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“Have you dated much?” Jasmine asked Stasio, throwing him off balance as they reached the sandy beach.
“No. You?”
“No. It’s kind of hard when you’re independently wealthy. If I were in school, I might meet more guys my age. You’re not in school either, I take it,” Jasmine said.
“No. How boring would that be?”
She smiled and took his hand and strolled along the beach with him. “It’s beautiful here. I would like to watch the sunset on the water. Wouldn’t you?”
“I have, but of course in the company of a beautiful woman, it would be even more spectacular.”
“I should have known you were like me. You’re way too cultured to be someone from this day and age.”
“I keep up with the changes.” Though Stasio did tend to long for the past.
“Caitlin’s had blood and feeling much better. She’s coming down to dinner. You can tell your girlfriend that Caitlin’s fine,”Levka communicated to Stasio.
“Will do. And quit calling her my girlfriend. She’s an assassin,”Stasio said back. He was trying not to be annoyed about it, because if she had been just a vampiress, he would have truly liked having her as his girlfriend. But she was bad news.
* * *
Jasmine really liked Stasio.She knew nothing could come of their relationship, not with the kind of job she had. But for the time being she enjoyed his company. She wondered what was up with Caitlin though. At first, she thought maybe she was newly turned, but when Stasio was agreeable to Jasmine seeing her to determine what was wrong, she dismissed the notion. Still, it nagged at her.
Then Jasmine saw Pierre Rivers, one of the best assassins for his youthful age. He was seventeen, like her, in human years. He’d already stolen five of her jobs from her, assassinating the rogue vampires before she had a chance to. She was certain if he was here, it wasn’t for rest and recreation. She didn’t think he ever took a break from the job, he was so determined to eliminate the rogues who would make a bad name for them. An admirable trait, if he was going after hisowntargets andnothers!
Since he was here, she assumed he had to be assigned a rogue to kill and she was certain it had to be the one she was supposed to take out. She wanted to bite him! Had he seen her? If he had, he would take out Gareth before she could safely do so tonight.
Pierre had that going for him. He lived on the edge; any daring missions would do. If he wasn’t an assassin, he would have been the perfect rogue. At this rate, she would pay those who commissioned her to takehimdown. He glanced in her direction, as if he’d suddenly realized someone was watching him and she quickly pulled Stasio in for a kiss.
She was surprised at how he responded. Not shocked, not offended, but eager to kiss her back. Their lips pressed together, and for a few minutes, she was so enthralled with the way Stasio was kissing her, she almost forgot about the threat down the beach.
When they finally broke free of the kiss to catch their breaths, he smiled wickedly at her. “Trying to ditch an old boyfriend that just showed up?”
She was surprised he would know what she was up to, yet he’d played along so perfectly, she’d wondered if he was an assassin again too.
What if he was after her prey also?
She wanted to groan out loud. She knew she shouldn’t ask the question, but what if he was an assassin and he wouldn’t mind teaming up with her? Then they could split the proceeds of the job and beat Pierre out of the mission. She would rather have only half the contract fee than lose it all to Pierre. Or Stasio and his friends either.
“Are you an assassin?” she asked.
He smiled. “You have nothing to worry about as far as it concerns me.”
She knew it wasn’t a good idea to let on that she was an assassin, in the event he was a rogue. But she really thought they could work together, and she really did like him. “Unless you’re after Gareth.”
His smile slipped a little. She knew it. He was contracted to take out Gareth.
“Well, we have a problem. Pierre Rivers is here too, and unless I’m mistaken, he’s here to eliminate my target. Yours too, if you’re after Gareth also. I propose that you and I work together to take him down and split the commission. Pierre has cost me five jobs already and I don’t want to lose another one to him. Unless…your friends are assassins too and you don’t need me.”
“They’re just here on vacation. They’re part of my cover, in truth,” Stasio said. “I would love to work with you.”
“Good. We can discuss plans later, but I’m thinking tonight when Gareth returns to his room, we’ll take him out then.”
“What about Pierre?”
“He’s a wild card. He always does the unexpected. That’s how he has stolen my cases in the past. He’ll hit a vampire in broad daylight even. I don’t know how he does it, without someone thinking he’s a rogue and putting out a contract on him.”
“Some assassins are borderline rogues, or full-fledged rogues with permission to kill others like them.”
