Inevitable (King Crime Family 2)

“You’re too weak to be getting up and moving around,” Jared says, interrupting my thoughts. I look up from the hardwood floor to his face. He is unshaved, his eyes are dull, reflecting no light at all, and I’m sure I look the same… maybe even worse. It’s been three weeks since I last saw Amara, since I last touched her. Since I allowed Mack, the fucking snake, into my cabin. Just thinking about it causes my blood to boil and the sharp pain in my chest to flare up.

“Funny, last I checked, you didn’t have a medical degree,” I retort in a smart-ass tone while adjusting myself. My leg is still fucked up, and trying to move it hurts like hell, but nothing compared to the anguish I feel when thinking about Amara.

Leaning against the door, he smiles at me as if he finds what I’ve said funny, when really, I’m just trying to be an asshole.

“You don’t need a medical degree to know you should be lying in bed. Resting. Cooling off. Staying hidden.” In one whole sentence, he names four things I would rather not be doing.

“No,” I hiss out as a burning sensation flows through my leg. “I would rather not just lie here while Amara is out there and that fucking asshole has her. I would rather do anything but sit here and hope and pray for something good to come from all of this.”

“Hoping and praying won’t do shit in this situation, but going into something without a plan won’t help either. Do you want to put yourself in the line of fire again?”

“I don’t care what you say. I’m doing this my way.”

“Of course you are.” Jared shakes his head. “I’ve sent some men by John’s house again. Still nothing, no sign of him.”

Anger slithers through my body. That fucker is hiding while his daughter is missing, making him look even more guilty than before.

I keep my eyes trained on the floor as I attempt to stand for the first time in weeks. My body is worn and tired, but at the same time, it’s begging for a release of energy. Urging me to get up and move around. Nothing Jared says is going to stop me from doing what needs to be done.

I’m slightly hesitant to stand. It hurt like a bitch lying down, so I’m sure it won’t be better standing. But, I have to start somewhere. I push myself up slowly, attempting to put the majority of my weight onto my good side. Once I’m ready, I shift weight to the other side, ever so slowly.

“I swear to fucking god, you have a death wish, Enzo. A death fucking wish,” Jared mutters under his breath angrily.

“No death wish, Jared,” I hiss out between clenched teeth as a burning sensation radiates up my leg. It hurts, but not as bad as I thought it would. “I have a need for revenge. A burning, all-consuming rage to have revenge on Mack; to get Amara back. Sitting here in this fucking bed, not getting better, not moving, and allowing myself to think about it more just adds unneeded fuel to the fire.”

In my rant, I don’t even realize I’ve come to stand on both feet while holding the side of the bed. Releasing a deep breath, I let go of the sheets and stand by myself. Glancing up at Jared, I watch him walk over to me—waiting for me to fall to the ground.

I’m not used to feeling weak, to needing someone. If anything, the need for help just makes me angrier. I’m coping with the shit that went down. I’m simply waiting it out until the moment I can sink my knife into Mack’s flesh.

“Amara needs you, Enzo. She needs you to come and save her, wherever the fuck she is, but she also needs you to be strong and healthy because, without those things, you’re useless to her. If you go barreling in there without a plan, without being fully healed, you become a liability.”

Fuck. Running a hand through my hair and down my face, I allow a sigh to release. As much as I don’t want to admit it, which is a lot, Jared is right.

“You’re right, but Amara, she needs me.” I’m struggling with my next words because I’m still not sure about where Amara and I stand.

She told me she loved me, but that was in the midst of her being taken. In the midst of me dying. The fact remains, I almost killed her. Fuck. All I know for certain, even after everything that happened, is that I love her, and when I find her, I will give her the freedom she deserves. I will protect her for the rest of her life, even if it kills me to protect her from myself.