by Ella Miles
Liesel stops. She doesn’t turn her head, but I can hear her words clear as day.
“I’m not afraid. I would love to meet my son, more than anything in this world, but I won’t until I know it’s safe for him.” Then she jogs away, leaving me standing alone, stunned.
Why is she worried about Atlas’ life? What is she hiding?
“Don’t touch it! It could hurt you,” Atlas yells at Rose.
I turn and start walking over toward the kids, quietly observing so they don’t notice I’m there.
Rose is bent down in front of what looks like a jellyfish, a small cast still on her arm.
“But it’ll die if we don’t get it back to the water,” Rose says.
“Then, let it die. It’s not worth getting stung,” Atlas says, grabbing hold of the hem of her black T-shirt and trying to pull her back. It doesn’t stop Rose; she bends down and touches the creature. Just like Atlas warned her, the creature stings her.
“Ouch,” she pulls her little hand back.
I shake my head at my daughter. So brave that it will get her killed someday, while Atlas is so cautious that he never really lives.
“Let me help,” I say, walking over to them.
Rose pouts.
Atlas grins, his face shining like the sun.
“I can do it,” Rose says.
“I know, but there is nothing wrong with asking for help.”
I squat down and look at the still jellyfish on the sand in front of us. I scoop my hands underneath its squishy body and then carry it over to the water before flinging it into the ocean, setting it free.
I don’t know if it will survive or if it has sustained too much damage, but as I stare out at the ocean, I feel a ping of jealousy. Whatever the outcome, the jellyfish is free, unlike me, who is bound by too many lies to count.
“Why didn’t it sting you, daddy?” Rose asks.
I turn back to my daughter and hold out my hands. “It did.”
Atlas gasps. “Does it hurt?”
“Not as much as watching either of you get hurt does.”
Atlas stares at my hand with concern. He doesn’t like other people being hurt. He’d rather take on the pain himself.
“Come here,” I say to him, holding my arms out.
He collapses into my side as I kneel down and wrap my arms around him. “When you hug me, you take all the pain away.”
“Good, daddy. I don’t like it when you’re hurt.”
I smile and watch as Rose approaches me more cautiously but eventually wraps her arms around me as well.
“Piggyback ride?” Rose asks.
“Climb on, you two.”
She climbs on my back while Atlas rolls his eyes at her. I know he’d rather keep his feet on the ground, but he trusts me more than anyone else. So when I lift him up in the air and fling him around, he laughs and it’s completely carefree.
I glance down the beach toward where Liesel took off. I have an undeniable urge to run after her, but my kids are more important. I have to keep them safe. Liesel will come around.
I carry the kids on my back toward the house, where Phoenix is sitting on the back deck, watching and waiting for us. She doesn’t say anything as I set the kids down.
“I’m starving,” Rose says as soon as her feet hit the deck.
I chuckle.
Phoenix shakes her head. “There is some fruit and string cheese in the fridge. Wash up first, and then you can eat it.”
Rose runs inside with Atlas fast on her heels.
I can’t help but smile watching them. They remind me of Liesel and me when we were their age. They seem to fit together even though they aren’t biological brother and sister. They still share some blood, being cousins and all.
I look back at Phoenix, who is staring at me intensely. She’s wearing her usual outfit of dark jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt, thick makeup, and red hair. She hates the beach and the ocean. She’d rather us live in a large city somewhere, but she stays because of me. This is what I need: to be near the ocean. I spend my entire life either here along the beaches of Miami, on a yacht, or basking in the sun on my private island near the Bahamas.
“Why do you put up with me? Why not divorce my ass and find another man who would actually love you?” I ask. It’s brazen of me and reveals more about what happened between Liesel and me than I should be admitting, but I have to know why she stays. Maybe if I can understand her, I’ll have an idea of how we can move forward.
