Unveiled (Vargas Cartel #2) by Lisa Cardiff Page B

hurt you,” he said, his voice soft, almost gentle.
    His words should’ve reassured me, but they didn’t. Instead, they made me realize I was in danger. He believed I was in danger.
    I closed my eyes and shook my head. “You can’t control everything.”
    The roughened pads of his fingers skated down my face, caressing my cheek. A tremor of desire and fear raced down my spine.
    “You’re right, but are you willing to give up so easily?”
    I opened my eyes and lifted my chin. I wasn’t a quitter. “No.”
    One side of his mouth curled up into a lopsided grin. “I didn’t think so.”
    He threaded his fingers through mine, pulling me through his nearly empty apartment. I scanned the empty walls, the bare floors, and the smattering of furniture. “This is—”
    He shrugged. “Not much of a home. I’ve never gotten around to doing anything.”
    I trailed my finger through the veil of dust on a small rectangular table, leaving a clean line on the espresso-colored wood. “How long have you lived here?”
    “Five years.”
    My eyebrows jumped up my forehead. “Wow.”
    “I know.” He chuckled. “Come with me. We can talk in my office.”
    We reached the end of the hall, and he pulled his keys out of his pocket, unlocking a dark-walnut paneled door.
    “Why the secrecy?” I asked, stepping into the room.
    “I don’t like anyone going through my papers. Sit.” He motioned to a chair in front of his desk.
    “So formal,” I said. As I settled into the chair, a giggle escaped out of my mouth, more from nerves than the situation. The rich smell of worn leather enveloped me.
    He pulled a file folder out of a desk drawer and settled into lounge chair behind the desk. “Did you tell Evan anything about us?”
    “No. I haven’t talked to him since that night at the restaurant.” His eyes narrowed. “I know I promised to call him, but I haven’t done it. I didn’t know what to say to him.”
    He opened the file folder, but I couldn’t see anything. “What about Vera?”
    “Nothing. I swear. Except—”
    “Except what?”
    Blood flooded my cheeks. “I told her I was seeing someone, but I refused to tell her any details about you or us.”
    “You didn’t tell anyone else? A therapist? Maybe you wrote something in a diary or a journal.”
    “No.” Then, I remembered the pregnancy test I never removed from cabinet underneath the sink. My stomach dropped. “Well, I took a pregnancy test. I hid it under the bathroom sink at Evan’s apartment. I didn’t want to put it in the trash, but then I forgot about it.”
    Ryker leaned back in his chair. “He’d think it was his.”
    “No, he wouldn’t. We haven’t…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t want to have this conversation with him. “Just no.”
    “What I tell you right now cannot go anywhere. You can’t tell your family. You can’t tell Vera, and you certainly can’t confront Evan or his family.”
    I nodded, and he slid a piece of paper across the desk. “What’s this?”
    “A wire transfer from Senator Deveron to me.”
    I scanned the paper. “Five hundred thousand dollars? What’s this for?”
    “Check the date?”
    “March 1.”
    “What happened around then?”
    I shifted closer, leaning my elbows on his desk as I shook my head, laboring to remember every detail. “Nothing.” I cocked my head to the side. “I broke up with Evan right around that time, and you know what happened after that. I went to Mexico with Vera for Spring Break, then you…” My heart sputtered as pieces of the puzzle shifted in my mind.
    Ryker stood up and walked around the corner of the desk, pausing in front of me with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “Then I found you in that bar in Mexico.”
    The air exploded out of my lungs like I’d been kicked in the gut, and the room tilted. I clutched the edge of the desk, suffocating on the noxious fumes of betrayal. “Did…” I blinked, stalling for time.
    Please don’t be true.
    With deadened