by Ella Miles
“I don’t want to drink alcohol, and I’m perfectly comfortable in my own manhood.”
I smile at that.
“I’m glad you remember meeting Zeke. I’ve been so annoyed that neither of you could remember while I’m stuck remembering witnessing you two exchanging sappy words and constantly flirting.”
I tuck my hair behind my ear as I lean back on the couch with my cup of tea resting in my lap. “I can’t believe how much our lives have been intertwined this whole time. I can’t believe how different my life could have been if I decided to take a chance on Zeke then, instead of now.”
“You can’t think like that. If you and Zeke had started dating then, you would have been on the yacht when Zeke was shot. You would have thought he was dead along with us. No one would have been there to save him. You couldn’t be together then because you needed to save him so you could be together now.”
I look at Langston sitting next to me. I don’t know how I could have ever mistaken him for a monster, when he’s clearly a kind man who truly cares about his family.
“Thanks for saying that. I needed that.”
“Don’t,” Langston tenses.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t think I’m a good man. I’m not your savior. I’m barely your friend. Don’t ever mistake me for more than I am.”
“Who are you, then?”
“I’ll protect you, but I’ll also look out for my own interests. I’ll do horrible things that I’ll never explain to you or anyone else. I’ll protect you, but don’t think that protection lasts forever like Zeke’s.”
I nod, but I don’t believe his words. I don’t think Langston could ever stop protecting me. The only thing he would ever let get in the way of protecting me would be his love for another woman in a situation worse than mine.
“I love you too, Langston.” I wink at him.
He blinks rapidly like he’s never heard those words spoken to him before.
I laugh. “I’m not in love with you, but I love you like a brother. And I will do everything in my power to protect you too.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “How could you love me when I’ve been so cruel?”
“Have you been that cruel?” I throw his own words from earlier back at him as I smile behind my cup of tea.
He shakes his head, and I decide not to push the conversation further.
“So what do we do now? I remember meeting you, but I don’t remember anything after that. I don’t remember stealing the box. I don’t remember hiding it.” I don’t remember killing my own parents.
“Now, we try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we will try to push you further.”
I shudder, but I know he’s right as I yawn.
“We should go to bed,” Langston says.
I agree. However, I don’t want to be alone right now. Zeke is gone. He hasn’t texted or called. We don’t know if he’s still alive or hurt. We don’t know what’s happening.
So I set my cup down on the end table and then curl my legs up beneath me and lean onto Langston’s chest. He stiffens at first, but slowly he puts his arms around my back, holding me against him.
“Zeke is going to kill me for this.”
I laugh. “He would until I told him that you were just being a good brother and helping me keep the nightmares away.”
“I can do that.”
I close my eyes and try to sleep. The nightmares will stay away as long as Langston is here, but I’m afraid what I need to do to remember is let the nightmares in.
19
Zeke
We arrive in Alaska at Kai and Enzo’s house up here. I feel weird about using their house to attack Julian and commit murder when this place is such a sanctuary for them, far away from all the evil in their lives. But we know the area and the land, so we’ll have an advantage here.
“Where is it?” Julian asks as he parks the SUV we rented in front of the house.
“In a security box in the basement.”
Julian pulls out his gun and motions for me to do the same. “Remember what will happen if you turn on me.”
“I get the box, turn it over to you, and Siren goes free. I got it. I won’t betray you. I tried that, and I failed.”
Julian snickers.
God, I’m going to enjoy killing Julian more than any other man I’ve killed. I hope Enzo and Kai don’t kill him before I get a chance to hurt him.
I keep my eyes peeled for any sign of them or their men as we walk up to the front door. I haven’t texted or had contact with them since Langston’s men turned me over to Julian, so I don’t know where they are hiding or when they plan on attacking Julian. But I’ll be ready, and I can’t wait to finally give the bastard what he deserves.
I pick the lock on the door and open it, sticking my gun in first before stepping inside.
Julian follows right after me, practically using me as a human shield—coward.
I continue through the house, but I don’t see any sign of anyone. Enzo and Kai are very talented assassins, so they won’t make themselves known until the last second. Still, it unsettles me to have no hints as to where they are.
“Where is the basement?” Julian asks.
I scan the room. “This way.”
I start heading down the hallway, toward the basement door. I open it, and we walk downstairs carefully. I don’t bother with the lights, and neither does Julian.
“There,” I say, pointing to the safe sitting at the far end of the room.
“Good, now unlock it.”
I snarl. Of course, he won’t be doing any of the work himself.
I walk to the safe and tuck my gun away, going to work on picking the safe. I only know how to do it because the Black family deals in security systems. Otherwise, a system like this can’t be opened.
I take my time, assuming now is when Enzo and Kai are going to choose to ambush Julian.
But when I hear the final click of the lock before the safe pops open, there has been no ambush.
“The safe is unlocked,” I say, stepping away from it.
Julian steps forward after putting his gun away. I take mine out and scan around the darkness, trying to look for Kai and Enzo to give them the signal.
