“You are.”
“No, I can’t be. And you said man. I’m not male.”
“Usually, it’s a boy chosen as the one to fight. But since you are an only child and have no cousins…”
“I’m the only choice.” I drink down the mimosa with shaky hands not understanding any of this but needing something to soothe my nerves.
He sighs and then clears his throat again.
The door once again opens. A different man enters carrying a stack of papers. He brings them to me.
“I’m Archard, Enzo’s lawyer. These are papers going back generations explaining how control of the Black name and empire works. Here’s your father’s signature. And—”
“Mine,” I say looking at the ridiculous signature. It might as well be in crayon as big and half written as it is. But there it is—Kai M. I couldn’t write Miller yet, it doesn’t look like I’m much older than five from the way my name is written.
“We’ve met before?”
“Only once when we were kids. Our fathers were the ones to set out the rules for the next generation. That’s how it is done.”
I nod, my new world sinking in as Archard leaves.
Why didn’t you tell me the truth, dad? Why didn’t you prepare me for this? For the evil in the world? Why didn’t you protect me at least?
“This doesn’t matter anymore,” I lift the papers. “You won. You’re Black. You defeated me when you sold me. And even if you didn’t, the Millers aren’t strong enough to run an empire. We would have lost.”
“The Miller family has been weak for a long time, but it’s strong again.” His eyes stare at me. He means me; I’m the strong Miller he’s talking about. “But you don’t belong in this world.”
“I’m in it whether I want to be or not. But I don’t know why you are telling me this. You’re Black. You won.”
“No, I claimed the name wrongly. If I had killed you, I would have won. I would have a rightful claim to the name. The contract would have been finished, safe for another generation.”
“But there wouldn’t have been another generation of Millers.”
He nods. “The Rinaldi’s would have claimed the name forever. The old ways would have been over.”
“Why didn’t you kill me?” I whisper.
“I don’t remember signing those papers any more than you do. But I’ve known since I was a kid what my destiny was. My father trained me hard, assuming that when the battle came, I would win no matter my opponent. The families are usually tight-lipped on the number of children each has. Keeping secret who will fight in each generation. But in this generation, only a single child was born to each.”
I nod. He’s a machine, I don’t even know what the battle would entail, but I assume it’s dark and dang
erous. It would involve using a weapon, having other men attack. It would involve killing and blood—not things I could ever do.
“Of course you would win. But why didn’t you kill me? That would have ensured you the name and title—your freedom.”
“When I was given the assignment to kill you, I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know you were the one to be my opponent. But when I met you, I sensed something. Something wasn’t right. I wanted the truth, but it was clear you didn’t know your own truth.”
He sighs.
“All I had to do was kill you, and the empire was mine. I couldn’t. It didn’t seem fair. You obviously didn’t understand what you had a claim to.”
Enzo could have killed me. He could have won without making it messy. Defeated me and taken the name. But he didn’t. He showed me mercy, something I’m sure his father punished him for. But when he sold me, he was given the title. I used to think death would have been better than what I went through. But I’m not sure anymore.
“Thank you for sparing my life. I can’t forgive you for what occurred afterward, but I understand now the position you were in. And I thank you for doing the only thing you could to keep me alive while winning your own life back. But now that you have won the right to call yourself Black, to be the leader of savages, you can let me go. You don’t have to worry about me sticking around. I have nothing to stick around for. I’ll leave Miami forever.”
“I figured you would say that, but there is one important part you don’t understand.”
I stare at the papers in the middle of the table I have yet to read thoroughly. What’s the catch? Do I actually have to be dead for him to retain the Black name? Is he really going to kill me this time?