Want Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

closet. He strode out and realized he was in a bedroom, a place that was a mirror opposite of Sophie’s room.
    No furniture there. Freshly painted walls. The smell of new carpet.
    “Is this side of the house wired for security?” he asked her.
    Silence.
    “Sophie?”
    She was right behind him. “I should have thought about this.” Now anger hummed in her voice. “I hadn’t gotten the workers out to the place since before—before Daniel’s attack. But they were here plenty before that night. It would have been so easy for one of them to find the attic entrance. To get into my space.” She gave a rough, angry shake of her head. “I should have thought of them!”
    “So…you’re saying this side isn’t wired for security?” Just to be clear.
    Streaks of red flamed on her cheeks. “Not yet, but it will be by the end of the day. And those men—I thought I could trust them because they were Finn’s men.”
    Finn?
Her voice had softened a bit when she said the man’s name. He didn’t like that softening. “Finn? Does the guy have a last name?”
    “Finn Scott. He always vets his people, so I didn’t even consider them.” Her breath expelled in a hard rush. “I should have known better.” It sounded as if she were berating herself.
    “Easy,” he told her, trying to make his voice gentle. “This shit isn’t on you, sweetheart.”
    Her head whipped up. Right, he’d just called her
sweetheart.
    Lex cleared his throat and said, “It’s not your fault some sick SOB broke into your house. You can’t do a background check on every single person you meet.”
    She blinked.
    “This shit isn’t on you,” he told her once more. “It’s on the freak who broke in. And I’ll find him.” He’d get Chance and Dev to interrogate every man who’d been working there.
Maybe I’ll do some personal interrogating, too.
Particularly with
Finn.
Once he was sure Sophie was safe for the day, he’d question the guy.
    Her hands fisted at her sides. “In my house. All this time…right with me?” Her eyes were flashed with a tangle of emotions. “I guess you can never be safe, no matter how hard you try.”
    She rushed past him. He could see the painter’s tape then, and the drop cloths that were lining the stairs. She hurried down those stairs. The first floor was definitely still in need of repair. The walls looked as if they were preparing to be primed.
    Sophie hurried to the door. She unlocked it, then rushed into the main foyer of the building. The foyer that also led to her home on the right side of the building.
    “Sophie!”
    But she ran outside, glaring to the left, then to the right. The cold wind sent her hair flying around her face.
    He caught her shoulders and spun her around. That was when he realized…she wasn’t glaring. She wasn’t out there because she was furious.
    Sophie was…crying?
    Oh, the hell, no.
    He didn’t like her tears. His chest ached and he found himself pulling her into his arms, crushing her against his chest. And with her against him like that, he was reminded again of how small, how delicate she was.
    She fell down the stairs. The bastard had a knife.
This wasn’t some story she was spinning, it was the absolute truth. Dev had it all wrong.
    “I’ll get him,” Lex promised her. Right then, he might have promised anything to stop her tears. Eyes as beautiful as hers shouldn’t ever be filled with tears. Not her. Never her.
    What is happening to me?
    Her head tipped back. She stared up at him. Her lips were parted and—
    He just lifted her up. Lex held Sophie easily because her weight was nothing to him. And he kissed her right there. Kissed her with her held so tightly against his chest. Kissed her with the salty taste of her tears on her lips.
    The kiss started easy. Gentle. Maybe it was even just a touch of comfort.
    Then it changed, fast.
    Because in the next instant, he didn’t care about comfort. Need burst to life inside of him. Savage and wild and focused