“All right, well how do I—? Damn it, I need my computer. Can we return to the modern age now?”
Vincent laughed, then stood and held out his hand. “Come on, we’ll go back to my office.”
Lana ignored his hand. She didn’t need help standing, for God’s sake. She crossed back to his office, feeling his presence behind her again. She was much too aware of him, and he was much too intent on making her feel that way. If they were going to travel around Mexico together, she’d have to figure out a way to deal with that.
Going directly to her laptop, she pulled up a map of Mexico, zeroing in on Pénjamo. Fuck. It was a good thousand miles from Hermosillo. A long drive. Especially with Vincent sitting right next to her.
“That’s a long drive,” she observed out loud, testing the waters.
“Especially for a woman alone,” Vincent commented.
“I could fly.”
“We could,” he said agreeably.
She looked up to find him giving her a knowing grin.
“Raphael wants me along when you find Xuan Ignacio. Deny it all you want, but I know Raphael’s your client, and you told me you like your clients happy. So, it looks like we’re going to Pénjamo, querida. But I’d rather drive.” He winked at her.
Lana gritted her teeth. With every minute she spent in Vincent’s company, her attraction to him seemed to grow. He was like one of those oozing fungi in a monster movie that started out small, but eventually ate you up whole.
“You’re probably pretty busy here,” she objected. She might need his help, but she didn’t have to admit it too easily. His ego was big enough. “I’d understand if you couldn’t leave right away. I thought I’d locate Ignacio first, then—”
“Being the boss does have it benefits, and I’d hate to disappoint the big guy.”
He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. What a shock. All right, then, she’d suck it up. “You up for road trip?” she asked.
Vincent’s grin widened. “Why, Lana, I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Three
“I DON’T LIKE YOU going off like this, jefe,” Michael said the next night as he followed Vincent down to the private garage below his residence, where their personal vehicles were parked. In Vincent’s case, he had two. The first was a Venom Black, 2014 Viper TA, but that wouldn’t do for a trip across the Mexican desert. So he headed for the second vehicle, which was also black, but much more substantial. It was a Suburban SUV, with black-tinted and bulletproof windows all around, and a body that was armored right down to and including the undercarriage. Vincent was a powerful vampire, but even the strongest of them could be taken down by enough bullets. A wooden stake might be the traditional method of execution, but anything that tore a vamp’s heart apart worked just as well.
“You’re just jealous that you’re not coming with me,” Vincent told his lieutenant as he pulled open the back hatch and threw his duffel into the cargo space.
“Fucking A,” Michael agreed. “Why is that anyway? Who’s going to watch your back?”
“Lana appears to be quite capable.”
“Lana would just as soon stick a stake in you.”
Vincent slammed the hatch shut and turned with a grin. “You think so? I think she’s quite taken with me.”
“You’re delusional.”
“So you don’t think I’m irresistible?”
Michael snorted. “Seriously, jefe, why do I have to stay here?”
Vincent stopped and faced him directly. “Because I don’t want it to be obvious that I’m gone. This is for Raphael. Do you understand what that means? I’m doing a favor for a rival vampire lord. And if that’s not enough of a reason to keep this mission on the down low, there’s also Enrique’s role in whatever went down in Acuña. It can’t be a coincidence that Raphael’s request shows up two weeks after someone tries to kill him with Enrique’s help. And who the hell is Xuan Ignacio that Raphael wants him so bad?”
“Fuck me,” Michael swore. “You need someone at your back.”
“What I need is for you to put pressure on your sources, find out what happened to Raphael’s sister. Is she dead? I need to know.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I find something, but, Sire—” He waited until his use of the honorific drew Vincent’s focused attention. “—do not go to Mexico City without me. No joke.”
Vincent nodded. They both knew that there could only be one reason he’d go to Mexico City—to challenge Enrique for the territory. The confrontation was inevitable and had been for a long time. The two vampires had been dancing around it, neither sufficiently motivated to upset the status quo. It was only a matter of lighting the right match. And if Enrique found out Vincent was running all over Mexico at Raphael’s request, it might just be the spark that lit the fire.