Before Ben Read online

  But not normal in her world.

  “Take a breath, Court.” Her hated nickname came from Ben, but right then, she didn’t even mind. She was busy taking a breath and trying not to flip the hell out.

  Trying—failing. “He was in my home.” Even though the front door had been locked. Her security system armed.

  Ben’s hands curled around her shoulders. “Look at me.”

  She couldn’t. She was too busy staring at the wall. At the paint—better be paint, had to be paint—that looked far too much like blood as it dripped down her bedroom wall. Some of the paint had even reached her bed covers.

  She and Ben—they’d had sex in that bed. And now—

  Stay away from him.

  “Courtney.”

  Her stare whipped to Ben. “He knows about you.”

  The creep knew that she had spent a wild night with Ben.

  Ben’s brow furrowed.

  “You’re the only man I’ve been with in six months.” The truth hurtled from her.

  His blue eyes widened.

  “There isn’t anyone else. He has to be talking about you.” But why would anyone care whether or not she was sleeping with Ben?

  “Clear,” Eric announced as he and Simon came back toward her. “The guy is gone.”

  “There was no sign of a break-in,” Simon added. “Not so much as a scratch on the locks.”

  Eric rubbed the back of his neck. “The security system wasn’t triggered. He knows the code or he’s good enough to bypass.”

  Chill bumps covered her arms.

  Ben pulled her against him and eased her back into the den.

  Stay away from him.

  “Who has a key, Courtney?” Ben questioned carefully. “People always give backup keys to neighbors or friends. Who has your key? And does the same person know your security code?”

  “Uh…Yes.” Her heart raced too quickly. “I had to go out of town for a conference last month. I needed someone to water my plants so, um, so Cole said he’d do it for me.”

  Ben’s gaze changed. Went hard and cold. “The asshole who lives on the floor below you? The one who saw us together?”

  The knots in her stomach were getting worse. “Yes. Cole Trevor. But he gave me the key back when I got home—”

  “Could have made a copy,” Simon noted. “And if you didn’t change your code when you returned, it would be simple as hell for him to get inside.”

  Cole wouldn’t do that…would he? He’d always seemed like such a stand-up guy. She’d even seen him bringing in groceries for Mr. Jamison on the second floor. Jamison was pushing ninety and not nearly as spry as he wanted the world to think he was and—

  “We need to call the cops.” Eric was stalking around her apartment, but being very careful not to touch anything. “Right now. We’ve got a physical attack on you. We’ve got a break-in at your place. This has to stop, before anything worse happens.”

  She didn’t want to think about “worse” options.

  A sharp rap sounded at her door. Courtney’s head whipped to the right.

  “You expecting someone?” Ben rumbled. He was already heading for the door.

  Expecting someone? Seriously? “No.” She rushed to follow him.

  He grunted and glanced through the peephole. “Speak of the friggin’ devil.”

  What?

  Ben yanked open the door. “Hello, asshole,” he greeted a surprised-looking Cole. “What the hell do you want?”

  “Courtney,” was his flat answer. And, apparently, a very wrong answer. Because in the next instant, Ben had grabbed her downstairs neighbor and hauled Cole inside the apartment. Ben had moved lightning-fast, and, once again, his fierce strength surprised her.

  Ben was the fancy suit guy, the calm and poised guy, the charmer, he was—

  He was about to punch Cole.

  “Stop!” Simon grabbed Ben’s hand. “Easy, man. Easy.”

  Her breath heaved in and out. She didn’t think there was anything “easy” about the situation.

  Cole’s narrowed gaze swept to Ben. To Simon. To a glowering Eric. And then back to her. “Courtney…” Cole rasped. “What in the hell is happening here?”

  “Someone broke into my home.” Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears.

  His brow wrinkled. Voice doubting, he began, “Is this like the other day, when you thought some guy was in the park and he wasn’t—”

  “Asshole, watch your tone with her,” Ben snapped back. He yanked his hand from Simon. “She didn’t think some douchebag was in her house. He was here. Just like he was in the park the other day. When Courtney says something, take it as straight gospel, you got me? She doesn’t lie. She doesn’t make shit up. That’s not who she is.”

