by Ella Miles
Trapped by Lies
Truth or Lies Book 3
Ella Miles
Copyright © 2019 by Ella Miles
EllaMiles.com
[email protected]
Cover design © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
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Truth or Lies Series
1. Kai
2. Enzo
3. Kai
4. Enzo
5. Kai
6. Enzo
7. Kai
8. Enzo
9. Kai
10. Enzo
11. Kai
12. Enzo
13. Kai
14. Enzo
15. Kai
16. Liesel
17. Kai
18. Enzo
19. Kai
20. Enzo
21. Kai
22. Milo
23. Enzo
24. Kai
25. Enzo
26. Kai
27. Enzo
28. Enzo
29. Kai
30. Enzo
31. Milo
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Also by Ella Miles
About the Author
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Truth or Lies Series
Lured by Lies #0.5
Taken by Lies #1
Betrayed by Truths #2
Trapped by Lies #3
Stolen by Truths #4
Possessed by Lies #5
Consumed by Truths #6
1
Kai
My heart healed—wholly and completely. I forgave the man I thought had sold me. I did the impossible. I was wrong about Enzo. He didn’t sell me. He’s not responsible for all of the hurt I endured for six years.
My father is responsible.
My heart healed, only to break a second later.
Enzo didn’t sell me before, but he did now.
He sold me to Milo Wallace.
Milo—a man I only spent twenty-four hours with and already my body became as scared, broken, and bruised as the entire first month I spent with Jarod. Milo has taken women before, that much is clear. He’s practiced in breaking people slowly and methodically. I still don’t understand how I got out of there without him raping me. Unless, this was his plan the entire time. To let me think I was free, only to buy me back and force me to do whatever he wants.
And I know if Milo gets me back, this time my body won’t be off limits to him. This time I won’t be able to buy my freedom by enduring beatings or giving him a precious ring. This time, Milo will ruin me.
Milo’s coming in an hour, and I’m not sure I can stop him.
Enzo’s words cut through the fog.
I blink rapidly, trying to bring myself back to the real world. I’m standing in the bedroom I’ve shared with Enzo since he took me as his captive. I’ve spent all this time wishing he would set me free, wishing for a way out, but now I’d do anything to continue to be Enzo’s prisoner. I know what Enzo expects of me. And he’d never force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. Enzo would never hurt me, not like Milo would.
Sold.
I never thought I would be sold again. Never thought I’d be stupid enough to let it happen. But being sold isn’t about being naive. It’s completely out of my control.
I could fight.
I could run.
But I won’t be able to do either without Enzo agreeing. I can’t fight two armies of men.
One hour.
That’s how much time I have.
One fucking hour left of freedom, if you can even call my current situation free.
I should be talking to Enzo about what he’s going to do to try to keep from letting me go. Or what his plan is to get me back if he does have to give me to Milo.
But I can’t.
My heart hurts too much.
Enzo betrayed me, even after I did everything to try and protect him.
It fucking hurts.
I feel a tear well up, but I won’t let it fall. Enzo doesn’t get to see my pain. And neither does Milo when he arrives.
I’m numb—that’s where I’ll go. My body has prepared time and time again for this exact situation. I’m not even scared anymore. My body will lockdown for as long as I need to survive.
Enzo says something to me, but I don’t hear it. I’ve already locked him out. He doesn’t get to see inside my mind. He lost the right to talk to me, to touch me, to be anything other than my enemy.
His mouth moves again, but my ears have learned to filter out the sound.
The door opens, and Langston and Zeke enter.
My heart starts to open again at the sight of the two men—men I consider friends.
No, close it. Don’t open it. They work for Enzo—not me. They will hurt me the same as Enzo. And when the time comes, they will turn me over to Milo with one word from Enzo. They won’t try to stop it, no matter how much they want to save me—they won’t.
I watch the exchange between the three men, like I’m in a tank at the aquarium filled with water and they are on the other side of the glass. I can see them, I know they are there, but I can’t hear them.
Enzo paces frantically in the bedroom. Langston reaches out to touch him, but Enzo swats his arm down.
I think they are yelling, arguing, but I can’t imagine what about. Enzo sold me. The deal is done. Enzo Black is a man of his word. He can’t back out of the deal now. It would ruin him and Black’s reputation. He would never put me above the Black empire. And I wouldn’t want him to. Other people shouldn’t suffer because of me. I just wish Enzo would have trusted me enough to know I would never willingly betray him. I would never hurt him if I could avoid it.
