by Cynthia Eden
“That’s the man, officers!” Lex shouted helpfully. “Ethan Barclay! He just assaulted my friend and before you arrived, he confessed to putting cameras in Gwen Hawthorne’s apartment and—”
“Gwen!” Ethan bellowed. He was fighting against the cops. Twisting. Punching. A bad move. A move designed to get him instantly locked up.
She slanted a glance at Chance. His control was back in place and a tight smile curved his lips.
Chance had wanted Ethan to attack. He’d wanted to push the other man over the edge.
“Gwen, I’m the one keeping you safe!” Ethan was yelling even as the cops started hauling him to the door. A bit of assault against an officer—or three—didn’t go over well with them. “You need me! You can’t trust Chance! You can’t!”
But she did.
Or…I had.
Gwen turned and hurried toward the exit. She didn’t want to watch Ethan get dragged away in handcuffs. That scene wouldn’t provide her with any sense of satisfaction. She’d gone to Wicked that day because she’d thought—somehow—the fear would lessen if she faced off against Ethan.
But the fear hadn’t lessened. It had just gotten worse.
She pushed open the door and hurried outside. The cold air actually felt good when it hit her. It was a shock to her system, pushing past her fear and anger.
She stood on the sidewalk a moment. Her hands shaking. Her stomach still knotted.
And she wondered…
Has Chance been playing me?
***
When Gwen ran for the door, Chance immediately started to follow her. Lex grabbed his arm. “No, you see what the cops find in the back. You’re the one with the connection to the lead detective. I’ll take care of Gwen.”
He gave a curt nod and Lex hurried past him.
The cops were there, fighting to subdue Ethan Barclay. It took every bit of Chance’s self-control not to jump into the fray but…
Please, don’t. Gwen’s voice kept replaying through his head. He wasn’t going to break down and let the rage consume him again. He needed to be better, for Gwen. He needed her to see him as more than just some hot-headed SOB.
“Well, well…” A woman’s voice said from behind him and he turned to see Detective Faith Chestang approaching him. “You always do have a knack for finding trouble, don’t you, Chance?”
Faith was in her early thirties, with creamy caramel skin, shrewd eyes, and a killer smile. The woman also had a killer right hook. She’d spent some time on Hawthorne’s security detail, so she and Chance had more than a passing acquaintance—and that was why he’d called her. If anyone would back him up at the PD, it would be Faith.
The fact that the woman owed him a few favors had also been one of the reasons he called her. Chance knew—hoped—she’d give him access to the evidence she collected at Wicked.
“Trouble found me this time,” he murmured and that wasn’t really a lie. “It’s like I said on the phone…” He jerked his hand to a now-still Ethan. “The guy was stalking Hawthorne’s daughter. He had cameras in her house, and I’m betting if you go to his office in the back…” Chance’s gaze slid to the door on the right, the one marked PRIVATE. “I’m betting you’ll find video feeds on his computer.”
She cocked her head to the right. Her black hair skimmed her jaw. “Is that right, Mr. Barclay? Will I find those files on your computer?”
“I want a lawyer,” Ethan said, his face flushed red and his eyes dark with fury. “This is a bullshit case. Chance Valentine is setting me up. He’s mad I hooked up with his lady and he’s invented this whole scene!”
“So there’s nothing on your computer?” Faith asked. She started strolling—as slow and easy as could be, as if she didn’t have a care in the world—toward the PRIVATE door. “If that’s the case, then it won’t matter if I take a peek.”
“No!” Ethan shouted. “You need a warrant! You can’t go in there!”
“You just assaulted three officers…” Faith said.
The three officers nodded. “Damn straight,” one spat. It almost looked as if that officer had broken his nose in the scuffle.
“Getting a warrant isn’t going to be hard.” Faith smiled that icy smile of hers. One that was both gorgeous and chilling. Chance had seen plenty of men fall before that smile. “So why not save us both some trouble and just confess right now?” She put her hands on her hips. “Have you been stalking Gwen Hawthorne?”
