Page 57 of Rebel Protector

Come on!

She tried again. Still nothing.

The heavy sound of footsteps echoed in the hall. She shoved her phone into her pocket just as the door opened, and Alek stepped in. He wasn’t smiling.

“What’s this about, Becca? Carlos says he caught you snooping in my study?” The pale blue eyes were cold and suspicious.

She swallowed. “Yes, I found your key in your jacket pocket, so I went in to have a look around.” She may as well be honest—at least about that part. He’d see straight through a lie. “You’ve never told me what business you’re in. I know it’s not farming equipment.”

He frowned.

“So I decided to see for myself.” By the look on his face, she knew she’d hit a nerve. He’d never have admitted to his illegal activities because he didn’t trust her.

He couldn’t. She’d left him once before.

“You could have just asked me.”

She fixed her gaze on him, defiant now. It was her only bluff out of here. “If I had, would you have told me the truth?”

He avoided the question. “What did you find?”

“Nothing,” she lied smoothly. “Carlos came before I could really look around.”

Alek stared at her, unblinking, then turned to Carlos. “Search her.”

“Seriously? What?—?”

Carlos entered the room, his face expressionless. He patted her down, rough hands grazing places they shouldn’t, making her skin crawl.

“That’s enough!” she snapped, stepping back.

Creep. He made her skin crawl.

He took her phone and handed it to Alek.

Markov handed her the device. “Open it.”

“Why?”

“Open it, Becca.”

She turned away. “No, it’s my personal phone. It’s got nothing to do with you.”

Alek gave Carlos a subtle nod. Before she could react, Carlos backhanded her across the face. Pain exploded in her cheek, and she stumbled, gasping for breath.

“Open. It.” Alek’s voice was deadly calm.

With a sob, she held it up to her face, so it unlocked the screen. He snatched it from her hand, scrolling through the messages and photos. He grunted when there was nothing to find, then he searched through the photographs.

His expression darkened. “So, you did find something.” He held the phone up so she could see what he was looking at.

Becca paled. This was going from bad to worse. She hadn’t had time to delete the photographs, but at least she hadn’t sent them to Dom. His cover was still intact.

“What were you planning to do with these, Becca?”

“Nothing. I told you, I just wanted to see what you were up to.” She burst into tears, a mixture of fear and pent-up anger. “You never tell me anything.”

Alek’s expression didn’t waver. He was unmoved by her tears.

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