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

  Gwen’s shoulders stiffened. “He doesn’t ‘let’ me do anything. I make my own decisions and choices.” The guy could rage all he wanted. She wasn’t backing down for anyone. My life. My way.

  “Like I said…Ethan in there won’t talk to a cop, but you aren’t exactly a cop.”

  Gwen’s palms started to sweat.

  “You want to find out if Ethan hired the driver of that van? Then why don’t you go in there and ask him. He’s cuffed, and I’ll make sure an officer stays in the room with you at all times.” Faith glanced over at Gwen. “If he’s as hooked on you as I think, he’ll want to talk to you. He’ll want to tell you what’s been happening. Want to convince you that he’s not the monster you think he is.” Her expression tightened. “But he is a monster, never forget that.”

  Right. Gwen slowly blew out a breath. “I’m going in.” Because it was her decision. Her life. Chance and Gwen’s father had already played her enough. She wanted this nightmare to end, and the man sitting cuffed in that little room—he could end it for her. Ethan could give her the name of the man who’d been in that van. Man—or men. Whoever it was that Ethan had hired to terrorize her.

  Then she could walk away. Start putting the pieces of her life back together.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” Faith murmured. She turned and headed for the hallway that led into interrogation. “Stay cool and stay in control,” Faith advised her. “He’s the one in cuffs. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  Gwen followed, her steps a bit slower. The creak of the interrogation room door opening sounded far too loud to her ears.

  He can’t hurt you anymore.

  Ethan looked up when the door opened. The instant he saw Gwen, he jumped to his feet. “Gwen! Finally! I’ve been telling my lawyer that I needed to talk to you—”

  He had? Well, no wonder Faith had pushed for this little one-on-one.

  “Five minutes,” Faith said, her voice flat. “That’s all the time you get with her, Barclay.”

  Ah, so Faith was acting as if she didn’t want this little meeting. Clever. Another way to manipulate Ethan. Gwen was all for manipulating the guy. Especially considering how much the man had been tormenting her.

  Then Faith turned on her heel and left the room. The door closed behind the detective. Goosebumps immediately rose on Gwen’s arms. It was oddly cold in that little room.

  A uniformed officer watched from the corner.

  “I wouldn’t hurt you,” Ethan said. His voice seemed to drip with sincerity. Like she’d be buying his lines anytime ever again. “I hope you know that, Gwen. No, I need you to know that.”

  She just glared at him. “Sit back down, Ethan.” She didn’t want the guy towering over her.

  His eyes crinkled faintly at the corners, as if he were trying to figure her out, but he slowly sat down. She didn’t. One thing she’d learned from her father’s business dealings…when you were facing an adversary, you needed to stay in a position of strength. Sure, her standing while Ethan was sitting wasn’t exactly much of a power play, but it still made her feel better.

  “I should have explained things sooner,” Ethan said, his voice a bit halting. “But I didn’t think you’d believe me. And I thought…hell, maybe it wouldn’t happen with you. Maybe you’d be safe. You’d left me, after all…so maybe—”

  She lifted her hand, stopping him. “What are you talking about?” The guy’s words were so jumbled that she could barely understand him.

  His lips thinned. “You’re being stalked.”

  She almost laughed. “I know. By you.”

  “No.” Ethan shook his head. “I was protecting you. That’s why I had cameras at your place. You’d cut me out of your life, got that restraining order. I couldn’t get close, but I had to make sure he didn’t come for you, too.”

  Her chest was aching. “He?” She needed to keep him talking. She might want to turn and run away, but the key to her life—it was in this room. Either Ethan had hired someone to terrorize her while he was locked up in jail or—

  “He’s done it before. More than once. He takes away what I care about, and I don’t even know why.”

  He takes away what I care about. Not what…who? “Your ex-fiancée.”

  His fist slammed into the table. “Jena wasn’t my ex! She was my fiancée! We were still planning to get married then…” His words trailed away as his shoulders hunched.

  “Then you killed her.”

  His head whipped up. “The hell I did.”