Never.
Apparently, Enzo didn’t feel the same way.
The sound of the doorbell downstairs alerts my senses. It’s the first sound I’ve heard in over an hour.
An hour—has it really been that long?
The bedroom door opens, and Westcott pokes his head in.
Enzo gives Westcott an order, and I’m sure he’s going to greet Milo Wallace. My time is almost up.
What will happen to the Black empire with me gone? Will Archard call for the next game, and when I don’t show up, will Enzo win by default?
It’s better this way. I may have won the first round, but I don’t want an evil empire. Not even to try and turn it good. I want nothing to do with this life anymore.
Enzo walks over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders, squeezing tightly. It should burn, the fire in him should light up every nerve in my body like he has countless times before. But I feel nothing. He might as well not be touching me.
He opens his mouth, but again I don’t hear him.
I’ve shut him out. The pain is too much.
“Kai! Listen to me!” Enzo’s voice booms, somehow cutting through the brick wall I put up to lock him out.
I blink, the only indication that I heard him.
“I have a plan—trust me. I will never let any man hurt you,” Enzo says.
His words mean nothing.
“Kai?” Enzo
asks hesitantly, trying to see if I heard him or not.
I snap my head to him; my eyes blacken into slits, shooting all my anger at him. But I don’t say anything.
He sighs with a whimper of agony and fear filling the room with his despair.
Good, he deserves to be in as much pain and anguish as I am. I want to hurt him as badly as I can before I leave.
“I will never let another man hurt you. Truth or lie?” he asks.
He waits.
I wait.
The pause stretches.
I want his words to be truth so badly. I want to feel hope.
For him.
For us.
For myself.
But my heart knows the truth—I can’t trust Enzo Black.
“Lie,” I answer.
His face falls into darkness like I plunged a blade into his heart.
Enzo drops his hands from my shoulders, and then he looks at Zeke and motions for him to stay with me. To watch guard over me and make sure I don’t do something stupid like try to leave or kill myself to avoid being sold to Milo.
Enzo wipes the moisture from his eyes and then transforms into the fiercest demon I’ve ever seen. No one would ever know Enzo’s heart was breaking just a moment ago. He’s one determined motherfucker. He’s just not my black knight, my savior.
He sold me.
The truth rings in my head as I watch Langston and Enzo leave.
Enzo sold me, and he doesn’t know if he can stop it.
2
Enzo
Kai’s words wreck me.
I deserve them though. I have to earn her trust again. I have to protect her at all costs.
Even at the cost of the Black empire. I would give it all to Milo today if I thought that would keep her safe.
It won’t.
For one, it would only make Milo realize how much I care about Kai. It would make him want her more—hurt her more.
No, sacrificing my men and empire to Milo wouldn’t save Kai.
I have to find a way to keep Kai and my men safe. But how?
I told Kai I have a plan—I don’t.
I could offer myself up in exchange for her. But that would leave Kai vulnerable with no one left to protect her. And Milo has no use for me; he’d just kill me or sell me to my enemies. I’m not a good exchange for Kai. He knows someone else would take my place, and he still wouldn’t have what he wants—Kai.
Milo Wallace is a wealthy and dangerous man. He doesn’t have as large of an empire as I do, but it’s impressive all the same. He won’t go down easily. And it’s going to be hard for me to back out of the deal I struck with him. That’s not who Black is. Black doesn’t back down from a deal.
How could I have been so stupid and reckless? Because I was raised by the devil. And no matter how hard I try to fight off that side of myself, it always creeps back in when I lose self-control—when I let the anger in.
Kai deserves so much better. When I find a way to save her, I have to let her go before I hurt her again and again. I have to win to keep her out of this life. I have to protect her always. And getting her as far away from the monster within me is the best way to do that.
Langston and I walk toward my office where I told Westcott to bring Milo. He trades me a nervous glance as we approach. Langston has had faith in my leadership abilities time and time again. He knows I’m capable of leading my men to safety. I will do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. But Langston, Zeke, and I talked for the entire hour, and I couldn’t come up with a plan to save Kai.
The only solution I’ve come up with is to kill the bastard sitting in my office. But it would ignite a war—one the Black empire couldn’t handle fighting at the moment. Not when Kai and I would have to agree before we made any move.
But I’ll start the war if that is the only way to keep Kai safe.
I reach the closed door to my office. “Stay here,” I say to Langston.
He nods solemnly, and it’s the first time I don’t feel complete faith from Langston in my abilities.
