Authors: Lina Gardiner
Regent smiled at Britt and the old priest's eyes watered.
The fact that these men had joined forces to figure out what was going on made her heart swell. But, as much as she wanted them to be right, she couldn't discount the fact that she was also capable of killing. Her blackouts were very worrisome. And, as much as they professed their belief in her, they had to know the possibilities of her being the murderer.
She rubbed her arm, and for the first time was really grateful the tracking chip was embedding inside her. At least if she wandered off in a stupor again, she shouldn't be able to disappear for long before Britt found her.
While Jess took sustenance in her room, she sent Britt back to his apartment to change into appropriate evening attire.
Half an hour later she let herself into his apartment via the balcony. She heard the shower running and could smell the fresh scent of his body, and the soap he used. Trying to distract herself from the thought of him naked, soap-covered and dripping with steaming hot water, she scanned his meager belongings. The place was tiny. His furniture old and worn. Why hadn't he upgraded now that he was making a good wage?
His stake lay on the table inside the specially designed shoulder holster. Her insides tightened and her hand went to her own blade forged in the shape of a cross with rubies encrusted in the hilt. It had been a gift from Sampson many years ago. He'd made it in the shape of the cross to scare the other vampires. Remind them that she had abilities they didn't have and couldn't get. She alone could go into a Church, hold a cross, and walk in the sunlight given the right preparation. Even James had limited abilities compared to her.
Her blade had become something of a security blanket for her. She'd felt naked when it was missing. Taken by someone with ulterior motives. Someone who seemed to know her insecurities far too well.
"Ready?"
She spun around to find Britt watching her from his bedroom.
She'd had no idea he was there. Great. She'd have to work with diminished abilities again tonight. If she told him she wasn't functioning fully, he'd probably try to back out for tonight. That wasn't an option.
Looking at his freshly shaved face, and clean hair, she inhaled and tried to figure out how much she could smell. Not enough. Not nearly enough.
Britt opened the apartment door and glanced back at her. “Ready?"
"Let's get this thing figured out,” she said ignoring how handsome he looked in his Tuxedo, she stepped past him into the hall. They walked to the unmarked car in silence.
Britt parked the car and looked at Jess. “How do we get inside? Isn't this place invitation only?"
Jess held up a shiny business card. “This is our passport inside. A necessary commodity in order to be allowed past the doormen."
She got out of the vehicle and made for the main entrance. Britt followed. He'd been floored by Jess's attire when she'd arrived at his apartment. Still was, in fact, floored and practically drooling. She wore a full length, low cut red silk gown that made his blood pressure spike every time he looked at her. He was more than a little overcome by her body in that dress—and he'd seen her naked! This dress hiked his need to see her naked again. And soon.
And, hell, he had to take his mind off her and focus on their job. She wore that dress tonight for a reason. She was on the hunt, and she'd made herself the prey.
As she moved through the room in front of him, all he could see was that luscious rump being caressed by silk, and Lord Almighty, he'd stake his next paycheck she had nothing on underneath.
The thought surfaced that he was a professional, and he needed to take his eyes off the bountiful pleasure in front of him. His gaze swept the room. Too many of the male patrons were staring at Jess as if they'd never seen a beautiful woman in their life. His anger spiked and he wanted to punch out the lot.
"You're being ogled, and I don't like it,” he admitted through gritted teeth.
She let her gaze slide over him. “Good. I had hoped to find some way to cause a distraction."
"Woman,” he groaned. “How could you not know what your body would do to any red-blooded male in the place?"
She looked him over as though admiring his physique in his newly rented tux. “And yet, I only have eyes for you."
Heat flushed up his collar and he wanted to curse again. “It's cruel to say that to me in a place where I can't touch you, Jess, and you know it. I didn't know you were such a tease. Now, if you said that when we weren't in the middle of a job, you'd be in deep trouble, because I wouldn't let you get away with it."
"Oooh, I'm scared,” she joked, then became more serious. “Just remember, I'm a blood sucker, Britt. Teasing isn't outside the parameters of hunting and luring food. I'll do whatever I need to for the ultimate goal."
