by Ella Miles
I look to Kai in the bathroom. “Lock the door,” I tell her.
She closes the door, and I wait until it’s locked. Not that that will stop Beckett if he wants to get to her. I’m the only thing stopping him from getting to her.
And this time, I won’t pause if Beckett threatens Kai. I’ll kill him. I don’t care that he’s my brother.
I flick open the door with my gun aimed at his head. Beckett kicks his gun to me on the floor, his hands still in the air.
“Get inside,” I say, even though I want him as far away from Kai as possible. I don’t trust him. Even if Kai sees something good in him. He might not be as bad as Felix. But I saw the way he looked at Kai. He has feelings for her—lustful feelings. All men are dogs. Beckett is no different. I won’t let him touch her.
Beckett walks carefully inside. I close and lock the door behind me as I keep the gun on him as he walks and sits down the bed.
He stares at my attire. “Did I miss the wedding?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to warn you.”
“Warn me that you escaped? Yea, I got the message. Now tell me something that will keep me from putting a bullet in your head.”
I hear the unlock of the bathroom door.
“Kai, I told you to stay in the bathroom,” I say.
She walks over to me. “And since when do I ever take orders from you?”
I sigh.
“What are you doing here, Beckett?” she asks, her arms crossed. She’s pissed. “You ruined my wedding day, after all. I should be honeymooning right now, not deciding whether you should live or die.”
I smile, at least she’s on my side now about whether Beckett should live or die.
“Felix is out,” Beckett says.
I frown and pull my phone out. But my contact in the prison hasn’t contacted me. “How do you know?”
Beckett puts his hands down on his lap. “Because he contacted me.”
“I took your phone.”
“No, you took one of my phones.”
I frown. Such a rookie mistake. I should have searched him better.
“I escaped your father, who you need to teach how to keep a man captive better. I could have escaped long ago if I wanted to.”
I give Beckett a stern look, and he gets back on track.
“Felix contacted me. Told me he is coming to Alaska. That it’s time to move in before Kai gives birth.”
“Shit.”
Kai’s mouth drops. “Felix is on his way here.”
“And he’s bringing an army. He’s ready to fight.”
“Fuck,” I run my hand through my hair trying to formulate a plan. I need to contact any men I trust. I need to gather my own army. I need a fortress to protect Kai. This can’t be happening.
“I already have a plane that will take you to a yacht two hours from here. From there, you can disappear.”
“Whose yacht?”
“One of yours.”
We need to move. I know that. But our next move is the difference between us living or dying. Whatever decision we make is critical. Do we trust Beckett’s intel? Do we trust that Beckett has arranged a flight and a yacht for us and hasn’t told Felix about our escape plans? Or do we try to come up with some plan on our own—with limited resources and time?
I look at Kai who is staring at Beckett closely, trying to determine the same thing.
“Why are you telling us this?” she asks, her voice calm, yet stern.
Beckett’s eyes lighten as he looks from Kai to me. “Both sides reached out to me almost simultaneously. I was working as a private investigator and bodyguard before all of this. But your father and Felix both reached out to me to work for them within days of each other. The money from each was too good to pass up, and I could do both jobs for a while. Eventually, I knew I would have to choose, to betray one side for the other. I figured I would just be loyal to whoever offered more money, more adventure. I needed excitement and a break from my pathetic life before this.”
Beckett’s eyes cut from me back to Kai. “But then, I met you. And everything changed. I don’t know why I chose your side, or even when, but I did. It’s just this feeling deep in my gut that says I need to do this. That I’ve always belonged on this side. This is where I’m supposed to be.”
Kai touches his arm and gives him a tight smile. She has feelings for him. Not like she does for me. But like she did for Langston and Zeke. She sees him like a brother. She trusts him. But I’m not sure I believe Beckett’s bullshit story.
I cross my arms staring down at him with threatening eyes, letting him know if anything happens to Kai or the babies, he will be the one to pay. Whether it’s his fault or not.
Beckett looks up at me with determined eyes. “There is a reason both sides approached me within two days of each other. Some connection I’m missing. But I know it wasn’t a coincidence.”
Because you are my brother, but now is not the time to say it out loud. All of my brothers have betrayed me in the past. Beckett will be no different.
Right now, I don’t think we have a choice. Felix is on his way here with an army. Beckett is offering a plane and a yacht. The only way we get screwed over is if Felix is already on the yacht when we get there. But if he’s not, and Felix is just tracking us through Beckett, I’ll end him before Felix can use Beckett to get to us. Felix may have the advantage on land, but on the sea, I will win.
Kai looks at me, and we exchange a silent conversation back and forth.
Are we going to trust Beckett? I ask, silently.
Kai takes a deep breath and then nods.
She’s a great judge of people. She saw that Felix was evil before I did.
I don’t trust Beckett as far as I can throw him. But Kai does. We are in this together. I don’t get to make the decisions for both of us anymore.
“Trust me,” she whispers.
I nod. I trust her.
I take her hand and give it a squeeze. It doesn’t matter if Beckett is good or evil. I will protect Kai and our babies from any monster, even my own brother.
