My heart feels like it’s been ripped from my body, jabbed with a thousand barbs and forced back into my chest. My lungs long to breathe in the same oxygen as Kai. My palms feel empty without her long black hair to grab, or her breasts to palm. And my cock has shriveled into nothing, knowing he will never again get to sink into her tight pussy. He is closed for shop—indefinitely.
“Tie him up,” Milo says to his men as we step outside.
Before I can react, six men jump on me, wrench my arms behind my back and tie them up. Then move to my ankles with a heavy chain between my ankles.
“Is this really necessary? I just fought to become your prisoner. I’m not going anywhere. We have an arrangement; I’m not leaving,” I say as the last clink of the handcuffs around my ankles locks in place. My shoulders feel tense as they are pulled back at an unusual angle, and my feet already feel heavy with the chains. But the discomfort gives me something to focus on other than the pain of losing Kai. So why I’m arguing with Milo to remove them is beyond me.
“Yes, they are necessary,” Milo hisses as he steps right in front of me. He’s a large man, a few years younger than me. His hair has grown long to his shoulders, and his blue eyes turn red when he’s angry as he is now.
“Don’t think you can take me without putting me at a disadvantage?” I challenge. I have enough rage inside me to kill him and his entire team while tied up with no weapon. The only thing preventing me is the fact that killing Milo would only start a war. One that Kai would have to finish and would put her in incredible danger.
I will never hurt her.
So I don’t pummel him in the head like I want.
Milo smirks, reading my thoughts. “They are necessary because I want to hurt you. You have no idea how badly I want to destroy you. You have no idea who I truly am. No idea the pain I’ve been through. You have no idea how hard it was for me to choose you instead of the whore.”
I jerk forward, needing to hurt him after calling Kai a whore. But the men pull me back before I can get to Milo.
“You want my empire? You can have it but leave Kai alone,” I say.
He grins. “I think I will take both.”
Milo steps into the back of one of the black Mercedes lining the street.
I wrench free and run to the car. I slam my head into his window, getting him to lower it enough to hear me. “That wasn’t the agreement. You get my empire, not Kai.”
Milo snickers. “And I would never go back on our agreement. No man would want to work with me if I did. But once I become Black, our agreement becomes void. I can do whatever I want then.”
Fuck.
All the more reason Kai needs to win.
And I need to find a way to kill this bastard.
Before I can respond, I’m dragged away from Milo’s car and into the trunk of another car.
The men laugh as the lock me away in darkness, my body bending in an uncomfortable and unnatural way. They think this is torture. They think this is pain. But I’ve been trained for years by a father who knew what real pain was and injected me with it on a daily basis.
But now thinking back, even that wasn’t real pain. Love is pain. Loving Kai is pain. Losing Zeke is pain. Being surrounded by an empire filled with men I consider family is pain. Being cramped into a trunk for hours is nothing.
Stingray is safe. She’s safe. Langston will ensure she’s safe. He will guide her. Help her either become the next Black or get her the hell away from the danger. Nothing else matters.
Kai. Is. Safe.
And now I have to let her go.
I have to let the pain go. I never told Kai I love her. She is the only woman I will ever, or could ever, love. It’s only been a few days since recognizing my love for her, but it is enough to know my life is worth living. Before I couldn’t imagine why I was ever born. Now I can’t imagine why fate would allow me to fall in love with such an incredible woman who deserves so much more.
Time passes slowly in the trunk of the car. My body bounces around, causing bruises to form and the ropes tying my arms back to tighten until the rope is cutting into my skin.
But I don’t care. All I think of is Kai. When the trunk opens and I get out, I’ll force myself to stop. To stop loving. To stop thinking. To stop caring. My new focus will be on figuring out how to kill Milo without anyone else getting hurt. Because that is all I can do. I surrendered myself. Soon, I will have to play the third round for the Black empire. And I have no choice but to play it like I want to win.
Milo will only let me live if I play to win. And I have no idea if Kai will try to win or not.
The trunk opens before I’m ready, but I made a promise to myself to let Kai go—so I do. I shut out everything but finding Milo’s weakness and exploiting it.
I’m pulled from the car without fighting it. I need to save my strength for what is coming. I know Milo won’t kill me, but that won’t stop him from torturing me. From keeping me from eating or drinking enough. I’m sure I’m about to face plenty of pain.