by Shauna Hart
That had been the main course.
In all her life, she had never been so reckless, so unbelievably hot for someone. She had always played it safe. Done what was expected. But last night, when she took that whip in her hand, she had experienced a control most only dreamt about.
Clay had given her that.
Turning her head, she stared at him fully. She had known that coming here was a risk, but the last thing she expected to risk was her heart. After last night, one thing was blaringly clear. She was in real danger of falling in love with the one man she’d sworn she would never be with. Her pulse raced at the realization that she was in far too deep.
Being careful not to wake him, she slid out of the bed, grabbing her panties from the floor. She pulled them over her legs before reaching for a white dress shirt that hung on the valet in the corner. Sliding her arms into the sleeves, she turned her face into the collar to breathe in his scent. Tiptoeing, she crept down the stairs, the wooden steps cold on her bare feet. A thin metal railing was all that protected her from hurtling over the edge.
She walked toward the kitchen, her stomach rumbling at the thought of food. Great sex, it seemed, made a person quite hungry. She couldn’t help the grin that stretched across her face at the thought. Clay was sure to be famished, too. First, though, coffee. As she walked over to the kitchen, she heard a sound coming from the desk in the corner. She cast a quick glance upstairs, but Clay showed no sign of moving. As she edged closer, her hip accidentally bumped into the side. She winced as the computer screen came to life.
The computer alerted Clay that he had a new e-mail. She looked away, feeling like she was intruding on his personal space. But something else caught her eye. Part of a picture was hanging out of a manila file folder. Curious, she pulled the photo out. Her eyes widened as she stared at herself. She opened the file, and what she saw sucked the air from her lungs. Her fingers rifled through the photos.
Photos of her.
At Café du Monde with Zoë.
Walking down Royal Street.
At Antoine’s with Alex.
Her jaw clenched. The bastard was having her followed. Why? She scooped up the file, shoving the photos back inside.
She was sure as hell going to find out.
* * * *
Clay awoke to something slapping him on the arm. His eyelids fluttered open, his mind still hazy from sleep. Finally, the haze cleared and he was left to stare into the hell he saw in her eyes. And it was pretty clear whom she was aiming it at. Scattered across the bed, lying next to him, were photos of her.
Damn.
He turned over, sitting up against the headboard. “Jade, it’s not what it looks like,” he managed gruffly.
She glared at him, her hand flying to her hips. “So, you’re not having me followed?” she challenged.
He sighed heavily. “Okay, so it is what it looks like,” he conceded. “But not for the reasons you think.”
Shaking her head, she glanced up at the ceiling. At her silence, he continued.
“I was worried about you,” he admitted.
Her eyes glittered as they met his. “So, you had me followed?”
Now it was his turn to look away.
He looked away because he didn’t have an answer. He looked away because he couldn’t bear the betrayal he saw in her eyes.
“I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t get hurt. I figured if I had someone watching you, I could keep you safe.”
Jade let out a huff of aggravation as she grabbed her dress from the floor. He watched her dress quietly, wondering what could possibly be going on in her mind.
Whatever it was, he was pretty sure it wasn’t good.
* * * *
Jade stared at him in disbelief. He had done it to protect her, he said.
Or to keep an eye on her?
Was she getting too close to the truth?
His truth?
The thought made her sick. She scooped up her dress, pulling it over her head. All this time he had been lying. He had lied about the club. He had lied about having her followed.
What else was he lying about?
She rushed over to the stairs, ignoring his cry of protest. Just as she got close to the door, she felt a firm hand cover her wrist.
“Jade, you have to understand,” he reasoned.
She spun around to face him as she let out a harsh laugh. “What? That you’ve been lying to me?”
He tilted his head to the side. “I wouldn’t exactly call it lying.”
“That’s what worries me,” she replied, jerking her arm away to walk out the door.
As soon as she reached Ruby’s apartment, she jumped into the shower. The hot water streamed over her body, but it did nothing to comfort her.
She had been a fool.
Twice!
What the hell had she been thinking?
The answer was simple. She hadn’t been thinking. Clay was dangerous; he had the ability to make her shut out all good reason and lose herself in the feeling of being with him. All he had to do was flash that sexy smile at her and she melted like a teenager.
Well, not anymore.
It was time for her to get back to the reason she came here. One way or another, she was going to find out who killed her sister. And she knew just whom she was going to talk to first.
* * * *
“What have you come up with, Mr. MacLean?” she asked.
He flushed a little at her curt tone. “Well,” he began, moving papers around on his desk to retrieve his notepad. “It seems like your sister was pretty popular.”
“Yes, I know,” she explained, her hand coming up to rub her eyes.
“I’ve checked out most of the men she was involved with. The first was no easy task, you know,” he said with a tilt of his head. “You didn’t tell me your sister was involved with Alex Talbot.”
“I didn’t know that at the time I hired you,” she offered.
