by Ella Miles
We make love.
Our movements may be long and slow, but we’ve both dived into this feeling.
And then too quickly, I see all the familiar signs Kai is about to come. Her cheeks blush, her body clenches, and she tightens around me, ready to explode.
I want to come with her. So I move harder, faster inside her.
Together we come in the most beautiful expression of love. This is far better than hearing the words fall from her lips. She’s crazy if she thinks we can fuck like this, and somehow pretend this never happened when we're around other people.
“You love me?” I ask, while she’s still coming down from her high. My only chance of hearing the words is if I catch her off guard.
“I lo—” she stops herself and gives me a dirty look.
I flash her a dimpled smile. “It was worth a try.”
I pull out of her, and she reaches out to me, feeling lost without me filling her.
I understand, it’s how I feel.
“Don’t worry, beautiful. I’m not done with you yet.”
“What?” she gasps, as I spread her legs wider for me and flick my tongue between her legs.
“What are you do—”
Her words turn into a long moan.
I grin as I lick over her slit. “I love tasting myself inside you. It reminds me how much this is mine.”
She blushes more at my words as I slide a finger in her, feeling more of my come mixing with hers.
We have so many problems facing us. Felix being our biggest problem at the moment. The second being that Kai is now the leader. She’s winning the game. And I don’t know if she wants that power or not. I like watching her in control, but it gives me a panic attack thinking how much more she is at risk of getting hurt. She’s smart, strong, and knows how to shoot a gun. But that’s not the same as fighting. She’s only ever shot when she wasn’t getting shot at. It’s a whole other battle when bullets are being aimed at you.
But for now, I can bring her pleasure. For now, we are in our own little world. For now, I get to show her how much I love her.
16
KAI
I HEAR THE KNOCK, but I don’t want it to be real. Enzo is still buried between my legs, promising to bring me another orgasm after making love to me a moment before. If I weren’t already pregnant, what Enzo did would have probably done it. I haven’t felt so much love pour into one fuck as I did with that one moment. And now his face is buried in my pussy with promises of more orgasms. And I want this orgasm. I want all the orgasms. I'm selfish that way.
“I’m coming,” I shout at the door.
Enzo smirks. “Not yet, you aren’t.”
I grip the sheets. “Just keep licking.”
I don’t have to tell him twice. His tongue dances over my clit faster now that our time is almost up.
Almost there…
Another knock. Louder this time.
Ignore them, I tell myself.
“Kai? Are you in there?” Denziel’s voice rings through.
I sigh and move to get up, but Enzo’s hands hold me down.
“Enzo, I have to go answer that. They can’t know we’ve been fucking,” I hiss.
“You aren’t going anywhere until you come again.”
“But—”
He pushes another finger into me, hitting that delicious spot deep inside my cunt, and I forget why I want to answer the door. Why would I ever leave this bedroom again?
“Enzo!” I cry out too loudly, but right now, I don’t care. Let them all know what Enzo is doing to me. Let them think I’m in love with him. Let Felix take over everything. All I care about right now is this orgasm.
“Yes!” I moan, biting down on my lip as I come on Enzo’s fingers.
He smirks and finally lets go of me.
The knock rattles the door again.
Shit.
I jump up, throw my jeans and T-shirt on, purposefully leaving my bra and panties on the floor. I don’t have time.
Thankfully, I always wear the scrunchie Zeke gave me on my wrist, so I tie my just fucked hair up.
Enzo, on the other hand, hasn’t moved. He’s still lying on the bed completely naked, not understanding the seriousness of his team realizing we are in fact together, in love, fucking, the whole shebang.
I hiss at him.
He laughs but gets the hint. He collects his clothes and heads to the bathroom before I open the door. Enzo and I really need to have a talk. He thinks his team is just punishing him for the minor indiscretion of choosing me over saving them. But it’s more than that. I’m not sure he believes the story about what happened in previous generations. I don’t care if he’s grown up around these people his entire life. They can still turn on him if they think their way of life is being threatened.
“Sorry, I was just about to step into the shower,” I say as I open the door to Denziel.
He looks from me to the bed behind me. The covers are crumpled, and the pillows are thrown around on the bed. Not to mention the smell of sex. Who am I kidding? They all know Enzo and I are fucking. I just need to go with the angle that he means nothing to me, and I mean nothing to him.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Now that you are in charge, there are some things we need you to handle.”
His vagueness isn’t reassuring.
“Okay, what do you need me to decide?”
His jaw twitches just the tiniest bit. “The doctor wants to take Clifton to the nearby hospital. He lost a lot of blood, and he wants to do a few x-rays to ensure everything is okay.”
“Okay?” I ask, confused.
“You have to approve the transport of Clifton. Boat or helicopter?”
“Helicopter, he should get there as fast as possible.”
“It’s not an emergency.”
“I don’t care; we take care of our injured people. From now on, if anyone needs medical care while under my watch just send them. I don’t care about the costs; my approval isn’t necessary.”