Finally, I see the whites of men’s eyes staring back at me. I see guns. They aren’t pointed at Julian.
Fuck.
Julian opens the safe and pulls out the box that Siren hid here after stealing it from the vault. The box once held a secret weapon; instead, the box is now empty.
Julian opens it easily. The latch is already broken open from Kai and Enzo.
Julian doesn’t seem surprised to find it empty. Instead, he whistles.
The lights flick on, and two dozen men step forward with their guns aimed at me. Then I see them, Enzo and Kai, tied up with guns trained on them.
Julian tosses the box to the ground. His eyes have darkened, but otherwise, there is no sign of anger as he walks toward me.
“I thought you cared more about your wife’s life than this. But I guess I was wrong; you don’t care about Siren at all.”
My body fills with rage. “All I care about is Siren.”
“Then stop lying to me. Stop trying to trick me!”
“Stop trying to kill my family!”
Julian shakes his head before he walks over to Enzo. It’s the first I’ve seen Enzo since I shot him. I’m glad the damage I did was minimal. My eyes skim to Kai, who doesn’t seem upset with me in the least, even though deep down she’d love to have my balls for daring to hurt her husband.
I flick back to Julian, who is patting Enzo on the cheek. “Look at that—he isn’t dead. Isn’t that what I asked of you? For you to kill him?” Julian punches his shoulder where I shot him. Enzo doesn’t flinch, restricted by the restraints around his wrists, arms, and ankles. Julian grabs his shirt and rips it open, finding no bullet wound.
Julian turns to me and hisses through clenched teeth. “Lies…all you lot can do is lie.”
/> He walks over to me, getting in my face, even though I’m a foot taller than him.
“You do realize that I hold all the power? I have everything, and you have nothing. If you don’t do exactly as I say from here on out, you’ll lose everything you hold dear.”
My chest rises and falls as I focus on my breathing instead of snapping his neck. It would make me feel better for a split second, before the rain of bullets his men would send down on me and my friends a second later.
“What do you want?” I ask.
Julian tsks. “No, you don’t get to ask that. First, you have to be punished for what you did here today.”
“Whip me, beat me, torture me. You can do whatever you want to me. It won’t leave a dent on me. It will be nothing compared to what I’ve already experienced.”
Julian pulls out his cell phone with a grin.
I stiffen but remember Langston is on my side. He won’t let anything bad happen to Siren. There is nothing to fear. I just have to let Julian know how afraid I am.
Julian dials a number, then puts the phone to his ear.
“Don’t,” I beg.
He laughs. “You lied. You get punished.”
He turns his attention back to the phone. “Bishop, I need you to do something for me.”
I wait for Langston to speak back.
“I need you to punish Siren for Zeke’s disloyalty. I need you to make her scream now on the phone so we can all hear.”
My eyes widen, and my heart stops.
Langston won’t really hurt her. Whatever screams Siren makes will be fake. They will be an act. They won’t be real.
Julian pulls the phone from his ear and puts the phone on speakerphone. Thank God he didn’t ask to video chat and show him beating Siren, that would be harder to fake. And if Julian saw Siren, he might realize that she’s pregnant.
There’s a scuffle.
Then I hear Langston say, “Come here, bitch.”
It’s an act. It’s all a lie.
I look over at Enzo and Kai, who both fight against their bindings to stop Langston. They, too, know it’s fake, but it’s still hard to not react. It’s also what they would be doing if they didn’t know it was fake. I need to let myself react more to sell this.
“Julian, stop this. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll help you find where the real box is. Just don’t hurt Siren,” I beg.
“I have Siren tied up. Should I continue, Julian?” Langston says.
Julian’s grin turns up slowly, and it looks the devil himself is possessing his body.
“Yes,” he says.
“No!” I scream, running to Julian.
But it’s too late.
I hear a whip-like sound, followed by Siren howling. I don’t know how he made the noises without striking actual flesh, which scares me.
Siren is fine. Langston promised. He promised.
Another whip, though, and the scream from Siren this time is horrific. It echoes through my ears and lands in my heart. I never want Siren to hurt. I can’t stand for her to hurt. It feels worse than a thousand whips hitting my back all at once.
“Please, stop this,” I beg Julian.
Julian just cocks his head and licks his lips in enjoyment. “Three more,” he says into the phone.
Three more. I can’t stand it, even though I know it’s fake. I can’t listen to her scream three more times.
“Please!” I get down on my knees in front of Julian, begging him to stop this, to end this.
I hear another strike, another scream. Her voice is high-pitched, and it sounds like she’s losing her voice or crying.
She can’t be, though, not my strong Siren.
Another strike. Another scream. Another piece of my fragile heart breaks, and I feel tears watering my eyes. Apparently, I don’t need to act at all. As much as I thought I was certain that Langston was on our side, this is Bishop. And Bishop, I don’t trust.
I close my eyes as the fifth and final strike is delivered, followed by a scream that splits my soul.
