Tangled Love

CHAPTER 133

Jake's POV -

A silent tear runs down my face as I take in her words. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"You'll die if you stay."

I know she's right but hearing someone I love say the words makes it a reality. I've missed her all day, an aching empty feeling settling permanently in my stomach. I miss her soft skin, her gentle voice, her lips on mine, having her presence around me.

My whole thoughts are consumed with Emily. Every minute I spend thinking about her, thinking about what I've lost. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me, my one true happiness.

Hearing her voice over the phone immediately makes me emotional, the tightening feeling in my chest increasing. I groan loudly as I shuffle in bed, my body flaring up with pain. I reach over and grab the tablets I've been prescribed and chuck a few to the back of my throat, drowning them with water.

Amil hasn't reached out to me for almost two days. This is the longest I've gone without hearing anything from the gang and it's worrying. An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach as I have a hunch he isn't finished with me just yet.

My jaw clenches tightly and I feel the anger inside me increase as I remember how he'd laid into me, punch after punch. If he'd only just release my arms, I would have shown him exactly what a decent punch feels like.

I want a life without constantly looking over my shoulder and having my loved ones fear for their life. I shouldn't have developed any feelings for anyone, never mind fall so deeply in love. But that was the thing about pure love, it creeped up on you when you least expected it and changed your whole outlook on life.

Before she walked away and left me, I imagined a future with her. I could picture little Emily's running around the house, forcing me to play dolls with them and braid their hair. I could picture marrying her, standing at the alter as I wait for her to walk down the aisle. I know she'd look so beautiful. No matter what she wore, she'd be beautiful.

A stab of pain hits my chest and I clench my jaw, blinking back the tears. She's gone Jake.

I know she was terrified of the lifestyle I live. She'd constantly worry about me when I would leave early hours in the morning and come home the next day with cuts and bruises. She'd tend to them silently, her eyes full of sadness as she cleaned the dried blood over my knuckles or face.

I didn't realise how much it genuinely effected her until Tobias told me she left. Did I even take a minute to think about how it was effecting her? Lying in bed for the past two days had given me enough time to think about everything, figure out a way to make things right.

Ivory told me she was staying with her grandfather who I had never met before. I wanted to drive up there and see if she was being treated properly but then I remembered, she isn't mine anymore to protect.

She isn't mine to touch.

She isn't mine to cuddle in bed.

She isn't mine to wrap my arms around and breathe her scent in deeply.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Tobias asks me, popping his head round the door. I immediately turn my face away from him, masking over the pain with an emotionless front.

"Im sore but I'll live," I respond, sitting up straighter in my bed. My tone wobbles a little and I clear my throat, pushing any emotion away. I clench my teeth tightly from the amount of effort it takes me and

Tobias runs forward quickly to help. I hold my hand up, causing him to freeze on the spot.

"I can do it myself."

"Don't be an asshole Jake," he says causing my head to snap up and my eyes to burn through his. I sigh in defeat knowing he's right, these past few days he had been a lifesaver. . . quite literally.

"Sorry man," I mumble, my eyes drifting over my bed. He walks over and takes a seat on the bottom before speaking again.

"I've got a plan," he starts, causing me to look back up at him, intrigued. I frown before replying --

"Plan for what?"

"Amil," he states obviously and I frown deeper, my jaw clenching at the sound of his name.

"Don't get involved Tobias, I can fight my own battles." I warn quietly and Tobias raises his brow at me - -

"You're asking me not to get involved... are you crazy? My brother crawled through the doors two days ago, practically dead. Do you think I'm going to let that slide?" He questions and I breathe deeply, shaking my head. If it was the other way around, I would do the exact same for him.

We share the same blood, family.

Family means everything to me.

"So, what's the plan?" I ask, feeling relieved to have his support. Finally it feels like our relationship is on the mend, Aunty Myra would be over the moon. Tobias is silent for a few moments, his eyes turning cold and emotionless. When he speaks, his voice is cold and dark, full of revenge.

"We kill him.”