Until Death (15 page)

“You’re better…than he is,” Hugh said.

Bennett wondered just what all Hugh had heard. “I can’t let him come after her.” And he knew, he
knew
from his time at Violent Crimes that obsessions like Cameron’s wouldn’t just end with some therapy. The man was too fixated on her. Too lost in Ivy.

It had to end.

He could do it. Right then.

“Don’t.” And now, that
was
Ivy’s voice. His head whipped toward her. She’d rushed back inside, ahead of the cops. She stood just a few feet away. Her eyes were on him. Tears filled her beautiful gaze. “He’s done, Bennett. It’s over.”

Then she ran to him. She took the gun from him and Bennett—he wrapped his arms around her. He held her tight. Just felt her against him—warm and safe and alive.

The cops rushed in. The chief was with them, and the guy swore when he got a look at the scene. Yeah, Bennett was sure the place looked like a real blood bath.

It felt like one.

Bennett tightened his hold on Ivy. “Cameron Wilde…he’s a killer. Wounded, but not dead.” Unfortunately.
Not yet.
“And the man…on the stairs…that’s his accomplice. He’s dead.” He had to be. Bennett had made sure of that one.

“Get some ambulances in here,
now
,” Chief Quarrel ordered as he hurried forward. A whistle slipped from him. “Damn, boy, just what the hell happened here?”

Death.

Two cops in uniform bent over Cameron. “Jesus,” one muttered. “Are you sure he’s still alive?”

“Yes,” Bennett rasped, “be—”

Careful.

Cameron’s hand flew up from beneath his body. A knife was gripped in his fist. Small, bloody. He drove that knife into the cop’s side and lurched up.

Boom.

That bullet blasted into Cameron’s head.

Silence.

Then Cameron crumpled and the cops swarmed.

Ivy still had the gun aimed, but her head turned, and her gaze met Bennett’s. There was no regret in her dark stare. No shock. No horror.

Her breath slipped out on a little sigh. “He won’t come back again.”

No. Neither of them would.

“Sometimes,” Ivy said. “The killers don’t stop…they keep coming…”

Until death.

He buried his face in the curve of her neck. He inhaled her scent. He
felt
her. Ivy…

Safe. Alive.

The best miracle of his life.

There weren’t a lot of people at the cemetery. The news crews had already came and left. They’d gotten their thirty second video to show on TV that night.

Ivy stood away from the graves. Two graves, side by side. Her gaze lingered on those graves as she thought about the tragedy that had been caused by the men beneath that dirt.

Cameron Wilde and a man who had actually turned out to be Cameron’s cousin, Julian Abbott. Julian had been a New Orleans native. From what Bennett had learned, Julian had been in trouble with the law for years, but his wealthy family had smoothed over much of that drama.

And Cameron…

I never saw the truth.
How could she have been so blind?

“Ivy.”

Her eyes closed and she shivered. Bennett said her name like no other. Softly, sensually, and, most importantly, with love.

His hands closed around her shoulders. “The cops in New Orleans finished searching Julian’s estate there. They found a diary that he’d been keeping. He and Cameron—shit, baby, there were more victims. Victims dating back—”

“Back to the day I made my ‘mistake’ with Cameron,” she said, pain twisting through her.

Bennett turned her in his arms. “You didn’t do a damn thing.” A muscle flexed in his jaw. “Cameron did it. He’s the one who started it all—Julian wrote that Cameron made the first kill. They were drinking in New Orleans. Cameron was at one of the parades over in the Big Easy with his cousin. They saw a woman who was perfect. Cameron slept with her, then he found a Mardi Gras mask at Julian’s place. He found that mask, put it on…”

And she’d died.

“After that…” Bennett exhaled. “Julian wrote that it became a game for them. All about power and the thrill. Sometimes, they’d hunt in Mobile. Sometimes in New Orleans. But Cameron tried to set up rules, and Julian didn’t like to follow orders. Hell, from what I can tell, he just liked to kill. So he chose different targets. He…hell, Ivy, he fits the pattern of a psychopath. The only person Julian seemed to care about was Cameron, only Cameron never told him
why
they were only supposed to kill brunettes. He never told him about you, not until the end.”