He leaned back in his chair, causing it to squeak loudly. “You know, he’s a pretty big deal around here. They say he’ll probably run for Senate.”
Jade leaned in closer, her eyes narrowed. “Yes, well, I’m not interested in his political aspirations, Mr. MacLean. I’m interested in what he knows about my sister.”
His cheeks became ruddy at her bluntness. “Well, I did some digging into his past. Turns out that he was charged with attempted rape when he was in college,” he explained, casting a quick glance at his notes. “Tulane, I think.”
She inhaled sharply. “Attempted rape?”
He nodded. “Pretty brutal stuff from what I hear. She had handprints on her neck for days.”
Her eyes widened as she fell back into her chair. “Jesus! What happened?”
“Girl just up and dropped the charges.”
Her gaze shifted back and forth as she tried to assimilate the information. “But why?”
“When you’ve got as much money as Alex Talbot, people rarely stick with their stories,” he explained, sliding the notes back into a file folder. “Men like Alex Talbot rarely have to pay for their crimes, Ms. Monroe.”
“How is it that no one else found out about this?”
He shrugged. “Because the story got buried. There’s no record of it anywhere. I looked.”
She shook her head. “But then how did you find out about it?”
He beamed. “Because I know a few old timers on the force, and when I started asking they started talking.”
Jade leaned back in her seat, her head spinning with the recent developments. “Unbelievable.” She exhaled.
He nodded. “I know,” he agreed. “Then, there’s Clay Devlin.”
Jade gripped the arms of the chair. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear this, especially considering their recent interlude. Still, she couldn’t turn squeamish now. She had to know. “What did you find out about him?”
He pursed his lips. “Not much, I’m afraid. I followed him for a few hours until I was told to back off,
” he admitted, his jaw clenching.
Her eyes narrowed, her brows drawing together in a furrow. “Told to back off? By Clay?”
He rubbed his jaw. “No, by someone I assume he employs. A pretty big guy who just appeared out of nowhere to tell me that if I didn’t stop investigating Mr. Devlin, I wouldn’t be investigating anything for quite a long time.”
Her hands clenched painfully on the arms of the chair. “I can’t believe it,” she murmured.
In truth, she didn’t want to.
It was too damning.
“Well, believe it. I’ve got the bruises to prove it,” he confessed.
She frowned. “Bruises? What are you talking about?”
He leaned across the desk. “Well, let’s just say that when I said he told me to back off, he did it with his fists.”
Jade sat back in her chair, stunned.
Deep down, she had actually thought Clay was innocent. Now, it seemed, it was getting harder and harder to defend him against the mounting evidence. She only saw what he wanted her to see.
And that hurt.
“I’m sorry, Mr. MacLean. I had no idea that anything like this would happen,” she offered solemnly.
He held up a hand to silence her. “I’m not angry about it, Ms. Monroe. To be honest, it kind of made me feel young again. Reminded me of when I was a beat cop,” he explained with a grin.
She smiled back at him, but she still felt horrible. What had she dragged him into? If she hadn’t prodded him, he wouldn’t have been attacked. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done,” she replied, leaning over to scoop up her purse from the floor.
“Actually, there was one more thing,” he said hesitantly.
She looked up at him. “What is it?” she asked.
Color crept into his cheeks as he judiciously avoided her gaze. He grabbed a file off the corner of his desk, opening it to look inside. His face grew redder as he peered at the contents. “I’m not really sure how to say this, but…” He trailed off, unable to find the words.
She could only imagine what he had found.
After all, she never would have guessed that Ruby was a member of a sex club. But she had come to terms with it. She would come to terms with whatever he’d found, too. Jade straightened in her chair. “Mr. MacLean, I can assure you that whatever you found out, I want to know about it. Ruby was my sister. Nothing you tell me will make me love her any less.”
Her heartfelt speech seemed to do the trick, because he slid the file folder across the desk to her. Jade picked it up, taking a deep breath. She flipped it open. What she knew about her sister so far could not have prepared her for what she found inside.
Ruby lay naked, sprawled on a red velvet bedspread. Her legs were parted, her eyes sparkling as she licked her lips. Jade felt like the wind had just been knocked out of her. She rifled through the photos. Picture after picture displayed her sister in sexual positions. The last one was more graphic than Jade would have ever believed possible. Ruby was spread out on the bed, one finger in her mouth as she inserted a dildo into her pussy.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to face the horror of reality.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, the file falling into her lap. “I can’t believe it,” she murmured.
He grimaced. “I know. I was pretty shocked myself.”
She shook her head. “When were they taken?”
He let out a deep sigh. “It appears that they were taken about a month before she was killed.”
Her eyes widened. Could they have been taken by the man who killed her? “Where did you find them?” she demanded.
“They’re hosted by an internet porn site called www.sexcajunstyle.com.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But how did Ruby ever get hooked up with them?”
“You’re not going to believe this, but Sex Cajun Style is run by Lloyd Tomlinson.” At her gasp, he continued. “It looks like Ruby was a little bit more than a cashier for him.
