Langston sucks in a breath, and then his eyes fall to Maxwell, who nods, telling Langston to surrender. Langston still doesn’t look at me.
Killer, put the gun down before you ruin everything.
Finally, Langston looks at me. For a second, I let a moment of truth fill my eyes.
Trust me.
His eyes glide side to side over mine, and I know he got the simple message, but he’s searching for more—the reason I’m doing this.
His gun drops to the floor.
There’s silence for a split second, then all of Corbin’s men have Langston at gunpoint.
“You can stop pointing that thing at me, now,” I say to Maxwell.
He doesn’t lower his gun. He looks to Corbin for permission.
“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?