Page 31 of Drawn Blue Lines

She leaned in closer. “I indulged your tantrum last night because let’s be honest, I beat you at your own game. I figured you needed some time to cool off and lick your wounds.” She paused, the flecks in her midnight eyes flashing like streaks of gold-plated lightning. “I came here this morning to offer you a chance to apologize and reconsider my offer.”

The heat boiling inside me turned to stone. “You want me to apologize for getting pissed at being insulted and threatened with blackmail? Are you kidding me?”

“You put a hole through my wall.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t put a hole through your head.”

“I’ll chalk that one up to the hangover. Regardless, my offer has an expiration date. I’m not a patient woman, Brody, and contrary to the lenience I’ve given you, I don’t tolerate being jerked around.”

“And this offer would be?”

Smiling, she toyed with the loose threads on my shirt where the buttons used to be and trailed that damn red painted fingernail down my chest. I held in a groan, the fantasy of where the nail swirled earlier dancing around in my head and causing beads of sweat to break out across my upper lip.

My brain sent flares up, screaming for my cock to stand down.

It’s a trap. It’s a trap. It’s a trap.

“Either you call Val and tell him we’re coming, or I call him and tell him the only reason he’s married is because your plan backfired.”

My cock sighed as my brain took a bow.

Told ya so.

God, I needed space. I needed to think. Wrapping my fingers around her upper arms, I gave enough of a push that she released her grip on my chair and stumbled backward. Breathing in gulps of air instead of just her, blood finally rerouted to my brain.

“You don’t have any proof.”

“I don’t need proof.” She punctuated each word with a dramatic pause.

“I don’t think you have the balls.”

Adriana let out a husky laugh. “Oh, counselor, I have them, and they’re way more than you could ever handle.” Perching her ass right on my desk, she grabbed my cell phone.

I lunged. “Give me that!”

Bad move.

My close proximity gave her perfect positioning. She quickly turned my phone around, holding it just long enough for the facial recognition to unlock the damn thing before jumping off the table. “I’ll put it on speaker just so you can hear it for yourself.”

“I swear, Adriana, if you—”

“Brody, is everything okay?”

I froze as I heard the familiar voice. The one that still made my stomach flip.

“Good morning,” Adriana said, in a sing-song voice, her accent heavier than usual. “I’d like to speak to Valentin Carrera.”

“Who is this? Why do you have Brody’s phone?”

“I’m a friend of Brody’s.”

There was a long pause, and my heart slammed against my chest so hard, it might have broken a couple ribs. A door closed in the background, and the voice on the line hardened. “I’m a friend of Brody’s too. I’m also Valentin Carrera’s wife. Anything you have to say you can say to me.”

“Eden Lachey.” A catlike smile spread across Adriana’s lips. “I don’t think so.”

“Eden Carrera.”

“How traditional of you.”

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