Inevitable(20)

Bree



Even after sitting in the shower until it ran cold against my skin I still didn’t know what to think, what to say or how to feel. I wanted to hate Zerro, I wanted to see him drown in his own blood, but there was something more. It was as if he anchored me to the ground. Kept me sane enough to push through this mess, even if it was half his fault.

Whoever John truly was, it was a mystery. I knew John had killed Zerro’s mom the moment I walked into the house. I had every intention of confronting him, but never was given the chance.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. He was probably coming to make sure I hadn’t offed myself. I wasn’t that dumb, I didn’t want to die. I had come this far, and to throw it all away with a bullet to the head would be pointless.

“Jared wants to talk to you,” Zerro said gruffly, his voice like warm honey to my body. My body responded to him even when I didn’t want it to.

“Okay,” I simply said pulling the bathroom door open so I could get some clothes. A shirt and pair of sweat pants sat on the bed. No panties and no bra? Hmm… Just the way Zerro liked his women, I’m sure. Not that it really mattered. I was betting they weren’t expecting me.

As I slipped the towel from my body, I watched Zerro. I was done letting him be the one in control. I was done being afraid. I was tired of feeling caged, and if I couldn’t get someone to give me the answers I wanted, then I would get them myself.

“What happened in there doesn’t make us okay,” I said sternly. I had given into my biggest weakness. Him. His eyes twinkled with amusement and a pantie-dropping smirk formed on his face as I pulled on the sweatpants.

“Right… So fucking you senseless won’t make things better, but it’ll get you to forget for a short time.” My eyes narrowed at him. He knew I had used him as a way to let the pain go. He wasn’t dumb and I didn’t expect him to be. I just didn’t think he had me figured out yet.

“Don’t think you have me figured out because you don’t,” I growled, looking him straight in the eyes. He fed off breaking the weak, off making them feel as useless as he felt they were. When I looked at him, I saw a man I loved... and a man who was capable of killing me.

Taking a step forward into my space, his finger traced my bottom lip as if he were memorizing it.

“I don’t think I have you figured out… I always have. There was no thinking needed. Now go,” he ordered. I didn’t want him to think I was listening to him, but I was eager to hear what Jared had to say and if any of it was true.

Balling my hands into fists, I pulled my shirt on ignoring him. Once fully dressed, I walked out of the room slamming the door behind me. That’ll fucking teach him. As childish as it all was, I had been through so much shit. I understood his pain, the feelings he felt about losing his mom. My question was why would you want to inflict the same pain on someone you loved? Someone who had already lost so much.

“Come sit down,” Jared commanded, smiling at me softly. It was impossibly hard to look at him as a half-brother or a relative at all. Passing around the leather couch, I took a chair in the corner. The cushion was soft and I sank right into it.

Training my eyes on his, I spoke softly. “I want to know everything. I want to know what happened and how we got where we are. So much shit has happened in the last month, and I don’t know who to believe and who not to believe. As of right now, I have nothing to lose but my own life.”

He smiled casually taking a seat on the leather couch. I wondered what our father looked like. If he looked like Jared. Hell, I wondered where he had been all these years. What he was doing when my mom was dying of cancer?

“First, as weird as this is… it’s pretty cool to have a sibling. Granted, the death of John is hard on you right now. You have to know he wasn’t your father, though. I know Zerro killing him made it harder than ever to deal with it, but there is more to it than what he just did to Zerro. Though he was my uncle, I still think he deserved to die.”

“Uncle?” I questioned. What the hell was he talking about? John was an only child. I never met my grandparents because they were dead. When mom died, it was simply Dad… I mean John, and a few friends who came to visit.

Scratching at the back of his head as if worried, he looked at the ceiling. “Yes Uncle. As in my dad, I mean our dad and John were brothers. It explains why it was possible for him to push off you being his daughter. Now see... I know your mind is spiraling out of control, but just breathe….”

I couldn’t wipe the shocked expression from my face. My jaw was practically hanging open, and an outpour of anger radiated from somewhere inside me. My whole fucking life had been a lie. A big huge fucking lie.