I could do the same again.
But I’ve never been drugged like this and never had to keep Liesel safe at the same time.
If I choose Liesel to be the one to live, I won’t be able to fight back until I know she’s safe. By then, I could be dead. And I’m not sure I’m strong enough to fight the drugs. I don’t know where Enzo and his team are, but my only hope is that they are close.
I’m made several vows in my life—to Phoenix, to my kids, to Liesel. I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep all of them. I’ll have to choose which vows to keep and which to break.
The man in the suit grins as he watches my agony. He’s a sick, sadistic man who probably enjoys this as much as he will getting the information he needs to go after the treasure. The man finishes his drink casually, then stands and sets the glass back on the bar.
“Watch him, but don’t injure him. Give him a half dose in a half-hour. I want him lucid when I return,” he says to the two guards.
“Yes, sir,” they both answer.
He looks at me. “I’ll return in an hour to get your decision.” He starts to walk to the door, and my heart speeds. What if Liesel gives him an answer before me? Can I really let her decide both our fates?
“Wait!” I shout as he opens the door.
He turns and looks at me with raised brows.
“You don’t need to wait an hour. I have an answer for you now.”
He smiles, satisfied.
“I’m sure you do, but I have a lunch meeting I need to attend, and I’ll enjoy watching you squirm. You can give me your answer in an hour.”
“What about Liesel?”
“I’ll collect her answer in two hours if you don’t give me an answer in one.”
Then he leaves without giving me a chance to say more. He leaves me with my choice—an impossible one, but one I won’t regret making. Not this time.
20
Liesel
Time creeps by until the man in the suit returns. I spend the entire time trying to break open the doors, but they’re too thick. All I ended up doing was bruise my shoulder and hip.
I startle, stepping back when the suit opens the door.
“I know you may find my capabilities lacking, but I assure you, there is no escape from this castle unless I give permission for you to leave.”
I shrug. “Do you blame a girl, destined to die, for trying?”
“No, I just thought you were smarter than that. I thought you knew not to waste your strength on a doomed task.”
He shuts the door behind him, and I hear the faint lock as he does. We are locked in this room together.
“Would you like a drink?” he asks as he walks over to the bar in the corner of the room.
I’ve already raided it looking for water, food, anything alcohol-free to give me strength, but there is nothing but whiskey, vodka, and gin.
“No, thanks.”
“Suit yourself.” He pours himself a vodka and then sits on the couch.
I take a seat next to him, not because I want to, but because I need to preserve what little strength I have left. I feel practically naked sitting next to him, still only wearing Langston’s leather jacket and black panties.
Did he have cameras watching what Langston and I did in the tower?
When he brought me up here before and bruised my ribs, did he touch me?
“What are you thinking about, beautiful?”
“Why did you call me beautiful?”
Goosebumps pour over my arms, uneasiness rocking my body.
He grins. “To make you uncomfortable.”
“Are you always so honest?”
“I don’t find any reason to lie.”
“What is your name?”
“That’s the question you want to ask me?”
“I’m tired of calling you ‘the suit’ in my head,” I reply.
“You could call me, sir.”
I frown. No way in hell am I going to call him that.
“Rowan Wells.”
“I’ve made my decision, Rowan.”
He smiles. “I knew you wouldn’t give me the respect to call me, Mr. Wells.”
“Why would I? You drugged me and my friend, then threw us in a tower with no way of escape, and now are threatening to kill one of us. I don’t think you’ve earned my respect.”
“Touché.”
I take a deep breath, before telling Rowan my decision. “Langston must live. I choose him.”
Rowan raises his eyebrows. “You’ll choose death in order to save him?”
“Yes, kill me. Do whatever you want with me, just ensure that Langston lives.”
“I didn’t know that such love could exist,