Suspicions
Cynthia Eden
Everyone's a suspect in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden's latest book in The Battling McGuire BoysMark Montgomery will never forget the night Ava McGuire galloped onto his ranch terrified out of her mind. Once he'd saved his best friend's sister from harm, the hardest part was letting her go. Now she's seeking safe haven again–and rekindling desire that will engulf them both.Uncovering the truth about that long-ago night plunges Ava into a world where no one can be trusted. Except maybe the rancher she has loved for years… But with a vengeful killer stalking them and passion drawing them inexorably closer, will Mark's secrets be their downfall…?
“There’s only…you.”
All of the moisture seemed to dry up in her mouth. Her gaze slowly slid over him. The last time she’d seen him had been months ago. She’d wanted to talk with him then, but her brothers had been determined to keep her away from him.
Her brothers were keeping secrets from her.
Only fair, really, because she’d been keeping plenty of secrets from them, too.
Mark was a handsome man. Powerful and commanding. He had high, slanting cheeks, a long, hard blade of a nose and lips that were…sexy. Sensual. She’d spent far too much time thinking about Mark’s lips over the years.
“What the hell are you doing here, Ava? I thought you were staying away.”
Not from him, but from Austin. From the McGuire ranch, because that place held too many painful memories for her.
But when no place seemed safe, where were you supposed to go?
Suspicions
Cynthia Eden
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CYNTHIA EDEN, a New York Times bestselling author, writes tales of romantic suspense and paranormal romance. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and she has received a RITA
Award nomination for best romantic suspense novel. Cynthia lives in the Deep South, loves horror movies and has an addiction to chocolate. More information about Cynthia may be found at cynthiaeden.com, or you can follow her on Twitter, @cynthiaeden (https://twitter.com/cynthiaeden).
This book is for all of the wonderful Harlequin Intrigue fans out there—thank you so much for your support!
Contents
Cover (#uf898a23e-1562-54ee-a196-caed55c098db)
Introduction (#u3dc1da3b-113c-5423-b7db-ed2fc0bc482c)
Title Page (#u54b1f07c-5d1a-55eb-926e-6661e6dbf6c1)
About the Author (#u08629d55-ab6c-5da0-8164-359e9a44325a)
Dedication (#uc4b41e16-fbc3-50aa-b8e5-4186f8914743)
Prologue (#ueb61f51b-a382-5d9d-882c-0bb62feb154d)
Chapter One (#u440c08d6-b62f-5d36-971e-51a56859a909)
Chapter Two (#u636902c7-a3e5-58b0-a8c0-121c1d31866e)
Chapter Three (#ua31cad74-8a6c-5363-91da-348d83a2dc4a)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_1c2f9aff-4f29-5f14-9b5f-43dd856f2355)
“Help me!”
Her cry broke through the night, a long, loud, desperate scream.
Mark Montgomery had been standing on his front porch, staring up at the starry sky, but at that terrified call, he whirled around. At first he didn’t see her. The darkness was too thick.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
He heard the unmistakable sound of a horse’s hooves pounding across the ground. Someone was riding fast and hard, coming straight toward him.
He leapt off the porch.
“Help me!”
Her cry was even louder this time—and it was definitely a woman’s voice. But there weren’t any women at his ranch tonight. His mother had passed years ago, and there weren’t any female ranch hands scheduled for a shift.
Then he saw the horse. It burst into the clearing near his house. The horse was a beautiful big black mare that he recognized—that was Lady. And Lady...Lady belonged to the McGuires, his neighbors who lived about ten miles away.
What the—?
A small figure was curled low on Lady’s back, hugging the horse tightly. The horse’s sides were shaking, its body wet with sweat after what must have been a brutal ride.
A ride in the middle of the night?
“M-Mark?”
And he knew that voice. Not screaming now, but soft, almost broken. He wanted to run toward that horse and rider, but he was afraid of spooking Lady, so he approached slowly, carefully. When the horse neighed, he reached out and softly touched Lady’s mane. “It’s okay.” Then he reached up for the rider—Ava.
He could see her now. There was no mistaking Ava McGuire, not with that long, wild tumble of her hair. The moonlight and starlight spilled down onto her face, and the fear there made him lose his breath.
Some of his ranch hands had come into the yard, but they stayed a few feet back. “Get the horse!” Mark ordered as he pulled Ava off Lady.
She was like ice in his hands, and hard, heavy trembles kept raking her delicate frame. Ava had five brothers, all big, hulking military types, and Ava—the baby of the family—she was different. Delicate... Fragile... She was—
Crying. Because he’d just touched her cheeks and he could feel the wetness there. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“Sh-shot...”
He could barely make out what she was saying.
“They...they were waiting...in the h-house...”
He caught her arms and eased back so that his gaze could sweep over her. “Ava, did someone hurt you?” Rage pumped through him. Ava was only sixteen. If some jerks had hurt her, he would make them pay.
Her teeth were chattering. “Dead.” She seemed to push out the word. “I’m scared. They’re—dead.”
Mark’s whole body stiffened. “Who, Ava? Who are you talking about?”
She threw her body against his and started sobbing. “M-my parents! I saw them...the men...had guns! I heard the gunshots. I ran.” Her sobs grew even harder. “I left them there...”
He held her as tightly as he could. There had to be a mistake. Her parents—they were fine, weren’t they?
“Please,” Ava begged him. “Help my parents. Help them!”
* * *
BUT THERE WAS nothing he could do. When Mark and his men went to the McGuire ranch, they didn’t see the attackers. They just saw the blood.
Mark and his men made it to the ranch before the cops did. He was the first one in that place—and he would never forget the terrible sight that greeted him.
“Who would do something like this?” Ty Watts, Mark’s ranch foreman, demanded as he stared at the brutal scene. “And why?”
There was no sign of the attackers. They were long gone. Mark stood there, the scent of blood heavy in the air around him, and he knew that he would be the one telling Ava that her parents hadn’t survived.
He would be the one to give her the devastating news.
Mark bent down next to Ava’s father. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
* * *
AVA STAYED AT his ranch for two days. During that time, she barely spoke. Her skin was too pale, her eyes far too wounded. She jumped at the slightest sound and during the night, she woke screaming. Again and again.
Mark didn’t think he’d ever forget the sound of Ava’s screams. He hated her pain and her grief, and he wished that he could do something to comfort her.
“I should have helped them.” Ava’s low voice had his head whipping toward her. They were on his porch, waiting, because Mark had gotten word that Ava’s oldest brother had finally made it back to town. He’d learned of the slaughter at his family’s ranch, and Grant McGuire had rushed home, flying back from some covert mission that had taken him to the other side of the world.
“Ava...” Mark sighed her name, and deliberately keeping his voice gentle, he told her, “The attackers had guns. What could you have done? You went for help!”
She shook her head, sending the dark locks sliding over her shoulder. “I left them to die.”
She was breaking his heart. Ripping it right out with her quiet words.
“If you’d stayed,” Mark forced himself to say, “then you’d be dead, too.”
At first, Ava didn’t speak. She stared down at her hands. Her fingers fisted. “I feel dead.”
He strode toward her to pull her close. When she wouldn’t look at him, he tipped back her chin. “Ava.”
She flinched.
“You aren’t dead.” The thought of her dead—the thought of finding Ava... Ava with her slow smile and her warm green eyes...dead...that notion chilled him. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
He heard the sound of a car approaching. He didn’t let Ava go, but he glanced over his shoulder. Grant McGuire had arrived. He’d come to take Ava away.
I don’t want to let her go.
Because when Ava stayed with him at the ranch, he knew she was safe. He had his men on alert. They were patrolling constantly. But when Ava left...how was he supposed to watch out for her?
A car door slammed. Footsteps approached. But Ava was still staring up at Mark. He found that he couldn’t look away from her.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
So am I. And very little scared him in this world.