It doesn’t matter what I want. No matter what becomes of Phoenix and I, I can’t marry Liesel. I can’t love Liesel. Fucking her is all we get, even though it’s not enough for either of us to survive on.
“I’m going to need a glass of wine if we are going to have this conversation.” She moves to get up, but I grab her wrist, my body begging her to answer me.
She sighs, seeing the pain in my eyes.
“I’m not a good man, Phoenix. I haven’t been loyal.”
“I never asked you to be.”
“I know, but you deserve a man who is.”
Her hand touches my shoulder. “Falling in love means you don’t get to choose how. You just fall. I know you’ll never love me back, but I’d rather have the love of my life in my life than live with no love at all.”
I release her wrist, and she walks into the house. My eyes squeeze shut as the wind picks up, hitting me forcefully in the face, as hard as the reality of my situation.
I’m married to a woman who loves me and deserves to be loved back—something I can never give her. A woman who is a wonderful mother to my children.
Yet my body yearns for a woman who hates me and will never love me. A woman I can never love in return. A woman who is the biological mother of one of my children but gave him up.
My life is a fucking disaster.
One of my own creating. If I had just left Liesel alone, I wouldn’t be in this mess. I wouldn’t be questioning everything. I would be focused on what’s important—being a good father.
I hear a car pull up on the gravel drive, so I walk to the front deck, already knowing who it will be.
Enzo and Beckett are stepping out of the car when I walk up to the driveway. Enzo has a heavy scowl, while Beckett is smirking.
“Find Rowan?” I ask, crossing my arms as I lean against one of the poles on the deck.
“Yes, no thanks to you,” Enzo says.
I look around into the back of the SUV; I don’t see Rowan.
Beckett laughs. “We took him to Enzo’s house to have a doctor look him over.”
“You should put a bullet between his eyes, not fix his wounds, after what he did to Liesel and me.”
“Oh, relax, dude, you’re both made of stronger stuff than that. What you two went through was barely a scratch,” Beckett says.
My brows pinch. “So that makes what you did okay? Hiring a man to kidnap and torture us?”
“We didn’t hire him. He already works for us,” Enzo says.
“Fire him or I quit,” I say.
“That’s not my decision,” Enzo says.
I shake my head. “Then tell Kai to get her ass here. I thought you were my family, my brothers, but I was wrong. You are nothing but lying scum.”
“Don’t blame Kai, she may be in charge of the Black empire, but she didn’t make this decision on her own. This was a group decision,” Siren says as she walks from behind the car.
I didn’t notice the second car pull up.
Siren—she’s really alive.
My eyes water, and my heart swells, seeing her alive. I’ve missed her. She’s the only person who truly understands me. Everyone else here I consider family, I’d die saving any one of them, but only Siren would I die twice for.
Until now.
“I already know about your betrayal. You faked your own death to hurt me. How could you?”
“How could you kill Liesel’s fiancé? How could you kidnap and threaten to kill her?” Siren walks toward me and puts her hands
on both of my cheeks. “You were out of control, Langston. Liesel came up with a plan to get back at you—I just went along with it.”
I growl and jerk back, forcing her hands to fall from my face. “You don’t get to talk to me, not after what you did. You betrayed me when you faked your injury and possible death. And as if that wasn’t enough, you decided to risk our lives to manipulate Liesel and me? You’re the devil.”
Her face falls. I’ve never been like this to Siren. I expect her to fight back; instead, she gives me space.
That’s when I spot Zeke behind her. He lifts his fist and slams it into my face. I knew it was coming. I deserve it.
“That was for forcing my wife to suck your cock. If you weren’t a brother to me, I’d castrate you.”
I don’t fight back, and I don’t tell him that Siren sucked my cock willingly to help me. He’s the only person who has earned the right to hurt me. All these other bastards had no right.
Kai finally steps forward. “It was my decision to have Rowan kidnap and torture you. Don’t blame any of them, blame me.”
