Suspicions (The Battling McGuire Boys Book 3) by Cynthia Eden Read Free Book Online

had been part of Delta Force, and Sullivan, the youngest of the brothers, was an ex-marine. Yeah, most folks hesitated before trying to tangle with those guys.
    Mark wasn’t most folks. And he’d never taken any crap from the McGuires. “The game has changed,” he said, his low voice carrying only to Davis’s ears. “I’m not just going to sit back anymore. I thought she was safe. Happy. But she’s not. She still wakes up screaming at night. And now some new jerk is out there terrorizing her.” He shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. She’s not going to spend her days and nights afraid. I won’t
let
that happen to her.” He’d do everything within his power to protect her.
    He heard Ava’s car door opening. He forced his back teeth to unclench as he said, “Why didn’t you come to me about this Shayne Townsend mess weeks ago? I wasn’t involved in the murder of your parents! I had plenty of people here at the ranch who saw me right before Ava came galloping up!” The idea that he was involved was ridiculous. He was—
    “I know you have an alibi. I already checked that.”
    Davis had been investigating him?
    “It was your father who didn’t have an alibi. No one could account for him an hour before the crime or an hour after.”
    Mark felt shock rip through him. “He was my...
stepfather.
” Like that distinction mattered. Technically, Gregory Montgomery had adopted him. Of course, most folks didn’t know that Mark had hated the bastard with every bit of his soul.
    “He committed suicide two months after my parents died,” Davis said.
    Mark glanced over at Ava. She was in her car, appearing for all intents and purposes as if she was about to drive away and leave him.
    “Sometimes guilt can drive a man to take his own life.”
    Davis seriously thinks that Gregory murdered the McGuires!
    And...and Mark couldn’t say that he hadn’t. Because he knew just how twisted Gregory could be.
    Ava cranked up her car.
    Mark jerked away from Davis. “Ava, wait!” He lunged toward the car. Her window was rolled down, and his fingers pushed through the opening and locked onto the steering wheel. “Wait,” he said again, his voice softer.
    She didn’t look at him.
    “I didn’t hurt them, Ava.”
    She nodded. Blinked several times. Oh, no, was she
crying
?
He couldn’t stand it when Ava cried.
    “I would
never
do anything to hurt you.”
    Again, she gave the faintest of nods.
    Davis was a few feet away, watching them far too closely.
    “Where are you going?” Mark asked her. “You said you were starting a new job in Austin soon. You can’t just stay in some motel.” Not with that creep out there watching her. “Stay here. You’ll be safe.”
    Her head turned then, and she finally stared into his eyes. He didn’t see any rage there. No accusation. Just the same trust that he always saw when she looked at him. “I don’t want to bring any danger to you. He was in your house. Whoever this guy is...I don’t want him hurting you.”
    And I’d be destroyed if he hurt you, Ava. Can’t you see that?
    “I’m going back to the ranch with Davis.”
    “You hate staying there.” He knew Ava hadn’t stepped foot inside the main house, not since that night.
    She shrugged. “There’s a guest cottage I can use.”
    “You can stay here.” She’d been asking to stay hours before, and now she was running away.
    But then Davis stepped forward. “We have better security at our place. He already got in here once. He won’t reach her there.”
    Because the McGuire ranch had basically been transformed into a fortress after those murders. The brothers had wanted to make sure their home was always protected.
    Even if that protection had come too late.
    “I’m sorry I involved you,” Ava said. Her hands were curled around the steering wheel.
    He leaned forward a bit more and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “This isn’t over, Ava.”
    “Mark, I—”
    He kissed her. A fast,