“Ava!” That was Grant’s voice. And suddenly Grant was charging up the steps. He pulled Ava into his arms and held her tight.
The guy’s arms seemed to swallow Ava as she stood there, and Mark knew that Grant would be taking her away. The guy had flown halfway across the country in order to come home to Ava.
Grant turned toward him. “Thanks for watching my sister.”
He forced his gaze to meet Grant’s green stare. Green, like Ava’s, but different. Colder. Harder. Fierce.
“I won’t forget what you did.” Grant shook Mark’s hand. Then he looked back at Ava. “It’s time to leave.”
A tear slid down Ava’s cheek, but she didn’t make a sound. Mark’s chest ached. He wanted to reach out to Ava and comfort her.
But Grant was the one to do that. Grant wiped away her tears before he pulled her close once again. “We’re going to find the men who did this,” he promised her. “They won’t ever hurt anyone again.”
And in that moment, Mark made a vow of his own. No one would ever hurt Ava again.
Because her tears tore him apart.
Chapter One (#ulink_acea89cd-9b93-5dd6-a07a-0cbb13e55346)
Ava McGuire didn’t have a lot of safe havens. And, outside of her family, there weren’t exactly a lot of people she trusted.
In fact, only one person came to mind...
Mark Montgomery.
Ava slammed her car door and turned to the house. It was the middle of the night. Not the right time to be paying a visit to Mark’s ranch, but she wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with options.
I need to see him.
She straightened her shoulders and she marched toward his front door. She didn’t let the memories swamp her as she climbed up the steps of the big wraparound porch. If she thought too much about the past, it would hurt. Those memories always did.
So she shoved the thoughts into the recesses of her mind, and she climbed those front steps. She reached for the doorbell but then the door opened.
Mark was there.
Tall, handsome, strong—Mark. His blond hair was tousled, and the light shone behind him, glinting off his shoulders. Very broad and bare shoulders because he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Just a pair of low-slung jeans.
“Ava?” He reached out to her. As always, he seemed warm. His touch chased away the chill she’d felt since she’d first climbed into her car and begun the drive that would take her from her place in Houston to Mark’s ranch in Austin. “What are you doing here?”
I needed to see you. I had to talk with someone...with someone who wouldn’t think I was crazy.
Those words wanted to tumble out of her mouth, but she was trying to play things cool and not come across as the insane one. At least, not right away. She knew there were plenty of folks who already thought she was nuts or, much worse, a cold-blooded killer.
The rumors about her had persisted for years.
But...Mark had never seemed to believe those stories. He’d always stood by Ava and her family.
“I need your help,” she told him quietly. She looked over his shoulder, hoping that no one else was there. The ranch house was huge, sprawling, but normally his staff stayed in separate quarters. She really didn’t want anyone to overhear the confession she was about to make.
He pulled her into the house and shut the door behind her. “Ava, I’ll give you anything you need.”
Right. Because that was true-blue Mark. The guy who was always there to save the day. Or at least, that was the way she thought of him. Lately, though, her brothers had been acting differently when they spoke of Mark.
Her brothers had been friends with Mark for her whole life. And she, well, she’d been the tagalong. The little girl who bounced after the boys. And who had always been in love with Mark Montgomery.
Not that she’d ever told him that. Not him, not anyone.
He kept his hand on her shoulder as they headed into his den. All of the lights were on in the place, and she saw a glass of wine sitting on the table.
Wine. No shirt...
Heat flooded her cheeks. “Do you have a...” Not a lover, please, not a lover! “Is someone here with you?”
One brow shot up. “Jealous?”
Wait, what? She shook her head. “I am so sorry. This—this was a mistake.” What had she been thinking? She’d just been scared and she’d run. But she hadn’t run back to her brothers because she couldn’t handle going to the McGuire ranch or...having them stare at her with pity in their eyes as they wondered if she’d finally cracked under the pressure of their parents’ murder.
Poor, fragile Ava...she just couldn’t handle it anymore.
She pulled away from him, spun on her heel and marched for the door.
Mark stepped into her path. His arms crossed on that massive bare chest as he gazed at her. “I’m not letting you go now.” The words seemed to hold the edge of a threat. Or a promise?
“Mark?”
“I waited too long,” he murmured.
She backed up a step.
“No one else is here.” His voice was flat. “There is no girl waiting in my bedroom—if that’s what you’re thinking. There’s only...you.”
All of the moisture seemed to dry up in her mouth. Her gaze slowly slid over him. The last time she’d seen him had been months ago. They’d been at the funeral of Austin police detective Shayne Townsend. She’d wanted to talk with Mark then, but her brothers had been determined to keep her away from him.
Her brothers were keeping secrets from her.
Only fair, really, because she’d been keeping plenty of secrets from them, too.
Mark was a handsome man, powerful and commanding. He had high, slanting cheeks, a long, hard blade of a nose and lips that were...sexy. Sensual. She’d spent far too much time thinking about Mark’s lips over the years.
He was big, easily a few inches over six foot, with those strong, broad shoulders that he’d used back in his high school football days. His skin was a sun-kissed gold, his eyes a dark blue. When he looked at her with those eyes, Ava sometimes felt as if he could see through her.
But right then, Mark’s eyes held confusion and worry.
“What are you doing here, Ava? I thought you were staying away.”
Not from him, but from Austin and from the McGuire ranch because that place held too many painful memories for her. But when no place seemed safe, where were you supposed to go?
He’s my haven.
“Ava?”
“I’m not crazy.”
“I never said you were.” His hands dropped and he took a step toward her. “Never thought it, either.”
Others had. How many times had she heard the whispers over the years?
Is that her? Did she do it?
They should have locked her up...
She’s either crazy...or she’s a killer.
Ava swallowed and lifted her chin. “Someone has been in my house.” The little one-bedroom cottage in Houston that she called home.
“What?” Now a lethal fury had entered his voice.
“He didn’t take anything. Nothing was broken, so I couldn’t really report it to the police. I just... I know someone has been inside.” It was the small things that had tipped her off to the intruder’s presence. Things that most people probably wouldn’t have noticed.
A confused furrow appeared between Mark’s brows. He doesn’t believe me.
“Pictures have been moved.” Now she spoke quickly, the words tumbling out as she tried to convince Mark that she was telling the truth. “Like someone picked them up, but put them back down in the wrong place.”
His square jaw locked. He had a faint cleft in his chin. Something else that was sexy about him.
“That’s not all,” she hurried to say because she knew the picture thing sounded flimsy. “My clothes were rearranged.” She felt the heat stain her cheeks. “He went through my dresser and...touched things. Moved them.” Her underwear. Her bras. He’d been in her closet, too. The clothes had been moved—pushed to either side just a few extra inches.
At first she’d thought she was imagining all of these small things. But...then they kept adding up. And she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
No, worse.
Stalking her.
Now Mark was just staring at her.
“I’m not imagining this,” she whispered as she gazed up at him. “It’s happening. When I got home this evening, it had happened again. My back door...it was unlocked. He just left it unlocked when he left.” Mark was still staring. He had to believe her! “I triple-checked that door before I went out. I know it was locked, I know—”
His hands wrapped around her shoulders. “Why didn’t you call the police?”
“I did...the first time. They came out, looked around and said there was no sign of any intruder.” The police had basically told her to stop wasting their time...only in a nicer way.
“Your brothers,” he snapped out the words. “They own a PI business, for goodness’ sake! They’d be on this thing in an instant. They’d—”
“Lock me up and throw away the key.” Her words were brittle. “You know my brothers and exactly what they’re like.” Military through and through, and when it came to her...about a million times too protective. “I don’t want to go back to the McGuire ranch. You know that. I never want to stay there again.” Because every time she went there, Ava hurt. “This is just a jerk playing some kind of sick game with me. I want the game to stop. I want—”
Mark was shaking his head and his hold on her tightened. “Breaking into your house isn’t a game. It sounds like someone is fixated on you! Stalking you!”