  “Someone tampered with her brakes.” At least, that was Faith’s theory, and Gwen was willing to run with it right then, just to see Ethan’s reaction. “What happened? Did she cut you out of her life, too? And you got pissed at her, just as you did with me?” Damn him, she didn’t deserve this. “I didn’t love you, Ethan. We were going to break up even before Chance and my father told me about your past.”

  He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing faintly. “I know you didn’t love me. You were too hung up on Chance to ever love me.” His head tilted to the right. “Do you love him, Gwen? Is he the one in your heart?”

  She wasn’t about to tell him anything about her heart. She turned, acting as if she were heading for the door. “You don’t have anything useful to say—”

  “I didn’t touch Jena’s brakes. And I never laid a hand on my ex-girlfriend Marjorie, either.”

  Marjorie. Chance had showed her a picture of Marjorie’s battered face. That picture had sickened her. “I saw the police report. Marjorie went to the cops. She told them you attacked her.”

  “She withdrew those charges because she realized what was happening.”

  Gwen turned around to face him. “Where is Marjorie?”

  Because neither Chance nor Gwen’s father had been able to find the woman.

  “She’s safe.” His gaze cut toward the mirror on the nearby wall. The mirror that tossed back their reflections instead of showing them just who was watching in that observation room. Gwen had no doubt that Faith was out there right then.

  “Safe?” A fist squeezed her heart. “Tell me she’s not dead.”

  His gaze flew back to her. “I am not a killer, dammit! I knew her attacker would strike again, so I got Marjorie the hell out of here. I sent her out of the country. Gave her enough money to start fresh. When I say she’s safe…” He exhaled on a ragged breath. “I don’t mean she’s lying in a grave someplace. I mean that she’s far away and the bastard can’t hurt her again.”

  Gwen found herself inching a little closer to him. “What bastard?”

  “If I knew his identity, I would have stopped him by now.” He looked down at the handcuffs. “Hell, maybe I am a killer. Because of what he did to Jena, to Marjorie…to you…I think I could murder him.”

  The drumming of her heartbeat filled her ears. “Marjorie must have seen the man who attacked her.”

  “He was wearing a black ski mask.”

  Oh, shit. Just like the man who attacked me.

  “She thought it was me because we’d fought hours before. And when the guy slipped into her place, he used a key. He didn’t force his way inside. He just unlocked the back door.” Pain flashed across his face. “I had a key. He was my height. My build. He knew how to walk through her house without so much as making the wooden floor creak. So she thought it was me.”

  Yes, Gwen could sure see where the woman would make that leap. Especially since I woke up one night and found Ethan in my bedroom…

  “But it wasn’t me. I would never hurt her. Or you.” He stared into Gwen’s eyes. His expression was stark, so desperate. “My mother was abused. My bastard of a father made it his goal to terrorize her. I would never be like him.”

  That sincerity was there again. Shining in his eyes. Nearly dripping from his words.

  Gwen shook her head. “I want proof.”

  “Check my video feeds—the jerk was at your house! I saw him…he was putting a camera into your bedroom. I rushed over there to find you, but you wer
e already gone.”

  She’d gone to Chance’s house…and the place had been torched.

  “Why did he go after Jena?” Gwen asked. “Why Marjorie? Why me?” Nothing he said made sense to her. That’s because Ethan doesn’t make sense…he’s crazy! He had to be, right? After all he’d done?

  “He targeted you—hell, he did it because the three of you weren’t casual fucks.” His uncuffed hand shoved through his already tousled hair. “Because he thought I could care about you…about Marjorie. He thought I’d care about you and Marjorie the way I cared for Jena, and that sick freak, he won’t let me be happy.” His eyes had gone hot with fury. “He called me once. Told me that. His voice was low, rasping, and he told me that I’d never be happy. He said he’d see to it…I didn’t know what he meant, not then. Not until I found myself in a morgue, identifying Jena’s body.”

