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Angel stopped breathing and then coughed lightly, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “Ugh, fine. Go to sleep.”

As she turned in the bed, I felt her move away from me. My arm caught her and pulled her into me, and she didn’t protest as I spooned her. I didn’t expect to fall asleep as quickly as I did, and I slept soundly.

In the morning, I woke before she did, and I watched her sleep for a moment before I got out of bed. Walking to my room, I glanced down the stairs out of habit and stopped when I saw the sensor light blinking. Descending the stairs, I looked at the panel and then around the downstairs. Going down to the basement, I checked the pool and the gym area. Back in front of the control panel, I picked up my tablet from where I’d left it last night and checked my system.

Moving through the house, I ended up standing in the utility room, staring at the slightly open window.

Not happening. Not in my house. Closing it forcibly, I saw the feed on my tablet never changed.

Motherfucker.

Back at the main entrance, I opened the door, and the system went off. Satisfied, I went to close it when something caught my eye, and instead, I opened the door wider. Red paint was thrown over the front of my house and drive.

I heard Angel come running down the stairs, and she stopped at the door. “Onyx?”

Staring at the paint, I slowly lifted my head and looked around at the gardens and driveway. He was still here; I wassure that he was. You didn’t do this and not stick around for the reaction.

“Onyx?” Angel spoke again. “It’s him?”

“Yes,” I said as I turned to her, and she stepped back from me, back from whatever she saw on my face.

“Are you okay?”

“Go back upstairs and get ready for work,” I told her as I came back inside and closed the door. The alarms stopped screeching, and I used my tablet to alert my security company that emergency services didn’t need to attend.

Checking over my entire system, I stood in front of the control panel, and when I was sure that I’d missed nothing, I pressed the sensor on the panel that had warned of a breach.

The system on my tablet rebooted.

“Ha.” I smiled as I watched the virus spread, and then I watched as my second layer of security shut it down.

Jogging up the stairs to my bedroom, I grabbed my phone.

“Charlie, go to Cooper’s, wake him up with coffee and plenty of sugar. House had a breach,” I told him. “I know what time it is, but the fucker made a move on my house and covered my drive and side of my house with red paint.” I put the phone on speaker.

“Like he threw at the vampire’s car?”

“Yes.”

“Seems like a waste of paint,” Charlie yawned, but I could hear him moving about.

“Get Coop, then come here.”

Angel appeared in my doorway, still in her PJs, her eyes wide.

“So I take it, it’s now personal?” Charlie asked me.

Looking at her, I saw her fear of what was happening, but she looked angry as well, and I liked that about her. Angel was a fighter, and she was as pissed as I was.

“It was always personal,” I told him as I hung up.