Page 37 of Reveal

And still, nothing makes sense. Not our reaction to the sex. Not our need to have time to mull it over. Not my fear about what this means for me and my future.

The sigh I’m about to emit stutters on my lips when the Uber pulls down my street and I see the black limousine parked at the end of my driveway. I hate that I hesitate getting out of the car or that I rationalize its presence.

“Everything okay, ma’am?” my Uber driver asks when I just sit there for a moment.

“Yes. Fine.” I smile at him in the rearview mirror before getting out of the car.

I try not to look at the limo as I skirt around it and up my walk, because everything about it scares me. And when its door opens, I know why.

“Vaughn.”

His voice.

That voice.

Chills blanket my skin about as quickly as the rage that flows through my veins. He sought me out. He actually got my address and sought me out.

When I turn to face the senator, I startle when I see the man dressed all in black, earpiece in, leaning against the front fender.

He brought his security detail with him? Now my guard is up even further.

The fine line separating Vee and Vaughn is now blurred.

My feet falter. My heart races. I glance around but know that at this time of night no one is likely to be near if I need help.

“I’ve been looking into you.” His deep baritone rumbles through the darkened night.

“Please leave.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yes, it is.” I grip my keys in my hand and wonder how fast I can slip each one between my fingers to use as a weapon to fend him off if need be.

“I believe you have something that is mine, Vaughn.” His smile is akin to a great white shark’s—deceptive in every way.

“And I asked you to leave.” I glance over at the security detail, wondering what it is he knows here and hating that yet another person is aware of my real identity.

“The pictures, please.”

“Now why would I do that?”

Carter’s chuckle is obnoxious and arrogant, and it stops abruptly. “Because they are my business.”

“Just like you being here and me asking you to leave is my business.”

He takes a step toward me, and I hide the hitch in my breath. “We both know I like to play dirty . . . maybe it’s best not to test just how low I’ll go to get what I need . . . that is, unless you like it when I go down low.” He makes no attempt to hide his blatant stare at the V of my thighs as his tongue licks out to wet his bottom lip before he looks back up.

My skin crawls, and my thoughts veer to Ryker and his explanation about what happened in the pool house—how adamant Carter was about having something on me.

“I don’t think you’re appreciating how much restraint I’m exercising right now,” he murmurs.

“Touch me and I’ll call the cops.” I arch a brow, my words defiant, while my insides are shaking.

“It’s a pretty precarious position you’re in, Vaughn. Waiting to adopt. In debt up to your ears. Using illegal means to try to pay it off. Nothing with you is what it seems.” He leans in and despite my threat twirls a finger around a lock of my hair. His way to show me he’s not scared by my warning. When he pulls forcefully on the strands, I have to bite back a yelp. “Can you imagine what would and could happen to you if all of that got out?”

I grit my teeth and steel myself when he leans in, so I can feel his breath feather over my cheek. He stares at me, and I fix my gaze on the tree over his shoulder.

“That would be a shame, wouldn’t it? All this work for nothing? All this risk and fear for naught? I’d think long and hard about not doing as I say, or else poor little Lucy might just become a permanent ward of the state.”