by Ella Miles
I could stab myself—put an end to this.
I won’t.
I want to live.
For no other reason than to kick Enzo’s ass for selling me.
There are six additional cars. More than a dozen men ride in the fancy, most likely bulletproof, vehicles all around us. I’m outnumbered by a ridiculous amount.
Milo’s phone rings again, but he ignores it—too infatuated by what I’m going to do.
I’m going to crash this motherfucking car.
I pull the knife back and slice across Milo’s cheek, needing to cause him some pain for thinking he could buy me like property. And then I fling the knife with everything I can toward the driver. Hoping to God it hits him hard enough for him to lose control of the vehicle. And then I launch myself at him.
The car lurches as I hoped. The knife lands in his shoulder, and he gasps as my body flings over to him. I grab for the wheel, pulling hard to the right as the car starts spinning.
Yes! This could work!
And then I feel the hands. One pair grabs one arm while another pair grabs the other, pulling me off the man and shoving me into the back seat.
The driver regains control, as the man in the passenger seat pulls the knife out of his back.
The driver curses as the knife is jerked free. Obviously, he isn’t as used to dealing with pain as Milo or me.
Milo shoves me down onto the seat, forcing my arms over my head, as his body crushes me down into the black leather.
He’s sweating, and a thin line of blood scars his cheek. It may not have caused much damage, but the scar will remain for the rest of his life. A constant reminder on his face of me, at least until I find a way to kill him.
“You okay, Vito?” Milo asks, not taking his heated eyes off of me to check on his driver.
“Yes, it just hurts like a motherfucker,” Vito answers.
I don’t look away from Milo, but I’m sure Vito is giving me an evil glare.
“Don’t worry, Vito; I’ll make sure she pays for her crimes.”
Milo pulls another knife from his pocket and pushes it against my neck in the same way I did to him earlier.
I hold my breath, trying to remain as still as possible, but I don’t let the fear in. I won’t. He doesn’t deserve my fear.
“How far are we from the yacht?” Milo asks his driver.
“Five minutes.”
Five minutes, that’s nothing. Once I’m on that yacht, I’ll have no hope of getting off. And have no hope of hiding my fear.
“Do it. Slice my pretty neck. I deserve it,” I taunt him.
He grins, pushing his weight further into my chest until I can barely breathe. His cock sinks between my legs, and it takes everything inside me not to try and pull away in disgust.
“Do it,” I say again. My eyes glaze with a fire to have control over this man. Even if it’s just to get him to hurt me, he’ll hurt me because of what I did, and what I said. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be yelling into his phone. I have control.
“With pleasure,” Milo says.
The knife presses hard against my throat, and I feel the warmth of my blood trickling down my cool neck.
He won’t kill me. I know that much. He needs me alive to torture me later. Even though a part of me wishes he would kill me and put an end to this.
Everything starts to move in slow motion.
The knife slices deeper, until I can’t contain the pain. I grit my teeth to try to keep it in, but the pain is unexpected. Maybe he is trying to kill me?
The car is spinning the next second. Milo flies from my body, slamming into the back of the driver’s seat.
Vito grips the wheel hard, trying to regain control, but we keep whirling.
I grab my neck and feel the blood soaking my hand as my body grows colder.
Glass shatters.
And then everything stops.
The car.
The screams.
The guns.
I’m cold—so fucking cold. It’s been a long time since I felt this level of ice hardening my veins.
I don’t move. I let the ice consume me, freezing me in place. Soon I’ll be a statue again. I’m sinking back into my shell, and I welcome it if it keeps me alive.
My eyes start fluttering closed, until I see men with guns standing over me. Men I don’t recognize. Men with evil and wickedness in their eyes.
Fuck, it’s just my luck. To get stolen from Milo only to deal with worse men. And Enzo won’t have a fucking clue he has to steal me from this new enemy, that I’m no longer with Milo. I’ve been taken by new men.
I let my eyes drift closed, and hope I’ll never open them again. Death has to be better than this.
4
ENZO
KAI’S ALIVE.
And Rowan Evan’s men now have her, just as planned.
Thank fuck.
“They have her,” I say, ending the call as I look at Langston and Zeke.
Westcott enters my office a second later. “Is she?”
Even Westcott is worried about Kai.
“She’s safe.”
Westcott nods. “Do you need anything, sir?”
Langston glares at me, ensuring that I do what I must instead of what I want to do.
“Yes, have my car brought around.”
Westcott nods and then leaves. The plan is for me to be seen at Surrender—as publicly as possible for the next hour or so. So that when Milo tries to figure out where Kai is, he won’t suspect I took her. He will put all of the blame on Rowan. It’s going to kill me and be absolute torture to not be here when Kai returns, but it will be safer for her if Milo doesn’t know who has her.
Rowan was more than happy to help us out as soon as I asked for his help. I claimed I too was an enemy of Milo, which is now true. And I wanted to punish him for crossing me. That the woman he harbored was important to him, so I wanted to steal her back.
