We share the same blood, family.
Family means everything to me.
"So, what's the plan?" I ask, feeling relieved to have his support. Finally it feels like our relationship is on the mend, Aunty Myra would be over the moon. Tobias is silent for a few moments, his eyes turning cold and emotionless. When he speaks, his voice is cold and dark, full of revenge.
"We kill him.”
Chapter Sixty One - Revenge is best served by two.
Jake's POV -
Tobias stands and walks to the door silently before closing it over. He turns back towards me, his posture straight and his eyes dark.
"We kill him," he repeats and I stare at him in shock before laughing loudly.
"You want us to kill Amil?" I choke out and Tobias simply stares back at me, eyebrows raised. I still, my laughter dying out as I take in his serious facial expression.
"Holy shit Tobias, you're serious."
"Yeah, I'm serious." Tobias confirms, walking over to my punching bag. I watch as he holds it between his hands, letting it stand absolutely still before his arm flies backwards and he lands a heavy punch onto it. The bag flies back from the impact of his punch and I raise my brow at him, impressed by his force.
"Nice punch," I state and he grins at me.
"Just pretend this is Amil," he says, pointing to the bag.
"We beat the living crap out of him, let him die slowly. . . He doesn't stand a chance with the both of us." He explains his plan and I nod, registering his words.
"What about his family, his allies? You don't think they'll find us? People look for a dead man Tobias. Especially an important dead man."
"No, I don't think they'll find us. Think about it Jake, Amil has multiple enemies, the man's a walking target. There's too many people out there that want to see him dead, not just us."
I know he's right.
This isn't the first time someone plotted to murder Amil. However I also know it isn't as straight forward as it appears.
"Amil has men constantly with him, he even shits with someone standing outside his bathroom door. He carries two guns on him and a knife strapped to his leg. You think we can beat that?" I ask, my confidence dropping.
"That's our advantage Jake. We know how he works, how his brain works. We know the in's and out's of the gang. We know what they plan to do and when they plan to do it. We can do this Jake! We can actually do this." Tobias says excitedly, his voice rising.
"I have a few men I trust who can help us if we need it, especially since you're injured. We need to do this as soon as possible Jake." Tobias adds. The silence grows in the room as I think hard about his proposition.
Can we actually kill Amil?
I'm not going to lie, the thought had crossed my mind multiple times. I also know Tobias wants his revenge on Amil and this would be the perfect chance for him to get it.
It would be the Melvin's against the bad guys. Just like the old days. Tobias and I, taking on the world. Despite how much Tobias hurt me, I miss him. I miss the unbreakable brotherly bond between us.
"Let's do it," I say quietly, my voice cold. It's time for revenge and revenge is definitely best served by two.
*****
Tobias' POV -
"Ivory I need you to stay away from the house for a few days," I say firmly, throwing a wad of cash onto her bed.
"Pack a bag," I add before turning to leave the room. I hear her scoff loudly and turn to see her eyes wide with shock as she stares me out.
"You want me to leave my own house? No Tobias," she says angrily, kicking the money off her bed. It lands softly onto her bedroom carpet and I sigh, bending down to pick it up.
"Sweetheart, please. Me and Jake need you away from here for your own safety."
She's my little sister, I can't risk her getting involved in our drama. I vowed to keep her out and away from the gang as much as possible.
"I can handle myself" she says strongly and I nod —
"No-one said you couldn't. We just need to sort a few things out Ivory."
Her face softens and she takes the money from my hands. I take a seat on her bed, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She instantly places her head on me, sighing deeply.
"I have to go, don't I?"
"It's not for long Ivory," I murmur.
"Promise me you'll both stay safe. Whatever it is that you're doing, promise me you'll be okay."
I nod my head, my grip around her tightening.
"I promise we'll be okay."
"Where am I supposed to go Tobias?" Ivory asks quietly.
"Stay at a friend's."
