Page 13 of Never Bound

“Look, Max, we both know how this works. If you came here to talk to the guy who decides my future, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”

“Keith will still own you on paper,” he explained. “And he’ll see a percentage of the return on investment, but I’ll payyouin cash money, plus a safe to keep it in that you alone set the combination to, and a stake in the business if you want it. And if you don’t want it, fine. It’ll be your choice, not his. What do you think?”

I had spent my whole life being talked about as if I weren’t there, so I had to marvel at the strange feeling of being offered a say in what happened to me. And not just a say. Achoice, and not a slave’s choice, which wasn’t really a choice at all. A real choice. A man’s choice. Almost.

But did I think Langer didn’t know all of that? That he hadn’t planned out the route to this moment step by step, beginning with the moment he’d saved us at the party? Knowing it would be as hard for me to resist his offer as someone dying of thirst to resist a poisoned oasis? I shouldn’t bow down just because I’d been offered more than I ever expected to be offered in my entire life. In fact, it was absolutely crucial that I didn’t.

Hell, if only hewerethe standard rich asshole who treated all slaves like garbage.ThatI was used to.ThatI could handle. This I had no blueprint for at all.No plan survives contact with the enemy.So like speed chess, I’d just have to change up the moves as I went.

“I think,” I said slowly, “you think I’m an idiot. In case you forgot, I’m property. I’m not a person. I have no legal identity. You could offer me drilling rights to all of Texas, but how the fuck can I be sure you’ll honor it when I can’t even sign a goddamn contract?”

“You think I haven’t considered this?” he countered. “There are ways. I can issue you bearer shares, which are as good as cash. I can set up an offshore safe deposit box registered to Mickey Mouse and give you the only access key. Hell, I can exchange it for gold doubloons, bury it on some rock in the Caribbean, and draw you a map with X marks the spot. You’ll get your money, guaranteed.”

“And then what?” I demanded stubbornly.

“After that, I can’t promise you anything. But once Keith sees how you can deliver, who knows what might happen?”

We both knew what he was talking about, and I kept reminding myself to breathe. If I let this guy play upon my vanity and pride and my frankly selfish yearning to finally have everything I knew I was worth—let’s face it, I’d lose any chance of finding Maeve. My entire trip here, everything I’d done so far, was void unless I found a way to beat Langer at his own game, and needless to say, instantly agreeing to everything he proposed was not that way. I took a deep breath.

“I have a better idea,” I said, even as I thought better of it. “How about instead of speculating on what might happen, we talk about whatdidhappen? What about the tablet the other night and the sicko gardener you conveniently disposed of seemingly out of the goodness of your heart? What about German? What about,I’d hate to see you end up right back here? And what aboutthis?”

I dug into my pocket and whipped out the bloody bracelet.

He looked down at it coolly. “I’ve never seen that before in my life.”

“What?”I exploded, more out of shock than anything. I guess I hadn’t been expecting that. I don’t knowwhatI’d been expecting. “But—”

I stopped before I could bring up Corey because Langer was just standing there, rooted to the spot, cool and emotionless.

A creepy feeling crept up my neck.

“Go on,” he said, merely waving a hand. “I’m curious to see where you’re going with this.”

I froze. Fuck, what was I thinking? This wasn’t a fellow slave I’d just been sparring with. This was a free man, the richest, most powerful free man I’d ever met, and the old ways came rushing back now—the urge to shrink under his gaze, to curl into myself for protection, to beg for forgiveness.I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean it, sir. I’ll agree to anything you say, just please don’t chain me up and feed me to the rabid javelinas, sir.

But that would be the slave boy talking. It wasn’t the man Louisa saw in me, the one she’d once called brave, and it wasn’t the one Maeve was depending on.

“Well, here’s my theory, Max,” I finally said after a deep breath. “MaybeIknow something about you. Something that could getyouthrown in a mine if you’re not careful. And hey, you’re a shrewd guy, so maybeyoudecided that rather than crushing me like a bug, why not have some fun and flatter my ego? You know, that poor, sad slave boy who’s too smart for his own good and wants the girl he can’t have—let’s fill his head with delusions of grandeur so he drops his guard and doesn’t see the cliff coming until he walks right off it?” I finished. “Now tell me, am I getting warm?”

To my surprise, Langer didn’t explode with rage. He didn’t even move much. Just eyed me with that same disconcerting, icy look. “I’m not an idiot, either, you know,” he pointed out. “Sure, maybe thereisshit I’ve done that I don’t want anyone to know about. Maybe I’m still doing it. Maybe you’re the only person alive smart enough to stop me. And if you are, it would make sense that you’re exactly who Iwantworking for me.”

“Enemies close?”

“Exactly. Which is why,” he said, “the offer still stands.”

“Fuck your offer.”

His lips parted in a grin, seemingly more pleased by this than anything all afternoon. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Maybe I don’t want to play by your rules, Max. Maybe I want to play by my own.”

“Good. The last thing I would ever do is stop you.”

I stuck the spade under my arm and abruptly turned, but he caught me by the shoulder. I turned my face away from the intense gaze, so unused to that coming from a free man.

“One last question, kid,” he said. “You can walk away right now, no problem. If you do, this conversation stays between us and the prickly pears. You can go back to digging pig holes and nailing Curly Sue in the pantry, at least until somebody wants a can of soup and it’s game over. But ask yourself: when that happens—and itwillhappen—do you really think you’re going to get lucky again?”

I stared at a very specific spot on the dusty ground, my vision going all blurry for a moment.

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