He smiles at my words.
Shit. Shouldn’t I be making Enzo look better as a leader instead of myself? I don’t want to win. I can’t rule this empire and take care of my baby. It would be ridiculous.
“There is more,” Denziel says, indicating for me to follow him.
I follow him upstairs to the main deck where a half-dozen of the team is mulling around. There are papers scattered on the table. None of these men have given me the time of day before, except Langston, who is standing in the corner looking mortified to see me still in charge.
Trust me, I’m mortified too. This can’t be happening. I need to find a way to show that Enzo is the better leader fast, before another attack happens. I can’t put my life at risk like this.
I give Langston a look that says, help me.
But he shrugs like he has no clue how to.
Ugh, this is ridiculous. Why can’t I go back to being invisible to these people?
Langston’s eyes turn from me to behind me, and I know without looking Enzo has arrived. But this time, when he enters the room, everyone ignores him. I’ve never seen his team ignore him. They worship him. They jump at the chance to gain his approval. One snap of his fingers and they jump into action for him. But now, not a single person in the room other than Langston looks at him. They show him zero respect. They act like he’s invisible.
I decide I need a coffee if I’m going to make it through today. So I turn in the direction of the kitchen.
“Your coffee, ma’am,” a man holds out an iced coffee exactly like I drink it.
“Um…thanks,” I say, taking the cup from him.
“Can I get you anything else? We weren’t sure what you eat for breakfast.”
My stomach growls, giving my hunger away. I’m pregnant; I should eat. And then I remember I’m not sure if I should be drinking coffee. I decide one iced coffee probably won’t hurt though and start sipping.
“An omelet with toast would be great, but I can fix it myself,
” I say.
The man shakes his head. “Be right back with your omelet.”
“Thanks,” I say, feeling like this entire interaction was strange. I look at Enzo seated at the table, eyeing the pieces of paper I’m sure I was brought up to discuss, but I have no clue what they are or what needs to happen.
Langston sits to Enzo’s left. So I decide to take a seat next to Langston. No one would think that is strange. My heart aches to go sit next to Enzo, though. Being this far away from him is too far away.
“Should you be drinking that?” Langston whispers into my ear, as he eyes the drink.
“Yes? I don’t know. I googled it, and some coffee isn’t bad for the baby. But I really need to get in to see a doctor soon,” I say.
He nods.
Enzo spots our exchange and frowns.
I stiffen and avert my eyes. Do not look at him. My stomach will do little flips, my heart will race, my cheeks will flush, I’ll start drooling, and there will be no way that the entire ship won’t realize we are in love.
“Here’s your breakfast,” Denziel says.
“Thank you,” I say, digging into the food even though no one else is eating. All eyes are on me.
I’m about to speak when Archard enters. “It’s time for the vote.”
Vote. Maybe they are done punishing Enzo and will vote him back in.
“Since Clifton is at the hospital, I called him to get his vote. He voted for Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Kai.”
“Kai.”
All five of them voted for me. My eyes are wide; I’m sure I look like a deer in headlights instead of the strong, confident leader they are expecting me to be. How could not one of them vote for Enzo?
Archard nods. “Kai will remain in charge until tomorrow at six when the next vote occurs.” He leaves and then all eyes are on me again.
“Um…” Shit, stop saying um. Actually, keep saying it because it makes me look incompetent, which is my job for the next twenty-four hours. “Um…so what’s with all the papers?” Yep, I sound like an idiot.
Good.
“There is an insubordinate crew currently sailing off the shore of Cuba. They have gone rogue, stealing all the cash from the last security detail they ran. What would you like us to do?” one of the members ask.
Fuck. I glance over at Enzo, who is lightly drumming his fingers against the table with a smug smile on his lips. I know how he’d handle it. He’d send a team to have them all shot.
I can’t give that order. I can’t order men to die on the word of one employee. But I don’t feel this is something I should fuck up in order to convince them to choose Enzo over me. Men’s and women’s lives are at stake.
“Send the closest team to go after them and bring them in,” I answer.
It must be a good answer because he nods, grabs his phone, and disappears to make the call.
I can do this.
Easy.
But apparently, there is more to tackle than just the one question for the day. The next man grabs some of the papers and hands them to me. I stare blankly at the large sums of numbers on them.
Ten million.
Six million.
One point five billion!
Holy shit, does this organization have a lot of money.
“The books don’t add up. I think someone has been padding the withdrawals and stealing from us,” he says. He points to something on the page. “See here? The numbers don’t add up.”
I add the two closest numbers he’s pointing to. They add up to equal the sum below it, so I’m not quite sure what he’s getting at, but he seems very worked up about it. So me saying the two numbers clearly add up doesn’t seem like the correct answer to give.
“Do you have any leads as to who could be doing this?” I ask.
“I have a general idea.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“No.”
I toss the papers back to him. “Then get me some evidence.”
He grabs them and then disappears.
I take a bite of my omelet. My stomach welcomes the food in.
