Cruel Lies

by Ella Miles

  “She can sleep in the guest bedroom in the basement,” Phoenix says, not addressing me even though I’m sitting right next to Langston.

  I want to snap back that Langston is hers. Even though I fucked him, there is no way he’ll leave her. Not when it’s the only way to keep both of his children together. Even if I am one of their biological mothers, it doesn’t matter. Even if I meet Atlas, it doesn’t mean he’s mine. I haven’t been in his life in years. I haven’t proven worthy of being a mother. I will never prove worthy. She’ll always win.

  I don’t say any of that, though. I just watch silently as she walks inside the beach house.

  I don’t think about how she has two houses, while I have none. I can no longer afford my apartment in New York now that Langston stole everything from me. And I no longer care about reclaiming what was stolen. I have one mission, one goal—to protect my son.

  I suspect Langston’s reason for going after the treasure is the same as mine. For once, we are on the same side.

  “We should talk,” Langston says once the night air settles and the surge of our electricity resumes between us. I try to forget about how good it feels to kiss him, to have him plunging inside me.

  We have a lot to talk about, but all my body wants to do is feel the thrill of Langston exploring my body.

  “We should,” I say, not being the one to start the conversation. If I start talking, I’ll end up kissing him, and now that we are once again safe, I refuse to become the mistress.

  His hand twitches against the fabric of the couch we are both sitting on. Moments ago we were united against our common enemies—friends who betrayed us. Now I don’t know what we are. In the very least, we’re sinners who stepped into a fire about to consume us both.

  “We should go to Peru. We should find the treasure. Then we can decide what to do—use it or destroy it. We have to stop our enemies from attacking us; there is too much at stake,” he says.

  He means Atlas and Rose. We can’t have people coming to attack us for a treasure that we don’t even have. We have to put a stop to it.

  “I agree.”

  “Good, I’ll see if Beckett wants to watch the kids. He’s surprisingly good at it.”

  “You trust him after what he did?”

  “He’s the only one I trust. He didn’t plan to have us kidnapped. He just went along with it.”

  I nod. It’s not really my place to question the safety of my child, not when I haven’t been in my child’s life since he was born.

  “And then I will book a flight for the three of us,” he continues.

  “The three of us?”

  Langston swallows hard, like he doesn’t want to have to state the obvious, but I’m not going to make this easy on him. “Phoenix has to come.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the letter says only a Dunn who is married can seek the treasure. Last I checked, you aren’t married.”

  “No thanks to you.”

  His eyebrows pull together, and his body tenses. “Actually, thanks to me. You shouldn’t be married to a man who used your lost son to blackmail you.”

  “Ha, you’re one to talk since you married Phoenix for basically the exact same reason.”

  He growls. “So I guess we are doing this? Let’s have it. Yell at me for marrying a woman who has been raising your child as if he were her own son. Do it. Tell me how much of a monster I am for fucking you while married. I’m fucking horrible—I know. But I don’t care about what you think of me or even what Phoenix thinks of me—the only people I care about are Rose and Atlas. They are safe and loved—that’s all that matters.”

  Silence.

  Tears water my eyes, but I don’t speak. I can’t be mad at him for marrying Phoenix. Even if he wasn’t married, it wouldn’t change anything. I still couldn’t marry him. He’d never be mine…

  Phoenix has to come. Even though she hates me. Even though I hate her. Even though I want to thank her and kiss her for everything she’s done for my son. I still hate her, but I also owe her my life.

  “Fine, Phoenix comes.”

  Langston settles back, surprised by how easily he won that fight.

  “When do you want to leave?” he asks with a soft, bewildered expression.

  “Tomorrow. I want everything done as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, tomorrow it is then.”

  Silence stretches again, allowing the sultry tingling to reemerge between us. The spark that we stoked, instead of extinguished, is a full-blown fire between us. We have to find a way to put it out, though. If we don’t, it will spread until we’ve burned everyone we love in the process.

