Inevitable (King Crime Family 2)

As quickly as he entered the room, Mack leaves. The door falls shut, and the clicking of the lock fills the room.

I don’t realize I’m crying until I feel the wetness on my cheek and a sob rips from my throat.

“Shhh, you’re fine,” Eli soothes, his voice suddenly comforting. What the fuck is this? Does he have multiple personalities or something?

He pulls my panties and pants back up before turning me around.

“You okay?” he asks, studying my face.

I shake my head. I’m not okay. None of this shit is okay.

“You will be, though, just trust me.” I want to laugh. Did he seriously just ask me to trust him, after he admitted to basically double-crossing us?

“Mack knows… he told you to text Enzo. You’re setting a trap…”

“Just trust me,” he repeats as if him saying it twice will suddenly make me believe him. Turning away from him, I curl up on my side, trying to get warm.

That’s when I feel it. As I pull up my legs, I feel the stiff metal pressed up against my calf. Fuck... the knife. I still have the knife in my boot. How the hell did I forget about the fucking weapon I have on me?

Cursing myself silently, I contemplate on what to do next. I could pull the knife out right now, threaten Eli to let me go, or at least let me call Enzo, but the chances are he would overpower me. Plus, he technically hasn’t hurt me. He only pretended to, that doesn’t mean he won’t, he already said so.

Damn, why can’t he just pick a side? How am I supposed to trust him?

I finally decide to keep the knife hidden for now. Hopefully, I get a chance to use it on Mack. At least I’ll have the element of surprise.

Minutes pass, maybe even hours, and slowly but surely, my eyelids grow heavier. For a while I keep myself busy by fighting sleep, but when Eli moves, my eyes fly open, and I feel wide awake for a moment.

I’m shocked when he lies down next to me. He doesn’t touch me, leaving a few inches of space between us, but it’s enough to feel his body heat warming my skin.

“Go to sleep. If he comes in, I’ll make up some lie,” he mumbles, placing his head against the mattress. I catch genuine concern in his eyes, and I know he is telling me the truth. At least in this instant, I trust he’ll watch out for me.

I nod and close my eyes, giving them what they’ve been begging for. In a moment’s time, my mind heads to a place where neither pain nor death can touch me.

Lorenzo King’s arms.19Enzo“They have her, Enzo.” Jared rushes into the house, his voice full of panic. I stand there in the middle of the room, staring and doing nothing, letting the guilt eat at me. I should’ve fucking told her. I should’ve warned her.

“I know,” I murmur. I hate myself more than anything right now. Jared and James’s eyes both turn to me, fire burning in both of them.

“What do you mean, you know? You knew this whole fucking time, and you never told one of us? You never thought it was a good idea she knew there was a change?” Jared screams. He is angry, and he has every right to be. I’ve put Amara in danger on purpose. And for what? The element of surprise.

“It needed to happen this way. If I had let you know, you would’ve acted strangely.” There is nothing more I can say to make them understand. I had to do it this way, and it killed me. It will kill me, even more, to go in there and see all she has endured because of me.

“Needed? You’re fucking crazy…” Jared’s arms fly into the air. “I should’ve known. I should’ve known you never fucking loved her. She is nothing but a pawn to you. Nothing but an inn—” He can be mad all he wants, but I can’t listen to him saying things about me that are false.

Picking him up by the front of his shirt, I shove him against the wall, getting right in his face. I don’t care that we’ve been friends forever or that he’s Amara’s brother.

“Never. I mean, never accuse me of not caring about her. Never accuse me of anything less than being in love with her. I would bleed for her, take a bullet for her, and give my own fucking life just so she could take one last breath if I had to. Never tell me I don’t care.”

I release him with a shove, watching the anger slowly seep away from his face. Yeah, that’s right, fucker, I love her. And I’ll do anything in my fucking power to keep her alive. Even if it means I have to put her life in the hands of someone else.