AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Blowing out a breath, I tried to focus on anything else. “Is th-that what—w-was she attacked by one of the poisoned vampires?” I stammered as his face swam in front of mine.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, shoving the folder into a stack of papers. “I didn’t want you to see that.”
“Who was it?”
He tucked the stack of paperwork into his laptop case. “A blood surrogate named Katie Rigsby. She was the first attacked. I don’t believe the culprit had the dosage quite right yet. You can see the hesitation marks in the bite wounds. The vampire in question didn’t want to do this, tried to stop. But eventually gave in.”
I glanced away, wiping at my cheeks. “Wait, Katie Rigsby? I knew her, in passing. I saw her at the Council office once or twice. She was a nice girl, one of those naturally sunny personalities. Wait, Katie died in a car accident last spring. The newspaper said she fell asleep at the wheel, driving home from a party. I took a potato casserole to her mother at the visitation!”
Cal nodded. “After documenting her condition, the Council’s ‘public relations committee,’ led by Mr. Crown, made it appear as though Ms. Rigsby died in a car accident. This is what they do to cover up a problem within the vampire community. You should know as much as anyone that vampires can be brutal and cruel.”
“But you’re not that way,” I insisted. “You could have hurt me, several times, but you haven’t even tried.”
“I can be just as bad as any of them, Iris. I’ve killed people, many people over the years. The young, the old, the rich, the poor, sinner and saint. That’s who I am, Iris. Whatever emotional attachment you may be forming to me, it should stop now. It’s not good for you, and it will mean nothing to me if it keeps me from getting what I want.”
I straightened, shrinking back from him, the taste of chocolate turning bitter in my mouth. So, that’s how it was. Clearly, my help didn’t mean anything to him. The rapport I thought we’d established, the time we spent together, didn’t even make us friends. I was, apparently, cannon fodder, destined to be used as a human shield if Cal was in danger. Mortification flushed through me, warm and watery. I’d become so lonely that I looked to an uninterested vampire for friendship. How sad was that?
I cleared my throat, clenching my teeth against the tremble in my voice. I steadied my hands against the counter, shying out of his grasp. “Don’t let Gigi see that, OK? Keep the files somewhere she won’t be able to find them.”
“I will,” he said, pulling back at my clipped, businesslike tone. “I’m afraid I’m going to need further assistance from you.”
“How do you mean?”
“I don’t have all of the information I need here. I grabbed what I could on the way out the door. I need you to go to my house later today and pick up some of my files.”
I frowned. “I’ve got a full day scheduled already. I’ve got to make up for the time I’ve already missed at work.”
He leveled his gaze at me. I swear, the only thing that could have made his stance closer to my secret naughty boss fantasies was a loosened necktie and collar. I shook my head, hoping to rid my traitorous brain of those useless sentiments. “I think I am paying you enough that I can comfortably command your attention for a week. Whether that attention is at home or in more remote locations.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but references like that make me sound … less than virtuous.”
“Few prostitutes are paid twenty-five thousand dollars a week for their services,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Clearly, you’ve never been to Vegas,” I retorted. He shot me a withering glance, which I blithely ignored. “Why can’t you just go yourself?”
“Because I prefer not to burst into flames?” he retorted archly. “The house is probably being watched, and I don’t want anyone to see me. If you’re seen going in, you can explain it away, say you lost something at the house while you were dropping off the contracts and needed to retrieve it.”
“I don’t like it,” I grumbled.
“I don’t, either. If there was any other way, I would suggest it.”
We stared at each other, stalemated. It wasn’t a terribly unreasonable request, really, unless the house was being watched and I ended up in vampire jail. And refusing could mean mucking up Cal’s investigation and stretching his stay at my house past a week. While he hadn’t exactly been a nightmare guest, I wanted him gone. I wanted my quiet, predictable, pre-Cal life back, with schedules, routines, and a lack of confusing sexual tension. I wanted to be the normal, non-risk-taking non-vomit-target I once was.
I blew a breath, ruffling a hank of curly hair that had fallen in my eyes. “How much longer do you have until you have to go to sleep for the day?”
He closed his eyes, as if checking some internal gauge. “About twenty minutes before I start to feel fatigued. At full strength, I’m a bit better at staying up during the day than I used to be. It takes age and practice. And for some of the young ones, large amounts of caffeine. But honestly, unless it’s a dire emergency, there’s no real point.”
“I’ll go by the house in the afternoon, when you’ve had some time to rest. I’m going to talk to you on my phone the entire time, so if I have trouble finding your files, you can help me look … and so I don’t get home only to have you tell me you just remembered that you want your bunny slippers. Will you actually wake up, or will you pull the typical male ‘oh, babe, I guess I didn’t hear it ring’ thing?” I asked, frowning at him.
“I take it Booty Call Paul is a heavy sleeper?” he asked, smirking at me. It was nice to see him smiling from simple mirth. Of course, it was mirth at my expense, but I was willing to let that go for now.
“There’s blood in the fridge, and my numbers are on a list by the phone. I’ll be back before you wake up tonight,” I told him. “I’ll call you when I get to your house.”
The corner of his mouth lifted, revealing the barest hint of a dimple on his cheek. “Try not to trip over any of your clients today.”
“I’ll do my best,” I muttered as I walked out the back door.
—