“I do. And now you can all get the fuck off my property.” I turn to walk inside. “Oh, and Kai? I quit.”
3
Liesel
Atlas is my son.
All the fleeting glimpses I’ve gotten of him over the last few weeks fill my head as I walk up and down the beach, tormented by what I should do. His dark-colored locks, his laugh, his height.
Is it safe to meet him?
What about what Waylon said? That my son isn’t safe. That if Waylon died, so would my son. Is Nolan going to carry on in Waylon’s place? Someone else? Or was it all a threat to get what he wanted from me?
The sun begins to set, and I find myself walking back toward the house. I don’t know if I should meet Atlas or not. I don’t know if I’ll be bringing more danger into his life once again, and I refuse to be selfish where he’s concerned. I’m glad I now know for sure he’s alive and in a loving family. I need to make sure that Atlas is really my son, though, that Langston isn’t lying for some gain. And if Atlas is, in fact, my son, I need to warn Langston. He needs to know so he can protect him if he is in danger.
I run my hand through my hair, already knowing that Atlas is my son—Langston wasn’t lying. He took care of him when everyone else failed. I can hate Langston for a lot of things, but I’ll never be able to repay him for what he’s done.
As I walk in the dark, I hope that the children have gone to bed. I need another day before I face them, but I also need to talk to Langston. I need to figure out what we do next. And it’s not like I have any money or resources to leave Miami.
I hear voices as I approach the house and find the whole crew—Enzo, Kai, Beckett, Siren, and Zeke—camped out on the back deck, talking amongst themselves.
I stop, my feet halted in the sand. I don’t want to speak to any of them ever again for what they’ve put me through. They had me kidnapped and tortured. They helped conceal my child from me even if they didn’t know. They failed to protect me when I was raped. They failed to be there every night when I searched for my son until I had no choice but to accept Waylon’s help.
I want to run and hide—but I’m done hiding.
I climb the steps loudly, until every voice on the deck silences at my approach. When I reach the top, all eyes fall on me.
Siren is sitting on Zeke’s lap as he plays possessively with her hair. Both are wearing a dark T-shirt and jeans. Kai sits next to Enzo—both of them holding a glass of wine. Kai is wearing a simple sundress, and Enzo is in jeans. Phoenix sits next to Kai in her usual long-sleeved clothing, even though the heat of summer is still suffocating us. And Beckett sits in a chair alone, like he isn’t part of the group at all.
I feel Langston sitting across from all of them, but I don’t look at him. I’m just thankful he isn’t sitting next to Phoenix.
For a moment, the only sound is the gentle flow of electricity through the Edison lights that hang overhead.
My eyes shoot through the souls of every person here, silently cursing them for the sins each of them has committed against me.
I consider my next move. Should I walk past them all and go into the house, or sit out here and have it out with them?
No more running. No more hiding.
I spot a seat next to Langston and take it. For once, I feel like it’s us two against all of them—something that I haven’t felt in a long time. Langston has always been part of them. He always takes their side. But when I feel his pinky brush against my outstretched hand, he’s letting me know he’s on my side. Whatever loyalty and guilt he has toward Phoenix, whatever brotherhood he feels toward Enzo and Zeke, whatever soulmate bond he has with Siren—none of it matters right now. We’ve both been betrayed by all of them.
“So, what happens now? You two go after the treasure together?” Kai asks.
I glare at her, and I feel an agreeing animalistic growl coming from Langston next to me. Both of us are still wearing the oversized flannel we got from the cabin we were hiding in.
“You don’t get to know anything about our plans,” I spit back.
“As the queen of an empire where hundreds of employees and families rely on me, I make it my duty to know.”
Langston jumps in. “It doesn’t concern you, not anymore. I quit. My enemies will no longer be concerned with going after you.”
That gets me to turn and look at Langston in surprise. He quit. I look for the lie in his eyes, but I don’t find it.
His frown lightens slightly when I look at him.