I offered Rowan the ten million Milo gave to me for his services. In exchange, he gives me Kai unharmed.
My phone buzzes again. It’s Rowan. I still. Why would he call me back? Langston and Zeke are supposed to meet his men in half an hour to make the trade.
“Hello,” I answer the phone cautiously.
“We don’t want to alarm you, but the girl has been hurt.”
“What? I told you she wasn’t supposed to get hurt. That was the deal.”
“It happened before we arrived. The bastard had a knife to her throat.”
“Is she?” I can’t bring myself to ask if she’s alive. If she’s dying right now in the back of one of their cars.
“She’s alive. She’ll survive. Your girl is a fighter. She went into some type of shock, her body shut down, and it seemed to minimize the bleeding. We already have her stitched up. She should have lost a lot more blood than she did. If her body hadn’t taken over, that bastard would have killed her.”
“Fuck,” I breathe.
How could I have been so stupid?
How could I have thought she would be safe for even a second with that monster?
How could I have ever thought it was okay to punish her by selling her? Even if I thought somewhere deep down she wanted him?
How could I?
“We just wanted to let you know so you could have a doctor ready to look her over. Her blood pressure is low, her pulse and breathing are weak, but she’s alive. She hasn’t woken up yet.”
“I’ll have a doctor with me to retrieve her.”
“Good. Also wanted to let you know we don’t want your money.”
“Why not?”
“We do some shitty, evil things to make money, same as you. But we don’t hurt women; we don’t hurt the innocent. It’s one rule we never break and never tolerate. It’s why we hate Milo so much. He has no respect for women. This I will do for free.”
“Thank you. If you need any help putting Milo in his place let me know, I’d be more than happy to help,” I say, squeezing the phone hard, knowing ho
w badly I want to hurt Milo myself.
“Of course.”
We hang up.
“Change of plan. I’m not going to Surrender. I’m going with you to pick up Kai.”
“But—”
“I don’t care if Milo finds out I stole her back. He fucking hurt her.”
Langston and Zeke’s eyes grow big with pain.
“No one touches what’s mine. This is my fuck up. And I’m going to fucking fix it.”
WE MEET Rowan and his men in a back alley. It’s still daylight, but I doubt anyone will give us much attention.
I step out of the car and race over to the open door of the Escalade.
Kai.
“She’s alive,” Rowan says. I’m surprised he helped deliver her himself. This thing between him and Milo is personal.
“Thank you,” I say, holding back tears and anger.
I lift her limp body out of the car, and then run back to mine. I brought Dr. Patten with us to help take care of her on the way back. Langston and Zeke are driving in the front.
As soon as we are in the car, Langston takes off like we are an ambulance racing to the hospital.
I see the large cut on her neck, now tied together with stitches as I lay her head in my lap.
Dr. Patten starts checking her vitals, takes her blood pressure, and examines the wound.
“Should I head toward a hospital or home?” Langston asks as he drives.
I look to the doctor to determine Kai’s condition.
“The cut looks worse than it is. It’s stitched up nicely. Her vitals are slower than normal, but I think it’s just because her body went into a survival state. Not because she’s at risk of dying. The only thing they could do is give her blood, but I don’t think she lost much. There isn’t much on her clothing or hair. And her cheeks are still pink.”
“Rowan said she didn’t lose much blood from what he could tell.”
“Good, I think all she needs is rest and time.”
“Home, Langston.”
I stroke her hair. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Never again. Never.”
I repeat over and over as Langston drives us home. And I don’t care who hears or knows what I’m thinking. Kai is too important to risk ever again.
She will never forgive me for this.
I will never forgive myself for this.
But I can ensure it will never happen again. I will do everything I can to protect her. Even if it kills me.
AS WE PULL up to the house, Kai opens her eyes. As if she was waiting to feel truly safe before she came back to the world.
She blinks rapidly as she looks at me.
“Enzo?” She croaks. Her voice sounds scratchy, and she winces at the pain.
“Shh, don’t talk. You’re safe.”
Her eyes are immense as she looks at me like she can’t believe I’m really here.
The doctor smiles. “I’m glad you are awake Miss Miller. Would you like some pain medication for that neck?” He reaches down to produce a couple of pain pills and a water bottle from his bag.
I take the pills and hold them up to her lips. She takes them, and then I carefully pour water through her parted lips.
“You’ll make a full recovery soon. You just need to rest. By tomorrow you should feel a lot better.”
“What—” she starts.
I press a finger to her lips.
“Don’t use your voice to ask me questions.”
I can read her eyes and body well enough to know what she’s going to ask anyway.
“We found Milo’s closest enemy and hired them to get you out before you got to the yacht. We didn’t want Milo knowing we were the ones to get you because we were afraid Milo would attack us and try to get you back. I vowed to protect you, and so I will. Even if I failed you now.”
Her pupils dilate before turning small.
“Yes, I had every man I know with a connection to Milo call his phone with various questions—problems with the yacht, questions about partnerships, money transfers, weapons that were supposed to be delivered to him, anything I could to keep him occupied and you safe.”
