Trust in Me Read Online Free PDF

of thing that could get you killed. But I did it, and what I saw was enough to make me regret my brashness.
    Tyler was holding what I immediately recognized to be Carlos’s phone. It was a popular kind of smartphone in a black case, so maybe it could have been Tyler’s, except I knew it wasn’t. The way he was holding it, kind of shielding it from view, his fingers hesitant on the tiny buttons would have been enough. But the little black cable that stuck out of it, some kind of wire, proved the whole thing. He was downloading data or uploading a virus or something , but it wouldn’t be good.
    A sharp intake of breath ripped through the room, and I realized it had come from me. He whirled on me, and I watched with morbid fascination as emotions flashed across his face. Fear, anger, frustration—things at once familiar and foreign. Resignation, that one I knew well.
    The heavy clod of footsteps signaled Carlos’s return. Tyler yanked the cord from the phone and slid it onto the console table. The cord disappeared, presumably into Tyler’s pockets. His eyes met mine, daring me to say anything, asking me not to.
    Carlos gave me a smirk. “Hungry, chica?”
    He was always nicest after an rough fuck.
    I led the way to the dinner table, hoping my walk didn’t look as robotic as it felt. I barely had control over my limbs. I felt numb even as I sat and ate and conversed. All I was thinking about was that wire. And the look in those blue eyes— caught .
    What had he been doing? Well, that was clear enough. He’d been spying. Tampering.
    But why?
God, it had been bad enough when I’d thought he was in league with Carlos. Carlos would just as soon screw a business partner over if he thought he could get away with it. And he got away with a lot. But to turn the tables and betray Carlos? Shit. Tyler wouldn’t just get himself killed. He’d get himself destroyed. Tortured. Maybe his family killed, if he had any left. I remembered he had a mother back when we’d been neighbors, though she hadn’t been home much. God help whatever girl he might be seeing. Although right now that might be me.
    The specifics didn’t matter. Did he think he could make a few extra bucks somehow, maybe skimming off the top? Or was he thinking he could cut Carlos out of the loop entirely? Whatever. He would lose. And then he would die.
    And somehow— still— I couldn’t let that happen.
    I had to warn him. I had to stop him. It wouldn’t be easy to dissuade him, I knew that much, if he thought the rewards were big. Besides, I’d seen the stubborn glint in his eyes. But I would try. And I would succeed—I had to.
    Maybe I could use my feminine wiles. A wry smile traced my lips at that. Such as they were.
    Carlos took a large swallow of wine. “The thing about whores is that you don’t want to break them. Then they are worthless. You want to keep them hoping, as if one day they might escape.”
    “Really? Why is that?” Tyler’s voice was flat, emotionless. Was this how he’d sound giving orders to a battered, but not yet broken, whore?
    “It gives them a little fight.” Carlos’s eyes had glassed over, as if he were far away. “That’s what you want. A little fight.”
    “Hmm,” Tyler said. “I’ll have to keep that in mind. I always thought that you’d want an obedient slave.”
    “Obedience is only worth anything when it’s earned. And trust me, I’ve earned it. Right, Mia?”
    Except I knew he didn’t want me to answer. I felt Tyler’s eyes on me, but I stared down at my plate, pretending not to care that he wanted to learn how to train a slave.
    My opportunity came sooner than I was expecting. The phone in question rang from the corner of the room, vibrating on the table. Tyler and I both froze, as if the phone itself could incriminate us.Incriminate him , really, although I was now in league with him by keeping silent. Carlos went over and answered it. He turned back to Tyler, and I held my breath.
    “Feel free to