by Ella Miles
I hate that he dropped my hand, even if it’s a good idea not to show public displays of affection around the team. Some part of me wants him to say, fuck all of them, and hold my hand like he wants to.
“How many men would be available to attack Felix tomorrow, Carter?” Enzo asks.
“Twenty, possibly more,” the man answers.
Enzo gives me a pointed gaze. I’m still in charge. Enzo doesn’t get to make this decision. I do.
“Do you think we should attack Felix tomorrow? Give him a little payback for what he did to us?” Enzo asks.
My eyes dart between the two men. I don’t want to risk any more lives. I don’t want to risk Enzo’s life. Or my life. Or our child’s life. I’ve decided this baby has to be Enzo’s. Think positively for once.
But we need to handle Felix sooner rather than later. Each day that passes, he becomes more dangerous.
“Yes, tomorrow. Tell everyone to meet Enzo and me in the closest bar we own in an hour,” I say.
Carter nods and then leaves us.
“The three of us need to have a talk before we meet with the men,” I say.
“The three of us?”
“You, me, and Langston.”
Enzo tenses, and then takes my hand again as he starts leading me down another hallway.
“No, don’t tell me…” If he tells me Langston is dead, I’m going to die. I can’t survive another person I love dying.
Enzo grabs my cheeks as the tears burn. “Oh, baby. No, Langston is fine, he’s just not in any condition to fight tomorrow.”
I sob in relief.
Enzo pulls me into a tight hug, trying to quell my outburst of tears. Langston is fine; I shouldn’t be crying. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones? I don’t know; I just need to cry.
“Come on, let me show you to his room. It might make you feel better,” Enzo says.
We start walking to Langston’s room. We peak our head inside and find Liesel laying with her head on one side of Langston’s bed.
I raise a knowing eyebrow at the sight of her sleeping next to Langston.
He frowns, shaking his head. “Nothing is going on,” he mouths to me.
I grin. Maybe neither of them realize anything is happening between the two of them yet, but they are aloof. Because there is definitely something happening.
I let go of Enzo’s hand, who stands near the door to give Langston and me a moment alone.
“How are you feeling?” I ask him, sitting on the other side of the bed across from a sleeping Liesel.
“Better than I look.”
I smile weakly. “You do look pretty beat up.”
He takes my hand, and his eyes meet mine before dropping to my stomach for the smallest of seconds. Asking me what he needs to without actually saying the words.
I smile the brightest I have in a while thinking about the memory of hearing my baby’s heartbeat for the first time and nod.
He squeezes my hand tighter. “I’m so happy you are going to be alright.”
“We need to go. We have to discuss a plan to take out Felix.”
He frowns, looking from me to Enzo. “You planning an attack without me?”
“Don’t worry, we plan on capturing him and torturing him slowly. So you’ll get your shot at him,” Enzo says.
“Good,” Langston answers.
Liesel snores, and we all giggle at the sudden sound.
“Take care of her,” I say, with a wink before kissing Langston’s cheek. And then Enzo and I head out of the hospital to the nearest bar we own to discuss how to take out our latest enemy.
THE PLAN IS SIMPLE. Felix is staying in a hotel he and his team have taken over. We hacked the hotel’s security and found out which room he’s staying in. So we will ambush him.
And when I say we, I mean Enzo will lead a team of twenty men, while I will sit watching a security monitor and barking out anything helpful.
If the team doesn’t vote Enzo the leader after this, they are crazy. I’m not putting my life at risk to help them, Enzo is.
“You ready?” Enzo asks me from the door of the van I’m hiding in with Arthur and Kent, two of the nerdiest people I’ve ever met. But if we need to hack any more systems, they are the best we have.
“I should be asking if you are ready. I’m not the one doing anything.”
He grins and then kisses me firmly on the lips, not caring who sees us. “You are leading from exactly where you need to be. Just because you don’t have skill in hand to hand combat doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy of leading.”
“Go get Felix. He better hope you kill him, because I plan on cutting off his balls for what he’s put us through,” I say.
“I’ll relay the message.”
“Good.”
His lips hit mine again, and this time, it’s not chaste. It’s hard and fast. His tongue sweeps into my mouth as he tastes all that he can get of me. I moan back. Only the men staying with me in the van get a view of our makeout session, and I really don’t care what they think. Every time Enzo leaves me to go fight a dangerous man could be the last time I get to kiss him, so I make it the best damn kiss I can.
Enzo finally pulls away with a wink.
And then he’s gone.
And I’m staring at a grainy computer image, watching as Enzo and team of men and women I’m responsible for sneak into a hotel room to take out Felix.
“Are you okay, Ms. Black?” Arthur asks.
“Uh-huh,” I say, my knee bouncing up and down.
He smiles at me. “Mr. Black is the best I’ve ever seen. A bullet doesn’t hit him unless he wants the bullet to hit him. He will take out Felix no problem.”
“Thanks, Arthur.” But his words don’t make me feel any better.
