Page 127 of Exposé

"Exactly what it means. Brentwood dropped off the radar.But,"she held up her pen in the air, "before he vanished, his name showed up onone moredocument—and this one was from a Russian acquisitions company with the sole owner, Ruslan Vladomirovich Primack, who is now deceased. His company procured ownership of a pharmaceutical company, and they started funding a drug trial under the guise of military testing. That drug?” She grabbed a sticky note from the board and slapped it down on the coffee table. “It’s the same one I’ve been tracking—an experimental compound that’s now flooding our town as an addictive street drug.”

I stared at the note, the weight of her words sinking in. “So Brentwood was involved in this conspiracy theory to introduce the drug to the market?”

“It’s not a conspiracy.” She shook her head, a sharp edge to her tone. “Did you know the CIA is credited with turning ‘conspiracy theory’ into a dirty word? They did it to shut down anyone questioning the Kennedy assassination—anyone who dared to challenge their narrative.”

"I didn't mean it in a negative way." I stood and brushed my hand through my hair. "This is all a lot to take in."

A lot.

It means it's all been a lie.

"I get it. Trust me." She nodded. “But I think he was a key player in this. He had the connections, the access, and the know-how to keep it under wraps, and if it wasn't him, it was someone higher up." She stepped close to me, her emerald gaze tipping up to mine. "When things got too hot—when the congressional inquiry got too close—he vanished. Either someone made him disappear, or he went underground to protect himself.”

Or he became the director of a secret government agency...

And he's hell-bent on stopping her.

I glanced back at the board, scanning the red string that tied Brentwood’s photo to senators, judges, defense contractors, and corporate executives. The web stretched wide, but it all led back to the same central point: the drug operation.

“You’ve pieced all this together on your own?”

She shrugged like it was nothing. “It’s what I do. The truth doesn’t just land in your lap—you have to hunt it down. Brentwood might be the key to blowing this whole thing open. I have to figure out where he went before someone realizes I’m on his trail.”

Dammit, my little recluse, he already knows.

I cupped her face in my hands, a dark, heady feeling settling deep in my belly. "If this is as you say..." My eyes bounced between hers, studying each brown fleck in her vibrant irises. "And he's the man behind it all. You're in more danger than you know."

Her delicate hands wrapped around my wrists and slid to my forearms, her eyes softening as she tilted her lips toward mine. "You sound as if you know the man."

Ava brought her lips to mine, and every protective instinct I had crashed in around us.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted, her legs snaking around my hips and holding on like a vise. Our short trek to the bed ended with her shirt tossed to the floor and my belt hanging loose before I tossed her onto the mattress, her tits bouncing in her obstructing bra.

A smile stretched across her mouth, her top teeth digging into her pillowy lip.

"Is it strange that I want to ravish you like a wild animal, even though every ounce of my being wants to keep you safe?" I removed my pants and knelt on the bed, my arms pinning her down as she shook her head. "Good, because I plan on doing the former first."

My hands worked over her bra clasp, revealing her hard nipples, and I tossed it over my shoulder.

"God, you're so beautiful."

I bent down and took a nipple into my mouth, sucking hard as her hand wrapped around my erection between us, her palm slipping over the head. Jerking, I slid her nipple out of my mouth, my teeth grazing the sensitive flesh, then moved to the next.

My body shuddered above her as I rocked my cock in her hands. "If you keep doing that, this isn't going to last long."

She laughed, and I slid my tongue between her breasts, her back arching up to meet me. I unbuttoned her jeans and slid my fingers between her soaked folds.

"You're always so wet for me."

"You make it easy."

My fingers pressed against her clit, rubbing in tight circles, her jeans hindering my exploration.

"Yes." Her eyes rolled back, and her hips bucked against me. Her hands abandoned my throbbing cock, seizing the comforter as a lifeline.

I was her lifeline.

The only one that would help her survive this.

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