by Cynthia Eden
Her eyes met his, and Lex saw her gaze go blind with pleasure. Her hips slammed down against his once more as she shuddered. He drove his cock into her as deeply as he could, then he held himself still, gritting his teeth as he tightened his muscles. He could feel her sex squeezing around him with the contractions of her release. So good. Freaking amazing.
She choked out his name. Her nails scored his flesh.
Her sex contracted again.
Yes.
She slumped forward. He wasn’t done. Not yet. He spun her so that she was beneath him in that bed. He lifted up her legs, putting them over his shoulders, and opening her even wider to him. Then he thrust. She was so warm and wet from her release, and he sank in to the hilt fast. The pleasure was so intense his whole body jerked.
“Lex!” His name was a sharp cry from her and he looked up immediately, afraid he’d hurt her. But pain wasn’t on her face. Only pleasure.
Sweet hell, she’s still coming for me.
He thrust into her. Claimed her. Got lost in her warmth and when his climax hit him, the release thundered through his whole body. His blood heated, his spine tightened, and he poured into her, riding a wave of pleasure so strong that his breath shuddered and his heart quaked.
When it was over, he slowly lowered her legs. He eased from her body and pressed a kiss to her lips. Lex ditched the condom then went back to her, carefully arranging the covers for her before he slid into bed beside Sophie. The lights were out. They were in the darkness. She was soft and sweet beside him.
In the dark, with pleasure still pulsing in his veins, he found that he could tell her his secrets. “I never had a normal life.” His voice rumbled as he stroked her arm with his fingertips, enjoying the silk of her skin. “I was relieved when I entered foster care. Most folks think it’s bad, but it was a million times better than the life I had at home. And there, I met my family. Chance and Dev. We bonded, became brothers, and I knew I’d never be alone again.” He kept stroking her. “Chance and I entered the military together, we fought together. We nearly died together.” But he didn’t want to think about those times. “Then we decided to look for a better life.” When the fighting had been done. When his soul had felt too dark.
She pressed closer to him. Her hand rose and curled with his. “I never had a normal life.”
He almost didn’t breathe right then, because he knew—this moment—she was sharing her secrets with him, too.
“My father hurt me all the time. My mother watched, always telling me that if I was a good girl, if I just stopped being bad, he wouldn’t have to punish me anymore. He’d stopped punishing her, after all, and he only turned his rage on me.”
He lifted their twined fingers to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“I knew it didn’t matter how good I was. He wouldn’t stop. So I started to think the only escape I had…was death.”
Fear and fury whipped through him. Fear for what could have been. A world without Sophie. Fury because a young girl had been pushed so brutally far.
“But it wasn’t my death that came. It was theirs. And for so long, I felt guilty because I wasn’t sad. I didn’t mourn them. I was happy.” A brief moment of silence then, “I was happy because I was free.”
“You didn’t kill them.”
“No, but I did lie to the police.” Her voice thickened a bit, as if with a memory that hurt her. “When I got home, I saw Ethan running from my house. When I went in and found the blood, the bodies, I thought he’d killed them.”
Lex still thought—
“But he was just protecting me. I learned tonight that he’d gotten to the scene before me. When he discovered the bodies, he thought I’d killed them. Ethan got rid of the weapon, to protect me.”
Was that true? Or was Ethan lying to her?
“I don’t know who killed them. For years, I thought I was protecting Ethan, but I wasn’t. Someone else killed them, and I have no idea who it was.”
I’ll find out for you, Sophie. He pressed another kiss to her knuckles. “Why did you become a defense attorney?”
“Because sometimes, people do bad things, but only because they’re pushed too far. They’re pushed so far and so hard that they break. Some of my clients are broken, and they need my help to get pieced back together.” She turned in his arms. “And some of them are just straight-up innocent. They need my help even more. I know what it’s like to be looked at as if you were the monster in the room.” Her hair slid over his arm as she shook her head. “I prove they aren’t monsters.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “You could never be a monster.” He could, though. If something happened to Sophie, if he lost her now…
“We can all be monsters,” she said, sounding thoughtful. “If we’re pushed hard enough.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but the ringing of his phone cut him off. Frowning, he glanced around the room.
