Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Poe Cameron doesn’t do obedience. He does revenge. But the mafia crime syndicate known as Goldenbell has his sister.
Kidnapped. Hidden. Alive only as long as Poe follows orders. Betray his vigilante crew, feed the syndicate intel, play the loyal attack dog… or they kill his sister.
Now Poe's undercover inside a trafficking ring he’s desperate to destroy, walking a razor-thin line between saving his sister and burning the entire operation to the ground.
Then he meets her. Orchid Lin.
Goldenbell’s enforcer. The woman who makes grown men obey with a smile and a threat. She doesn’t trust Poe, so she keeps him on a leash… in a safehouse with one bed and nowhere to run.
She wants him broken. Trained. Controlled.
Poe wants to bring Goldenbell down.
And if falling for the enemy is what it takes to make them obey?
So be it. He’ll obey long enough to get close, then he’ll make Goldenbell choke on every order they ever gave him.
*Make Them Obey is a high-heat, high-stakes dark romcom packed with forced proximity, one bed, vigilante justice, savage banter, and a hero who’ll burn the world down to save his sister
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
ONE
POE
The first time I hear my sister cry through a cheap burner phone, everything inside me just... stops.
The world keeps spinning like an asshole. Traffic hisses past the hospital windows, tires slicing through puddles from the earlier rain. The elevator dings somewhere behind me, cheerful and oblivious. The heart monitor on the gurney I stole beeps steady, like it's mocking me for playing monster tonight.
I’ve kidnapped someone because they’ve kidnapped my sister. It’s fair in my eyes.
The noise in my head—the constant stream of code, exit routes, contingency plans, all the bullshit that keeps me one step ahead—snaps off like someone yanked the plug. Because that sound? Enley's voice cracking on the other end? That's real. That's the only thing that matters right now.
“Poe,” she whispers, and it’s all wrong. Too thin. Too careful. Like she’s learned exactly how much air she’s allowed to use in whatever hellhole they’ve got her in.
My knuckles go white around the gurney handle. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, turning everything into harsh edges and sick yellow tones.
“Enley,” I say back, keeping my voice low and even. Control. That’s all I’ve got left, so I wrap it around me like armor.
A man laughs on the line. It’s this quiet, confident rumble that says he doesn’t need to yell to own the room. “Sweet,” he drawls. “You can still do gentle. That’s nice.”
My stomach twists hard, like someone jammed a fist in there and squeezed.
The phone feels slick against my ear, sweat making the cheap plastic slip. I keep pushing the gurney down this service corridor I have zero business being in, wheels squeaking softly. A big red sign screams AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. Yeah, well, fuck that. I’m not authorized for jack shit tonight.
Tonight I’m a thief.
Tonight I’m a traitor to the only people who’ve ever had my back.
Tonight I’m whatever these bastards need me to be if it means Enley walks out of this alive.
“What do you want?” I ask, forcing the words out calm even though my pulse is hammering like a drum solo.
“Don’t act brand new,” the voice snaps back, lazy but sharp underneath. “You know exactly what we want. You already started the game.”
I glance down at the guy strapped to the gurney. Salem Bloom’s estranged father. Arthur Charles. He looks like hell—gray around the mouth, bruises blooming purple and black across his face, sedated to the gills but still breathing. One of the IV lines swings gently with every push. The hospital bracelet on his wrist catches the light, mocking me with his real name.
I hate this part. The part where I have to treat innocent people like chess pieces. Where I have to drag some poor bastard into my mess because Goldenbell decided he’s useful.
A door swings open at the end of the corridor. A tired-looking nurse steps out, chart in hand, eyes half-closed like she’s running on fumes and bad coffee. I angle the gurney quick into a shadowed alcove, tucking myself behind a big linen cart. My heart gives one hard thud, reminding me I’m still breathing.
She doesn’t spot me. Just walks past, shoes squeaking on the tile. I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“What did you do to her?” I whisper into the phone, rage and fear mixing into something ugly in my chest.
The guy sighs like I’m the most exhausting thing he’s dealt with all week. “Nothing she didn’t earn. Nothing she won’t survive. That part’s up to you, Poe.”
Enley makes this tiny sound in the background—like she’s biting back a sob, trying so hard not to make noise. It guts me.
My jaw locks so tight my teeth ache. “Let me talk to her. Now.”