"Yeah, that's good." But LaToya still looked worried as she sat and smeared butter on her cornbread. "I–I may have been wrong when I told you not to see Jack anymore."
"You've decided he's okay now?" Lara gave her a wry look as she sat down.
LaToya shrugged. "I don't know what to think about him. He's suspicious as hell, but he does have some superpowers, and right now, I'm thinking it would be a good thing for you to have a superhero in your pocket."
Or in her pants. Lara squashed that errant thought. Her whole body just wanted to droop onto the floor. "I don't think there's any future for me and Jack."
LaToya stopped eating to look at her. "Why not?"
She sighed. "It's hard to explain."
"Oh shit. He's really an alien?"
A sorry excuse for a laugh escaped Lara. "I don't know what he is. He refuses to talk to me."
"A man who has trouble communicating." LaToya sipped some wine. "Now there's something completely different."
Lara made a face at her. "I can't get more involved with him when he won't talk to me."
"Does he treat you right?"
"Oh yeah." Lara drank some wine.
"Is he good in bed?"
She sputtered, and her eyes watered.
LaToya grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."
"We haven't… well, we sorta, but… okay, I would say yes." Lara's face flooded with heat.
LaToya snickered. "Then what's the problem?"
"There's more to life than good… great sex."
"Now I'm really worried about you."
"It's not funny, LaToya. My heart is breaking here. He says he loves me, but he won't trust me with the truth."
LaToya's brown eyes widened. "He says he loves you?"
Lara gulped down some wine. She hadn't meant for that to slip out.
"How do you feel about him?" LaToya asked.
She set the glass down. "Our food's getting cold." She rammed some cornbread into her mouth.
"You're in denial," LaToya announced.
Lara scowled at her, then swallowed down her food. "Right now, denial is my best friend. I'm not going to admit I'm in love with someone when the relationship is doomed."
"Didn't you just admit it?"
"And I'm not going to admit that I just agreed to an undercover assignment that could get me killed!"
LaToya sucked in a breath. "Take that back. Don't put those bad vibes on this. You'll make it through just fine. I know you will."
Lara took a deep breath. Her friend was right. She needed to keep a positive attitude. "It'll be all right. They'll be able to trace me." She wouldn't really be alone. She would survive this.
An hour later, LaToya left to go bowling with some friends from her precinct. Lara declined LaToya's invitation to join them, claiming she was too tired. Who was she kidding? She was hoping Jack would call.
She sat on the couch, flipping through channels on the television. She really ought to study the Apollo information on her computer, but she didn't want to think about it anymore. It would only make her more nervous, more worried that she was making a big mistake.
She wished she was back in Venice with Jack, floating down a canal without a worry in the world. But there was no such thing as a worry-free life. Even Jack had her confused and frustrated. If Casanova was his father, that would make Jack over two hundred years old. Was he aging super slowly, or was he stuck looking young and gorgeous for all time? Either way, it didn't look good for a lasting relationship.
She landed on a channel that showed a young woman in a white nightgown wandering around a dark, spooky house. She was carrying a lit candlestick, so apparently, the electricity was out. She gazed up a dark staircase that led to the attic, and thunder boomed. Creepy music swelled.
"Don't go up there," Lara told her.
She started up the stairs.
"Moron," Lara muttered and changed the channel.
A guy in a ski mask was chasing a girl who was running across the lawn. For some strange reason, she was in her underwear. The psycho killer waved a machete in the air. The girl looked back, then tripped and fell on her face.
"Get up, you idiot," Lara grumbled. "Run for your life."
The girl stayed on the ground and screamed. Great. This was encouraging. Lara changed the channel again. Was she being an idiot, too?
The phone rang, and her breath hitched. Please be Jack. No, don't be Jack. Dammit, she was an idiot.
