Cruel Lies

by Ella Miles

  “Tell Maxwell to lower the gun or I won’t fuck you. And I won’t give you the treasure.”

  Corbin looks at me curiously. “There are almost thirty men in this room, all who work for me. If I want to fuck you, I’ll fuck you. If I want the treasure, you’ll give it to me. You have no power here. My brother will do as I say.”

  I shake my head. “You forget—I know who you are, Corbin. You’re just like Waylon. You want me to want you willingly. You want me to offer myself up on a platter to you. Force me, and you’re no more of a man than any other monster on the street. You don’t have any power.”

  Corbin nods, and Maxwell lowers the gun. Apparently Corbin and Waylon’s other brother didn’t actually die—it’s Maxwell.

  A sick idea forms in my head. I want Corbin to trust me. If he does, he won’t send his men to follow me when I go and get the treasure. I’ll be able to finish the job on my own with Langston.

  I could give up the whole ruse and fuck a random man on the street to betray Langston, but that only serves one purpose.

  I walk up to Corbin, still completely naked. I wrap my arms around his neck and tug on his bottom lip roughly.

  He growls.

  And then, I whisper my filthy plan into his head. A cruel plan that is going to end Langston and set him free once and for all.

  He’ll hate me, forever.

  He’ll want to kill me and, this time, he might actually do it.

  Most importantly, it will ensure I have the strength to finish off my own soul.

  24

  Langston

  Liesel Dunn is a huntress.

  She’s always hunting, always searching.

  And because of that, she’s always been the enemy.

  But now she’s my wife.

  I thought she was my friend. I thought that me taking care of her kid would have meant something to her. That our relationship, if not a real marriage, was at least sacred because I’m raising her son.

  But everything I ever think when it comes to Liesel is a lie. Why should this be any different?

  Who is she lying to, though?

  Me? Probably.

  Corbin? Definitely.

  Herself? Absolutely.

  Liesel is hiding huge secrets. She’s hiding her very soul. I wish I knew if this wicked woman before me, playing her games, is the real Liesel or the one I had back in my bed a few hours before.

  She’s playing games with all of us. I don’t see fear when I look into her eyes. I see a badass woman completely in control. A woman capable of burning this entire house to the ground, destroying us all.

  I made a mistake trying to save her. She’s more than capable of saving herself, and I lost my element of surprise. My skin is crawling from the way both Corbin and Liesel are looking at me right now—a failed protector.

  Liesel is still standing naked in the center of a room filled with disgusting men. They devour her with their eyes, imagining filthy, vile things they want to do to her.

  “We’re going to play a little game,” Corbin says, glaring at me.

  I still have a dozen guns pointed at my head, so I don’t move. I won’t until I have a better plan, anyway.

  “Langston, hold Liesel’s arms behind her back,” he continues.

  Feeling any part of Liesel in my arms right now is going to heal my heart while simultaneously stir a storm that will wreck us. I don’t think too hard about why he wants me to hold Liesel’s arms behind her back, I just do.

  A spark surges from her to me when I touch her first wrist. When I grab the second, I feel grounded again for the first time since I married her. My whole world came crashing down at me all at once at the single touch of her soft skin.

  I hold her arms firmly behind her back, pulling her back to my front. No matter what happens here, she’s mine.

  Corbin grins at my reaction. “Since you already know I can’t kill either of you until after you retrieve the treasure, I will have to resort to a different kind of threat for you, Langston. A game Liesel already agreed to play. You will hold her arms back so I can do whatever I want to her body. You will ensure that she obeys my commands. And if you let go, if you try and save her in any way, I will slice through her skin.”

  Jesus, it was bad enough when I had to watch her throw herself at him while hiding behind the couch. Now I have to hold her while he fucks her.

  Maxwell gives me a look to say, “See, I told you to stay put.”

  I roll my eyes at him and then focus on how I’m going to survive this.

  “We can still fight our way out of this,” I whisper into Liesel’s hair.

  “I don’t want to. I like sex. I like to fuck handsome, powerful men.” Her words sound so strong, so sure.

  “I don’t believe you,” I whisper back, trying to see if she’s lying or not.

  “That’s why I wanted you to play, so you can see first hand how much you can’t tame me. I don’t care if you are my husband.”

  Corbin sits back in his chair as he grips his cock in his hand.

  “Bring her here,” he says.

  I quickly scan to find every exit and count every man blocking each one.

  “Husband, bring me forward so I can suck Corbin’s cock,” Liesel says seductively.

  She wants him. I can feel her aching need pulsing through her. She doesn’t have a good relationship with sex. Sometimes she controls it; other times, it controls her. She never thought she’d get married, and ours is a marriage of circumstance, not reality. I shouldn’t fault her for wanting another man’s cock—even that of the enemy.

  Slowly, I push her forward until we are standing in front of Corbin.

  “Lower,” Liesel hums before licking her lips.

  I can’t watch, and yet I can’t not watch.

  I push her onto her knees, as I stand over her, holding her arms back. At least I can keep her from touching him with her hands. At least I control one tiny part of this.

  “I can’t reach, hubby.”

