Forbidden Secrets Read online

  She wanted to have sex with him.

  Really.

  Despite the way he growled at her, gave her the stink eye, and made her feel like she was a pain in his ass, she really felt the need to end up in his bed.

  Clearly, she was an idiot. He was only being nice to her because she was the client. She’d heard what Tori Littlemoon had said to him after she’d left her patio.

  He was just playing nice.

  That had to be it.

  There was no way in hell that they could ever be together—even in a one-night stand, the man hated her guts.

  The snotty comments.

  The glares…

  Yep. She was going to die celibate.

  That was her fate.

  As she tossed and turned, she fought so valiantly to get some sleep. Five more minutes, and she was going to get up, go to his room, and accost the man.

  Yeah, that was a good plan.

  What’s the worst that could happen?

  Oh yeah.

  He could laugh at her.

  Send her back.

  Tell her to get the hell off his dick.

  She snorted as she cuddled down in the feather comforter of her bed. It was all amusing, but she needed to get serious, and fast. Lennox needed some sleep.

  Clearly, she was delirious from sleep deprivation. She was picturing a complete stranger’s penis in her mind.

  Then again…

  Why stop there?

  Closing her eyes, she started thinking about a very naked Everhart Rose. He was pretty damn hot as he strutted around her mind.

  Just as sleep was beginning to take her, she heard a sound. It reminded her of a window sliding open. Only that was impossible.

  Her house was secure.

  Maybe it was Everhart creeping into her room. The mere idea made her heart skip in her chest. The thought of him sneaking into her bed was the highlight of her day.

  Screw that.

  It was the highlight of her life.

  Opening her eyes, she watched the shadowy figure slip into her room by way of one window.

  Only, something was wrong.

  The shape was off.

  Hart was big, bulky, and wouldn’t be wearing a hoodie to cover his face and body.

  Oh, Jesus!

  Someone was breaking into her room.

  When the figure turned, she couldn’t make out the face, but she did see one distinguishable thing.

  The large knife.

  As he raised it, she did the only two things she could. Lennox screamed and then began to fight for her life.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Hart was just about asleep when he heard the blood curdling scream. It sounded like it was coming right from Lennox’s room beside his.

  He was up and out of bed to race toward her room. At Lennox’s door, he found it locked. She was still screaming inside, so he knew what he had to do.

  Hart kicked it in.

  As he did, the room was filled with sobs and falling feathers. They floated through the air all around him. He found her on the floor and backed into a corner.

  She was holding her arm and there was blood.

  He raced to her side.

  “Lennox, what the hell?”

  She pointed at the window, unable to speak.

  Hart could hear Tori and Julian racing down the hall from the other side of the house. He moved toward the window and saw a figure racing away through the dark.

  For a moment, he thought about chasing the intruder, but he was in boxers and barefoot.

  Julian was the first through the door and he had a gun in his hand. Tori did too.

  “What happened?”

  “Someone was in here. They headed toward the East gate.”

  That was all they had to hear. Julian headed out of the room to make chase. Tori closed the door and stood outside Lennox’s room to handle the staff who had raced to their boss’s door. Immediately, she began handling their pressing questions.

  Hart went to his knees beside her, and he was concerned. Blood and a weeping woman were never a good mix.

  “Sweetheart, are you okay?” he asked, reaching for her cheek.

  She flinched away.

  He couldn’t blame her.

  Lennox shook her head. “He had a knife. I think he cut me.”

  That worried him.

  Scooping her up, he carried her to her bathroom. It was hard not to notice that it looked like her. It reminded him of a spa—cool, calming, and relaxed. Then he realized she was anything but that.

  Lennox was about to hyperventilate.

  Sitting on the floor, he pushed her head between her knees until her breathing calmed down. While she was focused on that, he checked her back, neck, and arms. There were no cuts. As she sat up, he saw the blood on her shirt.

  “I need to look at your torso. You’re cut somewhere, but I can’t find it.”

  She nodded as he pulled off her shirt.

  Shit.

  All he saw was little pink panties and breasts.

  He was a bastard for checking her out, but he knew she needed help. Focusing on the wound, he ignored her pale flesh, full, lush breasts, and the gentle curves.

  She was hurt.

  “First aid kit?” he asked.

  She pointed at the drawer. When he moved away, she checked him out. Oh, she was scared shitless, but having him near was helping her calm down.

  He’d saved her.

  When he’d kicked in her door, Hart scared the maniac away. She owed him.

  He opened the kit and pulled out some antiseptic. “This is going to sting, but I need to see how big that cut is,” he stated.

  It was damn hard to focus. She was topless, and he was praying his dick behaved.

  The last thing he needed was a tenting in his boxers. That would be damn hard to explain.

  “Okay,” she said, watching his big strong hand as it moved toward her ribcage.

