Taken by Lies

by Ella Miles

  The fog covering my eyes lifts, and I see Enzo, really see him for the first time.

  He’s so close to me, yet I don’t get the urge to run away from him. He’s not attempting to reach out or touch me in any way. His eyes are locked with mine, and it’s almost like he can see inside my head. Our stupid connection, I don’t understand. One we’ve had for far too long and needs to be severed, immediately.

  Enzo nods, encouraging me to continue to slow my body down until I’m calm again, or at least my version of composed.

  Once he sees that I’ve returned to my less erratic state, his eyes darken, his lips twitch, and the vein in his head pops out.

  “Why aren’t you dressed?” Enzo hisses at me.

  My fists clench at his harshness, but I don’t step back. Neither does he.

  I stare down at my body for the first time. I was wearing an oversized shirt when I left the bedroom. Now I’m wearing nothing. I don’t remember removing the shirt, but I must have on my way down the stairs, needing the itchy clothing off me as much as I needed the sheets to stop constricting my body.

  I huff. “Does it matter? I’ve seen the way you look at me. It doesn’t matter that my body is broken. That other men have touched me. You’re just as sick as them.”

  He growls and then steps closer to me.

  I don’t retreat, even though I feel the blood frosting my body as it pumps faster. Don’t let him intimidate or threaten you.

  “You will wear clothes anytime you leave your bedroom,” he fires into my ear.

  I grow rigid. “Don’t you mean, your bedroom?”

  He shrugs. “It doesn’t matter what it was, only what it is. You can pretend it’s your sanctuary, your cage, my bedroom, or whatever fantasy you create in your head to make sense of what is happening to you. But while you are here, it is your bedroom.”

  He takes three giant steps back, and I can breathe again. Then he does something I don’t understand. He removes the T-shirt he’s wearing.

  My eyes hone in on the rippling muscles over his stomach, so defined and tight, then jump up to his hard pecs. He would be a perfect specimen if it weren’t for the healed scars that cover his body—like mine. His make him look stronger though, more rugged—nothing like mine.

  He tosses the shirt to the floor a foot in front of me.

  I cock my head.

  “Put the shirt on, Kai.”

  My eyes narrow, not understanding why he cares if I’m dressed. He’s seen my naked body before. He must have, how else would I have gotten out of my clothes? I doubt the good doctor would have undressed me. That means Enzo has touched me.

  Fear rakes through my body at that thought. He just touched me; he didn’t violate me.

  I finally take the room in. It appears to be a large office, but it is not just occupied by Enzo. Two other men stand behind him. All three men are wearing jeans and dark shirts, and I can see sweat on all of their brows. They’ve been working.

  I recognize the two men standing by Enzo; they were the same men at Surrender with him. One of the men tries hard to avoid eye contact with me or gazing at me at all, as if he thinks looking at me will burn his retinas. The other man only looks at my eyes, ensuring his eyes never drop lower to my naked body.

  A tiny smile crosses my lips. Enzo is mad because he doesn’t like these men staring at my naked body—whether because he wants me to himself or because he’s embarrassed by the state of my body and them knowing he wasn’t the one to break me in. I don’t care. I kind of like that he wants me to himself instead of sharing me with others. Unlike my last master, I won’t be shared around like a whore.

  Enzo’s body hardens as he notices my carelessness about my body. I’ve had disgusting men stare at my body and violate me. I don’t care that I’m making him uncomfortable now.

  But my eyes return to the two men. They seem to be Enzo’s right-hand men. They might have the answers I seek. They might be able to tell me why Enzo’s father ordered him to kill me.

  The only way I’m going to get a chance to ask is by putting clothes on so they can all stop acting like they are innocent men who have never seen a naked woman before.

  I step forward and pick up the shirt, and quickly pull it over my head. It’s warm like Enzo, smells like salt and sweat, and covers most of my body. I don’t hate it against my skin, but I don’t love it either.

  “Who are you?” I ask the two men.

  “I’m Langston.”

