But then she’d woken up and realized it was more than a dream. Still, she’d been tempted to let it continue. But Vincent had sensed the change in her awareness almost before she did, and he’d registered her surprised reaction. And, damn it, he’d stopped. Just once, she’d have liked him to be a jerk. He’d be so much easier to resist if he was a jerk.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” he assured her, zipping his bag and heading past her to the door. “You were dreaming—”
She thought he was going to let it go at that, but while he wasn’t a jerk, he was still Vincent.
“—of me,” he added, leaning down to whisper the words into her ear as he passed by, his breath warm, tickling as it brushed aside a few hairs that had escaped her braid.
Lana shivered. She’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted Vincent. She was a grown woman, twenty-nine years old, for God’s sake. Dave Harrington might have been her first, but he sure as hell hadn’t been her last. She’d had good lovers and bad, some tender, some . . . not. But she’d never experienced the kind of sheer, burning desire that she felt for Vincent.
She straightened, lifting her duffel as Jerry emerged from the adjoining room. He was wearing the same clothes he’d worn the day before, because he didn’t have anything else. Lana reminded herself to ask Vincent to stop somewhere so Jerry could shop. But despite the wrinkled and dirty clothing, Jerry looked fresher and more relaxed, and he’d obviously showered.
“Good evening, Lana.”
“Hey, Jerry. Did you sleep well?”
“I did, thank you.”
“Sorry about the lack of air conditioning. But at least there was a bed, huh?”
“Those things don’t matter. What matters is that for the first time in two years, I woke without fearing for my life.”
Lana looked at him in dismay.
“Vincent did that. I woke and I knew I was safe.” He gave her a smile tinged with sadness, then continued past her and out the door.
She stared after him. He was right. Vincent had done that. He’d freed Jerry from a very long life of horrible servitude. She sighed. The evidence was piling up, and it was confirming that Vincent wasn’t a jerk.
Man, she was so totally screwed.
Chapter Thirteen
“SO, JERRY,” VINCENT said as they drove away from the hotel, “what can you tell me about this Salvio Olivarez?”
“I think he was made vampire around the same time I was. He was a captain with the Mexican Federal Police before that.”
“What’s his so-called master’s name, do you know?”
“Domingo Poncio, but I don’t know if that’s his real name.”
“Probably not,” Vincent commented. “Those guys generally use street names. What does he do for the cartel?”
“He tortures people, and then kills them. For information mostly. Sometimes, he eliminates rivals, although not always. As least that’s what Salvio told me. But our conversations were short and rarely private. Usually only a few words exchanged when our masters were too busy with their own business to pay attention to us.”
“Does Poncio have an army? Guards of his own?” Lana asked.
“My impression was that he worked alone, except for Salvio, of course. Salvio is his favorite weapon.”
Vincent growled audibly.
“He must have security in place, though,” Lana said, glancing at Vincent. “I can’t believe we’ll find him sitting in his house all alone except for one vampire.”
“I agree,” Vincent said, just as his cell phone rang. Popping a Bluetooth receiver into his ear, he answered. “Yo, Michael.” He listened briefly, then said, “All right, we have a pickup to make first, but that should be finished by the time you get here. Call when you’re on the ground.” He listened some more, then nodded at whatever his lieutenant was saying. “See you soon.”
He disconnected and said, “Michael’s on his way with a couple of guys, but it doesn’t sound like we’re going to need him to deal with Poncio.”
“I still don’t think—” Lana objected.
“But . . .” Vincent continued, giving her a look that said he wasn’t finished. “We’ll scope out Poncio’s place, get the lay of the land, check out his security. If Jerry’s right and there’s no one but Salvio, we’ll go in. If we need reinforcements, we’ll wait ’til Mikey gets here.”