I watch the screen as they break into Felix’s room. There is a gunfight, leaving many men injured, but in the end, the fight is between Felix and Enzo. Brother and brother.
They both put their guns down, deciding to fight with just their hands. That should make me feel better. Guns are dangerous, there is only so much damage that can happen when you can only use your fists. But I get a sinking feeling in my belly.
Because as the fight starts, I realize Felix is just as talented a fighter as Enzo. Every other fight I’ve watched Enzo fight, I know he’s going to win. But against Felix, I’m not sure. Their movements are too similar. Their creativity with throwing punches and kicks are on the same level. And the blood they spill from the other is the same.
I cringe with each punch.
But that isn’t what has me worried. When I glance at Arthur and Kent, they are just as captivated with what is happening on the screen. They have never seen someone attack Enzo like this. They are in awe of Felix. And if Felix wins, they could decide to make him the new leader.
Fuck, why did we think fighting him was a good idea?
I have to stop this.
I don’t think; I just dart out of the van.
“Ms. Black! Wait!” Arthur shouts.
But nothing can stop me. I need to get to Enzo. I need to stop this.
I run through the hotel lobby, choosing the stairs over the elevator even though Felix’s room is on the top floor. Floor eleven. My feet can run faster than the elevator can take me.
I reach the floor, panting and sweaty, but I'm relentless. I have the uncontrollable desire to keep going no matter what. I run to the door of the hotel room, throw it open, and the fight stops mid-punch as both men stare at me.
Enzo with fear.
Felix with joy. He thinks this is the moment he wins. He thinks he’ll be able to convince our entire team he deserves to be the leader. I know the men are in awe of his skills, but that’s not enough to become Black. It takes a lot more than the ability to fight. It takes bravery and courage and honor—something Felix doesn’t have.
“You’re fighting the wrong man, don’t you think?” I say.
Felix smirks.
Enzo’s eyes widen in terror. “Kai, no!”
“And who should I be fighting? You?” he asks.
“Yes, I’m the leader. I’m Black, not Enzo. Fight me.”
Felix’s mouth thins, his gaze burns like fire, and his jaw sets in stone. He’s trying to understand why I would start a fight I have no chance of winning.
I’m trying to figure it out myself. But the man who is beat up and bloody, still unconscious from Felix’s blow is the only answer I can come up with.
Enzo may have been the kind of man who put his own life on the line to fight to protect his men, but I’m counting on my men helping me out with this one. The only way we take Felix is together.
I walk into the center of the room, trying not to worry about Enzo still passed out. Enzo got some good punches in on Felix, his face is covered in blood and cuts, but it wasn’t enough. Felix is larger, faster, stronger.
Felix circles me, trying to decide the best way to fight me and still come out looking good to the team.
Come on, Felix. Punch me. In the face, preferably. One punch, and my men will attack.
At least, I hope they will. I’ve made a good impression on them, but will they risk their lives for me without me giving the order for them to?
I’m about to find out.
“This was foolish of you. You aren’t even going to get a punch in before I kill you,” Felix says.
“Stop stalling and fight me,” I say, putting my fists up.
Felix laughs, stepping closer.
I throw a punch, hitting him as hard as I can in the jaw. Fuck that hurt my hand.
And then I see his fist coming down, landing hard against my cheek.
I’m falling. One punch, and I’m going down.
But the men are charging full force against Felix. My last glance before everything goes black isn’t of Felix, it’s of Enzo stirring in the corner.
I saved his life. I smile, he’s safe.
But then I feel an ache in my stomach, and I panic. My baby. Please, no! Please don’t let me trade one life for another.
19
ENZO
KAI’S EYES OPEN.
“Thank God,” I say, squeezing her hand in relief as she lies in the bed of one our yachts.
“What happened?” she asks, looking around the room.
“You decided to exchange your life for mine,” I give her a stern look.
Her eyes flutter a moment as she tries to remember.
“I was fighting Felix, and then you decided to come in and try to save the day.”
She nods. “You were going to lose.”
“Then let me lose.”
She frowns. “I couldn’t watch you die. I had to do something.”
“Well, that thing was stupid. You don’t get to risk your life to save mine,” I growl and grab her shoulders harder than I should, but I need her to realize her life is more valuable than mine. She deserves to live.
She bites her lip. “I know, but don’t make me choose again.”
“The choice is easy. You choose yourself. Do you understand me?”
She nods. “I’m sorry.” A tear drips down her cheek.
I brush it off with my thumb, softening.
“Is Felix…”
“We have him. He’s locked up in one of the rooms. If you have any doubt whether or not the men respect you more than me, you shouldn’t. One punch and they all attacked with a vengeance I haven’t seen before.”
She nods sadly.
I tilt her chin up so I can look in her eyes. “But then that was your plan the entire time? You knew you couldn’t beat Felix yourself.”
She nods. “I knew they would fight for me. They wouldn’t for you, but only because they are used to you winning by yourself. Protecting them.”
“Felix is stronger.”
Her eyes narrow, and her hand brushes against my cheek. “Probably, but your heart is bigger. And in the end, that will make the difference.”
