by Cynthia Eden
He shook his head. “No, baby, completely trusting me. Believing that I won’t sell you out. That I won’t turn my back if I learn something about you that isn’t one hundred percent fucking good.” He strode past her and grabbed his coat. “You should count on me.” He shouldered into the coat. When he glanced back at Julianna, she was staring at him.
One of those deep, intense stares that could make a man nervous.
“In the beginning…” Julianna’s voice was mild. “When I first went into your office…if I’d told you then that I had killed Jeremy, what would you have done?”
His teeth snapped together. “This isn’t the beginning,” he growled.
“You would have turned me in to the cops, right?” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I knew that. Why do you think I’m the one who went to Faith? Why do you think I didn’t tell you first?”
“Julianna—”
“Because I could see that you were changing. I was changing, too. Wanting things…that I shouldn’t. Part of me did want you to say, ‘Screw it. Guilty or innocent, I still want you.’”
I do.
“But that wouldn’t be right. Because a man like you shouldn’t want a killer.”
She was so wrong. “You’re not a killer.” She was a survivor. In many ways, they were so alike. Did she think he truly didn’t have a darkness inside? Living, breathing, growing?
She just smiled a sad smile.
“You’re not,” he snapped.
She walked past him.
“Uh, Julianna?”
“Fast Shots is waiting, and for the record, I could really use a drink right now.”
Swearing, he hurried after her.
***
Fast Shots was truly a hole in the wall. Dark and musky, the place looked as if it had seen many, many better days. And those days had been long ago.
Even though it was early, there were a few people in the bar. Three men. Two women. “Which one is Hugh?” Julianna asked as she narrowed her eyes. She’d never met Heather’s lover before but…
If I were looking for a guy who was big, like the jerk who attacked me, I’d pick that guy over by the bar. The blond who was downing shots as fast as he could.
“That one,” Lex Jensen said, pointing toward the bar and the blond shot-drinker.
Lex had been waiting outside and when they’d arrived, he’d gone in with them. She knew that Lex was rather heavily involved with Sophie. From what Sophie had said, they were serious. And happy. A rare combination.
“How are we going to play this?” Lex asked. “Are we—shit, man, wait!”
Devlin wasn’t waiting. He was already marching across the bar. Lex rushed after him and so did Julianna. Her hip bumped into a nearby table as she hurried forward.
Devlin grabbed Hugh’s shoulder and spun the guy around. Hugh’s shot glass went flying.
“What. The. Fuck!” Hugh snarled and shot to his feet, fists clenched. “Who the hell are you?”
Her heart slammed into her chest. Hugh was as big as Devlin and definitely as muscled. Maybe even a little more so. There was a whole lot of rage flaring in his eyes. A lot.
Devlin smiled at him. “I’m the guy who wants to kick your ass.”
“Here we go,” Lex muttered, running a hand through his hair. “And Dev thinks I have control issues.”
Her gaze swung between the men. Was Hugh the one who’d attacked her? She didn’t know for sure. He was the right size but…
Hugh slammed his hand into Devlin’s chest. “Get the hell away from me.”
Devlin didn’t move an inch. “You’re Heather Aslo’s lover.”
Hugh’s eyes squinted. “I was, but now the dumb bitch is in jail.” He motioned to the bartender. “Another round.” Then his gaze—a hard green—cut toward Lex and Julianna. His stare lingered for a moment on Julianna. Then he grinned at her. “You’re pretty. Want to go in the back and fuck?”
Her jaw dropped.
His grin stretched. “I’ll give you a ride you won’t—”
Devlin had him against the bar in an instant. He moved in a fast glide and shoved Hugh back hard enough to send more glasses tumbling to the floor. Even as Julianna blinked in shock, Devlin’s fist was up and ready to pound into Hugh’s face.
“No!” Julianna yelled. “Devlin, no!” That violence had erupted so fast. It was dangerous. Deadly.
Scary.
Devlin froze.
Hugh didn’t. Hugh grabbed a bottle of whiskey and swung it toward Devlin.
