Want Me (Dark Obsession 2)

Damn straight he was close, and he planned to get closer. “You think I haven’t seen this before? On the battlefield, it happened too many times.”

“I’m not on the battlefield,” Sophie whispered as she closed her eyes. “I’m not a soldier.”

“You’re in shock.”

“No, I’m—”

“You’re shutting down to protect yourself because you don’t want any more pain. Daniel Duvato was your friend, wasn’t he, Sophie? For years, he worked with Ethan, so that meant he worked with you. You knew him, and you trusted him, didn’t you?”

Her eyes were still closed.

“Then he turned on you and shattered that trust.”

“It’s not safe to trust anyone,” she said, her voice husky.

“It’s safe to trust me, sweetheart. I won’t let you down.” He leaned over her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I swear it.”

Her eyes fluttered open. She gazed at him, her expression stark. “He was my friend, before he tried to kill me.”

“And it was your friend that you saw on that floor, bleeding out, wasn’t it?” The elevator had stopped. He heard the doors open behind him, but Lex didn’t move. “It was your friend telling you he was sorry as he lay dying.”

He heard her breath hitch. “We spent holidays together. Summers…one year, he tried to surf down in Miami and no matter what he did, Daniel just couldn’t stand on that surfboard. He crashed about a dozen times before he gave up.”

Daniel Duvato had been a twisted, cold-blooded killer. Once, though, he’d been something more.

“You don’t have to shut yourself off,” Lex told her. “Sweetheart, I’m right here.”

Her gaze searched his.

He could read her so well right then. It was almost as if she thought that if she let her emotions out, she’d never be able to control them again. “I’ll take care of you.”

Sophie pulled in a deep breath. “I—”

“Lex.”

That was Chance’s voice. Coming from right behind him. Lex turned and saw that Chance Valentine stood on the edge of the elevator. Chance had thrown out a hand to stop the elevator doors from closing again. Chance’s dark eyes swept over Lex—and Sophie. “We need to talk,” Chance said flatly.

He didn’t want to talk with Chance right then. He wanted to stay with Sophie. She needed him and—

“There’s intel you don’t know,” Chance said. “We need to talk. Now.” His face was hard.

Sophie pushed against Lex. “If this is intel about me, then shouldn’t I be in this little meeting?”

And, just like that, Lex had lost her. He could practically see Sophie putting her walls back in place. How many years had she done that? Tried to block herself off from others? She was wrong about herself not feeling. Actually, Lex thought she might feel too much.

“Of course,” Chance said, inclining his head toward her. “Why don’t you both just come into my office…”

Lex didn’t want to go in there. He wanted Sophie in his office where they could be alone. Hell, he hadn’t even thought that Chance would be in at VJS. He’d just known the place was close, and he’d wanted it to be a safe haven for Sophie.

Sophie slipped by Lex. He shook his head and followed her. Chance led their little group, taking them down the narrow hallway, past their receptionist, and into Chance’s office. The guy had a killer view—a view very similar to Lex’s own. Big windows looked out over DC, showing them the capital’s skyline.

“You were both on scene when Daniel Duvato died,” Chance began as soon as Lex shut the door.

Lex’s brows shot up in surprise. His buddy had sure learned that news fast.

Chance’s lips quirked, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve got friends down at the station.” He motioned to the chair near his desk. “Sophie, why don’t you have a seat?”

She slipped into the chair. Crossed her legs. Lex’s gaze dipped to her heels, then slid back to her face.

Don’t lock yourself away, Sophie.

Lex didn’t sit, but he did march closer to her. He propped his shoulders against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited.

“Your stalker told you that he’d kill Daniel Duvato,” Chance said. Lex had fully briefed Chance and Dev on everything that bastard had said to her. “And now Daniel is on his way to the morgue.”

“He attacked an officer who’d been assigned to guard him. The officer fired in self-defense.” Her words were too calm. “That’s not my stalker. That’s just life.” She shook her head. “And death. Maybe Daniel had a death wish. Maybe he thought he was invincible. I don’t know, but, yes, he’s gone now.”

Chance glanced over at Lex. “Did you talk to the guard?” He looked back at his desk, picked up a notepad, and said, “Griffin Hollister?”

