Page 7 of I've Got You

I nod my head. “You can tell me all about it. I’m listening.”

She leans back into the seat and closes her gorgeous eyes, staring up at the ceiling. “You’re like a dog with a bone.”

“I have a feeling we’re very alike in that regard.”

A rueful smile tugs at her soft, pink lips when her eyes open and she turns that sapphire gaze my way. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

“I know I am. So tell me. Otherwise, I’ll just keep showing up and pushing and pulling at you until you do.” I wave a hand at me and then at her. “Dog. Bone.”

She laughs lightly. “Alright, dog. The short version is this. I’m working on a story about human trafficking. I have a source who let me know where these guys were operating out of and kinda how the system works. I was just going to cover the story. But then while I was waiting outside the hotel room and watching….I saw them bring in this young girl. She was probably only eighteen at the most. Pretty little thing with blond hair. I never really saw that much of her. Her eyes were closed and she had obviously been drugged. They took her inside and I panicked. I didn’t want anything to happen to the girl so I knocked on the door.”

I glare at her and turn the corner sharply. “You know that was a bad move, right?”

She winces and her hand touches her head lightly. “Yeah, it was a bad move. A really bad move. They didn’t take kindly to me knocking on the door or sticking my phone in their face.”

“I can’t imagine why that would be when they were such fine, upstanding men, Missy.” My voice is sharp and tense. I can’t believe she did something that dumb. Something that could have ended in her death. Maybe even the death of that girl in that room.

“You know that you’re lucky you’re not dead right now. And what of the girl? What if they had panicked because of you showing up and swinging a phone in their face? What if they decided to pull the plug on things and that meant getting rid of the girl? Did you think any of that through?”

She hunches into herself. “I know, I know. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Damn right, you weren’t thinking. That’s something that I won’t put up with. You are so important. So is this story. And I’ll help you with it. But you need to follow my instructions to the letter. I know some people and I bet I can find out where and when to find these guys again. But if you’re just gonna do something to get yourself killed, I’ll do everything in my power to stop your investigation. All the way up to tying you to my damn bed and holding you hostage.”

She licks her full lips and her sapphire eyes darken to midnight. Her pupils dilated and her full breasts sucking in air like a marathon runner.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me and see. I was in the military and the Boy Scouts. I know how to tie a knot.” I actually know how to tie her up and make her scream my name in ecstasy but now’s not the time.

I’ve got to tread lightly and make sure that she doesn’t get away from me.

I’ve got a lot of plans for this woman. One of which is her belly swollen with my baby with my ring on her finger.

The rest of them run along the same lines as tying her to my bed. I’m a sick fuck and I know it. But I want to have her at my mercy more than I want my next breath.

“Here we are,” I hiss out as I pull up to her little house. “We’re home, baby girl.”

MISSY

Idon’t know what it is about this guy but he’s got me at sixes and sevens. I’m a modern woman who doesn’t like to be pushed around. I’m professional and other than a few lapses, I like to consider myself smart.

So I shouldn’t like when this guy goes all caveman on me. But for some damn reason I do.

He leans over and his rough hand strokes along my jaw, lighting up my nerve endings like a Christmas tree coming to life.

“Wake up, sweetheart. You’re zoning out.”

Hell yeah, I’m zoning out. I don’t know what to think about any of this. The girl in the motel room. The assholes that are using girls like her. The man in front of me who looks like a hero out of a damn romance with his dark hair falling across his forehead and his hazel eyes flashing gold sparks at me.

I’m a mess.

Judd gets out of the truck and comes around to hold his hand out and help me out of the truck.

“You’ve got to be the most polite man I’ve ever met,” I grumble under my breath.

“Come on, princess. Let’s go sit down and chat for a few minutes. We need a plan. And not one like go knock on the door and thrust a phone into somebody’s face.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know it wasn’t my shining moment. There’s no need to rub it in.”

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