Need Me (Dark Obsession 3)

“You might think your boss was a saint, Avery, but I’ve got a news flash for you,” Julianna said. “Jeremy was a twisted, sadistic bastard. He was only happy when he made others miserable. “

Avery sucked in a shuddering breath. “You can’t talk about him like that.”

“I just did.” Then, in an impressively fast move, Julianna reached out and yanked the keys out of Avery’s hand. “Don’t ever come into this house unannounced again. You do, and the police will be hauling you away. Not me.”

Avery’s cheeks paled. “I just needed to check his desk. I-I’m working on a deal that needs to be closed and I thought he had the files at home.”

“Then you should have called me to get them. Not broken into my home.” Julianna’s voice dripped ice.

There was plenty of fury in Avery’s stare. Fury and hate.

“Go search for the files,” Julianna ordered curtly. “Then get out.”

Avery shoved past her. Her shoulder hit Julianna, and Julianna grunted at the impact.

He caught Julianna’s hand in his. “What the hell is happening? Who is she and why did you let her inside?” Didn’t Julianna realize the other woman hated her with a killing fury?

Julianna sighed. “Avery Glenn is—was—Jeremy’s personal assistant.”

With personal being a keyword there. That woman was way too attached to her dead boss.

“The company is still running. It employs hundreds of people, and the board is in charge. I mean, I own a majority share now, but they’re running things. If I weren’t under investigation for Jeremy’s murder….” Bitterness entered her voice. “I’d just sell all my shares back to the board and get out of this mess. But I’m stuck, for the time being.” Her gaze swept around the house. “Stuck in this house. A grave above ground.”

Avery came stomping back. He’d never seen a woman stomp in high heels, not until then. “The files aren’t here,” she announced. Her glare said the missing files were Julianna’s fault.

Julianna shrugged. “Then there’s no need for you to be here, either.”

Avery stalked up to her. But then her gaze cut to Devlin. “She seduced him, too. Seduced him, used him, then killed him. Right here…in the same place she probably fucked you.”

Julianna tensed.

“Do yourself a favor,” Avery said, shaking her head. “Run, don’t walk, away from this woman. If you don’t, she’ll wreck you, too.”

Julianna grabbed the door and held it open for the other woman. “Ah…even better than a greeting card. Avery, your charm never wanes.”

Avery actually growled. Interesting.

“Get the hell out,” Julianna said. “Come back and the cops will greet you.”

Avery marched out. Julianna slammed the door shut after her. Devlin noticed that Julianna’s hands were shaking. So she wasn’t as in control as she’d want him—or rather, Avery—to think. “I can’t stand that woman,” Julianna said softly.

I think the feeling is mutual.

Her gaze slid to him. “For the record, I never had sex with Jeremy on the stairs.”

“Good to know.” He didn’t like thinking about her having sex with that bastard—or any other man. Only me.

“Not the stairs. Not the bedroom. Not any place here. This house was nothing but a prison for me, and I hate it.” Her lips twisted. “Right, and I know that just makes it sound like I had even more reason for killing him, doesn’t it? Avery certainly thinks I killed him.” Her hands rubbed over her eyes, then dropped to her sides. “I don’t even know why he wanted me. They were sleeping together long before we met.”

They—Avery and Jeremy?

She sighed. “Are we done here? Please say we’re done. I want to leave.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, we’re done here.” For now.

“Good. I-I need to go to Sophie’s office,” Julianna said as she hurriedly opened the door. “There are some papers for me to sign there.”

He’d drop her off, and then he’d head to VJS and find out just what waited on that flash drive.

Clouds were filling the sky, and it was fucking cold outside. They locked the house, and they headed for his vehicle.

That was when he realized that Avery hadn’t left. She was still in her car. Still glaring at him and Julianna. His hand was on Julianna’s back as he steered her toward the SUV, and Devlin knew they looked like lovers. He used his remote to unlock the car and to start the engine. After that explosion, he wasn’t about to take any chances with any car, not any longer.

There was no explosion, a good thing.

“Out of curiosity,” he murmured as he opened Julianna’s door. “Just where was Avery when your husband was killed?”

“She was working at the office. Alone.” She slid into the seat and looked up at him. “The cops already had their killer, so they didn’t exactly waste a lot of time on her.”

The cops had their killer.

“You said she was the one sleeping with him?”

“Yes.” Her voice was stilted.

Interesting. That might explain some of the woman’s fury toward Julianna. “He married you, but fucked her.”

Julianna drew in a sharp breath.

He slammed the door. “Bet that sure pissed her off.”

At that moment, Avery cranked her car. Her tires screeched as she raced away.

***

“It wasn’t there,” Avery said as she swiped at the tears

on her face. “I looked in his office, but I didn’t find the file.”

“Then you just need to look harder,” the male voice said, filling the interior of her car as it drifted through her speakers.

“I can’t. Julianna kicked me out.” As if that were her home. As if Julianna had any right to be there at all. After the hell Avery had been through, that place should have been hers.

“She was there?”

Her foot pressed down on that accelerator, driving faster and faster as fury filled her. “She was there with some guy—it was obvious that I interrupted them.” Julianna’s mouth had been swollen, her hair mussed. And the guy—

“Who was he?”

“I don’t know. Just the dumbass of the moment.” A fool who’d probably been lured in by Julianna’s delicate facade. Men could be such fools. “Tall, dark-haired, with blue eyes.” Eyes that had unnerved her. “Why can’t she just be locked up? The cops should have her in a cell!”

“She’ll be taken care of, don’t worry.”

So he kept saying. He hadn’t seen Julianna. Hadn’t heard her.

“We have to find that file,” he told her. “If we don’t, Julianna won’t be the only one heading to jail. Just keep your focus, Avery. I need you.”

And she needed him. They were the perfect team. He’d been there for her all along, but he didn’t know…

He never realized I was with Jeremy. He didn’t need to know that. Sex with Jeremy had been wild, hot, and more than a little dangerous. She’d liked his danger.

“Tell me I can count on you.”

Her foot eased off the accelerator. “You can count on me. For anything.”

***

Julianna stopped at the entrance to Sophie’s law firm. She turned and smiled up at Devlin. “I’ve got it from here,” she told him softly. “Thanks.”

He brushed back her hair. His knuckles grazed her cheek. She shouldn’t have felt his touch like an electric charge that shot through her body, but she did. She was far too attuned to him.

I want him far too much.