Page 21 of Taming Liberty

Her plump lips quirk up, and I wait for her punchline, still not seeing the silver lining in me ending the life of another human being.

“Mr. A took the fall for you, didn’t he?” she asks, her eyes wild with excitement.

I shrug but don’t respond otherwise.

She lets out a laugh that sounds more like relief than humor. “Fuck, Liberty, don’t you see what this means? The guylikesyou. Enough to let you get away with murder.”

“Yay for me,” I deadpan, not understanding where her excitement is coming from.

Her smile falls at my lack of enthusiasm.

“You already knew he liked me. That’s why you’ve been saying not to let him manipulate me, remember?”

“No, I…” She lets out a frustrated huff, then gestures toward the couch. “Come on, let's go sit down. He needs to think this is a heart-to-heart.”

She grabs my arm and drags me to the couch, her eyes darting around the room.

“What are you looking for?”

“Tissues.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes and point toward the hallway. “There’s some in the bathroom.”

She leaves, returning moments later with a handful of tissues. She crumples several then lays them out on the coffee table in a mosaic of strategic chaos.

“None of this is necessary,” I say, knowing it won’t do any good. “I doubt Angel will ask what we talked about. Pretty sure it’s obvious to him.”

“Whatever. It covers our bases.” She sits and faces me. “Okay, so first of all, I’m an idiot, and you need to disregard everything I said before last night. I’ve heard a hell of a lot of rumors about the dude, some you don’t even know about because people were too nervous to tell you. That’s why I thought he was bad news. And I mean, he is, but obviously he’s invested in you breathing.”

She wipes her palms on her shorts, then scoots closer to me. When she speaks, her voice is low. “You realize the power he has here, right? He’s Sawyer’s friend, but also, like, a business partner.”

“And?”

“And that means he probably knows the inner workings of the island. All the guards, when the boats come and go, hell, whenSawyercomes and goes. A lot of times when Sawyer leaves, Angel is even left in charge.”

Oh. Oh, now I see where this is going.

I raise my hands. “Okay, I think I know what you’re thinking, and trust me, I do not have that much influence over Angel. He may not want me dead, but—”

“He saved your life at his own expense, Liberty.”

I rub my forehead, trying to ward off the headache all of this confusion is causing. “Just because he told Sawyer he’s the one who pushed Desiree doesn’t mean he made some great sacrifice. It isn’t like there were repercussions for him. He was still able to buy me.”

“He bought you?” Naomi’s jaw drops. “That’s even better.”

“You don’t know him.” I shake my head. “Whatever you think we can get from him, we can’t. He’s selfish and a liar and…”

“And?”

And he could’ve prevented me from coming here. He could’ve saved me,trulysaved me. Instead, he chose to lock me in a tower just so he could pretend to show up and save the day.

He isn’t a hero. He has a hero complex. There’s a big difference.

“And he just wants to sleep with me. He doesn’t want to help me, he just wants it to look that way so I’ll fall at his feet in admiration.”

“So fall at his feet.”

I tilt my head, my arms folding over my stomach.

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