Watch Me

by Cynthia Eden

  “At least, that’s what we pieced together,” Faith continued as she cocked her head and studied the two men. “Seems Ethan’s father stepped out on Ethan and his mom. The guy got a young waitress named Donna Duvato pregnant. He kept her on the side for years…but he let it be clear to little Daniel that the boy wasn’t part of his real family.”

  Right. Because that kind of shit didn’t screw with a person’s mind.

  “From all accounts, Hank Barclay was one straight asshole.” Faith’s voice had hardened. Her arm brushed Chance’s as she stepped closer to the glass. “The guy abused Ethan and his mother for years. Daniel had no idea just how twisted the bastard could be.”

  Chance wasn’t so sure of that. “Maybe Daniel was just more like dear old dad than Ethan was.”

  Faith glanced at him, surprise flashing on her face. “Maybe.” She nodded as she seemed to consider this. “Maybe he was…”

  Then Ethan started talking.

  ***

  “You killed Jena Parker,” Ethan said as he stared into Daniel’s eyes. Daniel Duvato. The man had been working for him…for years. Daniel had been his driver, his body guard, the bouncer at his club…Ethan had trusted the guy implicitly, and Daniel had been working to destroy him all along.

  Daniel laughed. “Do you remember when she accused you of cheating on her? See…I’m the one who told her you did that. I thought she’d dump your ass for good, but the dumb bitch just took your sorry self right back. She was even still planning to marry you.”

  Dumb bitch. Ethan’s hands clenched into fists. His stitches pulled. He had so many stitches now, thanks to this asshole. More than he could count. He turned me into a monster.

  “So yeah, I played with her brakes.” Daniel shrugged. “Not my fault she drove too fast, though…that was all on her.”

  Sonofabitch.

  “And Marjorie?” Ethan forced himself to ask. “You killed her, too?” The detective—Faith Chestang—had told him to get a confession from Daniel. If the bastard wanted to talk, if he wanted to dig his own grave, then Ethan was supposed to let him.

  Daniel’s laughter came again. “She never even saw me coming.” He shook his head. “I’d heard you and Sophie talking about her. I knew where she’d went. I just had to bide my time and wait…wait for just the right moment to slip away and go after Marjorie.”

  Sophie. The pain was there, knifing through him. This bastard had gone after her, too.

  “You had a partner,” Ethan said this with quiet rage. “Someone was helping you all along. There’s no way you did this on your own—”

  “Why? You think I’m not smart enough to pull this off? You think you’re the only one with brains?” Hate hardened Daniel’s face. “This was all my plan. Sure, I got my buddy Carl to drive the van for me, paid him a few hundred, but that was just so I would have a ride waiting. Because I was too clever to get caught at Gwen’s place. Everything else…all fucking me.”

  And there was the last of his confession. All tied up in a neat bow. Did the guy even realize he’d just sent himself to prison? Did he even care? Or was he really that fucked up in the head?

  “Sorry about Sophie,” Daniel said suddenly. He actually sounded like he meant those words. “I liked her, but, after that last car ride, I realized she had to go. You’d always be happy, as long as she was there. Always have a family…with Sophie. So I killed her.”

  This time, Ethan shook his head. “Sophie isn’t dead.”

  Daniel’s face went slack with surprise.

  “She’s not dead. She was in the same hospital you were. She recovered fully.” He crept closer to the table. The rage inside of him was bubbling up. He’d gotten the confession. Now…I want to know why. “You’re my brother.”

  A brother he hadn’t known about. Not until he’d gone into Wicked five days ago, and Daniel had attacked him. The bastard had been screaming about how unfair life was…how Ethan needed to see what it was like to have no one, nothing.

  “He fucked my mother.” Daniel’s voice shook with his own fury. “Then he treated us like shit for the next fifteen years. We lived in poverty. We had nothing. And he’d come over, he’d screw her, then go back to the perfect life he had with you.”

  Ethan stalked closer to his brother. “You’re so damn clueless.”

  Daniel glared at him. “I’m not the one who didn’t see me…right there, all those years. You didn’t know, you didn’t—”

  “You were the lucky one. He came home to us all right. Only to beat the hell out of my mom. She was his punching bag. So was I. I was the one he hit again and again and—” Ethan glanced toward the glass. “Turn off the recording!” he yelled. “Nothing else is on record! I’m done.”