That was what she feared.
“What if he escalates? What if he decides to break into the house while you’re there?”
Just why did Mark think she’d driven all the way to Austin? That unlocked door had sent her into a tailspin, and she’d been horrified at the thought of staying in that place for even one more night. She’d already put plans in motion to leave Houston, but tonight’s little fright fest had moved up her departure by a few days. “That’s where you come in,” she told him.
His face was just inches from hers.
“I need a place to stay.” He hadn’t seen her car yet. So he didn’t know... “I was already planning to move to Austin... I was offered a job at the art museum. I was scheduled to start in two weeks, but I already turned in my notice at my old job, and...” And she was talking way too fast. “Whoever was messing with me in Houston, he won’t follow me to Austin. It’s a new city.” That’s what she’d been telling herself. “I’ll get an apartment here and vanish.”
“Ava...”
“Until I find that apartment, I need a place to stay.” She licked her lips. His gaze immediately fell to her mouth. Was it her imagination or did his blue stare heat up? “Please, Mark, can you let me stay here just for a few days? Until I find a more permanent place?”
Because she’d always felt safe with him.
But his jaw seemed to lock down even harder. His breath heaved out and he—he backed away from her. “If someone is stalking you...” He took another step back. “You need to call your brothers. They’re the experts at this kind of thing. They’ll find the guy—”
“If they even believe someone was in my place.” She wasn’t so sure they’d buy her story. They treated her with kid gloves as it was, always trying to hide the truth about their investigation into their parents’ death. They didn’t get that she wasn’t some scared teen any longer.
He frowned at that. “Of course they’ll believe you.”
He sounded so confident. The cops hadn’t believed her. Her neighbors hadn’t believed her. “Do you believe me?”
“Yes.” He gave a grim nod. “And you should have come to me immediately. I mean, how long has the joker been doing this to you?”
“A month.” He believed her. Relief swept through Ava, almost making her feel a little dizzy.
Fury darkened his face. “You wait this long to tell me? You only come to me when you’re terrified. You don’t—”
“I changed the locks. My brothers had installed a security system—a top of the line system. I tried to stay safe.” On my own.
“You have to tell them.”
“My brothers haven’t exactly been living the easy life lately,” she muttered. Grant had nearly died a while back when he was working a case. He’d wound up in the hospital. And as for Brodie—he and his girlfriend had both just battled a monster from their past. They’d barely made it out of that nightmare alive. “They’ve had enough to deal with, okay?”
“You’re their sister. They’d drop everything for you.”
She glanced away from him. “I just need a place to stay tonight, okay?” Did he want her to beg? Because she was close to it. She couldn’t stay in a motel. The walls in places like that were thin. “It’s too late to call them now.” If he’d just let her stay the night, she could figure out another plan for tomorrow.
“Bull. You came to me this late. Their ranch is just down the road.”
Her gaze fell to the floor. “I wanted to be with you.” But now that seemed foolish. He sure hadn’t greeted her with open arms. “I shouldn’t have come.” She turned away and started heading back toward the door.
“No, you can’t leave.”
And he was touching her again, spinning her around to face him. Staring at her with fury and—and some other dark, turbulent emotion shining in his eyes. “You come to me,” Mark continued, “telling me that some bozo is stalking you...and you expect me to just watch as you walk away in the night?”
She swallowed. “No, I expect you to give me a room...for old time’s sake.” Tomorrow, when she wasn’t dead tired from fear and exhaustion, she’d work on another plan. One that didn’t involve her brothers totally flipping out.
He gave a curt nod. “You can stay as long as you want.”
Yes! That relief was so strong that she was definitely feeling a little light-headed. Or maybe that was just because she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Thank you.” Impulsively she stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him. His rich masculine scent filled her nose. “You’ve always been a good friend to me.”
Mark’s body was rock hard against hers—hard and hot and so incredibly strong. His hands settled along the curve of her hips. “Is that what I am?” His voice was deeper, almost a growl.
She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “Yes.” Her own voice came out too husky, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Yes, but you’re also...more.”
“Am I?” His gaze had locked on her mouth.
Her heart thundered in her chest. “You’re almost family.”
“No.” An instant denial. His hold urged her even closer to his body. “I’m not family. Don’t ever think that I am.” His eyes were still on her mouth. And his head was lowering toward hers, closing that last little bit of space. “I’m not your brother, and I’m not some safe friend.”
She trembled against him. “Mark?”
His gaze slowly lifted and met hers. “You should be careful with me.”
Her drumming heartbeat seemed to shake her chest. She’d never worried about being careful with Mark. Mark was good, solid and dependable. The light in the dark. He was—
“Because I’m not sure how much longer I can be careful with you.”
He was going to kiss her. Ava was sure of it. Mark was so close to her, the tension in the air had turned blazing, and she wanted him to press his mouth to hers. She’d wondered if he would ever actually—
He backed away. Again.
She suddenly felt very cold.
“You know the guest room is down the hallway.” He pointed to the left.
Yes, she knew where the guest room was.
Just as she knew that Mark’s room was on the other side of the sprawling ranch house. Far enough away...that he won’t hear me scream.
She thought about going out to the car for her bags, but figured she’d just save that for another time. Her car was parked near the entrance to Mark’s house, and the bags would be safe there for the time being.
For now, she’d crash...because she needed to slip away from Mark and his too-watchful gaze.
She turned on her heel and headed for the hallway.
“Tomorrow,” he called after her, “we call your brothers.”
She reached out and touched the door frame. “They don’t want me near you.” Not now. She didn’t know what had happened, but she’d been given that warning by more than one McGuire. Ava looked back at Mark.
He hadn’t moved.
Had he even heard her? Sighing, she took a step forward.
“What do you want, Ava?” His low, rumbling words stopped her.
And an instinctive response...you...rose to her lips. But she managed to choke that word back.
“Ava?”
“I don’t want to be scared anymore,” she said, and those words were the truth.
Or at least, as much of the truth as she was willing to share right then.
Ava kept walking, and Mark didn’t say anything else.
* * *
AVA WAS BACK.
Mark glanced down at his hands. There was a faint tremble in his fingers. He almost hadn’t been able to let Ava go. Not when her sweet lips were so close to his.
Once it had been easy to stay away from Ava. But...Ava wasn’t some scared sixteen-year-old girl any longer. She’d grown up and transformed into the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
When Ava was near, he ached. Because he wanted...what he shouldn’t have.
He sucked in a breath and could have sworn that he tasted her. The scent of strawberries seemed to cling to Ava. A light, sweet scent. She’d been in his arms, her body pressed tightly to his, and he’d wanted to devour her.
He’d also wanted to destroy whoever was out there terrorizing her. Because Ava had been afraid. Her body had trembled, her breath had caught in her throat and her green eyes had been bright with fear. Some jerk had been stalking her for a month, and she was just now telling him about it?
He spun away. Grabbed up his glass of wine and downed the contents in one fast gulp.
First thing tomorrow he’d be calling her brothers. Once upon a time he and Davis McGuire had been best friends. There was no way he’d let Ava keep this dangerous secret from her family.
First thing tomorrow...
But for that night, Ava would rest. She’d be safe.
He started to pace. He’d keep watch over her now, same as he’d done years ago.
The night she’d first run to him was burned in his memory. How could a man forget a night of death? It was impossible, as impossible as forgetting a woman like Ava.
She’d grown up before his eyes. That terrible night had destroyed the last of her childhood. At first she’d been so brittle, so very breakable. He’d wanted to pummel anyone who looked at her too hard, and there had been plenty of accusatory stares. Sure, he’d heard the rumors.