  “You should meet Atlas before we leave,” Langston says.

  I shake my head. “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  Waylon—that’s why. Waylon still has a hold on me, even in death. He owns my soul, and I’m not sure if it’s safe to see Atlas.

  “I just can’t.” I look down at my hands, picking at my nails nervously.

  I hear Langston move against the scratchy fabric as he slides toward me. From the corner of my eye, I see his hands grab onto mine, gently stopping me from anxiously twisting them around.

  “You should meet him. It can be brief, and you shouldn’t tell him who you are, but I think you should meet him. Just look at him so you can know he’s your son.”

  “I believe you. There is no reason for you to lie to me.” I hesitate a second, then ask my next question. “Do you love Atlas as a son?”

  “Yes,” he says without hesitation.

  That’s the only confirmation I needed to hear.

  “But you won’t meet with him?”

  “No.”

  “Why? If something happens to us, he deserves to have met you. Do it for him if not for yourself.”

  I look up and pull my hands free, staring at Langton’s dark eyes, avoiding his lush lips and sharp jaw I want to run my tongue over.

  “No,” I say definitively.

  Langston shakes his head in frustration. His scowl tells me he thinks less of me for not seeing my son, not giving him the chance to meet his birth mother.

  He doesn’t know that I’m doing it to protect him. Even though Waylon is gone, someone will continue his plans. I don’t know who it is, or if they will, in fact, continue Waylon’s plans, but until I know for sure, I can’t risk it.

  For now, knowing his name, Atlas, and knowing that he’s safe in Langston’s protection is enough. It’s more than enough after Waylon led me to believe that he was with a cruel monster who was abusing him. Langston may be a monster, but I’ve seen how he loves his kids. Atlas is accepted as his child just as much as Rose. He’ll protect both of them with his life.

  “I’ll show you to your room in the basement,” Langston says.

  “No, I’d rather sleep here.”

  “Huntress, get your ass inside, now.”

  I look at the house. I can’t sleep under the same roof as Phoenix, and I can’t chance that Atlas might see me. I’ll sleep out here under the stars, where the sun will ensure I wake up before anyone in the house does.

  “Fine,” Langston huffs off while I curl up on the couch.

  I close my eyes and am just on the edge of sleep, when I see a shadow walking toward me. I’m too tired to open my eyes, but the shadow means me no harm.

  A blanket is draped over me, and then his soft lips whisper near my ear. “I don’t know if you are the biggest sinner or saint, but either way, you’re mine, huntress. Mine.”

  4

  Langston

  I bang the coffee cup down on the counter and slam the cabinet door shut. I should move more quietly so I don’t wake everyone up, but I can’t. I didn’t sleep at all last night. Instead, I spent the night in my office on my laptop, trying to figure out what Liesel is hiding from me.

  I pour myself some coffee, and I stare out at the back deck where Liesel is still sound asleep on the couch.

  What do I do with you, huntress? What are y
ou hunting now? You’ve found your child, now what? Do you really want the treasure, or is that just an illusion?

  “Morning, baby. What can I make you for breakfast?” Phoenix asks as she twirls into the kitchen.

  I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out why she’s so happy.

  “I’m fucking exhausted and don’t have time for games, so tell me what the hell is going on.”

  Her smile doesn’t falter. She grabs a coffee cup behind my left shoulder and then grabs the pot behind me. She happily pours herself a cup before standing on her tiptoes and kissing me blatantly on the lips.

  My eyes cut outside, but Liesel is still asleep. I don’t have to ask any more questions to know what game Phoenix is playing at. She’s trying to let Liesel know that she has me—that I slept in her house, that she’s birthed my child and taken care of Liesel’s, that she has a secure place in my life, while Liesel has nothing.

  I shake my head at her antics. “Liesel being here changes nothing between us.”

  She tilts her head with an even brighter smile. “I know.”