Ethan’s jaw jutted up. “I. Want. My. Lawyer.”
“And here I didn’t think you were the kind of man to hide behind a suit,” Faith said, rolling her shoulders. “So much for the word on the street.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“But the bigger they are,” Faith added, “the harder I take those bastards down.” She waved toward the cops. “Get him to the station. He’s not going to be stalking anyone today.”
He wasn’t going to be stalking Gwen ever again.
The cops pushed Ethan toward the door. So much for getting to search the back office. At least, for the moment. But Chance wasn’t done, not yet.
When the group passed him, Chance eased closer to Ethan. “It’s over,” Chance said.
Ethan’s gaze slid to him. If looks could kill…
“I’m not the threat to Gwen,” Ethan snapped back, his words a low snarl. “You’ll see that. I just hope it’s not too late for her when you do.”
The guy was still threatening Gwen?
“It’s someone else!” Ethan raged.
The cops dragged Ethan toward the door. Chance followed. His steps were slow, certain, and his gaze stayed locked on the SOB. When they exited Wicked, a light flurry of snow fell on them. A police cruiser was parked to the right. Another to the left. Gwen and Lex stood under the building’s awning.
The redheaded guy who’d first let them in to Wicked paced a few feet away.
“Daniel!” Ethan yelled at him. “Call my lawyer, get Sophie!”
Daniel nodded.
Then Ethan spotted Gwen. He tried to lunge for her. Chance tensed.
The cops hauled Ethan back and shoved him toward the patrol car.
“Gwen, Gwen, I’m not the one hurting you! I wouldn’t! I—”
The cops slammed the car door shut. Ethan’s yells were blessedly cut off. A few moments later, the patrol car roared away from the curb.
Chance turned to look at Gwen. She was staring back at him. And there was…suspicion…in her gaze.
Hell. He’d been afraid this would happen. Now he had to play this game very, very carefully.
***
“It’s not me,” Ethan said as he twisted in his seat and looked back through the windshield at Gwen. The snow was falling on her. Chance Valentine was closing in on Gwen. Like a hungry lion. “Don’t trust him!” Ethan yelled, but Gwen couldn’t hear him.
Gwen thought Chance was one of the good guys out there. She was so wrong. Chance was—hell…
He’s as bad as I am.
Chance had walked away from Gwen’s life before. What if the guy walked away again? Then what would Gwen do? She’d be out there, on her own, the perfect prey.
He sagged back against the seat. This shit was his fault. He was paying for sins he’d committed too long ago. And things were about to get so much worse. He knew what the cops would find on his computer. He knew exactly how bad the situation would look for him.
But he also knew…he had one fine attorney on retainer. Sophie Sarantos was about to start earning that hefty retainer fee he paid her. She’d get him out of this, she’d get him away from the cops…
And then he’d go back to Gwen.
Chapter Six
“Have you been lying to me?”
Okay, so she hadn’t meant to just blurt out that question as soon as they were back at Chance’s office. But…
They were back in his office. The door was shut. Lex and Dev weren’t around. It was just her and Chance. And she was desperate to know the truth.
Chance st
rode behind his desk. He didn’t sit, though. He just stood there. All big and sexy and strong, and he stared at her.
She stared back. Then she marched across the room. Gwen was really happy that her knees didn’t knock together when she walked. She thought—hoped—that she looked as cool and in control as he did. She stopped in front of his desk and notched up her chin. Her father did that. He lifted his chin whenever he got pushed into a corner. She’d learned that move from him.
I definitely feel like I’m in a corner. I have to know the truth.
“The guy is fixated on you, Gwen,” Chance said, his voice deep and rumbling. “He would have said anything to get himself out of trouble today. He’s been videoing you—”
Yes, and that creeped her out plenty. “I’m not talking about Ethan right now. I’m talking about you. About me.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Have you been lying to me?”
