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A tremor went over her. Her mouth softened, clung to mine.
Triumph shafted through me. “You still want me.”
Her throat worked. “Yes. No.”
I kissed her again, hot and slow. “Which is it?”
Her chest heaved. She set a hand on my tux and pulled back to meet my eyes. “So that’s the deal? I help you, and in return, I get your gorgeous body?” She tried to sneer but couldn’t quite pull it off.
“Is it working?”
“No.” But her hand stayed on my chest.
I nibbled her earlobe. “I’m only asking you to do a little investigating. Zaq might not have much time left.”
She shook her head and tried to push away, but I tightened my grip. “Please, Zoe.”
“Let me go,” she said wearily.
I growled and lifted my head. My hunger was rising again, and my edginess had returned in full force.
“You owe me,” I gritted. “I trusted you, and you left me to get worked over by those bastards.”
Her mask cracked. “The hell I do. What about you? I know why you pretended to be so interested in me. Karoly sent you instead of your brother Gabriel for a reason. Get Zoe hot and bothered so you could stick it to us in the negotiations.”
I reared back. “What the fuck are you talking about? I was interested in you because you’reyou.”
“I saw the texts, Rafe. The one you sent Karoly.I’ve got her so hot for me, she can’t think straight.”Her voice faltered. “Victorine said you were going to blackmail her into sweetening the deal.”
“What texts?”
“The ones you sent your father—on your own phone.”
“Who showed you, Étan? The prick took my phone before they worked me over. He could’ve had a tech hack into it and add whatever he wanted..”
Her neck muscles tensed beneath my hand.
I swore. “Itwashim, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed it.” I shook my head and moved away. “I didn’t tell my father a fucking thing about us. You think I wanted him to know? That casino was my chance to prove myself. I knew damn well I was risking the joint venture by meeting you in secret like that.”
“Maybe you thought having sex with me would make things easier for you.”
“Like hell. You sure didn’t seem like a woman who’d let sex get between her and business. And I definitely wasn’t planning on blackmailing you—or Victorine, for that matter.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I didn’t send those texts.Is it so hard to believe I wanted you for yourself?”
“But Victorine said—”
I growled. “I know she’s your mom, but this is Victorine, right? The woman who made sure you were never alone with me, because the gods forbid a dhampir touch her precious pureblood daughter? Whatever she told you about me was a lie. What happened between you and me had nothing to do with the joint venture—that was business. What happened between us was personal.”
Zoe’s brows scrunched together. Vampires can’t read each other’s emotions like we can a human’s. She had no way to tell if I was telling the truth, or vice versa.
Indecision flickered across her face. “But—”
