"Because it was."
"Ah." Dante's lips twitched with a flare of wicked amusement. "I think I know what has you in such a twit. You're jealous."
She slapped her hands on her hips. Well, duh. Of course she was jealous. Sasha might be dead, but she was still disgustingly beautiful and drenched with the smoldering passion that made men drool.
More importantly, she had managed to ensnare Dante with her seductive skills. Or perhaps it was the chains, a nasty voice whispered in the back of her mind.
In any event, she had possessed what Abby had lusted after for months.
Of course she was damn well jealous.
Not that she was about to admit as much. She did have her pride. For whatever that was worth.
"Get over yourself, Dante. My only concern is knowing how many other ex-girlfriends might leap out of the woodwork. Things are bad enough without vindictive women stalking you."
He reached up to trace her lips with the tip of his finger, "You're a terrible liar, lover."
She instinctively stepped from the distracting touch. "Didn't we come here to find Viper?"
"Someday soon, Abby, we're going to have a long conversation. It should be quite interesting," he said softly. "Until then, you're right, we should be finding Viper and getting the hell out of here."
Despite a rather childish desire to linger and enjoy the sight of Abby's unmistakable fit of jealousy, Dante firmly took her arm to lead her toward the back of the room. Not only was this no place for an innocent, but he also possessed more than one disgruntled former lover, not to mention the numerous demons who harbored the annoying opinion that he owed them money.
The sooner he could get the keys to Viper's car, the better.
Stepping into a shadowed alcove, Dante paused to glance into the long hallway beyond. He was thankful that most of the doors were closed and that none of the perverse pleasures that Viper offered his customers could be readily detected. He was even more thankful to discover Viper leaning casually against the wall.
At least he wouldn't have to drag Abby through the lowest dregs of debauchery.
"There he is," he murmured, turning to place his hands on Abby's shoulders. "Wait right here. I'll only be a minute."
Her eyes widened as she glanced uneasily over her shoulder. "What if one of your friends gets hungry?"
"I will kill them," he promised with stark sincerity. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Her gaze returned to meet his determined expression before she gave a slow nod. "Okay, but hurry."
"I will." Brushing his lips over her forehead, Dante turned and made his way toward his friend. Stopping at Viper's side, he waited until the vampire turned to regard him with a lift of his brow. "Viper, a moment please."
Flicking a glance toward the waiting Abby, Viper pushed away from the wall and folded his arms over his chest.
"I wish you would make up your mind, Dante. First you insist that your beauty be protected from my wicked clientele, and now you parade her about like a tempting fruit. Unless you desire a riot, I would suggest you take her out of here."
"Things have changed," Dante retorted, swiftly revealing the latest attack upon Abby in clipped tones.
A growing frown marred Viper's brow as he listened in silence. When Dante at last finished, he breathed out a furious curse. "Who would dare loosen such a creature?"
"A reckless fool."
"A human, no doubt," Viper gritted, never one to hide his disdain for mortals.
Dante shrugged. For the moment he didn't have the luxury of time to ponder who might be behind the attack.
"Perhaps. At the moment my only concern is keeping Abby safe."
Viper narrowed his gaze. "A worthy task; however, I hope that you have a miracle or two tucked up your sleeve, Dante. At the moment your companion is the Holy Grail for every creature in the underworld."
A miracle? Dante smiled wryly. The closest to a miracle he had was the fact that Abby was still alive and he hadn't yet ended up on the wrong end of a stake.