by Lisa Cardiff
“I’m not happy with you,” he spat, his eyes narrowed into razor sharp slits, his nostrils flared.
“I can’t imagine it’ll be easy to explain your injuries to my mom or the police, especially if it coincides with my so-called suicide.”
He squeezed my wrist so hard I thought my bones would snap. “Accidents happen all the time. I’m sure I can come up with an alternate explanation for my injuries. A car accident. Being mugged on my daily run. A slip and fall. The options are endless.” He sighed wearily, as though I was the most naïve person he knew, and maybe I was. “It won’t be much of a challenge.”
“You won’t get away with this. Archer knows everything. His brother knows everything.”
“Shut up. Don’t say another fucking word.” His gun drilled into the side of my head. I bucked against him, but he didn’t budge. I yanked my arms and twisted my hands, but his hold was too tight. My stomach churned with dread, and my heart scaled the walls of my chest to my throat, suffocating me. The edges of my vision blurred. This was it. There was nothing I could do. Inhaling what could be my final breath, I clamped my eyes shut and waited for him to pull the trigger and deliver my death.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
Archer
“Is that your car in front of Langley’s house?” Knox shouted the second I answered my phone.
I glanced toward the entrance of Langley’s house just as she closed the front door behind her. “Yes. Langley needed to get a few things for work tomorrow.”
“Fucking hell,” Knox cursed. “Don’t let her go inside.”
“Too late.” I grabbed the gun out of the glove box. “What’s going on?”
“Senator Wharton entered her house through the back door about a half an hour ago. He’s still inside.”
I jumped out of the car and assessed the front of her house. Just then, someone turned on the light on the second story. From the street, I saw Senator’s Wharton’s silhouette sitting behind a desk. “She found him. I’m going inside.”
“No, you’re not. You’re waiting for me.”
“There’s not enough time.”
He sighed in exasperation. “I’m less than two minutes away. Wait for me.”
This was my game. I pulled Langley into the middle of this mess. She was my responsibility. There was no way I’d sit on my hands and wait for Knox. My mind kept tallying all the things that could happen to her, and I kept coming back to one fact: I was a damn fool. My pride demanded revenge against Senator Wharton, but my revenge wouldn’t mean anything if I lost Langley in the process. “I’m going in through the front door,” I said as I crept up the front steps. “They’re upstairs. There’s a balcony. You should access the house from there.”
“Don’t move on him until I get there,” Knox warned. “It won’t be long. I’m at the end of the block.”
I peered over my shoulder. Dressed in black from head to toe, Knox jogged down the street with his phone glued to his ear. “I’ll see you inside.”
“Please tell me you remembered your gun,” Knox murmured.
I turned the doorknob. Thank God she didn’t lock the door when she went inside. I eased it open as silently as possible. Every squeak, rustle, or crack of the floorboard thundered in my ears. “I did,” I muttered before I slipped my phone into my pocket, not bothering to disconnect the call. I pulled the slide back on my gun.
With each step, my heart felt like it would explode inside my chest. I heard shouts, bumps, and screams. This couldn’t happen. She couldn’t die today. There were too many things I needed to say to her. Regardless of whether she severed all ties with me when it was over, I wouldn’t begrudge her. I just wanted her to be safe and happy—whatever or however she could—even if her happily ever after didn’t include me.
My back glued to the wall, I crept up the stairs one step at a time. My blood iced in my veins when I reached the top step. Senator Wharton crouched over her body, physically restraining her while he pressed a gun to the side of her head. Langley’s blonde hair tangled around her face and blood trickled down her chin from a cut on her lip.
I held the gun in front of me. “Put your gun down and get the fuck away from her!”
Langley’s eyes popped open, and I stepped forward. Senator Wharton paused and glanced over his shoulder. Without hesitating, he scrambled to his feet, dragging Langley with him by her hair. He wrapped his arm around her neck and aligned her back with his chest, using her body as a shield. He jammed the barrel of the gun into the side of her head.
“Ah. Here’s my long lost son,” Senator Wharton smiled, but his features were glacial. “I was wondering if you’d join us. We’re like one big happy family, minus all of the guns, of course. We’re only missing Langley’s mother and Archer’s mother.” He angled his chin to the side. “Oh, that’s right. I killed Archer’s mother, so she’s indisposed at the moment, but that’s a minor technicality. I’m sure she’s with us in spirit.”
My eyes darted to Langley, and her mouth dropped open.
“That was quite ingenious of you, Langley, involving my biological son. I’m sure he didn’t hesitate to join your cause.”
“I didn’t know,” Langley mumbled so softly, I almost missed it. A tear tracked down her pale cheeks.
Senator Wharton snorted. “Archer used you, not the other way around. Like father like son. I guess you can’t ignore the blood running through your veins.”
“We’re nothing alike,” I said through clenched teeth as I took another step forward. My eyes locked on the trigger of Senator Wharton’s gun, trying to anticipate his next move.
“Oh, then you’re here on a heroic errand.”
My eyes flickered to Langley, and then to Knox, who stood at the end of the hallway, undetected by anyone but me. “Not really.”
“Then what are you doing here?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Just collecting evidence.”
