Betrayed by Truths: Truth or Lies Book 2

by Ella Miles

  The boat rocks hard in that moment, as if the sea is finally on my side.

  “Oh my god! I think I’m going to be—”

  I jump off of him and run to the door I hope leads to the bathroom. There is a small private hallway that leads to a bar and a bathroom. I duck inside, shut the door behind me, and then lock it.

  I exhale deeply. My body is still wrecked with panic and anxiety from having to touch and kiss him.

  Tears stream down my cheek.

  I feel like a whore, and all I did was kiss him. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I let things go any further.

  I grab the ring from my mouth and stare at it. I smile gently; I got the ring. Now I just need to find a way out of here with my dignity intact.

  A rattle at the door makes me jump.

  “Kai? Are you okay?” Milo asks.

  Shit.

  I walk over to the toilet and flush. “Yes, I just get seasick sometimes,” I say weakly.

  I walk over to the sink and turn it on, pretending to wash my face. “I just need a minute to try and freshen up.”

  Hopefully the thought of me vomiting will turn Milo off.

  I wait a few minutes, then turn the water off. I pinch my cheeks and loosen my hair to try and look more like a mess. Like I’m desperately ill.

  Then I look at the ring I’m holding. I need a place to hide it. I can’t wear it on my finger. I really only have one choice: my bra. I slip it inside, knowing if he does try and fuck me, he’ll find the ring and discover my real intentions.

  I slowly walk to the door, like I’m walking to my death. I unlock and open it.

  Milo is standing with his arms on either side of the doorframe.

  “Feel better?” he asks.

  “Um…not really. I’m sorry, I think I just had too much alcohol, and I got seasick. I think some fresh air might help me feel better.”

  “Or lying down on my bed might help.”

  I smile weakly. “The fresh air is usually the most helpful.”

  I try to push past him, but he doesn’t move. He glares down at me; his eyes still singular focused on eating my body.

  “You don’t get to tell me no, baby. No one tells me no.”

  “I’m sorry. How about a rain check? My breath reeks of vomit. And I don’t want that to be the first memory we share together.”

  “I don’t buy it.”

  “What?”

  “I. Don’t. Buy. It.”

  I shake my head.

  “Plenty of women have tried it before. Seducing me, but not willing to give it up when the time comes. Hoping that by dangling me along, I will want you more and more. Until I make you my girlfriend in hopes of finally fucking you. It’s not going to happen. Not unless your pussy is made of gold or something. I get what I want, and I want you. Now get the fuck on my bed. Naked. Ass up in the air because you’re right—I won’t be kissing you anymore.”

  “Fine, I just need air first.” I’d rather throw my body overboard into the sea than let this sick fuck have me.

  I duck under his arm, walking fast and with purpose toward the bedroom door. I get there before he does. I grab the handle and try to unlock it, but it doesn’t unlock.

  Fuck.

  There is a keypad and screen on the wall.

  “It doesn’t unlock from the inside or outside without me entering that code first.”

  “You sick fuck.”

  He grins.

  “Get on the bed.”

  “No.”

  He grabs my arm and throws me on the bed. This can’t be happening.

  He removes his tuxedo jacket as I clammer off the bed.

  He grabs me again, and I slap him.

  “A fighter, huh? I enjoy it more when you fight back.”

  I scream. “Help! Somebody, help me!” But I know my cries are useless. If his staff heard, they wouldn’t come. And everyone else is upstairs listening to loud music. They won’t hear me. Enzo might try and save me, but he might just as easily give me space thinking I’m safe and simply trying to steal the ring.

  Fuck the ring.

  I don’t want it.

  I’d give it to Enzo if he came and saved me.

  Milo grabs my wrists and spins me around before I even have a chance to fight him. He holds my arms behind my back with one hand as he grabs my ass with the other.

  “No! Please stop! Let me go,” I cry, not caring the tears are falling. Let him see the pain he is causing me.

  But my tears only make him harder. I need to stop begging for someone to save me and find a way to save myself.

  Think!

  A gun.

  He has a gun. I’m sure of it. Langston said all dangerous men carry a gun. He showed me the most likely spots. I just need a free arm.

  His sloppy mouth moves to my neck, and I let him. Moaning instead of pushing him away in fear.

  “I said you would like it, baby. Just give into it. Stop fighting me,” he whispers.

  It’s enough to get him to loosen his grip.

  I slip one arm from his grasp and grab the gun from his waistband. I aim it at his heart.

  “Get away from me. Now.”

  Milo grins, backing up. “You’re a fiery one.”

  “I will shoot you if you touch me again. You can ask my husband; I’m a good shot.”

  He grins and glances down at the ring I’m wearing on the wrong finger. “I knew you were married. Something about you told me you were off limits.”

  “Then why did you come after me?”

  “I like the married ones. The fighters. It’s so much more fun this way.”

  I shake my head, disgusted by this man. I only thought he was a rich douchebag; I didn’t realize he was a rapist.

  “Unlock the door.”

  “Not without payment.”