"Can I stay at Ben's?" She asks me, her eyes lighting up. Her entire body language seems to perk up from the mention of this Ben. Jake shuffles to her doorway, groaning a little from the pain. He makes leaning against her doorway look like major effort.
"Who the hell is Ben?" We both respond in unison, giving her a hard glare. She bites the inside of her cheek, glancing between me and Jake.
"Just a friend," she replies playfully, jumping up off the bed and heading to her wardrobe.
"No boys." I say firmly and Jake nods, agreeing with me.
"You're not staying with a boy Ivory," Jake adds, making his way inside her room. I watch as his jaw clenches tightly, knowing he's in pain.
"He's just a friend guys, chill out."
"No boys!" We both say at the same time once again. She rolls her eyes, breathing out deeply.
"Jeez, calm down. Stop going all crazy alpha male on me," she mutters and I raise my brow at her, leaning forward to jab her in the ribs.
"Ouch! Tobias!" She yells, slapping my hand away and Jake chuckles whilst I grin back at her.
"Why don't you go stay with Emily?" I suggest, noticing how Jake's posture freezes next to me. He's silent and the awkward tension at the mention of her name physically makes me squirm.
"Yeah I think I will, I miss her." Ivory sighs, unaware of Jake's hostile switch in personality. Ivory picks her phone up and presses a few buttons, holding it up to her ear. Emily's muffled voice answers on the other end and I place a hand on Jake's shoulder.
"Are you alright?" I ask him and he nods silently, his jaw clenched tightly. I don't miss the pain that fills his eyes from the sound of her voice.
He stands off the bed, brushing my hand off him and walks towards the door, limping from his injuries. I watch him go silently, feeling bad for him. Images of me kissing Emily flash through my mind and I shake my head at my question of loyalty to him.
I can't prevent the somersault that my stomach does as I remember her soft lips on mine, the way she felt.
"Fuck," I mutter, running a hand through my hair and over my face.
"What's wrong with you?" Ivory asks, ending her call and throwing her phone onto the bed. She gives me a funny questioning look and I shrug at her, standing up off her bed.
"Nothing, be gone by tonight please Ivory." I lie, remembering the main reason I was here. I give her a small smile before exiting her room, shutting the door softly behind me.
I need to get over Emily and fast.
*****
Emily's POV -
"Hey! I've missed you," I say happily, pulling her into a hug. Ivory rang me a few hours earlier asking if she could stay with me for a few days and Pops agreed to it.
"As long as you two don't be throwing wild parties here then it's fine by me Elly," he said before wondering off down his garden to the little allotment he spends most of his time in.
"Are you sure I'm okay to stay with you? I have a few other places I can go if it's any bother," Ivory says, looking at me gratefully. I shake my head —
"No way, you're practically family," I smile, feeling relieved to have some sort of distraction away from Jake.
"Why have you been kicked out?" I ask, taking her bags off her and setting them down beside the couch. She scrunches her face up, popping herself down on the couch before letting out a breath —
"Tobias kicked me out for a fe
w days. . . Something that he and Jake had to do apparently."
At the mention of Tobias, I remember how he'd kissed me and my hands flew to my lips, tracing my bottom one.
"Are Jake and Tobias okay with each other?"
"Yeah they seem a lot closer, do you want some pizza? My treat." Ivory grins at me and I nod at her silently, causing her to fist pump the air before leaving the room to make the call.
So it seems Tobias hadn't told Jake about the kiss.
I sit down on the couch and immediately feel bad for him, he should know. If I've learned anything over these past few months, it's that secrets always find a way to be discovered and they would often tear relationships apart once bought to light.
Ivory bounces back into the room, taking a seat next to me.
"I ordered the pizza, should be here soon."
"With extra cheese?"
"Extra, extra cheese," she chuckles and I hold my palm out for a high five. Ivory slaps me back, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"How have you been?" She asks suddenly, her tone turning serious. I sigh, knowing the topic of Jake would resurface soon.
