Forbidden Secrets Read online

  “What a way to go,” Nyx stated.

  “Yeah, he didn’t go gently into the night,” Tori added. “We know from Lennox that he drove racecars as a hobby. The police report has it down as an accident, and the ME said there was alcohol in his system. Sheriff Byrd is calling it death by drinking and driving.”

  Julian believed that one. “Maybe someone ran him off the road.”

  “The police report doesn’t state anything about paint trace on his vehicle, so if that happened, they never made contact,” Tori offered. “Lennox is the only one who says there was paint. She told us that the day she barged into our office.”

  Julian knew what that meant.

  It was her word against the police report.

  “This is a mess,” Hart stated. “All the evidence keeps pointing to accidental deaths. It’s only little things that prove they are more than that.”

  “Our killer is smart, but he was sloppy,” Julian stated. “I’m willing to bet he’s never killed before.”

  “Or he just didn’t give a damn,” Tori offered. “I worked a case once in the FBI like this. The killer was burning things down, but he didn’t care what the police found. He was more concerned with maximum damage with each fire. What if our killer is so focused on revenge that nothing else matters?”

  Julian was beginning to lean that way himself.

  This killer was nuts.

  Hart continued, “He’d have to be to let this play out over ten years. That’s a long time to plan this out.”

  They all agreed there.

  “We have to stop this person from getting to Lennox,” he stated.

  “We have the bartender’s name,” Beau offered. “Maybe he remembers something from that night. It could be a lead that points you in the right direction.”

  Tori had already thought about that.

  There was no room to leave any stone unturned in this case. They couldn’t risk it.

  “Yeah, we have to talk to Sebastian Winters. His name shows up in the police report. He was a witness to the man leaving the bar that night.”

  Julian was ready.

  They were burning daylight.

  “We should get moving.”

  “What are we doing while you’re out talking to suspects?” Beau asked, motioning toward himself and Hart. Taking a back seat in a case wasn’t something he was accustomed to at all, and he wasn’t sure what role he was going to play.

  “You and Nyx are going to do some spooky sleuthing,” Tori offered. “Evangeline has to be here on this property. I want you to walk around, find the oldest staff, and ask some questions. You keep the spirits with you. Julian and I will be fine.”

  He was amused that they could pass them off like that. Julian couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I told Trey to stay with Lennox until I could get back to her,” Hart offered.

  “Tell him to find Nyx. They’ll do the job,” Tori added. “If we divide them up, both teams will have a little warning.”

  Beau was good with that.

  “Hart, you’re on babysitting.”

  Oh, he was happy that was his job.

  “Later, we’ll meet up here and see what we’ve found. I have a feeling that something is coming,” Tori offered.

  That set the mood.

  No one knew if that was her gut, as an ex-Fed, or if she was getting a spooky vibe.

  Either way, they didn’t doubt it.

  The odds weren’t in their favor, and they knew it.

  Hart, Nyx, and her fiancé watched the couple walk away.

  “I don’t know about you, Beau, but I’m pretty sure that’s going to suck.”

  The man agreed.

  In their world, it was never a good thing.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When he found her, there was loud music playing, and she was busily splashing colors all over a few canvases leaning against the wall. He could tell from the tone of the music that she wasn’t happy, and Hart didn’t know exactly what had happened.

  When he’d left Lennox, she was perfectly fine—in fact, she appeared to be in a really good mood. They’d shared a kiss, and it had been pretty spectacular.

  Well, it had been to him.

  Her…

  Maybe not so much.

  Hart couldn’t help but think something had happened to sour her mood. It concerned him. He really hoped that Evangeline hadn’t tried to hurt her.

  As he stood there watching her, his gut was screaming. His instincts were trying to warn him.

  Only he didn’t know why.

  Well, it was now or never.

  When he entered the room, Lennox didn’t even look over at him, and that was the sign of impending doom. He’d worked with plenty of women on the force to know when there was going to be a dead man walking.

  He’d been that man before.

  That’s what the moment felt like for him. The vibe she was throwing down was freaking him out.

  The shit was about to hit the fan.

  “Hey,” he said, trying to keep it light until he could gauge the situation. He wanted to give her a hello kiss, but his gut was telling him to avoid it at all costs.

  He was going to listen.

  “I’m busy right now. I have a deadline, and I’m behind.”

  Yeah, the tone was definitely different then from yesterday. She’d had him help. Now it sounded like she wanted to boot him from her space.

  He could hear the chill in her voice toward him, and it was confusing.

  “Uh, are you angry at me?” he asked, taking a stab at it. “Did I do something?”

  She didn’t answer him.

  Hart waited. His gut was a string of knots and only she could help untie them.

  “Lennox, are you going to dignify my question with an answer or are you insistent on pretending I’m not here?”

  Still, she didn’t give him the time of day.

  He could feel his temper heating up.

  There was no way he was going to be dissed, especially when he didn’t even know what he did. Yes, he was a jackass at times, but he needed to know what he did so he could avoid it in the future.