“I’ve been back in your life for less than twenty-four hours,” Chance said. “Dammit, Gwen, I—”
“Did my father pay you?” She was looking for a reaction. Sharp denial. A guilty flush. Something. Anything.
But his self-control—damn that self-control!—held strong. He didn’t change expressions at all. His breathing didn’t so much as hitch.
“Why did you come looking for me?” Gwen asked. She had to keep pushing him.
“Because you’ve been in my head for months.” His gaze held hers. “I want you…I need you. And I was done waiting.”
She wanted those words to be true but… “My father tried to give me a new guard last week. I ditched him.” Because she hadn’t wanted to live in her father’s cage. Of course, back then, I didn’t realize someone had planted cameras in my home! She might not have been so angry about that extra protection if she had known. “I’ve pretty much ditched all the guards he’s put on me over the years.” Her smile felt sad. “Except for you. Did you ever wonder why that was?”
He started to reply.
She waved her hand, stopping him. “It’s not because you’ve got some super awesome spy skills, so don’t think that. I’ve been slipping away from guards since I was six. Since my mom died.” Don’t go there. Don’t! “I could have slipped away from you, too, if I’d wanted.”
One brow lifted. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”
Cocky. “I am.” Gwen had evasion down to an art. “I didn’t ditch you because I wanted to be with you.” A simple, stark truth. “And my father…he knew how I felt about you. So if he wanted to make sure I had protection, he’d call you. Because he would know that…” Say it. “He’d know that I wouldn’t be able to turn you away.”
Not Chance. The others, yes, but not him.
His eyes had darkened even more with a surge of emotion—but it was emotion she couldn’t read.
“You have too many secrets, Chance,” Gwen told him, hating that he could be so controlled when she felt so raw from the rip of her emotions. “I don’t have any, not from you. I need you to share your secrets with me.”
He stared back at her. Just stared.
Fine. She spun on her heel and marched for the door. She wasn’t going to bare her soul anymore while he stood there and said nothing. Did nothing. Not while he—
“You father knows how I feel, too.”
His words stopped her near the door.
“He knows that I would do anything, anything at all, for you.”
Hesitant now, Gwen turned back to face him. He was still behind the desk. But his expression wasn’t unreadable. There was need on his face. In his eyes. Need, fury.
So much desire.
All for me.
“I’ve wanted you for a long time, baby. Hell, since the first day I met you. But you were the boss’s daughter, and if anyone was hands-off, it was you.”
She wanted his hands on her.
She had…since the first day.
“I needed that job, at first. I was looking to build more security contacts, and I knew that job would give me the opportunities I needed. So I worked for your father. I focused on my plans. The dreams I had for my own business. I knew I could make those dreams come alive I if I bided my time. If I did my job for Will.”
VJS Protection.
So, right. He’d had his dreams.
She’d had hers. My dreams were about you, Chance.
“Then something changed.” His voice deepened even more. “I started dreaming about you. You got into my head, and I couldn’t get you out. I tried to keep a distance between us, but you were smashing right through every wall that I put up. And then that night…shit, that one night when the champagne had been flowing and the snow falling and you—you were in that sexy red dress and you came to me. That damn night—the night I kissed you for the first time…”
“Christmas.” No, she hadn’t meant to say it, but she had. It had almost been a year before. Christmas Eve. She’d been at her father’s home. Chance had been there. He’d just seemed so…lonely. Aloof. She’d learned that he had no family. No one had been waiting at home for him. She’d actually felt his pain, and she’d wanted to comfort him.
But when she’d followed him outside and wrapped her arms around Chance, comfort had soon been the last thing on her mind.
He’d kissed her with wild passion. Kissed her with hot desire. And she’d thought…finally. Finally, we can be together. Finally, I can have him.
Then he’d pushed her away.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered.