“There wasn’t time for a chat,” Lex said, wondering where this was going. “The ADA had him and the cops were swarming. My priority was to get Sophie out of there.”

Sophie shifted in her seat. “Daniel killed a guard last night. Griffin told us all that he wasn’t about to wind up the same way. Perhaps he was a little trigger happy, but given the circumstances—”

“You knew Griffin,” Chance cut in. “Didn’t you, Sophie?”

“What? Well, yes. I’d see him a few times, with other prisoners—some clients.”

“And your buddy Ethan knows him, too, right?”

Because Lex was watching Sophie so carefully, he saw the faint flutter of her lashes. “I wouldn’t know.”

She’s lying. Now Lex stood a little straighter, gaze focused and body on alert.

“When Ethan was… ah…in police custody a while back,” Chance said, “Griffin was one of his guards.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“He was. My friends at the PD told me.”

This shit is getting tangled. What had seemed like simple self-defense such a short time ago now felt a whole lot more sinister.

Sophie’s heel slowly kicked back and forth. “You’ve got some helpful friends.”

Chance tilted his head as he studied her. “It’s interesting that Daniel was at the police station today, I mean, he wasn’t being held at the station before. That’s not standard. He was brought in, though, and you were conveniently there for that little meeting this morning.”

Her heel kept swinging. “I was there because he was trying to make a deal with the ADA. He wanted to implicate my client in crimes—”

“Your client…” Chance rubbed his chin and propped his hip against the edge of the desk. The guy looked relaxed, but Lex knew that image was a lie. “You mean Ethan Barclay.”

“We all know who she means,” Lex muttered darkly.

Sophie didn’t look ruffled. Her emotions were all still locked up. “If you know everything, then why are you asking me questions?”

Lex was thinking the same thing. He also was thinking he didn’t like the way Chance was pushing Sophie. Friend or no friend, that shit was about to stop. “Chance…” His voice held a warning note.

Chance smiled. “Ethan Barclay once told me that he had friends in prison and that maybe Daniel wouldn’t survive long.” He paused. “I guess he was right about that, huh?”

Sophie slowly stood. “If you have an accusation—”

“Ethan Barclay was also at the police station today, wasn’t he?” Chance’s gaze swung t

o Lex.

Lex gave a grim nod. “Yeah, he was there.” But he’d been waiting outside. Ethan had been nowhere near Daniel when the guy was shot.

Chance cut his gaze back to Sophie. “And, conveniently, before he could roll on your client, Daniel was taken out.”

“A cop shot him—” Lex began.

“A cop that Dev has already linked to Ethan. Griffin Hollister has been going to Ethan’s club, Wicked, for the last two weeks. He’s a new regular there. And one of Ethan’s enemies has been eliminated. Ethan’s enemy…and yours, Ms. Sarantos.”

“This is ridiculous,” Sophie announced. “I don’t have to listen to you accuse my friend of taking out some kind of hit!” Sophie stood and swung toward Lex. “This is why you brought me here? I thought…” She gave a sharp, negative shake of her head. “Forget what I thought.” She strode toward the door.

Lex caught her quickly, catching her wrist in his grasp. “Wait, Sophie, just wait.” He tossed a hot glare at Chance. “So you’re telling us that Ethan Barclay arranged for that hit? He let it go down right in front of Sophie?”

“Actually, I’m wondering…” Chance’s expression tightened. “Were Sophie and Ethan in on the plan together? Because I’ve got to imagine that they both wanted Duvato dead.” Chance obviously wasn’t backing down. “And since I am such a suspicious bastard, I can’t help but think that this whole case has been a run of perfect circumstances.” He held up his hand and started counting off the circumstances. “A man breaks into Sophie’s house and he threatens Sophie. Well, after that, she just had to go to the ADA with that threat, right?”

“Stop,” Sophie said, but she didn’t look at Chance. She kept her eyes on Lex.

Chance didn’t stop. “And the ADA, well, he had to go and see Daniel Duvato. While he was there, of course, Duvato pushed for a deal. Offered to give up the goods on Ethan. We all knew that would happen, right? Considering how much Daniel hated Ethan. Easy enough to predict.”

“You can’t predict anything with Daniel,” Sophie said as she stared up at Lex. “That’s why another guard died last night and Daniel’s lawyer is in intensive care.”