"How dare you disobey my commands?" Boss demanded, and Gillian raised a dark brow at him without saying a single word.

His hair stood on end as if he had repeatedly pushed his hands through it. Something he did when he was at a loss. His stubble was dark enough to tell her he hadn't gone home. Guilt ate at her for adding to his worries by disappearing for almost a day.

His wrinkled clothes confirmed he had once again slept on the couch in his office, and dark shadows lay underneath his beautiful eyes like bruises. She frowned at that last thought and found herself fighting the urge to touch his cheek and soothe him, which was not the reaction she expected when he stood before her in a towering rage.

Was it her imagination, or did he seem worried about her more than the case? It was almost as if he needed to see if she was okay with his own eyes. The idea intrigued her in a way it shouldn't.

"Coffee, Detective Boss?" she offered instead of reacting to his aggression, and he looked comically taken aback.

He would probably have refused, but the enticing aromas of coffee and food made his stomach growl. Saying nothing, she stepped aside, and he entered almost sheepishly.

***

"Detective Boss, come, sit. You look like a man that needs coffee and a hot plate of food. You may call me Adeline, and I am kind of their adopted aunt, housekeeper, dogsbody, and cook."

She skirted the counter and seated him while talking to him, distracting and calming him with such subtle ease that it amused Gillian.

He had no idea how to handle Adeline's motherly bossiness, and before he could think it through, she furnished him with a huge plate of food and a cup of coffee.

"What are you doing here?" Boss demanded of Colt, seeming to notice her for the first time, and she shrugged.

"Thinking of moving in," she teased, and he glared at her. "I fell asleep on the couch," she defended herself as he looked her up and down as if to validate her theory. It didn't help that she looked like she had stepped out of a catalog for formal detective clothes, and he looked like hell.

"Does the couch wash and iron?" he asked.

Colt and Adeline snorted.

"No detective, that's my purpose." Before he could argue, Adeline had his leather jacket off, his gun on the table, and his shirt off.

He did not notice the moment of absolute silence as four pairs of female eyes got a good look at his buff, delicious torso, and the raw rush of desire Gillian experienced caught her a little off guard. She was used to being surrounded by good-looking men, but something about him made her a little weak in the knees and flustered her in a way no male ever had.

Adeline pretended to have a hot flash behind his back, and Colt almost lost her battle to keep a straight face, but he was too tired to notice. She had been so angry at him earlier and frustrated but seeing the tightness of his shoulders, his tension, and the fatigue dragging at him softened her heart.

"About Diesel's size," Adeline murmured, "finish eating, grab a shower, and Gillian will take you to Dana," Adeline bossed them all around and stalked off.

For a second, Boss stopped chewing, fazed. He blinked and glanced at them, but when no one argued with her, he frowned and slowly resumed eating.

"I hope you're not drugging me," he grouched, more himself with a full stomach and enough caffeine for his brain to function clearly.

"Damn, why didn't I think of that?" she murmured, casually putting her sim into a phone identical to the one she smashed. It wasn't her first rodeo—vampires weren't always gentle with fragile things.

"Do I stink?" Boss asked, looking down at his body, and she had a hell of a time not smirking.

This was not a conversation any of them pictured having with him, especially not after he almost smashed the door through the wall.

"No, you just seem... overworked, and Adeline is the motherly type," Elissa answered when no one else formulated a suitable reply.

"Where's the shower?" Boss asked Colt, and she nodded at the doorway.

"Last door to the right," she obliged, and he shoved the chair back, his muscles rippling, and Gillian fought the swirl of desire snaking through her abdomen. This whole thing was inappropriate and should never have happened. How will she ever look into his eyes and not picture him half-naked? Her mouth turned dry.

He nodded them, albeit a little self-consciously, before following Colt's directions. They were still staring at his retreating back long after he disappeared through the connecting door.

***

"Stop drooling; you look ridiculous," Adeline teased when she returned from her errand, and they snapped back to life.

The suit in the clothes bag on her arm and a pristine dress shirt on a hanger wasn't exactly Boss' usual style, and Colt didn't need to see the label to tell the items were damned expensive.

"If you can't appreciate the sculpted beauty of that man, Adeline, then you're definitely getting old," Elissa teased.

Her laughter relaxed her stern expression. Although middle-aged, Adeline was still a beautiful woman and likely to grow gracefully older without losing that vital spark of life, without which most older women turned into little old ladies long before their time. Tired of fighting and weary of living, they go through the motions and fade away.

***

Only Adeline noticed the minute frown, the instinctive tightening of Gillian's lips, and the wild expression of a tiger caught in a cage as her pupils contracted. Her disorientation, like that of someone unexpectedly struck by lightning from a clear blue sky, and Adeline's nimble mind effortlessly made the connection.

Oh no, how unfortunate.

Her gaze wandered to the hallway, and Elissa noticed her expression. She nodded subtly at the younger vampire, and Elissa's jaw clenched, her eyes turning stark before gentling to pity.

They didn't say anything but understood the terrible truth.