* * *
“You need my help.What can I do?” Tomi tried to keep a calm, distant voice when addressing the FBI agent. They were sitting across from each other in the living room—him on the couch, her in achair.
He studied her in a way that made her feel like one of the insects they’d dissected in high school biology lab. She fought the urge to shift uncomfortably in her seat and instead stared directly back at him, biting her tongue to keep her faceexpressionless.
“What is your relationship withLuis?”
“I was his nanny,” she said bitterly, “until he kidnapped me and tried to sellme.”
“You’ve been with him for over a year. You’ve never worked for someone that long. How do I know you’re not working for him now?” Agent Stahl arched a dark blonde brow, the movement causing tiny wrinkles to form across his forehead. His hair was cut short, military style, and his jaw was clean-shaven. The only thing out of place on the man’s face was the dark purple bruise forming underneath his righteye.
“If you’ve done your research, then you know his child is an angel. I had no intention of leaving him anytimesoon.”
“He does indeed have a son. A son who’s had multiple nannies, none of whom lasted as long as you.” Again the blonde brow arched, and Tomi had to fight the urge to scream. He was wastingtime.
“Maybe none of them loved him as much as I did,” she answered honestly. Luis’s son had been the first person she’d let herself care about like that after walking away from her life withCole.
Agent Stahl shrugged. “Maybe none of them saw the opportunity for wealth youdid.”
Tomi was through playing nice. She shot to her feet and glared at the insensitive asshole sitting on the couch. “Maybe none of them were kidnapped and almost sold as sex dolls. Maybe I didn’t ask for any of this, dammit. Maybe I’m here because I want tohelp.”
Stahl smiled and Tomi took a step back, unsure of the agent’s reaction. Up until this point, she’d assumed he was a machine devoid ofemotion.
“I knew you’d comeback.”
His reaction caught her completely off guard. “What do youmean?”
“I’ve studied you thoroughly. You remind me a lot of my Rachel. You couldn’t live with yourself knowing he was hurting other women.” There was a strange look on Stahl’s face, one that Tomi couldn’t even begin to unravel. “Would you do anything to save those otherwomen?”
Tomi answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
“No.”
She whipped around to see Cole standing in the front door, a murderous look in his blackeyes.
Defiantly, she turned back to Stahl and lifted her chin. “Yes, Iwould.”
“No. You. Won’t.” Cole punctuated each word, staring at her furiously as he strode into the livingroom.”
Unable to help herself, Tomi shot to her feet. “You have no right to tell me what I will and will not do, ColeFury.”
He grabbed her arms, walking her back until she was outside, surrounded by the night sky. Why had she let him do that? Why did she still tremble at histouch?
Why did she still wanthim?
“He is just using you to get inside Luis’s innercircle!”
“Like you used me?” she yelled right back, barely resisting the temptation to push against his chest and run. She didn’t want him to know he could still have that effect on her. “At least now I can choose to be thebait.”
“I was trying to save you, not use you, dammit.” Cole’s black eyes burned, his face turning savage. The ruthless honesty in his expression made her question her judgment. Had he really meant everything he’dsaid?
No, of course he hadn’t. Otherwise, he would have told her the truth in the beginning…he wouldn’t have hidden something so huge fromher.
“Get your hands offme.”
He stared at her, his eyes full of dread. “I’m not letting you go, not until you hear meout.”
She gave him her best seething look. “I already heard you out. I heard you detail exactly how you used me for your own gains. I don’t need to hear itagain.”
