by J. L. Beck
“Take her to the room. I don’t care what the fuck you do with her. Rough her up, fuck her, hit her, do whatever you want with her.” I could hear Mack’s voice over the pounding in my ears, and as I stared off into the distance, I watched him walk away. His footsteps echoed in every part of my mind.
Then everything went black.
*
When I came to, I was on an old mattress in a room that smelled like dust and paper. A body lay next to mine, and as I rolled over slowly, I could feel my heart racing. Nothing had happened, at least not yet. My body felt okay, my cheek hurt like a bitch and my wrists ached, but aside from that, I was okay.
As I took in the body, I noticed it was Devon. His bright green eyes shone back at me. His face held no emotion, and I wondered if I was really even safe with him.
“I told you to keep your mouth shut. I told you to stay quiet, Bree. You didn’t.” He was frustrated with me, and I couldn’t blame him. I was dumb to think this situation was similar to the one I had gone through with Zerro. My defiance would win me nothing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Mean to what? Almost blow my cover? Are you crazy right now? I could’ve killed the bastard simply for hitting you. Instead, I had to stand there and do nothing,” he said grinding his teeth with sheer force. He was pissed.
“I won’t do it again,” I said sounding completely defeated. What had happened to the strong woman I once was? Was I finally considering I might die? I wasn't weak, but merely staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I didn’t want to die.
“You’re right, you won’t. There won’t be a second chance, Bree,” Devon said blowing a breath. The room was cold, and a shudder ran through me as the air settled deep into my bones.
“What do we do next?” I was hesitant to ask if Zerro was going to come. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. I just knew he should’ve been here by now.
“Nothing. You sit here and pretend like I’m hurting you. It’s expected of me. If he thinks I’m lying in the slightest, he’ll kill both of us,” Devon exclaimed examining me.
“How do we do that?” I wasn’t going to let him actually touch me.
“Like this...” he simply said reaching over to tear the top of my shirt. Cold air hit my chest with only a piece of fabric draped over the right side of my boob. My shoulder and upper arm were completely exposed. Then he pulled out a knife, and I backed up, wondering what would come next. Instead of him turning the blade on me, he simply ran the blade against his own skin. Small, thin, pink scratches showed on his face and throat.
He looked as if I had actually attempted to attack him.
“Does it look believable?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, wanting to cover up. I felt too exposed. I was no longer safe here, and more than anything else, it terrified me.
“He’ll come, Bree. He always does.” The way he said it made me feel as if he knew Zerro more than I gave him credit for.
“How do you know? What’s your past with him anyway? And whose side are you on?” I peppered him with questions, anything to get my mind off the present.
He stared at me blankly for a moment before smiling at me. He was so young, couldn’t be much older than I was. How he had managed to get in the FBI, I didn’t know. Nor did I have the intention of asking. He was a looker, and someday, he would make a woman proud.
“There is no side, sweetheart. Just the winning and losing. I go with whoever has the best fighting chance.” As his words entered my mind, and I repeated them to myself, I understood what he was saying.
“You traitor. You fucking, lying traitor,” I yelled, my voice full of fire and rage. He wasn’t choosing a side he was playing both. The fucker was playing both teams until he knew who was going to win.
“Shhh…” he whisper-yelled, placing a hand over my mouth to shield any further yelling on my behalf. Instead of responding, I looked at him with the need to slice him open.
“I’m not a fucking traitor. I work for the good guys. If I didn’t think I could protect you, I wouldn’t have made the deal. Now shut your mouth before he comes in here,” he said giving me a cold stare. Slowly, he removed his hand from my mouth, and the need to throw obscenities in his direction was large. Instead, I kept my mouth shut not wanting to cause further delays.
Minutes passed, maybe even hours, and slowly but surely, my eyelids grew heavier with every passing second. We didn’t look at one another or even utter a word, and as I closed my eyes, and then opened them back up fighting sleep, I saw the genuine concern in his eyes. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me. At least not yet.
“Go to sleep. If he comes in, I’ll make up some lie,” he mumbled, placing his head against the wall.
I nodded, leaning my head against the hard mattress. In a moment’s time, my mind was headed to a place where death couldn’t touch me.
Alzerro King’s arms.
Chapter Nineteen
Zerro
“They have her, Zerro.” Jared rushed into the house. His voice was full of panic, and as I stood there staring and doing nothing, I felt the guilt eating at me. I should’ve fucking told her. I should’ve warned her.
“I know,” I simply murmured. I hated myself more than anything in this one moment. Jared and James’s eyes both turned to me, fire deeply buried 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 was angry, and he had every right to be. I had put Bree 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 was nothing more or less I could say for them to understand. I had to do it this way, and it killed me. It would kill me even more to go in there and see all she had to endure because of me.
