“You’re here,” he said, relief in his voice. “Something happened—”
“It was you, wasn’t it? Your twisted way of dragging me into this Erickson mess.”
He frowned and discarded the rag on the floor. “What are you talking about?”
“Our office, all our stuff... you did that?” I wanted it to sound like an accusation, but it came out as a question instead.
“Wait, you think I trashed your office? You really think me capable of that?”
“You’ve done worse,” I shot back. “Your scent is all over the place.”
A muscle jumped in Jake’s stubbled jaw. After a tense moment, he scoffed, shaking his head. “Look, this is what happened. Early this morning, before dawn, I heard noise next-door. Thought you might be back, so I got dressed and went to check. By the time I got there, whoever trashed the place had left. I called the police. They came and checked it out, but...” He lifted his hand and shrugged. “So no, I didn’t do it.”
I raked stiff fingers into my hair, a jumble of emotions crashing inside my chest like wrecking balls. Okay, maybe he hadn’t trashed my office, but only one day had passed since Jacob Knight came back into my life, and everything was upside down.
“You know,” I said. “Both Mom and Daniella told me many times that you were no good for me, but I never listened.”
Jake’s silver eyes darkened, and his shoulders tensed as he held my gaze.
“It wasn’t until the day you left that I saw the truth, and now it’s like I’m seeing it all over again, like a freaking déjà vu. You just got here yesterday and look at how peachy things are going.”
“That’s not fair,” he said in a low whisper, scarier than any outburst he might have had.
He walked closer, his body lithe, his muscles flexing under golden skin. I took a step closer, too. I wasn’t going to let this thing between us control me. To my satisfaction, he shuddered and stopped. His gaze slid down the length of my body. He licked his lips, then clenched his jaw.
A thrill of smug pride went through me. It seemed the fierce attraction he’d felt for me before lived on. The knowledge made me feel great and awful at the same time. Great because it seemed he hadn’t left the past behind either. And awful because it confused me, because it gave me new questions about his reasons for leaving me.
Of course, I had to quickly remind myself that attraction and love belonged on entirely different planes.
“Just stay out of my way,” I said. “Then I won’t have to blame you if anything else goes wrong.”
I took a step back, ready to leave.
“You’re in danger, Toni, and it has nothing to do with me.”
“That’s not what it looks like from my end.”
“What happened between us is clouding your judgment and putting your life in danger,” he said. “If you ask me, this is what’s happening... whoever took Stephen doesn’t want him found, for obvious reasons. They know you used to have a relationship with him and might decide to track him, so they are trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. You’re an amazing tracker, and they know it.”
“You’re the only one trying to pull me into this. I don’t want to get involved, so stop giving those criminals any ideas.”
He ran a hand through his soft hair.
Soft? What the hell, Toni? Stop thinking like this.
But how could anyone blame me? I knew exactly how amazing his hair felt between my fingers. I’d touched it many times, raking my hands through it as we made love. I shuddered. Gah! This was deteriorating quickly. I had to get out of here. Turning on my heel, I headed for the door and opened it.
“You’re already involved, whether you want to be or not.” Of course, he always had to have the last word.
I stomped back to my office with his voice ringing in my ears.
“He’s infuriating,” I growled as I stormed in and collapsed on a chair.
Rosalina was bending down, gathering papers, and pulling them into a pile. She rose to her full height of 5’5”. She had on flats.
“I could have told you that going over there would be unproductive, but...” She shrugged.
“The most infuriating part is,” I hated to admit it, “that he’s right.”
Her perfectly plucked eyebrows went up. She abandoned the papers, sat down, and gave me her full attention. “This must be good if you’re agreeing with him.” She wiggled her fingers in a “come here” motion. “Spill, girl.”
I repeated what Jake had said almost word by word. As I went, Rosalina’s expression changed, gradually growing concerned. “We should have realized the kidnappers would come after you,” she said when I finished.
“I know, but I was so busy being mad at Jake that... Oh, never mind, what do you think we should do?”
“Move to China?” she suggested. “This isn’t good. Bernadetta Fiore and her people are ruthless, and open war between her and Ulfen Erickson doesn’t bode well for anyone.”
“If it was the Dark Donna who kidnapped Stephen.”
“Who else? I think the constant feud between vampires and werewolves has finally reached a boiling point.” Rosalina rose from the chair and began pacing the office. “Toni, this is bad.”
She was telling me? I’d nearly been taken last night. Twice. Had Bernadetta sent Beetlejuice and mage? I didn’t know her, so she had no reason to want to hurt me. But who was I kidding? Vampires, especially powerful ones like her, had no respect for life and took whatever they wanted without asking for permission.
“Well, I’m not
