Page 39 of Conquered Betrayal
So we were at an impasse—him not leaving, me not wanting him to sink deeper into the clusterfuck that was my life.
But this was a different Landon than the one who left in a cab yesterday. He wasn’t staring at me like I’d kicked his dog, or drove over his grandma with a tractor. He was looking at me like he used to, like I was the most important person in the world and there wasn’t anywhere he’d rather be, while staying laser-focused on the things I was going to say.
I’d taken those moments for granted when we were together, hated them, really, because those times were always filled with lies.
Now it could be different. I didn’t need the lies between us, didn’t want them. And for the first time since he’d found me in front of the MBI building, it seemed he was willing to openly listen to my side of things.
I stepped back and cracked the door wide enough for him to enter the stairwell. “Would you like to come up?”
If he was surprised by my offer, he didn’t show it. As elegant as always, he swept his duffel bag off the ground, stuffed the brick-phone inside, then slung it over his shoulder.
The stairwell echoed with our footsteps. A couple stairs ahead of him, I cleared my throat. “So I take it you got in touch with Walker Hayles?”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s okay?”
When he didn’t answer, I stopped on the landing and glanced at him over my shoulder. Emotions flickered behind his dark brown eyes, ones that made my chest ache. Was Walker not okay? Had something else happened after we’d parted ways? I’d made light of how resourceful he was when Landon had found me, but I would have done more for Emerson’s captives if I could have.
Besides, those captives were both beasts. Wouldn’t they have been able to survive in the wilderness indefinitely if they had to? They’d already gotten their collars off and could change into their animals.
I turned away from his intense stare and punched the code into the keypad. The heavy metal door clicked open, and we found Alina and Marley waiting on the other side. The former had donned a gun-belt over the dress she hadn’t been wearing when I’d left to retrieve Landon. She always did like to make a statement—fashion and otherwise.
“Oh hey, Lover Boy,” Alina said, her voice chipper. “Nice to see you again. We’re going to inspect your bag for trackers, et cetera.” She held out her hand. “Fun trick finding us. Like to explain that one?”
“Not especially,” he replied, reluctantly handing over the duffel. “Am I going to get that back?”
“The bag?” Marley asked. “Sure. Just not sure about us returning any of the fun stuff you have hiding inside.”
“I could use another set of bolt cutters,” Alina interjected, dropping the bag on the table beside our laptops.
“And I could use whatever the thing was you hacked my keypad with,” Marley added.
He scratched the bridge of his nose. “It’s in the prototype phase, a bit bulky.”
“For a prototype, it worked fucking well,” Marley muttered, her brow furrowed as she held it in her hand, turning it over. “I can’t tell you how many safeguards I put in our doors, and it was like you had ten mini hackers in here or something.”
“I’ll need that back,” Landon said, his voice firm.
“No problem,” Marley responded without missing a beat. “Just expect it in pieces.” And off she went to her cockpit, blocky brick-phone in hand.
He closed his eyes briefly, before focusing on Alina.
“Write it off, Lover Boy.” She slung the bag over her shoulder before following Marley. “Isn’t that what you CEO types are best at?” she called, then disappeared into her armory.
From his irritated expression, he’d been insulted.
“Pay them no mind,” I offered. “They don’t know you.”
He turned to me then. “And you do?”
The dig hit where it was supposed to, right in the gut. Trying to cover the hurt, I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “I thought I used to. But you’re right, I don’t anymore.”
He exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment. “That was uncalled for. I’m sorry.” The apology in his eyes seemed genuine.
Every part of me froze. LandonfuckingUrick apologized to me? I didn’t know what to do…or say.
So I did nothing, just stared at him and blinked.
