Inevitable (King Crime Family #2) - J.L. Beck Page 0,9

grabs my shoulders. My knees wobble as his hands push me down, keeping me in place.

“Let go of me,” I grit through my teeth. I’m so over being treated like dirt. Crouching down on his heels, so we are eye level, I take in his familiar-looking eyes. They are a deep green, and within them are the answers to the questions I long to know.

One of his hands leaves my shoulder and reaches for my face. His thumb grazes the bottom of my chin. I flinch away, turning my head away from him.

“I know why he wants you… Your defiance can be smelled from miles away.” His breath is cool against my face, and all I want is to turn and spit right into it. My emotions are all over the place, but one thing hasn’t changed—I’m mad as all fucking hell.

“I’m not defiant, asshole. I’m just not one for being held in a hole in the ground, having buckets of water thrown on me, and being talked down to like a fucking dog. Defiance isn’t even the word to describe how you make me feel.” I’m seething.

Shaking his head, he grabs his mask and pulls it off.

“Eli…” I gasp, not sure if I am happy or scared to see him. Did Enzo send him? Or is he working with Mack? He seemed surprised by Mack’s betrayal, and he was shot, but he seems fine now. Was that all an act? Did he betray Enzo as well? Shit, I don’t know what to believe.

I watch as the side of his lips lift into a half-smile.

With a blink of my eye, he is standing again, his voice raised as he laughs at me. Confusion settles into my bones. What the hell is he doing here?

“Your face. It’s hilarious.” I listen to him talk while coming to a stand as slow as possible.

“Do you even know why you’re here?” Eli asks as if that is the most prevalent question right now.

“I think we went over this already, but let me tell you why I think I’m here.” I pause a moment surveying the land. There is a clearing with trees on all sides, and we are deep in the woods. My breaths come in as pants as my eyes catch on an old rotting stump off in the distance.

“You were saying…” He mocks, his eyes glittering with amusement, and though I can see this is all funny to him, there is a darker secret being kept in his eyes.

“You know why I’m here. You know something…” I growl, not caring if my accusation gets me thrown back in the hole. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looks down at me.

“And you know nothing…”

“Tell me.” I refuse to let him taunt me. I need answers. I need to know why I’m here… here in this place I know so well.

“Tell you what? That Enzo is dead, and your father is hiding you in a hole near your own home?” My eyes grow big, and my heart races as I take a step back. Did he say Enzo is dead? No! It can’t be. I heard Mack. Enzo is alive.

“It’s shocking to see someone pulled from your life, isn’t it? Shocking to know your daddy isn’t the person you thought he was?”

No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop a tear from escaping my eye. One single tear. One single fucking tear defines my life.

“Enzo wasn’t pulled from my life, and my dad... he would never.” The words slip from my mouth, but does that make them true? Is my dad the person I think he is?

Eli smirks, his body eating up what little space is separating us.

“Stop. You know nothing!” I yell, reaching out to push him away with my hands.

“I do know something…” he barely whispers as he grabs my wrists, stopping my attack on him. “I know these men were given direct orders to let you rot in this hole. To let you die. And those orders came from your father.”

“Liar,” I say between clenched teeth and with narrowed eyes.

“You know I’m not lying. You know this is your property. You know your father put you here... and now I’m letting you go.”

“Letting me go?” I whisper, taking a couple steps back. He is letting me go? This must be a joke.

“Yes. Letting you go, but first, you have to do something for me.”

“I’m not doing anything for you.” My voice squeaks with anxiety as he reaches for me