Inevitable (King Crime Family #2) - J.L. Beck Page 0,1

another good kick, but he is faster, bigger, and stronger. His hands grip my legs as his face contorts in anger.

“You dirty fucking bitch,” he shouts as he shoves me further into the van.

Fighting with all my might, I push back, kicking and screaming.

“No!” I repeat over and over again, even though it comes out as nothing but a muffled noise against the duct tape.

His hands wrap around my legs, and his fist comes down hard against my cheek. My head snaps back, my vision blurs, and pain radiates through my face. For a moment, I’m so out of it, I can’t get a grip on what’s happening.

“If that doesn’t keep you down, then this fucking will.” His words cause my head to ache. I’m so confused. Where am I? What’s happening?

My mind is hazy, but I still feel the strong need to get away. My body is moving on its own, fighting to get out of this situation and away from Mack.

Before I can make it, I feel the prick of something in my arm. I look down and see a syringe sticking out of my arm.

Dread seeps deep into my bone as all hope leaves me. I’m helpless, scared, and so angry. I close my eyes and imagine Enzo holding me, keeping me safe while whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

That’s the last image I see in my mind before the darkness he injected me with consumes me.

2

Enzo

“Jared. Jared…” I scream into the phone. I’m on the verge of death. I can feel the blood seeping from every pore of my body, but all I can think about is Amara.

“Calm down, Enzo, just breathe,” Jared keeps repeating to me. Calming down is the last fucking thing on my mind.

“They have Amara. I fucked up. I fucked up so badly. They have her. Eli and I are shot.” My voice is growing weak with every word I speak. I should be saving my energy. I should be thinking about myself, but I can’t get the fearful look in her eyes out of my mind. The look I placed there myself. How could I be so blind and let Mack fool me?

I should have trusted her… I should have believed her.

“What the hell happened? What do you mean they?” Jared asks, his voice harsh and panicked. Could I even tell him what happened? I’m beyond ashamed. The way I’ve treated her. The way I let Mack play me… I trusted him and betrayed her.

“Fuck…” I hiss into the phone, trying to roll into a sitting position. Eli scoots across the floor and comes to sit next to me.

“What happened, Enzo? I left less than two hours ago…” Jared sounds astonished, and I realize I don’t care about explaining anything to him. All that matters now is that I survive, so I can kill Mack and get Amara back.

“Enzo!” Jared yells.

“Yeah,” I say weakly, feeling the life drain out of me. Fuck. I’m not going to make it. Eli puts pressure on the wound on my leg, which seems to be bleeding the most.

“Lie back down,” he mutters and pushes on my shoulder. I don’t normally take orders, but I do this one.

Jared is not going to get here fast enough, and I’m going to die. I’m going to meet my fate at the hands of one of my most trusted men.

“Stay with me, dude, stay with me.” I can hear Jared’s pleading voice but can’t force any more words from my mouth. It’s as if everything around me slows down. Jared’s voice sounds like a playback on a walkman out of batteries. The words become slower, more drawn out before they seem to get further and further away.

Then random images pop into my mind. Memories of my mother, father, and Amara filter in and out. Like a slideshow on repeat. A ray of colors shows behind my eyes as if they were the moon, sky, and stars on a dark night.

I force Amara’s image to stay. Focusing on her smile, her beautiful eyes, and the way her slender fingers dance over the piano when she plays.

Amara… she needs me. That thought snaps me out of it.

“Mack…. It was Mack…” I’m barely able to get it out before the world starts to grow darker again.

“Lorenzo, you’re not allowed to fucking die on me, do you hear me?” It sounds as if Jared is screaming through a long tube. By the time his voice reaches my ears, it’s muffled and hard to