He shook his head.
“Then get your ass out of my way.”
He backed up a step.
“Good.”
“Sophie?” A man’s gruff voice called.
Lex looked down the hallway. He saw the redheaded man who’d roughly greeted him and Chance when they went to Wicked. What had the guy’s name been? Something like—
“I’m fine, Daniel,” Sophie said. “Just dealing with a jerk.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed as he stomped toward Lex. “He’s one of those pricks who set up Ethan. Knew he was trouble the minute I saw him at Wicked.”
“And it’s a good thing you called me then,” she said, sending a hot glare Lex’s way. “Because we have to make sure that Ethan isn’t punished for something he didn’t do.”
Lex laughed lightly, and he knew the sound was mocking. “Oh, I’m sure there’s plenty that guy needs to be punished for.”
Her stare was definitely arctic. “You know nothing about him.” Then, softer, she added, “Or me.”
I’d like to know plenty about you.
But she was already striding past him. She leaned in close and started whispering to Daniel. Lex knew the guy was Ethan’s flunky. And the way the fellow was leaning in close to Sophie, well, it looked as if he took orders from her, too.
She must be Ethan’s right hand.
So why hasn’t she ever been targeted?
She and Daniel slipped down the hallway. The tap of her high heels echoed. Lex watched her walk away, his mind spinning with possibilities. A woman who looked like her, a woman who had constant, intimate access to Ethan Barclay…the stalker should have gone after her.
But he hadn’t.
Why?
Suspicion began to churn in his gut. Chance believed they were looking for a man, because a guy in a ski mask had been the one seen at Gwen’s apartment the first night. But…that guy had run to a van. To a van that someone else had been driving. The guy in the ski mask had leapt into the back of the vehicle while the driver raced away from the scene.
Maybe the bastard in the ski mask was just the hired help.
Maybe the real stalker was the one who’d been sitting, all nice and safe, in that driver’s seat.
And maybe we’re not looking for a man after all. The attacks are all on women. Women who Ethan gets involved with. Maybe the stalker isn’t a man trying to hurt him…maybe it’s a jealous woman.
Taking his time, he followed Sophie down the hallway.
I’m not the kind of woman that you want for an enemy.
Lex found himself very curious about just what sort of woman she was.
The kind who would kill her best friend, if that friend was with the man Sophie wanted?
He was going to find out.
***
Gwen held her breath as she waited for Chance to speak. She probably should have slammed the door in his face, but when it came to Chance, she was weak.
No…she was just in love.
That had been her problem all along. She’d fallen for the guy. The lust, the physical desire had hit instantly. And the love had come later. Slowly, easily, and she hadn’t even realized that she was in trouble until it was too late.
Then she’d looked up at him on Christmas Eve. Seen him standing there, all alone, and she’d just wanted to be with him.
“I didn’t have much growing up,” Chance said.
What? She shook her head. Why was he—
“Actually, I didn’t have anything. My family grew up on a farm in Georgia, a farm that went broke when I was ten years old. My father drank himself to death after that and my mom…she didn’t live much longer after he passed.”
Gwen took a step toward him. “Chance, I-I’m sorry.” Because she could feel his pain and she’d always hated for Chance to be in any sort of pain.
“Cancer,” he murmured. And his gaze had turned distant, as if he were seeing the past. “She’d had some warning signs, but…hell, she and my dad were so focused on saving the farm, so she just kept putting off her doctor visits. No money, no time…and then when she finally went in…” His lips twisted into a sad smile. “There really was no time left by then. She lived for six months. I told her good-bye when I was sixteen.”
She’d walked across the room. Gwen didn’t remember that. Hadn’t she just taken one step a moment before? She was almost touching him now and Gwen wanted—so badly—to wrap her arms around Chance and take away his pain.
“I didn’t have any other family, so I wound up in foster care. That’s where I met Dev and Lex. Dev had big dreams, even back then. The guy could do anything with a computer. He got a scholarship, got the hell out of the system. Lex and I…we joined the military. Turned out I was pretty good at fighting.”
She wet her lips. “You’re pretty good at a lot of things.”
He glanced down at the floor, then back up at her. “I’m not good…with you.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Chance rubbed his hand over his jaw, and his palm rasped against the dark stubble there. “I never say the right words with you. I never feel like I do the right things. You and your father—you live in a mansion and I—”
“That’s my father’s house. I live in a two bedroom apartment.” She kept her hands by her side. Tricky hands. They were still itching to reach out to him. “And do you seriously think I care about how much money you have?”
“I’m good now.” His shoulders straightened with what she knew was pride. “I worked hard. I saved. And I’ll always have enough for whatever I need now. For whatever you need.”
“Uh, yeah, okay, I can take care of my own things—”
“I’m saying the wrong shit again.” He huffed out a hard breath. “I meant…I don’t need your father’s money. I didn’t agree to act as your bodyguard because of what he was paying me or what he offered to do for me. I have plenty of my own money now. Plenty of contacts. I don’t need him.”
“Then why did you take the case? Why lie to me? Why not just tell me the truth?”
“I took the case…because I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to make sure you were safe.” He closed the last bit of distance between them. His hand lifted and skimmed lightly across her jaw. That one touch—so simple—sent heat coursing through her. “I lied…because I was scared. I was afraid that if I told you the truth, hell, I don’t know, that you’d send me away. That you wouldn’t want me near you because you didn’t feel the same way that I do.”