  Dear God. If his story was true…

  Gwen didn’t have a stalker. Well…she had Ethan’s stalker. The attacks weren’t about her at all. “You and I aren’t together. It doesn’t make sense for him to come after me…”

  He was staring at the handcuff again. “It had been so long since Marjorie. I thought…I stupidly thought the guy was gone. I hoped he was dead.” His shoulders rolled back. He sighed and confessed, “I made a mistake. I bought you a ring.”

  * * *

  “I bought you a ring…”

  Chance wanted to punch right through the glass. Gwen was staring at Ethan in shock, and a faint tremble swept over her.

  “The guy was gonna marry Gwen?” Lex asked from Chance’s side. Then the guy gave a low whistle. “Hell, I did not know that.”

  Chance turned his head and glared at his partner.

  “As twisted up as you are about her…man, you were just going to let that happen?” Lex pushed.

  No fucking way. “I didn’t know.”

  “Well, you should—”

  “Shut the hell up,” Faith snapped. “I’m trying to hear.”

  And Chance was trying to keep his sanity. He looked back through the glass. “Ethan is playing her. Gwen is far too trusting.”

  “Right…” Lex drawled, but his voice was softer now. “Far too trusting. Like the time when she believed you came after her out of some unrequited love, and not because her father offered to throw a big wad of cash at us.”

  Why was Lex pushing him? “The money didn’t matter to me. You know that.”

  “Did the woman?”

  “Yes,” he gritted out.

  Gwen mattered. She mattered more to him than anything else.

  Now how the hell was he supposed to prove that to her? He’d fucked up, and he wasn’t sure if Gwen would give him a chance to get close again.

  One moment of paradise…and then Chance had been plunged straight into hell.

  Chapter Eight

  Gwen grabbed the back of the chair. “What? A ring? We’d only dated a few weeks.” She’d kept seeing him, hoping she’d feel more for him. Feel that deep connection that had clicked for her with Chance. But…she’d never clicked with Ethan.

  “It was a token of my affection. Not a marriage proposal.” His lips twisted. “But that was a screw-up. He was watching. He knew I was getting too close to you. He must have known…right after we broke up, that’s when I got the first picture.”

  Gwen licked her lips. “What picture?”

  He stared up at her. “Your picture. It was you, working at the gallery. You were in paint-stained jeans and you had your hair pulled back in a pony-tail. It was a close shot, one that someone must have snapped with a phone…it looked as if the guy was only a few feet away from you.” His twisted smile was gone. “I got a message with that photo. A text that said…NEVER HAPPY. I knew what the fuck he was saying. I knew he was coming after you, and that’s when I snuck into your place. I was trying to come and warn you about him—”

  But he’d nearly scared her to death. “You didn’t tell me.”

  His gaze shot to the mirror. “That’s because Chance didn’t let me. It’s hard to talk when a jealous rival is shoving his fist into your face.”

  No. Gwen shook her head. “You had plenty of opportunities. You could have come to me later. Told me—”

  “You took out a restraining order on me! I didn’t have a lot of options. I was trying to keep you safe the only way I knew how.” His breath heaved out. “Don’t believe me? I told your father. I asked him to keep guards on you. He knows what’s been happening.”

  What?

  “This is my fault,” Ethan continued doggedly. “I brought you into this guy’s sights, and now he’s locked on you. You have to get out of the country, you have to get away, just like Marjorie did.”

  She was supposed to run? To leave her family and her friends behind? To leave the gallery she’d built from the ground up?

  Gwen glanced at the little clock on the wall. It was right above the uniformed cop’s head. That cop hadn’t so much as twitched while she’d been in the interrogation room. “I think your five minutes are up.”

  “You believe me, don’t you?”

  She didn’t answer. “Do you know anyone who drives a black van?” Gwen asked as her gaze pinned Ethan.

  He shook his head.

  “That van nearly ran me over less than an hour ago. That same van was at my apartment when a man in a black ski mask raced away from the building. That man tackled me.” She considered the memory. “He was your height, your build.”

  “It wasn’t me.”

