"Of course ." He kissed me again, and then he pulled back and his expression was guarded. "If she doesn't choose to sign, will it make a great difference to you?"
I touched his face and looked up into his silvery eyes. "Absolutely. It will be so over between us."
He frowned.
"I'm kidding," I said. "My parents will not be happy that I'm with a married man, but I can deal with whatever life throws at me. It's been one of those weeks that has made me reassess what's important in my life."
He squeezed my hand and then brought it to his lips. "I as well."
Then he let go of me with a smile, and I left the office to, I hoped, talk to Veronique and get this whole unfortunate situation sorted out.
Fortunately, she hadn't left the club yet. She stood near the bar speaking to Barry. Amy weeded her way past the crowded tables to come to my side. The music was currently
Nina Simone singing "Feeling Good." I hoped that was a good omen.
"That woman scares the crap out of me," she said, nodding in Veronique's direction.
"She's not that bad," I told her.
She raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised you would say that given who she is. I wouldn't want to meet any of Barry's ex-wives."
I turned to her. "Barry has ex-wives? Why didn't I know this?"
She nodded. "He's been married five times before. The man is a love magnet but he's all mine now."
"Right. And he still doesn't know about your crush on Thierry?"
"I thought we weren't going to talk about that anymore."
"Sorry."
"I mean, it's not exactly my fault that the man is a total dreamboat."
"Dreamboat?" I repeated. "Do people still say that?"
She crossed her arms and studied me from my black stilettos to my slightly poofier than normal hair. "You seem a lot better that you were. Are you, like, cured or something now?"
I told her about my little windfall. She was very happy for me, and some of the guilt and fear finally left her expression. I pulled the edge of my sweater down so she could see the necklace in place.
She shook her head. "Wow, I'm so happy for you, but that is seriously fugly."
I patted it gently. "I love it."
"Hey, guess what I heard?"
I kept an eye on Veronique. Whatever she was telling Barry caused him to glare in my direction every few seconds. Great. I guess it was obvious who was his favorite contestant in this fanged version of the Dating Game.
"It's about Gideon Chase," Amy continued. "You know he was killed slaying a freaking demon in Las Vegas, right? Can you believe it? That's why the El Diablo Casino burned to the ground."
"Coming through!" George slid past us carrying a tray heavily laden with drinks.
"Actually, I didn't know all the details," I said.
"The casino burned to the ground from hellfire. Hell-fire! How bizarre is that?"
"Hellfire. Huh." I was only half listening to her.
"That's what killed Gideon. Hellfire. Apparently it completely and totally incinerated his body. There was nothing left behind. It was a closed casket with only a picture and a pair of shoes inside."
Veronique pointed directly at me and Barry glowered. Damn. I wish my vampire hearing was better. I tried to pretend I wasn't paying attention, so I turned to Amy.
"So… this Gideon update. How did you hear this? Is it on the Vampire Hunters of
America website?"
"No. Actually Quinn called ten minutes ago. He wanted to talk to you but I knew you were busy."
"Quinn? He called here! That's the second time this week."
She nodded. "He also called to say he's getting married and he thinks he's coming back to
Toronto to do it since everyone else on the continent hates him or wants him dead. Those were his words. We're all invited to the wedding." She clapped her hands. "I love weddings!"
"Married?" That finally got my full attention. "Quinn's getting married? Quinn? To who?"
"That really nice girl who was your bodyguard. Janie." She touched her now-flaxen pixie cut. "She liked my pink hair."
Janie had been a liar, a double-crosser, and she'd tried to kill me by handing my ass over on a silver platter to her master vampire boss, Nicolai. Well, then she ended up saving me.
And now she was engaged to Quinn?
Three weeks. Seriously. Three weeks and Quinn had gotten over me that quickly?
I laughed out loud and shook my head. "Well, more power to him. I guess."
"Yeah, so he called and told me about his engagement, and about the Gideon thing. He thought you should know."
Gideon. If there was ever a name I never wanted to hear again of a man I'd never even had the displeasure to actually meet in real life, that was the one.
Buh-bye, Gideon, I thought. Can't say that I'll miss you.
Veronique leaned over and air kissed Barry on both his cheeks, then she swung her ermine stole over one shoulder and walked out of the club.
"Okay, thanks for the update," I said. "I've got to go convince Veronique that Thierry and
I belong together."