Fated Lies Read online

  Big mistake.

  A dozen eyes stare at me, and each pair begins to approach me.

  “I just can’t believe he’s gone. You must be so devastated,” a woman in a black dress says, gripping my hands.

  I stare down at where she’s touching my hand and pull my hands abruptly away before pushing past her.

  “I’m Toby Cox, I was working on Mr. Brown’s campaign. I’m so sad he’s gone. Please, accept my condolences,” a man in suit pants and a buttoned-down white shirt with the sleeves rolled up says to me.

  I frown at him with my eyes.

  Then I let my daggers cut through everyone in the room, warning them to stay the fuck away from me. I’m hurting. I’m in pain. I’m in shock. I’m still reeling from the loss. And these people have the audacity to approach me, to speak to me.

  I don’t even know these people. They worked with Waylon on his campaign or in his law office. We aren’t friends. We aren’t family.

  I run out of the room. I don’t know where I’m supposed to be staying tonight, and since Nolan hasn’t escorted me to a room, I’ll take whatever room I want.

  I reach the stairs and run up, all the time feeling odd stares from the room.

  “Leave her alone. She needs space to mourn. She just lost her fiancé,” I hear Maxwell trying to defend me.

  I don’t care what anyone thinks of me.

  And I don’t need a man to protect me.

  I run down the hallway to the farthest room from the stairs and peer inside. It looks to be an unoccupied guest room.

  Thank god.

  I open the door and slam it shut behind me. I find a lock on the door.

  Perfect.

  I lock the door and then walk to the bathroom where a large freestanding white tub sits. I flip the water on, intending to wash the pain away. But as the water runs, I collapse onto the floor and cry.

  I’ve already forgotten how it feels to cry—to let warm, wet tears flow down my cheeks.

  So many people came up to me apologizing for my loss, but none of them understand the depth of what I just lost.

  Langston won.

  I lost.

  It’s over.

  I hope Langston is in as much pain as I am. I hope he’s lying on a bathroom floor somewhere crying his eyes out with all hope lost.

  But I don’t care. Even if he is, he won. He just doesn’t know it yet.

  3

  Langston

  I shed one last tear.

  In that tear, I feel everything. Its warmth and wetness fills the corner of my eye, fogging my sight of the ocean from Enzo’s balcony. It burns until I finally release it. It starts its quick journey rolling down my cheek until it hits the scruff on my chin. The tear slows and pinballs between each fiber of hair on my face until it reaches the edge of my chin. There it drops onto the deck where my feet stand.

  That is the last tear. I’ve already decided that I can’t keep spending my days crying. I need to take action. My tears won’t save Siren. They won’t protect my children, my wife. They won’t make Liesel tell me the truth. They won’t put an end to my suffering.

  So I stop crying.

  I hear footsteps approach. Even though the man is capable of walking without sound, he lets me know he’s coming to talk.

  I’m not sure I’m ready to talk, not after everything I’ve been through in the last few weeks, but Enzo Black won’t give me a choice. He’s one of my best friends. I’ve known him since we were kids. We’ve protected each other. He made me filthy rich. He’s my brother in every way that matters.

  But right now, I don’t want to hear his opinion because I already know what it will be. Punish Liesel and then let her go.

  Enzo leans on the railing next to me. He’s a patient man, more patient than I am. He could wait me out, and I’d start talking.

  “Why?” Enzo asks, still staring straight ahead. If he doesn’t look at me, maybe I’ll answer more honestly. I haven’t had many reasons to lie to Enzo or any of my friends, but lately, I find myself lying more than telling the truth.

  When I don’t answer, Enzo sighs and then turns and looks at me.

  I stare back. His eyes are swollen, his dark hair disheveled, and he’s wearing sweatpants and a grey hoodie. He looks like he hasn’t gotten any more sleep than I have. He doesn’t look like a boss; he looks like a broken man.

  “Why go after the treasure? Why not just let Liesel and whoever else finds it have it? We have more money than you could ever need. And if you need a raise, just ask.”

  It’s not about the money. It was never about the money. I wish I could tell him the truth, but it would endanger him and his family. If I told him the truth, he’d murder me for risking his family—something I’d never willingly do.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  He narrows his eyes, trying to figure out what I’m not telling him. He won’t figure it out. I’m a fantastic liar.

  “Are you going to make Liesel pay for what she did?” he asks. He doesn’t give away if he wants me to punish her or not. There was once a time when Liesel was his friend too. He knows her more intimately than I do, but Enzo is also a man of honor. He won’t let someone hurt his family without consequence, and Siren is his family.

  “Yes,” I say.

  “Good,” his voice is strained as he says it like it hurts him, but he knows it has to be done. “Liesel used to be part of this family. She used to get our protection. Not anymore. She chose to leave. She chose to hurt this family. That is the one thing I will never forgive.”

  I nod, and then I look at him with all the pain of our past. “This is our fault.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “We failed her. We didn’t protect her when we should have. Time and time again, we failed to save her from the darkest among us. From your father. From others…”

  Enzo turns back to the ocean. It’s too painful to know the part we played in making Liesel this way.