She nods a thanks.
“Don’t you dare thank me. Don’t thank any of my men or Rowan’s men. We should be protecting people that deserve it. And you, beautiful, deserve every inch of our protection. You deserve so much more than I can give you.”
“I’m so sorry he hurt you,” I stroke her neck where a permanent scar will serve as another reminder of the pain, just like all the other marks on her body.
Her eyes shine, and I realize what she’s trying to say. She’s not sad about the scar. It’s a good reminder. A reminder of something she did to Milo.
I smile. “You hurt him first?”
She nods.
“Good girl. Where?”
She points to her cheek and makes a long line. She’s vicious when she needs to be.
I hate that her fighting back almost cost her her life. But I know she’s truly healed if she was able to fight instead of locking herself inside.
“You are so incredible.” I stroke her forehead and hair. Even though we are stopped outside the house, none of us are in any hurry to go inside. All eyes in the car are on Kai, soaking up everything she tells us with her body.
She looks to Langston in the driver seat and points to his shoulder.
He smiles at her. “You got the driver in the shoulder?”
She nods.
“That’s my girl,” Langston says.
I shoot him a look when Langston says my girl. But he simply raises his eyebrows as if to say Kai’s as much his as she is mine. She may be calm and understanding right now, but the second she gets her strength back, she will be fucking ready to kill me for getting her into this mess in the first place. Even though I ensured her safe return, it doesn’t matter. I fucked up in the worst possible way.
The absolute worst way. And I deserve every bit of her revenge coming my way later.
She looks around the car smiling at each of us, showing her thanks and gratitude for getting back. When her eyes arrive back on mine, she smiles for a split second before letting it drop. And I know that’s the last smile I will be getting.
“I promise you—never again. I will die before I let another man hurt you. I will die before I let another man take you. I will give up everything to you if that will save you. I don’t care how you hurt or betray me in the future. You have my allegiance. If you win the empire, I will spend my life serving you and protecting you. I’ll even give up the empire to you now, if that’s what you want. I’ll lose every round until you are Black. And I will spend the rest of my life keeping you safe.”
She bites her lip as she studies my distraught face, and I know what she’s asking me. She doesn’t want to be Black. She wants what she’s always wanted. The one thing I’m desperate to give her and not sure I can. She wants her freedom.
“What?” Zeke asks, looking from her to me, not understanding.
“Kai wants me to set her free.”
Zeke’s face falls heavy. “You can’t. It’s not safe. Definitely not now that Milo will be doing everything possible, including burning this city down, to get Kai back.”
My eyes cut to Zeke, silencing him and the rest of the car. Because his words aren’t helpful even though they are the truth.
“You will be free as soon as it’s safe. I will take you wherever you want to go. I will give you the ten million Milo paid me in the sale. I will give you everything you want. I just can’t let you go yet. I’m sorry. I won’t let you get hurt again. But I’ll give you as much freedom as I can while you’re here. I hope it’s enough.”
She sucks in a breath and looks around at all of the eyes on her, and I know it will never be enough.
“So I’m trapped here until you can determine it’s safe for me?” she asks, her voice weak.
“Yes,” I say, my heart breaking.
“Then I’ll be trapped here forever because I’ll never be sa
fe.”
5
KAI
IT HURTS TO THINK. The muscles twinge every time I make my neck move, but hopefully, the pain medications will kick in soon, because I have a lot to say to Enzo, and it can’t wait.
I’m trapped here. That much I know. Enzo will never let me go until he can ensure my protection, something he will never be able to do. Milo will start hunting me as soon as he tends to his wounds. All of Enzo’s enemies have now become mine. Whether the news of our fake marriage spread, or realizing I’m the daughter of a Miller and I have as much right to the empire as Enzo does. The world knows of my existence and will be coming for me.
Enzo continues to stroke my hair, looking down at me like he’s terrified of living if I were to die. I’ve seen something close to this on his face before, but never this.
Something changed when Milo took me. Enzo felt pain when I was taken. Maybe Enzo does have a heart?
How can I be happy and pissed at someone at the same time? I feel both emotions in equal measures. I’m livid Enzo sold me and got me into this situation in the first place. And I’m elated he saved me. I’m happy he’s scared to lose me. I’m thrilled he offered to give everything to me in payment.
He offered everything but my freedom.
Enzo nods and all the men file out of the car.
Langston opens Enzo’s door. Slowly Enzo eases out from underneath me, stands, and then his arms are under me scooping me out.
I can walk, I say with my eyes because it’s not important enough to speak with my voice and cause myself pain.
“I know you can, brave girl. But you shouldn’t have to. I’ll be your legs forever if you let me. I’ll be your armor. Your fighter. Your protector. Watching you walk out the door took something from me. I don’t understand why seeing you go hurt so badly, but it did. Worse than being shot. I won’t let it happen again.”
I soak in his words. Truth. His words are the truth.
He smiles, continuing to read my mind.
I don’t ever have to worry about Enzo hurting me again. He won’t, even in the game. I’m safe from his wrath.