Free Seduced in the Dark by Cj Roberts Page B

seat.
    “Muhammad Rafiq, Jair Baloch, Felipe
Villanueva, and of course Caleb ,” he says. “Do you or do you not , also have information about Demitri Balk?”
    “I never said I knew him!”
    “You said you knew where he’d be,” Reed says
with a raised eyebrow.
    “Miss Ruiz, please stop talking and let me
handle this,” David says in an irritated tone.
    “By the way,” begins Reed anew, ignoring my
lawyer and focused on me, “Balk is suspected of having ties to arms
dealing and narcotics trafficking. And until I know how you,” he
jabs his finger in my direction, “are involved, you’re a suspect
too. You can deal with me or I can let the DEA and Homeland
Security in here and when they use Patriot Act against you, don’t
say I didn’t warn you.”
    “That is enough,” David said firmly, glaring
at us both.
    “Caleb is not a terrorist. I don’t know
about the rest of them, but he’s not a terrorist! And neither am I!
And–” A cold wave crashes over me. Felipe . I never said
anything about Felipe. Reed knows things he’s not saying.
    Caleb! Fuck!
    I can’t breathe; all of the oxygen is
suddenly being sucked from the room, from my fucking lungs! I keep
taking deep, deep breaths, lots of them, but I can’t get any
air.
    My heart is racing.
    I can’t breathe!
    “Olivia?” says Reed and I can hear him
shuffling around.
    “We’re done here, Agent Reed. I’ll be
speaking to your superiors.” David reaches for me and tries to get
me to stand. I don’t like his hands on me. I can’t breathe! He’s
suffocating me. I need to think. I need to breathe.
    “Shut up! Everybody just shut up!” Reed and
David go silent and I ignore them as I put my hands on the table in
front of me and try to catch my breath.
    You fucked up, girl. Don’t make it
worse.
    I squeeze my eyes shut and will myself to
breathe slower, deeper, calmer. My heart starts to slow in degrees
until finally I feel only a fraction of my panic. Without looking
up, I think about what I need to do.
    How does Reed know about Felipe? Does he
know more about Caleb? Is he really going to charge me with murder?
It was self defense!
    I have a feeling Reed would be a lot more
amenable if my lawyer weren’t here. Still a prick, but less likely
to push this hard. Dr. Sloan said he was a good guy and would do
right by me. I don’t have much faith in anything anyone says to me
lately, but a glimmer of hope is better than none. I take a sip of
water when Reed slides the paper cup beneath my face. I hope he
feels guilty, the son of a bitch.
    David puts his hand on my shoulder and I
shrug it off, “Don’t touch me.”
    “I think I should take you back to your room
now, Miss Ruiz,” he says.
    “I want you to leave,” I whisper with my
eyes still fixed on the table.
    “Excuse me?” David says, indignantly. “I
don’t think that’s a very good idea, Miss Ruiz. I strongly advise
you to keep silent and let me do my job.”
    “She wants you leave.” Reed says. He knows
he’s won this round. He boxed me in a corner and I let him. I
realize I should have assumed he knew a lot, not just about me, but
other things too. I feel stupid, and angry and scared. But right
now, I need time to think and Reed is the devil I know.
    They argue for a bit, puffing their chests
at each other in some National Geographic display of
machismo. In the end David gathers his things and leaves. Reed and
I are alone again. I have a feeling it’s what he wanted all
along.
    He sits quietly, relaxed and patient,
unwilling to break the silence. He doesn’t want to lose ground. He
wants me to come to him, and I know it’s exactly the way it’s going
to play out. I need him on my side. Just the way I once needed
Caleb.
    My voice is soft on purpose. I need him to
see me as fragile again. I need to bring out the alpha male in him.
I need him to believe I’m his to protect, even if I already belong
to someone else. Caleb would have been proud. I remind myself that
I am now my