After Jack woke up Tuesday night, he dashed upstairs to the fifth-floor office of the townhouse and chugged down some synthetic blood while he checked his messages. Lara hadn't called. Mario had sent him an e-mail to let him know that Father Giuseppe had found Lara's belt and delivered it to the palazzo that morning. The priest had also left a warning that he'd use the belt on Giacomo's hide if he didn't behave himself.
Jack sighed. The date had ended badly. Instead of drawing Lara closer, he'd managed to chase her away. He showered, dressed, then teleported to Venezia to fetch the belt. From there, he teleported to the grounds at Romatech. He looked around as he approached the side entrance. He swiped his ID card, then placed his hand on the sensor.
"Hey, bro," a voice spoke behind him.
He spun around to find Phineas. The young Vamp must have just teleported there. "Merda."
"Well, good evening to you, too," Phineas muttered. "We didn't see you at the townhouse."
"I had an errand to take care of. And I've just realized if a Malcontent timed it right, he could arrive like you did and take me by surprise." Jack motioned to the green light now blinking on the security pad. "You could have jumped me from behind and gained entrance."
Phineas frowned as he pushed open the door. "Howard would see it on the monitor and set off the alarm."
"True." Jack strode down the hall toward the MacKay security office. "Still, after Connor arrives, I'd like to have a meeting to discuss ways we can improve security here. We killed a dozen Malcontents last December at DVN. Sooner or later, Casimir is going to seek revenge."
"Yeah," Phineas agreed. "Those nasty vampires keep coming back." He glanced at the belt in Jack's hand. "Dude, you're not planning to wear that, are you? It's bad enough when some of the guys wear skirts, but a white belt—that's just not cool, man."
"It's not mine." Jack wound it up and stuffed it into a jacket pocket.
"Ooh, I see." Phineas's eyes lit up. "It's your lady's belt. I guess your date last night was a big success. So did you do a little bondage?"
"Excuse me?"
"You know, tie her up with the belt. Or maybe you used it for a little spanking."
Jack stiffened. "I would never spank Lara."
Phineas rolled his eyes. "Dude, you let the lady spank you. Believe me, the chicks really get into that."
"She probably thinks I deserve it," Jack muttered.
"Yeah." Phineas nodded. "That's what they always say to me. I'm an expert on these things, you know. But I figure you're the last person on earth who needs professional advice from the Love Doctor."
"Why is that?" Jack stopped in front of the security office.
Phineas snorted. "Dude, you're the son of Casanova. Seduction is your middle name. I saw you at the Gala Ball, sweet-talking all the ladies. You could have had any one you wanted. In fact, I bet you did have them all."
Jack groaned inwardly. Why did people always assume he had inherited some special talent from his father? All he'd inherited was a name that was such a curse, he'd stopped using it almost two hundred years ago. "I only danced with the ladies."
"Yeah, right. The horizontal mambo. I bet you were born with a condom on," Phineas continued. "A man like you could have any woman he wants."
But he only wanted Lara. "I don't want to lose her."
"What?"
"Nothing." Jack swiped his ID card in the keypad outside the security office.
Phineas leaned a shoulder against the wall. "Dude, what's wrong?"
"It's complicated."
; "Love shouldn't be complicated, bro."
"It is when it's between a vampire and a mortal."
Phineas frowned. "Does she know you're a vampire?"
"No," Jack answered quickly. "I haven't told her anything. You and Connor can rest easy."
"Yeah, Connor's real touchy about keeping the big secret." Phineas rubbed his chin. "I gotta be honest with you, man. A little free advice from Dr. Phang."
"I'm not going to tie her up or spank her."
Phineas snorted. "I'm being serious now. If you love her, you gotta tell her the truth. You gotta make it real."
Jack swallowed hard. Lara kept asking him to tell her the truth. But what if she couldn't handle it? The women in his past had freaked out. He'd been able to erase their memories, but he couldn't do that with Lara. What if she lived the rest of her life remembering him with revulsion?
On the other hand, what if she was able to accept him? What if he'd finally found the amove that had evaded him for centuries? How glorious it would be to spend the rest of his life with Lara.
