Free EXPOSE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 6) by Kelly Favor

At first, Ivy didn’t even realize what
had happened.
    There was a buzzing sound in her head and
everything was dark, like she was swimming in a lake, trying to get to the surface.   It was a struggle to swim to reach the
open air, to get above the water line.   But then, suddenly, Ivy opened her eyes and reality flooded back in.
    She wasn’t swimming.   She’d just been asleep…
    No, unconscious.
    She’d fainted.
    Cullen was kneeling on the floor next to
her, terrible concern written all over his face.   “Ivy,” he said, taking her hand and
checking the pulse on her wrist.   “Ivy, are you all right?   Talk to me.”
    Ivy lay on the floor, trying to gather
herself and remember what exactly had happened.   “I’m…I’m okay, I think.”  
    But she didn’t feel okay.  
    She felt frightened.   She turned her head and saw pieces of
her cell phone scattered across the hardwood floor.   Vaguely, Ivy could recall the sound of
it smashing as she’d fainted.
    Just thinking about her phone, and those
horrible pictures and messages that someone had texted her…she didn’t want to
remember any of it.   She wished her
memory had been wiped out so she could forget that Lucas was with the FBI and
he was trying to force her to betray Cullen.
    Cullen was kneeling patiently next to her,
checking her vitals, his hand stroking her forehead softly.   “Lift your head,” he said.   “I want to make sure you don’t have any
trauma from when you fell.”
    “I think I’m all right,” she said, lifting herself onto an elbow and allowing Cullen to examine
the back of her head.
    His gentle, long fingers probed through
her hair, touching her scalp.   “Ouch,” she hissed, as he happened upon a painful spot.
    “You’ve got a decent sized knot,” he
said.   “So you did hit your head
when you fell.   We’re lucky.   It could’ve been a lot worse if you’d
fallen the wrong way.”   His fingers
withdrew.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, looking at him.
    “Why are you apologizing?” he asked, his
brow wrinkling.  
    She hesitated.   Of course, she was apologizing because
she blamed herself.   If she hadn’t
lied to him, hadn’t kept him in the dark about Lucas and his threats, then
Cullen might not even be in her apartment right now.
    And if he hadn’t been in her apartment,
then nobody would have been able to get those photographs of him and text them
to her.   
    I’m
putting him at risk and he has no idea.   It’s not right that I’m keeping this a secret.
    However, the idea of going against the
FBI was too overwhelming to contemplate.
    So she simply shrugged.   “I just don’t want you to worry.   I got a little light headed and…lost my
balance for a minute.”
    “Ivy, you were out cold,” Cullen told
her.   His piercing blue eyes
searched her for clues.   “Have you
ever fainted like that before?”
    She found Cullen’s concern for her touching
and surprising—but in a good way.
    Ivy shook her head.   “No.   Never.”
    “Your vitals are strong, pulse is steady,
eyes are clear—speech and hearing don’t appear impaired.   You seem okay, but I want to make sure
you don’t have a concussion.”
    Ivy forced herself to sit up fully now.   “I seem okay because I am okay.”
    But Cullen’s expression showed that he
wasn’t sold on her improvement.   “What were you doing right before you passed out?”
    She shook her head, nervous from these
questions.   His words were gentle,
but probing acutely, just like his fingers had probed and found the sore lump
on her head.  
    Ivy didn’t want him to find the other
sore spot—the one in her conscience.
    “I don’t really remember what I was doing
when I fainted,” she lied.   “It’s a
bit fuzzy.   I think I was checking
my phone or something.”   She hated continuing
the charade, but he’d backed her into a corner with his questions.
    “Unfortunately, your phone didn’t take
the fall as well as your head did.”