Dangerous To Love

by Toni Anderson, Barbara Freethy, Dee Davis, Leslie A. Kelly, Cynthia Eden, J. Kenner, Meli Raine, Gwen Hernandez, Pamela Clare, Rachel Grant

But he did turn around right then. He had what looked like a glass of whiskey in one hand, and when he saw them heading toward him, Ethan’s face tightened with fury. “What. The. Fuck,” he snarled. Ethan slammed the glass down on the bar. “The place is closed. Get the hell out!”

  She froze, an instinctive reaction, but Chance and Lex just strode forward.

  Ethan’s eyes glinted with fury. “Didn’t you hear me, Valentine?”

  Ah, right, like he was going to forget Chance.

  “I said get out!” Then Ethan’s gold eyes—tiger eyes—locked on Gwen. For an instant, the fury on his face lessened and something else—something that looked a lot like fear—flashed across his face. But in the next instant, all emotion was gone and he was gazing coldly at her. “Gwen.”

  She shivered.

  “Violating your own restraining order, are you, Gwen? I guess some women just can’t stay away…”

  Chance’s hands slammed down on the bar top. “I know what you’ve done. Did you think no one would find the cameras you set up at Gwen’s place?”

  Ethan’s eyelids flickered. “Cameras?”

  “We traced the feed back here. To your place. The cops know, and they’ll be here any minute to haul your ass in to the station.” Rage growled in each word.

  Gwen inched a little closer.

  “You torched my home last night,” Chance continued, his voice sharpening even more.

  “The hell I did!”

  “The home can be replaced…but you sonofabitch…” His hands fisted on that bar top. “Gwen was inside.”

  All of the color drained from Ethan’s face. “Wh-what?”

  “She could have died!” Chance lunged across that bar, moving faster than a striking snake. He grabbed Ethan’s shirt front and jerked the guy close. “Are you just one of those sick bastards that can’t let a woman go? Would you rather see her dead than with someone else? She doesn’t want you anymore. Get it through your head. Stay the hell away from her!”

  Gwen wrapped her arms around her stomach.

  Lex was pacing near Ethan’s side. “I bet the computer equipment is in the back. This is going to be a slam dunk for the cops.”

  It looked that way.

  Ethan’s gaze cut to Gwen. “I didn’t do it.”

  Gwen’s lips parted.

  “Bullshit,” Lex threw out. “The signal tracks back to you. What? Did you get jealous ’cause you thought Gwen was hooking up with someone else? You put a camera in her place so you could watch her. You needed to see her, right. Twenty-four, seven. You—”

  “I want to protect you,” Ethan said as he gazed at Gwen. His words were rough, raspy. Just like the voice on the phone? “Gwen, listen to me. You’ve got this whole thing wrong!”

  “Chance lost…” Gwen stopped and cleared her throat because her voice sounded too weak. “He lost his home, Ethan. The fire was everywhere. Why would you do that? Why?”

  Ethan jerked away from Chance’s hold. “I didn’t! Why the fuck would I want to torch this jerk’s home?”

  Lex laughed. “Because you thought the jerk in question was screwing Gwen.”

  She could feel heat staining her cheeks.

  Ethan glared at Lex. Then at Chance. “You think I didn’t know, even back then, how much you wanted her?” He shook his head. “Gwen was the blind one, not me. I could see how you looked at her. Like the lust was tearing you apart. But I got Gwen, not you. She would have stayed with me, if you and her dick of a father hadn’t poisoned her against me. Gwen would have stayed—”

  Chance leapt over the bar. He just cleared that thing in an instant. He grabbed Ethan and shoved the other guy into the wall of glasses to the right. Chance lifted his fist and drove it into Ethan’s face.

  “No!” Gwen screamed. Chance couldn’t do this, not again. The cops were coming. He’d get hauled to jail with Ethan. She didn’t waste time running around the long bar. Gwen climbed right over the thing. Sure, she didn’t clear it nearly as gracefully as Chance had, but Gwen managed to stumble over the thing.

  Ethan wasn’t fighting back, and Chance was gearing up for another swing.

  Lex was just watching. No help at all!

  “No!” Gwen yelled again. She threw herself against Chance and held on tight. “Don’t do this! Let the cops take care of him!”

