“Really? What’s fucked up is that she threw herself at me over and over again. The night I went to get her from the basement is the night that she tried to come onto me. She wanted me to have sex with her and help her escape. She thought that she could use me…” Mack lies.
My eyes grow large at his lie. He’s fucking lying to the man I love! He’s feeding Zerro lies. They’re all lies.
“That’s a lie,” I declare, walking out of the room. I don’t look at Mack whose eyes are probably boring into me; instead, I focus all my attention on Zerro, begging and pleading with him to know the truth, to believe me.
“I told you the truth. I told you what happened,” I remind him softly, coming to stand near him. I see the gun in his lap and feel like running for the door.
Mack laughs. He actually laughs. “You honestly want to believe this whore over me? Over one of your most trusted men since you came to leadership?”
“That is such a fucking lie! I can’t even stand to look you, much less want to touch you!” I throw at him. I can see the indecision on Zerro’s face and that he doesn’t know who to believe.
“It’s not a lie, and you know it,” Mack counters with such force that I can practically feel the hate in his words.
“It is, and if you were half the man you’re supposed…”
“Enough!” Zerro screams, causing me to take a step away from him. My body and mind are reeling in an attempt to find the loving man who I had been with merely hours ago.
“Go stand over there…” He gestures to me, pointing the gun at me. I scurry across the wood floor near Mack, even though it’s the last place in the world I want to be.
Zerro’s eyes observe both of us. “One of you is lying, and I’m going to fucking find out who.” His eyes are black as he swings the gun back and forth between us.
“I’ve been your right-hand man since before you became the king. You aren’t going to accuse me of lying,” Mack states.
Zerro cocks his head, an evil look crossing his face. It’s then that I know the man standing before me is nothing like the man who made love to me hours before, the man who showed compassion and shared his story with me. Instead, the man standing before me is the shell of that person. This person has no heart, no feelings, nothing can break him simply because he believes he has nothing to lose.
“Prove to me how you aren’t lying.”
“How do you want me to do that?” Mack asks, confused. I keep my mouth shut knowing if I talk out of term, my brains could very well be splattered across the wall.
“Tell me this information that you found on her,” Zerro sneers, unable to look at me or say my name. That has to mean something, right? That has to mean he feels something for me. That if he points the gun, he won’t actually pull the trigger, right?
Mack shuffles his feet back and forth for a moment as if he’s nervous. Then he talks, and my life spirals out of control.
“I found out from one of Luccio’s men that her father works for the FBI.” The second the words leave his mouth, I’m retaliating.
“Lies! It’s all lies! This whole thing is a lie!” I frantically assert over and over again. Tears escape my eyes, and I go to turn around, but am stopped. Zerro’s hold on me is tight as he places the gun against my lips. His eyes hold no mercy as he bruises me.
“Is that true?” he inquires, deathly calm. The tears keep coming, so I’m unable to gain my voice to say anything. Without an answer, he loses it.
“Is that fucking true?” he screams, his face right on mine. His hands grip my arms as he shakes me until my teeth rattle in my head.
All I see is a blur of him as I try to get my mind and body to function so I can answer him. My legs hit the floor as he pushes me down, releasing me to walk away. His hand grips his hair as he stares at the gun in his other hand and then back down at me.
“No. No, it’s not true,” I whimper, tears still falling.
“That’s not all, sir.” Mack breaks in. What now? What additional lies can he come up with? What more could rip me to pieces than Zerro thinking that my father is in the FBI? That I had betrayed him?
“Tell me,” Zerro grits out, his eyes still on mine.
“Don’t listen to him,” I plead, looking him straight in the eyes.
“Silence,” he orders, walking over to me with his hand raised. Will he hit me? Will he hurt me?
“Talk.” He turns back to Mack. All I want to do is cover my ears. I don’t want to listen to the lies that bastard will spew.
“Not only is her dad in the FBI, but he was the one who shot and killed your mother.”