  Her gaze flew to him, but Ben’s stare was locked on Cole. And Ben looked—he looked like he wanted to tear the other man apart. She’d never seen that look of savagery on Ben’s face. Come to think of it, she’d never seen any look of savagery on him.

  Maybe she didn’t know the man as well as she’d thought.

  Maybe…maybe she didn’t know him at all.

  “You have a key to her place?” Simon demanded as he crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to size up Cole.

  “Ah…” Cole’s gaze darted to Courtney. “She gave me a key a while back, but I returned it to her.”

  Eric strode closer. His face was just as savage as Ben’s. “And you didn’t make a copy while you had the key?”

  “What?” Cole’s jaw dropped, but a moment later, a sneer twisted his face. “Oh, shit, you really think you are going to pin this on me? Sure, right, has to be me, huh? The ex-con downstairs, so you just assume that I’m the one—”

  “You’re an ex-con?” Courtney blurted. She hadn’t known. Because I don’t know anything about his past.

  “I liked fast rides when I was a kid.” A shrug. “Ancient history.”

  Her head was spinning.

  “Courtney’s break-in doesn’t happen to be ancient history,” Ben snarled right back.

  Was Simon holding Ben back? It looked like he was. Simon’s hand had clamped tightly around Ben’s shoulder, and he appeared to be restraining Ben from an attack on Cole.

  His face etched with fury, Ben blasted, “Some dick broke into her place, and you’re the dick I see with access. You know her security code. You could’ve copied her key. And now, you just showed up on her doorstep saying you wanted her.”

  She realized that while Ben had been firing his accusations, Eric had texted someone. The cops?

  “I wanted to apologize to Courtney,” Cole gritted out. A muscle flexed along his jaw. “She was jumpy the other day, and I felt like I should have listened to her more. I wanted to talk with her, all right? I didn’t break into her place! Didn’t—”

  Ben cut in, “Leave a warning spray painted on the side of her bedroom wall?”

  Cole blinked. “Hell, no, I didn’t do that shit!”

  “But you just happened to appear at her doorstep. And you’re the guy with the means to get inside.” Ben’s face twisted with his fury. “So excuse the hell out of me if I don’t take you at your word.”

  Cole’s stare immediately locked on Courtney. “You know me better than this.”

  Did she? They’d gone for runs. Had a few coffees and lunches. Chatted at the tenant meetings. He’d seemed like a good guy, but she knew appearances were deceiving.

  “She had no clue you were an ex-con,” Simon pointed out. “So, I’m guessing there is plenty she doesn’t know about you.”

  Cole’s lashes flickered. “That was juvie stuff. I wouldn’t hurt Courtney. That’s not why I am here.”

  Eric shoved his phone into his pocket. “We’ll let you explain to the cops. I’m sure they will want to know all about you. They’ll also be sending a tech team to wipe down the scene as they look for fingerprints.”

  It obviously paid to have Wilde pull. When Eric Wilde said jump, the local authorities hurtled into the sky.

&nb
sp; “They’ll find my prints here.” Cole’s breath heaved out. “I’ve been in her apartment before. Of course, my prints will be at her place.”

  Ben’s head turned. His gaze met Courtney’s. “But they shouldn’t find your prints in her bedroom. Because you have no fucking reason to be in there.”

  Courtney shook her head. No, he shouldn’t have been in there. They hadn’t been involved.

  Ben gave a slight nod, and his focus returned to Cole.

  “I…might have gone in there when I was watching her place,” Cole muttered. “Just, uh, looking around. It’s what people do, you know, it’s what—”

  A growl escaped Ben. “It’s not what people fucking do. You don’t go into Courtney’s bedroom when she’s not there.”

  “Look, I can—”

  Ben broke free of Simon and drove his fist into Cole’s jaw. “And you don’t fucking lie when you’re confronted, asshole.”

  Cole barrelled straight into Ben’s stomach. His arms locked around Ben and the two men slammed into the floor.