  I growl as I push too hard, and her lips come crashing down on top of Corbin’s cock.

  This has to be a nightmare. This can’t be happening.

  I hear her gag on his cock as I pushed too far, but the sound quickly changes to moaning like she can’t get enough.

  I can’t do this. I pull her off his cock, and yank her back.

  Corbin’s eyes shoot to me in an angry glare.

  He snaps his fingers, and all his men descend on us. Arms yank Liesel from me and drag her toward Corbin while I’m held back.

  Corbin twirls his knife around, and before I can blink, he slices it across her left breast.

  “No!” I yell in complete shock.

  She doesn’t make a sound. She’s strong, good with pain, but that had to hurt.

  “Now, are you ready to behave?” Corbin asks me.

  “Yes,” I say through gritted teeth. I’ll do anything to touch her again, to know that she’s okay. Her back is currently to me as she stares at Corbin. I have to have her in my arms again.

  The men release me, and I run to her, grabbing her cheeks and making her look up at me. All I see is hate.

  She hates me.

  All I do is hurt her.

  I release her cheeks.

  “Please resume holding her arms and hair while she sucks my cock,” Corbin says.

  I gather her hair in a ponytail with one hand, while the other grabs her wrists and holds them back. This is about protecting her, ensuring he doesn’t spill any more of her blood.

  I hold her head to his cock and watch as she sucks him, moaning with each head bob up and down. Over and over I watch, until my own eyes begin to water from this terrifying scene.

  The room is quiet except for the sounds of her saliva and tongue licking over his length.

  He grunts, and he’s coming down her throat.

  It’s almost over.

  I hear her swallow his cum, and I about lose it again. But I see drops of blood soaking the floor near my feet and I remember
the price of me stopping this.

  Finally, Liesel pulls her head back.

  It’s finished.

  Corbin leans forward with a smile on his face like she just blew his world.

  “You said I’m just like my brother. That I wanted you to come to me willingly, Liesel.” He licks his lips. “In some ways, I’m like him, but there is something I enjoy more than a woman willingly submitting to me—revenge.”

  He snaps his fingers, and two men approach. Each takes one of her legs and lifts her up.

  Shit.

  I feel her body tense as I still grip her arms, now holding her torso up in the air. I feel a pull of her body to mine.

  Corbin stands as the two men pull her legs apart.

  I can’t do this, but I don’t know how to get us out of this. I have to find a way, watching her suck his cock was enough.

  I don’t know if the tense feeling I’m getting from her is real or if I’m imagining it. I don’t know if she’s begging me to save her or desperate for him to sink his cock inside her.

  As Corbin tugs on her legs, she feels more like mine than his. She’s still mine.

  No matter what pain she puts me through.

  No matter the agony.

  No matter how many men she chooses over me, my heart is still hers. And hers still beats for me.

  I don’t know how to get her out of here safely, but I can take away her fear until then.

  I find the spot on her neck—a pressure point used to put people to sleep, and I press my thumb against it. It takes a few minutes for it to work, and I don’t know if I have that kind of time.

  She squirms in my arms but tries to keep a composed face. At least, that’s how my mind has morphed this situation.

  “Trust me,” I whisper.

  I’m not sure she hears me. She continues to tense and then relaxes in my grip until she suddenly goes limp, falling into a heavy sleep.

  I take a deep breath, finally able to breathe now that I’ve protected her consciousness from the pain. Now, to protect her body.

  I’m going to have her words begging for him, her mouth willingly sucking him, in my head forever. And yet, I still fucking love her. Love is a strange thing I’ve yet to fully understand, but I do know that by the time we leave here, everyone in this room will know she’s mine.

  25

  Liesel

  I’m drenched in sweat as my body bounces up and down.

  What’s happening?

  Where am I?

  I open my eyes, feeling the weight of my body get tossed around in a leather seat. I’m in the backseat of a car, I realize when I see buildings flicker by out my window. I’m wearing my shorts and tank top again.

  My eyes snap to the driver’s seat, expecting to see Corbin, Maxwell, or any of their men.

  “Langston?” I croak out, my throat dry and scratchy.

  He doesn’t turn around to look at me, but his shoulders tense, and I know he heard me speak.

  I play through everything I remember.

  Purposefully seducing Corbin.

  Sucking his dick with Langston holding my arms. The connection I felt to Langston in that moment, making it easier for me to surrender myself to the cause.

  And then Corbin approaching me, ready to tear me apart.

  I remember feeling fear for the first time. But then I felt Langston holding onto me, and it didn’t matter who was about to fuck me; all that mattered was my connection to him.

  And then blackness.

  I have no memory after that.

  Did Corbin fuck me?

  I look to Langston and around the car. There is no one else here in the car with us. I slowly sit up and look behind us, but I don’t see anyone following us either.

  Or did Langston burn all those motherfuckers to the ground?

  The latter is more likely, but damn, do I feel sore and queasy. It doesn’t matter either way. Sex with a man who isn’t Langston is meaningless. Other men can do what they want to me, but I only belong to Langston.

  “What happened?” I ask tentatively.

