by Cynthia Eden
Chapter Four
The smoke was billowing, choking him, and Chance could hear Gwen coughing as they made their way through the flames. He should have been alerted to the fire sooner. What the hell had gone wrong?
One minute, he’d been lost in Gwen, and the next…
We’re in hell.
They were crouching as they made their way to the exit. The flames were close, but he wasn’t about to let Gwen get so much as a blister on her skin. He’d get her out of there¸ and then he’d find the SOB who’d done this.
They reached the door. With the fire raging so hot, he didn’t make the mistake of reaching directly for the doorknob. Screw that. He lifted his foot and kicked at the door. Once. Twice. The door gave way and fresh air rushed inside. He gulped that air greedily even as he cleared a path to exit. When they left that inferno, Chance made damn sure that he went out first. Just in case some unwelcome company was waiting outside—the kind of company that would have started the fire—he wanted to use his body to shield Gwen. He had his gun at the ready and he kept his body as close to Gwen’s as possible.
In the distance, he could hear the scream of sirens. When the alarm had finally gone off, he knew the system had sent an instant message to the fire department. The fire fighters wouldn’t get there soon enough, though. The place was going up so fast. With all of the oils and paints he kept in his work garage, hell, it was a wonder the building hadn’t already blown sky high.
And then the windows shattered as if on perfect fucking cue. Glass flew out. He pushed Gwen behind him and stared at the wreckage.
Someone was going to pay. Pay.
***
He smiled when he saw the fury on Chance’s face. Oh, but there was no missing that rage. Not with the fire lighting up the scene. It had been simple enough to start that fire. A few Molotov cocktails, a few wires cut…and bam. Instant hell.
Gwen was clinging tightly to Chance. And the guy was holding her just as fiercely. Together, for the moment, but he’d be pulling them apart soon enough.
The fire truck’s sirens were growing louder and he could see the lights from the truck in the distance. Like the fire fighters would be able to do anything at that scene. Not now. The fire was too bright. A red and orange beauty that couldn’t be controlled.
It just burned.
Some tasks were just so much fun.
***
She’d never been to Chance’s office before.
VJS Protection, Inc.
The gold-lettering at the front had been small. Discrete. The interior went along with that discrete elegance appeal. Leather chairs. A killer view of the city.
When she’d asked Chance what the VJS stood for…he’d explained the letters were initials. V for Valentine, his last name. J for the last name of Jensen, one of his partners, and then S for the last name of his other partner, Devlin Shade.
She knew Chance was catering to upper-end clientele. In that city, the rich and famous were always ready to hire some protection…and Chance was looking to be that protection.
She sat huddled in the leather chair across from his desk. She had ash on her clothes. Soot on her hands. The fire fighters had fought the blaze while she’d just watched—helplessly—as Chance’s home went up in flames.
With everything else that had happened that night, she sure didn’t buy that fire as being an accident. His home going up in flames hadn’t been some terrible coincidence. There was no way her luck was that bad. And if it wasn’t coincidence…
Then Chance’s home burned because of me. Because some crazy jerk watched us leave my apartment and followed us to Chance’s home.
The door opened behind her, the faint sound reaching her ears and causing Gwen to instantly jump to her feet. She whirled for the door. “Chance, I’m so sorry, I—”
Chance wasn’t standing there. A tall, handsome blond man was. A man she’d never met before.
He smiled at her. The sight was hardly reassuring. Smiles were supposed to be reassuring. But, somehow, when this guy smiled, his face went from handsome…to oddly dangerous.
There is something so wrong with that.
He was a big guy, close to Chance’s height and with a similar build, and when the man walked toward her, he used that same easy glide that Chance had.
“Ms. Hawthorne? My name is Lex Jensen and I’m one of Chance’s partners here at the agency.”
Right. He was the “J” in VJS Protection.
Lex offered his hand to her. His eyes—a dark shade of green, much darker than her own—swept over her.
