Confessions. Cynthia Eden

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      Grant appeared, just a few feet from her, as he pushed through the crowd. When he reached her, his fingers curled over her shoulders. “You’ll be out by dusk,” he promised her. His eyes glittered. “You’ll be with me.”

      She shook her head. “I don’t...I don’t have that much money.” Maybe if she mortgaged her condo and sold her car and—

      “You’ll be with me,” he said again, sounding absolutely certain, and she realized that Grant was planning to put up bail for her.

      “You can’t!” It was too much.

      “It’s already done.” He squeezed her shoulder. She knew the reporters had to be avidly watching this scene. How long would it be before someone dug into her past and found out about her history with Grant?

      Not long at all.

      “I’ll be waiting for you,” Grant promised her.

      She was about to be led away from him. Reporters were shouting at her. Justin’s glare could have melted a glacier, but—

      Grant was the only person who mattered to her then. “Thank you,” she whispered.

      He inclined his head.

      * * *

      THE REPORTERS WERE GONE. The crowd had finally thinned. Grant paced in the narrow hallway, waiting for Scarlett to be released.

      She’d been held too long. She’d been too pale. Her eyes too desperate in that courtroom.

      “My brother was right...”

      Grant swung around at the low, rough voice. Justin Turner stalked toward him. He’d made it a point of learning the guy’s identity right away.

      The guy’s suit was rumpled, his eyes bloodshot. Justin lifted his hand and pointed his shaking finger at Grant. “You were sleeping with his fiancée.”

      What in the hell?

      “He told me that she was involved with someone else. Even mentioned your name.” Justin Turner’s laughter was cold. “I told him that he was wrong. Scarlett seemed so good, so perfect. I thought he had to be wrong about her.” The man raked a hand through his dark hair. “But he wasn’t.”

      Grant’s shoulders tightened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      “Don’t I? I watched you in that courtroom. You couldn’t take your eyes off her. And the way you touched her...” Disgust flashed over his face.

      Grant shook his head. “You’re drunk.” He could smell the booze wafting off the guy.

      “He was my brother! You’ve got brothers of your own...how would you feel if a woman killed one of them? A woman who claimed to be in love, then turned and attacked—”

      The door opened behind Grant. He shifted his body and saw Scarlett standing in the doorway. The light shone off her blond hair, and when she saw Grant, a tentative smile lifted the edges of her full lips.

      “Her lover...” Justin snarled. “Eric was right.”

      Her smile vanished.

      Grant took her hand. “Come on, we’re leaving.” But when he turned back around, Justin was in his path.

      “Her last lover was murdered,” Justin told Grant. The scent of whiskey clung to the man. After the court appearance, he must have hit the nearest bar—hard. “Better not sleep too soundly with her in your bed.”

      Grant had pulled away from Scarlett and lifted his fist before he even realized—

      “Don’t!” she yelled. She grabbed his hand. “Please...please, let’s just go.”

      Grant sucked in a deep breath. Holy hell, he never lost control like that.

      And Justin...he was grinning. The guy had wanted Grant to attack him. Maybe he wasn’t as drunk as he appeared.

      Grant locked his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders. He pulled her up against him. “Get out of our way.”

      Justin backed off. His eyes were on Scarlett, though, and Grant stiffened at the emotions he saw in the man’s eyes. Fury. Hate. So much hate.

      “I’m sorry about your brother,” Scarlett murmured. “But I didn’t do this. I didn’t!”

      Two guards were watching them, suspicion heavy on their faces.

      Scarlett’s lawyer was in the hallway, too. Pierce Jennings nervously cleared his throat. “Time to get her out of here,” he said to Grant.

      It was past time for that. Grant guided Scarlett down the hallway, making sure to keep his hold tight around her. They went out the back exit, just in case any particularly dogged reporters had wanted to try and catch them by surprise.

      But no one was out there. Grant opened the passenger-side door of his SUV, and Scarlett slid inside. He hurried around the vehicle.

      A glance back showed that Justin had followed them out. The guy stood at the curb, watching them. No, watching Scarlett.

      Grant jumped in the car and slammed his door.

      “Were you involved with him?” He’d already started digging into Scarlett’s life—and so had his brothers. They would soon know every secret that she possessed. But Grant didn’t want to wait for this information. He needed to know right then.

      “I was engaged to Eric, you know that—”

      “Not Eric. Justin.”

      “What? No, of course not.”

      Grant shot out of the parking lot. Left Justin in the dust.

      The scent of vanilla drifted to him. Vanilla...still?

      “You...you didn’t have to pay my bail.”

      The SUV cut quickly through the streets. A light rain had fallen, and the black pavement gleamed in the growing night.

      “Thank you,” she said, her voice soft. “I will find a way to repay you.”

      “We already covered that.”

      He could feel her eyes on him, but Grant kept staring at the road. He wanted to get her back to his place. To have her safe. Then...then they’d clear the air.

      When did you start to carry so many secrets, Scarlett?

      “My brothers are already investigating. This case won’t ever go to trial,” he said. He just needed to find evidence vindicating her. He would find it. Then he’d turn the material over to her lawyer and the DA. They’d get the charges dropped.

      “You believe I’m innocent.”

      She sounded surprised by that.

      “You СКАЧАТЬ