Gwen mattered. She mattered more to him than anything else.
Now how the hell was he supposed to prove that to her? He’d fucked up, and he wasn’t sure if Gwen would give him a chance to get close again.
One moment of paradise…and then Chance had been plunged straight into hell.
Chapter Eight
Gwen grabbed the back of the chair. “What? A ring? We’d only dated a few weeks.” She’d kept seeing him, hoping she’d feel more for him. Feel that deep connection that had clicked for her with Chance. But…she’d never clicked with Ethan.
“It was a token of my affection. Not a marriage proposal.” His lips twisted. “But that was a screw-up. He was watching. He knew I was getting too close to you. He must have known…right after we broke up, that’s when I got the first picture.”
Gwen licked her lips. “What picture?”
He stared up at her. “Your picture. It was you, working at the gallery. You were in paint-stained jeans and you had your hair pulled back in a pony-tail. It was a close shot, one that someone must have snapped with a phone…it looked as if the guy was only a few feet away from you.” His twisted smile was gone. “I got a message with that photo. A text that said…NEVER HAPPY. I knew what the fuck he was saying. I knew he was coming after you, and that’s when I snuck into your place. I was trying to come and warn you about him—”
But he’d nearly scared her to death. “You didn’t tell me.”
His gaze shot to the mirror. “That’s because Chance didn’t let me. It’s hard to talk when a jealous rival is shoving his fist into your face.”
No. Gwen shook her head. “You had plenty of opportunities. You could have come to me later. Told me—”
“You took out a restraining order on me! I didn’t have a lot of options. I was trying to keep you safe the only way I knew how.” His breath heaved out. “Don’t believe me? I told your father. I asked him to keep guards on you. He knows what’s been happening.”
What?
“This is my fault,” Ethan continued doggedly. “I brought you into this guy’s sights, and now he’s locked on you. You have to get out of the country, you have to get away, just like Marjorie did.”
She was supposed to run? To leave her family and her friends behind? To leave the gallery she’d built from the ground up?
Gwen glanced at the little clock on the wall. It was right above the uniformed cop’s head. That cop hadn’t so much as twitched while she’d been in the interrogation room. “I think your five minutes are up.”
“You believe me, don’t you?”
She didn’t answer. “Do you know anyone who drives a black van?” Gwen asked as her gaze pinned Ethan.
He shook his head.
“That van nearly ran me over less than an hour ago. That same van was at my apartment when a man in a black ski mask raced away from the building. That man tackled me.” She considered the memory. “He was your height, your build.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Then who was it? Who hates you this much?”
“Hate? Well, I’m sure Chance Valentine hates me plenty.”
“It’s not Chance.” Anger snapped in her words. He hadn’t just gone there.
“I know that.” Ethan’s jaw worked. “But Chance is pissed because I was with you. Chance thinks you’re his. Maybe…hell, this all started with Jena. Maybe she had someone in her life who thought she didn’t belong with me…someone who thought of her as his. And when Jena hooked up with me, that’s when his rage exploded. He took Jena. He tried to take Marjorie and now—”
The door to the interrogation room flew open. Gwen turned and saw Chance filling the doorway.
“No one is taking Gwen away.” His voice was guttural.
He was wrong on that. “Gwen is taking herself away,” she muttered. Because she had to think. She had to figure out who was telling her the truth.
If anyone was.
She pushed past Chance and stormed into the hallway. But she’d only taken a few steps when she stopped.
Faith was in the hallway. Lex and Devlin were there.
And so was her father.
***
“I don’t remember agreeing to talk with you,” Ethan said as his angry stare narrowed on Chance.
Chance shrugged. “You don’t have to talk. Just listen.” His fingers were loose at his sides. With extreme effort, he kept his control in place. This wasn’t the time for rage and hate. This was the time to protect Gwen. “She almost died tonight. That van came far too close to her. I wasn’t close enough to save her—”
Ethan jumped to his feet. “Then you weren’t doing your job!”
