Sins and Scarlet Lace (3 page)

“You’re going to want to help us here, Mrs. Huxley. Your husband is dead. There’s no one left to take the fall except for you.”

Sophia closed her eyes and didn’t respond. They’d made up their minds. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. The last time she’d cried had been the day Declan had told her he no longer loved her, but she couldn’t seem to stop the tears now. She was too tired and weariness had settled deep in her bones.

“There’s nothing more I can tell you.” The silence that followed was heavy with tension and she finally opened her eyes to face what was to come.

“Have it your way. You’ll be taken to lockup until the teams have finished searching your home and office. You could be there days or weeks, it’s anyone’s guess, but I do know you’ll be getting a visit from Doctor Renfro within twenty-four hours. He’s got this nifty injectable serum that makes people want to talk. If I were you, I’d come clean before that visit. I hear it’s not a pleasant treatment.”

The scrape of his chair across the concrete floor was like nails across a chalkboard and sent shivers down her spine. She’d lived on fear for five years, looking over her shoulder for Kane to make good on his threats, but it was nothing compared to the fear she felt now.

Agent Brennan gathered the papers—the papers that proved her guilt—and put them back in the file folder.

“I didn’t see any next of kin in your file,” Gabe said as he walked to the door. “And your name has already been splashed across the media. One of your co-workers enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame a little too much. Do you have anyone you want us to contact? Someone to attend to any personal matters while you’re visiting us?”

“Declan MacKenzie.”

Sophia had no idea why it was his name that came to mind first, or why she thought he could or would help her now. Kane had delighted in telling her how many women Dec had had over the years and how many they’d shared together. But she’d learned to recognize Kane’s lies the longer he spouted them. Declan was a bastard for sure, but deep down he had an honor and character that Kane would never possess. And she believed if she called on him for help now he’d come just because his sense of right and wrong and his honor would let him do no less.

Agent Brennan stared at her with an unreadable look on his face, but she could have sworn she saw a glimmer of surprise in his eyes.

“Call Declan MacKenzie,” she said again, her voice stronger this time. “He used to be military. Special Forces. I don’t know if he still is, but he is—was—my friend. He’s the only person I have left to call.”

She had to believe that everything would be okay. The truth would come out and everyone would see that she was innocent. That Kane Huxley had been a monster to the core. Dec would believe her. He knew her too well to think she could ever become a traitor.

“That can be arranged, Mrs. Huxley.” Agent Brennan stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him, and for the first time since her wedding night she had hope that everything would be all right.

She waited several minutes for someone to come get her and take her to her cell, but the minutes dragged on and the lethargy in her muscles had her dozing. The door didn’t make a sound when it opened again, but the hairs stood up on her arms and a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time settled low in her gut. She knew he’d be standing there before she lifted her head.

The sight of Declan MacKenzie sent emotions rioting through her body—relief, longing, embarrassment and sorrow. Her marriage to Kane had destroyed part of her, though she’d been scraping and fighting to repair it since she’d separated from him. Kane had taken every opportunity to play psychological games, until she’d started believing the things he’d said.

Dec looked the same at first glance. He was still an intimidating figure—it was just something about the way he carried himself. He moved like a big jungle cat and had the grace of a dancer. His dark hair was shorter than when she’d last seen him—buzzed close to the scalp—and his beard was the same length, though she could still see the jagged scar that followed the line of his jaw. The occasional strand of silver in his hair was new.

“Dec,” she said, the chair tipping over as she got up hastily. Her legs shook and she felt the tears well in her eyes. She’d never seen anything that looked as good as him standing there, and she rushed toward him, throwing her arms around him.

“God, Dec. I’m so sorry.” The tears finally let loose, but only because she wasn’t alone any longer. “I didn’t have anyone else to call. Thank you for coming. Thank you,” she repeated again and again.

“Sophia.” His lips glanced off her temple as he said her name and then he took a step back, so she was no longer touching him.

It was then she realized the obvious. Other than the brief glance of his mouth on her skin he hadn’t touched her in any way. His hands were still in the pockets of grey dress slacks and the sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to show his sinewy forearms. Tension coiled in the broad muscles of his chest and shoulders and the scar along his cheek turned white as he clenched his jaw.

