Need Me (Dark Obsession 3)

What would it have been like? She was sure the attraction between them would have been just as fierce. But there would have been no secrets. No lies.

Just their need.

“You know me now,” Devlin told her. “That’s what matters. And I don’t care what you have planned, I won’t let you be in danger. I won’t let you get hurt.”

Oh, Dev. “You can’t control everyone or everything.” She leaned up and put her mouth against his. Her lips pressed lightly to his, and she just savored him a moment. This would probably be their last kiss, so she’d enjoy it.

And she’d remember him. “Thank you,” Julianna said.

Then she pulled away. It was time to pay for her crimes.

They headed into the hallway, and Julianna nearly ran straight into the tall, blonde woman who was rushing toward her room.

“Julianna!” Avery’s breath rushed out in surprise. Her wide eyes swept over Julianna’s body. “You’re…I heard about the attack. I wanted to check on you.”

Check on her? Since when did Avery care?

Devlin moved to her side. “Now isn’t the best time.”

“I heard the house is destroyed.” Avery’s lips trembled. “Jeremy loved that house, and now it’s broken.”

Julianna felt pretty damn broken right then.

“Who did it?” Avery demanded. “Did you see the man?”

Julianna shook her head. “No.”

“We’ll get him,” Devlin vowed. “Don’t worry about that.” Then he was steering Julianna around Avery.

“I’m sorry!” Avery cried out.

Julianna glanced back at her.

“I…loved him.” Avery’s shoulders sagged. “I think that…made me a little crazy for a while.”

Julianna didn’t know what to say to the other woman.

“You should have just let him go,” Avery said and her gaze hardened on Julianna. “Because you didn’t love him.”

I wasn’t the one keeping him prisoner. “You didn’t know him, not nearly as well as you thought.” Her fingers brushed against Devlin. “Let’s go.” Because she had a confession to make, one that she couldn’t put off, not any longer.

“I loved him,” Avery’s words followed her.

Julianna kept her spine straight. And I killed him.

***

Sophie Sarantos was waiting for them at the police station. When Devlin saw her, some of the tension finally left his body. Sophie knew how to handle her clients. She’d rein Julianna in. She’d stop her from doing—well, whatever the hell it was Julianna seemed so intent on doing.

Sophie hurried toward them. “You look like hell,” she told Julianna.

Devlin frowned at her. Yes, Julianna was bruised but she was still fucking gorgeous. She’d always be.

“Let’s go back to my firm,” Sophie said as she cast a critical eye over Julianna. “I know a lot has been going on and I want to figure out who is—”

“Devlin called you.”

He really didn’t like the flat tone of Julianna’s voice. The woman was worrying him.

Sophie cast a quick glance his way. “Last night,” she allowed. “You’d left and he was…concerned for you.” Sophie took a step toward them, moving easily in the spiky heels that she seemed to love. “He had a right to be concerned. You were attacked! I told you that you needed VJS for protection, and—”

Julianna walked around her. Sophie’s mouth dropped.

“I thought my stalker was in custody.” Julianna’s voice drifted back to them. “I was wrong about that, too.”

Sophie grabbed Devlin’s arm. “What is she doing? You told me to stake out the police station, so I did. I’ve been here too damn long and I don’t want any games.”

Right. He had told her to be at the station—because he’d thought Julianna might head there after she left him last night. “Didn’t Lex call you?” And tell you to stop the police duty?

“He did,” she threw over her shoulder as she hurried up the steps after Julianna. “But I was checking sources here…and when they brought in Heather Aslo’s boyfriend an hour ago, I wasn’t about to leave.”

Shit. “Hugh Bounty is here?” He wanted to get his hands on that SOB.

She didn’t answer until they were inside the station. Inside and looking for Julianna.

“The cops brought him in,” Sophie explained. “And the guy was not a happy camper.”

