Well This Sucks - CoraLee June Page 0,84

visibility.

“Uh, who’s Graham?” I tried playing stupid.

“Okay, I’ll play along,” Lacey said, exasperated. “Graham is on the vampire council. He’s very powerful. Except for the king himself, Graham is probably one of the most powerful vampires alive today. And he’s fucking hot.”

Lacey babbled on excitedly about Graham for another minute or two. I tuned her out as I tried to figure out what the actual suck was happening here. Lacey knew who Graham was, and she knew Diego was the king. It might be really nice to have someone to confide in, and it would make getting time off easier, but the resentment in her tone wasn’t reassuring.

“I’m going to go introduce myself to him, maybe he can recommend me to be changed,” Lacey said, snapping me back to reality.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” I mumbled, but Lacey was already out the door to meet him.

I gathered my presentation materials before following after her, but I could hear Lacey gush over her guest. “It is an honor to have you here, sir. Can I get you anything? I don’t know if you remember me, but I let your second cousin’s date feed from me two summers ago.”

Graham smiled patronizingly at Lacey, like the Harvard educated woman standing in front of him was nothing but a cute poodle that peed herself from excitement. “I ate in the car ride over,” Graham replied while tilting his head to the side and smiling. I was surprised he didn’t reach out and pat Lacey on the head. I seriously needed to chat with my boss. There was no way in hell I’d let her go down this road. “I was actually stopping by to check on our newest recruit.”

Lacey nodded enthusiastically and turned to face me. “Drew!” she called. Her ringing voice echoed around me. Rocky crossed his arms over his chest.

“Want me to call Diego?” he asked.

“Already on it.”

While walking toward Graham and Lacey, I sent a mind message to Diego, feeling a bit awkward about the mental exchange. I hadn’t really attempted it since the ghosty blowie.

Graham showed up at my work.

“We love Drew. She’s my smartest employee. I taught her everything I know,” Lacey said.

“Lacey’s the best,” I agreed, mostly to placate my boss. “Actually, I think Graham would love to see the photos of you meeting Michelle Obama.” I forced the warmth of compulsion to wash over her. She tilted her head to the side, her pupils widening as she stared at me. “Why don’t you go get them from your house.”

Lacey started nodding frantically. “Just stay right here. I’ll go get it,” she replied in a robot voice. I breathed a sigh of relief as she turned away from us and walked toward the elevator. Lacey was safe for now, and I had a little bit of time to get rid of Graham.

“What are you doing here?” I asked through gritted teeth. I hadn’t seen Graham since my exam, and I wanted to yell, scream, or hit him. But we were in my place of business, and I had to maintain my composure.

“Well, you really sold this place at the council brunch. I figured I should at least come and check out all the amazing work you are doing,” Graham said casually. Rocky moved so that he was standing beside me, his hands clenched into tight fists at his side. He hadn’t forgotten about what Graham pulled at the exam either, and this time we were in a building with hundreds of humans.

“Drew, we are ready for you in here,” Aria said, popping her head out of the boardroom. “I’ll tell them five more minutes,” she said, sensing the tension between me and the two large men on either side of me. She ducked back into the meeting room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Shit, the presentation. Lacey was gone, and I had a vampire entourage. No biggie.

“Come on,” I said to Rocky and Graham. “You’re both coming with me.” I had no idea what Graham was up to, but I felt it was safer to bring him into the meeting where Rocky and I could keep an eye on him.

“Now, I can’t tell... Is that a request or a command?” Graham asked. I frowned. “This should be very enlightening,” Graham snickered.

I smoothed my suit jacket and tried to recall some of my earlier confidence. I put on my biggest smile and opened the door. Graham and Rocky followed me through and took the first open seats they could