Some folks thought it was suspicious that Ava had escaped from the killers without even a scratch while her parents had died.
He paced toward the window on the right. Suspicious? No, there was nothing suspicious about her survival. She’d been lucky. He had no doubt that if the killers had seen her, Ava would have died, too.
Years had passed since that night. Bubbly, happy Ava had vanished. She’d become controlled, withdrawn and beautiful as she finished her college years. She’d gone to grad school, and she’d kept away from Austin.
But she’s back now.
Back with him. In his home, but not in his bed. Though for the past two years, he’d sure imagined her there plenty. Ever since the night he’d tasted Ava for the first time. It had been a kiss that shouldn’t have happened. A kiss that had changed everything for him.
His eyes squeezed closed. It was really going to be a long night.
* * *
AVA WAS IN the stables, stroking Lady’s mane. She was humming a bit as she groomed her horse. Working kept her mind off the fact that she and her boyfriend Alan had broken up just hours before the homecoming dance. Because he was a serious jerk with delusions. And now she was there, alone with her horse, while all of her friends were out at the party.
Ava stopped humming. There would be other dances. And plenty of other guys—guys who weren’t creeps and who—
Thunder cracked through the night. At the sound, Ava’s whole body jerked. There wasn’t supposed to be a storm that night. As the sharp crack died away, goose bumps rose on Ava’s arms.
Was that thunder?
She whirled from the horse, ran from the stable. That loud blast still seemed to echo in her ears. As she ran, she looked up at the star-filled sky. There was no sign of clouds or lightning. Nothing at all.
Fear thickened in her veins. Something is wrong. I don’t think that was thunder. She rushed toward the ranch house. All of the lights were blazing inside. She could see her dad standing a few feet in front of the picture window.
Only he wasn’t alone.
Ava staggered to a stop. The lights were so bright in that house, and she could easily see the men with her father. Two men wearing black ski masks were pointing guns at her father.
Where’s Mom? Where’s Mom?
She inched closer, and when she saw her mother lying on the floor, a pool of blood gathering near her body, a sob tore from Ava. In that instant, her father whirled toward the window. His gaze locked with hers.
Dad!
“Run.” He mouthed that one word at her.
Ava shook her head, too terrified to move.
But then her father whirled around to face the men in masks. He shouted something at them, words that drifted through the open window.
“I’ll never tell you. No matter what you do. I’ll never tell.”
Boom! That time, she knew the sound wasn’t thunder. She saw her father’s body jerk. Ava watched in horror as he fell, and she was screaming, screaming—
“Wake up, Ava.” Warm, strong hands wrapped around her shoulders and shook her once, gently. “It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Her eyes flew open. She saw that the lights were all on—and so bright—in that guest room. Mark was on the bed with her, his body curled protectively over hers.
“It’s just a dream,” he told her, his deep voice rumbling. “Dreams can’t hurt you.”
No, it was the men in black ski masks who did that. Those were the men who appeared and wrecked your world.
Ever since that stalker had started playing games with her life a month ago, she’d been having the dreams—every single night. Before that, she’d been doing so much better. She’d even been able to go a few months without the nightmares.
But since the first time she’d noticed her pictures rearranged...it was as if the past had come rushing back to her.
His thumbs traced little soothing circles on her arms. “I didn’t know you still—”
“Still woke up screaming.” Her voice sounded raspy. How long had she been screaming before he’d rushed in? “That’s why I could never have a roommate in college.” Why she’d gotten the little rental house close to the campus. Her brothers had put in a security system there to keep her safe...and she’d really thought everything would be fine.
But someone still got in.
“The stalker, he brought it all back.” She sat up in bed, but Mark didn’t let her go. “I was getting better.”
He didn’t speak. His hands were so warm around her.
He’d come to her before, comforting her in the middle of the night. But she’d been a scared sixteen-year-old then.
She was still scared, but she wasn’t sixteen.
And Mark...he wasn’t leaving. Instead, he was watching her with an intense, turbulent gaze. She wished she could read his mind right then.
Wished—
His gaze fell to her body. She was wearing her bra and panties—she’d ditched everything else before she climbed into bed. Since his room was on the other side of the house, she’d hoped that he wouldn’t hear her cries when the nightmare came.
He had.
His hands tightened on her. She could feel the calluses along the edge of his fingertips. Mark wasn’t just some figurehead at the Montgomery ranch. He worked day in and day out. She knew he was the lifeblood of that place.
She also knew that she should feel embarrassed to be with him this way. She should probably reach out and pull up the covers. She didn’t.
“Do you remember,” Ava asked him, “when we kissed?”
Maybe he didn’t remember. He’d been drinking that night. She had, too, or else she probably would never have gotten up the courage to kiss him. She’d just finished her undergraduate degree, and she’d been celebrating the holidays with her brothers—and with Mark. She and Mark had been alone for just a moment. The mistletoe had been right above them. She’d stood up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
Then something had happened. He’d taken over that kiss. It hadn’t been quick. It had been deep and hot.
“I wish I could forget.”
His words hurt, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “I—”
“Because if I could forget, then I wouldn’t spend so much time wanting to taste you again.” His right hand rose and sank into her hair, tipping back her head. “Like this...”
His lips pressed to hers softly at first, carefully.
But she didn’t want careful. Not from him. Everyone else in her life treated her as if she’d break apart at any moment. Not Mark, too.
Her hands curled around his shoulders. Her mouth opened beneath his, and her tongue slid out to caress his lower lip.
His body stiffened, and she heard him groan. She loved that sound. Loved it even more when he stopped being so careful. She could feel his passion taking control. One minute he was holding her as if she were fine china, and the next he’d crushed her back into the bedding. He was on top of her, kissing her deep and hard, and she loved it.
For just a moment, the ghosts and fears from her past were gone. All she knew was the need she felt for Mark. The desire that was burning hot inside her, singeing her to her core. Her nails bit into his shoulders. Her breasts tightened, ached, and her nipples thrust against his bare chest.
Her hips were arching up. The covers were tangled around her legs, though, keeping her from feeling all of his body. She wanted those covers gone. She didn’t want anything between them.
Her hands slid over his back. There were some scars there, faint ridges that rose beneath her fingers. She wondered how he’d gotten those marks, but then her hands kept moving because she wanted to explore every inch of him.
Ava knew plenty about nightmares. But because of Mark, she also knew a bit about dreams. And since he’d kissed her two years ago, she’d dreamed of being like this with him.
Only him.
His mouth pulled from hers and, for a moment, she thought he was going to back away. He didn’t. He started kissing a scorching path down her neck. She arched up against him as she moaned. She loved it when he kissed her at the base of her throat, and when he lightly sucked the skin, then scored it with his teeth... “Mark!”
“Want to taste all of you...everything...”
She wanted to taste all of him.
He was still moving down her body, only now he’d just jerked the covers out of the way. She thought she might have heard the sheet rip, but Ava couldn’t be certain of that. Her mind was focused on other things.
On him.
On the way he made her feel.
On the desire that was making her body ache.
His fingers slid under the edge of her bra. “Stop me,” he said.
Was he crazy? Stopping him was the last thing she wanted. “Touch me,” Ava said instead.
Because she was looking at his eyes, she saw his control break away. Saw his pupils swell as the darkness swallowed the blue of his gaze. Then he was shoving her bra out of the way. His fingers curled over her breasts, stroked her nipples and a ragged gasp tore from her. Yes, yes, this was what she wanted.
No fear. No pity. Nothing but pleasure.
Mark.
Then his mouth was over her breast. “So pretty,” he whispered before his lips closed over her nipple. He sucked her, laving her with his tongue, and Ava nearly went crazy. Her hips bucked because the feelings coursing through her body were too strong. She needed him, wanted him. This moment had finally come, finally. She felt as if he’d been staying away from her since that kiss, and Ava had feared that she’d imagined his desire for her.