“I think the phone is on the floor,” Sophie said helpfully, “in the bathroom.”
Hell. He climbed from the bed, thinking someone had just gotten on his shit list. He’d been in paradise with Sophie, actually getting her trust, then the call had wrecked the scene.
But it could be about her case. Get the damn phone, then get back to her.
He found the phone on the bathroom floor. He scooped it up and saw Dev’s face on the screen. “What did you find out?” Lex demanded immediately. He made the mistake of glancing toward the mirror. His face was hard, tense, and stubble lined his jaw.
Sophie had seriously climbed into bed with that? He was such a lucky bastard.
“I’ve got a money trail,” Dev said. “Didn’t take too long. A couple of false leads but…guess who paid Griffin twenty grand?”
“Cut the crap and tell me,” Lex snapped. “I’m ready to kick the guy’s ass.” Because it was all connected. Every single bit—
“Finn Scott.”
“What?”
“It took some tracking, but I found a separate account that the guy had, one from a bank in Grand Cayman. Tricky bastard. It looks like he’s been funneling money down there for years. But I caught him. He’s the one who paid Griffin.”
And he was Sophie’s lover. A man who might not have been able to let go of her.
“Do you know where Finn Scott is right now?” Lex wanted to know.
“Chance and I are on the way to his house. We should be there in about ten minutes.”
He needed to be there, too. If that jerk really was the one who’d done all of this…has he been obsessed with Sophie for all these years? “Finn knew her before her parents died,” Lex said, his mind spinning. “Hell, it’s possible he’s even the one who killed them.” Finn would have known about Sophie’s pain. Maybe he’d wanted to end that pain and punish those who’d hurt her.
The same way he’d wanted to punish Daniel?
“Give me the address,” Lex said. He had to confront Finn himself. This was Sophie’s life they were talking about. Lex needed to be there. Right damn then.
Dev rattled off the address.
“Good. I’m on my way. And, hey, watch your ass, okay? If this guy is the one who took out Daniel today, he might be waiting at his house, armed.” And ready to take out anyone who came close.
“You just keep Sophie safe,” Dev replied. “Chance and I can handle this SOB.”
Lex lowered the phone. His rough reflection still stared back at him from the mirror, but now that reflection wasn’t alone. Sophie was there, wrapped in a white sheet. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders. Her eyes—so big and deep—met his in that mirror. She looked delicate, sexy.
His.
“Who is it?” Her voice was incredibly calm. “You know now, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Finn.”
Her reflection showed her pain. Lex turned toward her, wrapping his arms around Sophie’s shoulders. “Dev traced the twenty grand back to him, back to an account that Finn had in Grand Cayman.”
“He still had that acc
ount?”
She knew about it?
“He set it up years ago, when he was afraid he’d be convicted. I told him it was a terrible idea, but he was panicked. Finn was so afraid he’d lose everything he’d built. I warned him that if the district attorney’s office found out, Finn would just look even more guilty.” She bit her lower lip then said, “He told me he got rid of that account.”
“Yeah, well, he lied.” And probably killed. “He’s not the man you thought.” Lex gave her a reassuring squeeze before he hurried from the bathroom. He grabbed some clothes from his closet and dressed as fast as he could.
“You’re going after him.”
“Chance and Dev are heading to the guy’s place now. I plan to provide them with backup.” He heard rustling behind him. He looked back and saw that Sophie had taken clothes out of her bag. She was dressing even faster than he was, sliding on jeans, a sweatshirt, boots. “Sophie…”
“Don’t even think of telling me to stay here, Lex. This is my life. I’m confronting him. I get to find out why he did this to me.”
Lex wanted her to stay locked in his house. He wanted her safe. Always, but…
He also understood her. Sophie wasn’t the type to hide from the pain around her. She was a fighter, and she was right—this was her life.
