“Your security is solid,” Davis responded, not taking his eyes off the road. “But tomorrow, I want to take a look at your security video for the days connected to the armor being built and shipped out. I want to look at your security card access logs, too. See who went in and out of sensitive areas who shouldn’t have been there or who was there at odd hours.”
“Sure.” Her mind rebelled at the idea of letting an outsider sift through their security footage, but better Davis find the truth than some big, public FBI investigation. Assuming she really could trust him to keep her in the loop and let her manage the betrayal without a huge media fallout.
She wasn’t naive enough to think the press wouldn’t eventually get the story. But better it came from Petrov Armor than in the form of an FBI statement.
“What about suspects? Who do you think did this? Is it possible it was a switch that happened after the armor left our facilities?” As she said it, the idea gained traction in her mind and gave her hope that she hadn’t massively misjudged someone crucial inside her company.
A switch along the delivery route still meant a Petrov Armor employee was probably involved. But it wouldn’t be someone she’d known well for years. It wouldn’t be the same level of betrayal to the company or to her father’s memory.
“I’ve been inside for a day and a half,” Davis answered, still not looking at her. “Right now, everyone is a suspect.”
“You want me to work with you, Davis? I need you to work with me, too. I can’t give you insight into anyone if I don’t know who you need to check out.”
His head moved just slightly toward her, his gaze sweeping over her face like he was looking for something. Then he focused on the road again, probably training drilled into him at the FBI. Never take your eyes off the task ahead.
“Tell me about Eric Ross.”
She choked on nothing, on air, on the ridiculousness of that statement. Eric, a traitor? “I’ve known him since I was thirteen. He was almost as close to my dad as I was. Trust me. He had nothing to do with this.”
“Are you sure you can be impartial? The man obviously has a crush on you.”
“He doesn’t...” She let out a heavy sigh. “That’s ridiculous. Look, I get it. I misjudged someone at the company. But it’s not Eric.”
She shifted in her seat so she could see him better and got distracted by the way he looked in dress pants and a blazer. The bulge at his hip under his seat belt caught her attention, and she realized what it was. “You’re wearing a gun.”
He gave her another one of those quick, searching gazes, then replied, “Always. Even if the FBI didn’t require it, I was an army ranger before I joined the Bureau. I like being prepared.”
A ranger. Leila let that image fill her mind—Davis in an army uniform, wearing that revered tan beret that identified him as a member of the elite Special Forces unit. It was easy to imagine him parachuting out of a plane, steering a small boat full of soldiers through a jungle river, or rappelling down the side of a mountain. Something about the quiet confidence in his gaze, the outright cockiness of his grin and the muscles that his blazer seemed barely able to contain.
Forcing the image out of her head, she joked, “So, if you’re always prepared, what’s in the back? An inflatable boat and a parachute?”
He gave her that quick look again, but this time there was laughter in his eyes and that sexy, amused tilt to his lips.
He’d probably already put her in a box in his mind: serious CEO determined to live up to her father’s example. Not a real, rounded person who went home to a too-quiet house, couldn’t sleep without background noise and liked to dance by herself in the living room.
Leila instantly regretted letting him see her ridiculous sense of humor. She shifted her left leg back to the floor, no longer facing him as she tried to focus. But it was hard not to think about that smile, those lips. It made her belly tighten with awareness, and she wondered if this was part of his arsenal.
How often did he use sex appeal undercover in order to get what he wanted?
And what exactly did he want? He’d implied that he suspected Eric, made the absurd suggestion that Eric had a crush on her. But surely he’d looked into her past before coming into her company. Did he know she and Eric had dated for four years? Did he know how badly Eric had broken her heart? Or how hard it had been to come into a company where Eric already worked, to try to treat him like any other colleague?
As Davis pulled up in front of her house and Leila realized she’d never given him the address, dread sank to the bottom of her stomach, replacing any twinges of lust.
Of course he knew all of those things. Probably a lot more, too. Even worse, he hadn’t told her a single real thing about his investigation.
She didn’t know if he’d done it on purpose. Or if he planned to let her in only when he needed her.
But one thing was certain: she couldn’t trust Davis either.
Chapter Five
“You do realize I
