She didn't believe that for one second.

Chapter Fourteen

The following night Gregori paced across his office at Romatech, stress ball in hand. He'd told Angus and Roman that everything was progressing well. Luckily Phineas had backed him up, claiming the date with the president's daughters had been a great success.

Bullshit. He gave the ball another squeeze. He'd come damned close to completely blowing his mission. Thousands of Vamps depended on him to forge an alliance with the U.S. government and prevent the Vampire Apocalypse. And what did he do? Molest the president's daughter in front of an audience. In front of a Secret Service man!

"Stupid, stupid," he muttered to himself. At least Gordon had erased the video so Corky Courrant couldn't get her evil hands on it and post it on YouTube.

But he couldn't erase his actions. The whole alliance could have fallen apart if Abigail hadn't stepped in. She'd saved his ass. Not because of any affection she felt for him. She'd saved him out of desperation to save her mother.

Just as he had suspected, the secret trip to China was connected to her mother. No doubt her Ph.D. in biochemistry was also connected to her mother. Everything Abigail did was due to her determination to save her mother.

Such love. Such dedication. She was incredible. Brilliant, beautiful, and capable of so much love.

But not for him. Her description of his lovemaking kept repeating in his mind.

An accident.

The stress ball exploded in his hand.

"Shit." He threw it away and grabbed another one.

An accident. Had she felt nothing at all? Had she stood there, bored and mentally compiling a grocery list, while he spiraled completely out of control?

He'd never felt an attraction like this before. Romance was supposed to be fun. He loved the thrill of the chase, the giving and taking of pleasure. Simple, easy fun. But there was nothing simple or easy about Abigail.

She was impossible, but it didn't deter him. She was forbidden, but that only made her more tempting. A desperate desire had dug its claws into his heart and was threatening to consume him entirely. Shit. What was she doing to him? He'd actually forgotten he was in the studio.

He could have sworn she'd felt something. Her heart had definitely raced. But then, her heart rate always sped up whenever he came near. It could mean that she was afraid. Or worse. Repulsed.

Vamp women didn't care if he was a Vamp. But it could be a deal breaker for a lovely mortal like Abigail. She'd fallen on the couch in the Oval Office, trying to escape his handshake. She'd fainted when she saw him on the ceiling. And she'd scooted halfway around the booth at the nightclub to get away from him.

Could it be that she didn't even like him? So many Vamp women had chased him over the years, maybe he'd lost the ability to know when he was being rejected.

What a joke. The womanizer falls for the one woman who doesn't want him.

He threw the ball against the wall, and it burst in a cloud of white powder. He was crazy to fall for Abigail. The president wasn't going to allow his daughter to get romantically involved with a vampire.

Josh clearly didn't approve of him. When Gregori had teleported home an hour ago to put on a fresh suit, he'd discovered that his condo had been searched. Probably Josh and Charles, looking for something negative to report to the president so the alliance could be broken. Or maybe they had hoped to find him asleep and vulnerable to attack.

Thank God he'd slept at Romatech. He wasn't sure how far Josh and Charles would go to keep Abigail safe from the evil clutches of a vampire.

And he still wasn't sure how she felt. That alone was enough to drive him completely bonkers.

The desk phone rang, and he picked it up. "Yes?"

"She's here," Emma told him. "The limo with Abigail Tucker just went through the front gate."

He picked up another stress ball. "I'll meet her at the front entrance. Can you tell Roman she's here?"

"I'm afraid not," Emma replied. "He had to leave for a moment."

"What?" Gregori squeezed the stress ball. "He agreed to meet her. He knows how important this is."

"Don't worry," Emma reassured him. "Roman will be back soon. There's a bit of a family drama going on right now. He and Angus had to teleport to the school to bring Shanna and Caitlyn back."

"Why? What's wrong?" Gregori felt a twinge of worry for the women. Shanna had only recently been transformed and was still adjusting. Caitlyn had undergone the painful transformation into a were-panther and was now expecting twins. "Are they all right?"