16
Kai
Enzo doesn’t trust Beckett.
But he trusts me.
And I trust Beckett. I feel the same warmth off of him that I feel when I’m around Langston.
Beckett is on our side. Enzo finally has a family member in the family whose heart is the same as Enzo’s. A person who could actually grow to love us, become part of the family. We just all have to live long enough for Enzo to tell Beckett the truth, and for Beckett to prove to Enzo that he’s on our side.
“I want your gun,” Enzo says to Beckett.
“Enzo,” I say his name as a curse. “If Felix is after us, we need him to be able to fight back, same as us.”
Enzo frowns. “And I need to focus on shooting Felix and his men, instead of worrying that Beckett is about to shoot us in the back.”
Beckett pulls out his gun and hands it to Enzo. “Get off your high horse, man. Don’t act like I’m the only one who has ever been on the wrong side. I’ve just never fucked up as badly as you did.”
Enzo punches Beckett hard in the face for that comment.
I wince but don’t try to stop the fight. They are grown men. And I think Enzo punching Beckett could actually be a good thing. Get out a little of his frustration.
“You risked my wife and children’s lives. If you do it again, I will kill you,” Enzo says.
Beckett smirks, and the similarity between his and Enzo’s grins is astronomical. How did I not see it before?
“Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, can we go to the airport?” Beckett says, trying to take control.
Enzo gets in Beckett’s face. “You are not in charge here, asshole.”
Beckett pushes back. “I am when I’m the one with the plan to get us out of here without Felix finding us.”
“Guys, we don’t have time for a pissing match. We need to get moving. No one is in charge
. We all make decisions together,” I say.
Enzo backs down, but the scowl never leaves his face. I cut him some slack because I know he has trust issues, and this is hard for him trusting a man like Beckett. He wasn’t there when Beckett held my hand and pretended to be Enzo when I was in the hospital worried about losing the babies. He was there for me when Enzo couldn’t be. You can’t fake that kind of emotion. Beckett cried tears of relief right along with me when the doctor told me I was having twins.
But Enzo wasn’t there. He doesn’t share that history. It will take him time to open up, and I won’t push him.
“I wish we had time to change,” I say, still wearing my black wedding dress. Enzo is still in a tuxedo. The only person that looks inconspicuous is Beckett dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. His sleeves are rolled up, and I can barely make out the tattoos covering his arms.
“Me too,” Enzo says, taking my hand.
But we don’t have time. And we don’t have any clothes to change into. We will just have to make do until we can pick something up.
“Let’s go,” Enzo says.
Enzo leads the way out of the hotel. We try to walk calmly, instead of running like we want to.
Once on the street, Beckett motions to follow him. We do and find ourselves driving in a pickup truck to the small airport.
He hands us each a ticket. “Sorry I couldn’t arrange a private flight. But this flight leaves in twenty minutes. If we hurry, we’ll make it.”
I stare at the tickets he handed Enzo and me. The seats aren’t together.
Enzo growls when he realizes.
“I’m sure you can ask someone to swap with you, but these were the only seats left,” Beckett says. He jumps out of the truck, and we follow.
Everyone stares at us in the small airport, our attire making us stick out way too much in the crowd of flannel, jeans, and boots.
Enzo tries to lean into our appearance, slinging his arm over my shoulder and kissing me often so that it appears we are headed to our wedding or honeymoon. Instead of running for our lives. We don’t need anyone gossiping about us and making it easier for Felix to find us.
We board the plane, and before we even get to the seats, Beckett has already convinced people to move seats so Enzo and I can sit together.
“Thank you,” I mouth to Beckett, who is sitting a few rows back before I take my seat.
Beckett gives me a curt nod in return.
“See? Becket is trying,” I say to Enzo.
Enzo just grunts and takes his seat next to me in the small plane.
I sigh and grip Enzo’s hand as the plane takes off. Step one went off without a hitch. No Felix or his men in sight. I just hope the next step goes just as smoothly.
I place my other hand over my stomach as the babies start kicking again. Please, let me be doing the right thing.
I glance over my shoulder and see Beckett watching Enzo and me closely. To protect us or destroy us?
I close my eyes, and everything in my body screams—protect us. Beckett is here to protect us. But there is no room for error. The best people in my life have still hurt me. This could all be a setup.
I look down at Enzo and I’s joined hands. My husband is the only man I can trust.
17
Enzo
There is an SUV waiting for us at the airport—a black Tahoe.
“Thank you, we got it from here,” Beckett says to the driver, handing him cash and then climbing in the driver’s seat.
I resist the urge to take over driving. If I’m not driving, then I can better protect Kai. Especially since I’m the only one with a gun.
Kai and I climb into the back seat as Beckett climbs into the front.
“What the hell are you doing, asshole?” Kai’s father says before punching Beckett in the face through the driver’s side window.
I grin, chuckling lightly to myself at the sight of Beckett getting punched again. He’s going to have a nasty shiner tomorrow.
“Dad! Stop,” Kai yells as her father drives his arm back for another swing at Beckett. But Beckett was only going to let him get one punch in any way; he’s already grabbed Kai’s father’s arm.