  I freeze. “I’m not sucking your dick. And I’m not letting you fuck me. You will unlock the door if you still want your cock attached to your body.” I aim the gun lower and ensure the safety is off.

  “You know how to work a gun; I’ll give you that. But are you strong enough to fire it?”

  “I am.”

  He nods. “I have a feeling you are.”

  “Unlock the door. Now.”

  “Not without payment.”

  “I won’t—”

  He shakes his head. “I want the ring.”

  “What?” I panic. Does he realize I stole his ring?

  He nods in the direction of the ring I’m wearing. “It means something to you. It’s special. Something your husband gave you. If I can’t have your body, then I want the ring.”

  I tremble. He can’t have the ring. This ring is Enzo’s. It’s his mother's. It means too much to him. I can’t just let him have it.

  “The ring or you don’t leave. Ever. I don’t care if you kill me; you will never get out of this room alive. None of my staff have a way to override the door. You will be trapped in here forever if you kill me.”

  Fuck.

  “The ring for your freedom.”

  I stare at the ring. I will get you back. I promise.

  Carefully, I take the ring off. I toss the ring at him. He catches it.

  “Good girl.”

  “Unlock the door.”

  He moves to the door, and I train the gun on him.

  He starts to enter a code, and I hear the door mechanism unlocking. “Move away from the door,” I say when he’s finished.

  I keep the gun on him as he moves away from the door, and I head to it. I try the handle, but it doesn’t open. Words flash on the screen.

  The door will unlock in twenty-four-hours.

  Twenty-four-hours!

  “What did you do?”

  “I unlocked the door.”

  “No, you fucking didn’t! Do you have a death wish? I will kill you.”

  “No, you won’t.” He walks closer to me until the gun is pressing against his chest.

  He grabs the gun before I can react. Why the hell didn’t I pull the
trigger?

  “You bastard.”

  He smirks. “I’m not a bastard. I unlocked the door as requested. You were the one who didn’t confirm the details first before coming to an agreement. I’m a businessman, Kai. The key to winning is in the details. I unlocked the door; it just won’t open for twenty-four-hours.”

  I tremble. I’m trapped with this bastard for twenty-four-hours.

  “You won’t fuck me. You promised.”

  “No, I won’t fuck you, not until you beg me—which you will.”

  I cross my arms. “I think I can go twenty-four-hours without wanting to fuck an asshole.”

  He grins. “Not if I beat you for every second we are in here, only providing you with relief when you beg for my cock.”

  The first blow is always the hardest. It’s the one that knocks you into reality. I never thought I’d get beaten on a yacht again. Never be trapped in a room while the ship rocks. But when Milo’s fist flies into my chest, it all comes back.

  The fear.

  The agony.

  The pain.

  All of the memories consume me again. And I hate myself for falling victim again. There was a reason I hated boats. A reason I hated the water. Because you can’t run from the monsters when there is nowhere to go.

  26

  Enzo

  Kai has been gone for three fucking weeks.

  When the yacht docked, she never got off. Langston, Liesel, and I waited in the car all night waiting for her to disembark. To see if she had the ring. If she had won.

  But she never got off.

  Every day that went by made me crazy.

  What happened?

  Did she get the ring?

  Did she fuck him?

  Did she get caught?

  What happened?

  Milo was photographed a day later giving some grand speech, without the ring.

  So I knew she had it.

  But where was she?

  Then, the rumors started. Milo spread the word he’d fucked Enzo Black’s whore and wife.

  I hadn’t told anyone I was married. I still wasn’t sure if it was the right or wrong move entirely.

  Milo broke the news to the world—and now he’s my enemy.

  I’ve been tracking him for weeks. But it doesn’t seem Kai is still on board. Numerous other women have been brought on his yacht, but no sign of Kai.

  Did she try to run from me when she had the chance?

  “Sir,” Langston says stepping into my office at my beach house.

  “Have you found anything?”

  “No.”

  “Keep fucking looking and don’t come back until you have something.” How could she just disappear? It’s not possible. Not from my team with my resources.

  At first, I was worried about Jarod’s boss hunting her down. I’ve been tracking leads for weeks, trying to find out who owned Kai. Who controlled Jarod. And finally, I have my answer. And it’s even more fucked up than I could imagine.

  “What happens if we don’t find her?” I ask Archard, who is sitting on the couch.

  He opens his mouth to answer and then stops abruptly staring at my doorway like he’s seen a ghost.

  I turn in that direction, already knowing what I will see when I glance that way, but unsure of how I'll feel.

  Relieved she is alright.

  Pissed she has been gone so long.

  Angry she fucked that monster.

  Just as I knew she would be, Kai is standing in the doorway. Gone is the glamorous look she wore the last time I saw her. Now she wears yoga pants, an oversized sweatshirt, and baseball cap.

  She walks into the room without a word or glance my way.

  “The ring,” she says, holding it out to Archard.

  He takes it slowly from her hand and inspects it.

  “I’m declaring Kai the winner of this round. I’ll notify you both twenty-four-hours before the next round starts,” Archard says before leaving the room like he can’t get out of here fast enough.