  Chance had busted Ethan’s lip. She could feel the fury vibrating in Chance’s body. The guy needed to back away. If he didn’t, she knew this scene was going to end badly.

  “Please, Chance,” she whispered. “Use some of that famous control of yours.”

  But Ethan laughed. “Don’t you get it, Gwen? He doesn’t have control, not when it comes to you.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath when Chance tensed. “Stop it!” Gwen ordered. And she meant that order for both Ethan and Chance. But she stared hard into Ethan’s eyes even as she held tightly to Chance. “It’s over. You’re not going to hurt me or anyone else that I care about.”

  Ethan flinched. “I would never hurt you.”

  Chance dropped his hold on the guy. He stepped back, and his arm curled around Gwen. “Really? Then what the hell were you doing in her bedroom all those months ago? The night you snuck inside? You broke into her place, you—”

  “I want to keep you safe, Gwen,” Ethan said. He was staring straight at her, and the guy looked sincere. He was a master actor, obviously, so maybe it was no big surprise that she’d fallen so easily for his smooth lines. He’d seemed to care about her. He’d injected just the right amount of sincerity into his voice when they’d been together before…just like he was doing right then.

  “I’m safe,” she said softly, flatly, “when you’re away from me.”

  His eyes widened. “No!” He tried to reach for her.

  Chance shoved him back. “You just don’t learn well, do you?”

  “Gwen, Gwen, listen to me!” Now Ethan’s voice was rising. “I didn’t start any fire. And, yes, okay, maybe I did have some cameras set at your place, but it was just so I could watch you! You don’t understand the danger you’re in. Danger I put you in!”

  Chance still had one hand locked around Ethan’s shoulder. “Understand this, Gwen isn’t for you. You stay away from her. You don’t think about her—”

  “Gwen!” Ethan’s voice was frantic. That emotionless mask was gone. It had splintered right before her eyes. “I can’t let it happen again,” he shouted.

  Again?

  “You have to listen to me. I didn’t set the fire. It wasn’t me!”

  Lex’s fingers tapped on the bar. “Then who was it?”

  Ethan didn’t look his way. “You can’t trust the people near you. They’re working their own agendas. You can trust me. I can keep you safe.”

  Lex laughed. It was a rough, angry sound. “Wow, you are a ballsy bastard, aren’t you? Chance, now I see why you beat the hell out of him before.”

  She didn’t want anyone getting the hell beat out of them. Where were the cops? Chance had put in a call to the police department before they’d left his office.

  “I beat the hell out of him,” Chance said, his voice grim, “because he broke into Gwen’s room in the middle of the night. She’d told him they were done, and the guy wouldn’t let go. He snuck into her place. Into my Gwen’s bedroom, and he was going to—”

  “Your Gwen?” Ethan demanded. “Is that what this is about? You’re just trying to get me out of the way so you can finally be with her?” Ethan shoved hard against Chance. A fast, frantic move.

  Chance didn’t budge.

  “She doesn’t know what you’re really doing, does she?” Ethan snapped as his cheeks reddened. “Because if Gwen knew, she wouldn’t be standing with you now, would she? Her father’s fucking guard dog. You think I don’t know? I’ve been watching, I’ve been—”

  “Shut up,” Chance gritted out.

  She could hear other voices then. Rising and falling from the entrance to Wicked. The cops? Finally.

  “And the cops are here,�
�� Lex said, voice mocking. “I’d hoped for a little more one-on-one with this guy first.”

  Her heart was racing, her breath heaving, and she was really, really glad the cops had arrived.

  Before Chance or Ethan started brawling right in front of me.

  She grabbed Chance’s hand. “Come on,” she told him. “Let’s go.” Then she looked at Ethan. “Stay out of my life.” That was the only thing left to say.

  She and Chance started walking around the bar. Lex came to her side.

  “You can’t trust him!” Ethan yelled. “Do you know why he suddenly looked for you again? Months passed, right, and nothing?”

  He’s been watching me…so Ethan knows everything about my life. That terrible twisting in her stomach just got worse. Yes, she’d felt uncomfortable a few times—out in public, not in her apartment. She’d felt as if someone was out there, watching her.

