Page 99 of Bad Habit
After what felt like minutes, he leaned forward and pressed his palms against the metal desk. “Listen, Marisol? Is that your name? It’s a pretty name.”
I took a step back. I’d only introduced myself as ADA Flores. How did this man know my first name?
“Marisol,” he continued. “I’d love to help you. I mean, I’dreallylove to help you with whatever it is youneed.” His voice deepened, and I felt his words deep in my belly. “But I don’t know anyone named Tiger.”
My breaths were coming too quickly, revealing too much about this man’s effect on me. I fought to bring things under control. This was not like me. Not like me at all. I was always in control at work. Always. Giving up control—that was something reserved for the club.
It was time to play my ace.
Hiding my discomfort, I squared my shoulders and smiled down at him. “It’s no use, Keagan. Your brother already made a deal. He turned over the stolen property. The drugs. All of it. We have all we need to keep you incarcerated for a long, long time.”
Keagan shifted in his chair. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? A team of San Francisco’s finest is recovering the stolen goods as we speak. Your brother’s information was very helpful.”
“Shane? Nick?”
I’d hit a crack, and I scrambled in my mind for the names of his other brothers. “No. It was Dillon.”
Keagan snapped back like I’d punched him. Clearly my news had. Myfakenews.
The tip we’d used to recover the stolen goods had come from an anonymous source. I onlysuspectedit had come from one of his brothers. Hearing that had certainly hit him in a place that hurt. Score one for me.
But even caught off guard, Keagan Downey was sex on a stick. It wasn’t hard to imagine what he could do for me—to me. His confidence, his innate power, his sheer sex appeal. He was definitely a man who could make me forget who I was for a night, make my job, my stress, my shame evaporate into a cloud of ecstasy.
My cheeks heated, and I forced my mind back to the matter at hand.
“To get a deal, for you and your brothers, you need to give up The Tiger.”
His eyebrows drew together, as if he were considering my offer, but I’d lost confidence in my ability to read this man.
“What would I have to do?” he asked after a long pause.
My confidence returned. “Cooperate. Tell us everything you know about The Tiger, his operations, his people.”
“And if I tell you everything I know, everything I know about this man, I get released?”
“Charges dropped.”
He was going to cave. He was actually going to cave. I’d done it. Excitement coursed through me so powerfully I was surprised the soles of my black stiletto pumps remained on the ground.
What a charge. Making a deal or getting a conviction always gave me a thrill—always—but combined with this sexual attraction? Pow.
“Okay then.” He reached his right hand forward. “You’ve got a deal.”
I stepped back. “You sure you don’t want to see it in writing? Have your lawyer look at it first?”
“Nah. I trust you.” He grinned.
I raised my eyebrows. I did not trust him.
“Trust is important,” he said. “Don’t you agree?”
I nodded.
“You need to trust a man to keep his word, to remember your limits, too stop before things go too far.”
My skin heated, my entire body heated.
Was it possible Keagan Downey knew my deepest, darkest secret? The one I worked so hard to keep? How was that possible? I was so careful.
“I trust you,” he continued, his voice deep and thick. “I trust you, because if you cross me, I’ll see that you’repunished.”
The way he said punish….
He knew. He knew for sure. And the heat in his eyes shot straight through me, soaking my panties. In my five years at this job, I’d never once let the lines between work and my private life cross.
This was the first time I’d eventhoughtabout my sex life at work, but this man… It was like he could tell what I wanted, what I needed, what I most desired.
Working with this man was going to be dangerous as hell. Not because of The Tiger—I was used to dangers like that. It would be dangerous because I’d have to guard myself against my overpowering desire to have Keagan Downey restrain me and fuck me until I lost my mind.
