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He nods, running off.
“Vance, check to see if Felix’s explosive threat is real.”
I look at the remaining men. “The rest of you be on high alert. Felix could come back and launch an attack at any moment. Be ready to evacuate.”
Odette looks from me to Enzo. “We need to vote.”
“The vote can wait.”
“No, it can’t. Not if another attack is imminent.”
I swallow hard. I’m not the person to lead if there is an attack. They are pissed Enzo put my life above theirs. I’m carrying a child I won’t hesitate to trade all of their lives to save. They just don’t realize it. They can’t vote me their leader over Enzo.
“All those in favor of having Kai be the new leader, raise your hand,” the woman says, raising her own hand.
Slowly, I watch as hand after hand goes up. More than just the four currently conscious that are part of making the decision. Every hand goes up.
Fuck, what did I do?
I feel sick to my stomach. I just reacted. I just protected myself, my baby, and Enzo. And in turn, I protected all of them.
And now my baby’s life is even more at risk.
I glance over at Enzo who looks even more terrified, because he doesn’t want me to be at risk either.
Slowly, Enzo walks over and kneels in front of me. I’m not sure he’s helping his cause with the team at showing so much respect to me. “I will protect you at all costs,” he whispers.
I stand tall, stern, and unmoving. I can’t love him. I can’t show them I love him. There will be a mutiny. They will kill us all and most likely let Felix lead them.
“You put all of their lives at risk, you deserve to be punished,” I say to Enzo.
Enzo just bows his head. Locking him away will at least protect him until I figure out how to get the crew to care about him instead of me.
“Lock him in a bedroom,” I tell Odette.
She nods and grabs Enzo to lead him down the stairs. Enzo gives me a concerned look. He doesn’t want to leave me, but he has to. If he stays, he’s putting us all at risk. He’s already shown how much he loves me. I can’t show how much I love him in return.
Enzo disappears and then it’s me with a dozen eyes looking at me to keep them safe, when all I want to do is grab the first boat and get as far away as possible from all of them.
Denziel returns. “I’ve checked the security footage, Felix and his men left on a yacht. They were headed south.”
I nod. “Thank you.” Everyone continues to look at me, waiting for me to give more orders. “Everyone stay on high alert. Felix will be back. Maybe not today, but he will be back. And when he comes, we will be ready.”
And then I head inside, away from all the prying eyes. I don’t trust a single one of them, and I’m not sure why they trust me. It’s in this moment I realize how easily a leader can be knocked from his thrown by his own people. They all love their jobs, but they risk their lives every day. They won’t do that if they don’t one hundred percent trust the person leading them. Enzo just lost their trust. I don’t know how long I can hold onto it. And Felix is going to do everything he can to make us look bad, and him look good. So they will trust him instead of us.
I take a deep breath as I walk down the hallway to Enzo’s bedroom, where I assume Odette locked him away. He’s going to be pissed I had him locked up. But it was the only thing I could think of that would show I didn’t love him like he loves me. The team needs to trust one of us, at least until we can show them how bad Felix is.
I unlock the door and then step into the bedroom.
Enzo is lying on top of the comforter with his arms stretched behind his head, and his legs crossed. He didn’t bother taking off his shoes.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
“Are you pissed?” I ask, as the door falls closed behind me.
“At you?”
I nod.