“Dev!” Julianna cried out.
Dev ducked and the whiskey bottle missed him. Then he punched out. Once, twice, and the whiskey slipped from Hugh’s fingers because the guy was howling and reaching for his now bleeding mouth.
Julianna backed up. Dev was…he was different right then. A heavy aura of rage clung to him.
“You don’t fucking look at her,” Dev snarled. “Do you hear me? You don’t go near her. You don’t touch her.”
She retreated even more.
“Julianna?” Lex touched her shoulder. She flinched away from him. “Julianna, are you all right?”
Hugh was bleeding. Dev had just…pounded the man. Violence. She hated violence now.
And Dev—even his voice was different. So filled with fury and hate and jealousy.
She’d thought Jeremy was good at first. Then he’d changed, too.
Her head began to throb. She pushed away from Lex. She shouldn’t have come. Dev had tried to keep her away, but she’d thought she might recognize Hugh’s voice or his hands or something.
But she hadn’t. Instead, she was just afraid.
Julianna spun and ran for the door. I am so sick of fear. When will it ever end? Why was she letting it control her so much? She shoved open the bar’s door and hurried outside, gulping that cold air desperately as she tried to push through that suffocating fear. She was tired of being afraid. Tired.
“He won’t hurt you.”
The air was cold, and that was good. Her cheeks were burning hot. Julianna glanced over her shoulder and saw that Lex had followed her outside. He was standing a few feet away, studying her carefully. “You should be inside with Devlin,” she told him. “He needs you for backup.”
“Devlin doesn’t really need anyone.”
Doesn’t he?
“He won’t hurt you,” Lex said again.
She glanced toward the street and the buzz of cars. “He just kicked a man’s ass in about two seconds flat. I didn’t…I knew he was strong, but I’d never seen—”
“It’s not like we grew up easy,” Lex said, his voice gentle. “We had to fight for what we wanted. In group homes, the older kids would make our lives hell. In schools, shit, you think it was ever easy being the kids that no one wanted?”
She turned toward him.
“You fought for what you wanted,” he told her once more, giving a grim nod. “But you know what we never, ever did? What not one of us would do?”
She knew that “us” he spoke about was the family they’d created—Lex, Chance, and Devlin.
“We never hurt anyone weaker than us. We never hurt the innocent. The whole reason we started VJS was because we wanted to protect, not destroy.”
The fear was fading. Slowly. “It’s hard for me to trust—”
“I would trust Devlin and Chance with my life.”
She shook her head. He wasn’t getting it. “It’s hard for me to trust myself. I’m the one who married Jeremy. I’m the one he manipulated. If I was wrong about him, how can I know that I won’t be wrong about someone else, too?”
He watched her with his unfathomable green eyes.
“Go back inside,” Julianna urged him. “Devlin needs you.”
He turned to go, but then paused. “Have you seen the way the guy looks at you?”
She didn’t know what he was talking about.
“If Dev needs anyone,” Lex added, “it’s not me.” He glanced back at her and smiled. Oddly, though, his smile wasn�
�t reassuring. It was scary. Dangerous. “I told you that Devlin would never hurt you, and I sure hope I can count on you for the same thing.”
“What? I-I wouldn’t hurt Dev—”
“You just looked at him like he was a monster. You walked away from him. It’s not always fists that hurt.”
Then he was gone. She stood out there, the cold sweeping around her. Deeper now, tighter, that cold clung to her. Julianna wrapped her arms around her stomach, being very careful with her broken wrist. She thought of men and lies.
Secrets.
And desires.
I don’t want to be afraid any longer.
***
Julianna stood outside of Fast Shots, her gaze sweeping the street. She was the perfect target in that moment. No bodyguard was around to run and protect her. No cops were close to shield her.
Perfect.
Only…
She has what I need.
The file hadn’t been at the Smith estate. It hadn’t been there where it damn well should have been hidden. The only person with access to it must have been Julianna.
