“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Takata. I’m Tyler Gabriel, and this is my Vital, Evelyn Maynard.”
A spark of recognition entered Mr. Takata’s expression, but he quickly hid it behind a warm, polite smile.
I thought back to the months my mother and I had spent in Japan and greeted them in their own language. They both looked pleasantly surprised. Mrs. Takata immediately started talking to me, explaining that she didn’t speak much English and had been unable to chat with almost anyone. I apologized for how rusty my Japanese was, but we managed to carry a short conversation while Tyler asked Mr. Takata some seemingly innocuous questions.
As they moved off, I seized the opportunity to take a little break.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I whispered to Tyler.
“No problem.” He smiled and grabbed my hand. We stood together for just a moment, and I gave him a good dose of Light, making sure he would have enough until I returned.
As I headed across the foyer, Alec silently fell in at my side.
“You know, you can’t go into the ladies room with me,” I teased, not even looking at him.
He scoffed. “I take my job very seriously.”
At that I did turn to look at him, my eyebrows raised. Was he being serious? We couldn’t just clear out the ladies room so I could pee. But then he smirked, the glint in his eyes telling me he was teasing, and I slapped him lightly on the stomach. He wasn’t in a bulletproof vest, but it still felt as if I were hitting steel.
He positioned himself right outside the door. Just as I entered, he lifted his sleeve to his lips, murmuring something I couldn’t hear without taking his eyes off me.
Only two other women were in there, and I didn’t have to wait for a stall, so I finished in no time, fixed up my makeup, and headed back out.
I walked straight past Alec—I couldn’t resist provoking him a little. As we were about to enter the main room again, his warm hand wrapped gently but firmly around my elbow and pulled me to the side.
“What are you doing?” I asked. My instincts weren’t telling me yet that Tyler needed more Light, but I still wanted to be there for him.
“Just following orders from my superior” was Alec’s cryptic answer, but his lips twitched, and his voice had turned to honey—the professional, neutral tone gone. It sent shivers of anticipation down my spine, and I let him lead me into a side room that shared a wall with the main function area.
An oval table in the center of the room looked as if it could seat about a dozen people, but at the moment there was only one. Tyler was leaning on the table, his legs crossed at the ankles, his suit jacket hanging over the back of a chair. He looked so fucking sexy in the vest as he rolled his sleeves up and looked at me sideways, as if he were preparing to get his hands dirty.
My breath quickened and I swallowed. “Your superior, eh?” I had no idea why they’d dragged me into this abandoned, dark room—the city lights behind Tyler were the only illumination, casting his face in shadow—but I could take a guess.
“Yes.” I could feel Alec’s heat at my back. “Tyler is my superior . . . technically. I was following his orders to bring you here.”
“Good work, Alec.” Tyler’s voice was pitched low, and it was doing things to me . . . also somewhere low.
Alec wasn’t touching me, and I leaned into him, hoping to get a reaction. But Tyler issued another order.
“Bring her to me.”
Alec wrapped an arm around my middle and slowly walked me forward until we were inches away from Tyler.
“You’ve been exceptional tonight, Evelyn,” he whispered, leaning in. My lips parted. “I know this has been a little boring for you, so I thought we might reward you with a little break.”
He didn’t wait for my response before crushing his lips to mine, pushing his tongue right into my mouth. I moaned and lifted my hands to his neck, returning the kiss eagerly. Alec remained mostly still, but his chest rose and lowered a little faster against my back, his breath tickling my neck.
Just as suddenly as he’d initiated the kiss, Tyler broke it. He stood up to his full height and removed my arms from around