G."
* * *
"Charles!" Charles came trotting into Wlodek's study.
"Yes, Honored One?"
"Charles, get Susila on the phone," Wlodek was up and pacing behind his desk.
"Right away, sir."
"And Charles."
"Sir?"
"Pull out the records, all of them, on all the females, past and present, living and deceased."
"Of course, sir." Charles rushed away to do as he was bid.
* * *
"I'm sending you out of here tonight. You and Gavin. We don't need the authorities finding out the two of you didn't get questioned with the others, now do we?" Winkler was tossing clothing at me.
"Do I have time for a bath?"
"No!" Winkler and Davis exploded at the same time.
"Okay, okay, sheesh," I said, grabbing the underwear, bra, jeans and t-shirt Winkler had flung at me and running into the bathroom to get dressed. I barely had time to run a comb through my hair before he was rushing me out the door. He hadn't had any sleep at all, I knew, and it was the day after the full moon. No sense in trying to argue with him.
He and Davis practically tossed me into a security van. The vans didn't have windows on the sides and only two darkened ones in the back. Gavin sat on the middle seat with me, completely silent, his eyes hooded. I only looked at him briefly before turning away. I suppose I should have thanked him for digging the bullet out of me, but he'd started while I was still unconscious and I hadn't given him permission.
The driver had to make sure we weren't followed before driving us to the airport, and from there we were herded into the private jet, taking off in a matter of minutes. Todd was there to meet us in Corpus and dropped us off at the beach house. Gavin had the key so he let us both in. I hadn't even had time to eat that evening, so I went to the fridge, pulled out a bag of blood and took it to my bedroom.
I had a message on my cell when I remembered to turn it on—from Tony. I called him back.
"Hey, beautiful," he said, his voice all warm and sexy. I wasn't sure I was up to the sexy part.
"Hey, yourself," I said. "I just got back from Dallas and I'm a little pooped. What's up?"
"I just wanted to talk to you," he said. "Make sure we were still on for tomorrow night."
"We're still on unless something untoward happens."
"What might happen?"
"Well, you never know. A satellite could come hurtling in from space and crash into the house. Or a herd of wild bovines could come for dinner. You can't ever tell about these things."
"Wild bovines?"
"Maybe horses or goats, then."
"Lissa, you are truly unique. I'll see you at eight tomorrow."
"Sure thing. Bye."
I ended the call and tossed the phone onto the bed.
Chapter 12
Tony was waiting for me at the table we'd first shared when I made my way inside the bookstore. I was five minutes early, too. Didn't want him to have an anxiety attack. He was flipping through a magazine when I sat down, but closed it the minute I got there and gave me a beautiful smile. "So, what are we doing?" I asked. I had on the blue top and black slacks I'd worn to the basketball game, and my hair was held back with a clip.
"You look really nice," he complimented me.
"So do you. But you probably get that a lot," I said.
"Mostly from people I don't want to talk to," he agreed. "Let's go to Landry's; it's on Ocean Drive and we can see the water from our table." He stood and took my elbow.
"Are we taking yours or mine?" I asked. I'd borrowed the Cadillac again. Gavin had glared at me when I walked out the door, too. Winkler and the others had come in sometime during the day but they were resting. They hadn't had much sleep since the attack and were a little snarly as a result.
"Let's take mine, that way there's no argument over who's driving," Tony grinned, leading me toward his rental.
"Do you often have arguments over who's driving?" I asked as I slipped my seatbelt on.
"You have no idea. My dog wants to drive all the time. I tell him when he gets a car, he can drive."
"Does he have a license?"
"He's studying the manual."
"Sounds like an insurance nightmare." I settled back in my seat while Tony drove us out of the parking lot.
I ordered the least amount of food I could—a small salad and a bowl of gumbo, picking at it for the most part. What I enjoyed most was talking to Tony. He laughed. Actually laughed—a lot. It was heavenly to sit across from somebody who not only wanted to talk to me but wanted to see me smile and make me laugh, too. He tried to get me to order dessert but I refused. I was already going to have to bring up what I'd ingested, so I excused myself to go to the ladies' room and do just that. I had a small purse with me and there was a tiny bottle of mouthwash inside it just for situations such as this. Waiting until I was the only one inside the bathroom, I quickly brought up everything I'd eaten and flushed it away, rinsing my mouth with the mouthwash afterward. I felt better when I went back to the table. Tony had already paid the check, so we left.
We drove to one of the public beaches on Mustang Island. Tony had gotten a parking permit so we walked down the beach for a ways. I'd left my shoes in the car so I could feel the sand beneath my feet. Tony had jeans and athletic shoes on and went walking like that. After a while, his arm came around me and I didn't try to move away.
"How's your condo holding up?" I asked as we walked along. "Do you have cheese puffs between the sofa cushions yet?"
"How did you know about that?" he teased, squeezing my shoulder.
"It was either that or popcorn," I said. "Cheese puffs stain better. I've heard hotels and condos are asking for a deposit if you come in with a bag of cheese puffs."
"They should just buy furniture to match cheese puffs," he said in mock indignation.
"That's my general rule if you're going to eat spaghetti," I said. You have to wear something that matches the sauce you're about to eat. Red for marinara, cream for Alfredo."
"Why didn't I think of that?" he grinned.
"I'm thinking about writing a book. Don't steal my ideas."
"I'd rather steal this," he said, leaning down to kiss me. Okay, that was a little hot. As in, he's nibbling on my lower lip hot. And then giving me a little tongue and he tasted way too good for his own good. I had to push him away; my fangs were threatening to pop out.
"Sorry, I'm just not used to holding my breath that long," I apologized. I hadn't had that problem before, my fangs always behaved themselves. Always. Now, they wanted to nibble and nip on him. That couldn't be. Could never be.