  Gently, he cleaned off the blood.

  “It’s not bad. He only sliced the skin. You won’t need stitches.”

  He continued working on her.

  Lennox watched him, and it was hard not to notice that it was getting hot in there. All the while, she had the chills.

  “Shock,” he said, as if reading her mind when her teeth started chattering.

  As he placed some Band-Aids across the cut, he was worried about her. “Did you see his face?”

  She shook her head.

  Lennox wasn’t saying shit. She was checking out his erection through his boxers, and if she opened her mouth, she was going to say something stupid.

  She wanted to ask if she could take care of his ‘problem’, but that was way past out of line. It was borderline inappropriate.

  Her teeth continued to chatter.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  He was a letch for checking out her breasts, but the pebbled nipples were hard to ignore. What he wanted was to bring his mouth to them to taste her skin.

  Shit!

  He got harder.

  Hart was an idiot.

  “Here. Take my shirt,” he offered. Pulling it off, he helped her into it.

  Clearly, he hadn’t thought that one through. The t-shirt had given him some camouflage from his rising issue.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered as she took in the scent of his shirt.

  “I bet.”

  Scooping her up, he carried her to her bed. The person who had broken into her house had destroyed her feather pillows and bedding.

  “He started stabbing at me,” she said, burying her face in his neck. Partly, it was because she was scared, but mostly, it was to take in his scent.

  Her hand slid up his bare chest, through the scattering of hair, and to his neck. She clung to him like a terrified child.

  “I have you,” he said, carrying her to the door. When he opened it, no one was there. Tori must have gone after her husband.

  Julian was going to shit a b
rick.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “To my bed. I’ll keep you warm.”

  Oh, there was no doubt that would work. Lennox could already feel her body temperature go up. Now she had to keep from doing anything that was inappropriate. She kept thinking about what Tori had said.

  She was the client.

  They worked for her.

  Then there was the truth...

  The man saved her life.

  It was likely he was only doing his job.

  It didn’t mean she had a snowball’s shot in Hell with him. Lennox knew the truth.

  She wasn’t going to get that lucky.

  Ever.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Julian lost the person running from the house. He’d seen the shoe prints but they disappeared near the gate when they hit pavement.

  Well, so much for tracking him.

  What Julian didn’t understand was how did the person get onto the property?

  Lennox had security at the gate.

  If he escaped that way, surely he came in that way too. It wasn’t adding up.

  It was bugging the hell out of him.

  Just as he began approaching the guardhouse, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun and pointed his gun at the motion…at his wife.

  He was horrified.

  “Tori!” he hissed in a low voice. “Are you insane? What are you doing out here?”

  Her gun was pointed at the ground. “I was watching your back. You are my partner,” she replied nonchalantly.

  He pointed at her belly.

  “What? A pregnant woman with a gun isn’t sexy?” she asked.

  He glared at her.

  It made her grin.

  Tori knew the second she showed up beside him, Julian was going to lose his mind.

  Honestly, she didn’t care.

  There was no way in hell that she was going to let her husband track the assailant through the dark. When he was tracking, he wasn’t looking ahead or behind. He was staring at the ground.

  If the killer was lurking, which she doubted, that could get him hurt, or worse, killed.

  That to her wasn’t acceptable.

  Veronica needed her daddy to live.

  She needed him too. There was no way in Hell that she was raising their child without him. It wasn’t happening.

  “I’m fine. Let’s see why the freaking guard isn’t out here shooting at us.”

  That horrified him even more.

  “Get behind me.”

  Tori rolled her eyes but gave him what he asked for to help keep him calm. She didn’t want him having a stroke either.

  As they moved through the darkness to the structure, Tori’s hand was on her husband’s back. It made him nervous that she was out there, but he also felt safer.

  Tori had spent time in the Middle East on night patrol. This, to her, was a walk in the park. Since she didn’t have blackouts anymore, he didn’t have to worry about her.

  Well, more than normal.

  When they moved around the structure, the light was off inside, and that was odd.

  Where was the guard?

  There was supposed to be one on duty.

  Was there a screw-up with the night shift schedule? Did the person who accessed the property take this one chance to sneak in unnoticed?

  Cautiously, he reached in, feeling for a light switch. When he hit it, his question was answered.

  Sitting in the chair, in the small space, was the guard, and the reason he didn’t come running?

  His throat was slit from ear to ear. Apparently, the knife that was used to terrorize Lennox had also ended the poor bastard’s life.

  It looked like this maniac was playing for keeps.

  “Shit!” muttered Julian. It looked like they were going to be calling the cops and drawing attention to themselves again.

  Why was he surprised?

  When Tori saw the guard, she whistled. “Holy shit! This guy is bat shit insane.”

  Julian knew the truth.