He blew out a breath and whispered, “It always comes back to this, doesn't it? Well, my gorgeous vampire vixen, let me tell you, that outfit on you tonight has absolutely clinched it. You're
never
going to get rid of me."
"For God's sake. You've seen me completely naked, yet this outfit can drive you this wild?"
He stared at her, his eyes burning. “Yeah, it can."
Her head snapped away from him. “We'll talk about your weaknesses later. Drago just arrived."
As hoped, Drago spotted her right away. He instantly left the man he'd been talking to, apparently in mid-sentence. He, too, only had eyes for Jess.
"Seems like it's working on Drago, as well,” she said under her breath to Britt.
"Lovely, just frigging lovely,” he grunted. “What do you want me to do? Act jealous."
Jess glanced at him sideways and allowed a playful, sexy smile to cross her flawless features. She tipped her chin up to him slightly, as if she held him in her complete control. “No. Why don't you pretend you're not jealous and you'll loan me out to the highest bidder?"
He raised his eyebrows and felt his mouth stretch into a thin line. He swallowed and nodded, with disgust blazing behind his irises he stepped back to give Drago full view of the most amazing woman in the room.
Jess tried not to think about what she'd said to Britt. She'd used him to get the reaction she needed Drago to see. It was unscrupulous. Something one would expect a heartless vampire to do.
"Jess, I'm pleasantly surprised to see you here tonight,” Drago took her hand, kissing the back of it before shooting a quick acknowledgement to Britt. “What brings you out on this fine moonlit evening?"
"Why, your wonderful invitation, of course. I had work to attend to last night and wasn't able to come. I was so disappointed that I insisted that Britt and I come here tonight."
Drago's eyes watched her mouth. She had the impression he was mesmerized by every nuance of her body. In fact, he was still clinging to her hand, rubbing his fingers across the back of her hand.
She extricated her fingers slowly from his.
"Please, I have a table in the corner. You must join me for dinner,” Drago said.
"Thanks, we've already eaten. We will have a drink with you though."
"Dessert then?"
"Sounds great,” Britt said. Jess shot him daggers. Had he forgotten that she couldn't eat?
They followed Drago to a private booth near the back. Talk about luxury dining. The cutlery was gold, the napkins gold lined, and the crystal sparkled like diamonds.
Jess paused before they sat down. Looked around the room. She sensed a vampire nearby, but she didn't see one. With her impaired senses acting up, maybe the vampire was still here for all she knew..
Now that it was evident that Drago knew about vampires, she suspected he knew about her, too, hence the attempt to offer her food to see how she'd get out of it.
He snapped his fingers and two waiters appeared.
"I'll just have a glass of dry, red wine, please,” Jess said.
Drago touched her hand on the table, and smiled at her. And our best double delicious chocolate cheesecake."
"No, really. I'm not hungry."
He tented his fingers in front of his face. “Please. At least allow me to show you how delicious our desserts can be."
Jess shrugged.
"I'll have the same thing,” Britt said when it was his turn.
Drago ordered red wine for himself. Jess frowned and watched him a little more closely. Could he be a vampire and she couldn't sense it? Her abilities were screwed up. “Aren't you having cheesecake?"
He patted his mid-section. “Already had a piece today. We have a world renowned chef. And believe me when I tell you the cheesecake is divine. It's also laden with calories that I can't afford to overindulge on now that I'm getting older."
"My goodness, you're not old enough to have to worry about a thing like that."
He smiled, but ignored her request to eat with them.
The food arrived, Jess took a sip of her wine, and Britt tasted the cheesecake.
"I'm curious, Mr. Vaslov, why did you invite me here, again?” If she didn't ask questions like that, Vaslov would probably be suspicious.
He looked uncomfortable for a moment. “That's why I was hoping we could talk ... privately."
Jess feigned ignorance until Vaslov's gaze jerked toward Britt. Britt's jaw tightened.
"I have no secrets from Lt. Brittain. Anything you want to say can be said in front of him.” She reached over and touched his fingers in a gesture that would be considered too intimate between a Captain and her Lieutenant, then she let her hand slide back across the table.
