“Dirty?” He looked amused.
“You’re crooked. Dirty. And tomorrow everyone’s going to know about it when—”
He slammed a hand over my mouth to silence me, but I welcomed it. I sank my teeth into the bony fingers and gnashed down hard. Bennett reared back, using his other hand to pull himself away.
“Fucking whore!”
“I told you, I’m not a whore,” I said. “I’m FBI.”
The pain etched on his face was replaced with a nervous expression, but it faded quickly. “Not a chance.”
“We’ve been running this operation for more than a year. Now you’re in our net, and I can’t wait to see what we shake out of you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bennett glanced around. “Where the fuck is this ‘we’?” He flexed his fingers, as if trying to shake out the pain. “All I see is you trapped beneath me. If any of that bullshit were true, why hasn’t anyone come through that door?”
It was an excellent point. Where the fuck was Marquis? Unless . . .
His smile tonight had been laced with extra malice. Had he finally fucked me over as I knew he would? I wretched my arms painfully against the straps, bucking beneath Bennett.
“Get off of me!”
“You’re going to pay for what you just did.”
He closed his unwounded hand around my throat. The temperature in the room plummeted a thousand degrees and my skin turned to lead.
“I’m a federal officer,” I gasped. His fingers tightened. He wouldn’t be able to choke me out completely with just one hand, but it was a sickening feeling as he restricted my windpipe, and I rasped for breath. “You’re going to prison.”
His eyes were brimming with fury, and we crossed a terrible line where I could sense he was no longer in control, either. His erection dug into my belly. My muscles strained so hard they shook, but the more I pushed against him, the worse the hand’s pressure became. I had to get him back in control and thinking about consequences.
I could barely speak. “Kiss that presidential run . . . goodbye.”
So fucking stupid. Rather than release me, his other hand gripped my throat. The first hand had been dominance, but this one’s intent was so much darker. Circulation cut off in my fingers as I tried desperately to break free from the ribbons. I clawed at air.
The choking sounds I’d been making got much worse. The raw, guttural noise punctuated the room, accompanied by my thrashing. My heart was throbbing in my head, but I didn’t dare close my eyes against the pain. I’d keep them open wide and stare into Victor Bennett’s hateful ones, wordlessly telling him to go fuck himself until everything went black.
My instincts said I was going to die on this table, but then again, my instincts were usually never right.
“Let her go!” a male voice yelled.
My vision blurred as oxygen dwindled, but an enormous figure appeared at my side. There was a thunderous smack and Bennett’s weight was gone as he tumbled off of the table.
Air poured back in through my raw throat, and I blinked through the haze. Unavoidable tears burned in my eyes.
“Julius,” I rasped.
Chapter
TWENTY-FIVE
Julius tore open the straps, setting me free. My upper body ached and I was weak all over, too much to move. My head lolled to the side.
Illinois congressman Victor Bennett was sprawled on the floor of a brothel, knocked out cold with one punch.
White silk splashed on me as Julius draped the robe over my body. His hands dove beneath, lifting me into his arms and crushing me against his beautiful new suit.
“I got you, girl.” His deep voice was soft, and I wanted to cry at the sound. Hell, maybe I was crying. The tears from the lack of oxygen were still burning in my eyes. His strong arms carried me through the open door and he moved swiftly through the hall. “You’re gonna be fine.”
It made me nervous. He didn’t ask me if I was okay, which meant I probably wasn’t. My head was still pounding and the world was spinning, so I