Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,162

just a space between the double doors. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

“Why?” I asked before I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be speaking. “So you can try to get something out of me that will get Colt in trouble?”

Caleb shook his head, his brow furrowing. “No, so that we can stop the people who are causing the trouble.”

I swallowed. My breathing was staring to return to normal now, the adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins lessening. A woman walked out of the restaurant, brushing by us and onto the sidewalk. Caleb shoved his badge into his pocket quickly -- I guess it wouldn’t do to have everyone freaking out about there being an FBI agent around. The interruption gave me a second to try and compose myself.

“Five minutes,” Caleb said, holding his hands up, like he meant no harm. “Just five minutes, Olivia, that’s all.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “What kind of trouble?”

“What?”

“You said you wanted to stop the people who are causing the trouble. So what kind of trouble are they causing that’s so bad?”

“Prostitution. Drugs. Maybe some embezzling.”

I opened my mouth to deny it, to tell him there was no way Colt would be involved with any of those things. But then I remembered that girl, the one who’d been on the couch in the backroom of Loose Cannons, her hair chopped off, a scratch on her cheek. And then I remembered those men at the bachelor party, the ones who’d tried to maul me. They must have gotten the idea that that would be okay from somewhere.

Then there were the track marks on Jessa’s arms, the way she hadn’t even tried to hide them, almost like she wanted me to know she had them. Was she trying to send me a message about what kind of place it was?

Colt would never have allowed those things to go on in his club.

It was my instinct, but how could I be sure? I knew nothing about him, except for the fact that I’d lost my virginity to him. I could still feel his touch, his kiss, the way he’d moved inside of me, his cock stretching me out, how strong and hard his body had felt on top of mine.

But then I remembered how callously he’d tossed me away, how he’d told me I could take his car to go and see Declan. Why would he have said that if sleeping with me had meant anything to him?

Open your eyes, Olivia. He’s a jerk, and to believe otherwise is just silly.

“Olivia,” Caleb said. “You don’t want to risk everything for these people. They’re bad people. They’re doing bad things.”

My heart didn’t believe him. I wasn’t sure why – all the evidence was telling me otherwise. I was probably a fool, but I didn’t believe Colt would ever do those things.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I can’t help you. I don’t know anything and I don’t work there anymore.”

Caleb’s eyes darkened and for the first time, I saw something besides just sympathy and calmness there – it was something else, something lurking just below the surface, something dark and a little bit sinister. It wasn’t that he wanted to hurt me -- I didn’t feel like I was in any danger, at least not physically, by being there with him.

It was more that he really wanted me to help him. I could tell from the look on his face and the tone in his voice that he really wanted this, that he really wanted to bring Loose Cannons down, and that, in and of itself, made me anxious. Caleb had been friendly, but now I wasn’t playing by his rules and I could tell it was getting him upset.

“You don’t want to do this, Olivia,” he said quietly.

“Don’t want to do what?”

“You don’t want to go down with people who don’t care about you.”

“Go down with them?” I shook my head. “I told you I don’t work there anymore.”

Caleb shrugged, right back into business mode, right back into acting like he could care less if I helped him. But I knew better. I knew how bad he wanted this. It was another thing my time in foster care had taught me – people who tried to overcompensate by acting too nonchalant were the ones who wanted things the most. “It doesn’t matter. Whoever’s worked there, whoever’s been a part of this is going to end up paying a price.”

Another patron of the restaurant came walking