Page 110 of Cain
“Landon is a big boy. He’ll get over it.”
I pause, debating whether I should tell him what’s been gnawing at me about Landon. But then … he needs to know, right?
“Do you trust him?” I ask, regretting it the instant I do.
“Landon?” he asks. I nod. “I don’t trust anyone, little rose.”
“Then why do you let him handle your business? All your secrets?”
He gives a slow, almost cruel smile. “Because that’s what he’s paid to do. Trust has nothing to do with it. Loyalty bought is still loyalty. Until it isn’t.”
“Money can’t buy loyalty.”
He hums quietly, his gaze fixed on mine. “I told you once that everything has a price. Loyalty, love, silence. Even lives. You just have to know the currency. Why are you asking?”
I exhale sharply. “I just don’t like him.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Fair enough. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you trust that Emily?”
“I do.”
He shakes his head, disappointed. “You shouldn’t.”
“What? Why are you saying that?”
He pulls out a pack of smokes and lights one. “Even your friend Emily has a price.” My head is ringing. I don’t understand. He looks out at the ocean, then back at me. “The police showed up at my place because she recognized me from the mall. When I tracked her down, she played the concerned best friend. ‘So worried,’” he mimics, the corner of his mouth twitching. “But then she forgot how to act.”
“What do you mean?” Deep down, I knew exactly what he meant; I just didn’t want to believe it.
“She asked me to keep you locked away.”
My body recoils. “What?” My voice echoes across the empty beach.
He nods casually, like it’s nothing. “I guess she was jealous. Of you, your life, everything. But that wasn’t enough for her. She wanted money to keep her mouth shut.”
I can’t hold my tears any longer, and eventually, I give in to them. Emily isn’t my best friend, but she was the first person I met when I came to the US, and I thought we were close. I thought she’d be terrified I’d gone missing.
“She doesn’t deserve you. You, or your tears.” He takes a drag from his smoke.
“Did you give it to her?” I spit.
“The money?” He scoffs. “I gave her something to remember me by.”
I don’t ask again. My pride overcomes my heartbreak, and I don’t want to bring it up again. That bitch pretended to be my friend.
He sinks the smoke in the sand and gently holds my face. “Don’t waste another second on someone who never told you the truth,” he says, his thumb wiping my tears away.
“You’re the only one,” I breathe, trying to calm myself down. He blinks, surprised. “The only one who actually cares about me.”
Gently, he leans in closer and brushes his lips against mine. “Because you’re mine.”
“All mine,” I continue, capturing his lips into a soft kiss.
He’s gentle. Caring. Protective.