  “Then who was it? Who hates you this much?”

  “Hate? Well, I’m sure Chance Valentine hates me plenty.”

  “It’s not Chance.” Anger snapped in her words. He hadn’t just gone there.

  “I know that.” Ethan’s jaw worked. “But Chance is pissed because I was with you. Chance thinks you’re his. Maybe…hell, this all started with Jena. Maybe she had someone in her life who thought she didn’t belong with me…someone who thought of her as his. And when Jena hooked up with me, that’s when his rage exploded. He took Jena. He tried to take Marjorie and now—”

  The door to the interrogation room flew open. Gwen turned and saw Chance filling the doorway.

  “No one is taking Gwen away.” His voice was guttural.

  He was wrong on that. “Gwen is taking herself away,” she muttered. Because she had to think. She had to figure out who was telling her the truth.

  If anyone was.

  She pushed past Chance and stormed into the hallway. But she’d only taken a few steps when she stopped.

  Faith was in the hallway. Lex and Devlin were there.

  And so was her father.

  * * *

  “I don’t remember agreeing to talk with you,” Ethan said as his angry stare narrowed on Chance.

  Chance shrugged. “You don’t have to talk. Just listen.” His fingers were loose at his sides. With extreme effort, he kept his control in place. This wasn’t the time for rage and hate. This was the time to protect Gwen. “She almost died tonight. That van came far too close to her. I wasn’t close enough to save her—”

  Ethan jumped to his feet. “Then you weren’t doing your job!”

  Back to that, were they? “You did go to Will.” When it came to lies and deception, he was an expert. Gwen…she was too trusting, but he fucking loved that about her. He loved that she had hope. Loved that she believed in people.

  Fuck me…I just love her.

  He was the cynical one. The one who didn’t believe in anything or anyone…but her.

  I believe in Gwen. Always will.

  “You convinced Will that there was a threat to Gwen, and he came to me.”

  Ethan’s lips clamped together.

  “I have to know who I’m fighting,” Chance snarled. “You said it started with Jena…but you never had proof of that, right? You’ve already torn into her past.” He’d bet on it. “But you didn’t find any scorned lovers.”

  Ethan gave a quick, negative shake of his head.

&n
bsp; “Then maybe it didn’t start with her. Maybe there was someone else, before her. I need names, man. Write down a list of your lovers. I don’t care if it was the freaking first girl you kissed when you were thirteen, I need to know.” Because the women were the key. The women were being attacked, not Ethan.

  He could hear voices coming from the hallway. “Get me that damn list.” He spun for the door. He needed to talk with Gwen—

  “Promise you’ll keep her safe.”

  He looked back.

  “If he tried to kill her tonight…again after the fire at your place…then he’s going to attack again. That’s how it was with Jena.”

  The guy had said he wouldn’t talk with Chance, but he was sure talking plenty right then.

  “Some creep nearly mowed her down…she thought it was just some drunk driver. So did I.” His voice roughened. “I wish I’d realized what the hell was happening sooner.” Ethan’s shoulders sagged. “Now I know…he was hunting her. Just like he’s hunting Gwen. And he’s not going to stop, not until she’s dead.”

  “That’s not happening.” There was no way Chance would let that happen.

  “Protect her.”

  Fucking always.

  He hurried out of that interrogation room. He saw another cop rush in even as Chance left. But Chance wasn’t focusing on the cop. There was too much action in the hallway.

  Mostly because Will Hawthorne was there.

  Will was glaring at Lex—and at Dev. “I paid your team to guard my daughter! She’s supposed to be safe, and not having some cozy little chat with the bastard who’s been stalking her!” With each word, his voice rose more.

  Chance’s eyes narrowed as he marched forward. “You want to be pissed with someone,” he said flatly, “you be pissed with me.”

  Gwen wasn’t looking at him.

  Faith stepped forward. “I’m the one who asked Gwen to go in there, Will.”

  Will’s gaze slanted toward her. Huh. Was it Chance’s imagination or had Will’s face just softened as he stared at the detective?