  “We did fail, but we were kids then. Since then, we have done everything we could to protect her. She made her choices,” he finally replies.

  “We were never kids, never given the choice to be innocent. We should have protected her. There isn’t any excuse that’s good enough. Someday, we will pay for that sin.” I run my hand through my hair, feeling the salt from the ocean turn my hair into blonde waves. “And I’m not sure we didn’t fail again as adults.”

  “We’ve had an eye on her this entire time.”

  “I know, but how did she end up in that twisted game on that boat the first time? How did we miss that?”

  “Because she wanted us to. Listen, Liesel isn’t innocent anymore. She’s a woman who can make her own decisions. You have to let her go. Punish her, get Siren justice, but then let her go.”

  I can’t.

  I frown.

  “What do you need from us?” Enzo asks.

  “One month. I need you to give me one month to get some answers from Liesel, and then I’ll end this.”

  Enzo nods and then pats me on the back. “I’ll hold you to that. You have one month, and then I don’t want to ever speak of Liesel Dunn again.”

  He walks back into the house, and I know I won’t be able to keep my promise to him. Even if I accomplish everything I need to in one month, I won’t be able to give Liesel up. She’s in all of my thoughts. She’s in my soul, and dare I say it—my heart.

  I don’t waste any time. Enzo gave me a month before he intervenes. That’s how long he’s willing to put his family, and me, at risk before he makes me give Liesel up.

  I stand on the floor of the convention center with a crowd of people who have come to mourn Waylon Brown.

  Nolan, his campaign manager, is on stage speaking about how great Waylon was and all the amazing things he would have done as governor.

  I resist the urge to roll my eyes. The man was a monster who lent out his soon to be wife to play in a sick game for his own twisted pleasures. The man would have run this state into the ground.
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  “Let’s all have a moment of silence to honor Mr. Brown,” Nolan says.

  The room goes quiet, and that’s when she spots me.

  Liesel is wearing a black lace dress sitting in a chair on stage to the right of Nolan. She plays the part of heartbroken fiancée well.

  That’s because she is heartbroken, even though I’ll never understand why she fell for that old, fucked up man. He had to have brainwashed her.

  Our eyes meet through the silence.

  This is war, I say with mine.

  Good, I’m ready for this to end, hers say.

  I smirk as Nolan begins talking again.

  I don’t focus on him. I focus all of my attention on her, trying to form a plan of how I’m going to kidnap her. I see Maxwell standing to the side of the stage with a large security team. He’s not the best, but he has more talent than I originally gave him credit for.

  Still, I can easily slip past him to grab her.

  How do I want to do this?

  Tie her up?

  Drug her?

  Drag her kicking and screaming?

  Threaten her?

  So many choices. But this time, when I take her, she won’t be leaving my sight, not again.

  “Now, I’d like to give Miss Liesel Dunn the stage to say a few brave words. She’s the strongest woman I know. And to prove that point, she’s decided to continue Mr. Brown’s legacy and run for governor on his platform. Miss Dunn, everyone!”

  The room breaks out in giant applause.

  My gaze stays locked on Liesel’s. Her eyes widen until the whites of her eyes are more visible than the hazel. Then her teeth grind in anger as she looks to Nolan, who is applauding her with a smug grin. The bastard forced her hand again.

  I smirk. Nolan messed with the wrong woman. She is going to squash him like the bug that he is. He might have political aspirations, but Liesel won’t be manhandled.

  She stands from her seat and takes her time walking to the mic.

  “Thank you, everyone, for your warm welcome. As you know, this moment is the time to mourn Waylon Brown, a man I loved very much. A man who would have done this state proud. A man who was brutally murdered and taken from us too soon. That is the focus of today.”

  The crowd is silent as she speaks, completely entranced with her. Liesel has always been a good speaker. She knows how to pull anyone to her side.

  “While I would love to announce today that I’m running for governor in my late fiancé’s place, today isn’t the time or place to make such an announcement. Today is about Waylon. I can pledge this to you, though. I will do everything I can to honor Waylon. If that means running, I’ll run. If that means dedicating my life to catching his killer and protecting this state, I will. That is the promise I can make to you today.”

  The crowd applauds her and then starts chanting, “Dunn, Dunn, Dunn.”

  They are obviously encouraging her to run. Of course, they want a beautiful, intelligent woman who has lost the love of her life to run. She’d easily win.

  I doubt she will, though.

  Liesel is a strong woman, more than capable of doing the job, but she’s cynical. She doesn’t believe the world can be changed from a political office. That’s one of the many reasons I was surprised to learn she was with Waylon to begin with.

  Liesel believes the world is a dark and dangerous place—and the most she can do is survive it. It’s the most any of us can do. Anyone who thinks they can change it is just naive, chasing a dream that will never happen.

  Liesel introduces a minister to say a prayer, and she once again takes a seat back in her chair.

  Everyone bows their head as the minister begins his prayer.

  Everyone except Liesel and me. She looks at me like I’m her savior.

  I cock my head, not understanding. I must be interpreting her look incorrectly if she thinks I’d be willing to save her after what she did. The only thing stopping me from killing Liesel today is because I need the secrets she has locked away.

  She smirks.

