by J. L. Beck
“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.”
The accusation has me flailing for air. What did he just say? Though nothing about this is funny, I feel like laughing. Mack is crazier than I ever thought.
“That isn’t true!” I shoot back. “Nothing he is saying is true…”
Then it’s as if Zerro loses it. I feel a hand sweep roughly across my face, knocking me off my knees. I am unaware of what’s taking place because my mind goes blank for a second as my eyes roll to the back of my head. My head throbs, and something trickles down my face, but I can’t quite get my wits together to sit up.
“There’s more… Her father borrowed the money because he was trying to pin you for something. When it backfired, he sent his daughter in for him. She knew this whole time. She was simply pretending to be something that she wasn’t.”
“No…” I cry out as my vision swims. Did Zerro hit me? Why does everything I see have black spots in it?
Silence ensues for a long second before Zerro speaks. “Get the ropes and tape!” he yells to Mack. I’m lying on the ground on my side when his face comes into my vision.
“Was it all a lie, Bree? Was it all some fucked up lie, so that you could get into my head? So you could get the inside job done and walk away unscathed?” His voice is so loud in my ears, I push away from him.
“WAS IT?” he demands, his fingers gripping my chin, pulling me closer again.
“No!” I gasp. “I love you. I really do. I don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s a liar.”
I try and push myself up. I need to get up to escape, but I know there’s no point in running. Zerro wants me dead. The man I love wants me to die.
“Bind her feet and duct tape her mouth,” he orders Mack. Zerro takes a step back, and I await my fate.
“I didn’t do it...” I cry and beg. My pleas go unnoticed, though, as Zerro finds a container of something and starts drinking it straight from the bottle.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch,” Mack says smugly, pressing my face into the wood floor. More blood falls from my face, and I feel the blackness begging to take me under.
“Listen to me!!!” I demand over and over again. Nothing changes in the way he looks at me. I know the hate he has for the people who killed his mother, and I know that even the absurd possibility of me having any relation to them will do me no good.
“Leave the duct tape off. I want to hear her screams when I shoot her in the head,” Zerro coldly commands. His voice is far off, and I wonder if it’s me who’s slipping away or him.
My body is pulled up until I’m resting on my knees before him. Is he really going to kill me? Is this the end?
I look into the eyes of the man who took me, the man who I had saved from death, but I see nothing of the person I fell in love with. I know today isn’t just my funeral, but his as well. With my death will come guilt and heartache like he has never felt before.
The gun in his hand is cocked and loaded. The light glistens off the metal as I watch him raise the barrel toward the side of my head.
“Tell me you didn’t know, Bree…” His face is the same of the beautiful man I made love to merely hours ago. Our love is magnificent, but in the big world of things, it is nothing. Fear courses through me as I wait for him to pull the trigger. He will… I have watched him kill too many people to think otherwise. He always pulls the trigger…
“Tell me! Tell me you didn’t fucking do it, Bree! Tell me that this bullet isn’t for you. Tell me because right now, I’m contemplating killing the one person who means more to me than anything else in the world!” Zerro’s voice, though frantic and anguished, is soothing me and giving me hope. Maybe, just maybe, our love can conquer the darkness that is lurking close to his surface.
There is no point in begging him. I know it will do nothing for me, but I have to try to make him understand Mack is lying. “I didn’t… I didn’t know, I swear...He's lying! My God! How could I have even known you were going to be at my house to collect from my father the day I came home on break? You met my father whom you, yourself, described as weak and simple minded. You honestly think my father could kill someone? He didn’t even fight to save me, his own daughter! He let you take me because he was scared of you! There’s no way a simple, spineless farmer could be a tough, intelligent FBI agent...” My voice halts in the midst of me trying to convince him I’m telling the truth. Time stands still as Zerro stares into my eyes. He’s looking at me, but doesn’t see me. Hate and anger come to the surface with a vengeance.
“He's your father, Bree. You had to have known. Payment is due, and this bullet has his name written in your family's blood. So, I suppose this bullet is meant for you.” He refuses to listen to reason, refuses to believe me. Gone is the man I have grown to love and care for. I know death is imminent when I feel the cold metal of his gun against my head,
"Any last words?" His voice is so cold that I barely recognize it as the same tender voice that proclaimed his love for me only hours ago.
"You have to believe me! Look at me! Look at me and tell me you can't see that I am telling the truth. It is Mack who is lying, Zerro! Please. You once claimed you could always tell when I am lying. Why can't you tell now?" I am breathless, drowning in my own tears as I try so desperately to make him believe me.
"Why can't I tell now? I am the king, Bree. From the very beginning, I was taught to trust no one, and that's how I lived my life. Until you...until you came and clouded not only my mind, but my judgment as well. I want to believe you. I really do, but I am in the middle of a war. Not only with Luccio's people, but with myself. I am at a fucking, raging battle with myself because of you! The good you unlocked in me is fighting to be free, but the dark, evil, fucked up part of me is telling me not to trust either one of you. That part of me wants to see both of you with bullets in your heads."
Time stands still as I take a deep breath. There is nothing else to say. The monster has been set free, and he won’t be at peace until I am lying o
n this very floor in a puddle of my own blood.
The silence is literally killing me, it surrounds us, sucking the life right out of me.
“Pull the trigger!” I scream. I feel every single shred of hope leave me. My body, mind, and soul shut down. I am ready; there is no other way around it.
“I will.” Placing his lips against my forehead, he pulls the trigger. He actually pulls the trigger! The sound of the gun going off is loud as Zerro’s beautiful face is the last thing I see before my world goes dark.
This is always the hardest part of the book. How does one decide who is better to put at the end of the book when everyone means something to me? First off, I have to give it to my girls, Angela, Tina, Brie, and my street team: you bad bitches are awesome. To my betas: for always being on my ass about feedback. Angela: you seriously do handle stress well. Tina: no more convos about balls burning. Brie: our late night convos are the best. To my marketing gals: you guys rock my socks. I would be making zero money if it weren’t for you. Keep shaking those money makers. Bloggers: you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the things you do for me; thank you for reviewing and signing up for shit at the last minute. To all aspiring writers: keep that writing shit going. Someday it will pay off.
J.L. Beck is the Amazon Best Selling Author of the Bittersweet Series. She lives in Elroy, WI with her husband Brandon, and daughter Bella.
Since the moment she could reach the shelves on the book shelf she’s been reading, thus influencing her to write. Her favorite books are those that leave an imprint on your soul. You know the ones, that have you putting everything off because you have to find out what happens next.
When she's not writing or reading you can find her picking up after her three year old daughter, or explaining to her husband why its unsafe to do something any other way than the way your wife told you to.
She’s a huge fan of all things drama, with shows like The Vampire Diaries, and Arrow being among her favorites. She's addicted to all things social media, caffeine, and Starbucks.
If you feel the need to stalk me you can find me on:
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Thank you. Xoxo
Table of Contents
Author Disclaimer
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Acknowledgements
About the Author