  Once again, Langston doesn’t answer. He doesn’t turn around. His eyes don’t so much as flicker in my direction. But the vein on the side of his neck bulges, and his grip on the steering wheel tightens as he makes a right turn.

  Clearly, I won’t be getting any answers from Langston, not that I deserve them. I destroyed a good thing he had going with Phoenix, and then I betrayed our marriage within the first forty-eight hours. I don’t even think it’s the betraying our marriage part that he’s pissed about. The destroying our friendship and not trusting him part—that’s what infuriates him.

  I purse my lips and breathe out slowly.

  I succeeded. I betrayed and hurt him. Now we can get the next clue. We can get one step closer to saving Atlas—that’s what I have to focus on.

  I assume Langston is driving us to the next location to get the next clue. I told Langston the exact address earlier, so I don’t ask where we are going.

  I just try to focus on my breathing and soothing the rattle in my belly, but I fail.

  “Pull over,” I say suddenly.

  Langston doesn’t listen, and I don’t have time to argue with him.

  I throw the door open just as the contents of my stomach come up.

  “Jesus,” Langston curses as he pulls the car to a stop.

  I don’t pay attention to what he’s doing as acid expels from my stomach. I continue until I’m dry heaving. Even when there is nothing left in my stomach, my muscles continue to rid my body of all the shit I’ve been through.

  “Here,” Langston says. He’s standing outside the car, just outside the spray of vomit on the ground.

  I don’t have the strength to look up. I barely have the strength to lift my hand to take whatever he is offering me.

  A napkin.

  I cling to it as I try to wipe my mouth.

  Langston grumbles something I can’t make out, and then he gently lifts my head up, takes the napkin from my hand and wipes my mouth. Then he lifts a bottle of water to my lips.

  “Drink.”

  I do, but the second the water hits my stomach, I start heaving again.

  Langston pulls my hair back as I dry heave this time. When I finish, he once again wipes my mouth but doesn’t offer me water.

  He looks at me curiously but doesn’t speak.

  When it looks like I’ve finally finished, he lifts my feet back into the car, then does my seatbelt before climbing back into the front seat to continue driving us.

  My eyes water, not from the lack of food or pain in my stomach, but from the way Langston still took care of me even though he can’t stand to talk or look at me.

  He truly hates me, and this time, I won’t be doing anything to change his mind on the matter.

  A tear rolls down my cheek as I hug myself in the back seat. My life is truly cruel—to give me a man I could love and then rip him away from me so quickly.

  Langston stops the car on the edge of town, parking it along the side of the round. He steps out and opens the door for me, offering his hand to help me out, but I can’t take it. I have to start getting used to not depending on him.

  I climb out on my own. Langston doesn’t talk to me, look at me.

  We walk in silence in the direction of the desert, down a path to a small house that sits on the furthest edge of town.

  When we reach the house, Langston knocks, and we wait in silence until a middle-aged woman opens the door. Her hair is dark and long, and she wears a long tan dress. She looks between us and then motions for us to come inside.

  It appears that Diego has told her to expect us because she doesn’t ask who we are or why we are here.

  “Sit,” she commands as we enter a living area containing four chairs.

  Langston and I both sit as the woman heads into her kitchen and returns with a cup of tea for each of us.

  She doesn’t speak, and I’m beginning to get used to the silence. After what I’ve d
one, no one will ever want to speak to me again. She looks back and forth between us, her eyes judging us.

  “My name is Ramla. Please, drink your tea.”

  We both drink, hesitantly, like the tea is poisoned with a truth serum or worse. I brace myself for getting sick again, but the tea soothes the ache in my belly, and I’m able to keep it down. Not only am I able to keep it down, but the tea rejuvenates me and makes me feel more like myself.

  Ramla continues to study us like she’s looking for answers in the way we drink our tea.

  “You did it,” she says to me. It’s not a question, it’s a statement, but I nod my head in shame anyway, knowing she’s referencing my betrayal of Langston.

  Langston looks at me for the first time, frowning like he doesn’t understand. I’m not going to tell him now; the damage is done. We need to get the clue and move on with our lives.

  She looks to Langston. “I need you to come with me.”

  I frown, afraid of what is going to happen. I had to betray him, what will he have to do to me?

  Hurt me?

  Sell me?

  Kill me?

  There is no telling what my father’s twisted game will require next. If we could bury the treasure forever with my death, then I’d kill myself. But it would only cause everyone to shift their focus to my child, thinking he can still find the money they desire.

  Langston stands. He looks at me one last time, and then he follows the woman out of the room. I’m left behind to drink my tea and hope for forgiveness.

  26

  Langston

  How can I want to wring Liesel’s neck at the same time I want to worship at her feet?

  Liesel is hiding something from me, and I think I know what it is. I can’t think about it too much, though. Right now, I need to focus on the task at hand. Whatever Liesel had to do before she left the house in Peru really tore her up. Something changed in her after that. I need to focus so that I’m prepared for what awaits me.

  “Sit,” Ramla says, pointing to a chair at her small dining room table.

  I sit, and she brings me more tea.