Her eyes widened as she saw the weapon holstered at his side and she took a step back. And then another. Her gaze flew back to his and then she knew. He was one of them, and he’d never believe her over the evidence that was so damning. For the second time in her life, Declan was going to destroy her, and she had no one to blame but herself. The old saying was true—fool me once, shame on you… The only fool in the room was her.

“The only way I can help you is if you tell the truth.” His familiar voice slid across her skin like silk and she had to remind herself to breathe. This wasn’t the same man who’d once loved her. Who’d used that same voice to tempt and seduce. This man was her enemy. And she’d brought him right to her door.

“Go to hell, Declan MacKenzie. And take your evidence with you.”

Six Months Later…

Sophia stared at the empty house she’d once shared with her husband and realized she didn’t have one good memory of the place in the five years she’d lived there.

She’d lived there mostly alone as Kane hadn’t wanted much to do with her once he’d married her, but the times he had come home… she shuddered and reminded herself it was best not to go there. He’d only touched her twice during their marriage. The first time on their wedding night. The second time when she’d told him she wanted a divorce. Neither experience had been pleasant.

The boxes on the table still needed to be taped, so she found the roll and closed them up methodically, labeling each one as she went. She’d been lucky to find a buyer for the house, even if she’d had to take a lower offer. The important thing was that she had enough to pay off her debt and just enough to see her through until she found a new job.

If
she found a new job. No one wanted to hire a criminal. And trying to explain to would-be employers that it had all been a misunderstanding got her nowhere.

It had been months since they’d cleared her of the charges of conspiring with her husband in treasonous acts, conspiracy to murder, and laundering half a billion dollars that was doused in the blood of some of America’s finest.

The government had no proof and she’d passed their tests, so after weeks of being contained in one small room with nothing more than a bed and her own company, they’d finally had to let her go. But not before she’d lost her job and had most of her assets seized.

The bank had called the loan on her house so she’d had no choice but to sell. She could only be grateful her mother had left her the little house she’d owned up until her death a couple of years before. Her father had passed away the year after she and Kane had married, and she didn’t have any other family. That house was her saving grace and the only place she had left to go. If she was lucky, she could find a job as a waitress or as a cashier somewhere. She couldn’t afford to be picky.

The sound of a car pulling into her driveway had her grabbing for the rifle she habitually kept by the door. It had certainly worked at chasing off Kane, and it worked even better on nosy reporters. Someday she hoped they’d get the hint and leave her alone.

But when she stepped onto the front porch with the rifle in her hand, the last person she expected to see was Declan. He got out of the black Jeep and raised his brows when she pointed the rifle in his direction.

“Are you going to shoot me?” he asked.

“I’m undecided. Are you here to take me back in?”

He sighed and she realized he looked tired, but she knew looks could be deceiving. She’d lived with a consummate actor, and as far as she was concerned Declan and Kane had been cut from the same cloth. His gaze landed on the
Sold
sign that was staked in her front yard.

“I’m glad you were able to sell. I wish you’d let me help you.”

“You had your chance. You’d be the last person I’d take help from. What do you want, Dec?”

“I needed to see you,” he said.

The gun wavered in her hands and she lowered it some so he wouldn’t notice how the words affected her. There was nothing left between them but bitter memories and regret.

“You’ve seen me. Now leave.”

“Soph, I need to explain why I was there. Why I had to be so hard on you.”

“I don’t want to hear explanations. I want you to leave. I can tell by looking at you that you feel guilty.” Bitterness tinged her voice even though she tried not to let him see how betrayed she felt. “There’s no reason to feel guilty. You had a job to do, and we’re no longer the people we used to be. No harm, no foul. You only took part in destroying my life. Again.”

“I was going to ask you to marry me when I came home from that last mission,” he said.

She sobbed out a laugh and felt the hysteria bubbling inside of her. “Don’t you dare say that, you bastard. Not after all this. The least you owe me is honesty. I suppose next you’ll tell me you sent me away and told me you didn’t love me anymore for my own good.”