“Needed…? You’re fucking crazy…” Jared aspirated loudly, his arms flying into the air. “I should’ve known. I should’ve known you never fucking loved her. She was nothing but a pawn to you. Nothing but an inn—” I couldn’t listen to him saying things about me that were so untrue. So I did something about it.
Picking him up by the front of his shirt, I shoved him against the wall, getting right in his face. I didn’t care how we had been friends forever or that he was Bree’s brother.
“Never. I mean never accuse me of not caring about her. Never accuse me of being 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 released him with a shove as I watched the anger leave 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.
“You—you should’ve told us, Alzerro,” James stuttered over his words. I was certain he was shocked as shit. I didn’t care if my feelings were known. I was an open book from here on out. All that mattered was getting in there to kill Mack, take Bree, and to run as far we could get.
“Oh, really. Told you what? How I was feeding Bree to the monster? Or if she died, it would be her blood on my hands. Fuck no. I didn’t need any more judgment for having to do than I already have.” I was fueling my own rage as I spoke words I had kept hidden all day.
Bree knew something was wrong. She knew I wasn’t being me, and when I left the bathroom after fucking her, I slipped into the old person I used to be. Knowing I would have to do it again really soon made me feel even worse.
“We’re not judging you, Alzerro. Nothing of what we have said is judgment.” James was trying to cool me down, but it wasn’t working.
“It is. I allowed my mother to die, and I will not be the reason Bree dies,” I growled, my teeth clenching so hard I wondered when my jaw would snap.
“Bree is strong. She can handle this,” Jared added
, concern etched into his features. What the fuck did he care? The fact was she shouldn’t have to be strong. She shouldn’t have to go through all of this.
“She shouldn’t have to, Jared. That’s the fucking point. It’s why when all this is over we’re going to go away so she never has to face any of this again.” The shock showed on his face and answered any and all questions I had.
“You’re going to leave the Mafia behind?” Jared asked. The air was sucked out of the room as I continued to wrap my head around my choice. I didn’t know how I would do it. After Mack was dead, it would be my job to rebuild the legacy, or let it crumble…
The FBI would be all over me, and I knew there was a small chance Bree and I wouldn’t get a happily ever after, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t fight for it tooth and nail. She was mine. She was getting whatever she wanted.
“Yes. I’m leaving. I don’t want in anymore.” I threw the words out there as if I had a fucking choice in the matter. I knew I didn’t, but I still wanted to address my choice.
“You know they won’t let you go…” Jared commented with his stating the obvious banter. As if I didn’t already fucking know it. But who were they?
“I’m Alzerro fucking King. I make my own choices. I don’t need anyone telling me what I’m going to do. Stand in my way and you’ll die.” My voice was deadly as I slipped into the old person I was—part of me had never truthfully left.
“Where do we go from here?”
I turned looked to James. There was no way I was bringing him into all of this. Bree had already lost one father… She shouldn’t lose her real one.
“You aren’t going unless it’s to drive the vehicle.” My phone chimed in my pocket, and as I glanced up at the clock on the wall, I realized it was time to go. Six is the time we agreed.
Reaching into my pocket, I retrieved the phone. Sliding my fingers over the screen, I read the message.
Devon: She’s asleep. Hysterical, of course. Mack’s getting antsy.
That was all the message said. Not that I expected much more from him. I couldn’t expect him to give me the whole fucking update in 160 characters. I wouldn’t be okay until she was in my arms.
“We go now,” I commanded. My gun was strapped to my side, and on my backside, knives were hidden where I could easily grab them. My black boots were in place. I was ready to take his heart and rip it the fuck out.
“Then let’s go. I’m ready.” I wanted to tell Jared he couldn’t come, but I needed someone else. I needed someone to take her and get the fuck out of dodge if shit got bad. I knew it would—this was Mack, and he played nothing less than dirty.
I stood in silence as I watched Jared pull out his piece and place it at his back. He was trained well.
James slipped into his coat and out the door. For a second, I wanted to breathe in the air inside the house. Her scent surrounded me and invaded every part of my body. She wasn’t just mine; she was a part of me. Her body lived through mine. I stopped outside the car looking at the house where, for just a small amount of time, I had a taste of normal life. I didn’t know what would happen after all of this, but I knew if I had one wish, it would be to be able to come back here… When all this was over.
“Coming…” Jared questioned opening his door before hopping in the back seat. I nodded my head, jumping in the SUV as I told James the address to the place.
This all had to end with Bree alive. I owed her my life.
*
Pulling up to the abandoned factory, I sighed. There wasn’t a car in sight. We were miles off a beaten path, and if someone called the police, I wasn’t sure they would find us. Good, I thought to myself. So when Mack was screaming for me to stop breaking his bones over and over again, no one would hear him.
“Ready for this?” Jared asked as if he could simply talk me out of it. There was no way I was leaving her with that monster; after all, I had trained him to be that way.