  “And I’m Zeke.”

  Enzo motions with his head, and both men disappear without a command.

  Damn him. I forgot he can practically read my thoughts.

  A knock on the door startles me.

  Enzo’s nostrils flare as he looks behind me. I turn as Dr. Gould enters.

  “Miss Miller, you really should return to bed. I won’t examine you now if you need time, but I would recommend an exam sooner than later if you want to ensure you heal a hundred percent back to your previous state.”

  Enzo rushes past me, and hurries the doctor out of the office—leaving me behind. I fold my arms across my chest as the cold nip returns. I’m used to being cool, I thrive in it, but the shakes are different. It reminds me of how weak I am.

  I try to distract myself by inspecting the office. But there isn’t much to look at. A large desk with multiple chairs all made of modern materials. White walls and gray floors. And of course a stellar view of the ocean from behind the desk.

  I suspect every room in this house was built around the spectacular views. Views I long to erase from my head.

  And then I hear their voices.

  “I did what I thought was best to care for the girl. She needs immediate medical attention. It can’t wait!”

  “I hired you because you were the best. That you wouldn’t hurt her, but it’s clear you couldn’t even do that right.”

  Muffled voices continue.

  “You’re fired.”

  My mouth falls open as Enzo returns to the office.

  “You fired him?” I stutter out.

  He nods.

  “Why?”

  “Because he wasn’t very effective in his job. He’s supposed to do no harm, but he hurt you.”

  I swallow hard. “Will you hire another doctor?”

  He doesn’t answer, and it’s clear he hasn’t decided.

  “You need to put a bandaid on your hand,” Enzo says, holding one out to me.

  I glance down at my hand where the IV was and see blood slowly oozing out. I take the bandaid from Enzo, careful not to brush our fingertips together, and then I apply the bandaid.

  “Thank you.”

  He smirks. “Don’t thank me, Kai—for anything.”

  “What do you want with me?” I ask, my voice shaky, afraid of his answer. Because I can see the heat in his eyes. I already know the answer.

  He shakes his head. “I want you to go upstairs to your room, keep your clothes on, and eat the food I provide you. And the next time I hire the best doctor in the world to examine you, you take the help.”

  He moves out of the doorway for me to leave.

  “Why are you keeping your distance? Avoiding touching me?”

  His body darkens as he steps closer. “Because I will never touch you. Never. Why would I want to claim what has already been tainted? Why would I want you?”

  I feel the tears behind my eyes. I should be happy to hear he won’t touch me, even if his words are harsh and cruel. He can’t hurt me if he doesn’t touch me. But then that means I’m nothing to him.

  “Why keep me? Why keep me alive?”

  “You didn’t win the game. You didn’t earn your answers. You are mine for as long as I want to keep you. Now go to your room and don’t come down until I can no longer see every fucking bone in your body.”

  “So I’m a prisoner to my room?”

  “Until you learn to obey the rules, yes.”

  I feel the sickness take hold of my body. I don’t want to give in, but I don’t have a choice
. If I stay defiant, I will blackout.

  “Go, before I’m forced to carry your body to bed again, myself.”

  I storm past him and then reach the stairs.

  Shit.

  Now I wish Enzo would really carry me upstairs, because I will have nothing left in my tank by the time I reach the top. But I’m too stubborn to return and ask for his or anyone else’s help.

  So I climb. It’s ruthless, unforgiving, and I feel new bruises forming as I knock myself against the stairs as I move upward. But I make it.

  I walk down the hallway to the bedroom he calls mine, and I stare at the bed. I won’t get in that cloud of heaven.

  Instead, I stumble to the farthest corner of the room from the windows, I remove the shirt, and lie down on the smooth hardwood floor. At least his home is floored with hardwood instead of carpet. I curl up on the ground, tucking my knees to my chest, and close my eyes.

  Sleep will easily overcome me. But Enzo will haunt my dreams. He was the boy who saved me, only to sell me. He was my first kiss. My first taste of what falling in love could feel like. He was freedom to me. And now he’s my master, who’s so disgusted by me he doesn’t even want me.