But I didn’t. He wants me just as badly as I want him.
There was no stopping. His hands were sliding down her stomach now, heading for her panties. There was—
An alarm shrieked, blaring through the house. Mark’s head whipped up. He stared at her for a moment and shook his head as if he were coming out of a fog. Then he bolted from the bed.
“Mark!”
“Stay here!” he said as he rushed for the door. “Something set off the alarm near the stables—I know that alarm!”
He was leaving her.
Her breath heaved out. White-hot passion one moment...fear the next. That would not be the story of her life. Ava jumped out of the bed. Her knees did tremble but she stiffened them up, and she grabbed for her clothes. One minute later, she was running out of that bedroom door and racing to keep up with Mark.
Because if she’d brought danger to Mark’s ranch, there was no way she was letting him face it alone.
Chapter Two (#ulink_da6fd3e8-d91e-54af-a04f-f41fe12966cb)
Mark rushed out of his house, his bare feet flying over the wooden porch. The alarm was still blaring up ahead, a security measure he’d put in after a psychotic SOB had torched his stables a few months back. The jerk had been trying to get at Brodie McGuire and Brodie’s girl, Jennifer, and the fire had been set to lure them both into a trap.
No one will use me again.
He could see some of his ranch hands already running toward the stables. There was no sign of a fire, but something had sure set off the alarm.
The whole ranch was wired with state-of-the-art security, courtesy, of course, of the McGuires. He’d been watching the security feed when he’d first seen Ava pull into his drive earlier that night. Ava already knew the code to get past his gate, and he’d watched her, stunned to see her back at his place. Especially since her brothers had told him to stay away from her.
“Ty!” He yelled for his foreman because he had just come from the back of the stables. “Are the animals all right?”
Ty Watts hurried toward him. “Looks clear, Boss.” Ty was close to Mark’s age, with dark hair and dark brown eyes. “I didn’t see anyone out back, and the men are in there with the horses now.”
But something had set off the alarm—something or someone.
“What the hell do you think...?” Ty began. Then he let out a low whistle. “Sorry. Didn’t realize company was here.” His gaze was directed over Mark’s shoulder.
Mark glanced back and saw Ava. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders. Under the lights that had flashed on with the security system, she appeared even more beautiful as the harsh glare lit up her body.
She was running toward Mark, clearly coming from the house.
In the middle of the night.
“Like that, is it?” Ty murmured.
Mark cut him a killing glare. “Yes,” he told him flatly. “It is.”
“What’s happening?” Ava asked, her voice husky as her breath heaved out. The woman even sounded like sin right then. He’d had her beneath him moments before. His hot dreams had been about to become reality, and then—
The alarm had been a cold shower. A hard wake-up that had stopped him from making a terrible mistake.
Would it have been a mistake? Or would it have been the start of an addiction I couldn’t end?
“Something set off the sensors at the rear of the stables, ma’am,” Ty told her, his Texas accent rolling beneath the words. “After the recent fire, Mark here didn’t want to take any chances with the horses’ safety. Those sensors go off if anyone gets too close during the night.”
A few more ranch hands came out. “Clear!” one of them shouted.
“Could have just been some animal checking out the place. Maybe a raccoon,” Ty said. “It could even have been a coyote.”
Ava was staring straight at Mark. “Do you have cameras set up back there?”
“No, not there,” he said. “Not yet, anyway. The cameras are all connected to the main house and to the main road that led to the ranch.”
“What if I led someone here?” Ava asked as she stepped closer to Mark. “What if I did this?”
“Nothing happened,” he told her flatly. “You didn’t do anything.” He nodded toward Ty. “Have the men search the grounds just in case. We don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
Ty nodded and turned away. A few seconds later, Mark heard Ty barking orders to his men. Mark wanted to go and join the search, too, but he needed to make sure Ava was safe. “I thought I told you stay inside,” he said as he leaned in toward her.
“I don’t always stay where I’m put.” Her voice held a distinct edge. “If there was a threat out here, I didn’t want you facing it alone.”
Ava...riding to his rescue. And some folks thought she was weak? Those folks didn’t know her at all. “I just wanted you safe.”
She stared up at him. “Are any of us ever really safe?”
With her past, yes, she’d wonder that.
“I want to help, and I don’t intend to help by hiding inside your house.” She straightened her shoulders. “If you’re searching, then I’m going with you.”
“Ava...”
“I...can’t wait in there alone.” Her voice was stark. “Don’t ask me to.”
He understood. He offered his hand to her. “Stay with me every step?”
Her smile flashed. “Of course. That’s how I keep you safe, right?”
She had a gorgeous smile. One that winked dimples on each side of her mouth. He hadn’t seen that smile of hers in a long time. He’d missed it.
The same way he’d missed her.
Ava put her hand in his.
* * *
FROM HIS HIDING PLACE, he watched Ava McGuire and Mark Montgomery cross the paddock. Ava was making a huge mistake. She couldn’t trust Mark, not for an instant. She needed to realize how dangerous he was to her.
Mark had been keeping secrets from Ava for years. He’d been lying to her. And now she was going to turn to the man for help? Wrong move, Ava. Wrong.
In fact, that move could prove deadly for her.
Ranch hands were scrambling around, checking on the horses, trying to make sure they were all safe. Mark stayed beside Ava every moment, but he didn’t think it was because he wanted to protect her.
You just want her.
In many ways, Mark Montgomery was just like his old man. When he saw something that he wanted, he took it, not caring at all for the consequences. Or for the shattered lives that he left in his wake.
Mark wanted Ava, so he thought he’d take her.
That won’t happen.
Ava wasn’t going to be destroyed. The Montgomerys had already wrecked enough lives. Maybe it was time for Ava to learn the truth about her so-called hero.
He slipped back into the shadows.
Maybe it was time for everyone to learn the truth.
* * *
THEY SEARCHED THE PROPERTY but found no sign of an intruder. Mark headed back to the house with Ava by his side. She seemed tense next to him, and he knew she had to be exhausted. They’d spent at least an hour out there because—
Because I wanted to make sure the jerk who has been harassing Ava didn’t follow her to my home.
He shut the door behind them and set the alarm. “You should try to get some sleep.” He wasn’t touching her right then. Probably a good thing because the more he touched, the more he wanted.
I had her in the bed beneath me. Her breast in my hand. In my mouth. She was moaning for me. Ava wanted me.
And he’d been about thirty seconds away from taking the woman he wanted most.
He turned away from her.
“You’re not going to talk about it, are you?” Ava asked him.
He locked his jaw. “The alarm went off. Maybe it malfunctioned. Maybe someone was here. I don’t—”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her. “I’m not talking about the alarm. I’m talking about us!”
He tried to unclench his back teeth. “There isn’t an us.” Even though he spent too much time thinking about her. Even though he wanted to strip her right then and get her back on a bed once more. Even though—
“Why not?” Ava asked. Her eyes were big. Her gaze so deep. “Don’t you want me?”
Wanting her sure wasn’t the problem. He cleared his throat. “The age...difference between us is—”
“Bull.”
He blinked.
“So you’re a bit older than me. I’m not some kid. I’m in my twenties. I’ve got a graduate degree. I support myself.” She waved the age difference away. “My brothers have dated plenty of women who are older and younger than they are, so don’t give me that baloney. We’re both legal.”
“Your brothers...they are my friends.”
She exhaled. “Are you sure about that? Because Davis told me just a few months ago... He said you weren’t the man I thought you were.”
And Davis had been acting odd around him ever since Detective Shayne Townsend had died. Mark didn’t know what was happening, but the McGuires had definitely put the freeze on him.