“I thought I was protecting you. The last thing I wanted was for you to be dragged into this kind of life, where someone will kill you just as easily as they blink. It’s not what you deserved. I know you probably don’t believe me.”

Tears ran down her face freely now and he was just a blur in her vision. She leaned against the porch column as all her strength seemed to drain from her bones.

“No, I don’t believe you. You killed me that day, Dec. The scars you left on me are just as permanent as the one on your face.”

She meant to hurt him, to lash out, but he didn’t even flinch at her words.

“I know, and it was too late to do anything about it by the time I realized I’d made the biggest mistake of my like. You were already in love with Kane and I’d lost my chance.”

“I was
never
in love with Kane,” she screamed. “I was just a mark to him. Did you know he romanced me like you did? What did you tell him about us? He knew how to get to me. How to make me believe that there were other men like you out there. It didn’t matter that the physical connection wasn’t there. I told myself he was a good man and that’s all I could really ask for. And I decided that if he was a good man then I could probably grow to love him one day.”

She swiped at the tears on her face, clearing her vision, but Declan still stood in front of her as stoic as ever. She wasn’t sure he was capable of emotion. He’d proven that when he’d relentlessly questioned her for weeks to try to prove her guilt.

“He hated you,” she said. “Did you know that?”

Declan’s voice was tight when he answered. “I got the idea once we started going through his personal belongings.”

“I didn’t realize how deep his jealousy went. Hell, I didn’t even know the two of you were friends until I saw you at the wedding. Stupid me.”

“Not you, Sophia. Never you. He fooled us all.”

“He raped me on our wedding night.” The words came out of nowhere, and she wasn’t even sure she’d said them aloud, but the stiffening of Declan’s posture and the barely restrained fury on his face assured her she had. “And the whole time he held me down—” She paused to gasp in a breath through her sobs. “The whole time he made me say your name. He made me think of you. So I’d remember the choice I’d made, and that I’d never have you again.”

“Sophia—”

He took a step forward, but she lifted the gun again, her hand steadier this time. “No,” she yelled. “Stay right where you are.”

Declan moved back to where he was, but she could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

“He liked to play games. To mess with my mind until I was jumping at shadows.” Her laugh was bitter. “I guess it’s what all of you super spies are good at. But I’m nobody’s doormat. Not yours or Kane Huxley’s. But God, it was a relief when they knocked on my door and told me he was dead. I thought everything would finally be okay.”

“None of it matters now,” she said. “What matters is that he was a monster and I’m going to be paying the consequences of marrying him for the rest of my life. You and Kane are the same person in my eyes. You manipulate and make decisions for people without care or thought to their feelings. Maybe it’s your line of work, or maybe it’s just your basic character. Who the hell knows? But I know I’m purging my life of the Kane Huxleys and Declan MacKenzies in my life. Now get off my property.”

He stayed exactly where he was and kept his gaze steady on her. “You loved me once, Sophia. And no matter what I told you then, I loved you too. That never changed, and I hated myself for having to hurt you. But I thought it would keep you alive. You can try to tell yourself you hate me, and God knows I have a lot to answer for, but you know what we had was never a lie.”

She pulled the trigger and felt the kick of the rifle in her hands. A plume of dust went up at Declan’s feet, but he didn’t try to dodge or duck out of the way.

“I said get off my property.”

He nodded, but she could see the understanding and sorrow in his eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to run into his arms, just to be held and told everything would be okay. It had been so long since she’d been held. But she couldn’t take a chance on him again. Not after he’d let her be taken to that cell.

“You’ve forgotten one thing, Soph. I know you didn’t take the money, but that doesn’t mean others think the same way. Until it’s found, you’ll always be a target for someone. Who’s going to protect you if not me?”

“I can protect myself just like I am now.”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you deal with it alone. I’ll be here if you need me. That’s a promise.”

“I needed you once, Declan. Those days are over.”

He nodded again and smiled sadly. “I’m glad he didn’t kill your spirit.” He opened the door of the Jeep. “It was what I loved most about you.”

Sophia waited until he backed out of the drive and rode out of her life before she went back inside and closed the door softly behind her. She dried her tears and went back to packing her things. It was her life, and it was time she started living it.