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“I’m not in good with him,” I argue, taking a bite of my own. “We’re just in a mutually beneficial business deal together. I can’t help anyone with favors.”

“That’s what you’ll have to tell them,” says Jade. “Or you’ll never get rid of them. They came out of the woodwork when I was together with Gaspard, and he’s only the Lieutenant.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s the right-hand man of your Julian,” she tells me.

“Not my Julian,” I mutter.

Jade ignores me and continues, “He takes care of all the dirty details. I don’t know what those details are, since he never told me specifics, but I know that he wouldn’t get in until early in the morning, and sometimes he had to wash to wash blood off his clothes.”

I shiver a little. It’s a reminder that I’m getting into bed with dangerous people. But what choice do I have? Colton is worse.

Jade cleans out her takeout box and then rises. “Well, I’ve got to get going. Call time’s soon, and I want to beat traffic there. I just wanted to see you and make sure that we’re all good.” She looks a little vulnerable for a moment. “We are, right?”

I stand and give her a hug. “Definitely good. I just needed a little space. But I’m glad you came over and cleared the air. I’m going to need you to navigate all this craziness.”

Jade hugs me back. “Aw, you’ll make me blush. I’m always here for you, sweetie. No matter how many evil exes or psycho vampires get thrown in the mix. You just have to call me, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree, so thankful for her friendship. I seriously don’t know what I would do without her. Then I remember something from the night before. “Oh, and Jade? Gaspard wants you to call him.”

She makes a face at my words. “Ugh. I guess I do owe him a call. Thanks for passing on the message.” After some quick goodbyes, Jade leaves my apartment, and I settle back onto my futon with my food and phone. It’s good to have a friend.

∆∆∆

THE NEXT MORNING, I GET ready to go to rehearsal and wait patiently for my new bodyguard to show up. This’ll be good. I’ll have someone to keep a buffer between Colton and me, and I’ll only have to see Julian once a week. My mind goes back to his words about feeding more often for pleasure and blush. The feeding certainly isn’t something I mind. After the initial pain, it felt so good. But I need to set boundaries to stop myself from falling for the mercurial crime lord, and seeing him only once a week seems like a good start.

There’s a knock at the door, and I shove my phone in my pocket before looking out the peephole. My heart stops. There, in the shaded stairwell leading to my apartment, is Julian, a folder in his hand.

I gulp. So much for once a week.

Chapter 9

Julian

My grin widens as the door opens. Andi stands in the doorway, hair up in a practical bun, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. They’re a little baggy on her, like the dress was, and that just solidifies my theory that she must have lost weight as a result of stress. No matter. That’s over now that she is under my protection.

“W-what are you doing here?” she stutters, obviously at a loss for words.

“Your bodyguard, reporting for duty, ma souris,” I tell her, watching her eyes widen. Oh, this is fun.

“My bodyguard?” she asks incredulously. “B-but, you’re . . . well, you. You’re the one in charge. Surely you have better things to do than watch me go back and forth from rehearsals and performances all day.”

“My organization runs itself, for the most part,” I say, ducking my head down so that I can look into her living space. “And they have my number, if they need anything from me that they can’t do themselves.”

I’m not impressed by what I see. I’ve seen huts in medieval Europe more comfortable than her lodgings. It’s like a tomb, with no windows, an unfinished ceiling, and a cement floor. A broken-down looking futon rests against one wall, and a handful of boxes are scattered about. It looks like she hasn’t even bothered unpacking most of her things.

“I don’t want to be a bother,” Andi is saying, oblivious to my judgment of her home.

“You aren’t a bother, ma souris. You are an entertainment. I will enjoy myself watching you, I’m sure.” It’s true. The reason I am here, as opposed to another of my bodyguards, is that I was bored yesterday. After the interest of her visit and the interaction I had with her, my normal routine started to chafe. Numbers and reports were followed by similar numbers and reports. I found that I missed being out in the field, being the warrior I once was. This would be an opportunity to revisit that past, at least for a while. No, that’s not entirely true. I also want to see if she can keep being interesting and shake off my ennui, at least for a little while. How long will it take before I am tired of her, I wonder? Every novelty eventually loses its sparkle, after all. But nothing has sparkled for me in so long that I would be a fool not to take this opportunity to feel alive again.

“Surely, though, you have more interesting things to do than just watch me. I won’t even be able to interact with you most of the day. I have rehearsals, then I nap, then I have my shows. It’s all very boring, I assure you.”

My lips quirk, and my eyes stray away from her terrible apartment, back to the woman in front of me. “Andi, it almost sounds like you are not happy to see me.”

Her eyes go panicked for a moment. “No! No, that’s not what I meant . . . I just meant, well . . .”

“Perhaps,” I tell her, “you may explain what you meant in the car? According to the schedule you sent Gaspard, your rehearsal is soon. I assume you don’t want to be late?”