It’s not real. She’s not in pain. The baby isn’t in danger. This isn’t real.
“That’s enough for now,” Julian says into the phone before hanging up.
He walks over to me.
“Stand up,” he commands.
I do. We always had a plan that if we failed, I would fall in line. Get him to trust me, figure out his financial backer, and then find a way to kill them all.
“Now, one of you three knows where the box is. Tell me, or we will go through that entire exercise again.”
20
Siren
I didn’t have to fake my screams or tears. If Julian wanted Langston to hurt me, it could only mean one thing—Zeke failed. He got captured for real, and I don’t know if he’s going to survive.
My emotions ran high as Langston handed me the whip and told me to strike his back each time Julian asked. I didn’t hit him very hard, just enough to make a horrible sound over the phone. It was enough that Langston had to bite down on a belt to keep from making a sound.
But my cries of pain were real. They weren’t because of the physical pain I was in, but because of my fear of losing Zeke, of my child growing up without a father. I can’t stand the thoughts.
I made the wrong decision in letting him go back to fight Julian Reed alone. I should have sent Langston with him. I should have gone with him. Or he shouldn’t have gone at all.
Langston ends the call, and instead of worrying about the pain I inflicted on his back, he holds me close in a deep hug as I collapse to the floor.
“Julian has Zeke. He failed. He’s going to die. I can’t lose him,” I sob into Langston’s shoulder.
“Shhh, Zeke isn’t going to die. He had a plan for this, remember? He’s strong. He’s not going to let anything stop him from coming back for the birth of his first child.”
“That’s months away.”
“Yes, and I suspect he’ll be back a lot sooner than that. But you have to stay strong, so Zeke can stay strong.”
I nod vigorously—Langston’s right. I’m being ridiculous. Zeke is obviously still alive or Julian wouldn’t call. And I heard Zeke’s voice in the background. Zeke is alive. He’ll win this war in the end.
“Let me look at your back.” I turn Langston around. “Oh my god!” I gasp. “I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” Red welts pop up on his back.
Langston brushes me off. “I’m fine. You shot me, remember? That was much worse. You just got into it a little when you were feeling all the pain.”
“Let me get you something to soothe your back, though.” I’m off before Langston can stop me.
I run to the bathroom, catching my breath before finding some salve to rub on his back. Zeke is strong. He’s going to survive. I have to remain calm for my baby.
I grab the bottle of salve and then run back to find Langston still sitting shirtless in the living room.
“This should help,” I say as I squirt some into my hand and then rub it on his back. He doesn’t flinch or react when I touch him.
“Is that better?” I ask.
“Yes. Thanks, Ren,” Langston says.
“Ren, huh?” I sit down on the couch while Langston stands from the floor, puts on his shirt, and then sits next to me.
“I know Siren is the name Zeke calls you. It feels as much as an endearment as it does your real name. And no one seems to call you Aria. What do you prefer I call you?”
I smile. “Ren sounds perfect, Lang.”
He laughs at my shortening of his name, but I notice him wince slightly when his back hits the back of the couch. I hurt him more than I intended.
“Wait here, one sec.” I rush off and come back with a bottle of whiskey and a glass for him. I pour and hand him a full glass.
“Thanks,” he says, staring at the glass a second before drinking it quickly. I pour another shot into the glass, and this one, he sips slower.
He looks at me, studying me closely. “Did it trigger a
ny new memories?”
I shake my head sadly.
“What do we do now? We’ve tried hypnosis and meditation. They haven’t worked.”
He bites his lip, and I know what he’s thinking but doesn’t want to suggest.
“What is it?” I ask. “It can’t be as bad as you think it is, just tell me.”
“You killed your parents right after hiding the box, right?”
“Yes, I assume so.”
“Then maybe killing someone is the answer.”
I frown. “But I’ve killed people before. It didn’t trigger anything.”
“True, but you are in a very emotional state right now. Combine that with killing someone, and it just might do it.”
I nod, it makes sense. “I’m not just going to go kill an innocent person in hopes that I can remember where I hid a box. Even if finding the box first might save millions.”
“I’m not asking you to kill an innocent person. Your parents weren’t innocent.”
I take a deep breath. It’s a better idea than Langston trying to torture me, but Zeke will kill me if I put myself into danger trying to remember.
“I won’t let you be in any danger.”
“I know,” I exhale a deep breath. “So, where are we going to find a bad guy who is easy to kill and doesn’t put me at too much risk?”
Langston downs his drink. “Come on, we have a bad guy to hunt down.”
He holds out his hand, and I take it.
“Where are we going?”
“You still got your gun and knife on you?”
“Always.”
“Good, then let’s go.” He drags me to his car before I have time to process what we are doing. Then we are driving down the road, destination unknown.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“Zeke.”
“Good, keep thinking about him.”
So I do. I let the fear of losing him in, even though I know it comes with some anxiety. I let it in. I let all my emotions in. I feel all my worry as we drive.
Finally, Langston stops in an alleyway.
“Where are we?”
