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“Nothing. She’s free to go. You can take her. I’ll pay you whatever you want, and you can start a life together. How would you like that?”
“I don’t need your dirty money.”
It occurred to me he probably knew why I’d agreed to work for Lockwood. He knew I wasn’t in a great financial situation. What he didn’t know was that I was done letting that control me, dictate what my values were.
“Something else, then,” he said. “What do you want?”
I growled at him.
“Do you want to be the head of the MSA branch here in the city? I can do that for you. Easily. Just say the word.”
He had everyone in his pocket, didn’t he? My boss, too. Did that mean Lockwood had had the same influence?
“Stop talking bullshit and tell me what I want to know,” I said. “What were you going to do with Maya?”
He let out a sigh and let his head hit the pavement. I crouched over him, grabbed him by his tailored shirt, and pulled him to a standing position.
“Now, Harlow.”
“Her blood is valuable. Coming across people like her is rare. Not a vampire, not a dhampir, but just enough healing properties in her blood that it can cure the most horrible diseases. Temporarily. Of course, for a permanent solution, pure vampire blood is recommended, but that comes with giving up one’s humanity and mortality. I hear being immortal is not as romantic as many of us might think.”
“So?”
“I was going to sell her on the black market.”
“Is this what you did to Lockwood’s other victims?”
“Just the last two before Maya. The others, he got rid of them himself. He either couldn’t control them and had to cut his losses, or they found a way to... well... off themselves. That basement of his is not exactly a luxury hotel room. I told him he should keep them in better conditions, but he wanted to hide them from his mother. That woman was his undoing. He was obsessed with keeping her alive and keeping her human. I couldn’t relate. I never knew my mother. Had it not been for Victoria, Vincent would’ve joined me in this business and made tons of money. Real money.”
“So, you were friends, you worked together, and you betrayed him.”
“We met in college, yes. I didn’t lie about that. He wanted to find a cure for his mother’s cancer, and we started the project together. It was trial and error for a long time, but then we got it right. The only problem was that we needed an endless supply of fresh blood. The right blood. I had a stronger stomach than him, at least in the beginning. After that, he surpassed me and became capable of pretty gruesome things. I brought our first victim. It was a boy. We kept working together for a while, but at some point, it wasn’t as satisfying to me. We were doing all this work to help his mother when there were so many others who needed help. We had what they needed, and they had money. It was a fair exchange. Vincent refused to get into the business, so I left. But it was hard to find people with the right type of blood. Too much work. At some point, I figured it was easier to let Vincent find them, and when he wasn’t on his guard, swoop in and grab them.”
“I knew it,” I said. “He hired me to protect Maya from you.”
“And what a great job you’re doing.”
He grinned, and I knew he was going to negotiate with me again. This guy never gave up.
“I will never touch her again, I promise,” he said. “When I saw her with you at your brother’s house, I should’ve known this would never work. I was blinded by greed. I have a buyer in Europe, and Vincent took his sweet time finding Maya after the last one. I understand I was wrong, and my greed and rush to satisfy my buyer got me in this mess.”
“You talk a lot, did you know that?”
“Well, you asked me to talk.” He spread his arms wide, as if to show that he was just being cooperative. “I can give you money, and I can make you head of the MSA branch. You would be set for life.”
“No, I’m good.” He blanched, and I took a moment to delight in it. “Who else knows about Maya?”
He shook his head. “No one.”
“Why would I believe you?”
“It’s the truth. Vincent did all the research on her. I didn’t even see her file. He has files on all his victims. But I don’t care for the details, I just want the blood.”
I nodded. I hoped he was telling the truth, but there was no way to know for sure, and I would have to live with it. It just meant I would have to protect my mate twenty-four-seven. I could do that. It was an honor for me to act as her personal bodyguard.
I let my fire burn bright again.
Harlow’s eyes widened. As I stood over him, his whole body seemed to be aglow.