Zeke already swore he’d take Kai and run off if it came down to it to protect her. Langston feels pretty much the same.
It’s the first time I think they would disobey my orders if I told them to turn her over to Milo. And it’s the first time I’m thankful for their rebelliousness.
But I can’t let them run away with Kai. Milo would hunt them down and kill them all.
There has to be another way.
I let the fire grow, burn, and ignite until the monster within is focused on saving Kai and on protecting my men.
I’m not a superhero.
I’m not a savior.
I’m not a good man.
And right now, no one believes I can or will protect Kai without hurting those who work for me—but I will find a way.
My father may have turned my soul into the devil—the kind to turn on Kai the second I thought she turned on me. But it’s also the ruthless kind to destroy anyone in my path. And right now I’m set on saving Kai.
I promised to never let another man hurt her—and that includes me.
I open the door and step into the office like the fucking king I am. Milo Wallace will not know my anger. He will not know my fury or rage. And he most definitely will not see my fear.
Milo will be clueless to my intentions. He will never know offering to sell Kai to him was the worst mistake of my life. When I picked up the phone to call him, I thought this is what she wanted. Maybe not to be sold, but to be with a man she chose. I was idiotic for thinking that. And Kai doesn’t deserve to be sold—ever.
“Mr. Wallace, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” I say, holding out my hand to him.
He grins evilly as he shakes my hand, trying to look into the depths of my eyes to get a glimpse of my feelings. He doesn’t have a clue though.
“Please, call me Milo, Mr. Black,” Milo says.
I don’t offer for him to call me Enzo—not in my office. Not when he’s taking what’s mine. I am Mr. Black here. I am power itself, and by the time this meeting is over, I will have a plan.
“Take a seat,” I say, as I take a seat behind my desk. Westcott already has a scotch sitting at my desk, and Milo has one in his left hand.
“How’s business going?” I ask.
“Good. You?”
“Good.” Neither of us gives anything away. We both know better than to let anything slip out the other could use as leverage.
“Five million is a lot of money for a whore,” Milo says.
Do. Not. React.
I force the calm stillness to take over. I kick back in my chair as I nurse my scotch.
“Five million is nothing to men like us.”
He gives me a slight nod.
“Still, I usually don’t go higher than one million.”
“I won’t accept anything less than five. One million isn’t even worth my time for this meeting.” Is this the way? Can it truly be this easy? He won’t pay more than one million for Kai. I can refuse to sell her because I want more money.
Milo smirks and then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring.
A ring I recognize immediately—my mother’s ring.
The ring Kai gave to Milo so he wouldn’t rape her. A ring I owe everything to for saving Kai, yet also want to curse for making me believe Kai betrayed me.
Milo cocks his head. “This looks like an engagement ring to me, Black.”
I nod nonchalantly. “It is.”
He twirls the ring around his pinky finger. “Why would you sell the whore you married?”
I laugh like it’s the most ridiculous thing. “You think I married the bitch?” I hate myself for calling Kai a bitch, but he needs to think she means nothing to me.
“Yes.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t marry her.”
“Then why did you give her this ring?”
“So the world would know she’s mine.”
He leans back studying me, but I pour all my
truth into my words. Those words at least are true. Kai is mine, and I wanted the world to know.
“The scars and bruises weren’t enough?” Milo tests me. He doesn’t believe I was the one who marked her.
“You know how men are. I beat her black and blue plenty of times, but that wasn’t enough to stop other men from touching her. Only that ring did that.”
“She didn’t look too beat up at my party.”
“I’ve grown bored with her lately. I’ve had her for six years. She earned a night of freedom, and when I saw your infatuation with her, I realized I had found a buyer willing to pay top price.”
“She means nothing to you?”
“Nothing.”
He sighs. “Then she isn’t worth five million.”
I shrug. “Probably not. I broke her easily. You got a taste of her on your yacht, which for that alone I should double the price. You didn’t have any right to touch what was mine without paying.”
I lean forward, threatening Milo with everything in my body. “I think I will raise the price—ten million. You saw something in her on your yacht. You want her; you pay for her. And you pay for your mistake touching her.”
Milo’s eyes light up. Fuck. I fucked up. He realizes what she means to me. He pockets the ring again.
His phone buzzes. He glances down, and his pupils dilate. He doesn’t answer the phone. He silences it only for it to start buzzing again. And that’s when I realize his mistake. He has enemies here. Someone he’s running from.