  I thought I knew loneliness, but loneliness is only now coming for me. Because even Enzo can’t hate me. I am nothing. I am no one. I should be dead, but no one will kill me. Instead, I’m trapped in this cage of gleaming light until I find a way for it all to end.

  18

  Enzo

  I watched as Kai climbed the stairs with bated breath.

  It took her twenty minutes to reach the top, something that should have taken her thirty-seconds to do. It took everything in my body to restrain myself, to keep my feet planted at the bottom of the stairs hidden in the shadows, instead of tossing her over my shoulder and carrying her to bed. But I can’t touch her, for both our sakes. Never again.

  If I touch her, I would fuck her, rape her, hurt her. That’s a line I won’t cross, no matter how my twisted brain wants me to. I won’t harm her.

  That’s a lie. I’m hurting her by keeping her captive—by not telling her the truth.

  She reaches the top, and I wait for as long as I can stomach before heading up the stairs. For one, I need a new shirt, my clothes haven’t arrived yet, and the only ones I have are hanging in the closet off the room she now occupies. And two, I need to know she isn’t passed out again.

  I run up the stairs and creep at the doorway to the room. Kai didn’t bother shutting the door, so it’s easy for me to loom in the dark. She’s not in the bed.

  Fuck.

  I walk inside, expecting to see the worst. Instead, I hear her snores.

  I shake my head as I see her curled up in my shirt on the floor. I don’t know what she’s been through to prefer the hard floor to a comfortable bed. To prefer walking naked than be clothed. To prefer to be left alone than touched.

  I want to grab a blanket from the bed and cover her. I want to support her head with a pillow. But both would wake her up, and she needs sleep above everything else.

  She slept for three days straight after she first passed out. I spent most of the night holding her in her sleep, keeping her warm, as she requested when she was unconscious. I close my eyes remembering how good it felt to not be burning hot all the time. To let the rage inside me cool. To feel comforted even though she wasn’t awake to hold me back.

  Never again.

  I leave her and head to the closet. I grab another black T-shirt and pull it over my head. And then I walk back over to Kai. She’s still asleep on the floor. I need to call another doctor to monitor her. To provide an IV if she starts sleeping for days again, one who will be more cautious when she tries to persuade Kai to do anything.

  I need to touch her. To feel her. She’s like a drug pulling me to her. Too bad I can’t have her. Too bad she’s going to be trapped here for the rest of her days. Because she could be the one person who could save me.

  My fingers graze her hollow cheeks, and I suck in a breath at the power that pulses through me at the connection.

  Fuck, I could live off this feeling.

  I can’t keep doing this. If I keep touching her when she’s unconscious, I won’t be able to resist caressing her when she’s awake. And the faster I can get her to trust that I won’t touch her, or hurt her beyond keeping her here, the faster she will heal and settle into her new life. Then I can leave her in Westcott’s trust. Then I can be free of her, forever.

  I take the stairs two at a time as I try to put my thoughts of Kai behind me. Not an easy task.

  Langston leans against the doorframe leading to the living room. His arms are crossed across his chest, his muscles bulging and revealing tattoos wrapped in black ink around his bicep. His lips wear a knowing look.

  “What?” I grumble.

  “Nothing.” Langston smiles.

  I roll my eyes. I don’t have time for whatever games he wants to play.

  “Who’s the girl?” he asks.

  I glare at him. “You don’t get to ask about my life.”

  I storm past him and head to the kitchen to get a bottle of water to calm me down. I feel like I’m about to boil over and no one is safe when I let my temper loose. I can’t control what happens. I’m worse than a hurricane running through town. I destroy everything in my path; I don’t leave anyone behind.

  “Actually, I think we’ve earned the right to know everything about your personal life, boss,” Zeke says entering the kitchen.

  Great, they are ganging up on me.

  I down a bottle of water, crush the plastic, and toss it on the ground, my anger palatable in the air.

