Page 82 of Taming Liberty

“Help!” I screech, no fear whatsoever carried in the word. It isn’t a real cry for help, but itisa challenge.

I need him to show me the bad person he is. I need him to slap a hand over my mouth, put his arm around my neck and squeeze while snarling threats into my ear. I want him to tie me up, shove me in the trunk of the rental car, and I want to use whatever time I have to think of a way to kill him and every last son of a bitch on that island. That’s the only thing that would make this easier on me. It’s the only thing that’ll make me stop loving him.

I amdonewith this.

“Somebody help me!”

“Jesus Christ, Liberty,” he snaps, taking my arm to stop me.

“Help!”

He grabs onto my shoulders and shakes me. “Stop it!”

“Please, somebo—”

Angel pulls me into him and presses his palm against my mouth, just as I knew he would. My teeth gnash as I try to bite his palm, and I struggle against his hold.

“He was going to have youkilled,” Angel growls, his now angry eyes pinned on mine.

I don’t halt my struggles, but they definitely decrease in intensity. My jaw slackens, and Angel lets go of me, abruptly pulling back. “Please,” he says, his hands lifting. “Please, just give me a minute. If you still want to do this, fine, but let me explain what happened.”

“You bought me.” My voice is low and hard. Anger is still there, but my chest aches, and sorrow starts to break through. “That’s all the information I need.”

His face contorts with pain, like I’m the one rippinghisheart out. Despite my words, I want him to go on, and I’m sure he knows it. Otherwise, I’d still be yelling and walking away.

“The night Robert came to the manor, Sawyer did make him an offer, but he turned it down. Robert later came to me to ask for Jasper’s information. Jasper is a contract killer, Lib. He’s a guy I sometimes use to do my dirty work, and there was no way in hell I was going to let him hurt you.”

“So you bought me,” I scoff.

“No.” He sighs. “Not exactly. I paid Robert an incentive to get him to accept Sawyer’s offer. He hated you so much, he passed up a quarter of a million dollars to have you killed instead. I had to quadruple the offer to get him to change his mind, and that was on top of what he got from Sawyer. So, in a way, yes, I bought you. You would be dead if I hadn’t.”

“Do notbullshit me, Angel,” I snap through gritted teeth. “If you were able to pay him to put me on the island, you could haveinsteadpaid him to let me go. I could’ve gotten a fucking divorce and went on with my life.”

He nods and inhales a deep breath. “I know. I wanted you badly enough that I convinced myself I was doing you a favor, and I see now how wrong that was. If I had known you, truly known you, and realized how much I would come to care about you, I would’ve done things differently.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me!” I take a step toward him, my fingernails digging into my palms. “You like me wrapped around your finger, and you know it. You wouldn’t do a damned thing differently.”

My head swings to my left as a porch light turns on, and a man in a robe steps outside. “¿Está todo bien aquí?”Is everything okay out here?

My face burns with anger as I look at Angel, expecting him to reply. When he doesn’t, I straighten my posture and yell out at the man, “¡Todo está bién! ¡Gracias!”Everything’s fine! Thank you!

He mutters something then goes back inside the house. A porch light down the road turns off.

“Maybe you’re right,” Angel says, his face serious. I’m taken aback by the honesty, and although it should piss me off more, it sobers me some. “I have regrets, Lib, but if bringing you onto the island was what it took to be with you, I’m glad I did it. Since we’re being honest with ourselves, we both know you would’ve never wanted me in return. Not if you knew about my current residence.”

“Is that how you really want it, though? You want toforceme to be with you?” I huff out a humorless laugh. “Maybe I wouldn’t have wanted to date a guy who was cool with kidnapping people, Angel, but fuck, work on changing yourself instead of surrounding a woman with evil men just to make yourself more appealing.”

“I’ve never wanted another woman,” he insists. “Lib, Iloveyou.”

My heart pangs like it just took a blow, and I cry out with frustration. “This isn’t love! When you love someone, you don’t ruin their fucking life. You do what’s best for them, regardless of what you might have to sacrifice. You don’t even know what love is.” My voice is like a whine with all the frustration in it, and I stop myself from going on.

Fuck him. Fuck him for all of this. Because while I know in my heart that he cares for me, he doesn’t love me. ButIlovehim, and it’s the most unfair thing anyone has ever put me through.

Angel closes his eyes and rakes his hand through his hair, tilting his head toward the sky. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I can see the confliction raging inside him. I think he’s figuring it out, admitting to himself what this truly is.

When he opens his eyes, they’re hard. His mind is made up.

“Don’t move,” he says just before turning around and walking away.

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