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Maybe this would go nowhere.
Or maybe I’d not only help bring justice to the victims but also protect the man… I was falling in love with.
The realization slammed an ache into my heart.
* * *
Lachlan
I knew exactly where Ernest Davidson’s office was. We had a past together, one I didn’t talk about or share with anyone. While it had been an unexpected alliance, a gesture by a member who knew I could ruin him with a single phone call, his good deed had weighed heavily on my mind for years. The blip in time had felt like a ticking time bomb.
Now I knew I’d been right.
The man had been waiting for the right moment to lord his assistance over me, shifting the control of power. I refused to allow that to happen.
As I strode into the building, I buttoned my jacket. He would soon learn that crossing me wasn’t in his best interest. I didn’t bother with the elevator, taking the stairs to his third-floor office. When I burst in through the double glass doors, his receptionist immediately jumped to her feet. While Davidson spent most of his time at one of the esteemed hospitals in the city, this was his administrative day. He never varied in his activities, his routines always the same.
“Sir. You can’t just barge in. Do you have an appointment?” she demanded, her voice wavering. She knew exactly who I was. There were few people in the city who didn’t.
“No appointment needed. If you feel the need to warn Dr. Davidson of my arrival and demand to take a few minutes out of his precious schedule, please do so. At the same time make certain he’s aware that I won’t take no for an answer.”
She was befuddled, still trying to stop me from storming down the corridor. By the time I barged into his office less than a minute later, it was obvious the receptionist had taken my advice.
Ernest rose to his feet, his amused expression immediately irritating.
“I must admit, Lachlan, I thought I’d see you sooner. I guess that lovely fake submissive of yours neglected to tell you about my visit as soon as I left.”
I rarely lost my cool, at least since graduating from college. After my embattled and often disruptive youth, my father had insisted I become a man. His methods of reminding me my place in the world had been less than stellar, but over the years I’d learned to respect the need for patience.
Not today.
I took long strides, my hand wrapped around his throat in seconds. When I rammed him against the wall, the wind knocked out of him, he had the good sense to register surprise in his cold eyes.
“You crossed the line, Davidson. You entered my home without permission, confronting a woman who wants nothing to do with you.”
“So it would seem,” he gritted out as I added pressure to my hold.
“I’m going to ask you one time. What the fuck were you doing at my house?”
He smiled despite the firm hold on his throat. “I want your recent acquisition to represent me in this bogus upcoming trial.” I was surprised he refused to succumb to the moment of aggression.
“Not possible. She’s off the case.”
“Because of you?”
Disgust tore through me. While I wasn’t immune to the need or desire for violence, I’d refused to become a carbon copy of my brutal father. I backed away, fisting my hand. “She made her decision to remove herself from the case.”
“As I said,” he muttered, rubbing his throat. “Because of you. I’m surprised you managed to control her so easily.”
“She’s her own woman, Davidson. I don’t control her decisions or her life.”
“Ah, yes. The auction. How generous of you.” He smirked as he stared at me. “I warned her about you because I thought it was prudent. Your proclivities are dangerous.”
That was all I could take. I swung, issuing a punch hard enough he was pitched against the wall. I didn’t waste my time leveling another brutal jab. What was the point? “I don’t know what you’re after but stay away from her. You brought Claire Kenwright to my club. Did you kill her?”
He hoisted himself to a standing position. “I’m not in the habit of killing beautiful women, Lachlan. I save them. Remember?”
I looked away, staring out his window. “Yeah, I remember. That was a long time ago.”