The door opened, and Howard peered at them curiously. "What's going on? You guys have been standing here for five minutes."
"Just talking, Papa Bear," Phineas said. "I'll go make the first round."
"Okay," Jack said. "And… thank you."
"Anytime, bro." Phineas zoomed back down the hall to the side entrance.
"Howard, can you stay till Connor arrives?" Jack asked. "I need to run an errand."
"Sure." Howard headed back to the desk. "I'll call the cafeteria and have them deliver my supper here."
Jack smiled. As long as were-bear Howard Barr was well fed, he stayed happy. "Thanks."
Jack hurried into the conference room across the hall and shut the door. He paced around the long table. Once he returned Lara's belt to her, what would he say? From the beginning he'd equated telling her the truth with losing her. But now, he realized he could lose her if he didn't tell her the truth.
Father Giuseppe, Gianetta, and Phineas all wanted him to tell her. Connor was strongly opposed to it. Angus had ordered him not to. What did he want to do?
He wanted her to love him. What if she hated him once she knew he was a Vamp? Jack took a deep breath. It was a chance he would have to take. There was no way to undo his status. She could either accept him as he was—or she couldn't. You must have faith, Giacomo.
Merda. Wasn't there a circle of hell for faithless bastards like himself? He made the call.
On the fourth ring, she picked up. "Hello?" She sounded hesitant.
"Hello, Lara. How are you?"
"I'm okay."
"I have your belt. I could return it to you now."
"There's… no hurry."
Was she reluctant to see him, or was this a bad time? He didn't want anyone else to see him teleport. "Are you alone?"
"I need to talk to you about the Apollo case," she said.
"We can work on it tonight, if you like," he offered. "I can teleport there and bring you back here to Romatech where I have all the information."
"I have the info here. I e-mailed it to myself."
"Oh." He had a bad feeling about this.
"I really appreciate all the work you did. We passed the info on to our superiors—"
"What?"
"We had to, Jack. We can't withhold evidence. And the minute Apollo started kidnapping girls across state lines, it became a matter for the FBI."
Nine circles of hell! Jack gripped the phone in his fist and paced around the table. "You shouldn't have done that. We were working on it together. We were making good progress."
"I know. I'm sorry, Jack, but it's not in your jurisdiction."
The hell it wasn't. This was a Malcontent crime, and it needed to be handled by Vamps. "How many people know?"
"Lots of people. The FBI and NYPD have set up a joint task force—"
"Merda!" He couldn't let them find Apollo first. The whole vampire world was in jeopardy. He couldn't believe Lara had done this. He stopped and leaned his elbows on the back of a chair. "I trusted you."
"Jack." Her voice was laced with pain. "I didn't mean to—I don't understand why this case is so important to you."
He took a deep breath. Fussing at her wouldn't fix the problem. "I'm sorry. I should have explained."
"There are a lot of things you could have explained," she grumbled.
"It'll be all right." He would get Connor and other volunteers to help. Ian and Toni were still on their honeymoon, but Robby was around. And maybe Phil Jones. "How much did you tell them? Do they know about Apollo's ability to control minds?"
"No. And I didn't tell them about you," Lara said. "You really can trust me."
"Thank you." He resumed his pacing. He needed to make some calls and set up a meeting.
"Unfortunately, they're giving me credit for all your hard work," Lara continued.
"That's all right. Maybe it will help you make detective."
She heaved a sigh. "They offered me an assignment under cover, posing as a college student."
Jack halted abruptly. "What?"
"I have the right look, so I'm going—"
"No!" It felt like a wrecking ball had slammed into his chest. "No. You will not be bait."
"I already agreed."
He gritted his teeth. "You will not do it."
"You can't tell me what to do."
"Where are you? Are you alone?"
"There's no point in discussing it," she said. "My mind is made up."
Merda. He hoped she wasn't in a public place. He focused on her voice and teleported.
