Tempted Hero by Ella Miles

Beckett

I’ve playedthe video at least a thousand times in the last twenty minutes. I know it’s not actually possible, but I did. I’ve replayed it so many times that I can see every detail when I close my eyes.

I see Ri—no, Rialta—pick the lock of the hotel room door with a small tool. The creak of the door as it opens will haunt me even in my sleep.

Why did I leave Odette?If I was there, she would have been safe.

I watch her walk inside the room in her black leggings and black hoodie pulled up over her head. Even with the hoodie on, I know it’s Rialta Corsi. I’d know that ass anywhere.

Odette’s eyes get so big with shock they look like they’re about to pop out of their sockets as Rialta speaks to her. There are no weapons initially. Eventually, Rialta pulls out a knife from the side of her thigh.

Odette makes it a foot off the bed before Rialta makes her first slice. It’s through her forearm—the result of a defensive block that Odette tries to throw up. It’s no match for Rialta’s skills, though.

Odette stands defenseless until she finally drops to the floor, defeated. Rialta takes some rope casually from the pocket of her hoodie. She ties Odette’s wrists together, not that Odette is in any condition to fight back. And then Rialta does the same to her ankles.

The next part is the worst. The piece of tape Rialta puts over Odette’s mouth takes away the last thing that could have saved her.

It’s only then does Rialta turn. Her profile is in clear view of the camera. I see it all—her raven hair, dark eyes, thick brows and eyelashes, and fierce warrior gleam.

Rialta Corsi is the reason Odette bled. The reason she was kidnapped. The reason she died.

And I have no idea why.

What did Odette ever do to Rialta?

And how did I let myself fall for her for even a second? How could I have fucked the devil, the woman who ruined my entire life?

If it wasn’t for her, I would have lived happily with Odette. I would have eventually found out the truth. And then we would have broken up, or we would have fallen in love. Either way, our lives wouldn’t have been destroyed. We would have had a chance to figure it out—together.

Now, I’m left to pick up the pieces. There is nothing left but retribution.

Why didn’t I teach Odette how to defend herself? Why didn’t Caius? Her father? Why—why didn’t we teach her like Corsi did his own daughter? If we did, then it would have been a fair fight instead of a slaughter.

I’m sorry about Odette’s death. I’m sorry to find out the truth—to find out what could have been. But all I can think about is Ri. No, Rialta. She’s not Ri; she’s not Princess; she’s not my Fighter. She’s Rialta Corsi—a lethal assassin working with Corsi. She was playing me this entire time, manipulating me to get me on her side so I would divulge secrets about the Retribution Kings.

How did I not realize it was her sooner?I ran into Rialta in the lobby after that—covered in blood. How did I not piece it together?

I didn’t want to believe it; I didn’t want it to be true. I couldn’t imagine the scared, beautiful princess being a killer.

I know what has to happen next, what I have to do about my Rialta problem, but I’m not ready. Sure, the wrath of every storm that has ever rocked this earth lives inside me now. It swirls around in competing circles, threatening to explode out of me and destroy everything in my path. I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to keep my fury in check.

There is only one solution—kill Rialta for what she did and destroy her father.

But as pissed as I am, I’m not ready to kill her, not yet.

There’s a light tap against the door.

“Come in,” I say, pulling the flash drive from the computer as I do.

It’s Gage—not surprising since I’m using his laptop.

“We got a message from Ri. She’s safe but worried about something. She wants me to check the security cameras in their condo.”

I nod and hand him the computer. I don’t think he notices the change in me, the way my jaw ticks when he calls her Ri instead of a monster. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell them—any of them—the truth. I want to be the one to decide how we handle Rialta. I deserve to be the one.

Rialta.

Rialta.

Rialta.

No matter how many times I say her name, it doesn’t feel right. It never will—none of this will.

Gage sinks onto the bed next to me. He pulls up the feeds but doesn’t see anything suspicious. Then it’s her—Ri, heading up the stairs. I can’t hear what her guard behind her says, but it earns him a broken nose.

Gage chuckles at her action.