"I'm kind of an emotional mess right now. . . I miss him so much." I say truthfully and Ivory pouts, giving me a sympathetic look.
"He misses you too, you guys should talk," she encouraged me and I shake my head, talking isn't what we need right now. We need to have some distance between us, time to sort things out for good.
"I think we've talked enough," I say, giving her a tight smile. She nods at me understandingly before her eyes light up, practically sparkling.
"Emily, I met a boy and I really like him." Ivory blurts out, slapping her hand over her mouth. I gasp, squealing in excitement for her.
"You never told me! Details please?" I respond eagerly and she grins, settling further into the couch. She crosses over her legs and I do the same so we're facing each other.
"His name is Ben and he's really nice," she starts off and I can tell by her face she's already in love with him. Her eyes shine brightly and her entire expression beams as she speaks about him.
"He's insanely sweet and he calls me his Ivory-Bear." She sighs, looking off somewhere into the distance like a love sick puppy. I wave my hand in front of her face, holding back a laugh.
"Hello, Earth to Ivory-Bear."
Ivory glares at me for teasing her.
"Sorry, my bad. Where did you meet him?" I ask her, genuinely feeling happiness for her. She deserves the best in the world and it seems with Ben, she's happy.
"I met him at a party. He goes to a different college but he's a friend of a friend of Tobias'. I haven't told the boys yet, they get super over protective."
"Oh come on, they can't be that bad," I respond . She gives me a questioning look before replying —
"The last time I had a boyfriend was a year ago. When they found out I lost my virginity to him, they kidnapped him from his house in the middle of the night and left him stranded in the next town over... They stripped him naked and left him without a phone. He broke up with me the next day and I was so mad but the boys acted like they had done nothing wrong. Apparently, he had it coming the whole time, sleeping with me was the last straw."
I sit there shocked, my mouth hanging wide open.
"No way!" I gasp out, choking back a laugh.
"Yes way," she responds, raising her eyebrow.
"So now I'm keeping Ben a secret, I can't lose him because of those two idiots!" She says frustratingly. I totally understand where she's coming from.
"I slept with Jake," I blurt out, slapping a hand over my mouth. My eyes widen a little as I take in Ivory's shocked expression.
"No way! Oh my god!" She yells, jumping up and down on the couch. I nod silently, still unable to move the hand from my mouth.
"Why didn't you tell me? Ew gross, that's my cousin!" She yells and I chuckle nervously, biting my bottom lip.
"It only happened once," I reveal, a blush creeping up my neck and onto my face.
"Wait! Was it your first time?"
I nod silently, my cheeks practically on fire right now. I've thought about that night over and over again, never wanting to forget a single second of it. He felt amazing, he felt right. Jake was so sweet with me, careful and considerate. I remember the pain on his face, the love in his eyes. Tears pricked my own as I thought about him, every inch of his beautiful features.
"I hate that you two are fighting right now, you're perfect for each other," Ivory says softly, pulling me into her arms as she notices the glossy sheen in my eyes.
"Things need to change Ivory," I murmur, holding on to her tightly. It feels like I'm slipping into a deep hole, unable to escape. I clutch onto Ivory like my life depends on it because I fear if I let go, I'll fall deeper into the hole.
"Jake will make it right, give him some time Emily."
I hold onto her words, repeating them over and over again in my head.
"I hope so," I whisper, blinking back tears.
"I really, really hope so.”
Chapter Sixty Two - Have a little faith.
Jake's POV -
"Tobias, get the door."
"No, you get it," Tobias hits back, sounding irritated. We're both sprawled out in the living room, aimlessly watching the television.
"Dude I can't move without feeling like I'm snapping something. Answer the door before I drop kick you." I reply, rolling my eyes in his direction. Tobias huffs and stands off the couch, dusting off his clothes.
"Lazy good for nothing idiot," he mutters under his breath, loud enough for me to hear it. I grab the cushion behind my head and swing it at him. It hits his head hard before bouncing off the floor and I laugh loudly, wincing a little from the pain in my sides.