  That’s what she wants—nothing to change.

  I sigh. What a mess I’m in. Two women who both are worthy of the world and I won’t be able to give either of them what they deserve. All I do is take from both of them. With Phoenix, I take advantage of her kindness in caring for my children, but I don’t want her body or love for myself. With Liesel, I take her body, her lust, her desire, but I don’t want to love her.

  “Beckett will be here in an hour to take the kids,” I say, not giving Phoenix a say in the matter.

  She nods. “And then we’ll leave after that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where to?”

  I take a sip of my coffee. Finding the treasure is between Liesel and me. Phoenix is only coming along because the first clue said that a Dunn had to be married to seek the treasure. That doesn’t mean I’ll share anything with Phoenix that she doesn’t absolutely need to know.

  “You’ll know when we get there,” I say.

  Her smile drops, and her face turns dark. I think she’s going to fight me on it, but there is a more pressing issue that we need to discuss.

  “When this is all over, what would it take for you to agree to a divorce?”

  She blinks rapidly and steps back out of my personal bubble. She swallows and plasters a smile back on her face quickly, acting like I didn’t just wound her.

  I hate hurting the mother of my children, but I have to be honest with her. I don’t want to divorce her so I can be with Liesel, but I’m not sure our arrangement makes sense anymore. I don’t want our kids growing up thinking that we are in love, thinking our relationship is what a marriage is supposed to be. I’ll never have Liesel, but I don’t want to keep leading Phoenix on, giving her hope that someday I’ll fall for her. I’ll never fall for anyone.

  “More than you’re willing to give,” Phoenix says.

  “Money? I’ll give you everything I own. Everything that the kids don’t need to survive.”

  She shakes her head.

  I set my cup of coffee down and encroach on her space. She’s used to me manhandling her, trying to control the situation. I take her cup from her hand and set it on the counter behind her. Then I take her hands in mine. I need her to hear my words. I need her to understand that she’s never going to get what she wants from me.

  “I’m not a good man, Dunn.” She winces when I call her Dunn. She prefers I use my last name as hers, but that’s exactly why I call her Dunn. Even though we’re married, she’s not really mine. Using her maiden name reminds us both of our relationship.

  “I take everything and give nothing back. I kill without a thought to the sanctity of life. And I’ll never love you, Dunn. All I’ll end up doing is ruining you.”

  She swallows hard, like she might be having doubts about what she’s doing with me. “Then ruin me.”

  Her lips crash onto mine in a desperate attempt to remind me of how good we are together in bed. She’s good because she lets me have my way with her. She lets me have control. But after finally having Liesel, there is nothing that will get my dick hard again except her. Fucking Liesel was everything I thought I could never have, and I won’t go back.

  I pull away gently, trying not to hurt her, but needing to make it clear that I won’t be kissing her, fucking her, touching her again.

  My eyes flick to the door, already knowing what I’m going to find.

  Liesel.

  Her eyes are dark, watery, and filled with pain.

  Dammit.

  Phoenix smirks.

  I run my hand through my hair and step back. Jesus, I’m going to destroy them both.

  Liesel opens the sliding glass door.

  My heart pounds.

  Phoenix turns with an angry glare, telling Liesel she’s not welcome in her house.

  Liesel doesn’t look at me as she walks into the house, risking Atlas or Rose coming down and her being forced to meet them. All of her attention is on Phoenix, as if I’m not even in the room.

  She walks over to us like she’s on a mission, full of determination. Whatever she is feeling, it’s intense and filling her entire body.

  She stops and finally glances at me, but only to indicate for me to move the fuck out of her way.

  I do, but I’m afraid she’s going to slap Phoenix, so I stay close. Phoenix may have been playing with Liesel’s emotions, but she doesn’t deserve to be slapped.

  I hold my breath as Liesel faces Phoenix. The two women who have twisted their way into my life deeper than I’ve ever allowed anyone face off. I should stop it, but maybe if they fight and get it out of their systems, they will be able to work together.