I glare, unable to unglue my eyes from her, from this woman who is more dangerous than any man in this house, a woman who manipulated us all.

“Do you want to send a message to her?” Gage asks as he types his own message to her.

I think for a moment. I want to let her know that I know. That I’m coming for her. That I’m done playing hero. She doesn’t need or want me to anyway, but she’s going to need a hero when I’m done with her.

“No,” I shake my head.

Gage frowns as he finishes his message to her and hits send. Then he looks at me. I don’t know what he sees, but I wish I had Caius’s skill of going into the void and showing nothing to the rest of us.

“Who was it? Who killed her?” he asks, his voice calm as he stares at the flash drive.

I should tell him. It’s too big of a secret to keep to myself. Everyone’s feelings are complicated when it comes to Rialta Corsi.

Just tell him.

Tell him.

My mouth doesn’t open; my lips don’t even so much as mouth the words. I look down at the flash drive.

Just hand it to him.

He can watch it. That will be the easiest way to explain everything that happened.

My hand clutching the flash drive doesn’t budge.

I can’t tell him. I can’t tell any of them. Not yet. Not until I figure out what I plan on doing to her.

But I have to tell him something. He’s not going to just let this go; none of them are.

“There was nothing on it but static. Nothing but Corsi playing with us again,” I say.

Gage’s eyebrows jump. “Let me take a look at it. Maybe I can salvage some of the footage. It might be encrypted or—”

“No. Your skills are better than mine, but I’m not clueless when it comes to these things. I know what I’m looking at and how to recover lost files. Albeit, I might do it slower than you would.”

His head falls back against the headboard. “There’s really nothing on it? We got nothing?”

I nod, still gripping the flash drive.

“It was all for nothing?” Caius says from the hallway.

I look him in the eye. I hate lying. I’m not very good at it, and I think it’s the lowest of sins you can commit against someone you care about.

But I’m not sure how he’d react if I told him the truth. Plus, he hid the truth from me since I first met him. Not that it makes this better, but I don’t want anyone going rogue and either killing Rialta or trying to save her until I figure out a plan for her.

I nod. It seems more like a lie by omission than a straight-out lie.

Caius falls against the door, his face white as his fist grips the front of his shirt over his chest. It’s the most emotion I’ve seen out of him in a while.

“I shouldn’t have left Ri,” he says, quietly.

I agree, he shouldn’t have. If he’d brought her back, I could have killed her, gotten retribution for Odette, and been done with all of them. I could have left and started over.

My heart skips a beat, not in the I’m head over heels in love sort of way, but in the I have too strong feelings for a girl who killed my wife way.

“Thank you,” I finally say, knowing it needs to be said. I can hate Caius all I want. He reminds me too much of Odette. He lied to me. He’s kissed Ri countless times just to piss me off. He’s fucked her. But he saved my life.

“You would have done the same for me,” he says, staring at the blank wall in the bedroom.

I wouldn’t have, not for him, but I don’t say that.

“The games start tomorrow at nine PM. What are we going to do until then?” Gage asks.

“Sleep. And keep searching for the person who killed Odette,” I say.

The guys nod.

“You can sleep in here. This place actually has enough bedrooms for everyone,” Caius says.

And then they leave. I wait until the door shuts before I break the flash drive, destroying any evidence that Rialta was the killer. It’s stupid of me. The guys will never believe me unless they see her hurting Odette with their own eyes.

I’m not ready to face the truth yet. I’m not ready to just flat-out kill Rialta. I need to play with her first like she did me. Then, I’ll kill her.

Yep, she’s dead.

My heart clenches, already feeling the pain of losing Ri—she’s no more. She never existed in the first place. Apparently, I fall for the fantasy instead of reality.

I fell for Odette, thinking she loved me back, when actually she was just finding a candidate for her family’s criminal organization. Nothing about our relationship was real.

I fell for Ri, thinking she was innocent, when in reality she is guiltier than all of us. She will pay the ultimate price for her sins.

Thump, thump—shut up, heart.She deserves to die. I’ll deal with you later for falling in love with all the wrong women. You’re cut off. You don’t get to make my decisions anymore. All you do is cause us pain.