Gwen knew she was supposed to take his offered hand. Normal people shook hands. It was just that she was feeling pretty far from normal right at that moment. Still, Gwen made herself take his hand. Like Chance, the guy had a rough edge of calluses on his fingers. She knew those calluses—at least Chance’s—came from his workout routine. A routine he’d perfected during his time in the military.
Was this guy ex-military, too?
“You’ve had quite a night,” Lex murmured. He didn’t let her hand go. “I’m very sorry for what you’ve been through.”
She tugged her hand free. The last thing she wanted to do was get handsy with Chance’s friend. Especially after what she and Chance had done at his place. Done…almost done? Gwen cleared her throat. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Chance lost his home tonight.”
“Homes can be replaced. You can’t. I’m sure Chance would tell you the same thing.”
Gwen thought she caught the faintest edge of an accent in his voice. A hint of the south? Maybe, it was hard to say for certain.
“I was the person Chance sent to do a sweep at your apartment after you left.”
The door opened behind him. Chance strode inside. Gwen couldn’t help it. She tensed at the sight of him. Like her, ash darkened his clothes. A smear of soot lined his right cheekbone. That man had gotten her out of the fire. He’d risked his life for her. And what had she done?
I brought danger to his door. Hardly a fair exchange.
Lex glanced at Chance, then back at Gwen. “I was just updating Ms. Hawthorne about what I found at her apartment.”
“Gwen,” she murmured automatically. “Just call me Gwen.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Lex nod. She should look at him, fully, but Gwen was too focused on Chance. And Chance seemed just as focused on her. He strode across the room. Came right to her. He peered down at her with that intent, focused gaze of his. She could still smell smoke, clinging to him. Her hand rose and brushed away the soot on his cheek.
He caught her wrist.
Gwen’s lips parted.
“Uh, yeah…” Lex cleared his throat. “I’m still in the room, and I’ve got intel you both really need to hear.”
Chance swore and let her go.
She backed up a step. Seriously, she had to get a grip. Her response to Chance was way off the scales.
“Your hunch was right, Chance,” Lex said as he inclined his head toward the other man. “I found bugs in her place. Listening devices. Small cameras. Someone really wanted to keep close tabs on Ms. Hawth—Gwen.”
Her stomach knotted. “How long have the cameras been there?” Had someone been watching her for days, weeks? Nausea rose in her throat.
“I can’t say for certain.”
Damn. How much did he see?
But she knew…
Everything.
A light knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” Chance barked.
And another guy pushed open the door and sauntered inside. His hair was as dark as Chance’s, but his eyes were a bright blue. He was another big, tall, dangerous kind of guy. The type that—no doubt —made for perfect bodyguard material. His gaze swept the room, and lingered, with a hint of curiosity, on Gwen.
“This is Devlin Shade,” Lex said as he quirked a brow. “The last partner in our little business.”
“I hardly think your business will stay little for long,” Gwen murmured.
“My friends call me Dev,” he said as he stared down at her. “I hope you will, too.” His voice was quiet.
She managed a faint smile as she pulled her hand back from him.
Dev had a laptop tucked under his right arm. He put the laptop down on Chance’s desk and booted it up.
“Dev isn’t just brawn,” Lex told her. “He’s pretty much a tech genius. When I found those little devices tucked away at your place, I called him—”
“And I started working to track the signal on those babies,” Dev finished as he leaned over the laptop. “We left them in place and followed the transmission.”
Chance moved, a ripple of menace. “Tell me you found the bastard.”
“I do believe that we did.” Dev glanced up from the screen and smiled. Gwen decided the guys all needed to work on their smiles. Sharks had friendlier grins. “The signal went right back to a little club I think you’ve heard of…a place called Wicked.”
Her gaze flew to Chance at the mention of Wicked. She knew the club and knew he did, too. After all…she’d first met Ethan Barclay in Wicked. The place had opened last spring and become the place to be in D.C., provided, of course, that you were looking for a site to party hard.
