The gun was Ethan’s. Lex took it from him. When Ethan had gone to Lex’s side, that was when Ethan must have slipped him the gun.
She shook her head.
I did my part, buddy. Ethan had said that.
Now do yours.
Lex stared at her. “I love you.”
More cop cars rushed up to the scene. An ambulance was there. And—Dev? Chance Valentine? Yes, they were running toward Lex, too.
But Sophie hadn’t moved from the ground. Lex had just killed in front of her. She knew—with utter certainty—that Lex had known Clark would attack again. He’d waited. He’d planned that moment perfectly.
Clark had attacked right in front of a cop. Faith had seen everything. She would testify—like it would ever come to that—that Lex had fired in self-defense.
But Clark hadn’t been attacking Lex again. He’d been coming for me.
“He always would have come for you,” Ethan said softly as he leaned forward and offered her his hand. “Don’t you see that?”
She saw that Lex had killed for her. She’d never wanted that. She hadn’t wanted him to ever carry that darkness for her.
Dev and Chance were surrounding him now. Talking fast. An EMT was trying to reach out to Lex.
He was just staring at her.
Her lips felt numb as she called, “He’s been shot. Please, get him in the ambulance! Lex needs help.”
But Lex shook his head. “I just…need you.”
No, the man needed stitches. Maybe a blood transfusion. Definitely medical assistance.
“Only you,” Lex said.
“I didn’t want this,” she whispered.
Pain flashed on his face. Even in the darkness, she could see it—those too-bright flashing police lights had let her see it. Then Lex was turning from her. Letting Chance and Dev and the EMT lead him to the ambulance, and she knew that he’d misunderstood her.
Dammit.
“Sophie, you know what he did for you,” Ethan murmured.
The police were swarming the scene.
Her legs felt locked in place. “I never wanted him to do it. I never wanted anyone to kill for me.” Because that was her greatest fear. That someone would be pushed to the edge—for her. She kept her voice whisper soft as she said, “For years, I thought you’d killed for me. Do you know how that cut me up on the inside?” It had terrified her and made her determined not to let anyone else get close. Because she’d been afraid that she twisted people. That she took the good and put a monster in its place.
But Lex isn’t a monster.
He was in the back of the ambulance.
“What did I do,” Sophie asked, “that fucked Clark up so much?” She didn’t even remember meeting him so long ago. Had she?
“You didn’t do a damn thing. That guy always had problems. I knew it the first moment I saw him.”
Drugs. He’d gone to Ethan for drugs.
“Some men think everything should belong to them—everything and everyone. It’s about control and power. That freak was high on his power. Being ADA, he got to control life and death for everyone around him. And you—oh, Soph, I think he wanted to control you most of all.”
No one owns Sophie. Lex had said that.
When she looked back to the right, the ambulance was pulling away.
Chapter Thirteen
“Staying in the hospital for a bit longer probably wouldn’t have been the worst idea in the world,” Dev murmured as he sauntered into Lex’s office with his brows raised. “But if you wanted to play superhero and act like bullets bounce off your chest, fine by me.” He didn’t bother closing the door behind him.
Lex was sitting in his desk. Very carefully sitting at his desk because he had plenty of stitches in his back. “They didn’t bounce off my chest,” he said flatly. “They hit my back. Actually, my shoulder and my left side.” The bullets and blood loss hadn’t been nearly as bad as the concussion he’d gotten when his head had hit that pavement. He’d lost consciousness for a few moments and woken up to absolute terror.
Sophie, in danger. Sophie, touching him…and talking to a demented bastard.
“Thanks so much for clarifying,” Dev said with an eye roll. “Point is, you should be resting. If not in a hospital, then at least at home.”
No way. When he was alone, he thought too much—about Sophie. About how he’d totally fucked things up with her because…I killed a man right in front of her.
But Clark had been running toward her. He’d had that screwdriver up and—
Why even try to kid myself? I took that gun from Ethan because I didn’t think Clark was done, and I had wanted to be ready. If he’d come at Sophie again, I planned to kill him.
And I did.
Now he needed to find a way to fix this mess. He needed Sophie.
“So what are you going to do?” Dev wanted to know. “I heard Detective Chestang cleared you so everything is all tied up, nice and neat. The ADA was the psychotic bad guy. He was the one who took over Finn’s account. Tricky bit of business, that.”
Yes, it had been. Clark had found out about Finn’s account when he prosecuted the guy years before, and he’d taken it over, secretly. Clark had been funneling his own money into that account over the years.
Clark had wanted Finn to appear responsible for Griffin’s murder. Probably just a way to eliminate another man from Sophie’s life. Daniel’s attack on her had definitely set Clark off—severing whatever ties to reality that had held the guy in place.
