Curling her feet under her, her mind strayed to the handsome human. Never in a million years would she have pictured herself liking a human, and there was no kidding herself, she did like him. She liked the way he stood in a room and drew all the faces to him without saying a word. She liked the way he watched the surroundings wherever he was. He’d done it even when she first met him back Rome’s place. He made her feel safe, protected. And when he touched her...it was like fireworks exploding inside her.

She tried to control herself around him, especially her heart, but the damned thing had a mind of its own. She’d given herself openly, freely to Dmetri and he’d broken her heart into little unfixable pieces. The wall she’d erected around her heart was there for her own protection. Yet every minute with Jacks was beating at that wall with a sledgehammer.

The scent in the air changed. Vera cocked her head to the side, a flare of silly hope filling her. Then she caught the scent of it: cold blood. Dmetri came up the stairs with the stride of a confident man and the limber grace of a cat. Her blossoming heart withered at the sight of his pale long hair.

She was already up and walking away, when he stopped her.

“Dammit Vera, wait. I need to talk to you.” Whatever it was she didn’t want to hear it. He caught her gently by the arm and turned her. His eyes tracked over her eyes, nose, then mouth before his lips curled into a frown. “You were crying.”

Shit, she’d forgotten about that. Why did the body have to be so revealing in times of pain? “Just a little. What do you want?” She yanked her arm out of his touch.

“I wanted to tell you that the situation with Ariss smells bad.”

“That’s probably just her perfume,” she said before she could stop herself.

He burst out laughing, and Vera wished she hadn’t said anything. The only redeeming quality she had was that his laughter no longer affected her like it used to. It used to light up her day when she did that, now she felt no stirring, just indifference. It was...nice.

“No, you know that’s not what I mean. Something’s really wrong with this. There’s no way her clan or Master Claude have owned a significant part of your land all this time. I’m going to call my friend at the Justicar’s office and make sure that all the right people get their hands on the deed.”

Vera pulled back. “Wait now, I don’t want anything illegal happening with the Kategan name anywhere near it. That’s just stomping out one pile of shit for another.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m making sure the people I trust looks at the deed and verify it. Just in case they have someone working there.”

“Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate that.”

“I know this must be really hard for you.” Vera barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She wished she hadn’t decided to leave the bedroom after all.

“Yeah, well, thanks.” He didn’t miss her inattention or the fact that she was edging her way back to the staircase.

“Listen, I can see the way you watch the human. It’s...odd to be sure, but I’m not going to pursue you anymore. You were right. I had my chance and I messed up, but neither one of us deserve that kind of relationship.”

Uncomfortable, Vera crossed her arms and started down the stairs. “Thanks for that.”

“Hold on, there was...something else I needed to tell you.”

Don’t grind your teeth, it’s bad for them, she thought and turned around. “What?” She didn’t quite snap at him, but it was close.

She saw him fight a grin, but then he turned serious. Oh, shit, this must be bad. He came and stopped in front of her. Vera wanted to smile, because his presence did absolutely nothing to her. A year ago, she probably would have begged him to take her back, or slapped him for dumping her. But now, all she felt was...freedom. For a second, she heard Mel Gibson in Braveheart yelling freedom!

“It’s about when I brought you that bottle of wine.”

“What about it?” She stiffened. As if she could forget the first night she’d lain with Jacks.

She saw him hesitate and look away. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck then finally muttered, “I laced it with blood.”

Vera arm swung out before she could stop it. The crack of her hand on his skin echoed in the library. His eye twitched but he did nothing.

Hands curling into fists, her arms shook with the suppressed need to hit him again. “Let me get this straight. You put vampire’s blood in my wine. The same wine that I drank half a bottle of in one night.”

His eyes widened with alarm, and his Russian accent thickened until his consonants were running together. “Shit, you drank that much of it. Vera, after I heard you with the human—”

“Jacks,” she interrupted. “His name is Jacks, not human.” He looked at her for a moment then nodded.

“When I heard you with him I was upset, but I was still hoping that you’d come drink it with me.”

Her arm shut out again, striking his opposite cheek. Her nostrils flared as she watched the spot of red bloom on his pale cheek to match the other one. It was the least of what he deserved. She also knew he could have stopped her if he wanted to, but he let her hit him.

A drop of vampire blood was an aphrodisiac, coupled with the effects of the alcohol and it was nearly a sure killer to get laid. A part of her knew he hadn’t meant it to be sinister—that in fact, they used to drink the very same thing together, and then make love all night, but they weren’t together now.

“I wanted to see if you’d come back to me.”

“Well I didn’t want to then and I don’t now.” With stunning clarity, she realized she meant that. If he’d asked her back, even with the wine and old memories, she’d have told him no. “Why did you even tell me this, Dmetri?”

He looked away. “Because I felt bad. I wasn’t going to give you the bottle after you said you didn’t want to walk with me, but you took it from my damn hand. I didn’t know what to do. I sure as hell didn’t want to tell you what was in there. Your human, I mean Jacks, might have had a fit.”

Vera smiled at the thought of Jacks going after Dmetri for her honor, and he would have. Feeling better for the first time since the meeting, she waved goodbye and went to find Jacks.

Jacks had already finished cleaning his Glock and was sharpening his KA-BAR knife when Vera returned. Not following her had been one of the hardest challenges in his life and he didn’t know what to make of it.

She looked better, the tears had dried up from her face, and color had returned to her cheeks. God she was beautiful. It hurt him just to look at her. She wasn’t model beautiful either. Well, maybe she was but he didn’t know jack shit about that. He knew that the more he looked at her, the more beautiful she became.

He liked the way her coffee-colored hair fell just to her chin and how her bangs stopped just above her eyebrows. It made her look sophisticated and out of his league all at the same time. He felt a tic form under his right eye and silently he cursed himself.

What the fuck was happening to him? His gut felt tight and unsure like he’d eaten something bad, and his heartbeat faster every time she was around him. He was probably just getting old, a fucking heart attack waiting to happen.

It didn’t that she was still wearing one of those damn dresses she seemed to like so much. His dick pulsed in his jeans and he kicked a leg out to ease the pressure. There was something about her he hadn’t figured out. There was much about her he had. Like that she’d loved that vampire Dmetri, hell anyone could see that. She’d worn it in her hurt eyes so easily.

But now he could see it was gone. He’d seen the change in her this afternoon as she’d yelled at the blond vampire. He’d been so proud of her, he’d wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her good and long. Course, he got to do more than that later.