Inevitable(30)

“Don’t be nervous, Piccolo,” Zerro said calmly as if he was trying to calm my raging nerves.

“I’m not…” I lied, forcing my attention to something else. I was tired of talking about me.

“He is a nice man, I promise you,” Zerro said, taking another enormous bite of the apple. Only he could make eating an apple look sexy.

“You know him?” I asked. I wasn’t aware Zerro had met him. Hell, I wasn’t aware of a lot of things.

“Yes. Jared’s family and mine go way back. No worries, love, you’ll be fine.” He sent me one of those smiles that made my knees weak before he got up from the table and tossing the apple in the garbage all at once.

“I have to shower. I’ll be back.” And just like that, he was gone.

“Yup, see you soon,” Jared said hanging up the phone. See you soon? Gah. This meant I would come face to face with my real father soon.





The rest of the afternoon passed with ease. I set in the living room most of the time reading. I was bored, and basically, on house arrest. At least, until we got rid of Mack and the FBI.

I was told not to turn the news on, but I did anyway. It turned out I shouldn’t have. John, my so-called father’s face was plastered on the screen. The news channel was talking about his murder, and how the FBI was on the lookout for anyone with any answers to how his death came about. I had two words for them—Alzerro King. Though I’m sure they knew it already.

“He’s here,” Jared said from across the room as he paced the floor for the twentieth time. My stomach was in knots by the time I heard the doorbell ring, and I was about ready to vomit on the floor the second I heard his greeting. It sounded unlike anything I had ever heard.

“Son,” my dad said as he greeted Jared. His voice was a mixture of honey and gravel mixed together.

“Dad,” Jared said in a joking manner, wrapping his father in a tight hug. I stayed seated not sure if I should really get up or not. Not sure if my legs would really carry me or not.

They walked through the entryway, and his dark eyes slid across the room until they landed on me. He looked very similar to John in many ways, which made sense because they were brothers. His eyes were dark, his face worn, and his eyes held a look of sadness in them. They brightened slightly upon landing on me, but otherwise, he looked like a man who was born on hard times.

His body was lean and large. He had to be close to six-foot-two, if not taller.

“Bree?” he said. My name was completely unnatural to his tongue. His words shook as if he was in a state of shock. Smiling softly, I stood, taking small steps to where he was standing. As I grew closer to him, I took notice of the color of his eyes, and how they matched my own. His nose was the same shape as mine, and like a small child, I had to stop myself from tracing the similarities on his face.

“That’s me,” I said almost shy like. I wasn’t ever shy, scared shitless maybe, but shy? No. That girl was long gone.

In a moment's time, I was wrapped in his arms as he reached out, pulling me into his arms. His body encompassed my small frame as the smell of smoke and cologne hit me.

“I can’t believe it, I’m so sorry.” He sounded on the verge of tears, which was strange because he didn’t seem as if he were a man who often cried.

“Let’s go sit and talk,” Jared suggested ushering us into the living room. James released me with hesitation as if he thought I would skip away into the fog. He stared at me for a long moment, simply smiling. His eyes looked glassy, and as soon as he blinked, it disappeared. I turned around on my heels and headed for the same seat I had before.

“I can’t even believe this… I’m so flabbergasted,” James said shocked as if he couldn’t really believe I was here.

“Don’t worry, you weren’t the only one shocked as all hell,” I added, looking over at him as he took the seat next to me. The leather against my skin was the only thing keeping me in place. I was honestly scared to find out about the past.

Smiling, he cocked his head. “You look just like your mother—God, Samantha was beautiful.” I could hear the reminiscence in his voice.

“Thanks,” I said, unsure of what else there was to say. I was slightly angry he wasn’t there for her upon her death and hadn’t come for me.

“I’m so sorry about missing all these years. Your mother never told me about you. She just kind of disappeared, and then suddenly, she was sick, and…” He stopped midsentence seeing the sadness seep onto my face.

“It’s still kind of hard to talk about her.”

“Of course, of course,” he said running a hand through his dark brown hair. He shared the same hair color as Jared and me, which made me think back to what Jared had said about losing his own mother. Our father had lost two loves in his life. His heartache ran deep.