Cruel Lies (Lies 4)

“Coffee?” I say, holding out a cup to her. Her eyes rake down my bare chest.

She takes it, and I pull her into a kiss before I sit her down on my lap instead of letting her sit in the chair opposite me. She doesn’t argue.

We wordlessly touch and explore each other while we eat our Peruvian donuts and drink our coffees. There’s a level of comfort with each other that shouldn’t be there so fast. Even though we’ve known each other practically our whole lives, it shouldn’t be this effortless to just sit with her.

My thumb brushes over the ring I made for her. “I’ll get you a real ring soon.”

I don’t know why I say it. This isn’t a real marriage. We don’t even love each other. I wouldn’t have proposed if it wasn’t for the stupid treasure. But it’s important to me that she has the ring of her dreams because now that we’re married, she’s truly mine. I’m not letting her go to any

other man—not without a fight.

She frowns and turns to me. “This is a real ring.”

Her words have a deeper meaning, almost as if she’s saying this is a real marriage.

I nod, but it doesn’t change the fact that I will be getting her a real ring soon enough. Before long, the flowers I made this ring out of are going to wilt and die. I need to get a real ring before that happens.

Liesel shudders in my arms.

“You okay?” I ask.

She nods. “Just cold. We should get dressed and go. We have a long day ahead of us.” She climbs off my lap before I can answer.

“Okay,” I say.

We both quickly get dressed—I in jeans and a T-shirt, her in cutoff shorts and a tank. Then we head back to the small cottage hand in hand to await our fates.

Whatever is inside the small house waiting for us doesn’t matter because it brought me Liesel. It made her mine, forever. Whatever awaits us will be worth it.

19

Liesel

The door opens to the small shack-like house. The old man with wrinkles around his brown eyes wears a stern expression as he welcomes us in wordlessly.

Langston reaches into his pocket to produce our marriage license. “Do you need this? We just got married yesterday, so I’m not sure if it will show up in the record system yet.”

The man shakes his head. “I confirmed with the priest that you two are, in fact, married.”

He turns to me. “I do need your blood, dear.”

He pulls out a knife, and I automatically stick out my hand, offering this man to take whatever he needs from me. I’ll do anything to protect my son.

Langston tenses next to me as the man pricks my finger.

I smile up at Langston, loving how protective he is over me. I didn’t use to like it, but it sets my heart aflutter when he does it now that we’re married.

“I’ll be right back,” the man says, carrying the knife with my blood on it away.

Langston hasn’t let go of my hand as we stand in the small candlelit room, waiting.

“What happens next?” I ask Langston.

“I don’t know. This is as far as Phoenix and I made it.”

My stomach rolls when he says her name. I still can’t believe how kind she is. Langston deserves a girl like her, not me.

“Don’t,” Langston says.