  Dammit, what is she doing? What don’t I know?

  I look around the room like maybe she has the place rigged to blow. Liesel wouldn’t kill a room full of innocent people, though. No, if she plans on killing me, it will be personal.

  The event ends, and Liesel and the group on stage wave before heading backstage.

  The crowd begins to move toward the exits, but I slowly walk toward where she disappeared, trying to decide how I’m going to kidnap her, once again.

  “Sir, if you aren’t with the campaign, then you need to exit through the back, please,” a man says. He’s wearing all black and has white lettering that says security on the front of his shirt. I could easily take him out, but I don’t want to cause a scene.

  I’ll just have to wait outside. I open my mouth to apologize but am interrupted.

  “It’s okay, Oliver, he’s with me,” Liesel suddenly says from behind him.

  I frown. This is definitely a trap. I don’t like this at all.

  Oliver nods at me, and I walk past him toward Liesel, who is now walking quickly down the hallway. What is she doing?

  A few people give their sympathies to Liesel as we pass. She nods politely and thanks them but doesn’t introduce me, even though they all stare at me, expecting an introduction.

  I don’t know what she’s going to do if we run into Nolan, Maxwell, or someone who actually has the balls to ask who I am.

  Finally, we get to the end of the hallway, and she pushes me into a room before slamming the door shut behind her. She doesn’t turn on the lights, but I realize from the cleaning smell that we are in a janitor’s closet.

  “Kinky. You want to fuck me in a closet at the memorial service for your fiancé. I didn’t think you had it in you, but I’ll be more than happy to oblige.”

  “You’re disgusting. And if that’s what you really think, you’re no better. I just killed your best friend, and you’re still willing to fuck me? Always thinking with your cock instead of your brain.”

  I grab her by the neck and shove her hard against the wall, until the beautiful sound of her struggling to breathe hits my ears.

  “I didn’t come here to fuck you. I came to kidnap you. It’s time we end this.”

  She tries to say something, but she can’t.

  I release enough for her to speak.

  “Good. Take me to your island. Let’s finish this,” she says.

  Of all the ways I imagined kidnapping Liesel, her willingly agreeing to go with me wasn’t one of them.

  I smirk. “Who said anything about going to my island? My island is too good for you. No, where we are going is much darker, much more dangerous, and only one of us will come back alive.”

  4

  Liesel

  This should be my nightmare—trapped in a dark closet alone with Langston, the man who killed my fiancé. The man who kills as easily as he breathes. With his hand on my throat, I know he can feel my pulse. It should be racing out of fear, but after everything that has happened, I know he’s not here to kill me, not yet.

  No, my body is screaming for a fucking kiss. For him to steal a kiss from me because if I gave one willingly, it would be a betrayal to Waylon. Now that he’s dead, it’s almost more important that I don’t betray him.

  All I can do is lean into Langston and hope he closes the space.

  He won’t, but that doesn’t stop our bodies from edging closer to that ominous cliff. Once we fall over, we won’t ever be the same. We won’t be able to go back. Perhaps that’s why we’ve never crossed the line. Never done anything other than kiss and play with each other. Never fucked. Never made love. Never been that intimate.

  Flashes of him being that intimate with Phoenix are permanently branded across my eyes.

  Langston is married to her, but he doesn’t love her. That should be enough to ease my pain, but it doesn’t.

  I will never admit it out loud, but I want Langston all to myself. I want his every br
eath, every heartbeat, every kiss, every touch, every orgasm. I want it all, as much as I want to kill him for what he’s done.

  “Where are you taking me, if not the island?” I ask. It’s a stupid question I know he won’t answer.

  “Why? Changed your mind? Not willing to go with me? Because it doesn’t matter. If you don’t come willingly, I’ll enjoy dragging you out of here by your hair.”

  I don’t want to stay here with these horrible people. I don’t want to run for governor. I don’t want my devastation to be paraded around for political gain. I don’t want to deal with Nolan. I don’t even want Maxwell following me around anymore. I’m done with this life.

  “I’m ready to finish this—whatever this is between us.”

  “Good.” He removes his hands from my neck. And then I can’t feel or hear or see him at all. His breath goes silent, and due to how dark the room is, I can’t even make out his outline.

  He could kill me right here, and I wouldn’t even see it coming. That’s how I’d prefer it. Take me in the night death, without me seeing you hiding in the shadows.

  But as the door creaks open, I know that death won’t be coming for me today. I won’t be gone in the darkness without pain. No, I have to keep suffering over and over. I have to carry my agony with me every day. But that’s why I want to end this with Langston. I’m tired of the pain.

  We are at the end of the building. It should be easy enough to sneak out. The main problem is the press. If they are waiting for me to exit the building, they’ll see us. I don’t want to be photographed with Langston; it will draw too many questions from Nolan and Maxwell.

  I should tell Langston all of this, but then this is what he does for a living. He knows how to sneak out of any building. He knows how to be invisible.

  So I don’t say anything as he opens the door and the light shines onto my face once again. It also hits his face, and for a moment, neither of us is sad or mourning our losses. For a moment, the light reflects off the golden specks in his eyes, and he’s the happy boy who once protected me.