So, there I was, dating the hottest guy in Manhattan and sitting alone in my apartment on a Saturday night. Vincent had been called away to help with a disturbance. The usual weekend rowdies. Nothing the other domi couldn't handle, but Vincent used it as an opportunity to connect with William Lassiter. As the eldest son of his domus, William had been Vincent's first sparring partner. If there was any news from the Lassiter camp, William would divulge.

With my TV remote in one hand and my phone in the other, I channel surfed while I called Sylvie. I had good news to share with her, thanks to my mega mogul boyfriend.

"You still awake?" I said when she grumbled her greeting in my ear.

"No. This is a recording of your friend's brain after a hellish day and too many margaritas."

"Poor baby. Did the hellish day lead to too many margaritas?"

"Of course, it did. My boss is a dick. He worked me all day then decided to submit the proposal after his weekend in Key West."

"Tell him to stick his dick up his ass."

"Oh, how I would love to, but life costs money and the dick pays me well."

"I could go on for an hour after a remark like that, but I won't."

"Please, do. It would make me feel better."

"How about I make you feel better by offering you a chance to interview with the prestigious law firm of Harper and Smythe right here in beautiful downtown Manhattan?"

"Mamacita! I assume Vincent had something to do with that prestigious offer?"

"Of course. They want to interview you Monday morning, if that's at all possible."

"I will make it so. Bossman is in Florida until Tuesday. I'll drive up tomorrow and crash with you, or maybe Colin will share his bed with me again. I've had wet dreams about that night and I want to add to them."

"By all means, indulge. Come to find out, the stamina thing runs in the family."

She laughed. "I'm not surprised. You told me they compete with each other. Maybe you and I are like chess pieces and they're playing a game of..."

"Stop talking before you dig yourself a hole you can't get out of."

"You're right. My desire to find a metaphor could insult an entire gender. It's the tequila talking."

"How are you with helicopters? Vincent will arrange to have Scooby pick you up in the Valentino's personal copter, once you give me the word."

"Scooby is the pilot's name? That's so seventies. Will you be there to meet me?"

"Definitely. Oh, and I should probably fill you in on something. I'm not staying at Vincent's place. He's living with me."

"Living together? At your place instead of his castle in the sky? What gives?"

"Logistics beyond my control, but the situation could change at any moment. In the meantime, shave those seldom seen places and start packing for an overnighter with a hot body."

"I'm on it. See you tomorrow."

As soon as I hung up with Sylvie, I sent a text to Colin.

Looks like you might get lucky this weekend. Or has that already happened?

His response came back immediately.

Certain facts must remain confidential, but you now have my undivided attention.

Sylvie will be in town tomorrow night. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

So, we're pulling out all the stops? Mushroom and pepperoni pizza followed by hours of sex?

I think she would be agreeable to that arrangement.

Sweet. How are you feeling?

In a word, overwhelmed. But it helps to focus on the normal things, like pizza with you and Sylvie. We'll do the pizza at my place.

Just send me the ETA and I'm all over that like sauce on a breadstick.

The breadstick reference was not helpful.

Clearly, it was.

I tossed my phone onto the couch, grinning at Colin's attempt to detour the conversation. It probably wasn't the best idea to indulge ourselves like we did, but it was too much fun to give up. I spent the next hour watching the continuing saga of renegade space rangers until my phone chimed with a text. It didn't completely surprise me to read the name 'Christoph' next to the message.

Hi Reese.

Hi. Are you back in Manhattan?

Yes. How are you?

Attempting to find normalcy. How about you?

Same.

I let the conversation stream drop there. I could have said any number of things to keep it going, but my relationship with Christoph was a trigger for Vincent, and I needed to keep it on the down-low. The next thing I knew, Christoph was calling.

"Didn't we just do this?" I said.

"I hope I haven't overstepped any boundaries by calling. I wanted to make sure you were home safe."

"My guess is, you already know the answer to that." I pushed off the couch and walked to the window, pulling back the curtain to peer into the alley. Christoph was leaning against the trash bin, looking like a member of Gotham's most wanted, with his wings tucked against his back and his horns reflecting off the streetlight.

"Yes, but I like to get a visual on my target before I leave the site." He smiled up at me, exposing his shiny fangs.

"You look totally suspicious down there."

"Only to you. To the rest of the world, I'm practically invisible."

He was right. I had never seen a human look twice at a gollum or a demon in battle. Their stealth and dark clothing helped cloak them, but there seemed to be more to it than that. Something primeval.

