“What secret?” I asked curiously. I wanted to know what had happened.
“I worked for Alzerro the whole time. I was one of his men before I became part of the FBI. I promised him I would let him know shit from the inside and eventually, we parted ways. I did my own thing and he did his.”
“He mentioned something about you working for him. That explains why you let me go. Didn’t want your ass kicked, huh?” I joked.
“No, I really just wanted to let you go. I hoped you would run instead of seeking answers. It kind of sucks to find out shit you wish you hadn’t.”
“You talk as if you have experience with this kind of thing.” As we talked more, I felt myself melting into the bench. It had been months since I talked to someone on the outside.
“You have no clue. I needed money so I volunteered to do a job for Mack. Little did I know it was way more than a fucking job…” His body shifted as he stared up at the sky. For an FBI agent, he seemed like he was at his wits ends.
“Welcome to my world. I’ve been in hiding for months now. Pushed and shoved around. Secrets have been thrown my way, and somehow, I’m still breathing…” The air shuffled past us, and I took in a big gulp.
“You know I should be really fucking mad at you.” I laughed nudging him in the side. His eyes came down to meet my own, and my breath caught for a mere second. Was I attracted to him, or was it the fact I was still extremely pissed at Alzerro.
“Hey, now, I had to do what I had to do. Blowing my cover would’ve meant a bullet in both of our heads.” He was right—blowing his cover would’ve been the end of all of this. I probably wouldn’t have ever found out the truth.
“Point made. But if you ever throw a bucket of water on me again, I’m stabbing you in the chest.” I wasn’t joking.
“Are you waiting for him to come and get you, or do you want to come with me?” Devon asked as he changed the subject. He slipped a smile somehow into his words. I wasn’t sure if I should leave the park with him. What if he took me to Mack before it was time? Then again, going back to Jared’s and sitting in the same room was no fun either. I didn’t want to listen to Zerro tell me all the things he couldn’t do.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at him in a defensive manner. “I’m not waiting for him to come get me. I will go with you, but I want to make sure you aren’t taking me to Mack yet.”
Zerro would call me stupid, insane, illogical. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but he needed to be worried. He needed to freak out, to realize anything could happen.
Smirking at me, he laughed. His whole body shook, and my eyes wandered all over the place.
“I promise not to feed you to the devil just yet. I’ll take you out for some drinking and have you back at home before midnight. Since I know you’ll turn into a pumpkin and all.” He had to be playing, right?
“Okay, let’s go,” I urged before Zerro came and actually found me. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with him right now.
Sometimes, people had to make their own path, and after everything had happened between us, I was going to do just that.
“Here,” Devon said tugging on my jacket as we entered the club he wanted to go. It was two towns over and though I was nervous, I was excited, too. I hadn’t been able to do anything my age. The beat of the music rumbled under our feet and vibrated through our bodies making it hard to breathe.
“What?” I all but yelled—not intentionally, of course. Something cold and metal was placed in my hand, and when I looked down, I caught the glint of a knife in the strobe lights. What the hell?
“I can’t tak—”
“You can, and you will. You need it in case something happens to you. I can’t believe Zerro didn’t give you something already.”
Holding the knife in my hands, I gently slipped it into my boot without another glance. The last thing I needed was someone thinking I actually had a weapon.
“You’re right… I don’t understand why he hasn’t given me a weapon yet…” The more it sat on my mind, the more it started to bother me. Did I still love Zerro? Yes. Did I think he would be able to adjust the changes? I didn’t know. I didn’t know what the future held for either of us.
“He’s Alzerro. He doesn’t really answer to anyone,” Devon kind of joked. I say kind of because it actually seemed more like something was bothering him, deep down.
“I’m thirsty… and I want to dance,” I said into his ear as I watched the couples out on the floor gyrating against one another. My eyes were mesmerized by their very movements, some I had never seen before.
“Drink first, and then maybe, if you’re lucky, dancing.” He winked dragging me through the deep crowd. People surrounded us on every angle. My eyes roamed over every single object.
“I need a beer, and…” He trailed off looking at me for an answer. Like I had one. I had said many times before I hardly ever drank. Any time I did, I regretted it. To be here doing this caused a ting of guilt to form in my chest. Was it okay to be moving on from things days after your supposed father’s death?
“And a Malibu and Pineapple.” He finished his sentence as he slammed back the beer the bartender had sat in front of him. I didn’t stare at him as he did, simply because it felt wrong.
“What’s that?” I hadn’t heard of the drink before.