Inevitable(38)

That explained the connection and why he let me go without a single confrontation. He made it seem like it was his job, and when he smiled, I almost thought Zerro had put him up to it. I honestly wouldn’t put it past him, but now I understood.

“So, because, you know this guy and trusted him and he released her once, you think he’s going to do so again, PLUS protect her with his life?” Jared sounded unbelieving and James looked like he was about ready to punch something. This wasn’t going very well.

“I can take care of myself, guys…” No one looked at me, or even acknowledged what I had said. Fucking men. This was typical of them.

“It doesn’t matter if you can take care of yourself, you shouldn’t have to,” Zerro said sternly as if he were talking to a misbehaving child.

“Well, I can, and I will.” There was no fighting about this. I would do what needed to be done to put all this shit behind us.

“Devon will do all he can to protect Bree. She was unharmed the first time around.”

“Yeah, because John was still alive.” Jared reminded him. At the mention of John's name, a massive hole formed in my chest. I wasn’t sure I would ever get over what he had done to Mom, but I knew I would never forget what he did to me.

“I agree with Jared on this. John being alive helped immensely.” Thinking back on my time spent in the cave, I’m sure my treatment would’ve been far worse if John had already been dead. No matter how much I hate to admit it, in a way, he kept me alive. Even Devon had treated me cruel, but through it all, he never hurt me. He might have messed with my emotions, but he never laid a hand on me.

“Well, Mack knows John is dead,” Zerro said, frustrated with all of us, I was certain.

“Let’s meet this Devon guy before we allow her to go with him willingly. Plus, isn’t Mack going to say something if she isn’t roughed up a bit? What about Devon? There has to be an apparent struggle. It has to look real,” James commented. Ugh. All this talk about death was starting to depress me.

“We’ll figure it out later. The plan is Bree and I meet up with Devon before we go out. Talk to him. Pretend all is normal, and in about a week, Devon comes and gets her. I’ll kick his ass and scruff him up a bit,” Zerro commanded.

“Whatever, but if she gets hurt… it’s on you.” Jared all but scoffed, pushing past Zerro. As the room settled, I stared at him, waiting for whatever it was he would say.

“Just know I will not let anyone spill your blood.” There was so much determination in his eyes it almost frightened me.

“I know. You don’t have to tell me,” I responded, stepping up onto my tiptoes so I could place a kiss on his lips.

“Good,” he said. There was a faraway look in his eyes. Whatever he was thinking wasn’t good. Not for any of us.





The afternoon passed with breeze as I sat on the couch and vegged out with James, and Jared. Zerro was absent for some time before coming out of our bedroom. There was a time when someone needed to be alone. I had been there, done that. I understood the need.

“Thank God! Tell Bree to stop making us watch this extremely distasteful TV drama,” Jared shouted to Zerro, smiling at me. Jerk.

“Hey, fuckface, it’s a hit TV show. Tell us what you created that’s a hit TV show,” I said shooting him a dirty look before directing my attention back to the screen.

“He didn’t create nothing, but I did…” James said, laughing gruffly. What was he talking about?

“Good one, Dad,” Jared said, laughing. Then it hit me… He created Jared and me. Well, kind of created us.

“Good joke, James,” Zerro said coming to sit down next to me. He had a Pepsi in hand, obviously knowing I needed some caffeine. I took the drink from him curious as to what was weighing on his mind.

“Everything okay?” I asked softly, hoping no one else had heard. Keeping his lips sealed tightly, he gave me a curt nod.

“Can we please watch Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleaders or even Football? Hell, I would rather watch Food Network,” Jared complained, which in turn caused me to chuck the remote controller at his head.

“Thank you…” he responded loutishly at me.

“Are you going to be ready to go soon?” Zerro whispered into my hair, one of his hands landing on mine. His skin caused mine to tingle, and the last thing I could think about was he and I going out on a date. I simply wanted him to take me back to the bedroom. Call me fucking crazy, but with all the pain, death, and hate surrounding us, being close to someone made it so much easier to get through.

“Uh, of course. When do you want to leave?” I asked. Zerro had changed so much. He went from being a man who was dark with more secrets than anyone else had to a man I loved. Even though those secrets still lingered, and sometimes I couldn’t decipher his next move, I knew he loved me.