“She broke into the half of the house that was off-limits, sir. She was trying to run. She—” Joel says.
“No, I pay you to prevent that. She shouldn’t have been able to escape in the first place if you were doing your job. And you sure as hell aren’t allowed to touch her.”
“I’m sorry. I—” Joel says.
Langston doesn’t let him finish his sentence. He shoots Joel square in the forehead. His body drops lifelessly to the ground.
I gasp but snap my hands quickly over my mouth so Langston doesn’t know that I’m watching him.
Amelia holds her hands up as Langston aims the gun at her. “Please, I’m so sorry. It will never happen again.”
“I’m only letting you live because I don’t want to deal with the body. Get rid of him and then get off my fucking island. If I ever see your face again, Amelia, I’ll kill you, too.”
Amelia nods, tears streaming down her face now.
I slink away from the window and along the house.
I can’t believe what I just saw. Maybe I wasn’t so wrong about Langston after all.
I stop to dart into the kitchen and find a bottle of scotch and a towel, quickly running back outside. I don’t know what to make of everything that just happened. I need some space to decompress everything. The scotch will help with the pain until I’m ready to face Langston again.
What are you up to, Langston?
I always thought I was the only one with secrets. I thought his only secrets were the contents of the half of my letter he stole. Now, I’m beginning to think he has secrets of his own.
28
Langston
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this level of anger.
I thought shooting Joel would dissipate some of it, but I’m more pissed off than I was when I first caught them.
I can’t trust any of my employees.
I’ve always known that. The only way you gain the kind of trust required to do this job is by working side by side, battling for your lives and growing up together. The kind of trust that I have with Enzo and Zeke. That’s not possible with any of my employees.
I have money, but I’m not filthy rich like Enzo. I can pay my employees well, but not well enough to ensure they are loyal. And the threat of death only goes so far. I’m guessing now that I’ve killed one of them, the rest will be more likely to stay in line.
God, I can’t get the images out of my head.
I was still in the air, about an hour out, when the security feed came through. I just wanted to see Liesel, see what she was up to. That’s when I found her tied to my bed.
She looked dead, but I couldn’t see any bullet or stab wounds, no blood.
I implored my pilot to fly faster, but we weren’t fast enough.
As soon as I landed, I drove like a maniac to get here. I didn’t trust anyone to stop what was happening. And then I saw Joel enter the room.
Up to that point, Liesel was just tied up. I could think of a million ways my huntress could have gotten herself into that position. A billion tricks she could have pulled on my staff that made them think she was a vicious creature needing to be tied up.
Joel climbed on top of her.
He kissed what is mine!
And he said he had violated her before.
I became a bull about to ram through everyone in my way at that point.