CHAPTER 16
Lara gasped when Jack materialized in front of her. He looked quickly around the room.
"What—" Her throat constricted. He'd just focused on her with eyes that gleamed golden hot.
A frisson of fear pinned her to the couch. Jack was a man of supernatural power. What was he truly capable of?
Nonsense. She mentally shook herself. This was Jack. He'd made love to her the night before.
Somehow Venice seemed so far away.
Still glowering at her, he snapped his cell phone shut and pocketed it. He pulled her belt from another pocket and dropped it on the coffee table. "Maybe I should spank you," he muttered.
"Excuse me?"
His jaw shifted. "Forget I said that."
Like that would ever happen. She turned off her phone and placed it on the coffee table. "I gather you're a little miffed about the situation." She paused when a low growl vibrated in his throat. "Look, I'm not going to be intimidated by the he-man tactics. We can discuss this calmly and rationally."
"There is nothing rational about this." His hands fisted at his sides. "Using yourself as bait is ridiculous, foolish, and crazy!"
She sucked in a breath. "Why don't you tell me what you really think?"
His eyes narrowed into two golden pins of light. "You're not doing it."
"It's not your decision, Jack. In fact, none of this Apollo stuff is your business."
"You are my business, and you're trying to get yourself killed."
She snorted. "This may come as a surprise to you, but I'm not suicidal. Every precaution will be taken to ensure my safety. I'll be wearing a tracking device—"
"Those can be lost."
She glared at him. "As soon as they have a fix on Apollo's resort—"
He leaned over suddenly and with a swipe of one hand, he pushed the coffee table across the room. She caught her breath when he moved directly in front of her.
"You are not doing it." Anger seethed in his low, sharply clipped words.
Dammit, he was trying to bully her. Lara rose to her feet, her face inches from his stubborn chin. "No one tells me what to do."
He grabbed her by the shoulders. "I could teleport you someplace so remote you'd never find your way out."
She shoved at his chest. "Then you would be a kidnapper just like Apollo."
"No. I would be saving your life." His grip tightene
d on her shoulders. "Stay away from Apollo. You have no idea what he's capable of."
"But you know?" She seethed with frustration. "What do you know that you're not telling me, Jack?"
He released her and stepped back. He dragged a hand through his hair and paced across the room. "When Apollo sees you, he's going to want you."
"We're counting on that. And with the tracer I'll be wearing, we'll be able to track him down."
Jack shook his head. "He'll teleport you someplace. He might teleport you several places in a row. You've seen how quickly it's done. By the time the police figure out where he is, he… Bloody hell, Lara, it will be too late!"
She swallowed hard. "I can buy some time. I won't be under his control like the other victims. That's why I'm the best choice for this job. I'm immune to mind control."
He scoffed. "You think that makes you safe? Lara, the instant he realizes he can't control you, he will kill you."
A shudder zipped down her back. He's just trying to scare you into quitting. Hell, maybe she should quit. What if she got in completely over her head? The special task force had already warned her that she couldn't take any weapons with her. It would blow her cover.
"You can't survive against Apollo," Jack continued quietly. He paced across the room, then turned to face her. His mouth twisted as if he found the words painful. "He'll feed on you."
Lara gasped and pressed her hand to her chest. "What?"
"He'll sink his teeth into you and take your blood."
She grimaced. "That's sick. You make him sound like a… a…"
"Vampire," Jack whispered.
She stared at him. My God, he was serious. "Jack, there's no such thing. Maybe he thinks he's a vampire. There are some crazy people out there who pretend they're vampires. But any guy who tries to bite my neck would get a knee in his groin faster than he could say Transylvania."
Jack scowled at her. "You don't believe me."
"I think you're trying to scare the hell out of me so I'll quit this assignment. I really should be pissed, but I realize you're worried about me 'cause you care so much."
"I'm in love with you."
Her heart squeezed in her chest. She would never get tired of hearing him say that. "I care deeply for you, too, but—"
"Lara." He stepped toward her.
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