Back to that, were they? “You did go to Will.” When it came to lies and deception, he was an expert. Gwen…she was too trusting, but he fucking loved that about her. He loved that she had hope. Loved that she believed in people.
Fuck me…I just love her.
He was the cynical one. The one who didn’t believe in anything or anyone…but her.
I believe in Gwen. Always will.
“You convinced Will that there was a threat to Gwen, and he came to me.”
Ethan’s lips clamped together.
“I have to know who I’m fighting,” Chance snarled. “You said it started with Jena…but you never had proof of that, right? You’ve already torn into her past.” He’d bet on it. “But you didn’t find any scorned lovers.”
Ethan gave a quick, negative shake of his head.
“Then maybe it didn’t start with her. Maybe there was someone else, before her. I need names, man. Write down a list of your lovers. I don’t care if it was the freaking first girl you kissed when you were thirteen, I need to know.” Because the women were the key. The women were being attacked, not Ethan.
He could hear voices coming from the hallway. “Get me that damn list.” He spun for the door. He needed to talk with Gwen—
“Promise you’ll keep her safe.”
He looked back.
“If he tried to kill her tonight…again after the fire at your place…then he’s going to attack again. That’s how it was with Jena.”
The guy had said he wouldn’t talk with Chance, but he was sure talking plenty right then.
“Some creep nearly mowed her down…she thought it was just some drunk driver. So did I.” His voice roughened. “I wish I’d realized what the hell was happening sooner.” Ethan’s shoulders sagged. “Now I know…he was hunting her. Just like he’s hunting Gwen. And he’s not going to stop, not until she’s dead.”
“That’s not happening.” There was no way Chance would let that happen.
“Protect her.”
Fucking always.
He hurried out of that interrogation room. He saw another cop rush in even as Chance left. But Chance wasn’t focusing on the cop. There was too much action in the hallway.
Mostly because Will Hawthorne was there.
Will was glaring at Lex—and at Dev. “I paid your team to guard my daughter! She’s supposed to be safe, and not having some cozy little chat with the bastard who’s been stalking her!” With each word, his voice rose more.
Chance’s eyes narrowed as he marched forward. “You want to be pissed with someone,” he said flatly, “you be pissed with me.”
Gwen wasn’t looking at him.
Faith stepped forward. “I’m the one who asked Gwen to go in there, Will.”
Will’s gaze slanted toward her. Huh. Was it Chance’s imagination or had Will’s face just softened as he stared at the detective?
But in the next instant, rage was back in place on Will’s visage. His attention snapped back to his daughter. “Gwen, come on, we’re leaving. We’ll go back to my estate where I know you’ll be safe.”
He turned on his heel. The guy had guards with him—men Chance had once supervised when he’d worked for the mogul. The guards inclined their heads toward Chance—a brief gesture of acknowledgement—then they closed in near Will.
But Gwen d
idn’t move.
It took Will a few moments to realize that she wasn’t following him.
When he did, Will glanced back, frowning. “Gwen?”
“Did Ethan come to you and tell you that I was in danger?”
Will’s lips parted in quick surprise. His eyelids flickered—a little jerk.
Sonofabitch—he had.
Gwen must have caught the telling movements because she nodded. “That’s when you started insisting that I needed all the bodyguards, right? You thought Ethan might be telling the truth…you thought someone might be after me.”
Will hurried to Gwen’s side. “Someone is after you!” He pointed to the interrogation room. “Ethan Barclay! The man obviously has psychotic issues—he’s fixated on you and—”
“You should have told me, immediately, what he said. Instead, you tried to manipulate me.” Her voice was so cold. So unlike Gwen’s normal warm tone. Her gaze flickered toward Chance. “You both did.”
He hated for her to look at him that way. His back teeth ground together as Chance said, “I just thought Barclay was a suspect. I didn’t realize he’d told your father someone else was after you.” That bit of information would have been helpful to know.
