Walk on the wild side with New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Cynthia Eden’s dark new romantic suspense, BEWARE OF ME.
Criminal. Killer. Monster. Ethan Barclay has been called many things in life, and he usually doesn’t care what people say about him. He’s tough, hard, and brutal when he needs to be. But even the most dangerous of men can have a weakness. Ethan’s weakness has—and always will be—Carly Shay.
Their pasts are tied together—twisted and melded by blood and death. Walking away from Carly was the hardest thing that Ethan ever did, but it was also his one good deed. He knew Carly deserved far better than him, and he wanted her to have a perfect life, a life that didn’t involve paying for Ethan’s sins.
Only now the secrets from their past have been revealed, and Carly’s life is on the line. Ethan’s enemies, Carly’s enemies—the predators are closing in on them. But Ethan isn’t going to let Carly be threatened. He will move heaven and hell to protect her. He won’t lose Carly, not again, and for those foolish enough to try and take her from him…they are about to see just how deadly Ethan truly can be.
By Cynthia Eden
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are not intentional and are purely the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional.
Copyright ©2015 by Cindy Roussos
Cover art and design by: Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Copy-editing by: JRT Editing
Table of Contents
Title/Copyright Page
Beware Of Me
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Author’s Note
About The Author
For my lovely editor Joan—thanks for all your support.
Prologue
Carly Shay heaved against the ropes that held her prisoner. The rough hemp cut into her wrists, making her bleed even more and the wooden chair that she was tied to shuddered as she jerked and twisted. Her hair fell into her face as she screamed, “Don’t! Stop!” Tears streaked down her cheeks. “Please, I am begging you, don’t hurt him anymore!”
But the men kept up their attack. Not on her, not now. She wasn’t the target right then.
Ethan was.
Ethan Barclay. The man who’d been her only friend on most days—and the man she’d secretly loved for the last two years.
But Ethan was on the floor, and four of Quincy’s goons—Quincy Atkins, a man who truly had to be the devil—were beating him.
Was Ethan still moving? Still alive?
“Please!” Her cry was both a plea and a scream. “Stop hurting him!”
Quincy stepped forward. A big, hulking man. He hurt me. So much. But…she slammed the door on that thought. She couldn’t go there, not right then. She couldn’t remember all that he’d taken from her. The memories would come later, she knew that.
Right then…she just had to help Ethan. He’d come to save her, but if she didn’t do something, soon, he’d be the one to wind up dying.
Quincy Atkins was a crime boss who pretty much ran D.C. Terrifying. Psychotic. And he wanted her.
What Quincy wanted, he took.
Don’t remember. Don’t. Focus on Ethan.
Because Ethan’s golden eyes had just met hers. She could see that he was gathering his strength. Preparing for an attack.
Ethan. Twenty-one years old. A fixture on the D.C. streets. He’d always watched her back. Always looked out for her. She knew the whispers—the stories that said Ethan was turning into just as much of a criminal as Quincy. That Ethan was even gunning for Quincy but…
Those stories were wrong. Ethan was good. He was her friend. He’d risked his life for her. She didn’t care what anyone else thought of him.
Ethan is good…
But if she didn’t stop Quincy, Ethan would be a dead man.
As she watched, Quincy motioned for his men to leave the room. Relief made her a little dizzy. Maybe he’ll stop now. Maybe…
But as soon as the others were gone, Quincy took a knife from the sheath at his hip. ‘I’m gonna cut Loverboy open,” Quincy announced, his voice cold and cruel. “Then you’ll be mine. Body and soul. I’ll own every inch of you…and no one will ever be able to help you again.”
This was her fault. All her fault. She’d taken the job dancing at his club. She’d lied about her age to get the gig, but she’d needed the money so desperately—her dad, he wasn’t well. If she hadn’t gotten that money, she and her dad would have been cast out on the street.
Her gaze slid back to Ethan. His handsome face was battered, but his golden eyes glittered. He wouldn’t stop fighting. Giving up wasn’t in his blood. He’d battle Quincy and Quincy’s men until—until Ethan died.
Then what would she do? Her hands kept jerking at the ropes behind her. Her whole body hurt. She had so many bruises. So much pain. But she wouldn’t let Quincy take Ethan away from her. Almost distantly, she heard herself say… “Please. Don’t hurt him anymore. Don’t. I’ll do anything—just don’t!”
But even before those words were fully out of her mouth, Quincy had lunged toward Ethan. As she yanked against her ropes, Quincy kicked Ethan in the ribs, again and again. Then Quincy rolled Ethan onto his back and put the knife right over Ethan’s heart.
This can’t happen! I won’t let it!
Her fear faded as rage burned through her. Quincy had taken too much from her already. He wasn’t going to take Ethan, too.
Quincy’s back was to her. And in that moment, as she saw him with that knife over Ethan’s heart, something broke inside of Carly—even as the ropes that bound her finally gave way. Carly shot out of the chair and lunged for Quincy. “Don’t hurt him!” It wasn’t a plea this time. Her words were a roar.
