, and Miller reminding me of ways to do so only made my life easier. Devon scurried out of the room to retrieve the knives and I stared at Miller.
“You know, while I worked for Alzerro, he was very keen on making sure nothing, and I do mean nothing, scared the men who worked for him.…”
Miller nodded as if he was acknowledging what I had said, but the sweat forming on his forehead, and the faraway look in his eyes told me he wasn’t anywhere but here in this room with me.
“Do you have any fears, Miller?” I asked my voice menacing. What a pussy! He was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Where had John found these men?