  He waited, knowing Faith would do as he’d asked. After all, he’d stepped into hell to get this confession for her.

  He waited…

  Then he grabbed his brother’s head and slammed it into the table. He figured he’d have less than a minute before the cops had to come in.

  “He hit us again and again,” Ethan whispered into Daniel’s ear. “Until I stopped him. Until I fought back and I killed the bastard. I made him suffer before he died. Just as he’d made me suffer.”

  He put his hands around Daniel’s throat. Tightened them. Daniel started to gasp.

  “If you ever come after me again, I’ll do the same to you,” he promised. “So you’d better pray they never let you out of jail…because if they do…brother,” Ethan spat, “you’re as dead as our father.”

  The doors flew open. Faith stood there, glaring at him. “Let the perp go!”

  Daniel was struggling to breathe, and Ethan wasn’t letting him go.

  Faith shook her head. “You know he’s not worth it.”

  “I’ve got friends in prison,” Ethan muttered into Daniel’s ear. “Maybe you won’t survive very long…” Then he let Daniel go. He sucked in a deep breath. Straightened his shoulders.

  Ethan headed toward Faith. She glanced down at his shirt. “You must have popped some of your stitches,” she said, voice expressionless. “You’re bleeding.”

  The pain had been worth it. He passed by her and found Chance standing in the hallway. The interrogation room door shut behind Ethan, and the two men measured each other.

  “I’m sorry,” Ethan finally said. “For everything that happened to Gwen. I never wanted her hurt.”

  Chance nodded. “I know.”

  Ethan swallowed. “You love her.”

  Again, Chance nodded.

  “Gwen deserves to be happy. Treat her well.” He kept his spine straight as he strode forward.

  Chance stepped in his path.

  Hell.

  He waited for the punch that had to be coming.

  But Chance said, “Don’t let what that bastard did…don’t let it destroy you. We can all be more than our pasts. So much more.” Then Chance turned around and left.

  Ethan’s shoulders sagged. I want to be more…But, some days, he just wasn’t sure if he could be.

  ***

  The snow was falling again. Chance stood outside of Gwen’s apartment, the snowflakes drifting down on him, and he thought about the twists and turns a life could take.

  When he’d been in the hospital, Gwen had stayed by his side. Every moment. And every time he’d looked into her eyes, he’d realized just how damn lucky he was.

  Gwen loved him. Truly loved him. She knew he wasn’t perfect. She knew he had a darkness inside. Knew just what he was capable of doing.

  And she still loved him.

  I am such a lucky bastard. Because he didn’t deserve her. Not really.

  But he’d be damned if he ever let her go.

  After he’d listened to that interrogation at the police station, he’d been more determined than ever to spend the rest of his life with Gwen. She was all that he wanted. And he’d move heaven and earth to make her happy. Hell, he’d deal with the devil if it meant Gwen would always be safe.

  He headed toward he
r building. It was time to stop watching. Time to take the next step. He rode the elevator up to her apartment. Knocked on her door. The snowflakes had melted on his coat when she opened that door.

  And he was down on his knees.

  “Chance?”

  He took the ring box out of his pocket. He opened it. Chance stared up at Gwen, knowing this was the most important moment of his life.

  “I love you,” he told her simply. Because there really wasn’t anything else to say. “Will you marry me, Gwen?”

  She smiled. A slow, beautiful smile that lit her eyes, that lit her whole face. Gwen nodded. She pulled him to his feet, then she pulled Chance into her apartment.

  There weren’t cameras hidden there any longer. No one to watch them.

  Just us.

  He shut the door behind him. Pulled Gwen even closer. He slid the ring onto her finger. A perfect fit, just like she was to him.

  Perfect.

  Chance kissed her and knew that his life had just altered. He wasn’t going to desperately dream any more, wasn’t going to wake, reaching for Gwen…only to find that she wasn’t there.

  Now, she’d be with him. He’d be with her.

  Always.

  And if anyone ever tried to hurt her again…

  He’d fucking destroy them. Because Gwen was the woman he’d fight to protect. The woman he’d die to possess…the woman who’d brought him to his knees.

  His world. His life.

  His.