"Actually, I wanted to pick your brain,” Vaslov leaned back in his chair, and unbuttoned his suit jacket, revealing a designer shirt. Vaslov liked expensive things.
"Really? Why me?"
"As you can imagine, I have to hire specialized security to protect my...” He hesitated. “...assets."
Jess's gaze flickered to Britt and back to Vaslov. “I'm not sure how I could help you with that."
"I cater to a varied clientele. They need to know their privacy is completely safe."
"I'm a police officer, I don't do that type of security. I'm afraid I can't help you."
Vaslov leaned back. His eyes boring into hers. “Really? I must have been misinformed. I was told you knew all about the city's underworld."
Britt stopped chewing and his gaze burned a hole into Vaslov. Jess could hear him swallow his mouthful of cheesecake in one gulp.
"May I ask who told you that?” She tipped her head and tried her damnedest to look curious, as opposed to pissed off.
"I actually didn't find out his name. He was with one of my more affluent clients. One doesn't ask too many questions in a situation like that. Since he was adamant that you were the officer who could tell me how to handle my more difficult problems, I had every reason to believe him."
Jess hesitated. Perhaps it had been the vampire she'd sensed earlier? Maybe she should pretend that she worked off-the-books. “Well, sometimes, I do take a case on the side.” She kicked Britt under the table when he started to speak. “But only in very special circumstances."
"Good.” Drago smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. “This is my lucky day, it seems."
"Jess. I don't think we have time for this one. We've got a full case load right now,” Britt ground out, giving her an urgent stare.
"But it's not everyday someone like Drago Vaslov asks for our help. How can we say no?"
Drago frowned. “You two work on these cases together?"
"Umm hmmmm,” Britt said. There was an edge in his voice that he didn't bother to hide and his eyes narrowed. Testosterone rent the air. He didn't like the way Drago looked at her and, apparently, he wasn't about to hide those feelings from Drago.
Jess outwardly heaved an impatient sigh, but inside she was thrilled. Whether it was instinctual or planned, she'd counted on Britt's possessive reaction to make Drago believe they were on the level.
Drago smiled. “Not a problem. It's just that I heard Jess worked alone."
"Not any more. We're a team,” Britt said.
"Really?” Drago looked at Jess as if he didn't believe Britt.
"What the man says.” She shrugged and smiled. “If you'd rather not hire the two of us, I'm fine with that."
Drago looked instantly relieved. “You'll take the case yourself?"
"No. But I'll try to find someone else who can help you out. But first you'll have to tell me what your problem is precisely."
Drago looked very irritated at that comment. “No. That's fine. If you two must work together, then that's the way it'll have to be. I don't have time to fill you in on the details tonight since I have a pressing issue I have to attend to. Maybe tomorrow?"
Britt stood and shoved his chair back loudly. Then he picked up his napkin, wiped his mouth and threw it onto the table. “Tomorrow is better for us too. We have other matters to look after tonight, as well."
Jess followed Britt's lead. She stood and held out a hand to Drago. “Thank you for your hospitality. I'll look forward to finding out if we can solve your problem for you."
Drago glared daggers at Britt then turned his attention back to Jess. His expression immediately softened, and he smiled at her. “Till tomorrow, my dear."
While they walked to the entrance, Jess scanned the room for another vampire. Her senses were so skewed she just couldn't trust them.
Outside, Britt took off down the sidewalk ahead of Jess.
"We're walking back?” she asked.
"Damn straight. These are your streets. You wander them alone, so surely you'll be okay."
"What the hell's wrong with you?” She grabbed his arm and made him stop walking.
He threw his hands into the air. “What's wrong? You've just signed on for God only knows what kind of criminal activity. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I'm thinking we've been put on this case to find out what Vaslov is up to, and we'll have an inside track."
"I don't think so. Vaslov is dirty. He's not going to let you in on anything that'll tell us what he's up to.” Britt didn't like what was going down. Not one bit. Fighting vampires might be in his realm of strengths, but how the hell could they fight a millionaire intent on manipulating them? There were too many variables and he feared for Jess's safety. Especially if Vaslov was the one trying to frame her. He had unlimited resources.