  Courtney screamed because seriously—what in the hell? They were brawling in her home! And everything was crazy. Insane. It was—

  Ben threw Cole off him. Leapt to his feet. Cole rushed at him again, but Ben struck out fast and hard, and Cole staggered back.

  “Stop them!” Courtney shouted at Simon and Eric. They were just standing there, watching.

  Simon shrugged. “I’d kind of like to see how this plays out.”

  Eric made no move to stop anything. “Ben has this.”

  Men. They could be such idiots. She leapt forward and grabbed Ben’s arm before he could punch Cole again. “Stop it!”

  Ben whirled toward her. His eyes blazed and pure fury marked his face.

  He looked…intense. Scary. Very un-Ben-like.

  Her breath shuddered out. “You can’t beat the shit out of him in my home.”

  “I think I can.”

  “Not without getting arrested!” He was a lawyer, she shouldn’t have to remind him of things like this.

  Cole groaned. “Pretty-boy…won’t beat me in a fight. I’ve got him. I’ve—”

  “Consider yourself fucking evicted!” Ben moved his body, putting himself in a protective position before Courtney. “You lied on your rental application. You said you had no criminal history. You also said that you were former Army, only when my brother started digging into your past today, he found out that line was BS.”

  Consider yourself fucking evicted? Ben couldn’t evict anyone. Not unless he—

  Oh, hell. She was still holding onto his arm. Now her fingers clutched him even tighter. “You own my building?”

  A quick nod.

  “When were you going to tell me that fact?”

  But Cole spoke before Ben could respond. “You’re digging into my background?” He leapt toward Eric. “What gives you that right?”

  Eric smiled. A very cold smile. “Courtney hired me to find out who might want to hurt her. It’s standard procedure to investigate neighbors and friends. Let’s just say that when my people started their digging on you, we noticed some inconsistencies.”

  Cole’s hands were fists. “This is BS.”

  “Explain it to the cops,” Eric urged him. “They’ll be here soon, and it’s an explanation I’d love to hear. I’m sure they would, too.”

  Cole whirled toward Courtney and Ben. He pointed at Ben and asked, “Want me to explain that you assaulted me? Is that the shit you want the cops to hear?”

  Ben lifted his hands in a whatever-gesture. “Do I look scared?”

  Cole jutted out his chin. “Maybe you should be. Maybe you don’t know who the hell you’re dealing with.”

  Both Simon and Eric closed in while Ben put his body directly in front of Courtney’s. She could practically feel the tension pouring from Ben as he demanded, “Why don’t you just tell me exactly who you are—because I have the feeling you’ve been lying for a while now. Lying your way into this building. Lying to Courtney. Lying to get close to her.”

  No, no, that couldn’t be right…could it?

  “And I’ll be damned if I let you hurt her,” Ben continued in a low and lethal voice that she’d never heard from him before. “Because from now on, in order to get to her, you’ll have to tear through me.”

  Chapter Seven

  “You own my building?”

  Ben reset the alarm at his place even as a low chuckle slid from him. “After everything that’s happened tonight…” He turned to face her and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s the first question you have as soon as we’re alone?”

  Alone…in his home.

  She stood a few feet away, still wearing the pencil skirt and black top. Looking gorgeous and sexy and completely untouchable. She gripped her briefcase a bit too tightly, and her high heels tapped on the floor when she advanced toward him. A quick flurry of steps—then she stopped. Courtney hadn’t come close enough to touch. And he very much wanted to put his hands on her.

  Her overnight bag was near his feet. She’d gotten it together while the cops had been at her place. He knew that Eric had pulled strings to get such a fast response, and he hoped like hell that his brother’s connections would pay off for them.

  Cole had clammed up. The cops had been eager to question the guy, but Ben wasn’t sure how much the uniforms would be able to get from the man. No, Ben figured that Eric and Simon would learn far more about Cole Trevor when they got the Wilde agents to tear deeper into his past.

  “You own my building.” This time, her words weren’t a question.

