Trapped by Lies (Truth or Lies 3)

Langston on the other hand has grown closer to me as he sees his best friend grow a relationship with Kai, leaving him in the dust. Langston has grown more and more unsettled as the days pass, and I know he’s missing the comfort of a woman in his bed. He used to enjoy countless dates and women in his bed every night. But here he can’t have that. His playboy lifestyle can’t exist here.

Zeke, on the other hand, is used to being alone. And having Kai welcome him so openly has brought him to life.

I don’t know exactly what happened during the game. I don’t know how Kai tried

to hurt Zeke or why Zeke didn’t just spill his secrets to Kai immediately to ensure she won. But Zeke doesn’t look physically hurt. And whatever happened is nothing but a distant memory between them.

And even Liesel and I’s relationship has mended. At least enough where we can tolerate being in the same room with each other. Liesel is no longer my everything, but she is still worth protecting. She’s still a woman worthy of protection, even if she has secrets and pain like all the rest of us. That only makes her fit into my life more.

I walk over to Kai and lean against the railing next to her.

“Rowan wants to meet. I agreed. We need to end this fight with Milo,” I say.

Kai nods. “I agree.”

“You will stay here,” I say, knowing it’s a shitty move, but I don’t want to risk her. I trust Rowan, but I don’t trust the sea. This yacht is the safest place she can be. Nothing tops the security built into it.

She takes a deep breath. “I knew that’s how you’d feel.”

“So you aren’t going to argue with me about it?”

“No, as long as you make one promise to me. You won’t hide anything from me. You will tell me your plan when it comes to attacking Milo. And you will let me participate in the planning. You will let me judge if the fight is too risky. I won’t go with unless it’s safe for me, but I won’t let men fight on my behalf if it’s too risky,” she says.

“My life means nothing compared to yours.”

Her eyes burn. “My life means nothing without you.”

Love has never been spoken between us. The word doesn’t exist in either of our vocabularies, but sometimes when she says things like this, I wonder if she feels it—love. But then just as easily, I dismiss the thought. We don’t love each other. We can’t love each other. This is still going to end with one winner and one loser.

“I need to go. I’m taking Langston and Zeke with me. They both need to know the plan and earn Rowan’s trust.”

“I’ll be safe,” she says.

“I know you will. Westcott has as many skills with a gun as I do. No one knows where the yacht is or that you are on it. And if you feel unsafe, go to your room. Take Liesel and everyone else with you. No one can hurt you there. The walls are impenetrable.”

She kisses me softly on the lips. “Go, make a plan. The sooner you talk to Rowan the sooner we can all head home. Everyone is getting far too antsy as it is. If we don’t go home soon, there might be a mutiny.”

I smile and then disappear before I change my mind and decide to spend my day fucking her again, like I have every day since the game.

I find Langston on the deck watching Zeke pull the small tinder boat around for us to meet Rowan away from this yacht. I trust Rowan, but I don’t want him to know where Kai is. If one of his team members aren’t as trust worthy as he is, they could tell Milo. And then we’d be fucked.

“Let’s roll,” I say to Langston as Zeke inches forward with the boat.

But Langston stops me. “I don’t trust him.”

“Rowan? I don’t trust anyone fully, but he is our best chance at taking down Milo. He is the reason we have Kai right now.”

“No, I meant Zeke.”

“Zeke?” What the fuck? “He’s like a brother to us. He’s sacrificed his life for us.”

“I know. But he’s hiding something. When he did a surveillance run last week, he was gone longer than he should have been. He said he was checking out another yacht nearby, but our radar showed no other boats. There is something he’s not telling us,” Langston says staring at Zeke who has pulled the boat to us.

“Are you fuckers coming or not?” Zeke hollers.

I frown at Langston. “He is your brother. Trust him. We will be lost if we start fighting between ourselves. The three of us are family. Don’t forget that.”

I hop onto the boat and Langston follows.