"Hey!" He yells, disappearing out the doorway to answer the door. I hear him chatting quietly before the door slams shut and he walks in holding two pizza boxes. "Pizza's here."
"State the obvious Sherlock." I respond. Tobias frowns at me —
"God, you're the definition of sarcasm sometimes, you know that? Its good to have you back," he grins, punching my arm lightly. I give him a small smile in response.
"Did you get me extra cheese?" I ask, changing the subject. Tobias nods, pushing one of the boxes in my direction.
"You and Emily are obsessed with extra cheese," He mutters playfully before realising what he'd said. I look away from him and feel my chest tightening —
"Can we have a conversation without bringing up Emily?" I snap, opening up the box and grabbing a pizza slice. Tobias holds his hands up in surrender, his eyebrow raised at me.
"Why don't you fix things with her?" He argues back. I sigh deeply, slapping my pizza back down onto the coffee table.
"She doesn't want me whilst I'm in the gang Tobias. What do you want me to do? Lie to her? I won't do that, she deserves better. She deserves so much better."
My voice cracks with pain. Every time her name is mentioned, I feel a deep lump lodge itself inside my throat making it difficult to talk or breathe.
"You're not happy without her," Tobias states, sitting down on the other couch. He leans backwards and put his pizza box on his knee before opening it up and reaching for a slice. He didn't even wait for it to cool down before taking a large bite, demolishing half the pizza in seconds.
"You eat like a pig," I mutter wanting to change the subject desperately. Tobias scoffs at my words, chewing quickly before swallowing.
"You always stole my food when we were kids. I had to teach myself to survive."
I chuckle as I remember the fond memories. I would always steal his food and he'd sit there whinging about it before he finally had enough and punched me one day, giving me a black eye. I didn't dare steal even a crumb of his food since that day.
"I was a growing boy, I needed my vitamins." I explain in my defence. I reach for a slice of pizza and lean back, biting into it. Extra cheese is the definitely the one.
"You were such a pain in the ass." Tobia
s said putting it nicely. That's definitely not the words I would have used to describe me as a child. I was difficult, that was certain. Every day me and Tobias would bike around the town causing mischief and mayhem everywhere we went. We spent every single day together as children and they were easily some of the best days of my life.
"Remember that day you climbed the tree and got stuck on the top branch? Your shoe fell off and you were screaming for help. Your face was priceless." I chuckle, struggled to contain my laughter. I hear Tobias snort beside me, laughing from the memory.
"I remember that! I was so scared, you stood at the bottom laughing at me before you finally climbed up with my shoe and helped me down," he chuckled fondly, shaking his head.
"You always were a shit climber," I add, glancing at my phone. Still no call of text from the gang or Emily. I sigh as my attention is diverted back to all the problems I have going on in my life right now.
"Life was simpler as a kid" I comment letting him in on my thoughts. He nods, his mouth full of pizza before mumbling —
"I agree."
I grimace at the sight of him and throw a cushion his way. It misses and lands beside him and he stares at it, his eyes narrowing.
"Dude! Stop throwing things at me!" He yells, finally swallowing the chunks of pizza in his mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full Tobias, that's rude." I scold him, a smirk on my face. He shakes his head at me before flipping me off and I roll my eyes at his childish behaviour. I realise we're both acting childish. . .
That's how we express our love for one other.
*****
"Are you gonna eat that?" I motion towards the last slice left of Tobias' pizza. His glances at my empty box before his eyebrows raise in surprise.
"Go ahead, it's all yours," he replies, imitating a pig. I chuckle as he snorted one last time at me and passes the slice over which I gladly take.
"What time are the others getting here?" I ask just as the doorbell rang. Tobias jumps up and waltz towards the door, running a hand through his hair.
"Good timing," he responds at me and I nod hearing him open the door. The sound of greetings fill the house and the living room door swings open revealing four of Tobias' and my friends.
His Mission (HIS SERIES Book 1) Page 36