Page 39 of Extracted

“I bet the militia isn’t pleased about that.”

“To say the CIA—your job—fucked over something big is an understatement.”

“Could the militia leader be after you for that?”

“I doubt it. He probably just found out about Silas when the explosion was covered by the news. He also didn’t know our meeting point, so I’m sure he’s just learned recently that Silas was among those killed. He might even presume me dead.” He jerked his head toward his bag. “My contact also doesn’t have my satellite phone number. We have one line we communicate on, and there’s no reception for that here.”

Gemma let Dallas’s explanation sink in. Clearly he was no saint. But he’d been honest with her and that gave him a few points. “How much were they paying you for that job?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. His hand moved from the sole of her foot to her ankle then up her calf. Holy hell the man had the hands of a god.

“One hundred and fifty grand.”

She whistled. “That’s a lot just to mediate a deal.”

“There was a lot of money on the table.”

That he was out of now because of her.

“My turn.” Dallas’s eyes sparked with satisfaction.

Her stomach flipped over. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to anticipate his questions would address her past.

“When did you first get involved with the CIA?”

She blew a breath through her lips as her brain worked backward to six years ago. When she’d been infatuated, blind, and utterly stupid. The decisions she’d made then had upended her life and kept her under the CIA’s thumb.

“I was young . . . twenty-four, actually. I’d just finished college abroad and was doing a three-month tour of Europe with a friend.”

Dallas’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s not cheap.”

She thumbed the material at her side. The thick, scratchy blanket served as an anchor for her overstimulated system. With Dallas touching her and the vortex of memories assaulting her senses, she felt her composure slipping through her fingers with every passing second.

But she wouldn’t break. She wasn’t the same girl she was six years ago. The girl who was lost and afraid.

“I inherited money after my father passed away. The trip was a much-needed break from reality.” She wanted to pause and recall memories of her dad, but she forced away the urge. The fact that he’d died while she was overseas still tore her up every day.

“So I did what any girl mourning her father and away from home would do—I partied. I met an amazing guy . . .” The memory of her first impression of Aldus almost made her smile. She’d been so naive. So impressed by his money, entourage, and bodyguards.

To say she’d been swept off her feet would be an understatement. “Before I knew it, I was living in Abu Dhabi’s most elite neighborhood with a view of sea and desert as far as I could see. Aldus showered me with attention and everything I ever could have wanted.”

Dallas’s fingers stopped moving. She didn’t lift her gaze from the gritty charcoal blanket she was twisting between her fingers.

“Things moved quickly. Didn’t take long for the tabloids to mention me as his girlfriend and then—” She cleared her throat and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Gemma?” Dallas prompted.

“Many scary things have happened to me over the years, but being blindfolded and shoved into an SUV and interrogated by the CIA was by far the worst.”

“What’d they want?”

She opened her eyes and met his stare. “Aldus was on a terrorist watch list. Dumb me had no idea. The CIA used me for eight months and it was absolute hell. They gave me a burner phone and watched me twenty-four seven. Any time they needed me and Aldus wasn’t around, they came calling. Had me steal things from his computer, take pictures of business associates, record phone conversations . . .”

“Holy shit,” he breathed.

She snorted. “I guess I was good. After they had him behind bars, they recruited me.”

His expression turned hard and the muscles in his arms and shoulders went rigid beneath his shirt, as if he wanted to get to his feet and demolish every agent who’d taken advantage of her. He rocked his jaw back and forth. “Someone should have protected you.”

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