  ###

  Coming in January of 2015…

  WANT ME (Lex & Sophie’s book)

  A Note From the Author

  Thank you so much for reading Watch Me! This book is the first in my new “Dark Obsession” series—the next book, WANT ME, will be available in January of 2015.

  If you’d like to stay updated on all of my book releases and sales, please join my newsletter list www.cynthiaeden.com/newsletter/. You can also check out my Facebook page www.facebook.com/cynthiaedenfanpage. I love to post giveaways over at Facebook—so be sure to check in for your chance to win!

  Again, thank you for reading Watch Me.

  Best,

  Cynthia Eden

  www.cynthiaeden.com

  About The Author

  Award-winning author Cynthia Eden writes dark tales of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. She is a New York Times, USA Today, Digital Book World, and IndieReader best-seller. Cynthia is also a two-time finalist for the RITA® award (she was a finalist both in the romantic suspense category and in the paranormal romance category). Since she began writing full-time in 2005, Cynthia has written over fifty novels and novellas.

  Cynthia is a southern girl who loves horror movies, chocolate, and happy endings. More information about Cynthia and her books may be found at: http://www.cynthiaeden.com or on her Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/cynthiaedenfanpage. Cynthia is also on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden.

  Her Works

  List of Cynthia Eden's romantic suspense titles:

  MINE TO TAKE (Mine, Book 1)

  MINE TO KEEP (Mine, Book 2)

  MINE TO HOLD (Mine, Book 3)

  MINE TO CRAVE (Mine, Book 4)

  MINE TO HAVE (Mine, Book 5)

  FIRST TASTE OF DARKNESS

  SINFUL SECRETS

  DIE FOR ME (For Me, Book 1)

  FEAR FOR ME (For Me, Book 2)

  SCREAM FOR ME (For Me, Book 3)

  DEADLY FEAR (Deadly, Book 1)

  DEADLY HEAT (Deadly, Book 2)

  DEADLY LIES (Deadly, Book 3)

  ALPHA ONE (Shadow Agents, Book 1)

  GUARDIAN RANGER (Shadow Agents, Book 2)

  SHARPSHOOTER (Shadow Agents, Book 3)

  GLITTER AND GUNFIRE (Shadow Agents, Book 4)

  UNDERCOVER CAPTOR (Shadow Agents, Book 5)

  THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (Shadow Agents, Book 6)

  EVIDENCE OF PASSION (Shadow Agents, Book 7)

  WAY OF THE SHADOWS (Shadow Agents, Book 8)

  Paraonormal romances by Cynthia Eden:

  BOUND BY BLOOD (Bound, Book 1)

  BOUND IN DARKNESS (Bound, Book 2)

  BOUND IN SIN (Bound, Book 3)

  BOUND BY THE NIGHT (Bound, Book 4)

  *FOREVER BOUND - An anthology containing: BOUND BY BLOOD, BOUND IN DARKNESS, BOUND IN SIN, AND BOUND BY THE NIGHT

  BOUND IN DEATH (Bound, Book 5)

  THE WOLF WITHIN (Purgatory, Book 1)

  MARKED BY THE VAMPIRE (Purgatory, Book 2)

  CHARMING THE BEAST (Purgatory, Book 3)

  Other paranormal romances by Cynthia Eden:

  A VAMPIRE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL

  BLEED FOR ME

  BURN FOR ME (Phoenix Fire, Book 1)

  ONCE BITTEN, TWICE BURNED (Phoenix Fire, Book 2)

  PLAYING WITH FIRE (Phoenix Fire, Book 3)

  ANGEL OF DARKNESS (Fallen, Book 1)

  ANGEL BETRAYED (Fallen, Book 2)

  ANGEL IN CHAINS (Fallen, Book 3)

  AVENGING ANGEL (Fallen, Book 4)

  IMMORTAL DANGER

  NEVER CRY WOLF

  A BIT OF BITE (Free Read!!)

  ETERNAL HUNTER (Night Watch, Book 1)

  I'LL BE SLAYING YOU (Night Watch, Book 2)

  ETERNAL FLAME (Night Watch, Book 3)

  HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT (Midnight, Book 1)

  MIDNIGHT SINS (Midnight, Book 2)

  MIDNIGHT'S MASTER (Midnight, Book 3)

  WHEN HE WAS BAD (anthology)

  EVERLASTING BAD BOYS (anthology)

  BELONG TO THE NIGHT (anthology)