Tempted Hero by Ella Miles

Ri

A rushof hot lust washes over me, a chill brushes against my spine, and my blood blazes like a wildfire through my body. I don’t have to look away from Ryker to know that Beckett is here.

The pull to him is deep and torturous to resist, but somehow I resist it for several minutes. I don’t want Beckett thinking I care about him. I need him to quit. I need him and the others safe. It’s the only thing I can do for them.

Sneaking out in the middle of the night was incredibly hard. Not just logistically, but leaving Beckett lying in bed, giving him no explanation for my departure, my heart broke. It broke, leaving all of them.

Ryker is the leader of the Devil Crew. He’s a wretched man, merciless and cruel—the last man I would ever want to marry. I waited outside until I saw him arrive, went in with him, and flirted my way into his inner circle.

When Leighton arrived, I knew he’d blame Ryker for my kidnapping. Pitting two of my worst enemies against each other is the only way I could think of to save Beckett from suspicion.

I’m not sure if Vincent believes my ruse, but from the way Leighton has been glaring at Ryker, it seems to have at least convinced Leighton.

Finally, I let myself glance at Beckett. Most people that look at him would only see a bored, reserved man. But when I look at him, I see the bulging vein on his neck, his dilated eyes as he looks at me, and the slight tension in his hand. He’s beyond angry that I left in the middle of the night without a word.

Good, maybe this will start him down a path where he finally gives me up. I just need to find a reason for him to quit these games—something so dangerous it’s not worth continuing to risk his team’s lives.

Maybe even tonight, I can get him to bow out if I can influence the game and make it seem more dangerous for Beckett’s team without actually hurting any of them. Beckett won’t leave for himself, but he might pull out if it risks Hayes, Lennox, Gage, or Caius.

Vincent steps into the center of the room and starts explaining the new game, but it’s not that hard to follow. It’s a drug run. The goal is to move drugs from one location to another without getting killed or caught by the police—simple enough.

There are no rules, so each team of men is a threat to the others. You can shoot, injure, or kill anyone on the other teams to try and stop them.

The winner is the first one to complete the run. Anyone who fails to complete the run is dismissed from the game.

People start mumbling plans to their crews as Vincent is still speaking.

“Silence!” Vincent says when the murmurs get too loud. The room immediately falls quiet, and he continues.

“I’d like to add one small challenge to the game Xavier has chosen for us. This game is meant to challenge your leadership skills as well as the men you have selected with your trust. It will truly test if you have good skills when it comes to selecting men, so I would like to incapacitate the leaders to some extent,” he says.

Incapacitate? What does that mean? Vincent looks at me with cold eyes. His eyes tell me this is the round he wants me to lose, but I just cock a brow feigning confusion. If he doesn’t officially give me a rule or bargain, then I can’t disobey him.

“The leaders will be injected with a drug of my choosing. You will have a few minutes after the injection before the effects take over to make a plan with your team. But after the drug takes over, your facilities with be greatly reduced.”

Drugged.

Vincent is going to drug us.

Jesus Christ.

I’m going to be drugged. I don’t have a team to help me, no one to rely on. And I’ll be surrounded by a hundred men who will be looking to attack me. To hurt me. To make me theirs.

Not to mention every time I’ve been drugged, my memory gets fuzzy. I lose whole sections of time of my life.

I look at Vincent, suspecting that he added this part of the game because he knew how I’d feel about it. But when Vincent stares back at me, there’s no emotion in his eyes, no gleam of satisfaction.

I notice Beckett staring at me out of the corner of my eye, probably trying to figure out if I’m going to accept the game or not. But I can’t think of him right now.

“You’re welcome to some of my men, Princess,” Ryker says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

I fight the urge to throw his hand off because I’m going to need the help to survive and to make my plan work.

“Thank you, Ryker. I really appreciate it.”

“Calvin, Jace—assist Princess here with whatever she needs,” Ryker snaps at two of his closest men. “They’re some of my best men, but I’d appreciate it if you don’t beat me. I’d like to spend the week with you.”

Ryker leaves us alone, and I take in my new teammates—men I’m going to have to depend on if I want to survive tonight unharmed.

I’m so screwed.

“I’m Calvin,” the first man with dirty blonde hair and tattooed arms says, holding his hand out to me.

I shake it tentatively.

“And I’m Jace,” the taller man with much darker hair says.

“I’m Ri.”

“We know,” Calvin says with a smile.

“I’m not sure this is the best idea. I—”

“Ryker isn’t a bad guy as much as you think he is. I know you’re setting him up for Leighton to think Ryker took you. I don’t know why you’re framing him, but he knows what he’s doing. You can trust him,” Jace explains.