“You threatened my daughter’s life. I’m going to kill you.”
“No, I saved your daughter’s life. I warned them that Felix is coming. And I’m ensuring we all get on a yacht and get our butts out of here before Felix and his men get here,” Beckett disarms Kai’s father before he’s even able to draw his weapon.
I don’t know how Beckett was trained, but he has skills, I’ll give him that.
“Beckett’s on our side,” Kai says.
Her father looks at her with unbelieving eyes. He turns his attention to me. And I gaze frustratingly back, conveying my forced discontent. We don’t have any other option.
Kai’s father tenses more at my reaction.
“Give him back the gun, Beckett,” I say.
Beckett slowly hands Kai’s father the gun.
He takes it, resisting the urge to knock Beckett over the head with it.
“Get in the car, Dad,” Kai says.
He reluctantly climbs into the front seat, still gripping his gun. Beckett starts driving, not waiting for permission to leave.
“What the hell is going on?” Kai’s dad says.
“We are getting out of here. Felix is out of prison and headed here. There is a yacht waiting for us. Trust me,” Kai says.
Trust me.
The same words she said to me.
Her father has fucked up as bad or worse than I did. He can’t argue with her when she says to trust him.
He nods, slowly agreeing to trust Kai.
“But keep your gun out and ready. We don’t know when our enemies will attack,” I say, meaning Beckett.
Beckett’s shoulder’s tense at my words. He’s in a vulnerable position. I’m sitting behind him with a gun in my hand. Kai’s father is sitting next to him with a gun. Both of us would prefer it if he were dead. And the only weapon Beckett has is the car he is driving. If he wrecks us though, he’s risking his own life as well. So I have to hope Beckett wants to live to keep all of us safe.
It takes ten minutes to reach the docks. I see the shiny, black yacht towering over the other boats in the distance. It’s not parked at the dock. The harbor is too shallow; instead, it is anchored in deeper water. We will have to take a dingy boat over to reach it.
Beckett parks the car between two others in the small parking lot. The tension whisks in the air. We are so close to safety, and yet so far away. We just need to get to the yacht, and then we can disappear until Kai has the babies. I’ll fly an entire medical team to us to take care of her.
“We need to move quickly, but inconspicuously. We are most vulnerable here. I can’t hide a yacht from Felix. If he’s made it to Alaska, he will know we are here,” Beckett says.
“Everyone on alert. And we protect Kai at all costs. We all stand around her and don’t let a single bullet through,” I say.
“Agreed,” Kai’s father says, glaring at Beckett.
“I agree,” Beckett says.
Kai opens her mouth, ready to disagree, but then stops and rubs her stomach. She knows she has to be the one we protect—no matter what.
I get out of the car first, then Beckett and Kai’s father get out. Finally, I nod for Kai to get out with me.
Kai’s father and I have our weapons drawn, but by our sides, hoping no one notices us. But even if someone does and calls the police, we will be long gone before the authorities arrive.
Kai does as she’s told and walks in the middle of us. Beckett leads the front, and her father and I walk on either side of her.
I can feel Kai’s heart flittering quickly beside me, so I take her hand and give it a squeeze. But I don’t assure her that it will be okay, because I don’t know if it will be or not.
We start down the pier. I spot the dingy boat I assume we are headed toward at the very end. We continue to walk, and I don’t
spot any men that seem suspicious—not one man who has worked for me in the past. Most men seem to be in their fifties or older. Not fit men ready to attack us.
“This doesn’t feel right,” I say.
“I agree. Even if Felix didn’t make it here in time, we should face some opposition here from his men. At the very least his men should be trailing us so Felix can follow us later. But I don’t see anyone—” Beckett never gets to finish his words.
An explosion rings out behind us, decimating half the pier.
“Run!” I yell, knowing the only way we make it out of here is to get into the water. I don’t even trust the dingy boat.
We all start sprinting, but Kai can’t sprint fast enough to outrun the chain of explosions firing faster and faster behind us.
I scoop her up in my arms and start running as I toss my gun to Beckett.
He turns to fire behind us, but there are no men to fire at. The entire pier is rigged with explosives. The men aren’t here. They are waiting elsewhere, hoping the explosives do the job.
“We need to get into the water,” Beckett shouts.
I nod, agreeing. But there are boats lining each side of the pier. It’s impossible to get off without running off the end.
I run as fast and as hard as I can while carrying Kai and my babies in her belly. My entire future rests in my hands and how fast I can run. I’ve never run so fast in my life, but that doesn’t mean I can outrun fate.
I feel the blast before it hits me, and I know I failed, even though I’m running faster than Beckett or Kai’s father. It’s still not fast enough. We are only ten feet from the end of the pier. So close to safety. But still so far away.
We are falling, the blast knocking us sideways. And I do everything I can as we fly through the air to be the one who hits the ground first instead of Kai or the babies. Somehow the world hasn’t completely turned on us, and I cushion Kai’s fall. My shoulder taking the brunt of the blow as we are knocked to the ground.
“Run!” I yell to Kai. We can’t stop.
She gets up and holds out her hand.