“You don’t get to quit. None of us do,” Enzo says.
We both snap our heads in his direction. “I quit. I used to be part of this family but was thrown out years ago. I was written out of this family. I was considered the villain. So yes, if Langston wants to quit, he can quit.”
No one responds.
And then Kai smirks. “At least our plan worked. You two don’t want to kill each other anymore; you want to kill us. I can live with that if it means you’ll stop bickering.”
Her eyes say she knows that we’ve done more than just stop bickering. We’ve fucked each other, and if circumstances were different, we’d keep fucking each other until we no longer want to fuck any person.
But I feel Phoenix’s gaze.
I’m the devil. I fucked another woman’s husband. I don’t care about the reason they got married. I don’t care that they have an open marriage. It was still a sin—one that I don’t regret. I still hurt the woman who has been selflessly raising my son.
I close my eyes, unable to deal with my own shame. I rub my arms, trying to soothe myself as the cool night breeze rattles through the empty place in my chest where my heart once beat. The only heart I have is for that of my son. And I’m more conflicted about what to do about him than ever.
“Come on, it’s late; let’s leave the lovebirds alone,” Kai says, not mincing her words even though she sits next to Phoenix.
Finally, I let my eyes drift to her. She’s not looking at Kai; she’s looking at me. If my chest cavity wasn’t already empty, Phoenix would be burning a hole straight through it.
Kai stands up and grabs Enzo’s hand, dragging him behind her.
“Let me know if you need any resources or men to help you,” she says as she starts down the stairs of the deck.
“Finish this,” Enzo hisses at Langston. He doesn’t like anything risking his family or empire. But Langston doesn’t like being bossed around, and it’s clear that he’s done following orders after what they did to us.
Beckett stands and follows his half-brother. He doesn’t speak or give us any of his thoughts, but it’s clear his loyalty lies with his blood family.
Siren climbs off Zeke’s lap and motions for him to follow her. She gives me a slight smile before turning to Langston. “I’m not sorry. You needed this.”
She looks back at Zeke, who is standing still as a statue near Langston. I don’t know what he’s doing, but
it appears Langston does.
“Get it over with you big oaf,” Langston says, rolling his eyes.
Zeke’s fist flies in Langston’s face, knocking him back on the couch he sits on.
Siren shakes her head like her husband is a ridiculous overbearing bastard.
“That was the last freebie I’ll give you,” Langston growls.
“Good, it will give me more reason to hit you harder next time,” Zeke snarls.
I realize now as I look at Langston’s face, that both sides of Langston’s face are puffy. Even in the dark light, I can see the hint of purple forming just under the skin. This isn’t the first time Zeke has hit him today.
It makes me giggle.
Langston shoots me an I thought you were on my side glare. That only makes me laugh harder.
Serves you right for getting his wife on her knees to suck your dick, I shoot back.
You’re one to talk. Langston looks to Phoenix, and my smile wavers. I’ve committed the same sin. If I was a better woman, I’d let Phoenix take a swing at me too.
Zeke and Siren leave. And then it’s just us and Phoenix.
There’s a heaviness in the air between us, threatening to choke me if someone doesn’t talk soon. I’m sure Phoenix knows what happened between Langston and me. Either because he told her or she’s smart enough to figure it out. I just don’t know what she’s going to do about it.
I don’t know what Langston is going to do about it.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.
Phoenix yawns and then stands. “I’m going to bed. You coming, Langston?”
“Not yet,” he says, meeting her gaze.
Not yet—those words hurt us both. Phoenix because he isn’t following after her. And me because his words insinuate that he will eventually.
Her jaw ticks in disapproval, but she doesn’t tell him off. I don’t understand all the ins and outs of their marriage, but if she’s married to Langston, she must know that she can’t control him. He’s a wild killer, and as much as he says he quit working for Kai—he’s loyal to a fault. He’ll be back to taking orders in no time.