She shivered. “He…Julian lost control, didn’t he?”

“I think he felt like Cameron had been holding back on him. Keeping a secret—
keeping you secret—
only there weren’t supposed to be any secrets between them.”

Such a twisted pair.
“When I saw Julian kill Evette—”

“Cameron set that up. He told Julian when to kill that woman. Told him your float number, told him what side you’d be on. The fucking bastard
wanted
you to see it happen, but I don’t think he realized just what chain of events that would set in motion.”

A chain of events that led to murder.

“He didn’t know you’d jump off that float to save her. Cameron didn’t know that Julian would get a good look at you, that he’d start stalking you because he’d realized how much you meant to his cousin…and to their game.” Bennett’s gaze slipped to the graves. The funeral home had put one spray of flowers on each grave. No other flowers were at the scene. “But their game is over, and they can’t hurt anyone now.”

No, they couldn’t.

“I didn’t want that on you.” His forehead sagged forward and pressed to hers. “I didn’t want you killing Cameron. You should have let me do it.”

She’d known he planned that. She’d also known… “Bennett, I carry my own darkness.” She put her hand on his chest. “Cameron stabbed you. He wanted
you
dead.” She’d shot that bullet not just for herself, but for Bennett. For Hugh. “You’re not the only one who knows how to protect the people you love.”

His hand covered hers. “I
do
love you. I never stopped.”

Neither had she.

His head lifted. He stared down at her with a tender gaze. He’d been patched up, she’d been patched up, and her brother—Hugh was slowly healing. Julian
had
tried to kill him. He’d stabbed her brother five times, but Hugh had survived.

We’re all survivors.

They’d survived the madness. They’d beat the monsters.

This time.

“You have to admit,” Ivy murmured, “I’m not the worst partner in the world, am I?” She had rather saved the day. At least, she thought so.

Bennett’s gaze dropped to her lips. “Not the worst. The damn best…the only one I ever want.”

She smiled at him. “Good answer.”

Bennett pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I want to do everything right with you this time.” He tucked her hand under his elbow and they walked away from that cemetery. From the monsters that would never hurt anyone again. “Every damn thing. I want you to know what you mean to me.”

Ivy just shook her head. They didn’t speak again until they were out of that cemetery. Until they were away from the ghosts.

The sun streamed down on them. Bright and warm.

She tilted her head back, just enjoying the moment. Happy to be alive.

“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” Ivy finally said. “All you have to do…just keep loving me, Bennett. Love me.”

Always.

And she would love him.

Through the good times. The bad. Through whatever hell came their way.

No more fear. No more secrets.

Partners.

THE END

###

I hope you enjoyed UNTIL DEATH. If you would like to try another one of my romantic suspense novels, read on for a sneak peek at
BEWARE OF ME
.

Carly Shay hurried up the subway steps, her high heels making the climb feel far more difficult than it should. People jostled around her, moving quickly, but she kept pace with them. After all, she’d been living in New York for years. She knew this town. Knew this place inside and out.

The crowds—the wonderful energy—she could disappear in this city. Blend in easily. And no one gave her a second glance.

That was why she’d first come to New York. To vanish in the crowd. To stop attracting attention. The way Carly figured it, she’d done a damn good job of vanishing.

One hand kept a firm grip on her bag as she marched forward and across the street. A few more minutes, and she’d be home free.

“Carly.”

She almost slammed into him. She’d been focused on the crowd. On the guy in the fancy suit who was yelling into his phone. On the mother trying to comfort her crying toddler.

She hadn’t even seen
him
.

But now, she couldn’t look anywhere else.

Because in the middle of the sidewalk, standing less than three feet from her, was the man who haunted far too many of her dreams. Well, her nightmares really.

Ethan Barclay.

Tall, dark, and far too dangerous to know…Ethan Barclay.

