Need Me

by Cynthia Eden

  What would it have been like? She was sure the attraction between them would have been just as fierce. But there would have been no secrets. No lies.

  Just their need.

  “You know me now,” Devlin told her. “That’s what matters. And I don’t care what you have planned, I won’t let you be in danger. I won’t let you get hurt.”

  Oh, Dev. “You can’t control everyone or everything.” She leaned up and put her mouth against his. Her lips pressed lightly to his, and she just savored him a moment. This would probably be their last kiss, so she’d enjoy it.

  And she’d remember him. “Thank you,” Julianna said.

  Then she pulled away. It was time to pay for her crimes.

  They headed into the hallway, and Julianna nearly ran straight into the tall, blonde woman who was rushing toward her room.

  “Julianna!” Avery’s breath rushed out in surprise. Her wide eyes swept over Julianna’s body. “You’re…I heard about the attack. I wanted to check on you.”

  Check on her? Since when did Avery care?

  Devlin moved to her side. “Now isn’t the best time.”

  “I heard the house is destroyed.” Avery’s lips trembled. “Jeremy loved that house, and now it’s broken.”

  Julianna felt pretty damn broken right then.

  “Who did it?” Avery demanded. “Did you see the man?”

  Julianna shook her head. “No.”

  “We’ll get him,” Devlin vowed. “Don’t worry about that.” Then he was steering Julianna around Avery.

  “I’m sorry!” Avery cried out.

  Julianna glanced back at her.

  “I…loved him.” Avery’s shoulders sagged. “I think that…made me a little crazy for a while.”

  Julianna didn’t know what to say to the other woman.

  “You should have just let him go,” Avery said and her gaze hardened on Julianna. “Because you didn’t love him.”

  I wasn’t the one keeping him prisoner. “You didn’t know him, not nearly as well as you thought.” Her fingers brushed against Devlin. “Let’s go.” Because she had a confession to make, one that she couldn’t put off, not any longer.

  “I loved him,” Avery’s words followed her.

  Julianna kept her spine straight. And I killed him.

  ***

  Sophie Sarantos was waiting for them at the police station. When Devlin saw her, some of the tension finally left his body. Sophie knew how to handle her clients. She’d rein Julianna in. She’d stop her from doing—well, whatever the hell it was Julianna seemed so intent on doing.

  Sophie hurried toward them. “You look like hell,” she told Julianna.

  Devlin frowned at her. Yes, Julianna was bruised but she was still fucking gorgeous. She’d always be.

  “Let’s go back to my firm,” Sophie said as she cast a critical eye over Julianna. “I know a lot has been going on and I want to figure out who is—”

  “Devlin called you.”

  He really didn’t like the flat tone of Julianna’s voice. The woman was worrying him.

  Sophie cast a quick glance his way. “Last night,” she allowed. “You’d left and he was…concerned for you.” Sophie took a step toward them, moving easily in the spiky heels that she seemed to love. “He had a right to be concerned. You were attacked! I told you that you needed VJS for protection, and—”

  Julianna walked around her. Sophie’s mouth dropped.

  “I thought my stalker was in custody.” Julianna’s voice drifted back to them. “I was wrong about that, too.”

  Sophie grabbed Devlin’s arm. “What is she doing? You told me to stake out the police station, so I did. I’ve been here too damn long and I don’t want any games.”

  Right. He had told her to be at the station—because he’d thought Julianna might head there after she left him last night. “Didn’t Lex call you?” And tell you to stop the police duty?

  “He did,” she threw over her shoulder as she hurried up the steps after Julianna. “But I was checking sources here…and when they brought in Heather Aslo’s boyfriend an hour ago, I wasn’t about to leave.”

  Shit. “Hugh Bounty is here?” He wanted to get his hands on that SOB.

  She didn’t answer until they were inside the station. Inside and looking for Julianna.

  “The cops brought him in,” Sophie explained. “And the guy was not a happy camper.”