When she’d been in Wicked that first night, everyone had been catering to her. Later, she’d learned the reason why. Ethan owned the club. He also seemed to own everyone in it. He’d wanted to catch her attention, and he had.
“That sonofabitch,” Chance snarled. “I told him to stay away from her.”
A chill skated down her spine.
“Guess he didn’t heed your warning.” Lex’s eyes had hardened. “And I’m thinking that means it’s time we pay the guy a visit.”
A muscle jerked in Chance’s jaw. “If that bastard burned my place, if he’s the one who’s after Gwen, he’s getting more than a warning.” His eyes glittered. “He’s about to face the fight of his life.”
Lex nodded.
“Get a tail on him,” Chance said. “I don’t want the bastard so much as sneezing without me knowing about it.”
“Chance…” Gwen touched his arm. “We should call the cops. Give them this evidence. Let them take over the case from here.”
All of the men turned equally unreadable gazes on her.
“What?” They didn’t need to look at her as if she was crazy. It was a perfectly reasonable request. “You’re bodyguards, not vigilantes. You don’t need to hunt this man down.” She shivered. The last thing she wanted was an encounter like last time. “Just…just let the cops handle it, okay?”
Now the men were exchanging glances. She could practically feel the undercurrents in the room.
“Excuse us a bit, will you?” Chance murmured to the guys.
Lex and Devlin—Dev—hurried toward the door.
Chance braced his legs, cocked his head, and studied her. He didn’t speak until the others had cleared the room.
Then, voice low and vibrating with a barely controlled fury, he said, “Someone tried to kill you tonight.”
“Chance—”
“That fire was set while you were upstairs with me. Someone cut the alarm. They wanted the blaze to spread until it was too late for us to escape. But that SOB made a mistake. I had a backup system in place, a secondary alarm, and we managed to get out alive.”
Her hands twisted in front of her. “I’m so sorry about your home.” Her voice sounded as miserable as she felt, and, right then, she couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. If he hadn’t come after her that night, if he hadn’t followed her from the bar, he’d still have his place. His mementos, his—
“Fuck the home. It never mattered much to me anyway.”
Her gaze shot up to him.
“I’ve had houses in dozens of countries over the years. I’ve lived in so many places, they all blur together for me.” His lips twisted in a grim smile. “You want to know the one place I actually felt comfortable in? Where I felt as if I belonged?”
Gwen nodded.
“With you,” he said simply and he gave a hard smile. “You’re the closest thing to a real home I’ve ever had, and I didn’t even realize how important you were until you kicked me out of your life.”
Breathing was pretty hard right then.
“I never meant to get that close to you. I have a rule…I don’t get that close to anyone, but you snuck up on me. Slid past my guard, and you got to me.” That grim smile vanished. “Then you told me to get the fuck out of your life.”
She was actually starting to feel a little dizzy, so Gwen gulped in a deep breath. “You know, it would have been incredibly helpful if you’d told me all of this months before, instead of, you know, dropping this little bombshell on me when it seems as if someone may be trying to kill me.”
“My timing is shit.”
“It totally is.”
“I don’t want you to slip away again.”
This was the moment. The big moment in her life. The moment that could change her future. Sometimes, you didn’t know when these moments were happening, but this time…she knew. “I’m not going anywhere.” She’d tried to run from her feelings before, and that had done nothing but brought her trouble. If he wanted them to take a risk together, she was more than game-up for that plan. After all, she’d already spent far too much time loving him in silence. Why not see if they could do more than crash and burn?
His shoulders relaxed. “Good. Good. Lex and I will hit Wicked and fix Ethan.”
Um, fix him?