  “He’s more than that. He’s desperate to get to Lennox. It looks like she was right. Had we not helped her, tonight, she would have been dead.”

  Well, fate had been on their side with that one. Then again, without Hart, the killer would have succeeded at his mission. This meant that Lennox was getting a full-time babysitter. Tori hoped that their employee didn’t mind.

  With this death, they were going to have their hands full—big time.

  Tori pulled out her cell and began dialing.

  It looked like they were going to be answering a whole shitload of questions. She hoped the sheriff didn’t mind a late night wake-up call.

  The shit had just gotten real.

  Real ugly.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  He’d barely gotten away.

  What he hadn’t expected was for the woman to be awake when he broke into her room. He’d planned this strike for a few days, and the stupid fool who came to her aid had screwed it up.

  He’d been so damn close, and yet now he’d ruined his chances of ending this game of revenge.

  Shit!

  He wanted her dead!

  Killing the guard had been a necessary evil. He was protecting a vile woman who came from a sick family. When he slit his throat, he’d felt remorse, but it didn’t matter.

  Yes, he’d known him.

  Yes, he’d been friendly with the man.

  Still, it didn’t matter. He’d aligned himself with Lennox Easton, and the only good Easton was a dead one. The guard had sacrificed himself because of stupidity, and that was on him for wanting a paycheck.

  The Easton money was tainted.

  He deserved what he got.

  Now that he was safely on his way home, he was going to enjoy watching Lennox scramble.

  She was going to be scared—more than before.

  Maybe she’d snap and end her life out of guilt. After all, she had gotten an innocent man killed.

  Her tainted blood was the cause.

  Sadly, this likely wasn’t going to be the only person who had to die because of them. If you hung out with a sick bunch of people like the Easton’s, you risked the ultimate sacrifice.

  Your life.

  * * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *

  Delta Falls

  To say that she was pissed would be an understatement.

  Shelby Christensen was more angry now than ever in her life. She’d had to hear about her son’s engagement in the tabloids. He was getting married, and this was certainly all Victoria’s fault. That was the only way it could be rationalized.

  She’s stolen her son from her.

  All those years with Lawrence Christensen had ruined her too. She’d turned her back on her mother, twisted it all, and made Beau hate her too.

  She deserved better. After all, Shelby was the woman who gave her life.

  It pissed Shelby off, and it made her want to get even.

  But how?

  She’d been banned from that stupid office of theirs, and she couldn’t find her son anywhere. He’d gone off and was playing house with his fiancée.

  He wasn’t returning calls.

  He wouldn’t talk to her.

  It was total bullshit.

  Everything she’d done the last thirty years was for him. When her ex-husband wanted her to end her pregnancy, she didn’t stick around.

  Yes, she had wanted to take her other kids, but in war, there were casualties. Lawrence Christensen had already tainted them.

  The proof?

  Look at the path they had both chosen in life.

  They had both become soldiers, and because of that piss poor choice, one had died.

  No one ever listened to her.

  Ever.

  Now her last son was off doing stupid shit with some floozy he’d picked up along the way, her daughter was ruining her memory, and it was all falling apart.

  There was no doubt that the only reaso
n he was with her was Victoria. She had to be behind this.

  Like her father, she was a controlling, manipulative asshole too.

  Before finding her, Beau had been a good boy. Yes, he, too, chose to go off to war, but he’d come home to her. He’d taken care of her, and now the money was running out.

  Shelby was flat broke.

  Soon, she’d be desperate.

  Granted, she didn’t have much time left for this world, and the plan had been to get him to his sister so she could give him a payout.

  No, he wouldn’t have gone along with it, but still…it had been for him.

  Beau would have been set.

  He would have had a nest egg.

  Didn’t Lawrence Christensen and his horrible daughter, Victoria, owe them that?

  It was simple.

  It was easy.

  With one meeting, it had gone to hell in a handbasket, and she was out of control.

  Now Beau was marrying some woman, his mother was going to die alone, and Victoria had tainted him too. It was all ruined because of her.

  Well, this had to end, and soon.

  Shelby had one shot left.

  She was getting her son back.

  Chapter Eight

  Thursday Early Dawn

  It had been a long night.

  After the sheriff had been called, he’d arrived and wasn’t happy to be there. Maybe that was an understatement. The man looked like he was ready to commit murder himself.

  Theirs.

  Julian couldn’t blame him.

  He knew what the man had been thinking the entire time he surveyed the scene. This wasn’t only going to be about the killer taking lives, but this was going to be about them. In the man’s eyes, they were doing one thing.

  They were stirring the pot.

  Before that moment, when they rolled into town, there hadn’t been any deaths outside the Easton family. Now that there were, it said one thing.

  Lennox Easton had been right.

  Her family had to have been murdered.