Gripping my gun in my hand hard, I opened the car door and signaled for James to circle around as if he was turning around somewhere. Then I crept to the nearest door and busted into the place like I owned it. My heart was racing, and my palms were sweaty. I wasn’t sure what I would discover—if he had downright killed Bree knowing I would come or not.
As I pushed through the door, my eyes took in all the metal beams surrounding us. Machinery was pushed out of the way and littered throughout the building. In the center of the room was a small body lying on the floor. Even from the distance, I could see it was Bree.
Her hair was matted, and though she wasn’t bound or tied to anything, I knew there had to be a reason she was lying on the ground.
“Nice of you to join us.” Mack’s sickening voice sounded throughout the room as I watched him grip her by the back of the head. She cried out in pain as our eyes met across the room. Terror filled them and I almost slipped. I almost let the mask fall from my face, even just to give her a chance to see I was here.
Before I could even respond to him, I watched him pull a gun out and point it at her head. She didn’t move. Her eyes never left mine, and I could tell she thought this was the end.
Chapter Twenty
Bree
I heard the sound of a door being knocked down and then Mack was yanking me by my hair. My eyes focused on the figure standing across from me, and it took every bone in my body to not cry out in happiness as our eyes connected. His were void of all emotion. A cold, hard stare was all I saw, spiking my fear more as the hold Mack had on me grew tighter.
Zerro said nothing to Mack’s welcoming, and as the gun came into view, I thought I saw a sliver of fear fill his eyes, but as fast as I saw it, it was gone.
“Come to collect your whore?” Mack’s voice boomed in my ear as he cocked the gun against my head. I knew there was no way of getting out of it this time. This was far different from the time Zerro had held a gun to my head.
“My whore?” Zerro’s face turned business-like as he raised an eyebrow up in questioning. My eyes lingered to Jared, who was standing behind and to the right of Zerro. Why would he bring him?
“Yes, this one right here, the one with a bullet cocked and loaded for her. She fucked Devon—you know that, right? You remember Devon, right?” The way he said it made it seem like he didn’t know Devon was working with us… Or maybe he did. Time stood still as Zerro covered the distance between us. His eyes stayed on Mack—even though I wanted nothing more than for him to stare at me.
I didn’t dare move. I knew Mack wasn’t fucking around. He would shoot me at point blank range just to make a fucking point.
“Did he enjoy her tight pussy?” he asked smirking. My own heartbeat sped up as I realized what he had said. This had to be a joke. He had to be playing or something. There was no way he was actually getting ‘buddy-buddy’ with him.
“Well, not the reaction I was expecting, but why don’t you ask him yourself,” Mack said gesturing to Devon, who had just entered the scene coming through the bedroom door he had been keeping me in.
His pants were unbuckled, and he buckled them as if to emphasize he had in fact fucked me. I looked innately at Zerro waiting for something to show on his face. Something showing anger or rage. Something that said this was a trick.
“See…” Zerro paused looking down at me then to Mack. “She means nothing to me. Though her cunt is one of my favorites, she’s not worth actually keeping around for a long time.” What? What did he say? I was stunned…
My chest was shaking with every breath, and as I heard the words over and over again in my head, I felt the slap of them against my skin.
“She means nothing to you?” Mack asked as surprised as I was. This had to be a joke. My mind slipped back to the shower. The words he had said…
“Remember, no matter what, I love you, Bree. I always have, I always will. Okay?”
That must be why he was doing this. He wanted me to make sure I knew, even though he was going to have to hurt me, he still loved me.
�
��Nope. Not a fucking thing. Now let’s settle this like men.” Zerro said as he dismissed me and the entire conversation.
“You’re bluffing,” Mack said. I could hear the smile in his voice as he pushed me forward and to the ground. My knees hit against the concrete so hard my teeth rattled. Tears sprang from my eyes falling slowly down my cheeks.
“Bluffing? I think you of all people would know if I were bluffing Mack.” Zerro’s voice was in full command mode. I prayed silently Mack hadn’t called his bluff.
“That’s just it. I know you. You’re bluffing. I know it because I watched you. I knew the look you had in your eyes because it was one I had in mine not too long ago.” Mack sounded like he was headed down memory lane, and I didn’t want to hear about the carnage it took to make him so sick and twisted.
“Move on from it, Mack. I didn’t know you were together. It didn’t matter anyway. She had to die.” She had to die? Who was she?
“You made me kill her, Alzerro. You made me kill the woman I loved. I pleaded with you to let her live, and you still made me pull the trigger.” Mack was screaming, and I felt the gun at the back of my head again as he pushed it against my scalp hard. For a small moment, I allowed myself to feel sorry for him. A tiny shred of me understood his pain, but like I told Zerro, we all had a path to choose. He chose the wrong one.
“Love is weakness, Mack. You and I both know it,” Zerro spat, his words flung hard at Mack. A loud laugh filled the room as Mack pushed me across the concrete until I was kneeling before Zerro.