Page 70 of Taming Liberty

“I know what it’s like to be a villain. There isn’t a time in my life when I thought of myself as ‘good.’ Sometimes, on the rare occasion, I wish I could be a victim instead… Maybe then I’d sleep better.”

I shake my head and let out a half-hearted laugh. “That sounds so fucking weak.”

“It doesn’t sound weak,” Lib retorts, shifting toward me. “It soundshuman. You’re a person, Angel. You don’t have to be good or bad, villain or victim. You can just be you.” She purses her lips and stares at me with an intensity that makes what she says next unsurprising. “It’s not all black and white. Just because you’re a villain in someone else’s story doesn’t mean you can’t be a hero in your own… You have a chance, right now.”

“Lib,” I groan, turning my head to face the windshield. I close my eyes and sigh. “Don’t go there.”

“Look at me,” she demands.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m beat down or if I’m just tired, but I turn back to her and wait for her to speak.

She takes hold of my hand and inhales a deep breath, her eyes wide and serious. “I used to think you were a bad man. I used to think you were selfish and cold and didn’t give a damn about the people you hurt.”

“Yes, I figured that,” I say sarcastically.

“I’m not finished,” she snaps. “I don’t think that way anymore. You arenota bad man. You’re a broken man who blinds himself to everything bad around him.”

I scoff. “I’m fully aware of what’s around me.”

“No, you’re not. Angel, please, you’re convinced that everyone on the island is happy-go-lucky. You thought Sawyer would never allow anyone to rape the women at the manor, and you trusted him to look out for me while you were away. You’re so clueless it’s insane.”

“It’syouwho doesn’t understand,” I balk, getting annoyed. “You were a special case. Most of the island girls—”

“Come there willingly and live the rest of their lives in paradise. Yeah, okay, tell yourself that.” She grinds her teeth and presses a hand to her forehead, her own irritation evident.

I should’ve known better than to let her see me vulnerable. I should’ve known this would happen.

“Let me ask you this,” she continues, lowering her hand and taking a calming breath. “Did you meet Sawyer before or after the accident?”

I narrow my eyes. “After. Why?”

“And it’s his island, correct? It was his idea?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Did you know he was going to have women kidnapped and used as slaves?”

I’m quiet a few moments. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that. Like I said, you were—”

“A special case. Cool, but what about Anna, Naomi, and the countless other women who were or will be kidnapped? They’rekidnapped, Angel. Drugged and shoved onto a boat then locked in a cellar until they comply. Was it supposed to be likethat?”

No. Of course it wasn’t. It was a kink island where people could live out their desires in peace for a hefty annual fee. We were never supposed to be involved in bringing any women there. The residents had sexual partners who came with them. It was a year before the very obvious money-making opportunity got discussed.

I was against it at the time, but then the first few came, and nothing bad happened. No one was hurt or even unhappy because they knew about the island and expressed interest in coming. The cellar wasn’t used for anything malicious back then. There weren’t any guards. Those came later, toprotectthe girls.

“Would you have contributed to this plan if you had known?”

I let a minute pass to think through where she could be going with this. Every question she asks feels like a trap. “No.”

“And what would’ve happened if youhadn’tcontributed?”

“If I hadn’t contributed, there would be no island,” I say, my jaw hardening. “Again, I am not innocent here, and you’re not going to manipulate me into—”

“Why would there be no island?” she presses. “If it was Sawyer’s idea, why would it not exist?”

Why?

Because… Because, he…

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