Or maybe, as Faith had said, Clark really had just always been batshit. Who the hell knew what he’d been doing in his spare time over the years? Maybe there were more skeletons—and murders—still hidden in his closet.
“I heard some folks at the prosecutor’s office are even thinking Ethan Barclay isn’t the devil in disguise any longer. Clark was the one always pushing for a prosecution against him. Now that everyone knows the truth about Clark…” Dev shrugged. “Well, all of his cases are tainted. They’ll have to be reviewed. Talk about a serious nightmare for someone.”
Lex rubbed his aching temples. Since it seemed Dev had just gotten the inside scoop from the prosecutor’s office, he wanted to ask, so badly, about—
“When are you going to see Sophie again?” Dev said, voice casual.
Lex’s hands flattened on the desk in front of him. “You were at the scene. You heard what she said.” Words that had hurt far worse than the bullets.
“Yeah, she said, and I quote, ‘I didn’t want this.’ This, man. This, not you.” Dev huffed out a breath. The door was still open behind him. “She was looking at a blood bath. Seeing the dead body of the guy who’d offed her parents. The woman should’ve been entitled to say anything she wanted right then, and you should have just been grateful she was still alive.”
Lex surged to his feet and ignored the pain that burned through him. “I am grateful,” Lex snapped back. “Do you know how fucking scared I was when I woke up and I could hear Clark talking to her? He was trying to take her away from me. I didn’t have a weapon, and he had a gun. I had to get the gun away from him, I knew it. But I couldn’t have her hurt.” His words were coming faster, harder. Lex couldn’t stop now. “She matters to me. More than anything. So, fuck, yes, when I got her away from that bastard, I hit him. I just kept hitting him.” Through the blood and the crunch of bones. “I hit him even when he wasn’t fighting back. I hit him because I wanted to kill him. I wanted her to be safe.”
Lex’s breath heaved out. Slow down. Apparently, he wasn’t as in control as he’d thought.
“But you stopped…” Dev put his hand up behind him—what was up with that? It looked like he was almost waving to someone out in the hallway. “You stopped then,” Dev said.
“I stopped for Sophie. She touched me, and I just wanted to hold her.” But he’d been scared to touch her with blood on his hands.
“Then why did you kill Clark later?”
Growling, he shot around the desk. “Why the i
nquisition? Why—”
“Because you’re sitting in here, and you’re throwing something really important away instead of running out and making Sophie listen to you. So maybe…” He backed out, retreating from the room as he continued, “Maybe I’m trying to make you fight.”
Lex blinked. Seriously? The guy had just walked out in the middle of the conversation? Dev could be weird sometimes.
But then Dev was back. Only he wasn’t alone. He was pulling Sophie with him. Her eyes were bright with tears.
Had she been outside that door, the whole time? Listening to him rant?
And bare his soul?
Lex stiffened.
“Why did you kill him?” Dev asked once more.
Sophie shook her head. “Stop. Just stop, okay?” It sounded as if she were begging.
Sophie should never have to beg.
Her sigh was broken. “It doesn’t matter why. What matters is that I pushed him that far.” She wasn’t looking at Dev. Instead, she was staring straight at Lex. “And I’m sorry. I never wanted that for you. I never wanted you to kill for—”
He had her in his arms. He had to touch her. Had to kiss her. Had to lift her up against him, and so what if he popped a stitch? Sophie was there. She was hugging him back. She was kissing him back. She was there, with him.
“I’ll just leave you two alone,” Dev said. The door clicked shut.
Lex didn’t let Sophie go. He couldn’t. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Sorry you had to see me like that.” With her, he would confess all. “I tried to pretend I was someone else with you. But that’s me, sweetheart. When your life was threatened, I reacted.” Primitive. Deadly. “I wanted you to love me, but…”
“Oh, Lex, I do love you.” Her body pressed to his. “I told you that, and I meant it. I love you so much that it scares me.”
He was the one scared—of losing her.
Sophie’s beautiful gaze searched him. “I don’t want you to ever be hurt because of me. I don’t want to push you to the edge.”
I’d go over any edge for you.
Sadness slid over her face. “Dev told you once that I was the wrong kind of woman. And he’s right. I can be—”
“He’s full of shit, and he knows it.”
She blinked up at him.
“Didn’t you notice just how much Team Sophie he is right now? He knows I love you. He knows I would do anything for you.” Lex’s voice roughened. “He knows that I was falling apart without you in my life.”
“My life wasn’t the same, not without you.” Her hand lifted and slid over the stubble on his jaw. “I couldn’t stay away any longer.”
“And I was already making plans to seduce you back to my side.”
“You were?”
“I was going to start with flowers.” That had been the first plan. “Champagne. Maybe get one of those little bands to come to your office and serenade you.”
Her lips lifted, just a little. An almost smile.
