Free Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) by Olivia Jaymes

retired.”
    “One of the reasons. By the time I was cleared to go back in the field I found that I didn’t really have the drive anymore. It was like bailing the ocean with a teaspoon. I’d put someone out of business and behind bars and three more would sprout up in his place.”
    Jason didn’t even bother to mention the interdepartmental politics and backstabbing that he’d grown tired of. He didn’t have the patience for climbing the ladder that he’d had fresh out of the military.
    She set the cup down but didn’t break eye contact with him. “I would imagine being held hostage by a drug cartel is one of the less pleasant things a person could experience. I’ve heard stories about the things they do.”
    The unspoken question hung between them. Were the stories true?
    “It’s not something I’d like to repeat,” he finally said. It wasn’t as difficult to talk to her about it as he’d thought it would be. She didn’t judge or fake histrionics. She just sat quietly and listened. It’s too bad she hadn’t been around months ago. “They did torture me but not as bad as it could have been. I escaped before it got worse. And it would have. I learned a lot about people from my time being held prisoner.”
    Selena, the sister of one of his captors, had told him the cartel had much more diabolical things in store for Jason. He wasn’t giving them the information they wanted and they were determined to get it.
    One way or another.
    He’d been just as determined not to give it as he’d known that his only value was in the information he had. Once he’d revealed it he was a dead man.
    “What did you learn?”
    Her softly spoken question was a surprise. The few people that he’d talked to always asked about the torture he’d endured. They wanted the gritty details. At least they thought they did. He rarely satisfied their curiosity.
    “I learned that there is good in some people. There was a woman there – Selena – she was the sister of one of the cartel leaders. She was kind to me. She gave me food and water. Eventually she helped me escape by telling me when I wouldn’t be watched. I wouldn’t be breathing if it wasn’t for her.”
    Now he had no idea if she was dead or alive. She’s disappeared the same night he’d escaped and hadn’t been heard from since.
    “Anything else?”
    Somehow her hand had crossed the island and was now resting on his. He turned his so their fingers tangled together, her warmth seeping into his cold, lonely soul.
    “I also learned how depraved one human can be to another.”
    Images crowded his head but this time he didn’t ruthlessly push them away. Tightening his grip on her hand he allowed them to float in front of him one by one, hoping that familiarity would eventually take away the pain of remembering.
    “They hurt you terribly. I can see it in your expression.”
    He swallowed hard, his throat tight. “Yes. They weren’t shy about using pain to coerce me to talk.”
    Her hazel eyes were bright with unshed tears. He shouldn’t have told her. She was too soft-hearted, too innocent of the things he’d seen even before he’d been captured. “I’m sorry that happened to you but I’m glad you escaped. I’m glad you’re okay.”
    Steepling his fingers, he rested his elbows on the countertop. “Okay? I’m not sure what that means anymore. I can function day to day and do my job. I don’t jump and climb under furniture when I hear gunfire, so that’s a positive. I’m not looking over my shoulder paranoid about the world. So I guess you could say I’m okay. There are people walking around a lot more fucked up than I am. Maybe everyone is…in their own way.”
    “But you can’t sleep?”
    Jason rubbed his chin and tried to smile. “You’re not going to let this go, are you? I can’t sleep because it’s quiet and dark.” He hopped up from the stool to rinse out his cup, not wanting her to see how this subject could still mess with him. “They