Page 97 of Beautiful Liar

He takes a long pull from the cigar, blows dirty rings toward the ceiling before he walks to where I’m standing in the middle of the office. “First things first. What you took from Clay’s safe. Let’s have it.” He holds out his hand.

Slowly I take out the thumb drive. It’s the same drive I stole from the safe earlier in the week, replacing it with a blank one. The one I’m handing back is the real thing containing details Clay’s PI dug up on Petra’s whereabouts, but I’ve had the hacker put a virus on it. Should Clay or anyone not too tech-savvy try to access the information, the drive would corrupt. I thought of destroying it, but something held me back. Maybe that higher power that foresaw this moment?

I mentally shrug.

Ridge takes the drive from me and goes to the safe. He inputs the code, but instead of placing the drive in, he removes the blank one and places them both on the desk. He walks back without shutting the safe and perches on the edge of Clay’s desk. “Take your hair down,” he murmurs through another cloud of cigar smoke. “I hate it when you wear it up like that.”

I try to blank my mind, the way I do when I’m with a client. But this situation is different. Petra’s safety is on the line.

Hands shaking, I remove the clips holding my hair up. He murmurs his approval when my hair cascades down around my face. He props the cigar on the edge of an ashtray and approaches me.

For a long moment, he stares down at me. “Sweet heaven, you’re gorgeous.”

He picks me up and walks me to the wall. I feel the suppressed strength in his arms. I can tell he’s trying to be gentle, but gentle isn’t in his nature. I look into his eyes and I’m amazed he’s held back the torrid hunger for this long.

He props me up with his body and runs his hands over me. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?”

“Uh…no. Ridge?”

“Hmm?” he murmurs, but his attention is absorbed in the hands molding my breasts.

“Clay. Are you sure he doesn’t know?”

His gaze doesn’t lift from my chest. He pulls my dress down and cups me again through my lace bra. “Let me worry about Clay.”

“What does that mean?”

“Exactly that. If you give me what I want…if you keep giving me what I want, he’ll never find out what you did.” His head descends and he delivers open-mouthed kisses across the tops of my breasts.

Something is wrong. I know it in my gut. I recall Clay’s stare as I left the dining room earlier, and my breath strangles. Ridge hooks his fingers beneath my bra. A livid eagerness sparks his features. I close my eyes and brace myself.

His cell phone rings.

“Fuck!” He looks from my chest to my face and for a second I fear he’s going to ignore the call.

But he sets me down. “Hold that thought.” He pulls out his phone. “Yes, boss.”

I stop in the act of adjusting my dress and hold my breath.

Ridge paces to the end of the office and turns to face me. “Yes, I have both drives.”

My eyes widen in alarm.

He smirks. “No, I haven’t had a chance to check them yet. It’ll need careful handling if there’s a worm on it.”

I’m aware my heart has stopped beating, that my fear is naked and raw.

“Yes, boss. I should have the information for you by morning. No problem. And Clay? Thanks for giving her to me tonight.” His gaze locks on mine. “I know how special she is to you.”

My vision blurs. I sway against the wall and I know I’m going to pass out. But I can’t.

Petra. Have to save my sister.

I lurch toward the door. I make it, but it won’t budge. I recall Ridge locking it. He must have the key in his pocket. I yank at it again, desperate and consumed with terror.

Strong arms lift me clean off the floor and yank me toward the desk. “Wrong move, little girl.”

“Why?” I hate the fear ripping through my voice but my mind is spinning from the sheer deadliness of the trap I’ve walked into.

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