Jeremy Smith had been a straight-A bastard. He’d deserved a thousand deaths. Did Julianna think she was his first victim? Hardly. The psychopath had just been good at shielding his true nature…from all but those closest to him.
You hurt the ones you love. Wasn’t that a saying? Or a song? Or some shit? But Jeremy Smith hadn’t actually loved anyone. He’d just loved his power. His absolute control.
In the end, he’d had no control. No power.
Julianna had stayed with him for one reason—blackmail. Jeremy had loved using his “security consultant” Ray Holliwell for all of his dirty work. But without the big boss behind him, Ray had crumpled quickly. He’d spilled plenty about where the secrets were being kept.
Only now, Julianna had control of the files. She was the keeper of the secrets.
No, that shit isn’t going to work. I am the one who gets the power now!
It had seemed like such a genius plan before. Julianna would be in prison and Jeremy would be in the ground. But now…things had changed.
Time for you to get in that damn ground, too, Julianna. Go join your husband.
Chapter Fifteen
Hugh laughed even as blood dripped from his busted lip. “Did you see the way she looked at you?” He shook his head. “Guess you won’t be tapping that for a while.”
Devlin could see himself grabbing the guy again and slamming Hugh’s smirking face into the bar top.
Keep your fucking control. Because, yes, he had seen the horror in Julianna’s eyes. She’d looked at him…and had she seen Jeremy?
“Jealousy.” Hugh grinned. “Gets you every damn time.”
The bastard had deliberately taunted him. Devlin could see that now. He could also see that Hugh wasn’t just some brain dead muscle doing dirty work for Heather. This guy is sly. He’s playing me. Had he played Heather, too?
“I ain’t got anything to say to you,” Hugh pointed to the door—a door that Lex was currently entering. “So you and your buddy can get your asses out of here. Before I get my buddy the bartender—” He paused and looked around, seeming to realize that the bartender was nowhere to be seen. “Before I get him to call the cops on you.”
“Do it,” Devlin invited.
Hugh swallowed. “Get the fuck out. Julianna Smith is a killer and if you’re with her—you’re obviously fucked in the head.”
Don’t pound his face in again. Don’t. “Is that what Heather told you? That Julianna killed her step-father?”
“That’s what every newspaper in the city says, man.” He was still smirking.
Lex was only a few feet away now. Where was Julianna?
“I would have thought…” Lex drawled as he closed in. “That Heather would have been a bit glad her step-father was dead.”
“Why?” Hugh demanded. “She loved that pompous asshole. She—”
“How did he control her?” Lex asked.
Devlin slanted him a fast glance.
“That was his thing, right? I mean, Julianna couldn’t have been the first. And if Heather really was close to him…”
Hugh glanced away from them. “You ain’t cops and I ain’t talking anymore.”
“Did he hurt her?” Devlin asked, wondering what the hell was happening there. Had Jeremy abused his step-daughter, too? Had he—
“Why would he hurt her? They were just the fuck alike. After what he did for her, she’d bleed for him.” Then Hugh blinked, realizing that he’d probably said too much. “Get out. Get out now!”
Lex and Devlin surrounded him. “Not until you tell us…just what did dear old dad do for Heather?”
***
She saw him walking toward her on the sidewalk. Julianna’s shoulders tensed and she glanced toward Fast Shots. John Reynolds was closing in on her, moving with a way too determined stride, and fleeing back inside the bar seemed like a good option.
Instead, she exhaled slowly and she held her ground.
“I figured,” John said as he stopped beside her, “that if Hugh was here, you’d be close by.”
She lifted a brow. “And why is that?”
“Because the guys from VJS probably think he attacked you.” He glanced toward the door. “Are they in there, trying to convince him to talk?”
“What do you want?”
His gaze slid back to her. “I did a jailhouse interview with Heather Aslo.”
“Wonderful for you.” More cars buzzed past.
“I also talked with your sister, Carly Shay.”
She didn’t speak.
“Aren’t you going to say that’s wonderful for me, too?” He prompted, inclining his head toward her.
“Stay away from my family. Carly has nothing to do with the case against me.” If Carly had told the reporter about the past, they were both screwed.
