intention of falling to any challenger. Not for a very long time.
His gaze strayed to the beautiful Layla. She could make a vampire’s life worth continuing. But only if he could get her to talk to him first. What was her problem anyway? She’d been gone more than ten years, had barely visited her parents, and then only in daytime so as to avoid him, he was certain. He hadn’t received a letter, or a postcard—not even in the first months after her departure when she might have written just to tell him to go fuck himself. In the deafening silence, he’d assumed with good reason that she’d moved past whatever feelings she’d had for him. It had scraped his ego some. He wasn’t usually forgotten that easily. But hadn’t he told himself that it was what he wanted for her? And really, there’d been nothing between them before that night. So why was she acting like he was the biggest villain in her life?
He shifted his gaze away from her, tuned back into the discussion, and finally said what he’d been thinking. “I think we agree on the basics. I’ll make the final decision in consultation with my commanders, including Layla Casales, whom I think you all know.” He glanced over with a smile for Layla, and she glared back at him. That was growing old.
“The detailed plan will be ready tomorrow night.” He stood, signaling that the meeting was over, then waited while there was a general shuffle toward the door, before saying, “Layla, could you hold back a moment, please?”
LAYLA FUMED PRIVATELY at the thinly veiled order for her to remain. It had been a while since she’d had a commanding officer, and she hadn’t missed it. But her father was watching, and he needed to know that she could do his job while he was gone. Otherwise, he wouldn’t go. His devotion to Xavier was that strong. So she kissed him on the cheek and said, “I’ll be up in a minute, Papa. We’ll brainstorm all of this before morning.”
He hugged her, then gave Xavier a respectful nod and walked out with Danilo, his new lieutenant who had skill and determination, but not a lot of experience. The younger woman had spoken little during the discussions, but she’d listened to everything and had taken more than a few notes. It was the right thing for a junior officer to do, and Layla had been impressed. She’d been impressed in an entirely different way to discover that Danilo was older than she looked. She’d served in both Iraq and Afghanistan with Spain’s UN forces, and was fluent in Arabic, German, and English, in addition to her native Spanish. The language skills might not be necessary to her job at the Fortalesa, but the English was handy, and linguistic ability spoke to a sharp mind and a receptive intellect. In fact, if Danilo ever tired of working for vampires, Layla would happily recruit her for her own team.
“Would you like a drink?”
She managed not to startle visibly at the question. She hadn’t forgotten he was there. He was far too dangerous for that. It was just his voice. It was . . . hypnotic. As deep and smooth as the best whiskey ever made, it was pure seduction. Pure fucking lies, she reminded herself bitterly.
“No thank you,” she told him. “What’s this about?”
He tsked softly and strolled past her to the door. She laid a hand on her sidearm, watching with suspicious eyes as he closed the door and walked behind his desk. He didn’t sit, but stood there with both hands raised, palm out, and smirked. “Just closing the door, cariño.”
She stared at him. Cariño? Oh, hell no. He’d lost the right to call her that a long time ago. But if they waded into that fucking mess, they’d be there all night. “Why close the door?” she demanded.
His dark eyebrows rose. “For privacy, of course. Some things—”
“We don’t need privacy for any things.” She would have stormed out, but his next words stopped her.
“Why are you so angry, Layla?”
She turned to stare at him in disbelief. He was serious. “Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged gracefully. “Not unless I misunderstand the American phrase.”
“If you don’t know, then . . . ” Then what? she asked herself. She wasn’t about to bare her soul and tell him the truth. It was bad enough that she’d trusted him when she’d been young and stupid. She wasn’t going