  Liesel takes another step closer toward Phoenix, who tries to slink back against the counter. Then Liesel wraps her arms around Phoenix.

  “Thank you,” she whispers through wet eyes.

  Phoenix exhales and wraps her arms around her. “You’re welcome.”

  The two hold each other like they are long lost friends. I was wrong. They won’t fight over me or stake a claim. They are better than that. All they care about is their shared love for their children.

  It’s a beautiful moment—one that doesn’t happen too often in my life.

  Liesel steps back, letting go of Phoenix. “I’m sorry.”

  “What for?” Phoenix asks.

  I think Liesel is going to say for not being there for her child, for forcing her to have to take care of her child. She doesn’t mention Atlas, though. “He’s yours. I’m sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry for trying to take him from you. I won’t again.”

  I won’t again.

  Those words are meant for me as much as they are meant for Phoenix.

  Liesel won’t kiss me again, touch me again, fuck me again. That’s what her words mean.

  My heart seizes. I thought it would be my cock or lips that was disappointed with her statement, not my fucking heart. It’s like my heart can’t take the prospect of not having even a chance of falling for Liesel.

  I never had a chance of falling for her. I never would allow myself.

  Mine isn’t the only heart in the room that’s breaking. I just can’t tell if it’s Phoenix’s heart knowing what transpired between Liesel and me, or Liesel’s knowing she can never be with me again.

  “We need to get the kids somewhere safe and leave as soon as we can,” Liesel says like she didn’t just make a proclamation that destroyed us all.

  “Beckett will be here within the hour,” I say.

  “We can’t wait that long,” she says, and then she pulls a letter from her pocket and hands it to me. “It was lying on top of me when I woke up this morning. Someone is here.”

  I grab the note and read.

  * * *

  Your child isn’t safe. I can get to him. I can hurt him. There is nowhere you can hide him from me.

  Soon, I’ll come for the treasure. Give it to me or I’ll take him from you forever.


  * * *

  The note is torn at the top, and I realize this isn’t the full letter. I flip it front and back like the second half of the letter is going to suddenly appear to me.

  “Where is the other half of the letter, huntress?” I ask, glaring at her.

  She shakes her head.

  “Dunn, go get the kids packed and ready to go. And bring Liesel a change of clothes.”

  Phoenix nods and runs off, but not before I see the hint of her smirk. Of course, she’d be happy that I’m about to get into a fight with Liesel.

  “Give. Me. The. Other. Half. Of. The. Note.”

  “No.”

  “Why the hell not? We are on the same side! We both want to protect the kids. I can’t help if I don’t know what we are facing.”

  “I gave you the important part. The rest was for my eyes only. It doesn’t matter what it said. What matters is we figure out a way to keep the kids safe!”

  She’s fuming.

  I’m fuming.

  And when fire meets fire—an explosion happens.

  An explosion won’t help.

  “What are you hiding, huntress?”

  “What are you hiding, killer?”

  I step toward her. She steps back, until the counter hits her ass, and there is nowhere for her to go.

  “You won’t again, huh?” I ask, encroaching on her personal space and taking up all the oxygen around her until I control when she breathes. My body hovers over her until a buzzing shoots between us, increasing her pulse.

  She licks her lips.

  I run mine over my teeth hungrily.

  “I won’t—I won’t hurt her. Not after what she’s done for me.”

  “What if I told you it didn’t hurt her?”

  “It does. She loves you.”

  She’s probably right that Phoenix loves me, but it can’t be true. Phoenix is too smart to have already fallen for my dumb ass.

  “And if she were to stop caring about me? What then?” I breathe over her lips, tempting her to close the gap.

  “Then…” she purrs but doesn’t answer.

  “How do you feel, huntress?” My thumb touches her swollen lip, begging her to give in to me. To want me. To let down her guard so I can figure her out. “What do you want?”