“She was very protective of you. A lovely woman, your sister,” he added, musing a bit. “Beautiful, but fragile. I did a little research on her. Is it true she spent some time in a psych ward as a teen?”
She lunged toward him.
He put his hands up and quickly backed away. “Careful, your temper is coming out. Heather told me that you had a temper. She said that temper is why you and Jeremy fought so much. Fought so long and hard that her beloved step-dad had to restrain you. That’s how you broke your wrist that time. You were swinging at him and he had to stop you. You seem to be a very violent woman.” He paused. “At least, according to Heather.”
“Heather tried to kill me. If you’re looking for violence, look there.” She had to get away from him. Talking to that reporter would do nothing but bring her trouble. She reached for the door to Fast Shots.
“I think she’s lying,” John called after her. “I think every word Heather told me was a straight-up lie.”
She hesitated.
“Come with me, and I’ll tell you why.”
***
“Heather said her mom was a bitch,” Hugh muttered. He’d grabbed a napkin and put it to his mouth. The white cloth turned bloody. “Always in her way, always getting all the attention, getting everything that Heather wanted.”
Devlin and Lex shared a grim look.
“Then one day…” Hugh snapped his fingers. “Just like that, she wasn’t in the way any longer.”
“She died in a skiing accident,” Lex recalled. “I pulled up the reports and—”
Hugh laughed. “Did she? Interesting, and here I thought the woman never skied.”
Hell. “Jeremy killed her?” Devlin asked.
“I don’t think the man liked to let go of the things he owned.”
People aren’t things.
“If you check, you’ll see the first Mrs. Smith was consulting divorce attorneys right before that, um, accident.”
“Sonofabitch,” Lex rasped.
“Yeah,” Hugh said, “he was.”
Devlin braced his legs as he studied Hugh. “Where do you fit into al
l of this?” Because he was sure he was staring at the man who’d put a bomb in Julianna’s car. Did that make Devlin killing mad? Hell, yes, it did.
“I’m innocent.” Hugh shrugged. “Just a dumbass who fell for the wrong woman.” His lashes flickered a bit. “How was I supposed to know she was crazy?”
“So you aren’t jumping to Heather’s defense?”
“Heather…” He tossed his bloody napkin onto the bar. “She isn’t my problem anymore.”
You’re my problem, buddy.
Hugh tried to walk around him, but Devlin just blocked his path.
Hugh sighed. “Shouldn’t you be chasing after that pretty blonde? You know, making sure nothing bad happens to her.”
Devlin stiffened. “Did you just fucking threaten her?”
“I’m not the one you need to worry about. When her car went boom…” He made a little exploding motion with his fingers and his smirk returned. “I wasn’t even in D.C. The police checked out my alibi. I was hanging with some army buddies, having some drinks and just enjoying life.”
Did the guy think he was a fool? “You could have made the bomb before you left, then just given Heather instructions on how to place it in the car.”
“I could have.” He shrugged. “But I didn’t.”
Hugh stepped to the right.
So did Devlin.
“Seriously, get the hell out of my way,” Hugh growled.
Devlin didn’t move. “Were you at Julianna’s house last night?”
“No.”
“Did you hurt her?”
Hugh leaned in close. “I haven’t touched your girl.” He seemed to grit the words from between clenched teeth. “Now this is damn harassment. Leave me the hell alone.” His shoulder slammed into Devlin’s, but Devlin didn’t hold the guy back this time. His arm slid down Hugh’s side and he let the bastard walk right past him.
Lex whistled when the door closed behind Hugh. “That was a waste of time.”
Devlin opened his hand. Hugh’s phone was in his palm. “I wouldn’t say that.” Julianna wasn’t the only one who knew a bit about picking pockets. He had a few skills in that area, too.
***
“Well, well…” Hugh drawled as he exited Fast Shots. “Isn’t this cozy?”
Julianna looked away from John—and over at a still bleeding Hugh. He smiled at her. “You just find new friends every place, don’t you?”