“But I don’t really care what Davis thinks about you. I want you.”
Then she leaned forward, trying to wrap her arms around him.
He stepped back.
Hurt flashed across her face.
“Ava...”
“You were kissing me like a desperate man earlier. Like you didn’t need anything more than me in the whole world.” She shook her head. “Now you back away from me? Why?”
“Because I don’t want to hurt you.”
A faint line appeared between her brows. “You wouldn’t! You never have. You’re the one who has always been there for me. Never judging, just accepting. You know all of my secrets.”
“But you don’t know mine, Ava.” And that was the problem. He’d shielded her from that part of his life. Did the very best that he could not to taint her image of him.
But Ava didn’t know the things he’d done. Ava didn’t know about the dark core inside of him and, for her sake, he hoped that she never did.
Ava had always looked at him as if he were some kind of hero. He wasn’t. He was about as far from hero material as a man could get. If she knew the things he’d done, Ava would never let him so much as touch her again. And that’s why she won’t ever know.
“Go to sleep,” he told her because he had to put some distance between them. He couldn’t be that close to Ava and not feel her sensual pull. “It’s been a long day.” He walked away from her.
* * *
AVA STARED AFTER MARK, narrowing her eyes. He was seriously just walking away? She wanted to scream at the man. Finally, finally, they’d been close. The desire had been burning between them. There had been no barriers. Nothing at all holding them back, and now—
Now he was pulling away.
It won’t be that easy, Mark.
She headed back toward the guest room. Sleep wasn’t going to come for her, not then. Adrenaline spiked her blood, and if she slept—well, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with a second nightmare. No way.
Ava pushed open the door to her room. It was dark inside. Pitch black.
Ava hesitated. She’d been sure that she left the lights on when she ran out earlier. The lights had been blazing. She’d dressed as fast as she could and then rushed out after Mark.
And I didn’t turn the lights off.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “Mark?”
It was just like before. Small things. Things that most people would overlook. But after a while, those little things had started to add up.
Ava pulled in a deep breath. Then her hand slid out, moving along the wall near the door. Her fingers touched the light switch. She flipped it on, fast, and illumination flooded the room.
The bed sheets were still tangled. Her purse was on the chair in the right corner—just where she’d left it.
The windows appeared to be closed and still locked.
She crept forward. Her body was tight with tension and fear. They’d searched the perimeter for the prowler, but maybe they hadn’t found the intruder because he hadn’t been outside. He’d been inside. The ranch house had been empty. It would have been the perfect time for the guy to sneak in.
No, I must be wrong. I left the lights off.
She bent and searched under the bed. Nothing was there. The closet was empty. She turned toward the bathroom. The door leading to the bathroom was shut, too. Ava tried to remember...
Did I leave it open or closed? She inched forward.
Open?
Another step.
Or closed?
* * *
DO NOT GO back to her. Do not. The chant echoed in Mark’s head, but his body wanted to turn around and go after Ava. She’d just looked so hurt.
And he’d never wanted to hurt Ava. He wanted to protect her. To keep her safe, always.
Why did he screw up so much when she was around?
Snarling, he turned and marched toward his bathroom. The door was partially shut, and he shoved it open. He flipped on the light—
The glass mirror was shattered. And letters were carved into the wall next to the broken mirror—rough letters that looked as if they’d been made with a shard of that broken glass.
Stay away from her.
“Ava!” He roared her name even as he whirled around and ran from the bathroom. The creep hadn’t been outside. He’d been in the house. He’d drawn them out, maybe even set off the alarm deliberately so that he could get access to the home. “Ava!” Mark was in the den now and running fast. His heart thundered in his chest. He had to get to Ava, to see her. Had to—
She ran out of her room. “Mark?” Fear flashed on her face.
“He was here,” he snarled as he grabbed her shoulders. “Someone was in my home.”
She shivered before him. “I...I know.” She pointed toward her door. “My light was off. I think he was in my room.”
The sick joker might still be in there. Mark pushed her behind his back and ran to her room. The covers were tousled, and he had a flash of Ava in that bed, with him.
So close...
Until that jerk had come and sounded the alarm.
Her bathroom door was shut. Was the guy in there? Waiting for her?
“Be careful,” Ava whispered. “I was just about to go in there...”
Forget careful. If someone was waiting in her bathroom, Mark would tear the guy apart. Mark kicked open the door. It slammed back into the nearby wall.
He saw the broken shards of the mirror on the floor. Just like in his bathroom. Words had been left behind for Ava, too. Only these words...
Don’t trust him.
“We need to search the whole house,” he said, voice flat and hard. “The video cameras were running, so we must have caught the bastard.” He turned to find Ava behind him. Her gaze wasn’t on Mark, though. It was on the message the intruder had been left behind.
The guy was trying to play games with them, but he was about to realize... Mark was an enemy he didn’t want.
No one threatens Ava on my watch.
No one.
* * *
THE HOUSE WAS searched from top to bottom. Every closet. Every corner. There was no other sign of the intruder.
Ava’s hands were shaking as she watched Mark pull up the video feed from his surveillance cameras. This was the first time the stalker had actually left any kind of message for her.
Don’t trust him.
Did the stalker really think she was going to listen to him? She trusted Mark completely. He’d protected her on the worst night of her life. She’d never turn away from him.
“There he is,” Mark muttered.
She leaned over his shoulder and...sure enough, she saw a man slipping out of the house.
The guy on the video feed was wearing a black ski mask. And as soon as she saw that ski mask, Ava lost her breath. For a moment in time, she wasn’t standing there with Mark, looking at a computer screen. She was back at her old home, hearing the thunder of a gunshot and rushing toward her house. Her father was standing in front of the window.
Run.
And a man wearing a black ski mask was lifting a gun.
“Ava! Ava!”
She blinked. Mark was in front of her, breath heaving. His arms were around her and he was holding her tightly. Get your control. Don’t break in front of him. Not in front of Mark. He was one of the few who didn’t think she was already broken beyond repair. “He...followed me from Houston.” She thought of that drive. The darkness. The stretching interstate.
All that time, she thought she’d been leaving him behind, but he’d been with her every step of the way. Had he watched while she’d packed up? Had he been there? Every moment?
Now she’d brought him to Mark’s door. No, into Mark’s house. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and she pulled away from him. Ava started walking toward the front of the house. Her steps were slow but certain.
“Ava!”
She didn’t look back. She’d never wanted to bring danger to Mark, but now she’d put him right in the center of this thing—whatever it was.
But that black ski mask...that wasn’t just a coincidence, was it? Was the guy trying to tell her something? Was he one of the men who killed my parents? Because those two men had been wearing black ski masks that night.
She reached for the front door. Mark caught her hand and pulled her back against him. Ava tried to break free of him, but he just held her tighter.
“What are you doing?” Mark demanded as she turned in his arms.
“Leaving you.”
He flinched.
“I thought that was obvious.”
“Why?” He seemed to grit out that one word.
“I’m not going to have you threatened because of me! I won’t do that to you!” She owed him more than she could ever repay. Danger wasn’t what he deserved.
“He left me a message, too.”
Her breath caught.
“The fool told me to stay away from you.”
He’d been intimately close to her before the stalker had come calling on them.
Mark’s blue eyes glittered down at her. “That’s not going to happen. The last thing I’m planning to do is leave you on your own. He wants you to run away. He’s trying to put a wedge between us so that you’ll be out there, vulnerable, and he can close in on you.”
Ava winced. “But what about you?” She hadn’t considered the risk to him when she’d driven to his ranch, seeking shelter for the night.
“I can handle anything this guy wants to throw at me.” He said the words with such grim certainty. She wanted to believe him.
But, once upon a time, she’d thought another man could handle any threat that came his way. Then her father had died. He’d died protecting her, and in that moment, she’d vowed—no one else will ever suffer for me.