  He shrugged as his hands fell to his sides. “I might.” Ben scooped up her bag. “Come this way. I’ll show you to the guest room.”

  She stepped into his path. Still didn’t come close enough to touch. “There is no might about it. Either you own the building or you don’t. Answer the question, counselor.”

  Damn but she was cute when she got that hard, demanding lawyer tone. But it probably wasn’t the time to tell her the tone seriously turned him on. “In that case, yes, I do own it.”

  Her dark eyes glittered. “I’ve lived there for a year. A year. And you never mentioned to me that you were my landlord?”

  Tread carefully. “You didn’t ask.”

  “Ben!”

  “What? Shit. So I have some investments in town. I own the building, I have a manager who runs things, and I didn’t even know you were thinking about moving in until the manager told me that you’d been offered a lease.”

  “You should have told me.”

  “You liked the building, didn’t you? I mean, you got the best apartment there.” Something he’d made sure had happened once he’d realized that Courtney wanted to move in. “You got your own floor. The biggest apartment! Total privacy. No one else in the building has that option. And I gave you a super deal on—” Uh, oh. Shut up, Ben. Shut up, now.

  “I knew the rent was too low. Stupid low.” She sucked in a deep breath. “You did that.”

  “Sue me. Yes, I gave you a deal on the rent. I knew you were saving to open your own firm, and I wanted to help—”

  But her burning gaze said she didn’t appreciate his help. “I don’t need your pity.” She grabbed for her bag. “I’ll find the guest room myself.” She tried to yank the bag from him.

  He tightened his hold.

  And she wound up jerking against him as her body fell forward. For an instant, her body pressed to his. All of those wonderful curves. All of that sexy skin. All of that rage.

  She had a lot of it.

  Before she went in for an attack, he needed her to know… “Pity is the last thing I would ever feel for you.”

  “Bullshit.” And her eyes gleamed with…tears?

  Oh, no. Oh, hell, no. He didn’t know if those were rage tears or sad tears, but the sight made his chest feel like someone had taken a sledge hammer to his heart.

  “I know pity because I’m the girl who grew up with nothing. With a mom who died wh
en I was five and a so-called father who didn’t want me. I’m the one who was shoved into foster care and left there until I was eighteen. I’m the one who had to work three jobs even with a scholarship just so I could afford the room and board in college and then in law school. I’m the one who always had second-hand shit while everyone else was wearing designer clothes. I’m the one who never went to the parties you liked to throw because I knew I wasn’t going to fit in. I couldn’t afford your crowd, and I didn’t want them staring down their noses at me. I’m the one who rode a freaking bike everywhere because I couldn’t afford a car back then.”

  Every muscle in his body had locked down.

  “But you know what?” Courtney continued grimly. “I’m the one who graduated at the top of the class. I’m the one who did all of that on my own, without my family’s wealth giving me an easy ride that I didn’t deserve. I’m the one who works hard every day, and I’m the one who is making a life that I will be proud of.” She yanked on the bag again. This time, he let go immediately. “So, keep your pity. Because I’m the one who doesn’t need it.” Courtney turned on her heel and marched off, heading down the hallway.

  It took him a moment to move. A moment to break straight through the shock that held him immobile. Baby, I am so sorry. “You were the one girl everyone wanted.”

  She froze.

  “You didn’t know that? Fuck, first day of law school, I walked in, and there you were. With your hair in that long braid, sliding over your shoulder, those jeans that fit you like a glove, and a loose, red shirt that slid off one of your shoulders. You were reading the syllabus, with your head down, and you didn’t realize that every dumbass guy there had already taken the seats around you. They were all just waiting for you to look up.” He’d even kicked one of the dumbasses out of a chair so Ben could get close to her.

  Her laugh was brittle. “Those jerks just wanted a fast screw. They didn’t care anything about me.”

  Like he hadn’t punched the shit out of one of the jerks in question because the fool had bragged about what he’d supposedly done with her. Not that Ben had ever told Courtney about that fight. Why bother her with BS? “You were the one…I competed with.”