  He spied Julianna. She was leaning in close and talking with Faith. As he watched them, Faith put her hand on Julianna’s shoulder and started leading her back to the interrogation area. Hell, no. “Julianna!”

  She flinched and looked back at him.

  Sophie double-timed it in her heels until she was right beside Julianna. “This is my client,” she declared. “Just what is happening here?”

  Faith shrugged. “Your client asked to speak with me.”

  The pounding of Devlin’s heart seemed too loud. He held Julianna’s gaze. There was no missing the fear there. Don’t do it. Leave with me, right now. He wanted to say those words to her so badly because he knew, deep down, he knew what she was going to tell Faith.

  It doesn’t fucking matter.

  “I’m sorry,” Julianna told him.

  He reached out to her and grabbed her hands. “She’s confused,” he bit out. “The doc said she has a concussion. She needs to go back to my place and rest, right now.”

  Faith frowned at her. “That knot on your head does look pretty—”

  “No.” Julianna straightened her spine. “We have to talk, now.” She shook her head. “But you can’t be there, Dev. Not you. Please. I can’t do this with you here.”

  His chest burned. “Julianna…”

  “It would have been nice, really nice, to meet you before…” Her smile was bittersweet. “But you’re right. We do know each other now, and I’m very glad that we do. You are a man worth knowing. A man I won’t forget.” Then she turned and headed toward interrogation.

  He took a step after her.

  Faith’s hand came down on his chest. “No way. You’re staying out here.” She jerked her head toward Sophie. “Her lawyer’s coming in, but not you.”

  Faith turned and followed after Julianna. It was probably the first time she’d had to chase her suspect into an interrogation room.

  “Stop her,” Devlin said to Sophie.

  She looked up at him. “What is happening here?”

  “I think your client is making a confession.” He shook his head. “Stop her.”

  Sophie took off at a run.

  ***

  Julianna’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking. She balled them into fists and sat at the little chair in the interrogation room.

  “Are you all right?” Faith asked and there seemed to be genuine concern in the other woman’s voice.

  Julianna nodded.

  The door flew open. “My client needs a doctor!” Sophie said, her voice hard. “This meeting is over. Once she has rested and been cleared by medical professionals—”

  “I did it,” Julianna blurted, then her shoulders sagged.

  Silence.

  “My client is delusional,” Sophie said. Her high heels clicked on the floor. “Confusion is a normal side effect from a concussion.”

  Faith lifted her brows. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Julianna. “You delusional?”

  “No.”

  “You confused?”

  “I—”

  Sophie put her hand on Julianna’s shoulder. “My client has nothing else to say.”

  “Yes, I do.” Julianna licked her lips. She kept her gaze on Faith. The detective had warm eyes. Kind eyes. “I remembered more.”

  Sophie’s fingers tightened on Julianna’s shoulder. “Stop.”

  She couldn’t. “I remember being in the den that night. Jeremy gave me wine. I was—I was leaving him.”

  Sophie cursed. Very inventive curses.

  “He wasn’t going to let me go.” It’s time for yo

u to understand who’s in charge here, sweetness. I have the power. Me. Not you. Goosebumps rose on her arms as his words blasted through her head. “He told me…I knew he was going to rape me. He said he married me, so he owned me.” She rubbed her chilled arms. “He’d tried before, to get me in his bed, but I slept in another room. I kept the door locked. He had a lover on the side, he told me about her…” The same day he’d broken her wrist, he’d told her about the other woman. A woman who’d kept him occupied when Julianna had tried to keep him the hell away. What a fucking prince. “So I thought he was just screwing her all those weeks. That he’d forgotten about me.” She licked her lips. “He hadn’t, though. That night, he wasn’t stopping.”

  “I want you to listen to me,” Sophie said, her voice seeming to fill that room. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You were attacked—”

  “I think he put something in my wine.” She’d told Faith that before, but none of the cops had believed her. “I remember being so woozy when he came at me. He had the knife. It was his. When he said he was going to fuck me, something snapped in me. I shoved at him, and he dropped the knife.”