“I want to leave,” she told Mark softly.
He shook his head. “No way, baby.”
It was the first time he’d ever used any kind of endearment with her. He probably didn’t even realize he’d done it. The word didn’t mean anything to him, but it had her body warming.
“Yes,” she said as she gave a faint nod. “I’m not going to let him hurt you. I’ll call the cops. I’ll get my brothers involved.” Because this situation couldn’t be hidden from them, not any longer. They would go into their extreme mode—she had no doubt of that—but she needed to tell them. A strange man had followed her, broken into Mark’s place—he’s just getting worse. More dangerous.
A faint beeping sounded then, coming from Mark’s study. His computer. He didn’t let Ava go. His fingers curled around her wrist, and he pretty much pulled her back to the study. She stared at the screen there and saw the black SUV that was pulling up to the ranch’s gate.
“You don’t have to tell them,” he said as her brother Davis’s tense features came into view. “I think they already know.”
* * *
“WHAT IS MY SISTER doing at your house—” Davis stalked into the den and headed straight for Mark “—in the middle of the night?”
Mark stood his ground. Ava thought about running for the door—leaving them both.
Instead, she cleared her throat. “It’s actually getting pretty close to dawn now.” Davis’s green gaze cut to her. She shrugged. “So that’s more like morning, not the middle of the night.”
He growled. Davis did that. He growled a lot. Once he’d had a much better sense of humor. Then he’d gone off and become a SEAL. Their parents had died—and Davis had locked down his emotions. Hard. Now there was pretty much just one setting for her brother...ice.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked him.
“I didn’t, not until I saw your car outside.” He huffed out a breath. “I was coming by because we’re helping to monitor Mark’s security system, and when I saw there was some trouble out here earlier, I figured I’d better check it out.”
His words just weren’t ringing true to her, and Davis hadn’t looked her in the eyes while he’d been talking. When Davis lied to her, he never looked her in the eyes.
You’re fine, Ava. No one thinks you were involved in what happened to our parents.
He’d been looking right over her shoulder the first time he’d fed her that line of bull. She’d wondered then...had her own brother thought she was involved? Or had he just already heard the rumors that folks were spreading around town?
“Are you sleeping with my sister?”
Now that had her eyes flying toward Davis. Her brother was big—as big as Mark. They both had the same broad shoulders and golden skin. But Davis’s hair was dark, longer, and his features were rougher than Mark’s.
Instead of answering Davis, Mark glared at him. His hands were fisted.
Ava leapt between the two men because it sure looked as if they were about to come to blows. “Stop it!” Ava ordered. She turned her own glare on Davis. “Mark is my friend, okay? One of the few who stood by me over the years.” There had been plenty who turned their backs on her. Folks who actually bought into the story that she’d either planned—or helped to commit—the murder of her parents. “So back off!”
Davis narrowed his eyes, eyes that were a darker green than her own. “What happened here tonight?”
She hesitated.
“Tell him, Ava,” Mark urged her gruffly. “Your brothers will track down that maniac.”
Exhaling heavily, she nodded. “Someone...someone has been stalking me.”
Shock shot across Davis’s face. “What?”
And she told him everything. From the pictures that had been moved to the cops who hadn’t believed her. She told him about how she’d packed up her bags and driven fast to Mark’s house...because—
“Why him?” Davis demanded. “Why did you tell him and not us?” He sounded hurt, and that was certainly the last thing she’d wanted.
“I had no actual proof that anyone was doing these things, not until tonight.” She pushed back her hair, suddenly feeling very, very weary. The adrenaline high was sure starting to wane. “Then he left those messages here for us.”
“What messages?”
“In my bathroom,” Ava confessed.
“And mine,” Mark added.
Davis’s gaze assessed her. “You were sleeping in the guest room.”
She nodded. Davis took off, heading down the hallway. In minutes he was back. His eyes immediately locked on Mark. “Did you get the same message?” he asked. “One telling you not to trust my sister?”
Ava glanced over at him. Mark shook his head. “No. Mine was different.”
Davis vanished. She figured he’d gone to read the message for himself.
“What did it say?” Her voice was quiet.
His expression unreadable, Mark murmured, “He told me to stay away from you.” His eyes glittered down at her. “That isn’t happening.”
Footsteps pounded—Davis was coming back. Fury was etched onto his face. “Based on what you’ve said, the stalker’s events are seriously escalating! I’ve seen twisted stuff like this before. Too many times, and it doesn’t end well. A man gets fixated on a woman...” His gaze snapped to Mark. “And he can’t let her go.”
Beside her, Mark tensed.
Then Davis was glancing back at Ava. “You’re lucky that you weren’t in that room when the guy broke in. Maybe he wouldn’t have used that glass just to carve a message on a wall. He might have tried carving into you.”
She held her ground. “You think I don’t know that?”
Mark swore. “Stop it, Davis. You don’t need to scare her.”
Right. She was already scared plenty, with Davis adding to her terror.
But Davis fired back, “Maybe she needs to be scared. These incidents have been going on for weeks, and she didn’t tell us. She’s lucky she isn’t already dead.”
Ava flinched.
Mark surged toward her brother. “Don’t.” His voice was low and lethal. “Don’t you tell her—”
“Ava is my sister. What is she to you?”
Mark’s turbulent stare jumped to her. She thought of the kiss they’d shared in the guest room. Of how very close they’d come to sharing something else, too.
“Ava is—” Mark began.
“He’s my friend,” Ava said, her words clear and strong. She didn’t know what else he might prove to be to her, but on that point, Ava was certain.
Davis opened his mouth to say something else, probably to launch some kind of attack at Mark, but she wasn’t in the mood for that. “He was wearing a ski mask.”
Davis’s brow furrowed.
“A black one.” She inclined her head toward the study area. “One of the video cameras caught sight of the guy leaving, so now we know—”
“He’s big, probably about six foot one, maybe six foot two,” Mark said. “Fit. And far too familiar with my home.”
Because he’d just walked right in the door.
“We should get the cops out here,” Davis immediately said. “Get them to run a fingerprint check and use their crime-scene team.”
Mark’s shoulders tensed. “He was wearing gloves in the video, so I don’t think the guy left any prints behind. And after our last experience with the cops, I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get them here again.”
Our last experience. She knew just what he was talking about. For years, the McGuires had been friends with Austin police detective Shayne Townsend. Most of the cops had seemed to give up hope of ever finding the men who’d killed their parents, but Shayne had kept working the case.
Or so they’d all believed.
But when Brodie and his girlfriend had come under attack, they’d all learned the truth about Shayne. The police detective had accidentally killed an unarmed teen years ago, and he’d been covering up the crime ever since. He’d been blackmailed into breaking the law.
And maybe even blackmailed into covering up the identity of the men who’d killed her parents?
That was sure what some of her brothers suspected.
“You never know who you can trust,” Davis murmured, his head cocked as he studied Mark. “And who you can’t.”
There was something in his voice that put Ava on edge.
“We’re calling the cops,” Davis said. “And I’ll want to talk with your men.”
Ava shivered a moment, thinking about how close that unknown man had been to her.
Mark pulled out his phone. Spoke quietly.
Davis closed in on her. “Don’t trust him.”
“Right, I saw the message on the wall. I got it—”
“This message is coming from me.” His gaze slanted quickly toward Mark, then back to her. “I don’t know what you think is happening between you two, but there are things going on you don’t know about.”
Her back teeth clenched at that. She didn’t know about those things only because her brothers liked their secrets. “He’s your friend, too.”
“I don’t know what he is, not right now.”
The whole situation was insane. “He saved me that night.” She’d never forget her first sight of him. Terror had filled her, and then—Mark had been there.
Davis exhaled on a rough sigh. “Right before Shayne Townsend died I asked him who killed our parents.”
