by Olivia Chase
“Charlotte Holloway?” it asked.
“I’m not interested,” I said, not sure why, since obviously a computer couldn’t understand me.
I started to end the call, but before I could the voice said, “Charlotte, don’t hang up.”
I realized then that it wasn’t a computer. It was a voice that was being manipulated in some way, put through some kind of distorter.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“A friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yes, Charlotte. A friend. Someone who’s looking out for you.” The voice was male, not exactly creepy, but still scary, if only for the fact that it was so obviously attempting to be disguised.
“Josh?” I demanded. “Is that you?”
“No.”
“Then who is this?”
“You need to find a man named Audi James. He can help you, Charlotte.”
“What?” My heart was starting to beat fast in my chest, and I looked toward the bathroom door, wondering if I should call for Noah.
“Things aren’t exactly what they seem, Charlotte. Trust no one.”
“What?” I asked desperately, pushing the phone tight against my ear, as if that would help me figure out who was on the other end of the line. “What does that mean?”
“It means that if you want the truth about who killed those women, you need to go to Force. Look for Audi James. He’ll help you, Charlotte. Trust no one.”
“And what do I –”
But the line went dead.
I stared at the phone in disbelief, almost willing it to ring again.
After a moment, I put it back into my bag and walked back into Noah’s office.
He was at his desk, looking over some papers.
He looked up when he saw me. “Everything okay?”
I opened my mouth to tell him what had just happened.
Trust no one.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “I’m fine.”
“Will we be still be attending your stepfather’s birthday party tonight?”
My stepfather’s birthday party. I’d forgotten all about it. Noah had agreed to go with me.
I raised my chin in the air. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I want to go to Force.”
NOAH
She said it with such conviction, but her voice betrayed just a hint of weakness.
“You want to go where?” I asked.
“Force.”
She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and pushed her hair back from her face.“No,” I said. “We’re going to your stepfather’s party.” I pulled my wallet out and walked over to her, handed her a credit card. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Your new card.” She ran her fingers over the letters. CHARLOTTE HOLLOWAY was spelled out in raised silver type.
“You got me a credit card?”
“It’s hooked up to my account. Buy yourself something for tonight. Something sexy that I can rip off you later.”
She stared at the card, and I could see her grappling with the implications. She nodded slowly and slipped it into her bag.
“Noah,” she said. “Please. I want to go to Force.”
My dick immediately got hard at the thought of things I could do to her there, the ways I could ravish her body, the techniques I could use to make it clear she was mine. But these things couldn’t be rushed. And she wasn’t ready.
“You’re not ready.”
I saw the look pass over her face – not lust, not disappointment, but frustration. Why was she frustrated? All she’d been talking about was not wanting our relationship to be purely based on sex, and now she was insisting we go to a hardcore BDSM club instead of a family function.
She’s hiding something from you.
I kept my voice even. “Force is a place you go when you’re ready to take things to the next level.”
“I’m ready to take things to the next level.”
I put my fingers on her chin, tilted it up so she was forced to look me in the eye. “We haven’t even gone over my expectations.”
“Let’s go over them. Tonight. At Force.”
She was definitely hiding something. I could read her so well already. It was part of my job to be able to read people, and I was good at it. But this was beyond that. I was falling in love with her, and it connected me to her in a way I couldn’t explain.
“You’ll have to sign a contract,” I said.
“What kind of contract?”
“Committing to be my submissive.”
“And we’ll go over your expectations for me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
I leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “The car will pick you up at my apartment at nine o’clock.”
“Where will you be?”
“I have to work late.”
She hesitated, like she wanted to say something else – perhaps that I shouldn’t be working with everything that was going on, or that I should have helped her more when it came to my case. But she decided it against it.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you then.”
She slipped out of my office, and I stood there for a moment after she was gone, staring at the closed door.
She was definitely hiding something from me.
And tonight I was going to find out what it was.
END OF BOOK SIX
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