  “Tried to run and realized you couldn’t, not without my help?” I say.

  “No, I wasn’t running. I just needed some time to think.”

  “I’m sure you did after what you did.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you didn’t want to face me after you fucked him!”

  She glares at me, giving me all of her hatred. But she has no right to be mad, not right now. Now I get to be pissed.

  “Do you have any idea the damage you caused?”

  Her mouth drops open at my words. “The damage I caused you? Are you serious?”

  “Yes! You ruined my reputation. Black’s reputation. You told him you were married to me, and then you fucked him. Repeatedly. He told the world he had stolen my whore, my wife. No one will think I can rule when I let my woman get taken from me so easily.”

  Her face reddens, and for the first time since I’ve known her, I don’t think her skin would feel like ice if I touched her. It would be scalding like fire. Burning and torching my skin from her hatred from me.

  “Why the fuck would you tell him we were married?”

  “One; you never told me not to. But I didn’t tell him.”

  “Then how did he figure it out?”

  “The ring you gave me. He knew it was an engagement ring. He wanted to know whose it was. I couldn’t come up with a lie, so I said you.”

  I stare down at her finger, searching for the ring she claims almost ruined me.

  “Where is it?”

  Her face goes white.

  “Where. Is. The. Ring. Kai?”

  “It’s gone.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “You sold it?”

  “Milo has it.”

  What. The. Fuck?

  “Spreading your legs for him wasn’t enough? You had to hurt me by giving him the only possession I care about?”

  I see red. I’ve never been so angry. So out of control. I knock everything from my desk in one swoop just needing to be destructive. Then I grab the chair and fling it across the room. I want to hurt Kai like she hurt me.

  There was no reason to sleep with Milo. No reason she could give that would make me understand how she could fuck me in the bathroom and then five minutes later fuck another man simply to win a game. No reason she could give to explain why she would give him the ring meant to protect her.

  “You fucking whore!” I spit out.

  “You sold me! You fucking sold me! Did you think I would be loyal to you? That just because you fucked me, I would never fuck another man?”

  “Yes, you’re mine! I thought I made that perfectly fucking clear.”

  “I’m nobody’s, least of all yours!”

  My body shakes from the adrenaline I’m feeling. Without thinking I grab her and push her against the wall. My lips crash down on hers, needing her to fucking know she’s mine.

  “Mine!” I cry as she fights me off from her lips. She tastes as delicious as I remember, even though she betrayed me, my cock doesn’t understand. He still wants her. I still want her.

  But I can’t have her. Not after she hurt me, again.

  “I don’t belong to any man. Let me go!”

  “No, you’re wrong. You belong to me. You had a choice, and you bet your life, all for a chance at getting answers from me. You lost, now live with it. You’re mine.”

  “You fucking bastard. You don’t want me; you just don’t want anyone else to have me. You won’t even let me go free.”

  “No.”

  “Who cares that I fucked him? Who cares that I gave him the ring? You don’t care about me. You don’t love me. Why does it matter?”

  “Because you are mine.”

  I release her. I won’t hurt her. Even though I want to. I won’t touch her.

  She betrayed me. Gutted me. She got in bed and spread her legs for a man I hate. Just to win a game. And then she stabbed me in the heart by giving him the ring. A ring I willingly gave her to protect her.

  Unaccepta
ble.

  I will make her pay for what she did.

  She wants her freedom from me. She will get it. But she will never truly be free. I’ll make sure of that.

  She hates being here; I’ll make her wish she never begged me to let her free.

  “Go,” I say to her. “Shower, get rid of any remnants of Milo. Then I will let you know what your punishment is.”

  She doesn’t fight me; she just leaves. But I doubt she will shower. She won’t do anything to make me happy. Nothing to show I have any power over her.

  She thinks I’m the devil. I’ll show her how evil I can be. I’ll get my reputation back. And I’ll retain my name—Black. Because she can’t fight for the name if she isn’t here to fight for it.

  I pick up the phone and dial the number as a plan forms in my head.

  I’ve been beyond nice to her.

  I protected her.

  I gave her everything she could ever want.

  I even helped her in that bathroom by getting over her fear of being on that yacht.

  And this is how she repays me—with her betrayal.

  No more.

  She thinks I’m the devil, so I will be. I’ll release the man inside me my father spent years trying to cultivate. But once I release him, I can never go back. I’ll grant her reprieve from me, but she won’t ever be free. Because she will never stop thinking about me.

  27

  Kai

  Why does this bedroom comfort me?

  It shouldn’t.

  Enzo is a monster.

  He made it even more clear downstairs in his office, when he accused me of fucking Milo. Or willingly giving up his mother’s ring.

  He thinks so little of me.

  That I would betray him like that.

  But I wouldn’t.

  I did everything I could to survive.

  Something he will never understand.

  It’s been over an hour since Enzo dismissed me from his office. And this is where I came—his bedroom. Our bedroom.

  The room where he held me captive.

  The room where he taught me to sleep in a bed.

  The room where I learned to love myself.

  The room where he made me come with just his voice.

  The room where he fucked me the first time.