Will reached for Gwen’s hand. “Barclay is just trying to confuse you. There is no one else. He wants you to soften toward him. Hell, maybe he thinks you’ll drop the charges against him or something if you buy into his wild story. Doesn’t matter, though. The truth is…Ethan Barclay is the man behind the attacks. He’s—”
“When a black van tried to run me down tonight, Ethan was in jail.” She tugged her hand free of his.
“One of his flunkies!” Will instantly railed. “Someone he hired to make himself look innocent!”
Dev and Lex shared a long look.
“Maybe,” Gwen allowed. “Maybe not.” Then she walked past her father.
Will stood there a moment, looking lost. Strange, for him. But he rallied quickly and motioned for his guards to follow Gwen. “We’re going home,” he announced as his stare shifted back to Faith. And it did soften a bit. So the rumors about those two must be true. Interesting.
“Keep me updated on this case,” Will told Faith. “I want to know everything that happens with Ethan.”
She nodded.
“I’m not going home with you.” Gwen glanced over her shoulder. “I’m tired of being manipulated…” Her gaze swept over them all. Lingered on Chance. “…by everyone.”
Fuck.
“I’ll check in to a safe hotel. One with plenty of security cameras and a respectable staff. I’ll be more than protected for the night.” She straightened her shoulders. “Faith, you have my cell number. Just call if you need me.”
She was leaving them all.
“No!” Will snapped. “You need—”
Gwen’s smile was sad. “I know what I need, and it’s to be left alone. Before I seriously explode on you.” Her smile trembled, then vanished. “And I know what you need, too, Dad. You need to stop trying to control everyone and everything. Mom’s death wasn’t your fault. Even if you’d had a dozen guards on her…bad things still happen. You can’t protect everyone, not all of the time.”
Will backed up a step. “You—”
“She was robbed in broad daylight, Dad. Mugged and stabbed. And I was in the car. I saw it all.”
Will had backed up a bit more, but Chance found himself rushing toward Gwen. He knew the story about her mother, but there was such pain in Gwen’s voice. He just wanted to hold her and take that pain away.
But she stiffened when he approached, and Chance stilled.
“I saw that the world wasn’t always a good place when I was six. It’s filled with darkness and danger. But that darkness…it’s just part of life. You can’t remove it completely. It’s just not possible.” Her breath was ragged. “You can’t lock up the people you care about—”
“I just want to protect you,” her father rasped.
“You can’t lock them up,” she continued with a sad shake of her head, “because that’s no way to live.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “You can’t surround a person with guards every second and you can’t…you can’t buy lovers. You can’t control everything for them!” Her hand swiped over her cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen. “No one can be safe every moment, and when you fill someone’s world with guards…it just makes them…it makes me feel like I’m suffocating.” Then she turned and headed for the door. She didn’t run. Just walked with slow and certain steps.
“Follow her,” Will ordered his guards.
When they rushed forward, Chance lifted his arm, barring their way. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
The men immediately stepped back.
“I gave you an order!” Will marched toward Chance. “I’m the one who pays them, and I’m—”
“You’re going to drive her away completely.” Chance lowered his voice. “She’ll leave you. She’ll leave me. For good. That’s not what either of us wants.”
Fear flickered in Will’s eyes. “I just want her safe.”
Because Gwen had been right, and Chance knew it. Will blamed himself for the death of Gwen’s mother. He’d been away on business. Denise had been out, shopping with Gwen. And when she’d died in the street, Will had been over two thousand miles away.
Dev—who’d been slumped against the wall on the right, avidly watching the scene—pushed up and sauntered down the hallway, following quietly in Gwen’s wake.
Lex just kept watching the action unfold.
“I’m going to ruin you,” Will said, the fear still in his eyes, but fury appearing now. “This is your fault. If anything happens to her—”
“Save your threats. I don’t give a shit about them.”
