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,” En
zo 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.