“Yes, this one right here, the one with a bullet cocked and loaded for her. She fucked Devon—you know that, right? You remember Devon, right?” The way he said it made it seem like he didn’t know Devon was working with us… Or maybe he did. Time stood still as Zerro covered the distance between us. His eyes stayed on Mack—even though I wanted nothing more than for him to stare at me.
I didn’t dare move. I knew Mack wasn’t fucking around. He would shoot me at point blank range just to make a fucking point.
“Did he enjoy her tight pussy?” he asked smirking. My own heartbeat sped up as I realized what he had said. This had to be a joke. He had to be playing or something. There was no way he was actually getting ‘buddy-buddy’ with him.
“Well, not the reaction I was expecting, but why don’t you ask him yourself,” Mack said gesturing to Devon, who had just entered the scene coming through the bedroom door he had been keeping me in.
His pants were unbuckled, and he buckled them as if to emphasize he had in fact fucked me. I looked innately at Zerro waiting for something to show on his face. Something showing anger or rage. Something that said this was a trick.
“See…” Zerro paused looking down at me then to Mack. “She means nothing to me. Though her cunt is one of my favorites, she’s not worth actually keeping around for a long time.” What? What did he say? I was stunned…
My chest was shaking with every breath, and as I heard the words over and over again in my head, I felt the slap of them against my skin.
“She means nothing to you?” Mack asked as surprised as I was. This had to be a joke. My mind slipped back to the shower. The words he had said…
“Remember, no matter what, I love you, Bree. I always have, I always will. Okay?”
That must be why he was doing this. He wanted me to make sure I knew, even though he was going to have to hurt me, he still loved me.
“Nope. Not a fucking thing. Now let’s settle this like men.” Zerro said as he dismissed me and the entire conversation.
“You’re bluffing,” Mack said. I could hear the smile in his voice as he pushed me forward and to the ground. My knees hit against the concrete so hard my teeth rattled. Tears sprang from my eyes falling slowly down my cheeks.
“Bluffing? I think you of all people would know if I were bluffing Mack.” Zerro’s voice was in full command mode. I prayed silently Mack hadn’t called his bluff.
“That’s just it. I know you. You’re bluffing. I know it because I watched you. I knew the look you had in your eyes because it was one I had in mine not too long ago.” Mack sounded like he was headed down memory lane, and I didn’t want to hear about the carnage it took to make him so sick and twisted.
“Move on from it, Mack. I didn’t know you were together. It didn’t matter anyway. She had to die.” She had to die? Who was she?
“You made me kill her, Alzerro. You made me kill the woman I loved. I pleaded with you to let her live, and you still made me pull the trigger.” Mack was screaming, and I felt the gun at the back of my head again as he pushed it against my scalp hard. For a small moment, I allowed myself to feel sorry for him. A tiny shred of me understood his pain, but like I told Zerro, we all had a path to choose. He chose the wrong one.
“Love is weakness, Mack. You and I both know it,” Zerro spat, his words flung hard at Mack. A loud laugh filled the room as Mack pushed me across the concrete until I was kneeling before Zerro.
“If that’s true, then kill her. If she means nothing to you, kill her. An eye for an eye as you always said.” Mack quoted Zerro as if he had memorized the very saying. I looked up at the man before me, the dark shell of who he truly was on full display. I knew, if I didn’t do something fast, all hell would break lose.
Dark whiskey colored eyes connected with my own as his gun came into view. He wasn’t really going to kill me, was he? His eyes said he was sorry, but his body. His body said he wasn’t. Killing me was a duty that needed to be done. It was then I made my final choice. I was stronger than I ever had been. With precise precision, I slid the blade of the knife I had hidden in my boot earlier down my sleeve into my hand.
“You know, even with her dead that doesn’t change things Mack. You have to die as well. You betrayed me. You went behind my back and worked with John, who was my mother’s killer. You told the FBI about us.”
As I listened to what he was saying, I secured the blade in my hand. It was heavy, and if I landed it perfectly, it would kill him. One chance, that’s all I had. Devon lied when he said I didn’t have a second chance—he had given it to me. A small smile played across my lips as I waited for Mack to speak.