  She’d never imagined that the eyes were on her because someone was watching from inside her place. Gwen felt violated. Angry. Scared.

  Chance’s fingers tightened around hers.

  She kept walking. She wasn’t going to look back at Ethan. She didn’t want to see his lying eyes again. She didn’t want—

  “He’s with you because your father paid him to be!”

  She shook her head. That was such bull.

  Only…

  She happened to be looking right at Lex when Ethan threw out that accusation. And Lex…winced.

  Why?

  Gwen drew up short.

  “Gwen, I’m the one who always wanted you…you, just as you are. I didn’t give a shit about your father. He wasn’t going to stop me from being with you, not like he stopped Chance.”

  She spun around to fully face Ethan.

  “Nothing was going to stop me.” Ethan stood there, glaring at Chance. “So this bastard fed you bull about me. He turned you against me.”

  She could hear the thud of approaching footsteps.

  “He fed you lies because Chance wanted you, but he couldn’t have you. You were right in front of him, but the guy couldn’t touch you. You got tired of all that looking, but not touching, didn’t you, Chance? You got tired—”

  “I touch plenty now,” Chance said, his voice low and cutting.

  And Ethan attacked. He snarled and came at Chance with his fists flying.

  Chance pushed Gwen back, but Ethan hadn’t been aiming for her. Ethan swung and drove his fist at Chance’s jaw.

  Chance didn’t dodge the blow. He could have moved. Could have deflected. Gwen knew what his reflexes were like. Instead, Chance took the hit.

  And the cops swarmed. The uniformed men grabbed Ethan and shoved him back.

  “That’s the man, officers!” Lex shouted helpfully. “Ethan Barclay! He just assaulted my friend and before you arrived, he confessed to putting cameras in Gwen Hawthorne’s apartment and—”

  “Gwen!” Ethan bellowed. He was fighting against the cops. Twisting. Punching. A bad move. A move designed to get him instantly locked up.

  She slanted a glance at Chance. His control was back in place and a tight smile curved his lips.

  Chance had wanted Ethan to attack. He’d wanted to push the other man over the edge.

  “Gwen, I’m the one keeping you safe!” Ethan was yelling even as the cops started hauling him to the door. A bit of assault against an officer—or three—didn’t go over well with them. “You need me! You can’t trust Chance! You can’t!”

  But she did.

  Or…I had.

  Gwen turned and hurried toward the exit. She didn’t want to watch Ethan get dragged away in handcuffs. That scene wouldn’t provide her with any sense of satisfaction. She’d gone to Wicked that day because she’d thought—somehow—the fear would lessen if she faced off against Ethan.

  But the fear hadn’t lessened. It had just gotten worse.

  She pushed open the door and hurried outside. The cold air actually felt good when it hit her. It was a shock to her system, pushing past her fear and anger.

  She stood on the sidewalk a moment. Her hands shaking. Her stomach still knotted.

  And she wondered…

  Has Chance been playing me?

  * * *

  When Gwen ran for the door, Chance immediately started to follow her. Lex grabbed his arm. “No, you see what the cops find in the back. You’re the one with the connection to the lead detective. I’ll take care of Gwen.”

  He gave a curt nod and Lex hurried past him.

  The cops were there, fighting to subdue Ethan Barclay. It took every bit of Chance’s self-control not to jump into the fray but…

  Please, don’t. Gwen’s voice kept replaying through his head. He wasn’t going to break down and let the rage consume him again. He needed to be better, for Gwen. He needed her to see him as more than just some hot-headed SOB.

  “Well, well…” A woman’s voice said from behind him and he turned to see Detective Faith Chestang approaching him. “You always do have a knack for finding trouble, don’t you, Chance?”

  Faith was in her early thirties, with creamy caramel skin, shrewd eyes, and a killer smile. The woman also had a killer right hook. She’d spent some time on Hawthorne’s security detail, so she and Chance had more than a passing acquaintance—and that was why he’d called her. If anyone would back him up at the PD, it would be Faith.

  The fact that the woman owed him a few favors had also been one of the reasons he called her. Chance knew—hoped—she’d give him access to the evidence she collected at Wicked.

