Die For Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer (For Me 1)

He exhaled and raked a hand through his hair. “Your ex is on the doorstep.” As far as Dane was concerned, Trent definitely fell into the ex category now.

All the color drained from her face.

Oh, hell. Dane grabbed her. “Not Valentine.” He had to be more careful. “Trent. The guy you were with the other night.”

Her breath heaved out. Then her eyes widened in alarm. “Why is he here?”

Dane was rather curious to find out himself. He yanked open the door as one of the other detectives—he’d kept guards outside the house as lookouts—stepped in front of Trent to firmly push the guy back. “You can let him go, James,” Dane said.

Karen James glanced back and gave a quick nod.

Trent rushed forward. “What the hell is going on here?” he demanded as his gaze flew to Katherine. “Why are there cops on your doorstep?”

“I—”

“She had a break-in,” Dane explained. Hey, it was the truth. “The uniforms are just here as a precaution.”

“Some precaution.” But Trent was shouldering past Dane and reaching out to pull Katherine against him. “I was so worried about you when I saw the police car. I was afraid something had happened.”

Dane’s eyes narrowed. The shrink had about two more seconds to clutch Katherine, then he’d yank the guy back. One, tw—

Katherine pushed Trent away. “What are you doing here?”

Trent shook his head and finally seemed to realize that Katherine wasn’t completely dressed.

His gaze snapped to Dane.

Dane lifted his brows. Yep, I’m not completely dressed either.

“Katherine.” Her name was a snarl now.

Dane didn’t like that tone a bit.

“Who is he?” Trent demanded as he jerked his head toward Dane.

“That’s Detective Dane Black. He’s…working on the break-in.”

“Doesn’t look like that’s all he’s working on,” Trent huffed out.

Katherine stepped away from him. “Why are you here?” she demanded.

Dane rather enjoyed the anger in her voice.

Trent sniffed. Sniffed? What a prick. And the guy’s brows flew up. “I wanted to come by and talk to you. I wanted you to reconsider—”

“Trent.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I told you, things are over for us. You’re a great guy. But I couldn’t give you what you needed.”

“Could you give it to him?”

The low words had Dane’s body stiffening. He took a fast step forward.

But before he could do anything else, Katherine lifted her hand, halting him. “We weren’t exclusive, and as of our last conversation—right there on the porch—we were no longer dating at all.” Her words were quiet and calm, but a faint pink had started to tint the tops of her high cheekbones. “I’m sorry if I misled you in any way—that wasn’t my intention—but I’m not the right woman for you. I’m—”

“Damaged,” Trent threw out. “I know that, okay? Evelyn warned me about you.” He turned away and began pacing.

Damaged? The word echoed in Dane’s head. Dane moved quickly, putting himself in Trent’s path. “You need to get out of here,” Dane told the guy, trying to hold back his fury.

Trent’s head jerked up, and he almost slammed right into Dane. “What?”

“She’s not damaged.” Dane hated that word. Hated the pain that he’d seen flare in Katherine’s eyes. “And she’s not your concern.” He waved toward the doorway. “Now get your ass out.”

Trent’s jaw dropped. His gaze swung to Katherine. “Kat?”

“She hates being called Kat,” Dane said, never taking his glare off the man’s face. “You should know that by now.”

The wooden floor creaked beneath Katherine’s feet. “Good-bye, Trent.”

The guy stared blankly at her.

“The door.” Dane prompted.

Anger hardened Trent’s face, but the doctor spun around and marched for the door. Dane didn’t speak until the dumb-ass was good and gone. Then he turned to Katherine.

“You were sleeping with that guy?”

“No.” She headed for the stairs. “Actually, you’re the first man I’ve slept with in three years.”

It was his turn to stare after her, with his jaw hanging like Trent’s had been.

Her hand tightened on the banister. “I’ve got some trust issues. You know, because I’m damaged.”

He rushed after her, curled his hands around her shoulders, and made her look back at him. “You aren’t damaged.”

Her smile was sad. “You don’t even know me, and if you did…you just might be afraid of me.”

Then she pulled away, headed up the stairs, and shut her bedroom door behind her.

He didn’t follow this time. He was too busy wondering about the haunted look he’d seen in her eyes.

Trent Lancaster marched into his office, rage burning through him.

Katherine had been half-dressed, with that smirking prick of a police detective at her side.

“Trent?” His partner, Evelyn Knight, entered his office, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

He whirled to face her. He wanted to tell her that he needed to be alone, but he stopped when he noticed the stark concern on her face.

Good old Evelyn. He and Evelyn had first met back in their college days at Emory. They’d even dated back then, for a time, but soon enough he’d realized that they were better friends than lovers.

Evelyn had tried to warn him about Katherine. When he’d first begun to notice Katherine, Evelyn had said to stay away.

But Katherine’s legs were killer. And her eyes…they always made him think of sex.

Then she’d stopped seeing Evelyn. There’d been no reason why he couldn’t go after what he wanted.

He wasn’t a man ruled by emotion so much as by basic needs. Katherine had certainly stirred up those basic impulses.

But then she’d gone and screwed the cop instead. Dammit.

“What’s happened?” Evelyn glanced around the office. “What’s going on?”

He sighed. “Nothing.” He straightened his shoulders. He always had control at the office. He had control everywhere. “Katherine and I—we decided to end things.”

Evelyn’s gray eyes widened; then she nodded quickly. “That was the best decision you could make, Trent. That woman…she won’t be ready for any sort of lasting commitment for a long time.”