“I need to kiss you,” I plead.
“So kiss me.”
I lick my lips and press them against hers, carefully. She took a hard punch to the head. She has a concussion. I need to be gentle with her, even though what I really want to do is throw her over my lap and spank her for thinking she should put herself at risk like that.
Kai kisses me back just as gently. She’s equally afraid she’s going to break me.
But then she moans, so softly. It’s angelic, that moan.
Our eyes both open, staring at each other.
And then all common sense leaves us both.
My lips attack hers, and her hands grip my neck, squeezing so hard it’s difficult to breathe. My tongue pushes deep in her mouth, brushing over her glorious tongue. Her nails claw down my neck, not able to get me close enough to her.
“I should be punishing you, not kissing you,” I say as I bite her bottom lip.
Her eyes sear. “Then punish me.”
The invitation to punish her does things to my cock I’m not proud of. I shouldn’t enjoy hurting her in any way. But I get hard all the same.
I have to be careful with her. I don’t want to hurt her. But I want her to know how serious I am about her not risking her life again for mine. And I need to taste her. A plan forms in my head as I kiss down her body.
“What are you doing?” she asks as I kiss over her stomach before pulling down the boxer shorts she’s wearing.
My eyes widen at the beautiful sight.
“Punishing you,” I say as my lips go straight for her clit. Sucking and nipping, pleasuring her too much at once.
She arches her back at the surge of deliciousness pulsing through her body.
“How is this punishing me?” she moans.
I flick my tongue over her clit again. “Because I’m not going to let you come.”
“What?” she throws her head up in a panic and tries to push my head off her, but I just grip her legs tighter and bury my head between her legs.
“Enzo, stop! If you aren’t going to let me come then…” her arguing stops though as I slide one finger through her slickness.
I pump her once, twice, feeling her spread open for me. I pull my finger all the way out and slip another in as I continue to torture her clit with my tongue.
I feel her getting close. I feel her body tightening around my fingers.
And then I stop.
“You bastard. Make me come!” Kai cries.
“Not until you’ve learned your lesson. You don’t trade your life for mine. Never again. I thought you would learn your lesson with Milo. He took everything from us when you traded your life for mine.”
She stares angrily at me.
“I didn’t have a choice! I couldn’t watch you die.”
“And I can’t watch you die either.”
My thumb circles her clit again, bringing her close before denying her.
“Say it.”
She glares.
“Say you won’t ever trade your life for mine again. That you will never come to my rescue again.”
“Only if you promise to never put yourself at risk unnecessarily again.”
“I promise,” I say.
She swallows hard as I press my thumb against her button, but I don’t move. I just hold it there, waiting.
“I promise,” she says, with sincerity in her eyes.
It’s the best I’m going to get for now.
So I stop torturing both of us. I push my finger inside of her, and one flick of my tongue sends her into a spiraling orgasm.
So beautiful.
When she’s come down from her high, I pull my fingers out of her and lick them, before licking my way up her body, examining every inch of her as I go. I had the doctor look her over, and all he determined was that she had a concussion and needed some rest, but I need to survey every inch of her to be sure.
I kiss over her legs, not noticing any new bruises or cuts.
I’ve already examined her perfect pussy. And then I kiss over her stomach. It’s swollen, but I don’t notice any bruising yet. Is something happening internally?
“What’s wrong?” she asks, stroking my hair.
“Nothing, does anything hurt?”
“No,” she stretches.
I don’t want to worry her about internal bleeding. I’ll have the doctor take a look again.
I keep kissing up her body when a knock on the door interrupts me.
I sigh and get off her as she slides her shorts back up.
“Yes?” I say grumpily.
The door opens, and Archard and the five voting members stand at the door before filing into the room.
“What’s going on?” Kai asks.
“The month is up. It’s time for the final vote,” Archard says.
Kai noticeably tenses. I take her hand. There is no reason to hide my feelings from the team. They know how I feel.
“Alright, then let’s start the vote. You are not voting for who is doing the best at this very moment, but who you think won the game overall and who you’d rather see as your leader moving forward,” Archard says.
Clifton starts, “Enzo.”
I raise an eyebrow.
And Kai smiles. She’d rather have me win.
I’m torn. I want to win. I want her to win. But most of all, I want more time with her. I want her safe. And I don’t know which way results in getting everything I want.
Odette goes next, “Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Kai.”
Kai wins.
I’ve never been prouder and more terrified in my life.
“Thank you for assisting with this round. I need to speak to Kai and Enzo alone,” Archard says.
A few moments later, we are alone with Archard.
“You are now tied, two to two,” he says.
Kai and I both nod.
“Which means you will both participate in the final round.”
We both suck in a breath as Archard speaks, like his words will decide the fate of our entire future.
No, fuck him. We will decide our own futures, not anyone else.
“When will the game happen?” I ask.
“Well, as far as I’m aware, neither of you have finalized your heirs.” Archard looks to me. “You originally put down Milo’s child as your heir, but as he died before having a child, I will need you to select again.”