But I feel another pair of eyes on me. I look up.
“Yes?” I ask Odette.
“A politician from New York hired us to install the best security system at his home and yacht and to protect him for events for the past month. He hasn’t paid.”
Shit. My eyes cut to Enzo, who is chuckling lightly to himself at the panic in my eyes. He would off the politician too, wouldn’t he? To set an example, so our next clients ensure they pay.
“How much does he owe?”
“Twelve million.”
Twelve million! For some security? That’s crazy! How did I not know how much people pay us to protect them? Is our security system really that advanced compared to everyone else’s?
Enzo’s nails tap harder, watching the anxiety flow through my chest. What should I do? Should I just let him off? That would be fucking up for sure. They would have to choose Enzo over me at the next meeting for letting someone get away with stealing twelve million dollars for it. So I open my mouth to say just that, but instead I blurt, “Send someone to rough him up and send a message. But don’t kill him. He still owes us twelve million dollars.”
Odette smiles.
Enzo smirks.
Fuck, I’m turning into a ruthless leader just like him. And I don’t want to admit it but giving an order like that does something to my body. I feel warmer, a wave of energy pushes through me, and I realize immediately what it is—power.
Another man steps forward to get his orders from me. And this time, I sit up straighter, ready to handle the decision.
“We have to decide what we do about Surrender. Do we rebuild on the same site? Do we use another club as our headquarters? What do you want us to do?”
My shoulders slump. Surrender is just another of our countless assets, but I know it had a personal connection to Enzo. To his father. Enzo should be the one making this decision, not me.
But this time when I glance over at Enzo, he tells me nothing. The smugness is gone, his lips thinned into a line, his eyes blank, his throat tight.
“I’m not ready to make that decision yet. Get me more details on the costs of rebuilding and other options in the city for the headquarters.”
He nods and exits.
And then, I’m alone with Langston and Enzo.
I exhale heavily before shoveling more food into my mouth.
“When did you have the time to make decisions like that every day?” I ask, looking at Enzo.
He shrugs. “It’s part of the job. I got used to it. Most of the men already know what my answer will be before they ask it. So most of it can be done over text, email, or phone. Which speaking of…” he reaches into his pocket and tosses me his phone.
“Why are you giving me your phone? I have my own.”
“Because that phone has a dozen unanswered voicemails, a hundred unresolved emails, and twenty frantic text messages for Black.” He gives me a pointed look. “That’s you.”
“It shouldn’t be,” Langston says.
Enzo frowns, snapping his head to Langston. He thinks Langston is dissing my leadership skills, not trying to protect me.
“And why the hell not? She’s amazing! And she wasn’t even trying. Think of how incredible of a natural leader she will be when she actually tries,” Enzo gets in Langston’s face.
Langston ignores him, looking at me.
“Langston’s right. I don’t want the job. I’m not good at it. As soon as someone attacks with guns, I’ll let them all down. I can make decisions from an office, but not in the heat of battle,” I say.
Enzo growls, not liking any of my words. “Langston leave,” Enzo orders.
“You aren’t my boss at the moment. I only take orders from Kai,” Langston says.
Both men’s eyes cut to me.
“Tell him to leave, or I’ll profess my love to you in front
of the entire team,” Enzo says, blackmailing me. If Enzo did that, no one on the team would ever let him lead again.
“Go,” I tell Langston.
He huffs but leaves us alone.
“What do you want?” I ask as Enzo approaches me like a predator about to spring.
“Why don’t you want to be Black?”
“Because I’m not the best for the job.”
He laughs. “You’ve been fighting me for three rounds so far because you thought you were the right woman for the job. What changed?”
I suck in a breath. Everything changed. And I have another life to worry about; it’s not just me anymore.
“I’m afraid. I don’t want to die.”
His eyes tighten into slits. He wasn’t expecting that response. I’ve never been afraid of death before.
He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear, sending chills down my neck.
“Langston and I will never let someone kill you. I can’t promise you won’t get hurt, because, with this job, it’s almost a requirement, but I will not let you die.”
“I know.”
His eyes search mine for the truth. And I need him to stop, or he’ll find it.
“Why do you want me to be Black? Haven’t you been working your entire life for this?”
“I have, but I’m not sure I want anything other than you. And if you are in control and happy, then that’s what I want: you happy.”
“I don’t want to lead the Black organization.”
“I don’t believe you. You haven’t even had the job long enough to know if you like it or not. But I saw the spark when you gave the orders. The power suits you; it gives you confidence. Unlike me, you won’t ever let it go to your head.”
He’s right. I wouldn’t. But I don’t tell him that.
I suck in a breath as his body presses against mine—all hard and ready to take me on the table where the team was just sitting a moment before. A table where anyone could walk in and catch us.
“I want more time with you, stingray. I want you to figure out what makes you happy. And I think I make you happy. This job will make you happy. And if you win this round, that means you have to stay for one final round. Which means more time to convince you that you love me. That you should stay.”