  If she was angry because he left her in bed alone…well, work called. He was busy trying to keep her alive. There wasn’t time to lie around in bed all day, even if that was exactly what he wanted to do with her. The facts were that her life was on the line, and he had a job to do.

  “Lennox.”

  She didn’t even turn around.

  It was clear which option she was going for with him—ignore, ignore, and even more ignore.

  He walked toward the speakers and turned them way down. His hope was that they could have a conversation. He wanted to work through whatever had happened between them.

  Instead of speaking to him, Lennox walked over and turned them up again.

  Hart stared at her openmouthed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  She was pissed.

  He’d hurt her.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it, Mr. Rose. It doesn’t matter,” she said, resting a giant canvas on the floor to begin working on her next painting. She had to do dark.

  Well…her mood was perfect.

  She was angry and volatile.

  When she picked up the red paint to begin, he walked over to her and grabbed her arm.

  “Let go of me, Everhart.”

  He didn’t. “Or?”

  She gave him his answer by tossing the entire bucket of red paint on him.

  He gasped and stared down his body. It had splashed from his neck to his knees, and it looked like he’d rolled around at a crime scene.

  He sputtered like a kettle ready to blow.

  “Are you out of your mind?” he finally asked. “You just dumped paint on me! What the hell is wrong with you? These were my favorite boots!”

  She was well aware of what she did, and she didn’t regret it at all. Lennox was done being anyone’s doormat. It was time to own her life—what was left of it.

  �
�I know what I did. You deserved that and so much more. I can’t believe you!”

  He was confused as hell.

  She wasn’t making sense.

  Hart still didn’t know what he’d done to piss her off this much. He really wished she’d clue him in before this escalated.

  When she picked up a bucket of blue paint, he thought she was going to toss that at him, too, so he stuck out his arm and blocked it.

  It tipped backward and splashed all over her.

  She was horrified as she sputtered at him.

  “Not fun, huh?”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  His first instinct was to hold her, but he was pretty pissed at her behavior. Instead, he cut right to the heart of the matter.

  “You can’t tell me you’re going to cry over this, Lennox. It’s paint. Grow up.”

  She was furious. “I’m not crying over the paint, you jerk. I’m mad at what you did. You manipulated me!”

  He still had no freaking clue what was going on. It was like he fell down the rabbit hole right into a whole pile of crazy.

  So this was what he missed the last four years?

  Yeah, maybe celibacy was a damn good thing.

  “What the hell are you talking about? I really wish you’d tell me instead of behaving like some crazy person.”

  Oh, she’d tell him.

  Then she’d boot his ass out of her home, and she’d never speak to him again.

  “You had your pet ghosts scare me to get me into your bed. You tricked me, and that’s so low that I can’t even look at you.”

  She went to turn, and he grabbed her arm.

  “I did nothing of the sort. I don’t know where you got your information, but you’re so far from the truth that you’re looking a tad bit nutty.”

  “Your ghost told me you did. They told me you knew about it, Everhart, so don’t lie to me.”

  He was pissed now too.

  That wasn’t exactly how the entire thing went down. She was jumping to conclusions.

  When he got his hands on the spirits…

  “Don’t deny it! You knew that my room wasn’t haunted by Evangeline. You knew it was your ghosts!”

  Yes, he knew but it was after the fact. Trey and Bethany did it on their own. It wasn’t his idea. Hart would never lure a woman into his bed by fear.

  Never.

  That was so not his game.

  Hell!

  He didn’t even have a strategy. He was bad at this. Hart had never even thought something like that would work.

  “You’re getting mad at me for no reason. If I wanted to be in bed with you, Lennox, you’d know it.”

  That hung between them.

  “I see.”

  Apparently, he didn’t want her in his bed, since he’d never offered, or tried to be in it. He was painting a pretty clear picture for her.

  She got it.

  “I don’t think you do.”

  “Oh, I see the big picture,” she said. “I bet you found my terror amusing. Well, thank you for abusing my trust. I put my faith in a very cruel man. I never even want to speak to you again. You’re a jerk!”

  Again, she went to walk away, and again, he stopped her from escaping.

  “You’re going to feel horrible when I clear all of this up. You’re going to apologize to me.”

  She didn’t care.

  All of her life, she’d been someone’s joke, someone’s pushover, and she didn’t want that anymore. Lennox thought he was different.

  She thought…

  It didn’t matter.

  It was over.

  She’d never touch him again. Her heart had been damaged enough in her life. She deserved someone who saw the real her, and this man simply didn’t.

  She pulled her arm free and went back to her canvas. He didn’t give up and when she tried to move, he was right there.

  “I didn’t do what you think I did. I didn’t instrument this shitty plan of seduction like you think I did, Lennox. That’s not my style.”

  Honestly, Hart didn’t have style or game for that matter.

  “Did you know?”

  “Yes, I did, but…”

  She cut him off.

  That’s all she had to hear.