“Gwen—”
“Those were your words, when I was offering all of myself to you.” Not just her body, but her heart. “And you turned and you walked away from me.” She’d just been left standing out on her father’s balcony as the snow fell on her. The snow and her tear drops had felt the same as they slid down her cheeks. So cold.
A few months later, she’d walked into Wicked. She’d given into the urge to let go of her emotions. To feel. She’d hooked up with Ethan—
“You stopped coming to your father’s. You stopped talking to me.” His voice sounded wooden. “You know how some people say they don’t even realize what they really have until it’s gone? I always thought that line was utter bullshit, but then you slipped away from me. Everything else in my life seemed worthless then. Shit, I used to stay extra hours at your father’s business, just hoping I’d catch a glimpse of you. I needed you. I missed you.”
She shook her head.
“And when I realized you were more important than anything else, it was too late. You were with Ethan.” His jaw hardened. “He wasn’t good enough for you. I knew it. I didn’t need your father to tell me that. But when Will asked me to dig into the guy’s past, I did. And I found the skeletons there.”
Shady deals. An ex-fiancée who’d died under mysterious circumstances. Another former lover who swore that Ethan had become obsessed and attacked her…or at least, that was what the police report claimed. The woman had later dropped those charges and seemingly just vanished from the face of the earth. The dark secrets from Ethan’s past had kept piling up, and they’d terrified Gwen.
But even before Chance had revealed all of the dirty details of Ethan’s past to her, Gwen had already realized she was done with the other man. Her heart had never been with him. She’d been trying to escape the emptiness she felt inside by being with Ethan. But there was no escape.
I could never get away from Chance.
“I was planning to break up with him, even before you came with your evidence.” He’d been so cold that day. Just seeing Chance had hurt. And to learn so many painful truths about Ethan. I suck at choosing lovers.
Either she picked men who didn’t want her…like Chance.
Or she picked men who were psychotically determined to never let her go. Like Ethan?
So screwed.
“I was jealous of him,” Chance said.
Her brows pulled together.
“Insanely jealous.” Now he walked from behind the desk. His steps were slow. His gaze fierce. “I
hated the thought of him touching you. I hated the thought of him being anywhere near you. I wanted him gone from your life long before I found out about his past.”
“Chance?”
“Some of the things he said today at Wicked were true. I did think the bastard never should have touched you.”
He was closing in on her, and Gwen’s feet felt rooted to the spot. She couldn’t have moved then, no matter what. But, well, she didn’t want to leave. Not when he was telling her his secrets.
“I wanted to be the one touching you.” He stopped in front of her. And Chance lifted his hand. The back of his fingers slid over her cheek. “I wanted to be the one holding you. The one giving you pleasure. The one giving you everything that you needed. But first, I had to get Ethan out of your life.”
Her gaze searched his.
“You broke up with him. Told him to stay away, and I thought I might have a shot with you.” His fingers fell away from her. “Then he came after you and…that night…you saw me for the man I truly am.”
She grabbed his hand. Her fingers curled around his.
“You told me to stay away, and I did.”
Gwen licked lips that had gone too dry. “I was terrified and angry that night. Haven’t you ever said anything you didn’t mean?”
His gaze fell to her lips. “Yes.”
She waited, hardly daring to breathe.
“I can’t do this,” he whispered.
Those were the words—the four painful words—that had pierced her heart on Christmas Eve.
“Those are the words I didn’t mean. Because there was never anything more that I wanted to do…than just to be with you.”
She blinked because her eyes were filling with tears. Crazy, ridiculous tears but—
A knock sounded at the door. No, not now!
“What is it?” Chance demanded, his voice roughening.
The door opened behind Gwen. She didn’t look back. At that moment, she just couldn’t take her eyes off Chance.
“Dev and I are going out for some recon work,” Lex said. “You and Gwen going to stay here for a while?”
Chance’s gaze was on her. “For a while,” he agreed.