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“You know, that tone doesn’t work with him,” Cassidy offered. In fact, Jackson already turned irritated colors.
“I’m not talking to you. As my fiancé, he owes me an explanation.” Avery waved her hand toward Cassidy, making it impossible to miss the enormous pink diamond rock on her finger, the Striker family engagement ring. One of Dominique’s memories was of him spying on Jackson and this woman only last week—on their first date.
Cassidy exhaled sharply. “Wow, you move fast.”
“And you’re too late. Jackson? What’s going on here?”
Cassidy spoke first. “Is this your uncle’s idea of an ‘acceptable bride for the heir?’” That had been only one of many of Garrett Striker’s objections to Cassidy.
“Cass—”
“Oh, please. Like he could marry someone as common as you.”
“Avery, stop. Right now,” Jackson said, holding up a warning finger. “Cassidy and I are still friends. She needed advice about an investment she wants to make. It’s time-sensitive, so we’re meeting on short notice. I’m sorry if I didn’t have time to clarify that earlier.”
Cassidy stared at him. She knew the man could lie, but this was a whole new level of instant spin. “Now that’s terrifying.”
The look he gave her could have split logs.
“Oh, an investment, is it? What in?” Avery was having none of it. Smart girl.
Cassidy collected her bag and scooted out of the booth. “A relationship,” she said. “He’s helping me save a most uncommon relationship. Aren’t you, babe?”
He looked like a bomb fuse in want of a flame.
“Well, I’ll leave you two class acts to it then. But Jackson, this one’s sharp. You’ll need to be careful with your cloak and dagger work around her.”
“Excuse me?” Avery said.
“Oh, didn’t he tell you? Working at Striker Capital is only his day job. At night…he kills vampires.”
Cassidy took a moment to relish the stunned silence from the booth and the startled recognition on Avery’s flawless face. It’s what Dominique had whispered in this woman’s ear, forcing Jackson to gaslight her into doubting her own mind.
When Avery’s expression turned from shock to doubt, Cassidy dismissed the comment with a small wave. “Sorry. Private joke. But just between us girls?” She lowered her voice into the realm of conspiracy. “Don’t trust him. Not for a second.”
“Just between us girls? You’ve outstayed your welcome.”
With a shrug, Cassidy brushed past her. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She had walked three paces when an idea struck her. Spinning round on a boot heel, she snapped her fingers. “Oh, Jackson, before I forget. You should check out Club Bijou down on Clematis and talk to the owner. She’s only available after dark, though. FYI.”
15
Hidden Things
Before Dominique swung onto his bike, swords slung across his back, he and Cassidy lingered over a kiss. It was the first time he had touched her in a week and a half. By unhappy mutual agreement, he kept his distance while there was any risk of Bijou turning him against her again.
A week had passed before his nemesis summoned him. He resisted the silent command for several nights more, using the time to drink all the surreptitious blood he could catch and sharpening his powers of concentration by practicing kata and meditation.
As Bijou’s influence over him diminished, her impatience only intensified. Denying her much longer risked her showing up at his door again, which is where Dominique drew the line. He refused to be cornered in his lair and put Cassidy—and, yes, even Samantha—in any more danger than they already were.
We should run.
With their link, too, fading, he heard Cassidy’s thoughts as though through a fog. Touched by how confidently she included herself in that plot, Dominique deepened the kiss until she melted in his arms. For him, she would run with him, hide with him, leave her newly stable life for that of a hunted animal.
But this he could not ask of her.
Bijou is not my sire, mon amour. She is a threat I have to face and defeat, and I have to do it tonight.