The dying sunlight fell on his dark hair. Hair that was a little too long. Dark stubble covered his jaw and his golden eyes—tiger eyes—were locked on her with the full intensity of a predator who’d just found the perfect prey.

I won’t be his prey. Not this time.

“You left D.C. without saying good-bye,” Ethan told her. His hands were shoved deeply into the pockets of his coat, and that coat stretched across his broad shoulders.
Powerful.
Yes, she knew Ethan was incredibly strong. He wasn’t the twenty-one-year-old boy she’d known so long ago.

He was a man now. A stranger. One who was reputed to be far more dangerous than Quincy Atkins had ever been.

When Quincy vanished, Ethan took over D.C.

And…

Carly had tried to pick up the pieces of her life.

Even though it was warm for New York at that time of the year, a shiver slid over Carly. “I…I was only back in D.C. to check on my step-sister.”

“Um…” His voice was a low, deep rumble and he was closing in on her. Eliminating that space between them as he stalked closer. Someone jostled her from behind, but before Carly could stumble, Ethan’s hands—big, strong, but oddly gentle as they held her—curled around her shoulders. “Back in D.C. long enough to save Julianna’s life…and get shot.”

She’d been shot twice, actually. But it had been worth it. Julianna had been put at risk because she’d been trying to protect Carly—and the crimes from Carly’s past.
Quincy’s murder.
“I wasn’t going to let Julianna be hurt again because of me.”

His eyelashes flickered. Long eyelashes. They should have looked ridiculous on a man like him, but they didn’t. They just made his intense eyes appear all the…sexier. Dammit. She shouldn’t find him sexy. Not at all. She should have moved way, way beyond him by this point.

The way he’d moved beyond her.

“I thought you were going to die.” His voice was rough as he made that confession. Ragged around the edges. Very much
not
Ethan.

You don’t know him any longer. You probably never knew him—not the real guy.

“You were bleeding out on the floor of that apartment,” Ethan said, as his hold tightened on her. “And during the ambulance ride to the hospital, shit, you left me.”

She stilled. “I didn’t know you were in the ambulance with me.”
And I left him? What does that mean?
No one had said anything about her paying some visit to the afterlife. Maybe the EMTs didn’t share that info with her though because they might have realized…
it freaks me out.

“I was in the ambulance,” he told her grimly. “And at your hospital bedside, until I realized that I was a threat to you.”

Carly had to swallow to ease the growing lump in her throat.
You’re always a threat to me.

“But I left too late, and now others know…”

“Okay, Ethan, I really don’t get why you’re in New York, but we don’t have anything to discuss.” Did her voice sound cool? Dismissive? Probably not, but she’d really been aiming for that tone. “Now let me go because I want to get home.” It had been her first day back at her job since she’d been shot and she was exhausted. It took all of her strength not to show that weakness to him, but she knew that if he realized how close to trembling she was…the guy would pounce.

“You know why I’m in New York.” He didn’t let her go. In fact, he seemed to inch even closer. Because Ethan was a big guy, well over six feet, she had to tip back her head as she gazed up at him. Even in heels, she didn’t come close to his height. “I’m here for you.”

Once, she’d longed to hear him say those words. When she’d been a terrified teenager, when she hadn’t been able to deal with the guilt and shame and horror of what had happened to her…she’d longed for him. She’d broken, her whole world imploding when her father had passed away so closely behind her attack by Quincy.

And a psych ward had become her home when she’d lost control.

I screamed for Ethan.
But Ethan hadn’t been there. “Let’s be clear on a few things.” She kept her body stiff in his hold. “Our relationship is over. Long over.” As in…
years
over. “It ended one blood-soaked night when you put me in a cab and just walked away from me. You didn’t contact me again…you didn’t so much as call me. You built up your life and you moved the hell on.” Now she jerked back, tearing out of his hands because she didn’t want his touch. It made her remember too much about the past. “And now, so have I. Just because I returned to D.C. to help my
sister,
that did not mean that I went back for you.”

His eyes glittered with emotion.

“Now get out of my way, Ethan. Because we’re done.”

His blazing stare raked over her. “How many secrets do you carry?”