“Dear God,” she let out in a low whisper.
It was so much worse than she thought.
Chapter 16
Jade grimaced as she heard a pounding at the door. After what Mr. MacLean had found out, she didn’t exactly feel like having company. She was still in shock. She felt cold, hollow. Sitting there hearing the sordid details of her sister’s life, one thing had become blaringly clear.
She had let Ruby down.
If she had been a better sister, this might not have happened.
The pounding started again, so hard this time that the door shook.
“Jade, I know you’re in there. Open the door,” he commanded, his voice bellowing through the wood.
Of course, he knew she was in there. After all, he was having her followed. He probably knew every move she made before she made it. She got up, walking across the room to yank the door open with an angry glare. “What the hell do you want?”
His eyes darkened as they moved over her trim figure, before returning to meet her gaze. “Can I come in? Or do you want to do this in the hallway?” he asked.
She sighed heavily before reluctantly moving aside. After she closed the door, she spun on him. “So, why are you here? Don’t you pay people to keep an eye on me?”
He let out a long sigh. “I know you’re angry,” he began slowly. “But if you would just listen…”
She held up a hand to stop him, tilting her head to the side. “To what? More lies?” she challenged.
He raked a hand through his hair. “Damn it, Jade! I was trying to protect you! Why can’t you believe that?”
She shook her head, her eyes narrowing. “Why don’t I believe that?” she mimicked. “Maybe it’s because you haven’t exactly been the picture of honesty.”
His lips formed a grim line at her reminder. “I didn’t make any secret of the fact that I didn’t want you involved.”
She let out a huff of aggravation. “No! That was the one thing that you made all too clear.”
He stared at her for a minute as if trying to decide what to do. Suddenly, he threw up his hands, falling into a chair behind him. “Okay, I give up,” he exhaled. “What do you want to know?”
She pinned him with a steely glare, one eyebrow arched. “You’re serious?” she inquired.
He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Why the hell not? You sure as hell aren’t going to listen to anything I say. You haven’t so far. Maybe if you know what you’re up against, you’ll back off.”
She walked around to take a seat on the couch next to him, still leery of his quick acquiescence. “How long have you been having me followed?” she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“Since you came to town,” he said without any hesitation.
His clipped answer made her sick to her stomach.
All this time, she had believed him. And all this time, he had been lying to her. Her next question, she was sure, would damn him even further. But she had to know.
“Did you have the man I hired attacked?”
His eyes widened, his brows drawing together in a furrow. “What man? What the hell are you talking about?”
She tried to look for any telling sign of guilt, but she could see none. Still, she wasn’t naïve enough to believe that proved he was innocent. He had fooled her before—all too easily. She couldn’t forget that.
“I hired a private investigator to look into Ruby’s death,” she began. She tried to ignore his look of disdain as she continued. “He was attacked the other day by a man who warned him to back off where you were concerned.”
His eyes moved around the room furtively before returning to meet her gaze. “That’s not possible,” he denied.
She tilted her head to the side, her lips forming a grim line. “It’s absolutely possible. He has the bruises to prove it,” she confirmed.
He shook his head in disbelief. “Look Jade, the guy I hired may be a little rough around the edges, but he wouldn’t…”
“He did.”
She laughed a hollow sound that echoed through the room. “Usually when fists are involved, the intent is pretty clear. And it was pretty clear to my investigator that you wanted him to back off. What exactly are you hiding?”
His jaw clenched. “Goddamn it, Jade, I’m not hiding anything. I’m trying to help. Why the hell can’t you see that?” he bit out, his temper flaring.
“Then why all the secrets? Why all the lies?”
He pinned her with an intense stare. “Christ, Jade! Do you really think I was involved? Do you really think I could ever hurt Ruby?”
His questions stunned her, even though she had known it would come. Did she? Did she really believe that he could be the man responsible for her sister’s death? She didn’t want to, but she had been wrong about him before. Deep down, she knew that the only answer she could give him was the honest one.
One that would create a wedge between them.
“I don’t know,” she answered, her voice little more than a whisper.
“Jade, you know me,” he reminded her.
Tears crept into the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I thought I did,” she admitted.
Telling him that she didn’t believe him was hard, not because it hurt him, but because she knew it was true. Somewhere, during all of this, she had fallen in love with him. She hadn’t wanted to. She had done everything possible to resist it, but there it was. And she couldn’t deny it anymore. But loving him wouldn’t stop her from exposing him if he was responsible for what happened to Ruby.
She owed her sister that much.
His eyes darkened with anger as he stared at her. Finally, he looked away, his lips twisting on a sneer. Silence filled the room, making her more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
Suddenly, he got to his feet. “I guess there’s nothing more to say, then,” he said, walking over to the door.
Watching him walk away was tearing her apart, and even though she warned herself not to, she couldn’t help but call out to him. “Clay, don’t go.”