"They're fine, but their mother isn't," Emma explained. "She called Caitlyn, and apparently, she was screaming and terribly distraught - "

"Darlene is never distraught!" Sean Whelan shouted in the background. "She's always perfectly calm!"

"Well, she isn't calm now," Emma told him. "Gregori, Roman's coming back soon. Caitlyn and Shanna are meeting their mother here at Romatech."

"All right." Gregori hung up, wondering what was wrong with Sean Whelan's wife. Maybe she'd finally figured out what a jerk he was.

He stuffed the stress ball in his pocket, and strode to the main foyer.

The night shift at Romatech was small compared to the large number of mortals who worked during the day, but he had warned them that the president's daughter would be touring the facility. The marble floors had been polished, the offices and laboratories tidied up. He'd arranged for the cafeteria to be kept open late, and a gourmet chef had been brought in to cook a few of his specialties.

Phineas had requested the night off, so he could return to DVN with Madison. He'd called earlier to report Josh was watching him like a hawk. Gregori supposed Charles would be coming with Abigail.

He punched the code on the security pad by the front door to unlock it, then stepped outside to wait. A light rain had left the black-topped parking lot wet and gleaming under the lampposts. As usual, his gaze drifted to the spot where his life as a mortal had ended eighteen years ago. Casimir had attacked him and left him dying on the dark asphalt.

Then there was the other spot where he'd been caught in the blast of a car bomb set by the Malcontents. There'd been a church service that night in the Romatech chapel, led by Father Andrew. The chapel was a sad and empty place now, just a vase of flowers on the altar in memory of the mortal priest who had become a father to them all.

Gregori sighed. Everyone was glad Casimir was finally dead, but the cost had been too high.

His gaze wandered back to the first spot where he'd been transformed. Twice he'd cheated death in this parking lot. You're not immortal, you fool. He could die as easily as Father Andrew. He should stop playing at life and make his life mean something. But what gave life meaning?

Father Andrew would have said love.

Headlights flashed in the distance, pulsating like a strobe light as a limo passed through the wooded grounds.

Abigail.

She was coming. His heart squeezed with a knot of longing.

The limo came to a stop under the porte cochere. While Charles climbed out of the driver's seat, Gregori opened the back door.

"Step back, please." Charles gave him a stern look, then rushed over to assist Abigail.

Gregori moved back. Apparently Charles had been warned that the lusty vampire wanted to jump on Abigail like a rabid dog.

Unfortunately, the minute he saw her emerge from the limo, he did want to get his paws on her. He had to swallow hard to keep from drooling. And it wasn't like she was dressed in a sexy outfit. She was wearing jeans, a navy and green plaid blouse, and a green raincoat.

She was beautiful.

The mist in the air had made her hair curlier, her cheeks rosier, and her skin look even more dewy soft. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked around.

He inclined his head. "Welcome to Romatech, Scholar."

She smiled. "The place is huge! And the grounds are beautiful. I'm already impressed."

"Great." Gregori swiped his ID to unlock the front door, then followed them inside the foyer.

"I've noticed several cameras," Charles said as he watched Gregori punch in the code to reactivate the locks. "Is there a security problem here?"

Gregori considered how to respond, then decided honesty would be best. "We've been bombed a few times."

Abigail gasped. "Why? Synthetic blood saves thousands of lives. Who could object to that?"

"The Malcontents," Gregori explained. "They hate synthetic blood. They figure if they can get rid of Romatech, they can force Vamps to go back to biting."

Charles frowned. "If Miss Tucker is in danger, then we should leave."

"She'll be safe," Gregori reassured him. "We have an excellent security force. Would you like to see their office?"

"Yes." Charles nodded.

Gregori led them down the hall on the left. He reached in his pocket to squeeze the stress ball. The damned Secret Service man was hovering close to Abigail. At this rate, he'd never get some time alone with her to know how she truly felt.