She slammed into Quincy’s back. They both fell down, tangling over Ethan’s body. She heard Quincy give a choked gasp and she scrambled back as he heaved up—
Only to immediately sag back to the ground.
That was when she saw that the knife wasn’t in Ethan’s chest. When she’d slammed into Quincy, she had saved Ethan. She started to smile and then she saw—
The knife is in Quincy’s chest. She hadn’t meant to stab him, had she? No, no, she’d just wanted to stop him and he’d fell—gotten all tangled up and somehow the knife had gone into him. The handle stuck out, but at least half of the blade was in his chest. In his heart?
Quincy opened his mouth, and she realized that the guards were just outside of that door. If they heard their boss call for them, if they rushed in and saw what she’d done…
I’m dead. Ethan’s dead.
Carly put her hand over Quincy’s mouth. The tears kept pouring from her eyes. Shudders racked her body. She could feel Quincy’s lips moving beneath her palm. Nausea rolled in her stomach, and Carly thought she might vomit.
Ethan crawled toward her. He left a trail of blood in his path. His hand lifted—
Ethan?
And he shoved the knife even deeper into Quincy’s chest. Quincy’s lips stopped moving beneath her palm.
She kept her hand over his mouth. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t hear anything but the scream—a scream echoing only in her mind.
She’d done this. She’d killed a man. Killed the man who’d attacked her, raped her, who’d tried to kill Ethan.
And now…now his men were just outside the door. She wasn’t going to get away. There would never be an escape for her.
Ethan’s fingers curled around her wrist. “It’s okay, baby,” he told her, his voice a rough rasp.
No, it was so far from okay that it wasn’t even funny, but Carly couldn’t manage to speak.
“I’m…going to take care of everything,” Ethan said, his words little more than a whisper. “All you have to do…is trust me.”
His hand lifted—the hand that had just driven that knife deeper into Quincy’s chest, and his fingers curled around her wrist. Slowly, he moved her hand away from Quincy’s mouth.
I did that. I killed him.
For Ethan, for her own survival…I’d do it again.
Darkness stretched inside of her, threatening to consume her. She clamped her lips together to hold back the scream that wanted to break free.
“Trust me,” Ethan said again.
But she was afraid she’d never trust anyone again.
Especially…not herself.
Present Day…
Chapter One
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?”
She wasn’t going to keep talking to him in the middle of that crowded street. In fact, she wasn’t going to keep talking to him at all. She had a life now. A good life. She wasn’t going to throw it away. Her past—and the secrets there—were locked up tightly inside of her. Carly took a deep breath, and she gave Ethan a wide berth as she headed around him. If he wouldn’t move, she’d just keep going on her own.
Keep going…and keep in control. Carly knew maintaining control of her emotions was vital. She’d contained her pain and anger for years. Nothing got past her control these days.
But then she heard his footsteps, and Carly realized that Ethan was following her.
No, no, no.
“I let you go once before…” His words drifted to her. “Do you have any fucking idea just how hard that was for me?”
Impossible. “You sent me away.” She kept walking.
“Because I’d already brought you blood and death and hell.”
No, she’d done that…herself.
“I can’t do i
t again,” Ethan said. “I won’t…”
The crosswalk light up ahead was red. She had to stop at the corner. He closed in behind her, and she could actually feel the warmth of his body reaching out to her and then—his fingers brushed along her hip. Her eyes closed, just for a moment, as her control cracked, faint spider-webs of emotion breaking through the surface.
Then she made her eyes open.
“I want something for myself,” Ethan said. “I want you.”
Liar, liar. “You’ve got plenty of women, Ethan. Go back to D.C. Go back to them.” The crosswalk light changed. Green. Yes! “Leave me the hell alone.”
“Sorry, baby,” his voice murmured after her. “But that just isn’t going to be possible.”
Her steps quickened. She didn’t look back at him. Ethan had left her alone for years. No visits, no notes, nothing. Now he suddenly wanted back in her life? Like she was supposed to believe he’d missed her or some crazy crap like that?
No, she wasn’t a fool. She also wasn’t looking back. Because she didn’t want to see if he was following her or not. She didn’t care.
Really.
Dammit.
She kept walking, heading toward her building. It was a brownstone—one that her company actually owned. She’d been allowed to take one of the apartment’s there as part of one very sweet employment deal. Some days, Carly still couldn’t believe her luck on that one. But she wasn’t going to question fate too much. After all the hard times she’d had, a little bit of good luck had been ever-so-welcome.
A few minutes later, she could see the hard, heavy lines of the building. Old architecture on the outside, but the place had been completely updated on the inside. She’d be home free soon, locked inside her home. No way would Ethan get to her then.
If he’s still following me.
Maybe she should spare a glance over her shoulder. Just in case. Just to be sure—
“Ms. Shay?”
A man in a fancy suit had straightened as she approached. Handsome, with close-cropped dark hair and blue eyes. He flashed her a quick smile even as he approached her.