  “Get out. I don’t want you near me. I can’t do this anymore. I have enough going on to worry about some man who thinks scaring me when I’m at my most vulnerable is funny.”

  He grabbed her arm and she fell against them. The paint coating their skin and clothing combined.

  “Oh, hell no! You will not dismiss me like that. Trey!” he yelled, waiting for the ghost to make an appearance.

  “Let go of me!”

  She struggled but he wouldn’t release her. Instead, he held her arm in his big hand as his phone chirped from his back pocket.

  “What’s. Up. Lovebirds.”

  “Shut up, Trey! Tell Lennox the truth. She thinks I set her up to lure her into my bed. Did I know about it beforehand?”

  She struggled to get free.

  “He’s. Got. No. Game. It. Was. Us. We. Wanted. You. To. Be. Happy. He. Makes. You. Happy.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  Hart stared down at her. “Listen up, Lennox. I may be a lot of things in my life, but I’m not going to put up with a spoiled little brat taking a temper tantrum. I don’t let my daughter behave like this, and I won’t let you. I will spank you, and you will not like it.”

  He jerked her arm.

  She slapped him.

  The sound filled the air.

  He stared at her. Hart’s eyes went molten, and he was pissed. “That’s it. I’m done. Remember who crossed the line.”

  Lennox really thought he was going to spank her. A little part of her heated up at the mere idea. For some reason, as angry as she was, she wanted his hands on her.

  She still wanted him, and maybe that was the real reason she was pissed.

  Hart yanked her toward him, and he saw the fear in her eyes. It was a quick flash, but it was there, and that bothered him. He might be a big man, but he’d never hurt a woman, even if she struck him.

  In all honesty, he deserved that slap. He was manhandling her and the lines were crossed on both sides. He just didn’t think she would do it. He hated that it turned him on even more, but it did. That one quick kiss of palm to skin threw his libido into overdrive, and he didn’t think he could shut it down.

  God help them both, but he was struggling.

  “Let me go!”

  “No.”

  She tried to push him away, and instead of it working, it only made him want her more. When you told a man he couldn’t have something, he was going to make sure he tried harder until he got it. What he really wanted was Lennox.

  She was fiery.

  Exasperating.

  Strong willed.

  Perfect.

  “I said LET ME GO you big oaf!”

  Instead, he did the exact opposite. Hart pulled her mouth to his, and he kissed her with everything he had in him. It was four years of frustration, anger, and aggression. He didn’t relent. The harder she struggled, the harder he fought to keep her in his arms. Until she said the magic word, ‘NO’, he wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t help but feel like he needed to save this.

  His gut told him to do whatever it took to save what they were starting to find.

  Still...

  Inside, he was ashamed of himself.

  He simply had no control around her. Lennox, from day one, had barreled through that wall.

  Damn her!

  When he finally set her mouth free, they were both breathing heavily. For a few seconds, no one spoke.

  He stared into her eyes. “I would never do that to you. I would never scare you to get into your pants, Lennox. I’m not like that. I may get mad, and I may argue with you, but I’d never hurt you like that. I respect you too much. I was raised to respect any woman I kissed, was attracted to, or had feelings for.”

  Her heart skipped.


  Those were the words she needed to hear.

  She felt the same way about him. She was incredibly attracted to him.

  “I’ll leave you alone. I can see you don’t want me near you, and you need your space.”

  He let her go.

  It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. How he managed to pull it off, he’d never know.

  As he went to walk away, she touched his arm. Hart glanced over his red stained shoulder at her. “Yes?”

  She moved in front of him and left a kiss on his red cheek. “I’m so sorry I hit you.”

  He didn’t deserve those words.

  “Please forgive me?”

  He touched her cheek. “Will you forgive me for yanking on you like you were a rag doll?”

  Her heart skipped.

  “Absolutely.”

  “We should get cleaned up.”

  Lennox didn’t want him to leave. She wanted him to stay. “We should,” she said, jumping up to wrap her legs around his hips, “but how about we try this instead?”

  Lennox was taking one hell of a chance, but he deserved it. After all, she’d unjustly accused him, and he didn’t break her trust. She owed him, and this was her way of re-bridging that gap.

  When she wrapped herself around his body, she caught him off guard, and they tumbled backward, landing on the canvas with her still attached to him. The second they hit the white of the material, she kissed him the way he had kissed her.

  Her mouth sought his, and their tongues did battle.

  Her hands wandered, they found his broad chest, and they slid across the red, mixing her blue stained skin with his. She didn’t stop the kiss, too afraid he’d disappear if she did.

  For the first time, in a very long time, she wanted a man.

  She wanted him—even if he was going to break her heart at some point. It didn’t matter. She had to live in that moment. Her life might be over soon, and she wanted to have this one little memory for herself.

  If she was forced to wander the afterlife like Trey and Bethany, she’d have the ability to recall her life. She wanted this one moment to be the one that she always had.

  She wanted him for eternity.

  She broke the kiss, but said nothing as they stared at each other.

  “Lennox, baby,” he muttered.

  “I really need you and this.”