Inevitable (King Crime Family #2) - J.L. Beck Page 0,3

down. I’m simply waiting it out until the moment I can sink my knife into Mack’s flesh.

“Amara needs you, Enzo. She needs you to come and save her, wherever the fuck she is, but she also needs you to be strong and healthy because, without those things, you’re useless to her. If you go barreling in there without a plan, without being fully healed, you become a liability.”

Fuck. Running a hand through my hair and down my face, I allow a sigh to release. As much as I don’t want to admit it, which is a lot, Jared is right.

“You’re right, but Amara, she needs me.” I’m struggling with my next words because I’m still not sure about where Amara and I stand.

She told me she loved me, but that was in the midst of her being taken. In the midst of me dying. The fact remains, I almost killed her. Fuck. All I know for certain, even after everything that happened, is that I love her, and when I find her, I will give her the freedom she deserves. I will protect her for the rest of her life, even if it kills me to protect her from myself.

I was so lost in my own shit-storm, I didn’t notice Jared placing his hand on my shoulder. I turn my head, glaring at his hand. I know it is just a gesture of reassurance, but nothing would assure me she was okay—at least not until I had her in my arms.

“I know you love her. There isn’t any reason for you to say it out loud. Just know if you don’t get yourself healthy, you will be useless to her and to me.”

My eyes leave his hand and lift to his face. He’s looking at me as a friend. Talking to me as a friend, not as my employee. I know why it’s because we were friends. Always have been, so was Mack. I don’t trust people for a reason. Trusting Mack got me into this situation. What if trusting Jared pushes me into my own grave?

“You know nothing about love or my love for her. I will get better, and I will find her. I will kill Mack. Then, I will move on with my life, never thinking back to this moment,” I growl, so angry with myself and with Jared. It’s an irrational thought because Jared has done nothing wrong.

I catch a glimpse of a smile crossing his face and if I wasn’t in the condition I’m in, I would wipe the floor with his face.

“You’re so right. I know nothing of love. Nothing about it,” he says, taking a couple steps back as he heads for the door. “I can tell you love will only get you so far. If you love her as much as you say you do, you will heal. There is no way Mack will kill her—you and I both know it. He took her for a reason.” Jared’s trying to reason with me like I’m a child, and I force myself to continue to stare at the wood grain on the floor.

“Eli called earlier. He is following a lead, trying to figure out where Mack is hiding,” Jared says.

Mack shot Eli too, which pissed him off royally. Luckily, the bullet that hit Eli went straight through and didn’t hit anything vital. The fucker was out and about a week after he was shot.

“Good, at least I have someone out there looking for her.” I know Eli is not doing it for her; he is out for blood because Mack betrayed us, betrayed him. Either way, Mack will lead us to Amara, so I’m thankful for Eli being out there.

“All of your men are looking for her,” Jared points out.

“You mean the few men I have left?” I say bitterly. Between killing Luccio, Mack’s betrayal, and me disappearing, my empire is crumbling. Men left me, not trusting I was fit to lead them anymore. Only the most loyal men stayed. “It’s not enough. I should be looking for her.”

We are in Jared’s home and everything in it represents him. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, he is right. Gritting my teeth, I force out the words I’ve never said to anyone. “Thank you… for helping me. For not giving up on me.” I lift my face, my eyes landing on a photo on the wall. It’s one of him and his mother before she was killed. Just like