  Silence. No, not a full silence. She could hear the steady ticking of a clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. The seconds were sliding by. Sophie wasn’t trying to stop her, not anymore. “I was on my hands and knees. I had the knife. I couldn’t walk…my whole body felt heavy. He-he grabbed me. Screamed that I couldn’t fight him because he’d kill me.” She looked down at her hands. The cast was so big.

  “Julianna?” Faith prompted. “What happened next?”

  “He wasn’t going to rape me. He’d hurt me enough.” Her gaze lifted again. “I struck out with that knife. He screamed when it cut him.”

  Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock seemed even louder.

  “I pulled the knife out of his chest.” Her breath came faster. “I tried to crawl away, but he lunged for me again.” Her fingers flexed. “And I remember bringing up the knife…”

  Tick. Tick.

  “Did you drive that knife into him thirteen times?” Faith asked.

  Julianna flinched. “I don’t remember. I-I can’t remember anything else.”

  Faith’s eyes narrowed on her.

  “Self-defense,” Sophie said immediately. “This is an absolute clear case of self-defense. My client had to protect herself and she did the only thing that she could—”

  Faith held up her hand, stopping Sophie. “You stabbed him twice, that’s what you remember?”

  She nodded.

  “And his blood got on you when you stabbed him.”

  “Yes.” She could see the blood soaking his shirt, dripping from the knife.

  “You say you were drugged?”

  Her gaze lowered to the surface of the table. The wood was old and scratched. “I think I was. I didn’t feel…right.”

  “Maybe that was the rage. I’ve seen people snap. Go crazy with fury and everything around them seems different. They’ve told me the whole world was off when that killing rage hit them.”

  Julianna shook her head. “No, no, it wasn’t that. I was leaving him.” Killing him hadn’t been her plan.

  “Why then?” Faith moved closer. Julianna looked up at her. “You stayed with him for two months. Two months during which…you didn’t sleep with him, but he hurt you. Your testimony. You stayed with him, you didn’t flee. You didn’t—”

  “Victim blaming,” Sophie snapped. “Faith, you are better than that.”

  Faith’s eyelids flickered. “I know my victims. I know all about them. I know about women who stay with fucking psychos because those bastards have beat them down until they think they can’t do anything else. I know about women who take hits again and again because they’re protecting their kids, because they think staying with the monster is better than being alone on the street. I know women of every color and every income who live in fear because there’s some fucking bastard out there swinging his fists…I know those women because my mother was one of them.”

  Julianna couldn’t take her gaze off the detective.

  Faith inclined her head toward her. “I saw the signs with you. The way you tensed when men came too close. The way you seemed to shrink into yourself when you were pressed too hard.” Her jaw hardened. “And you know what my money is on? I think you stayed because you believed you were protecting someone else. Just who were you protecting, Julianna? Who was it?”

  “I—” She shook her head.

  A knock sounded at the door. Faith turned away. Marched to the door.

  “If you want to stay out of a jail cell,” Sophie whispered in Julianna’s ear. “Let me do my job. Stop, for the love of God, just stop talking.”

  When Faith opened the door, a young, uniformed cop stood there. He handed Faith a manila file. She opened it and thumbed through the contents in silence. After a while, she sighed and said, “This changes things.” She looked up and focused on Sophie. “You’ll be getting your own copy of this report soon enough. For now…” She headed back across the room and gave the file to Sophie. “So…just to be clear, we all know that ADA Eastbridge was batshit.”

  ADA Eastbridge? Why were they talking about him?

  Julianna peered over at that file. She knew that Sophie had gone through hell with the ADA recently—because the guy had been stalking her.

  “All of the ADA’s cases are being re-examined,” Faith continued. “And with that re-examination, well, I focused my energy on his most recent cases.”

  “He destroyed evidence,” Sophie said as she read the report Faith had just given her.

  Faith nodded.

  “Sophie?” Julianna pressed. “What’s happening?”

  Sophie glanced up at her. “You were drugged. Eastbridge destroyed the original lab results, probably because he knew no jury would convict you for murder—you couldn’t have been legally responsible. Jeremy gave you so much Zolpidem that I’m actually amazed you woke up at all.”

