Page 40 of Conquered Betrayal
“Actually,” he went on, “I need to apologize for what I said to you yesterday as well. I was out of line.”
It felt like I was in one of those moments in a movie where the person came closer to the screen, but the background went further away. None of this could be real. “What happened? Why are you saying these things?”
The questions seemed to startle him. “Don’t you understand what groveling is?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I know what groveling is, and I’m pretty sure we haven’t reached that level yet.”
His mouth quirked up in the corner and my heart stopped altogether.
Landon was joking and smiling at me. What the hell was happening? I didn’t know how to handle it. I could take the anger, I deserved it, but this lighter version of him? It reminded me of the way we’d been together. It hurt too much.
I watched him as he walked around our living room, then circled the dining table.
“Will you answer a few questions?” he asked, scanning the laptops we’d left there, though they’d gone to sleep mode in their disuse.
My world more askew than it was before he arrived, I considered him as he prowled, taking in our living space in a way he hadn’t when he’d been here yesterday. “It depends on the questions, I suppose.” But after all the lies I’d told for my brother, all the subterfuge, and how he controlled my life, I didn’t want to deceive Landon anymore. I didn’t want to fight him.
“Ask your questions,” I said, moving away from him to the coffee cart against the wall. “But I’m going to need some fresh coffee. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” Or any at all, really.
He raised an eyebrow, but allowed me to start the coffee maker. “Do you want some?” I asked.
At first if looked like he would refuse, then he nodded, leaning against the concrete wall beside the cart and crossing his arms over his chest. My skin prickled as he watched me go through the motions of filling the reusable filter with grounds, and adding water to the machine. I pressed the on button and turned to him, trying not to react to the intensity of his gaze.
“Still take it black?”
He nodded.
A corner of my mouth turned up. “See, I know you a little bit.”
His eyes narrowed, but they held a twinkle too. I cleared my throat and selected two mugs from the shelf of the cart. “How’s the shoulder?”
“Fine.”
His response was a little too fast, too clipped. I side-eyed him. “You seem to have full mobility.” Which was, honestly, very weird. Gunshot wounds weren’t an easy fix. He should have his arm in a sling and be stiff for days, if not weeks. “Did you get it checked out?”
“It’s fine,” he said again. “And you’re supposed to be answering my questions, not the other way around.”
I focused on the bubbling of the machine in front of me. “I said you could ask your questions.” As painful as it would be to answer them. Some things between us I never wanted to revisit again, but I’d do it if it would give him peace. If it made up for some of the shit I’d done. And I was tired, so utterly exhausted, of bottling everything up inside.
There was a time when we were together, I’d thought about confessing everything to him, of revealing the control my brother had over me. Being with Landon was the first time I’d ever felt I had someone in my corner. I’d felt special when I was with him, cherished, and I’d been unable to embrace it.
With this mission to bring Emerson down, came the freedom to live how I wanted. Whatever Landon asked me, I’d answer truthfully.
“How involved were you in Walker’s torture and Sabrina’s kidnapping? She was the woman he escaped with.”
My stomach clenched—the woman he’d asked about earlier. I hadn’t known her name, only a number on her cage: eighty-seven. When I’d first seen her, grubby in a torn shirt and jeans, feet bare, I’d almost puked. I’d wanted to let her out right then. But if I’d done that, if my brother realized I wasn’t on board with his plans anymore, it would have blown everything apart. I would have never been able to download the contents of his computer and plant the virus allowing Marley access to his server—what we’d planned to do at the MBI building as well. And I definitely wouldn’t have been able to help the woman, or anyone else, if our plans had failed.
“I didn’t have anything to do with their abductions,” I started, not sure if he’d believe me. “I didn’t know either of them were in Alaska until a few days before they escaped.”
“But you knew they were there and didn’t release them.”
I shook my head. “At the time, I couldn’t.” A deep breath made the tension in my neck loosen. “It would have ruined everything I’d put into motion. But,” I hurried on before he could interrupt. “I did what I could as soon as possible.”
“Which was leaving them to fend for themselves.”
“Yes. I did that. I had to. There was no way I could bring them with me.” I tugged on one of my curls in frustration. “I had a two-seater plane waiting for me in a strip outside of Fairbanks, and only a limited time to get there. If I’d missed my ride, if Emerson had stopped me, everything I’d done would have been for nothing.”
It wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t taken them with me. They were beasts and I didn’t trust them, especially after what they’d gone through. Walker had almost shot off my head. I grimaced. “And I already promised myself I wouldn’t lie to you, so yeah, their escape was also a good diversion for me to get away.”