Will’s lips snapped together.
“The only thing I care about is Gwen. And I will not do anything to hurt her. No more secrets. No more lies. Not ever.” He’d do anything necessary to prove himself to Gwen. Because she mattered. Plain and simple.
Will’s heavy brows lowered as the older man seemed to consider him. “When did my daughter come to mean so much to you?”
From the minute I met her. But that was for him to tell Gwen. “Keep your guards back. Gwen told you what she wanted, and, from now on, the only thing I care about…is giving Gwen what she wants.”
“I care about keeping her safe! I care about finding the guy who nearly ran down my daughter! I care—”
Faith cleared her throat. “We’ve got patrols looking for the van now. We caught the vehicle on one of the traffic cams. Got the make and model, no tag, but we’re looking for the guy. Every cop in the city will be searching for the perp. He won’t get away.”
No, he wouldn’t.
Chance marched down the hallway. Gwen was long gone, and so was Dev.
“Are you going after my daughter?” Will called after him. “Are you going to protect her? Are you going—”
“I’m going to apologize to her, and then I’ll see what the fuck happens after that.” He didn’t have anything else to say, not to Will, anyway.
But he sure had plenty that he needed to tell Gwen.
***
Will’s hands were fisted at his sides. Gwen had left, and Chance had just basically told him to screw off. “James and Harvey,” he said to his guards, “I need you to—”
“I’d think carefully about that,” the blond-haired man to the right said. Lex. Lex Jensen. He knew the guy…Will had researched him as soon as he’d learned Lex and Devlin Shade were in business with Chance. Lex had served in the military with Chance, but after his tour had ended, Lex had kept working in the Middle East and in Russia as a mercenary. A lot of his past had been covered in secrecy, and even Will’s government contacts hadn’t been able to provide him with many details about the man.
Will’s gaze swept over the younger guy, sizing him up.
Lex gave him a wide grin. “I mean sure, if you want to piss off your daughter and ruin the last hope o
f a relationship that you have with her, go right ahead. But if you actually care about the woman…” His shoulders pushed away from the wall as he straightened. “Then maybe you should put some trust in Chance. Because I know for a fact, that man would give his life to protect Gwen.”
Will knew that, too. Actually, he’d counted on it. He’d known Gwen wouldn’t turn Chance away when he came calling…because Gwen cared about Chance.
And as for Chance…Will had known he was the perfect guard for her…because Chance more than cares for Gwen. The guy loves her…and he doesn’t even realize it.
Or maybe, Chance did. Maybe he’d finally wised up. Judging from the look that had been in Chance’s eyes, Will thought the guy had finally figured things out. Just in time.
“Will doesn’t trust easily,” Faith said as she approached them.
He nearly winced at her words, and Will couldn’t help but cast a guilty look her way. Dammit, in spite of the nightmare surrounding him, he still noticed that Faith looked beautiful.
She always did.
“He likes to use people,” Faith continued. “That’s sort of Will’s thing. His specialty.”
He did wince then.
“He uses them. He doesn’t trust them.”
So she was definitely still mad at him. Right. He made a mental note to send her more diamonds. But the diamonds hadn’t exactly worked in the past. Not with her. Faith had never given a flying shit about his money. She wanted something far more important from him.
She sauntered forward. Her hand was close to her holster. A little too close for his peace of mind.
“Isn’t that right?” Faith asked him. Her dark eyes gleamed with a hundred emotions. “Trust isn’t an option for you.”
As he stared at her, Will couldn’t speak.
“Maybe it should be,” Faith said. “Maybe you should trust Chance this one time. I saw the emotion in his eyes, just the same as you did. Do you really think he would do anything to put Gwen at risk?”
No, he didn’t. So he didn’t give the order for his men to rush after Gwen. He knew Chance would protect her from any threat. But he also knew…
Chance…you can hurt her. Gwen’s vulnerable to you.