Page 38 of Reverence

We were inches apart, my eyes widening for a split second. “That shit you pulled will get you killed. If not by a crash then by me, reckless bastard.”

“Let go of my fucking tie, Rivera.” This only made her grip tighten.

“If you didn’t behave so immaturely, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

Fuck’s sake.

The proximity added to my already tense state.

“I’ll let go when I feel like it. You’re selfish.”

“Amala.” I frowned, seeing her facial features up close and personal felt bizarre.

“It’s frustrating when someone ignores your requests, isn’t it?”

When I inhaled, her perfume infiltrated my senses making me swallow hard.

“You made a request? Seemed like a demand to me.” I tried moving backward but her grip was relentless. “I’m anything but selfish.”

“I don’t think you’re really grasping the seriousness of this situation, so let me break it down for you.”

With her free hand, she gripped my face. Shit.

“When you’re driving by yourself, you can be reckless. Drive yourself off a cliff for all I care but when you’ve got passengers, you really should be more mindful.”

I didn’t want to touch her but I needed to get her wretched hands off me.

With swift movements I grabbed both her wrists and held them down against her thighs with one hand, using the other to yank her head back by her hair.

She hissed, trying to fight me.

My blood sizzled, cheeks flushing in the process.

The turn of events gave me a rush of adrenaline and .. I didn’t know what I felt right now but I despised it.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” I narrowed my eyes. “You’re not my fucking commander.” I spat.

“I’ve been patient with you, not that I should’ve been but you’re pushing me. I drove faster because I don’t want to be around you longer than necessary. Do you understand that?”

She ripped her wrists free and shoved me, forcing me to release her hair.

“I understand.” She mocked. “I understand that you’re pathetic. If I were spineless I would’ve handed in my resignation ages ago because who in the fuck actually enjoys working with you? I surely don’t.”

She climbed out of the car aggressively. “You better not slam—” Thunk. Of course she slammed it shut in any case. “My fucking door,” I whispered to myself, sighing softly. “Jesus.”

I swiped my hand down my face, shaking my head in disapproval.

If my occupation didn’t turn my hair grey before forty, dealing with people like that definitely would.

Ten

Amala

Thirteen hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty-three seconds. That’s how long the suspect had been detained.

Without a confession or solid evidence against him, we didn’t have the authority to keep him any longer than forty-eight hours.

With my arms crossed, I watched intently through the two-way window as Ares entered the interrogation room.