“You stay here with Dev and I—”
Gwen knew he’d stopped talking because Chance had noticed her shaking head. “You aren’t leaving me behind. This is my life we’re talking about. If Ethan is after me, then I think I deserve to be there to find out why he’s doing this to me.” Besides, should she admit that she felt a whole lot better being close to Chance? She honestly did think of the guy as her guardian angel. No offense to Dev, but Gwen knew nothing about the man.
“Gwen, I don’t think…”
“I feel safer with you,” she blurted. Well, so much for playing that one close to the vest.
His face softened. She’d never actually seen it do that before. Cute.
“Then you stay with me,” he agreed.
Right. Good plan. Another step in that good plan would be…to call the cops!
“While Lex was at your place, he picked up some clothes for you. They’re in his office. I’ll get them sent in here, you can change, and then we’ll make plans to hit Wicked.”
He turned and headed for the door.
She didn’t move. “Are we going to talk about it?”
His hand was reaching for the doorknob, but Chance paused and glanced back at her.
“What almost happened between us,” Gwen clarified. The best orgasm I’ve had in ages. And she’d had some fairly good ones over the years. “If it hadn’t been for the fire—”
“I’d still be fucking you right now.”
Some men would have made a fake boast like that. They would have acted like they could truly fuck that long. All night.
But one look in his eyes, and she knew he wasn’t lying.
Oh, wow.
“I am going to have you, Gwen. I’m going to have you long and hard, but it won’t be here.” His lips thinned. “My partners won’t be down the hallway, able to hear every sweet sound you make. You and I will be alone, and I’ll have you just the way I’ve fantasized about for far too long.”
Her skin was definitely overheating.
He opened the door.
“And I’ll have you,” she said, her words soft, but she knew he heard them. She saw the sudden tenseness of his shoulders. “The way I’ve fantasized about for so long. I guess we’ll see…we’ll see which of us had the better fantasies.”
Swearing, he left the room.
Gwen
smiled.
But her smile faded a few moments later when she realized…hell, I have to call my father. Because if he found out about these attacks before she spoke with him, her dad would freak the hell out. And when Will Hawthorne freaked out, it wasn’t a good situation for anyone.
She strode toward Chance’s desk. She picked up his phone, and Gwen made the phone call that she dreaded. The line rang once, twice. She glanced at the clock and winced. At this hour, her father would—
“Chance, what the hell is happening?” Her father’s voice thundered over the line. “Is my daughter safe?”
She swallowed. “Dad, it’s Gwen. And, yes, I’m safe. But there are a few things you need to know.”
***
When Chance headed back to his office—with Gwen’s change of clothes in tow—he heard the sound of her voice. He’d left the door ajar and he pushed it open. Gwen stood near his desk, and she had the phone to her ear. Her back was turned to Chance as she said, “No, you don’t need to worry about me. Dad, look, I told you, Chance is helping me out…”
Fuck me. Her father. He hurried across the room. He hoped Will hadn’t done something stupid…like tell Gwen that Chance had been hired to protect her. That would really screw all of his plans.
“Look, Chance is right here,” Gwen said quickly. “He can assure you that I am perfectly safe. I’ve hired him to protect me, so you don’t have to worry.”
With those words, Chance knew that Will hadn’t told Gwen the truth. At least, not yet. He took the phone from Gwen and almost smiled as she mouthed Thank You! to him. Obviously, she wasn’t enjoying her little chat with her dad. But then, most folks didn’t enjoy chats with Will Hawthorne.
Then Gwen took the clothes from him and headed toward his attached bathroom. He didn’t speak until the door closed behind her, and then Chance chose his words very carefully, just in case she happened to overhear him. “Gwen is safe. You know her protection is my top priority.”
“A fire?” Will nearly yelled in his ear. “Gwen was in a fire? Shit, you should have called me right away! You should have—”
“I was kind of busy getting out of the fire, with Gwen.” He kept his gaze on the closed bathroom door. “My partners have been doing recon work. Right now, we think we’ve got evidence that points to Ethan Barclay.”