Page 35 of Betrayed
I think about the accusation for a moment. “Possibly. But not consciously. I swear.”
“Sit down and show me what you have. And do not get up from that chair again until I say.” His warm, rough palm slips up tomy mid-thigh, giving a delicious warning squeeze. “Or else you’ll be sitting on that chair with a sore ass.”
“Fine.” I squirm away, feeling too much heat between my legs. I take a deep, shaky breath and push the notebook toward him.
He raises an eyebrow and is instantly engrossed in the pages.
I like that he never touched the book, never grabbed it or forced me to give it, instead waiting for my permission before opening it. He’s always in control, but respects boundaries.
“I’ve been gathering information since I first discovered his father is one of the leaders who runs the Hoax.”
“The Hoax. I know of them. A Glasgow crime family.” He strokes a page, underlining dates with his fingertip. How is just watching his hands move a turn-on? He casts me a glance. “Behave.”
How does he read my mind like that? It’s so frustrating. And also, sexy.
He goes back to the book. “Continue. Please.”
I lean in, flipping through the pages of my maps, each red X marked with a date. “Here. Each one is a girl, someone who disappeared into thin air. Each girl has a friend who tells the same story: the missing girl was beautiful, vulnerable, and acted differently in the weeks before her disappearance. The last girl worked at a bar.” I give her a name, as she deserves. “Gretchen.”
He says her name reverently. “Gretchen.”
Good man. Too good to be here with me.
“Her friend said she was acting shifty before she disappeared. Scared.” I put a hand on his forearm to get his attention. “Anda couple of them said the girl was seeing someone. Just before they left.” I shake my head, feeling lost. “I can’t directly connect any of them to Caleb. But I know it’s the Hoax, and I know he’s involved.”
He closes the notebook and pats the cover. “Great work. But how does this help us?”
Us.
I like that.
Too much.
“I turn all my evidence over to the police. Prove that he’s involved in this people trafficking ring. Get him arrested and then?—"
“Stop.” He holds up a hand with a shake of his head, wild hair shaking with him. “You’ll be dead three days into that plan.”
“Good thing you came.”
“Of course, I came.” His voice goes to steel. “I would have come sooner if I could.”
“I wish you had made me come sooner last night,” I murmur.
“You mean, let you come sooner.” He flashes me a wicked grin. “Naughty girl. Don’t distract me. Or I’ll have to bend you over this table and spank that pretty little ass of yours before I fuck you silly.”
My face heats up, and I have to press my thighs together and shift my weight in my chair. I clear my throat to speak. “Fine.”
“It’ll take months for them to investigate. Even if they book him, with his money and connections, he’d be released on bail and tryto find you before he runs, to kill you,” dark eyes meet mine, “if he hasn’t already.”
“Hmm.”
“Even if he gets locked up, you’d need a very progressive jury that doesn’t just believe a pretty girl working at a bar was taken against her will, so he gets convicted—and even then, he’d appeal using his unlimited money and high-powered lawyers and be out in three years at most.”
“Again, coming to kill me.”
“Again,” he counters, “you’d already be dead.”
“Good thing you showed up,” I smile. And I get out of my seat without permission, sliding into the warm safety of his lap.