He headed toward her. Lex kissed her. Hard, deep, fast. “You stay behind me.” Because the memory of a flying bullet and the spray of blood was too fresh in his mind. “If he’s armed, you don’t even think of disobeying my orders. I won’t have you put at risk. You matter too much.”
Her lips curled into the faintest of smiles. I will never grow tired of her smiles. “Because I’m awesome in bed?” She seemed to tease him.
He wasn’t teasing. “That’s not why.”
She blinked and even looked a little insulted.
“You’re fucking amazing in bed, but that’s not why,” he clarified quickly. They should be clear on this. “You matter because I love you. I love every damn thing about you.”
She shook her head. “We…no, don’t say that.”
That was hardly the response he’d hoped to get, but Lex said again, ‘I love you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “You don’t. It’s too soon. Don’t say it and don’t make me think I matter like that to you. Don’t make me think you want me—”
“I want you forever.” He should be racing out of the house. Going after Finn. He wasn’t moving. “I want you at my side for the rest of my life. This isn’t some sudden thing for me. I started falling for you weeks ago. When I first met a tough, smart lawyer in a police station, and, for just a moment, she made me forget my own name.”
She swiped her hand over her cheek. “You thought I was a potential suspect back then, you thought—”
“I thought I wanted you, no matter what. I thought you were sexy as hell and the desire I felt for you was fierce, but the more I learned about you, the harder I fell.”
“Lex…”
“I’m not asking how you feel about me.” They’d get to that, later. He’d try to be better. Charming. He’d try to be whatever she needed. “I just thought you should know. For me, this isn’t just another case. It never was. It was always about protecting you.” His fingers grazed down her cheek. “Loving you.”
Her breath whispered out.
“Now let’s go find the son of a bitch who paid for that hit,” he said. Time to end the nightmare for her. Because when the nightmare was over, they could plan for a future—he could start courting her. Courting her. Yeah, it sounded corny as hell, but he wanted to do things right with Sophie.
A normal life. Maybe they could both have that—together. They hurried through the house and were outside in moments. They’d almost reached his car when the flash of headlights illuminated his driveway.
Sophie lifted her hand, shielding her eyes. Lex stepped in front of her. A visitor? Now? He didn’t have time for this crap. He opened Sophie’s door. “Go ahead,” he told her, “I’ll get rid of whoever this is.”
Sophie slipped inside. He slammed her door. His visitor had braked and was climbing out of the car. The headlights were still on, and the driver had positioned the vehicle in such a way that those lights still blasted right onto Lex. It was a bigger vehicle. Lex figured it for an SUV.
Like the one that nearly ran us down outside of the courthouse. His body tensed.
“Lex!”
His head cocked at the shout.
“Lex, it’s Clark Eastbridge!” A shadowy form moved from the car. “I have to talk with you.”
The guy wanted to talk now?
“I have more questions to ask you about the shooting today.” Clark was closing in.
“Your questions have to wait.” He turned his back on the guy and hurried toward the driver’s side of his car. “Or maybe you should come with us to see Finn Scott—”
It was the reflection that warned him. The reflection that showed Clark racing forward and lifting his hand.
Fuck!
Lex dove to the left even as gunfire blasted. He hadn’t moved fast enough, though, and that bullet drove into his back, hitting him near his left shoulder blade.
“I’m done waiting,” Clark said.
He fired again.
The bullet hit Lex and he fell forward. His head slammed into the rough cement of his driveway.
Chapter Twelve
“Be careful,” Dev warned Chance as they closed in on Finn’s home. “If he’s our sniper, then he could have us locked in his sights right now.”
“Hardly the shit I want to hear,” Chance said as he advanced.
“It’s the shit that could save your ass,” Dev replied, his voice no more than a whisper.
They were near the front door now. Chance glanced at Dev, then he rammed his fist against the door. “Finn Scott! Open the door now!”
They heard a crash from inside. The thud of footsteps.
