Golden Threads by Kay Hooper Read Free Book Online

watercolor of a castle had been cut from corner to corner. "Just something I was doing for myself," she said in the same even, detached tone. She put the ruined picture down and added, "The knife cut right into the board."
    "Are you going to call the police?"
    "No. Nothing's missing. There won't be any fingerprints."
    Devon took a step toward her, and his voice was taut when he demanded, "Lara, what the hell is going on?"
    She went over to the couch and sat down, suddenly aware of trembling legs. "What makes you think I know?"
    "Don't give me that. I want an answer."
    An answer, she thought. Well, she had her answer now. This wasn't a vague suspicion. This was fact. Someone had broken in to her apartment, had searched neatly and professionally through her belongings, touched her clothing. She felt violated. And frightened. And alone.
    "Lara." His haunting voice was quiet now. "Let me help you."
    She couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anyone— and how stupid of her to have forgotten that. "You're confusing the play with reality, Devon." Her voice sounded calm, she thought. "In real life, the prince never comes storming to the rescue."
    He moved around the end of the couch and sat down beside her, not quite touching. "Give me a chance."
    She didn't look at him; she didn't dare, wary of losing her precarious control. "I don't want this," she said clearly, giving him an answer he had demanded earlier. "You said you couldn't stop it. You said I couldn't, even though you wanted me to. But I will. I'll stop it. I don't want you in my life, Devon."
    "You're lying," he said flatly.
    Lara could feel the tension growing inside her, quivering like glass about to shatter. With all the will she could command, she kept her voice even and detached. "No. But it doesn't matter, does it? You wanted me to say no, and that's what I'm saying. Now, please leave."
    "Look at me, Lara." When she didn't move, he leaned over and grasped both her shoulders, turning her firmly.
    She wanted to flinch away from his touch, his gaze, because she knew her will could never stand against his. Not when he looked at her. Not when he touched her.
    "Stop it," she whispered, just as she had in the restaurant. She was caught again, tugged at in that profound, overpowering way, and she couldn't fight it.
    "I won't leave," he said. "I won't walk out because you're determined to face this, whatever it is, alone. I want you, Lara. And you want me. Admit it."
    She had no choice. Even now, with the shadows of fear closing in on her, she couldn't deny the effect he had on her. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, to be enclosed by him and revel in his warmth and strength.
    "Yes," she admitted finally, defeated. "But you said—"
    "Never mind what I said." A muscle tightened in his jaw. "Even if you'd told me you didn't want this, I probably—" He broke off, shaking his head. "Just never mind. We'll talk about all of it later."
    Lara remained half-turned toward him as he released her and sat back. She knew what he wanted to talk about now, but she was still uncertain. Tell no one, they'd said. And she didn't know him, after all, no matter how he could make her feel. But he'd been with her; he couldn't be involved in it.
    Could he? An accomplice could have done the dirty work while Devon charmed his way into her life... her bed.
    "Don't look at me like that," he said in a sudden, low growling tone of voice.
    She shifted her gaze to the hands clasped together in her lap, then looked back at him because she couldn't help herself.
    He sighed roughly and half-lifted a hand as if to touch her. But the powerful hand fell back to his thigh and clenched briefly into a fist. "The truck last night," he said tersely. "Now your apartment. What's going on, Lara?"
    Those burdened eyes. What would he do, she wondered dimly, if she offered him her own burden? Would his desire for her force him to share it? Or would her troubles quite effectively provide the no he had wanted her to