“I was going to do anything to win you back. To prove to you that we were worth fighting for.” Lex swallowed as he tried to find the right words. This moment mattered so much, and he didn’t want to screw it up.
But she nodded. “We are worth fighting for. You’re worth fighting for.” She squared her shoulders. Sophie looked so heartbreakingly gorgeous and determined as she said, “I want to be with you.”
“Hell, yes.” His instant response.
“I want to spend all my nights with you.”
“Always.” Excellent plan.
“I want to wake up next to you.”
Damn straight. No other man would be getting close to her.
“I want you to love me…”
“So much it hurts,” he promised her.
Alarm flashed in her gaze.
“But in that very good way,” Lex was quick to reassure her.
There it was—she smiled at him. A flash of her white teeth that made warmth in his chest. Her eyes lit up. She freaking lit him up.
“And I want you to know…” Sophie said, “that I love you, completely, totally, and I will love you for the rest of my life.”
He lifted her up, holding her tighter, and whirled toward the desk.
“Lex, no, your stitches!”
He sat her on the edge of his desk. “Fuck them,” he said.
She smiled up at him. He would never tire of her smile. “I’d rather fuck you.”
That could totally be arranged. He kissed her again. But not hard. Not wild. Soft. Sensual. And as he kissed her, Lex knew…I’ll be asking her to marry me soon.
But he’d do that part right. With flowers. With champagne. And with that band that he’d already paid to go and sing at her office. They were scheduled to arrive in the morning. Maybe that proposal would take place then, too.
After all, why wait? When you found something this good—this precious—a smart man held on tight.
Her arms curled around him.
Tight.
“I fucking love you,” Lex said right before his lips pressed to hers.
Epilogue
Devlin Shade knew it was way past time to leave the office. Chance had checked out hours ago, and Lex—well, that guy had rushed away a few moments ago with Sophie. They’d been kissing, laughing, and kissing some more.
They’d been happy.
He was whistling as he waited for the elevator. Maybe he’d go and catch a basketball game. Maybe he’d—
The elevator doors opened. A damn drop-dead gorgeous blonde appeared. Not just any blonde.
Julianna Patrice McNall-Smith.
Her breath caught when she saw him. “You.”
He’d been thinking the same thing. You. You’re the one I want. You shouldn’t be here. You should be very, very far away from me.
Because his body had a far too primitive reaction to her.
The elevator doors started to slide closed. He threw up his hand, stopping them.
She tensed and fear flashed in her eyes.
“Easy,” Dev said. “Look, I think you got the wrong impression of me before. I’m not—”
“A killer?” Julianna laughed, and the sound was brittle. “No, that would be me, right? At least, that’s what the world thinks.” Then she shook her head, “I know you’re not one of Sophie’s clients. She told me earlier today that you worked here at VJS. I just wasn’t expecting to see you, not as soon as I arrived.” She leaned forward and peered over his shoulder. “Is there someone else—”
“There’s me,” he said flatly. “What can I do for you?’ She’d made him curious. A dangerous thing.
She walked out of the elevator. Her hands twisted in front of her. He could practically feel the nerves rolling off her.
“Julianna,” he prompted and—for some weird reason—he liked the way it felt when he said her name. “What can I do?”
Her long lashes lifted. “You can keep me alive.”
His eyes widened.
“I’m really not the killer, you see. Someone else is, and he’s after me. The cops think I’m lying. They won’t help me, but you…you can.” Her voice broke just a bit. “Please. I’ll pay any price. I just—I don’t want to die.”
And she wouldn’t be dying, not on his watch.
###
AVAILABLE in FEBRUARY OF 2015 … NEED ME.
(Devlin and Julianna’s Book)
And available now…WATCH ME (Dark Obsession, Book 1):
Watch Me…The first book in New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Cynthia Eden’s sexy new romantic suspense series…DARK OBSESSION.
He was hired to protect her.
Watching gorgeous Gwen Hawthorne wasn’t a hard job—but it certainly was tempting. Chance Valentine had tried to keep his distance from the sexy socialite for years, but when her father hired him to keep watch on her—as a twenty-four, seven bodyguard—Chance knew his control was about to be pushed to the limit.
He’d never wanted another woman the way he desired her. Hot. Intense
. Consuming. Being so close to Gwen, Chance knew that he wouldn’t be able to resist her. So he gave into his need, her need, and he took them both to the edge of a dark and consuming desire.
But Chance soon realizes that he isn’t the only one watching Gwen. Someone else is out there, a stalker who won’t rest until Gwen is destroyed. Every day, every moment…Gwen is in danger. And Chance knows that if he can’t unmask the stalker, then he may just lose the only woman he has ever loved.
A Note From the Author
I really appreciate you reading WANT ME. Thanks for taking the time to check out my romantic suspense novel.
If you’d like to stay updated on my 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!
Again, thank you for reading WANT 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)