  “Trouble found me this time,” he murmured and that wasn’t really a lie. “It’s like I said on the phone…” He jerked his hand to a now-still Ethan. “The guy was stalking Hawthorne’s daughter. He had cameras in her house, and I’m betting if you go to his office in the back…” Chance’s gaze slid to the door on the right, the one marked PRIVATE. “I’m betting you’ll find video feeds on his computer.”

  She cocked her head to the right. Her black hair skimmed her jaw. “Is that right, Mr. Barclay? Will I find those files on your computer?”

  “I want a lawyer,” Ethan said, his face flushed red and his eyes dark with fury. “This is a bullshit case. Chance Valentine is setting me up. He’s mad I hooked up with his lady and he’s invented this whole scene!”

  “So there’s nothing on your computer?” Faith asked. She started strolling—as slow and easy as could be, as if she didn’t have a care in the world—toward the PRIVATE door. “If that’s the case, then it won’t matter if I take a peek.”

  “No!” Ethan shouted. “You need a warrant! You can’t go in there!”

  “You just assaulted three officers…” Faith said.

  The three officers nodded. “Damn straight,” one spat. It almost looked as if that officer had broken his nose in the scuffle.

  “Getting a warrant isn’t going to be hard.” Faith smiled that icy smile of hers. One that was both gorgeous and chilling. Chance had seen plenty of men fall before that smile. “So why not save us both some trouble and just confess right now?” She put her hands on her hips. “Have you been stalking Gwen Hawthorne?”

  Ethan’s jaw jutted up. “I. Want. My. Lawyer.”

  “And here I didn’t think you were the kind of man to hide behind a suit,” Faith said, rolling her shoulders. “So much for the word on the street.”

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

  “But the bigger they are,” Faith added, “the harder I take those bastards down.” She waved toward the cops. “Get him to the station. He’s not going to be stalking anyone today.”

  He wasn’t going to be stalking Gwen ever again.

  The cops pushed Ethan toward the door. So much for getting to search the back office. At least, for the moment. But Chance wasn’t done, not yet.

  When the group passed him, Chance eased closer to Ethan. “It’s over,” Chance said.

  Ethan’s gaze slid to him. If looks could kill…

  “I’m not the threat to Gwen,” Ethan snappe
d back, his words a low snarl. “You’ll see that. I just hope it’s not too late for her when you do.”

  The guy was still threatening Gwen?

  “It’s someone else!” Ethan raged.

  The cops dragged Ethan toward the door. Chance followed. His steps were slow, certain, and his gaze stayed locked on the SOB. When they exited Wicked, a light flurry of snow fell on them. A police cruiser was parked to the right. Another to the left. Gwen and Lex stood under the building’s awning.

  The redheaded guy who’d first let them in to Wicked paced a few feet away.

  “Daniel!” Ethan yelled at him. “Call my lawyer, get Sophie!”

  Daniel nodded.

  Then Ethan spotted Gwen. He tried to lunge for her. Chance tensed.

  The cops hauled Ethan back and shoved him toward the patrol car.

  “Gwen, Gwen, I’m not the one hurting you! I wouldn’t! I—”

  The cops slammed the car door shut. Ethan’s yells were blessedly cut off. A few moments later, the patrol car roared away from the curb.

  Chance turned to look at Gwen. She was staring back at him. And there was…suspicion…in her gaze.

  Hell. He’d been afraid this would happen. Now he had to play this game very, very carefully.

  * * *

  “It’s not me,” Ethan said as he twisted in his seat and looked back through the windshield at Gwen. The snow was falling on her. Chance Valentine was closing in on Gwen. Like a hungry lion. “Don’t trust him!” Ethan yelled, but Gwen couldn’t hear him.

  Gwen thought Chance was one of the good guys out there. She was so wrong. Chance was—hell…

  He’s as bad as I am.

  Chance had walked away from Gwen’s life before. What if the guy walked away again? Then what would Gwen do? She’d be out there, on her own, the perfect prey.

  He sagged back against the seat. This shit was his fault. He was paying for sins he’d committed too long ago. And things were about to get so much worse. He knew what the cops would find on his computer. He knew exactly how bad the situation would look for him.

  But he also knew…he had one fine attorney on retainer. Sophie Sarantos was about to start earning that hefty retainer fee he paid her. She’d get him out of this, she’d get him away from the cops…