“And you were going to share this reason with us any time soon?” Amaury finally asked.

She stopped admiring her nails and looked up. “Ah, I see, I have everybody’s attention.”

“Yvette.” Gabriel’s voice sounded like a warning.

“Have you guys ever wondered why it was so easy to capture Paul Holland?”

“Go on,” Samson encouraged, clearly intrigued.

“I believe Luther wanted us to catch him so he could lead us into a trap. He used Paul to feed us information he wanted us to have and made sure Paul only saw what he wanted him to see. I think it was all a setup.”

Gabriel scoffed. “I don’t see anybody who’s trying to kill us here, do you?”

“Maybe we are not the ones he wants. Paul claimed Luther’s plan was to destroy Scanguards, but what if that’s not his real goal? What if it was merely a diversion? Maybe he just wanted us out of the way.”

“To do what?” Samson asked.

“If he hates you two as much as you say, getting revenge by destroying your company frankly doesn’t sound like it’s personal enough. I could think of something much more personal than the company, something much more valuable, or shall I say … somebody?”

Amaury suddenly felt a stab in his temple, the kind of stab he would feel when emotions invaded him—only now it was different. There was only one thought, coming from only one person. Nina. He could sense her. But before he could put the thought in his head into words, he heard Samson shout.

“No! Delilah!” Samson pressed his hand against his temple. He shot a panicked look at the group. “Luther’s got Delilah.”

Thirty-two

Nina bent over the sink and splashed water on her face.

The first wave of anger over Amaury and his high-handed approach to their relationship had passed. She was much calmer now than during her earlier conversation with Delilah. Maybe she had overreacted a little.

Well, it didn’t happen every day that a girl found out she was blood-bonded to a vampire for eternity.

To a very hot and sexy vampire.

But it didn’t change anything about the fact that Amaury had obviously spent too many years in the dark ages where slinging a woman over his shoulder and dragging her into his cave was a perfectly acceptable form of courtship. Even though what had happened in the cave had pleased her very much.

Still, he’d tricked her. No matter how secretly excited she was that this powerful vampire had bound himself to her, she couldn’t let his action pass without making him aware that he couldn’t treat her like this. If she’d let him get away with it now, then what else would he think he could do? She wanted a partner in her life, not a tyrant.

Hell, they hadn’t been out on a single date. He’d never even bought her dinner. All she’d had were leftovers of food he’d cooked for somebody else.

Surely Samson hadn’t treated Delilah with such disrespect. She seemed to be all gooey-eyed over her man. And what had Amaury done? He’d treated her like property, nothing more. She was no man’s property, no matter how hot he was or how amazing he made her feel every time he touched her. Why couldn’t he have asked her like any normal man? Of course, Amaury was anything but normal. Hell, she didn’t want a normal man! She wanted him, a vampire. But before she would admit that, she’d teach him first that he had to treat her like an independent woman, not some chattel.

And now she’d talk to Delilah about it. The woman seemed to have her head well screwed on, and maybe Delilah would help her figure out how she could teach Amaury the lesson he needed to learn before they could start their lives together.

With a determined move she took the towel and wiped her face dry then looked in the mirror. A loud thump startled her. She listened, but a second later everything was quiet again. She let her hand run through her locks before she turned back to the door and unlocked it.

The moment she opened the bathroom door and stepped out, she heard a commotion in the front of the house. A shriek from Delilah and some muffled grunts mixed with the sound of heavy items hitting the floor made her rush down the corridor.

Nina reached the living room a few seconds later. The picture greeting her made her heart stop in shock. Delilah struggled to get out of the grip of a man who Nina instantly recognized as Johan, the vampire who had attacked her a few nights earlier. Carl, obviously in an attempt to help her, was fighting against two others whose backs were turned to Nina.

She gasped. One of the men snapped his head around and spotted her. He released Carl, leaving his companion to deal with him. In shock, she stared at the man who approached her now and who she’d first met at the nightclub: Luther.