Page 59 of Under Control

“Getting the truth out of people.” He looked back up at her, his violent blue eyes throwing her off her game, as they always did. He grinned, as if knowing his power over her, and continued his story. “Seeing people’s true colors. And that’s why we are going to play a little game here.”

“A game?” She clamped her fingers tightly against her thighs, filled with pure nerves and anticipation.

“My house—my rules.”

He pushed her shot glass over the table. With shaking hands, she reluctantly reached out and picked it up, trying not to let the golden liquid spill.

“I’m not much for shooters, Carrick.” She looked up at him, nervously adjusting the glasses on the bridge of her nose.

That devilish grin crossed his lips.

“Even more incentive for you, then. We are going to play Truth or Dare. Play your cards right, and you can walk away from the game with only one ounce of this in you.”

He picked up his own shot glass full of light-yellow liquid and brought it to his lips. “First, one just to get things started.”

He nodded for her to follow suit and she did so as her brain tried to process what was happening—and how to get out of it. She absolutely didnotwant to play, but what was she supposed to do?

Carrick shot her a ‘don’t even try’ look, threatening her to continue to cooperate, so she shook her head, accepting her fate. The last time she’d tried to run, it hadn’t worked out. And maybe she could flip things around and get the truth out of him.

They both took their shots quickly. She winced as that familiar burn ran down her esophagus. Her stomach wanted to reject it and convulsed as she gagged, bringing her fingers to her lips to keep everything in.

“Don’t tell me to savor it.” She fluttered her watering eyes rapidly, feeling an instant rush.

Carrick let out an honest laugh, shaking his head.

“You want to go first?” He put down his glass and picked up the bottle, pouring two full shot glasses again.

“No.” She snorted. “Definitely not.”

“All right, truth or dare, Dani.”

Her gaze darted back and forth as she debated it, and he shot her an impatient look.

“Dare.”

“Take it all off,” he growled, licking his lips as he looked her body up and down.

“No, wait—truth,” she correctly herself.

“Why can’t you just tell Petrov to fuck off?” he asked, throwing down the toughest question right out of the gate.

Fuck.

She sucked in air, realizing he wasn’t messing around. This wasn’t going to be a lighthearted game. This was business.

She opened her mouth to begin, but he leaned forward intimidatingly and said in his deepest, darkest tone, “There’s a special punishment in this game for liars. You don’t want to find out what it is.”

Goosebumps ran up her thighs with a vengeance, and she tried to wrap her head around his question.Why can’t I just put Petrov in his place? Why?

“I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about that,” she began, connecting with his eyes as he listened, still as could be. “But I guess it comes down to the fact that he’s my father’s brother. My uncle. And I loved my dad more than anything.”

“So, it’s all some misplaced sense of blood loyalty?”

“It’s just hard. I miss Mom and Dad. I want to honor my parents,” she explained, and realized her throat was choking up. “Not to mention the fact that my uncle terrifies me. He’s threatened to kill me before.”

Blinking quickly, trying to get the tears away, she took a deep breath and kept her eyes on him. Was it the tequila? She wasn’t sure. But suddenly, everything was coming to the top.

“I know this sounds so stupid.”

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