I frown. “I’d say that whatever you went through, no matter how small, I want to know. I need to protect you. I need—”
“No, you don’t. Sometimes, it’s better if you don’t know.”
We are both silent a moment.
“What do we have to do to get the next clue to the treasure?” she asks.
“You really think finding the treasure, and playing their games, is the best way to get Declan back?”
“Yes, I do,” she says.
God, help us.
“What is it? What aren’t you telling me?” Liesel asks.
Fucking everything.
“Nothing—it’s nothing.”
She folds her arms and faces me. “Tell me the truth, killer.”
“You go first.”
She frowns.
“Fine, we both keep our secrets. If it means we’re protecting each other, then I agree we shouldn’t tell each other.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Now what?”
Now, I make you admit you love me instead of hating me while trying to keep my own feelings hidden so I don’t destroy us all.
How do I make her fall in love with me?
Romance.
I’ve tried it before and failed, but I don’t know what else to try. Maybe a day away from all of this will make her admit her feelings. One day where we aren’t thinking about the kids or how to protect our family and friends.
“One day,” I say.
“What?”
“Give me one day where you don’t ask any questions. We forget about the past, our future, the kids, the danger—everything. Give me one day where it’s just us. Can you do that?”
She bites her lip, and I expect her to say I’m crazy, but then she says, “Yes.”
22
Liesel
I know something is up. There is a reason Langston wants to spend a day together. A day where I just go along with whatever he has planned and not ask any questions. A day where I forget that I still have a child in danger and that my other two children are on an island, still in danger as long I keep waiting to finish this ridiculous treasure quest.
But I trust Langston.
I trust him too much.