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The dhampirs nodded agreement, and I was pretty sure they weren’t just sucking up for my benefit. They’d seemed genuinely shocked to hear that Gabriel Kral had ever been less than perfect.
Lougenia’s helper appeared then, and the conversation moved to other things as she cleared away our dinner plates and brought out dessert. Vanilla ice cream—and a plate of ginger snaps still warm from the oven.
My lungs seized.
Lougenia beamed and offered me the cookies. “I baked these especially for you. M’sieur Gabriel’s orders. He said they’re your favorites.”
“Thank you,” I said over the boulder-sized lump in my throat. “They are.”
I helped myself to one. It was so good, sweet with a spicy bite. But I could hardly swallow it down.
“You like them?” she asked.
“Oh, yes.” I managed to smile at her. “They’re so good.”
“Have some more.” She set the plate before me. “And how about some ice cream?”
I’d lost my appetite, but I couldn’t say no. She was so pleased with herself. So I ate a couple more, along with a scoop of ice cream.
But I got back to my bedroom, I sank on the bed and dropped my head into my hands.
Picturing that quiet, controlled boy who took punishments for his younger brothers. And the man he’d grown up to be, the man with an enforcer’s tattoo and dangerous eyes. The made man who suspected me of being a spy, yet still remembered to order my favorite dessert.
An acid guilt ate at my stomach.
Oh, Gabriel. What have I done?
14
Gabriel
Tomas Mraz rapped once on my office door then entered without waiting for an invitation. “That woman must go.” For once, his smile was nowhere to be seen.
I’d gone straight to my office at the Syndicate’s headquarters—one floor up from my father’s—and plowed through the work waiting for me. The lieutenant had appeared just after I’d sent my personal assistant home, having finished the most pressing business.
I didn’t bother to ask who Tomas meant. By now, every member of the Syndicate would’ve heard that Karoly Kral’s eldest son and heir had formed a blood bond with a human.
I rose to my feet. “The hell she does.”
The big blond vampire faced me from across the desk, hazel eyes flat. “Then you are the ass,” he said in his Slovak-tinged English. “Do you think she comes back because she loves you? And how is it that she knows you are at the Ruby—have you asked yourself that?”
“Of course. That’s why I’m keeping her close. Send her away, and she’ll only disappear again. This way, I can find out who she’s working for.”
That made Tomas pause, but only for a moment. “Then you know you must eliminate her,” he said in his blunt way. “This woman, we all know she got under your skin.”
I stared at him, uncomprehending. Then my heart jolted.
Kill Mila? No fucking way.
My vampire rose up, enraged, but when I spoke, my voice was as cold and hard as his. “That was three years ago. I’m smarter now. She’s going to have to prove herself to me. And you of all people should know I’m not that easy to kill.” Hell, the man had helped train me himself.
“I don’t trust her,” Tomas said stubbornly. “She was in Ohio a week ago, and suddenly she appears in New York. We don’t even know where she has been the last few days. All I can find out is that a taxi let her out near the Ruby, and she came straight to the entrance like she knew you’d be there.”
My jaw tightened. He was right—this didn’t add up. But I’d take Mila and run before I’d let anyone harm her.
“Mila accepted my blood bond. She’s mine now, understand? If anyone touches her—anyone at all—I’ll show them no fucking mercy. I will send them to the final grave myself.”
“Karoly won’t be happy.”
