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He didn’t have the balls to do it himself, though. So he invented this game to ensure my death, but not after he thoroughly tortured me first.
Hiding the treasure had nothing to do with love, as he said in his letter. That story about him and my mother breaking up because the sheer quantity of the treasure sprouted greed was made up. They got divorced because he was a criminal, and my mother was an addict.
This is about control. My father wanted to control me even from death. He didn’t want to give me any money unless I earned it. He wanted to choose who I married, who I loved. He thought Langston was unworthy.
I look to the man crouched next to me, protecting me, knowing that he’ll probably die doing it. We could have loved each other so much sooner if my father hadn’t intervened. I have no doubt the reason why Langston tried so hard to hate me all these years is to save me. Loving me was dangerous.
I understand now why he was so hesitant to say the words. Not because he didn’t love me, but because he was afraid of getting one of us killed. I’m not going to let that happen. I just have to figure out what my dad’s endgame was.
Is this it? Is this where he expected us to die? He set a trap for us, letting us get so close to the end only to kill us instead?
Maybe, but it doesn’t make sense to me.
I rack my brain through all of the clues. I try to think of my father as the monster he is. The only monster I knew to be similar was Enzo’s dad. He, too, set up ridiculous games in order for his son to inherit his company. He, too, tried to control his son’s life.
This is no different. I just have to outsmart my father.
I’m beginning to think there isn’t even a treasure to be found. Then how are all these people getting paid? Why are they still loyal to my father after he’s dead?
There has to be a treasure. But what is it? Why hide it? Is it a reward or a way to punish me further?
My father was an evil man, so I lean toward punishment.
Suddenly it hits me all at once; I know what the treasure is! Still, it doesn’t help me figure out how to get out of this mess alive.
I grab Langston’s bicep. “Don’t you dare sacrifice yourself. You saw what happened the last time I thought you died; I died right along with you. Don’t sacrifice yourself.”
Langston takes a deep breath. “I won’t let you die. I have to protect you.”
“No, you’ve done that, and this is where we’ve ended up. Whatever happens next, we do it together.”
He nods.
“Promise me,” I demand.
“Only if you promise the same.”
“I promise,” we both say at the same time, looking into each other’s eyes. I can’t lose him, and he can’t lose me. We have no other option than to live or die together.
“What ideas do you have for getting out of here?” I ask.
“Not many. We are obviously outnumbered, so we have two options left, really. We try to fight our way out and get shot and killed, or we surrender and hope that gives us enough time to find another way out while they decide what to do with us.”
“I don’t love either of those options.”
“I don’t either.”
“We surrender together. We call their bluff,” I say.
“You don’t think they’ll actually kill us?”
“No, I think they will, but they will want to play with us first. They’ll torture us until the brink of death and then kill us. We can both survive the pain. That gives Kai, Enzo, Siren, Zeke, Beckett—any of them—time to come save us. Or as you said, it gives us time to come up with a better way to escape or convince them to let us go.”
His lips meet mine in the briefest of kisses, but his kiss tells me everything I need to know. Then his lips say it, “I love you, huntress.”
“I love you, killer.”
He grabs my hand, interlocking our fingers, and then we both stand with our hands up. Langston makes a show of dropping his gun.
