Cruel Lies (Lies 4)

“No, not until you’re dead.” Langston walks over to Maxwell and starts patting him down, looking for any other electronic device on him. When he’s finished, he walks back to his place in front of the doors.

“Does Corbin know where we are?” Langston asks.

Maxwell shakes his head. “I told him I was going to Patagonia and just had a layover for tonight in Peru.”

“I don’t have anything with me to scan you to see if you have a tracking device in your body, but if you are lying to us and still communicating with Corbin in any way, you’ll wish I killed you here on this elevator,” Langston growls.

Maxwell nods. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Suddenly, Maxwell seems smaller. Anyone else might see them as two alphas fighting for power over the situation. In reality, Langston is always the alpha, always in control.

Langston fists his hand and slams it over the emergency stop button. The elevator starts creeping up again until we reach our floor. This time Langston motions for me to step out first, so I do. I walk to our room and insert my key.

As soon as all three of us are in the room, Langston turns on Maxwell and attacks him viciously. A fist flies in Maxwell’s face before he can react, followed by a swift kick to his ankles, knocking him on the mahogany-colored carpet.

Langston is on top of him a second later, pulling Maxwell’s arms behind his back roughly.

“Get me something to tie him up with,” Langston says to me.

Just then, Phoenix exits one of the bedrooms in a robe while carrying a martini glass. Her eyes pop. “I thought I had to come up here because it wasn’t safe for me down there. But you all just brought the danger up anyway.”

I ignore Phoenix. I need to find something to tie up Maxwell with.

I start opening cabinets, digging through drawers trying to find something to use. I walk over to an end table, yank a phone cord out of the wall, and toss it to Langston.

Langston snatches the cord mid-air and then ties Maxwell’s wrist together so tightly I’m afraid that he’s going to amputate his wrists. He grabs Maxwell by the collar and forces him to his feet.

I feel concern for Maxwell. He’s protected me before, looked out for me, and if he’s telling the truth, he doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. I called him here for a reason. I just can’t figure out what that reason is yet, what my instincts were screaming at me to get Maxwell here for. Then Maxwell winks at me, and my concern vanishes.

Langston marches him through the suite to one of the bedrooms. He slams the door shut until it’s just me and Phoenix both standing awkwardly in the living room, staring at each other.

“So I take it he’s not on our side?” Phoenix asks.

I shrug. “We don’t know.”

Phoenix shakes her head. “I don’t know what it is about you that makes Langston fall over his feet to do whatever you say.”

“He doesn’t do that.”

She scoffs. “He does. Because if what you are saying is true and that man isn’t on our side, then Langston would shoot him dead, not tie him up.”

The bedroom door opens, and Langston remerges. He stares me down, shooting daggers my way as he motions for me to come with him. He walks into the other bedroom. I follow.

As soon as I’m inside the room, Langston slams the door behind me before slamming me against the door, his hand at my neck as he squeezes.

“Tell me what the hell is going on right now, or I’m going to fuck it out of you.”

10

Langston

I’ve never been so furious with Liesel in my life, and that’s really saying something as I’m always angry with her. She brought the enemy with her. We ran, and she left a trail for the enemy to follow. He blew up my house, threatened my children, and she invited him here for drinks.

My hand grips her neck, while I try to decide between strangling her to death or fucking her. No, it’s not a decision—I want to fuck her to death.

Liesel’s lips part, and her tongue settles between her teeth. Her breath is slow and steady, unlike her raging pulse. She wants me to believe that she’s relaxed in my grip, but her heart says otherwise. She’s either scared shitless, turned on, or both.

“It was a hunch,” she whispers through her parted lips.