"Did you drive or fly back from the hive?" I asked as my curiosity took charge. It tended to do that when I got nervous, and talking to Christoph made me nervous.

"Josh and I flew. It's a piece of cake without the extra weight of a passenger."

"Hey, don't blame me for that. I would have been fine with driving. Do you even own a car?"

He laughed. "Demons don't drive. Some have done it to prove a point, but there's no need for transportation when you have wings. You have to admit, flying offers a ride like no other."

"Afraid of heights, remember? I'll take ground transportation over Demon Airways any day."

Christoph laughed more loudly. "I already miss your sense of humor. Kelly used to be the cut-up of the group. I'm sorry you didn't get to know her better."

Ugh.

"I'm sorry about Kelly."

"Don't be. Her death wasn't your fault, neither was Heath's, so I hope you're not beating yourself up about that."

"I try not to. Are you the one assigned to keep tabs on me? Vincent said he smelled a couple demons hiding out in the woods."

"Yeah. It's me and Josh, and we weren't really trying to hide. I knew it would be impossible. Your flight training looks... promising."

"Is that your polite way of saying I suck?"

"I didn't see any sucking, but I figure there was plenty of that going on inside the cabin."

"A little off topic, don't you think?"

"Yes, but I like this topic better."

"I probably should go. If Vincent catches us talking, he's going to think I'm conspiring with the enemy."

"You are conspiring with the enemy, but we're not your enemy, Reese."

"And that's supposed to reassure me, how? The Valentinos are my family. Vincent and I are mated. There's no turning back. Goodnight, Christoph."

"Goodnight."

I ended the call and watched Christoph type something on his phone. A moment later, my cell chimed as he looked up at me.

I'm glad you have a positive attitude about all this. I don't envy your position. Call me if you need a friend to talk to.

I acknowledged his text with a nod, then I watched him pocket his phone as he lunged into the air, soaring recklessly past my window and nearly smacking into the wall. I barely had time to return to my space cadets program before Vincent walked in the door. He didn't look pleased.

"You were talking to Christoph, I take it," he said as he pointed at the window.

"Talking and texting."

He stalked into the kitchen, pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, and stood at the counter as he drank his fill. A few tense moments later, his hand came down on the Formica with a startling smack. "Are you going to show me the texts, or are they confidential?"

I glared at him but he didn't return it. He was currently staring a hole into the wall. "I might let you see them if you answer me one question. Would you consider that an invasion of my privacy?"

Vincent lowered his head and stepped back from the counter. He looked tired and worried, and suddenly I realized he might have bad news from William. Dragging his fingers through his hair, Vincent walked into the living room as he talked.

"Try to see this from my perspective, Reese. You just spent twenty-four hours in a demon hive you have parental connections to. For the health and safety of the domus, I need to be suspicious of anything related to the demons." He stopped at my feet, standing over me as he continued his rant. "I know there's going to be a lot of push and pull in this relationship, and I apologize in advance if you ever feel like your privacy is being invaded. I'm just asking for a little tolerance."

I shook my head as he sweet-talked his way into my cellphone, and I scrolled to the message stream before handing it over. "Fine. I have nothing to hide, but I'm not giving you the password. Not yet."

Vincent nodded absently as he read through my conversation with Christoph. "The text stream appears disconnected, like there's something missing before he asked you to call him if you needed a friend." He sighed as he handed my phone back and sat heavily next to me.

"He called after the first couple of texts. We talked about him and Josh being the ones stalking us at the cabin and about Kelly, the demon who killed herself. Then he felt the need to keep going after we hung up."

Vincent grunted as he chugged more of his water, not looking at me.

"How did things go with the disturbance?" I asked. "Was it caused by a demon?"

"Not this time."

"So, did you get a verdict from William? Are the Lassiters okay with me joining the Valentino domus?"

"Not yet."

His ambivalence had me on edge. I figured my chat with Christoph had provoked his sour mood, but there was nothing I could do about that.

"Do you want to watch benign television with me and forget the rest of the world?" I stared at the side of his head, and he turned to give me a blast of those mercurial eyes. I was right about the trigger. He appeared to be in serious restraint mode.

"Not really."

"Have you noticed that you've started the last three sentences with 'Not'?"

"No. I hadn't."

Neither of us wavered as we engaged each other, and I searched for signs of cracks in his shell. "Do you want me to recite my conversation with Christoph? Will that satisfy you?"

"No. It won't"

"Are we just going to sit here and stare at each other until the sun rises?"

His eyes twinkled as he made the switch from man to beast. "No. We aren't."