Senator Wharton’s smile faltered momentarily. “Evidence?”
“I added some of my own listening devices and cameras to Langley’s home a couple of days ago. Regardless of what happens tonight to Langley or me, your career is over.”
“You still have to send it to someone, and if you’re dead you can’t do that,” he snarled, his lips contorted into a sneer.
“It’s automated. It goes to my source at the FBI every hour on the hour.” I wondered why Knox insisted on this detail. Initially, I wanted all the evidence to filter through me before he funneled it to his friends at the FBI, but now I understood his insistence.
His face twisted into a fiery rage. “Then, I have nothing to lose.”
He pointed the gun at the center of my chest, and it all happened at once. Langley’s eyes fluttered closed, her body sagged, and Knox pulled the trigger on his gun. Senator Wharton tumbled forward on top of Langley as the bullet pierced his shoulder. His gun dropped out of his hand, hitting the ground and skidding across the hardwood floors.
I grabbed him by his shirt and flipped him onto his back with one hand. I shoved my knee against his stomach and held the gun right between his eyes. Blood seeped from the gunshot wound, staining his wrinkled white shirt.
“The police and the FBI are on their way,” Knox said, sliding his gun into the holster next to his hip. Sirens wailed down the street. “And here they are. Five minutes late.”
Langley crab walked across the hallway. Her green eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Tears still stained her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” I asked. My eyes roamed every inch of her body, cataloging her injuries. A scratch on her cheekbone. Bruised wrists. But she looked like she’d be okay. Relief coursed through my veins. I could breathe again.
She nodded as she avoided my eyes. “Yes,” she said, her voice faint and trembling.
“Are you hurt?” I wanted to touch her, hug her, but I couldn’t do any of that until the police arrived. I didn’t think Senator Wharton was capable of much, but I didn’t want to take the chance either.
/>
She swallowed and then shook her head slowly from side to side. “Not too bad. I’ll be okay. Just in shock. I think.”
Just then, I heard voices downstairs. “We’re upstairs,” I shouted.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Langley
For the last ten minutes, I had huddled inside an ambulance in front of my townhome, or the townhome I’d lived in for the last two and half years. I doubted I’d ever step foot inside again, not even to get my belongings. I didn’t want anything. It was all tainted by my stepdad and his lies.
“I’m fine,” I muttered for what felt like the hundredth time to the third EMT worker who asked how I was doing. He scanned my body, looking for something, probably signs of a complete and total emotional breakdown. He wouldn’t find anything but a blank mask.
Numb. I felt utterly and blissfully numb. Everything happened so quickly. One instant, I was sure I’d taken my final breath, and the next, Archer stood in front of us like an avenging angel. Now my townhome and front walk were flooded with people, and I didn’t think it’d be long before the media made an appearance.
Senator Wharton would be fine physically, but his career was over. I didn’t know how my mom would weather the storm, but she always landed on her feet. I didn’t think this time would be any different. Somehow she’d find a way to recast this whole thing to her benefit. She’d probably end up being a martyred hero.
I watched as Archer wove through the swarm of people toward me. Even after everything I learned tonight, my heart ached for him.
“Langley,” he uttered, linking his hands with mine. “They’re going to take you to the hospital to run some tests. I’ll be there within the hour. I still have a few questions to answer. When you’re done, we can go to my place.”
Shocked, I yanked my hands out of his grasp. “I can’t,” I protested as I shook my head from side to side.
“You can’t come back here either.”
“I won’t. I’ll call Winnie, or I’ll stay in a hotel near the hospital.”
“No. Absolutely not,” he growled. “You’re staying with me until this dies down. It’s going to be crazy for a while.”
“I know. I just need a break from everything,” I whispered.
“Does everything include me?”
I ran my tongue over my suddenly dry lips. “For now it does.” I couldn’t offer more of an explanation. My brain was still reeling from everything I learned tonight.
He nodded. “I should’ve told you Senator Wharton is my biological dad—”
“You think?” I interrupted.
“I wanted to. I really did, Langley.”
I laughed, but it sounded bitter and twisted. “Then, why the hell didn’t you?”
“Knox and I suspected he had something to do with my mom’s death. I needed to know the truth.”
My stomach lurched. “So you used me for information? That’s what this whole thing was about?”
“No!”
“I’m not an idiot, Archer. Don’t treat me like one.”
He rubbed his hand along the side of his face. “He tossed my mom and me out of his life like we were trash. When I learned he planned to run for president, I knew I couldn’t let it happen. I had to stop him.”
“You mean—destroy him.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “And me.”
Remorse flashed across his face, and I knew without him saying another word that my suspicions were true. “Maybe initially, but I changed my mind. I would never hurt you. I—”
“Oh my God,” I whispered, suddenly lightheaded. If I weren’t sitting down, I think I would’ve collapsed. “You used me from the minute you met me. You planned everything. You showed up at the fundraising event to find me. You wanted to get close to Senator Wharton, and what better way to do that than to start a fake relationship with his stepdaughter and get me to trust you.” I groaned as a sick sensation bubbled into my gut. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“It wasn’t fake.”
