Read Online Protected by Him by Hannah Ford - Free Book Online

PROTECTED BY HIM
(Obsessed With Him, Book Five)
    I t took me a second to realize what Caleb was saying, because at first I was just relieved he wasn’t some psycho who was following me down the street so he could mug me.
    But my relief was soon replaced with an even worse feeling – yeah, maybe Caleb didn’t want to hurt me, but he was with the FBI? And he was investigating Colt’s club?
    I opened my mouth to ask Caleb what the hell he was talking about, but then I immediately clamped it shut. If there was one thing I’d learned while navigating my way through the tangled system of DCF and foster care, it was that the less you said, the better off you were.
    “Olivia,” Caleb said, and he was holding his badge out toward me, wanting me to look at it, wanting to prove he was who he said he was. I stared down at it, my heart pounding. Federal Bureau Of Investigation it said, the words carved ominously into the metal. “I just want to talk.”
    “Right.” No one ever just wanted to talk. When someone said that, what they really meant was that they just wanted information or to catch you in a lie.
    Caleb straightened up and peered into the restaurant. We were standing in the lobby, if you could even call it that – it was really 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