"Our security is provided by MacKay Security and Investigation," he explained. "The CEO is Angus MacKay. If you have a secret mission in mind, he can provide you with the best operatives in the Vamp world."

Charles looked doubtful. "Do they have any field experience?"

Gregori snorted. "Some of them have centuries of experience. A few of the newbies used to work for the FBI and CIA. There's one guy who teleports into Langley without you guys knowing."

Charles's eyes narrowed. "I doubt that."

"Do you want to see the medal the Brits gave Angus? During World War II, he teleported behind German lines and rescued some Royal Air Force guys. Got them all out alive in one night."

"Then the British government knows about vampires?" Abigail asked.

Gregori nodded. "I told your father about it the other night. We'd like to have the same sort of relationship with the American government."

"That sounds good to me," Abigail said. "I'm going to recommend to my father that we go ahead with the mission."

"Miss Tucker - " Charles started.

"I can't afford to lose any more time," she interrupted. "If the British trust these Vamps, then I will, too."

Charles glanced at Gregori with a look bordering on disgust. "Josh told me about him. He's not to be trusted."

Gregori gritted his teeth. "I would never harm Miss Tucker. I'm sure she knows that." He wasn't sure at all, but he hoped she would verify it.

She didn't. She looked away, her cheeks turning pink.

Damn. Did she not even like him?

As they approached the MacKay office, the door opened. No doubt the people inside had been watching them on the monitors.

Emma stepped outside. "Good evening. I'm Emma MacKay, vice president of MacKay S and I." She smiled. "I worked for the CIA for a short time."

"She's a vampire?" Abigail whispered.

"Yes, I am." Emma's smile widened, and she pointed to her ears. "Super hearing. Please, come inside."

Gregori stepped into the office, followed by Emma and Charles, who motioned for Abigail to remain in the hall.

"Remember me?" Sean Whelan shook hands with the Secret Service man. "I'm head of the CIA Stake-Out team."

Charles quickly scanned the room, then gestured for Abigail to enter.

"Wow," she whispered as she approached the wall of monitors.

"Impressive." Charles eyed the stash of weapons in the caged-off area at the back.

"Miss Tucker?" Sean shook her hand. "Delighted to see you again. If there's anything I can do to assist you, please let me know."

"Thank you." She gave him a curious look. "So you're a friend of the Vamps?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Of course I didn't start off that way. As head of the Stake-Out team, my original goal was to terminate all vampires. But over time, I learned that the good Vamps were on our side, helping to protect us from the Malcontents."

Charles's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why are you here?"

"I drop by every now and then to keep an eye on things." Sean wandered over to the table and poured a cup of coffee. "Would you like a cup?"

Charles shook his head.

Gregori bit his lip to keep from laughing at how Sean was pretending to still be mortal.

"My husband, Angus, will be back soon," Emma said. "In the meantime, I'd be happy to answer any of your security questions."

Abigail gasped and pointed at a monitor. "Four people just appeared out of thin air."

Emma glanced at the monitor. "Yes, that's my husband, Angus, and Roman Draganesti, CEO of Romatech. They're teleporting Roman's wife and sister-in-law here."

Charles studied the monitor. "They arrived outside?"

"Yes, they're coming in the side entrance now," Emma explained. "Teleporting straight into the facility sets off an alarm. That way we can tell if any Malcontents have entered."

"Excuse me." Sean hurried out into the hallway.

"Dad!" Shanna called out to him. "What are you doing here?"

Sean winced and closed the office door.

"Dad?" Charles stepped closer to examine the monitor. "Those women are Sean Whelan's daughters?"

Emma exchanged a look with Gregori.

He shrugged. They could hardly hide the truth. "Sean's daughter Shanna is married to Roman Draganesti."

Charles scoffed. "No wonder he's friends with them."