  Zol—what?

  “A dosage that strong can kill.” Faith’s voice was grim.

  “That bastard Eastbridge,” Sophie snarled. “He destroyed evidence? Falsified reports? Why the hell would he—” She stopped and stared at Julianna in horror. “Because you were my client. Because if the real test results came out, there wouldn’t be a trial. He wanted the trial. Wanted us together…Oh, Julianna, I am so sorry.”

  The throbbing in her head was getting worse. So was the nausea. “The wine…it was in the wine?”

  “Your glass was shattered, but we examined the rest of the bottle. You were the only one who drank that wine. There was none in Jeremy’s system,” Faith explained.

  Because why would he drug himself?

  “Where did he get it from?” Sophie wanted to know. “There has to be a trail we can follow. Someone who—”

  “His step-daughter, Heather, has trouble sleeping. Night terrors.” Faith’s lips curled in a cold smile. “I learned that last night. She was demanding that we give her the medication she needed. Her—”

  “Zolpidem,” Sophie finished.

  Faith nodded.

  The throbbing in her head was like a drum, banging and banging. Why wouldn’t it stop? “Her drugs? But…but I…killed…” She tried to focus on Faith but black spots danced in front of Julianna’s eyes. She put her hand to her head. “Something…wrong…” Julianna stood, but her legs felt funny. “Dev…?”

  “Julianna!” Sophie yelled.

  Julianna hit the floor.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Don’t even think of running…because I’d have you before you even made it to the door.”

  Julianna blinked, her dark eyes hazy with confusion.

  “You’re in the hospital,” Devlin told her, “and you’re staying here for the next twenty-four hours. Even if I have to tie you to that bed.”

  She looked at the bed. Frowned. Then looked back at him.

  “You passed out at the police station. An ambulance brought you here.” An ambulance he’d ridden in. They needed to get out of the habit of that shit. “You should have stayed here to begin with. You have a concussion. You don’t get to play around with something like that.”

  Tears filled her eyes. Hell, no. “Don’t do it,” he snapped at her. “Don’t you dare do that.”

  “They…told you what I did.”

  Her big confession. “You pissed Sophie off, that’s what you did. When your lawyer tells you to stop talking, you should.”

  She shook her head, sending her blonde hair sliding over the pillow. “No, Devlin, you know—”

  “That the bastard drugged you? Tried to rape you? Yeah, I know that.” He sure hoped Jeremy Smith was spinning over a fiery pit in hell.

  “That I killed him,” she whispered as the machines around her seemed to go wild.

  Then she stared at him with wide, desperate eyes. Waiting for—what? Him to storm out? He bent forward and brushed back her hair. “Calm down, baby. The stress isn’t good for you.”

  “D-did you hear me? I said—”

  “He drugged you. He was going to rape you. You defended yourself.” He shook his head. “That’s not cold-blooded murder. That’s survival.”

  Her lower lip trembled, but she caught it with her teeth, stopping that movement.

  “You think I don’t know you’ve been living in a nightmare?” Devlin asked her. “You think I didn’t see the signs? I know, baby. I know. And I wish that I could take away all of your pain. I wish that I could make every fucking thing better for you. I wish…hell, yeah, I even wish that I had met you before you got tangled up with Jeremy. I would tell you to stay away from that bastard. Maybe I’d even kill him myself.”

  She grabbed his hand. “No.”

  He stared into her eyes. Eyes that were open and on his. He could see the flecks of gold in her gaze. He’d been watching over her, for hours. Tensing with every little movement. And realizing that he was in far, far too deep with her. And if he was this bad now…what would it be like a year from now? Two years?

  She’ll have all of me. Even my soul.

  “I would kill to protect you. I would eliminate any threat to you.” He thought she needed to know that. “So you seriously think I’d judge you for surviving? That I’d turn away from you? The fuck, no. The fact that you fought to survive makes me…it makes me want you even more.”

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