He spied Julianna. She was leaning in close and talking with Faith. As he watched them, Faith put her hand on Julianna’s shoulder and started leading her back to the interrogation area. Hell, no. “Julianna!”

She flinched and looked back at him.

Sophie double-timed it in her heels until she was right beside Julianna. “This is my client,” she declared. “Just what is happening here?”

Faith shrugged. “Your client asked to speak with me.”

The pounding of Devlin’s heart seemed too loud. He held Julianna’s gaze. There was no missing the fear there. Don’t do it. Leave with me, right now. He wanted to say those words to her so badly because he knew, deep down, he knew what she was going to tell Faith.

It doesn’t fucking matter.

“I’m sorry,” Julianna told him.

He reached out to her and grabbed her hands. “She’s confused,” he bit out. “The doc said she has a concussion. She needs to go back to my place and rest, right now.”

Faith frowned at her. “That knot on your head does look pretty—”

“No.” Julianna straightened her spine. “We have to talk, now.” She shook her head. “But you can’t be there, Dev. Not you. Please. I can’t do this with you here.”

His chest burned. “Julianna…”

“It would have been nice, really nice, to meet you before…” Her smile was bittersweet. “But you’re right. We do know each other now, and I’m very glad that we do. You are a man worth knowing. A man I won’t forget.” Then she turned and headed toward interrogation.

He took a step after her.

Faith’s hand came down on his chest. “No way. You’re staying out here.” She jerked her head toward Sophie. “Her lawyer’s coming in, but not you.”

Faith turned and followed after Julianna. It was probably the first time she’d had to chase her suspect into an interrogation room.

“Stop her,” Devlin said to Sophie.

She looked up at him. “What is happening here?”

“I think your client is making a confession.” He shook his head. “Stop her.”

Sophie took off at a run.

***

Julianna’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking. She balled them into fists and sat at the little chair in the interrogation room.

“Are you all right?” Faith asked and there seemed to be genuine concern in the other woman’s voice.

Julianna nodded.

The door flew open. “My client needs a doctor!” Sophie said, her voice hard. “This meeting is over. Once she has rested and been cleared by medical professionals—”

“I did it,” Julianna blurted, then her shoulders sagged.

Silence.

“My client is delusional,” Sophie said. Her high heels clicked on the floor. “Confusion is a normal side effect from a concussion.”

Faith lifted her brows. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Julianna. “You delusional?”

“No.”

“You confused?”

“I—”

Sophie put her hand on Julianna’s shoulder. “My client has nothing else to say.”

“Yes, I do.” Julianna licked her lips. She kept her gaze on Faith. The detective had warm eyes. Kind eyes. “I remembered more.”

Sophie’s fingers tightened on Julianna’s shoulder. “Stop.”

She couldn’t. “I remember being in the den that night. Jeremy gave me wine. I was—I was leaving him.”

Sophie cursed. Very inventive curses.

“He wasn’t going to let me go.” It’s time for yo

u to understand who’s in charge here, sweetness. I have the power. Me. Not you. Goosebumps rose on her arms as his words blasted through her head. “He told me…I knew he was going to rape me. He said he married me, so he owned me.” She rubbed her chilled arms. “He’d tried before, to get me in his bed, but I slept in another room. I kept the door locked. He had a lover on the side, he told me about her…” The same day he’d broken her wrist, he’d told her about the other woman. A woman who’d kept him occupied when Julianna had tried to keep him the hell away. What a fucking prince. “So I thought he was just screwing her all those weeks. That he’d forgotten about me.” She licked her lips. “He hadn’t, though. That night, he wasn’t stopping.”

“I want you to listen to me,” Sophie said, her voice seeming to fill that room. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You were attacked—”

“I think he put something in my wine.” She’d told Faith that before, but none of the cops had believed her. “I remember being so woozy when he came at me. He had the knife. It was his. When he said he was going to fuck me, something snapped in me. I shoved at him, and he dropped the knife.”