  “Are you running a hospital or something now? Taking in the sick? Or is she something more?” Langston asks.

  Both men stand on either side of the island in the center of the kitchen. I stand between them. Trapped.

  Kai is more. She’s everything. Everything I ever wanted. Everything I ever dreamed about: her strength, her influence over me, her resilience.

  She’s also everything I hate. She revealed my own weaknesses. She’s the only one who could take away the power I’ve gained. And I won’t go back to being the powerless boy I was when I met her.

  My eyes cut back and forth between the two men. They are my best men. And my best friends. Not always a good mix. Since they are my friends, they think they can pull shit like this. Try to force me to talk to them.

  I’ve known them since we were kids. Zeke was always the brute force in our little group. He could kick anyone’s ass with his size alone. Langston was never as gifted with muscle as Zeke, although he’s worked hard and gained plenty of muscle, he was more of the brains. He preferred security and doing surveillance. And I was the leader of the group. The decision maker even before I had any power in my father’s organization.

  I blow hot steam from my nose as I glare between the two men.

  Langston laughs, throwing his head back like it’s the funniest thing in the world.

  “What’s happening?” Zeke asks confused.

  “Black here, has it bad,” Langston force out between laughs.

  “Has what bad?” Zeke asks.

  I groan. “Langston thinks I have the hots for the broken girl currently occupying my bedroom. I don’t. And even if I did, it doesn’t matter. I don’t fuck another man’s goods.”

  Langston cocks his head. “There is so much more to this story. And I’m dying to know. But right now, we have a decision to make. Reko has been breaking the rules. He’s been smuggling drugs without your consent. He needs to be dealt with.”

  I nod, my blood cooling as I think about work and let the taunting about Kai go.

  “Who is his lead man?” I ask.

  “Warwick,” Langston answers.

  “Good, I know the man. He’s a regular at Surrender. He will be easy to snatch.”

  “And what are we going to do when we snatch him?” Zeke asks, I can hear the itch in his voice to do some damage.

  “Torture him
until he either gives up his boss or he’s dead. Either way, it will send a message.”

  “How long?” Langston asks.

  I smile. “Two weeks.” I need out of this fucking house. Westcott will be able to handle Kai for two weeks, especially in her weakened state. And I need to get to the ocean. We always do our business on the sea. It’s easier to clean up and dispose of the bodies. We throw a lavish yacht party while doing business. It gives us a good alibi, and we can continue to learn about what goes on in the city and on the sea, my jurisdictions.

  I don’t love the party part, but it’s the easiest way to get information out of people. Surrender is good, but the yachts are better. At Surrender, people aren’t really trapped. On the yachts, they have no place to go until I say. Not unless they want to take a dip in the water.

  But there is another purpose to wanting to be gone. I decide against my better judgment to pay Jarod a visit. Repay him for how he took care of Kai.

  Langston and Zeke both smile. They love the water as much as I do.

  “Maybe after a day or two of being apart from the girl, we’ll be able to get more information out of mister romantic here,” Langston teases.

  I growl, threatening him.

  But Langston runs off, like he knows exactly what he’s doing to me. He knows me too well. I’ve never brought a woman here. This is our place. It’s as much Zeke’s and Langston’s as it is mine. We have all crashed here at various times. But we have one rule, it’s just us. No girls. I broke that rule, and they know it was for a very real purpose.

  I’ve broken too many rules for Kai so far. By my rules, she should have died a long time ago. I won’t break any more rules for Kai. From now on, I do everything by the book.

  “What did this Jarod guy do?” Langston asks suspiciously.

  He destroyed what was mine—Kai. He brutalized her, burned her flesh, stabbed her, broke her bones, raped her. He did so many unthinkable things no man should ever do to a woman. But I don’t want Langston or Zeke to know the real purpose for tracking Jarod down for the past two weeks.

  “He destroyed some property of mine to the north,” I say keeping my words vague so I’m not technically lying to my best friend. I hate lying if I can avoid it.