“You know exactly what I mean.” Javan sighed and leaned back against his desk. His gaze was direct, unflinching. “A trade, yes?”
Naomi was back to feeling like she was going to throw up. This wasn’t going at all as she had hoped. And she was with him alone. If he did kill her sister, she was in major trouble.
If? If!
He killed her sister. It had to be him. There was no one else to link to Becky. Javan had enough money and connections to make a little murder indictment go away easily.
“You think you can convince me to leave the picture?” Naomi lifted her chin for good measure. She wanted him to think she was as confident as he was.
She just hoped he couldn’t see how her knees were knocking together.
Javan was no longer smiling. He looked...sad. “Take the photograph, Naomi. No one will stop you. But I will have your explanation before you do.”
“You would force me?”
“No. You want to say it anyway. I’m giving you the chance.”
There’s no way he could possibly know. She had been so careful. “I wanted to use your connections to further my career.”
“Every artist who submits work to us wants that.” He inhaled deeply and slowly released it. “Give me the courtesy of the truth. I think you owe me that much.”
“Fine. You want the truth?” she asked as she glared at him. “I’m here because you killed my sister. I’m going to prove you murdered her, and I won’t rest until you’re behind bars.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Javan had sensed the fire within Naomi. She held nothing back as she stated her words in a clear voice, advancing on him as she did. She was a warrior and didn’t even know it.
How he wanted to yank her against his chest and take her lips savagely.
An image of him doing exactly that flashed in his mind. His body burned to feel her against him, to know the softness of her skin. To touch every inch of her.
He’d fed from a human with sex two nights ago. It should last him several more days, but his body felt as if he hadn’t fed in weeks.
“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?” Naomi demanded.
“I was questioned by the police, and then promptly cleared. I only knew Rebecca from interviewing her for inclusion in the exhibit.”
“You met with her six times.”
Javan saw the anger, the hurt, and the grief in Naomi’s blue eyes. She was shaking from her fury, and he wondered how she had held it all in before.
“I did. As I’m sure you know, she was accepted into the exhibit. She was the first artist we admitted. I liked her work so much that I was meeting with her to create a sculpture for my family for the anniversary of my father’s death.”
Her head cocked to the side, a lock of golden blond hair falling over her shoulder. “What?”
“That was the extent of my involvement with Rebecca. She was a lovely person. Kind, compassionate. It showed in her art.”
“I know,” Naomi said in a soft voice, all the steam gone from her words.
Javan watched her carefully. “I wasn’t in the country when Rebecca died. I was at a meeting in London to acquire a piece of artwork from a private seller.”
“It has to be you. There’s no one else.” Naomi’s eyes slid shut and she shook her head as if she couldn’t grasp what was happening.
Javan pushed away from the desk and went to her. Before he thought better of it, he gently turned her to guide her to the couch. Once she sat, he poured her a finger of bourbon and put the glass in her hand. “Drink,” he ordered.
As she took a tentative sip, Javan walked to his desk and opened the top left drawer. He took out the file he had given the police with all the documentation to prove where he had been.
Javan set it on the coffee table and opened it. Then he took the seat across from Naomi as she thumbed through the papers.
After a moment she dropped her head. “You were all I had.”
“Let me help you find the killer.”
Javan didn’t know why he offered. There were all kinds of turmoil happening in his world, but he had no choice but to help Naomi. He wouldn’t be able to focus until she had her answers.
Blue eyes the color of the ocean out his window met his. “Why?”
“Because there’s something about you. I saw it in your work, which pulled me in. But you...you, Naomi. I’m drawn to you without thought or reason.”
She didn’t say a word, merely looked at him as if she wasn’t sure what to make of his statement. Javan knew he could’ve been more suave about it all, but the words had come out of him in a rush.
He rose and walked to the windows to look out. It was either that or reach across the table and pull her into his lap. Javan was fairly certain Naomi wouldn’t have appreciated that.
“How did you find out about me?” she asked.
“Elijah is very thorough.”
The sound of her setting the glass on the table reached him. “I know what kind of killer we’re looking for.”
“Do you?”
He could see her reflection in the glass. She was debating on whether to say anything more.