Page 71 of Taming Liberty

Because he needed our money.

“Could he have done it without you?” she asks. “Because he was your business partner even at the time, and it seems unlikely that that partnership would’ve been able to continue if he lived on a private island and was busy with that. You’re almost always the one who takes the business trips as it is. Surely, you wouldn’t have been okay with doing all the work if he also lived on the other side of the globe from you.”

“So,” she goes on, her voice nearly shaking with intensity. “Could he have truly bought an island and put everything into play without you?”

I blink a few times as my stomach twists. “This conversation is inappropriate,” I grit, grabbing the door handle. “I think we’re done talking anyway. I need to go—”

“He tricked you,” she nearly growls with frustration. Like this is something so obvious to her. “He lied to you about what the island would be used for. He knew the whole time what he was going to do. He convinces every fucking woman he comes across that he’s somehow helping them, that he wants them to be happy. You watch him do it, you know how manipulative he is, yet you’re blinding yourself to the fact that he’s doing the same to you.”

I shake my head. “You sound insane.”

Does she?

Why the fuck am I getting so confused?

“You were broken when he met you, Angel. He knew that, just like he knew that about all the women he brought to the island. He knew he could manipulate you into doing what he wanted. He’s been using you since the day you met.”

“How could you possibly know that?” I ask with a glare. “You weren’t there. You’re the one trying to manipulate me.”

“Why, because Sawyer says so?” She laughs. “He’s wanted to get rid of me since the moment he found out you were interested. I wonder why.” Her sarcastic tone comes off as mocking, but it isn’t out of cruelty. She’s frustrated. “The only time he wasn’t hell-bent on getting rid of me was when he thought I couldn’t stand you. And I wasn’t there when you two met, no, but I know enough now to see what’s happening. You work day in and day out. You’re constantly going away for business. The one time Sawyer goes, you wind up stressed out for weeks. So is this a recent thing, or have you always been the brains of the operation?”

I don’t say anything, but it’s enough of an answer for her to continue her torrent of blows.

“Were both of you responsible for the empire you’ve built, or were you alone responsible? Who did the heavy lifting, Angel?”

I did.

Again, I don’t answer.

“I know you.” She grabs onto my arm, her words coming off desperate, pleading. “I wasn’t so sure before, but I am now. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. I know you don’t want to hurtme. So please,pleasejust think about this.”

“Sawyer is my brother,” I say, shoving Lib off me. “You’re a woman I’ve been fucking for a couple of weeks.”

She recoils like I’ve wounded her. Her wide, hopeful eyes dim before she faces the windshield.

For a moment, I just stare at her, my stomach lurching like I’ve just been punched.

She’s wrong. I know she’s wrong. I’ve known Sawyer almost my entire adult life. He’s the one person I had when my family no longer wanted me.Hebecame my family. Hedeservesmy loyalty.

But Lib… She is so much more than a woman I like to fuck. Lib is everything to me. She…

I love her.

I fall back against the seat and bring my hand to my temples, my chest aching. This is so fucked. None of this is turning out the way it was supposed to. She’s right when she says I don’t want to hurt her, but I keep doing it anyway. And if I love her, if I truly love her, why won’t I set her free?

Because setting her free means losing her. It means losing Sawyer.

It means losing everything.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

She shrugs. “It’s okay.”

“Of course it isn’t okay.” I sigh and reach out to touch her shoulder, but she pulls away. “Lib, I care about you. You know that.”

She looks down and picks at her thumbnail.

“If you were just some girl, I would not have brought you with me.”

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