“Running,” Dev said, but Chance was already moving. Lunging away from the front door and heading toward the side of the house. Dev followed right after him. Just because Dev wasn’t some ex-military hotshot like Chance, it didn’t mean he couldn’t handle himself. Any day. Any night.
He and Chance burst around to the back of the house. Moonlight shone down on them, and he saw Finn’s fleeing form. Finn had something in his hand, and the guy threw it back.
Dev swore, but nothing exploded on him. Whatever that object had been, it had just crashed into the ground.
Chance crashed into Finn. He tackled the other man, and they rolled across the ground.
Dev stood over them, his breath appearing as a little cloud in the chilled air. He could have taken down Finn, but if Chance wanted to play action hero, why argue?
When Finn tried to swing at him, Chance drove his fist into the guy’s jaw. Finn fell back, but then he growled like an animal, surging up—
Chance raised his fist again. “Don’t even think it. You aren’t armed now, and I can kick your ass in an instant.”
Finn glared at him. “What do you want?”
Dev cleared his throat. Finn’s head jerked toward him. “We want to toss your ass in jail,” Dev said. “We know you arranged for Daniel’s death, and we’re thinking that once the cops search your house, they’ll find the gun you used to kill Griffin Hollister.”
“What?”
Chance stood and jerked Finn to his feet. “It’s over. Dev traced your money trail. We know about the account in Grand Cayman.”
“I don’t even know what the hell is happening.” Finn sounded furious. “I saw you guys sneaking toward my house. I figured you were coming to attack me!”
Dev rolled his eyes. “Chance and I are working for Sophie.” Okay, maybe she’d fired them. Technically, they were freelancers on this one. “You know Sophie. She’s the woman I’m pretty sure you’re obsessed with. Did you break into her house? Just had to get close, didn’t you? What happened?” Dev pushed. “Did Duvato’s attack drive you over the edge? You
realized that you’d nearly lost Sophie, so you had to act? Had to touch her, had to—”
“You are insane,” Finn said grimly. He tried to wrench out of Chance’s grip. Chance didn’t let him go anyplace.
“I’m not the one who paid Griffin twenty grand,” Dev said. “That would be you. Say good-bye to freedom, and hello to being someone’s bitch in jail.”
“I don’t know any Griffin! And I don’t have that account in Grand Cayman anymore!” Finn snarled. “Sophie told me to ditch it, and I did! Years ago! That’s not me! I didn’t pay anyone—”
Chance shook him. Hard. “Are you obsessed with Sophie Sarantos?”
Finn stopped talking.
“Can’t let her go, can you?” Chance’s voice was full of disgust. “You hurt her when you broke into her place. Lex told me she fell down the stairs. What if she’d died then? What if—”
“I didn’t break into her place! Yes, dammit, I still have a thing for her, but I know it’s not going anyplace. Sophie never loved me. I don’t think she can love anyone, unless it’s Ethan and that twisted-ass relationship they have.”
Dev hesitated because the guy sounded…truthful?
“I gave up getting her back years ago. She’s my friend, that’s it. I would never hurt her!” Finn’s breath heaved out. “As for Daniel…”
Sirens screamed in the night. Swearing, Dev looked over his shoulder.
“Cops?” Chance muttered. He dragged Finn toward the front of the house. Sure enough, the swirl of blue lights was coming closer.
Dev remembered when Finn had thrown that object at them. A phone. “You called the police.”
“Hell, yes, I did!” Finn sounded gleeful now. “When two jerks come sneaking toward my house in the dark, what else is a normal person supposed to do?”
It was what a normal, innocent person would do.
The cop cars screeched to a stop.
But if Finn was innocent…
Then who was stalking Sophie?
“Everyone, calm the hell down!” A woman’s voice rang out—Detective Faith Chestang. He recognized her I’ll-Take-No-Shit tone. She approached with her weapon drawn. “I’m in command here!” She tossed a glare toward Chance. “As soon as I heard the call come over the scanner, I connected the dots. With everything going down with Sophie and her background with Finn Scott—yes, I know all about that, I’m a damn detective after all—I suspected I’d find you out here.”