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"Ah" The corners of Carlos’s mouth tilted up "So is this hi one" Of all the Vaenda The fact that he was correct justher crazy Since her attack, she had every reason to hate vampires The damned monsters deserved to be hated It was like they’d stripped her hu but a food source And when they’d taken over hersquashed So how the hell could she find Ian so attractive?

For a second, she’d thought heher mind But she’d never felt the jab of cold air on her brow Nor had she heard his voice in her head No, her attraction was real Crazy, but real

Any man would be blessed and honored to receive yer love Her heart had almost stopped when he’d said that It was the loveliest thing anyone had ever told her It made her feel attractive and worthy I am worthy to be loved

The way he had looked at her, like he was reaching deep inside her, had made her painfully aware of an eerous And beautiful

"Menina, it seeoing to let hi to hih I suppose he does explain that mushy look on your face"

"Excuseto this new job of yours You’re paid to protect the Vamps, yes?"

"Yes I took a vow to protect them"

"But at the sa the truth about vampires Seems to me, if you expose the secret about va your vow to protect theht about that You see, if we just let a lawyer or a psychiatrist know the truth, then they’ll be bound by client confidentiality So they’ll know Bri isn’t crazy, but at the same time, they won’t be able to expose the Vamps and hurt theood one"

"The probleht about taking photos of them in their death-sleep, but they look totally normal"

"Like they’re asleep?" Carlos asked

"Exactly Well, Dougal looks kinda dead, ’cause he sleeps in a coffin, but even so, it would just look like a photo of a dead guy And people die all the time It’s hardly revolutionary I looked in their library--"

"They have a library? They’re not in a dark, glooraveyard?"

"No, they have a luxurious townhouse Five floors of beautiful antiques and artwork You wouldn’t believe the canopy bed I’ainst his broad chest "It sounds fabulous When can I see it?"

"I can’t sneak you in past the surveillance cairlfriend So what’s the story with Sabrina?"

"Her aunt and uncle checked her out of the hospital and took her to their house in Westchester Uncle Joe’s a psychiatrist, and he says she’s suffering from severe psychosis He won’t let me talk to her"

Carlos frowned "What do you know about this aunt and uncle?"

"Not much They never showed much interest in Bri before now"

"Yes, but she stands to inherit a lot of hty-five million"

Carlos’s eyes widened "I had no idea it was so much!"

"Well, she doesn’t advertise it, for obvious reasons Her parents didn’t want her to become a useless trust fund baby, so they stipulated in their will that she had to graduate froe before she could inherit the whole a a yearly allowance since she was fourteen"

"And when does she graduate?"

"Next spring Well, actually, it’ll be longer than that ’cause she’s getting incompletes this semester"

Carlos stood and paced across the floor "She could be in serious trouble"

Toni sed hard "I was afraid of that"

"I need all the information you have on the aunt and uncle"

"This is it" Toni handed him the pink fuzzy address book "Their last nae, then folded it "I’ll check them out, especially their financial records"

"Hoill you do that?"

He slipped the paper into a pocket of his tight leather pants "I have a computer"

"So do I, but I wouldn’t kno to check on someone"

"No offense, love, but it took you hed It was true She was totally inept when it cay She’d lived her first thirteen years at her grandmother’s house in rural Alabama, where their one phone had a rotary dial and their one television had four channels and no re and handed hirinned "You don’t want to rock the boys?"

"No, I’ll leave that to you I need so lessloud, please"

"No proble were you planning to stay here?"

"About half an hour I need to pack some ht back" Carlos slipped out the kitchen