“How can I trust any man playing a game to marry me? Who will force me to carry his children? Who steals, sells drugs, and murders for a living?”

Jace looks to Ryker. “Yes, Ryker is all those things. But he’s the only man here who offered you some of his men to help you. And if he wins, he’s the only man who will give you a choice. He only entered the game to stave off the coming gang war. He’s doing this to protect our families and us.”

I frown, not sure what to do with any of the information.

“You don’t have to trust us, but trust that your father will kill us if we let you die, and I’d really rather live. I have two young kids,” Jace says, pulling a picture from his wallet of what looks to be a three-year-old boy and a young baby girl with his dark curly hair.

I look him in the eyes and know he’s telling the truth. He won’t let any harm come to me.

I look to Calvin. “He’s my best friend, and I’m godfather to his kids. If he dies, then I become a father, and I’m not ready for that shit.”

I chuckle. “Fine, I accept that we are on the same side.”

A man walks around distributing bags of drugs to each team with an address.

“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Calvin asks, looking at me, as does Jace.

I hold out the address for them to see. “We get here as fast as possible and don’t get killed in the process. We stay away from Leighton but shoot to kill if he attacks. And…” I hesitate, trying to decide what to do about Beckett.

“What do you want us to do about Beckett?” Jace asks.

I raise my eyebrow. “Why would you ask about Beckett?”

“He’s the strongest here, the biggest threat. And you seem to have a fascination with him.”

I frown. “Make it hard for him and his team, but don’t kill any of them.”

“So I was right? You do have feelings for him?”

“No, I just owe him a debt,” I say sternly, pretending that I don’t feel anything for Beckett. In reality, I feel everything, every damn emotion under the rainbow.

Then I notice one of Vincent’s men going around and beginning the injections. My heart thumps wildly in my chest as I think about what will happen when it’s my turn.

“Are you armed?” Jace asks, drawing my attention back to him.

I nod.

“And you can shoot?”

“I can hold my own. But once the drugs hit me…”

Calvin squeezes my shoulder. “We’ve got you. Once the drugs hit, we’ll carry you the entire way and make sure no one hurts you.”

“Thank you.” His words seem genuine, but I’m not sure I trust these guys fully. Are they kind and sweet, doing this out of the generosity of their hearts, or do they have another motive?

I look around the room. Most groups have several men; some even have a dozen. I only have two. The odds are against us.

I spot Geno, one of Vincent’s men, moving closer to me with the injection. My time is running out to discuss everything with these two strangers on whom I’m going to depend.

I think about Jace’s two little kids. I spot the wedding ring on Calvin’s finger. They have a family relying on them.

“Don’t risk your life for me. Protect me if you can, but don’t die for me.”

Calvin and Jace both scowl. “I don’t think either of us can promise that.”

“You have to, or I won’t accept your help. Don’t die protecting me.”

“And if we let you die, we’re dead no matter what,” Calvin says.

“No, Vincent won’t hold it against you. You’re asking me to trust you, so trust me too. Vincent won’t harm you.”

They exchange glances and even look back at Ryker before they both finally nod at me.

“What do you want us to do about Ryker?” Jace asks.

“What do you mean?”

“If we should encounter him or his men, do we fight? Defend? Team up?”

I think for a moment as Geno is now injecting Ryker.

I take a deep breath. “Team up if you think he’ll help. If not, then defend, but I don’t want you to have to choose between him and me. Do what you must.”

Jace narrows his eyes. “Are you alright? You’re shaking.”

I nod. “I just don’t have the best reaction to drugs, and I don’t like giving up control.”

My hands fidget with the hem of my shirt, rolling it between my thumb and forefinger nervously.

Calvin tries to hold my hand, but I don’t let him. They might be able to protect me physically, but they won’t be able to help me psychologically once the drugs hit my system. Once that happens, I could forget everything. I could forget Beckett, my plan to keep him safe, even that I love him.

That is what devastates me most—I might forget the only man I’ve ever loved.

Geno walks toward me. He pulls a syringe out of his bag and fills it from a vial. My guess is heroin or a heavy tranquilizer that he’s about to inject into my arm. I’ve been drugged so many times that my body can’t handle anything stronger than alcohol anymore.

“Ready, Rialta?” Geno asks.

I nod. At the last second, I let my gaze land on Beckett across the room as I hold my arm out for Geno to find a vein. I feel the sharp stab of the needle as it enters a vein.

I don’t react. I don’t wince in pain. I don’t shake. I just stare at Beckett, not to show him emotion or that I care, but just because this may be the last time that I can look at him and remember how I feel, remember him.

I feel the warmth of the drugs flowing through my veins. I force myself to close my eyes and lock Beckett out. It’s for the best if I forget him. It will make giving him up so much easier.