any of the overwhelming passion been hers? Or had he placed it in her mind, controlling her with it?
To this day, Jackie didn't know the answer to that question. All she knew was that vampires were a dangerous lot, able to subvert a mortal's will. And she'd spent years struggling to strengthen her mind against their abilities to read her thoughts, knowing the entire time that in the end, if they really wanted to, they would easily break down her defenses and not only read but control her mind. That knowledge made her instinctively fear them. Which, in turn, made her angry.
Bastien Argeneau was the only vampire Jackie had even come close to trusting since then. But then, he'd always treated her with gentle respect, and he was even now engaged to a mortal. Jackie really believed that he didn't look down on her people. She was less sure about the rest of his kind, however, so stayed on the defensive with them all. It just seemed the safest way to deal with things.
And, Jackie decided, she would continue to handle it thusly. She had to keep her defenses up, especially now that she was living in the same home as Vincent. She was not going to risk another humiliation like the one Cassius had visited on her. Jackie had to harden her heart against Vincent. It was a simple matter of self-preservation.
Chapter Four
Vincent roller over, opened his eyes and peered at the bedside clock, a frown drawing his eyebrows together as he saw the digital reading. Eleven, forty-eight. Dear God, it wasn't even noon. He usually slept until six or later to avoid as much sunlight as possible.
Eleven forty-nine. Vincent glowered at the changing digital reading. Something had obviously woken him. His sleepy mind was just trying to sort out what that might be when the sound of voices came muffled through his bedroom door. Frowning, he turned to peer toward it. It was two men's voices, growing louder as the speakers drew nearer. He tensed as they reached his door, then they apparently continued on down the hall because the voices began to fade again.
"What the hell?" Tossing his blankets and sheets aside, Vincent slid his feet out of bed and got up. He didn't bother dressing, but moved to the door and pulled it open to peer out, eyes widening at the sight of all the men moving in and out of the half dozen open doors off the hallway.
Leaving his room, Vincent started forward, glancing through each open door he passed. There was only one door on the upper floor that was still closed, the door to the room where his aunt Marguerite slept. Wondering how she could possibly sleep through all this racket, Vincent took the stairs, his thoughts scattering as he reached the main floor and found it flooded with light. Every window in the house was covered with a heavy protective curtain that kept the light out and made it safe for him to move around when necessary during the day. Presently, every one of those curtains appeared to have been pulled open to allow sunlight to spill across the hardwood floors.
Growling, Vincent headed for the kitchen, expecting to find Tiny there, but the man was conspicuous in his absence. Turning away from the empty kitchen, he started back up the hall, glancing in each room he passed, searching for Jackie and an explanation for the small army of men who had taken over his home. Vincent found both Jackie and Tiny in his office.
"Morning," Tiny rumbled on spotting him, then turned back to watch Jackie who was on the phone.
"I've already explained who I am. I'm Mr. Argeneau's new personal assistant and he asked me to call and have you send over this information. Just pull the files and fax the list to me." Jackie sounded impatient, apparently not appreciating the resistance she was getting from whomever she was talking to. Vincent watched her expression tighten as she listened for another moment, then Jackie clucked with irritation and snapped, "He's just walked into the office. Hold one moment, please."
Leaning forward, she pressed the button to put the call on hold and scowled at Vincent.
"Your production assistant is being difficult. Please tell her to fax over the list of employees on the New York production," she snapped, then pressed the hold button again and handed him the phone.
Vincent hesitated, not used to being ordered about, but then sighed and took the phone.