Her heart stopped before pounding again in a double-time rhythm. “What did he say?”
Mark was off the phone. And he’d—he’d closed in on them. “Yeah,” Mark said, voice roughening, “what did he say, and why didn’t you tell us before now?”
A muscle flexed along the line of Davis’s jaw. “I didn’t tell you because I know how Ava feels about her friend Mark.”
She hated the stress he’d just put on that word. “You’re friends, too—”
“Montgomery.”
“What?” Ava exclaimed. “I don’t understand—”
“The last word he said was...Montgomery.” Davis turned his attention on a still-as-stone Mark. “So I have to wonder...why did Shayne use his last breath to name your family? Unless...the Montgomerys are responsible for the murder of our parents.”
She hadn’t thought the situation around her could get any worse. But it just had—so very much worse. Because as she stared at Mark, Ava could have sworn that she saw guilt creep across his face.
Chapter Three (#ulink_0f348456-08d2-52c7-96a4-f77b30422a2e)
“Ava, let me explain,” Mark said as he followed her out to her car.
The cops had come out to the ranch. Uniforms who’d questioned them all and who’d collected pretty much zero evidence. Mark wasn’t exactly holding his breath when it came to those guys breaking the case wide open. They were still nosing around the place, but Ava was fleeing.
At his words, Ava didn’t slow down. Instead, she seemed to speed up as she hurried toward her vehicle. He reached out to stop her.
Davis caught his arm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Most folks in Austin were afraid of the McGuire brothers. Their reputation preceded them just about everywhere they went. Grant, the eldest brother, was a former army ranger. Davis and his twin, Brodie, were both former SEALs. Mackenzie “Mac” McGuire had been part of Delta Force, and Sullivan, the youngest of the brothers, was an ex-marine. Yeah, most folks hesitated before trying to tangle with those guys.
Mark wasn’t most folks. And he’d never taken any crap from the McGuires. “The game has changed,” he said, his low voice carrying only to Davis’s ears. “I’m not just going to sit back anymore. I thought she was safe. Happy. But she’s not. She still wakes up screaming at night. And now some new jerk is out there terrorizing her.” He shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. She’s not going to spend her days and nights afraid. I won’t let that happen to her.” He’d do everything within his power to protect her.
He heard Ava’s car door opening. He forced his back teeth to unclench as he said, “Why didn’t you come to me about this Shayne Townsend mess weeks ago? I wasn’t involved in the murder of your parents! I had plenty of people here at the ranch who saw me right before Ava came galloping up!” The idea that he was involved was ridiculous. He was—
“I know you have an alibi. I already checked that.”
Davis had been investigating him?
“It was your father who didn’t have an alibi. No one could account for him an hour before the crime or an hour after.”
Mark felt shock rip through him. “He was my...stepfather.” Like that distinction mattered. Technically, Gregory Montgomery had adopted him. Of course, most folks didn’t know that Mark had hated the bastard with every bit of his soul.
“He committed suicide two months after my parents died,” Davis said.
Mark glanced over at Ava. She was in her car, appearing for all intents and purposes as if she was about to drive away and leave him.
“Sometimes guilt can drive a man to take his own life.”
Davis seriously thinks that Gregory murdered the McGuires!
And...and Mark couldn’t say that he hadn’t. Because he knew just how twisted Gregory could be.
Ava cranked up her car.
Mark jerked away from Davis. “Ava, wait!” He lunged toward the car. Her window was rolled down, and his fingers pushed through the opening and locked onto the steering wheel. “Wait,” he said again, his voice softer.
She didn’t look at him.
“I didn’t hurt them, Ava.”
She nodded. Blinked several times. Oh, no, was she crying? He couldn’t stand it when Ava cried.
“I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Again, she gave the faintest of nods.
Davis was a few feet away, watching them far too closely.
“Where are you going?” Mark asked her. “You said you were starting a new job in Austin soon. You can’t just stay in some motel.” Not with that creep out there watching her. “Stay here. You’ll be safe.”
Her head turned then, and she finally stared into his eyes. He didn’t see any rage there. No accusation. Just the same trust that he always saw when she looked at him. “I don’t want to bring any danger to you. He was in your house. Whoever this guy is...I don’t want him hurting you.”
And I’d be destroyed if he hurt you, Ava. Can’t you see that?
“I’m going back to the ranch with Davis.”
“You hate staying there.” He knew Ava hadn’t stepped foot inside the main house, not since that night.
She shrugged. “There’s a guest cottage I can use.”
“You can stay here.” She’d been asking to stay hours before, and now she was running away.
But then Davis stepped forward. “We have better security at our place. He already got in here once. He won’t reach her there.”
Because the McGuire ranch had basically been transformed into a fortress after those murders. The brothers had wanted to make sure their home was always protected.
Even if that protection had come too late.
“I’m sorry I involved you,” Ava said. Her hands were curled around the steering wheel.
He leaned forward a bit more and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “This isn’t over, Ava.”
“Mark, I—”
He kissed her. A fast, hard kiss, right on her lips. And yes, he knew Davis was watching. So what? It was time all the McGuires realized that Mark would be taking what he wanted.
And what he wanted most was Ava.
He pulled back and held her surprised stare. “I’ll be seeing you very soon.” She wasn’t getting away from him. Not this time.
* * *
THE COPS WERE USELESS.
He watched as they scurried around the Montgomery ranch. Were they seriously looking for clues? There weren’t any to find. He was too good. He hadn’t left any evidence behind, nothing that could be traced to him.
This isn’t my first ball game.
And Davis McGuire was there, too. Stalking around, questioning everyone.
Some of the idiots there actually stuttered when they talked to Davis. Like he was some kind of big deal. He wasn’t. None of the McGuire brothers were.
The only McGuire who mattered...that was Ava.
She’d left Mark. Good. She’d taken his warning. He’d already known that she was planning to move to Austin. He’d learned that during one of his trips to her place. He liked to keep tabs on Ava. To find out just what was happening in her life.
He was glad that she’d come back home. Back to me. He’d grown tired of waiting for her, so he’d started trying to...scare her a bit. Nothing too bad, of course. Just little nudges to make sure Ava realized Houston wasn’t the place for her.
She was back now. She’d left Mark.
So it was finally time for him to move in...
I’ve been waiting, Ava. So patiently. Now you will be mine.
* * *
AVA HATED HER family home. It was beautiful, a sprawling ranch with a bluff and a lake, surrounded by old-growth trees. Her father had once said it was a slice of heaven. He’d told her that when her great-grandfather had emigrated from Ireland nearly one hundred years before, he’d taken one look at the land and fallen in love with the place.
Ava didn’t think the ranch was heaven. To her, it was much closer to hell.
She parked her car near the small guest house and very much not near the main home. When she got out of the vehicle, she wasn’t surprised to see Brodie already heading toward her. Brodie and Davis—identical twins who were both way too keen on the overprotective vibe. One look at Brodie’s tense face and she knew that Davis had already spilled about the events of the previous night.
She thought he’d lecture her. Instead he pulled her into his arms, nearly crushing her in a giant bear hug. “It’s about time you came home.”
The words hurt. She knew he didn’t mean to hurt her. Brodie loved her. She knew that. But when Brodie looked at the ranch, she knew he saw hope for the future. He and Jennifer were getting married and planning a family. Ava had no doubt the two of them would be deliriously happy there.
When she looked at the ranch, she saw her father telling her to run. She saw blood and death.
“It’s...temporary,” she told Brodie as she pulled back. “I’ll start looking for a new place in the city as soon as—”
“He was wearing a black ski mask.”
Right. He’d definitely already gotten the update from Davis. She bet that every one of her brothers had—and, knowing them, they’d be checking in with calls or visits ASAP.
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