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Theo was behind the bar talking to the bartender with an electronic tablet in his hand. “Hey, Theo,” I said, walking up to the bar with Parker.
“Hey, how are you, Rocky?” He looked to my right. “Face, how’s it going?” They shook hands.
“Can we use your office?” I asked.
He fished a key from his pocket and handed it to me. “Help yourself.”
I held up the key. “Thanks.”
Parker chuckled and said, “Come here often?”
I shrugged as we reached the door and I put the key in the lock. “I told you, he lets me meet clients here sometimes. I throw him a few bucks and he’s good with it.” We went inside and I closed and locked the door behind us. “I can’t very well conduct business at my apartment.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Are you crazy? I don’t need these whackos knowing where I live.”
He shook his head with a smile. “Paranoid, much?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” I said, nodding. “I don’t have a bunch of big, strapping men to guard me while I work.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Cute. But you’re a vampire. Aren’t most of your ‘clients’ humans?”
“It’s about fifty-fifty.”
His beautiful lips tipped up in a grin. “Haven’t you learned how to defend yourself? Do you work out?” Then, he leaned forward and used vampire speed to flick the hood off my head. “Don’t make me do that again.”
I ignored the thrill that gave me and resisted the urge to pull my hair in front of my face. “I don’t have time to work out, nor do I like the stares I get when I do. I took some self-defense classes when I was human, don’t really remember them, though. I’ve never had to get physical with someone.”
He lifted an eyebrow and his lips twitched. “Is that so?”
The sexual suggestion wasn’t lost on me, and I felt my cheeks flush. “No.”
“Not in thirty years, you’ve never had a scuffle with anyone? Been threatened by hunters? Nothing?”
I shook my head. “No, I stay inside, period. In fact, this past month is the most socializing I’ve done in probably a decade.”
He nodded and was quiet for a minute. “Devon, are you happy living like that? Are you content and satisfied with your life?”
Of course I wasn’t. I hated the isolation, but I hated the way people in public treated me more. So I was stuck. I simply replied, “What did you want to meet me about?”
He sighed at my non-answer, and said, “Feds want to talk to you.”
My eyes widened. “What? You told them about me? Why?”
“What’s the problem? You said you wanted to help. Weren’t you planning on sending those cloned pages to them?”
“Yes, but anonymously! The last thing I need is the feds being onto me.”
He blew out a breath. “You are paranoid. You can talk to them and not give them your real name. Either way, it would be the right thing to do. Tell them what you know.”
“I don’t know any more than you do, so why can’t you just tell them?” I asked, holding back a whine. “I don’t exactly run a legal business here, you know.”
“I already did, but they want those files and for you to tell them everything you know about these vamps.”
The thought of talking to the feds made my stomach churn. “How about I give you the info and you can pass it along.”
“I don’t like it. You should do it,” he replied.
