“I am inherently skeptical. It comes with the territory of my job. I negotiate these finer details of peace, but I don’t trust they will always be accepted and adhered to.”

“It is your job to extend trust,” she scolded him. “It is Danton and his crew’s job to bring attention to those who renege on the treaties we set in place.”

“Perhaps it’s time I changed jobs then,” he said softly. “I find I am not as optimistic as I once was…or as I should be.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” she replied with a concerned frown. “You are a valuable asset to our team of negotiators, Rafe.”

“I know,” he said, trying on a supportive smile. “But perhaps I will be of better use to you elsewhere.”

“No. You do not need to have faith that the laws will be upheld in order to do your job well. You need only to enjoy the negotiation and the win,” she said.

“I do enjoy that,” he admitted. “I love to argue. I love the victory of winning an argument. But I have little passion for who I am arguing with and still less faith in them. I think that’s important.”

“How long have you been feeling like this? Why haven’t you said anything to me before?”

“I guess I had not realized the depth at which it was concerning me until just now. Suddenly voicing it makes it feel all the more true and real.” He reached out and took her hand. He kissed her knuckles warmly and with intensity. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you hanging. I won’t leave until after the treaty is signed by all of the vampire principalities.”

“We grow closer every day. The ceremony is mere days away. Princes from all over the world will be arriving shortly. I will need you more than ever.”

“I will be here,” he promised with a smile. “There is one other thing I need to report before going to bed tonight.” He responded to her cocked brow by giving her a very detailed accounting of the attack on him. With each word her frown grew deeper and her eyes grew stormier. Simone always took sycophant attacks personally.

“Do you think you were singled out on purpose?” she asked.

“No. I’m pretty sure it was just a stray.”

“Even so you’d have thought he would have sensed your power and left you alone.”

“He was pretty powerful himself. Perhaps he was just cocky. Anyway, he’s been dealt with, but I thought you should know.”

“Thank you, yes. I am glad you told me.”

“Now, as much as I love to spend time with you, I think I should be going. We’ll talk more tomorrow, all right?”

“All right. We’ll take a meeting first thing. I don’t have my calendar, but call Darcy. She will fit you in.”

“I’ll make sure of it. We have to review some of the arrangements for the summit as well. We have a meeting in the afternoon with Aarón and the security forces. We have a few things to go over still.”

“Double-checking as always,” she said, giving him a fond smile. “What would I do without you?”

“You’ll never be without me. I will always serve you in one capacity or another, my queen. Be assured of that. I am wholly devoted to you.”

“Thank you for that, Rafe. It means a great deal to me. I will see you tomorrow.”

Rafe moved forward and kissed her on her cheek, and then he left her apartment.

He lived only a floor below her, his own apartment taking up the full northeast corner of the building. During the morning the sun would shine so brightly it was energizing and delightful. But tomorrow promised to be overcast and snowing. Tomorrow he would be looking down on a winter cityscape. For now, he went to bed.

He lay there for quite a while, gazing up into the darkness of his bedroom, thinking of many things. But his last thought before falling asleep was of a petite blonde with bright eyes and a keen sense of the world. Before he fell asleep he knew he would be finding her tomorrow.

Chapter 5

It was the ringing phone that roused Renee from the deepest slumber of her life. She sat up in bed, wholly disoriented, as the phone continued to ring. The covers were tangled about her legs, and the first thing she noticed was that she had fallen asleep in her T-shirt and underwear. The next thing she noticed was a pervading weakness that seemed to be riding down the length of her body. She was tired even though she had apparently slept quite deeply. Perhaps, she thought, she was coming down with something.

She struggled out of bed and managed to catch her cellphone before it went to voicemail.

“Hello?”

“OMG hello! You never called me to tell me you got in safe last night! I’ve been calling and texting for hours! I even banged on your door! Didn’t you hear me? I was about to call the cops!”

“Hi, Em,” she said, sighing as she settled down on a barstool at her kitchen counter. She really needed to sit down. Emily was lucky she’d even woken up. She tipped her phone and glanced at it, seeing the string of messages from Emily. She didn’t read them since Emily was right there on the line.

“ ‘Hi, Em,’ she says.” Emily squeaked, “I’ve been worried sick.”

“I’m sorry, Em. I don’t know what happened. I must have been so tired I forgot to call. But you know I can take care of myself.”

“You’re not naked with him are you? He was hot. That picture you sent me…he was smoking. Is he Latin? He looks Latin.”

“He’s Portuguese.”

“How’s his English? Wait. Scratch that. How’s his French?”

“Em!”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t kiss him! Or did you kiss him a lot? Is he still there?”

“He is not still here,” she said with a laugh. “You know I don’t sleep with a guy on a first date.”

“There are exceptions to every rule. For instance, the rule where you’d never go out with a complete stranger.”

Yes, well, she had definitely broken that rule last night, Renee conceded.

“His French is…”

She thought back to their kiss good night. She remembered the heat of it. The depth. The way she had melted against him. She remembered the warm slip of his tongue against hers and how it had stimulated every last living cell in her body. But that was all she remembered. After that she had nothing. She didn’t remember saying goodbye. She didn’t remember going up the stairs to her apartment and she didn’t remember going to bed or why she had gone to sleep without putting on her pajamas first.