Want Me (Dark Obsession 2)

She waited. Since he was blocking her way to the door, there wasn’t much else she could do.

“But you have a habit of walking away on the men in your life. They try to get you back. Alec Farrell, Justin Allan, even Bruce Mitchum—they all tried, right? But you kept walking.”

“If your digging online said they tried, then I guess they did.” She was going to push him to the right and out of her path. Simple. Effective.

“I don’t want Lex falling hard, then having you walk. There’s one thing I can’t tolerate in this world, and that’s seeing my friends get hurt.”

“You need to learn the difference between sex and love,” Sophie said brutally. “Lex and I had a hookup, nothing more. You need to—”

“Huh. That’s interesting.” His gaze sharpened as he lowered his face closer to hers.

She shoved him back. Hard. “What’s interesting?”

“When you lie, your eyes change. It’s faint, but there, and your voice goes extra cold, like you’re locking part of yourself down inside.”

“I have a client,” Sophie gritted out. “She needs me.”

“Yes.” He nodded, a small frown on his face. “I think she does.” He moved a bit to the side.

Sophie strode past him.

“And I think Lex does, too.” His voice was soft, so very soft, and she almost thought that she’d imagined those words.

***

He’d finally managed to answer all of the questions. Fucking finally. Griffin Hollister took his time walking out of the police station. He sure didn’t want it to look like he was in any kind of a hurry. He had to play things cool and keep it all together for just a little while longer.

“Hollister!”

He glanced over his shoulder at that call. Two men were approaching him. Tough-looking SOBs. One had dark hair, one light. Both wore intent expressions.

He edged away from them. “I answered all the questions! I’m done for the day. My rep is inside—go talk to him!” Because those two walked with the tough, stalking stride of hunters, he figured they had to be cops.

But the blond shook his head. “I’m not interested in your rep.” He was closing in fast. Griffin was at the edge of the sidewalk. Traffic buzzed near him on the street. “I want to know about you and about the twenty grand in your account.”

No one should have found that, not yet. These guys were fast. He swallowed. “My uncle died.”

“Bullshit,” the dark-haired guy called.

His eyes raked them. “You’re not cops.” If they were, they’d already be dragging him back in the station.

“No, we’re private.”

Private? He grunted. “Then I don’t have to talk to you.” Actually, there was only one person he needed to see. The guy with his payoff. “I’ve had a really shitty day, and you need to back off.” The blond looked familiar and he realized that guy had been there—right after he’d shot Daniel Duvato. He’d been there, keeping close to Sophie Sarantos. “Why would Sophie send you after me?” Griffin asked, really confused now. “She should be glad the guy is dead.”

He turned toward the street. He wasn’t taking his car from the scene. He’d never be driving that ride again. He had instructions to follow. He was supposed to take a cab. Meet at an exact location for that sweet, final payment.

Gunfire exploded. The pain hit him immediately, white-hot, burning, right in the middle of his chest. He looked down and saw a bloom of red on his uniform.

“Shooter!” It was the dark-haired guy yelling—and he was yelling the damn obvious. Of course there was a shooter. The bastard had hit him.

But it was the blond who grabbed Griffin and yanked him behind a parked car even as another bullet blasted.

The blond snarled, “You see what’s happening? You’re a loose end to someone, and they’re trying to eliminate you.”

His chest felt like a damn gorilla was sitting on it. So heavy. Not burning anymore, just heavy. He tried to talk, but he was coughing. Did blood pour out of his mouth, too?

“Did someone hire you to kill Daniel Duvato?”

Yeah and the son of a bitch is now trying to kill me. He needed to suck in a breath, but couldn’t. He’d just been hit once, right? Or had it been twice? Shit, was he making that wheezing sound?

“Did someone hire you?”

He managed to nod. “H-help…” The blond had to get him help. This couldn’t happen. He couldn’t be gunned down right in front of a police station.

Just like a hit wasn’t supposed to happen in a police station. But it had.

“Who hired you?”

He could hear other voices. Help was coming. He didn’t have to talk. If he talked, he’d just incriminate himself. He…

Why was he feeling so cold?

“Don’t die with that secret on you.”

Die? He didn’t want to die. Griffin tried to say that, but more blood burst from his lips. And what was wrong with his chest? The pressure was gone, that heavy weight vanished. Now he just felt nothing.

Was his heart beating?

“Talk to me! Tell me who hired you!”

He didn’t think it was beating.

He didn’t think…

***

Cops swarmed the scene. When a shooting happened literally right in front of the police station, an army of cops should be expected.

The bastard has balls. To shoot Griffin Hollister, right there.

Balls. Or maybe he just had straight up insanity.

Griffin’s blood was on Lex’s hands. He’d put his hands over the gaping hole in Griffin’s chest, and the man hadn’t even seemed to realize that Lex was touching him. One look and Lex had known that Griffin wouldn’t live long. He’d hoped to get the information he needed out of Griffin before the guy passed.

It hadn’t happened.

“Clear the way!” EMTs rushed forward. Lex backed up more. He saw that cops were already searching the street. Chance stood to the side, talking to a captain and pointing to a building across the road. No doubt, Chance was showing the captain where he thought the shooter had been positioned.

He’d just been waiting to take his shot. Waiting for that perfect moment.

“What the hell?”

At the low snarl, Lex glanced over and saw the ADA. Clark stared down at the scene in shock. “What happened here?”

“Shooter,” Lex said flatly, and like Chance, he pointed to the building across the street. “I guess the guy wanted to make absolutely sure Griffin couldn’t turn on him.”

“What?” Clark shook his head. “No, Griffin is—”

“He was a killer for hire. He was paid to take out Daniel Duvato.” But who paid him?

Shock flashed on Clark’s face. “He told you that?”

Lex swung away from the guy. He needed to see Sophie. With blood still on his hands and a dying man’s image in his mind, he needed her.

But a hand grabbed him and swung him back around. Clark stared at him with shocked eyes. “He was really paid to kill Duvato?”

“And Griffin was shot before he could turn on the man who hired him.” Lex smiled grimly. “But that bastard isn’t getting away clean. I won’t let him.” There was no way he’d leave that guy out there, running loose, with Sophie possibly in his sights. “No fucking way,” Lex promised. He made to move around the ADA.

“No,” Clark said immediately. “You’re a witness.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Chance is a witness, too. You’re both staying here until I can figure out exactly what the hell is going on here.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Hired to kill? Right in front of me?” Clark blew out a rough breath. “What the hell is going on? Who is doing this shit?”

Chapter Ten

Julianna Patrice McNall-Smith was convinced she had a killer on her trail. Sophie did her best to reassure the other woman. When you were facing life in prison, panic was normal. So were some paranoid thoughts, especially when the prosecutor really was out to get you. But Julianna bare

ly seemed to be hanging on by a thread, and no matter what Sophie told her, Julianna maintained that the real killer was after her.

Maybe she needs protection, too.

When Sophie finished her meeting with Julianna, she noticed that Dev seemed to take way too much interest in the other woman’s exit. Perhaps he can be the protection she needs. Sophie filed that thought away for later.

Her immediate need was escape.

Sophie made sure Kurt was chatting up Dev when she slipped out the back exit. After all, she had another appointment to make, and Dev couldn’t get in her way.

When she headed out the back door, a limo was already waiting for her. The vehicle idled by the curb and she slipped right inside. As she jumped in, Sophie thought she heard her name being called.

Maybe I didn’t slip away from Dev as easily as I thought.

“Get us out of here,” Ethan barked to his driver. “Now.”