I scoffed. “Oh please. Do you realize what you’re saying?” I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at my roots until my scalp stung. I needed something to ground me. I felt like I was going to float away. “Now I understand why you kept promising to help me and see this through until the end. It finally makes sense. It was all about getting even with him.”
I hadn’t realized how much faith I put in Archer and our relationship until it slapped me in the face. From the little information available about Archer, I knew he didn’t do the long-term relationship thing. For some reason, I had convinced myself we’d made a real connection, and I wasn’t some short-lived fling. In truth, I wasn’t even a fling. I was one of the tools he used to settle a vendetta against my stepdad. I was nothing. Less than nothing.
“I wanted to protect you from him too.”
“How kind. You should win an award for your compassion and your service to this country,” I mocked. “You destroyed Senator Wharton. You destroyed my family. You got what you wanted. I guess congratulations on a job well done are in order.”
He cradled my face between his hands, forcing me to look at him. “I know you’re hurting, and you feel betrayed, but it doesn’t diminish what was happening between us.”
“And what was happening between us Archer?” I snapped. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you used me.” Each word was like a knife wound to my heart. More than anything, I wanted to offer my forgiveness and bask in the comfort of his embrace and his spicy-citrus scent. But I had been used and abused by too many people for too long. I couldn’t fall back into the same pattern. I laughed, but it sounded more like a sob. “You could’ve told me the truth in the beginning. I would’ve helped you. You didn’t have to pretend you wanted to be with me.”
“Langley…I do want to be with you.” He paused for a frozen second, then added softly. “I love you. I care about you. Give me the chance to prove myself.”
“No,” I screamed, feeling out of balance and slightly unhinged. “Do you think you can erase everything you did by telling me you love me? What makes you think that I still want you in my life? What we had wasn’t real. Not even close. It was a lie.” The minute I said those words, my heart fractured. Sobs clogged in my throat, begging to be released. I didn’t want to push him away. I loved him, but I had to move on if I wanted to maintain even a shred of dignity. “Just go away, Archer. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Archer
“You look like shit.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, not bothering to acknowledge Knox. I thought he was going to be out of town this weekend. Apparently, I was mistaken.
“Still no word from Langley?” Knox flopped down on the couch next to me. I wished he’d turn around and walk right out my door. Better yet, he should take that vacation he mentioned at the office yesterday.
“Nope.” I stared at the television as though I was watching a riveting program. Truthfully, I didn’t even know what was on the TV. Two weeks had passed since Senator Wharton tried to kill Langley, and I still hadn’t heard a single word from her. Her absence left a gaping hole in my heart. I didn’t know what to do. For the first time since I was a kid, I felt completely powerless.
“She still hasn’t answered your calls or your texts?”
I took a drink of my beer before answering. Two more beers and I could kiss my sobriety goodbye. I planned to remedy that problem in the next half hour. Drunk and lonely seemed infinitely more appealing than being sober and lonely. “Nope, but her number was disconnected as of this morning.”
Knox plopped his feet on the top of my coffee table. On any other day, I would have objected, but today I didn’t give a shit.
“Did you call her at work?”
“She took a leave of absence, or at least that’s what they told me.” Pain and depression from a breakup were new to me. I never cared when a woman walked out of my life permanently. When Langley told me to go away that night, I nev
er considered for one second that she wanted me out of her life forever. I guess I was wrong. I should’ve listened to the underlying finality in her voice.
“Well, that’s that.” Knox stood up and started picking up the miscellaneous cartons of take-out that littered my counter from last night.
I waved my hand at the mess. “Don’t worry about it, my cleaning lady is coming on Monday.”
“Monday?” Knox glared at me. “You do realize that it’s only Saturday.”
“So what?” I shrugged. “The mess doesn’t bother me.”
“It sure as hell bothers me. It stinks like shit in here.”
“Then leave. Get the fuck out of here. I don’t want your company. I want to be alone,” I yelled. Knox knew me better than anyone in the world, yet he didn’t understand why I couldn’t move on. He stopped by every day, trying to draw me out of this funk. It wouldn’t work. Regrets ate at my soul every hour until I felt like I was dying inch by painfully slow inch.
“You don’t have a choice. This has to end today. You’ve ripped everyone’s head off at work the past few weeks, and the entire office is avoiding you like the plague.”
“So what? Once they get their year-end bonus, they’ll forget about it.”
Knox ripped the beer bottle out of my hand. “Don’t you think you’ve been drinking too much?”
“Fuck you,” I responded without any heat, because he was right. Drinking was the last thing someone with an alcoholic parent should do in excess.
“This is ridiculous. You’re a mess, Archer. You need to move on with your life and pull yourself together. Langley isn’t the only woman in the world. Call Leah. I’m sure she’d be happy to take your mind off of Langley.”
I ran a shaky hand over my face. “No, dammit. I don’t want to move on. Langley is the only woman I want.” I’d spent my entire life shutting everyone except Knox out of my life, but somehow Langley slipped through the cracks in my armor, healing me from the inside out. I refused to let her go. I needed to make her understand what she meant to me. I wanted to marry her, build a life with her, and have children with her. It’d destroy me if I didn’t find a way to make it work. I’d never get enough of her.
