Page 64 of Dark Lover

“Yes, some do.”

“What do you expect me to do for you, Hemmer? Other than to do you, which I won’t, actually, good girl that I am.”

He chuckled as they stepped into the large marble foyer where he’d held the previous evening’s party; a handful of liveried servants immediately materialized. “I fully expect you to change your mind. I’m a very patient man and I can wait, Samantha.”

“It’s Sam.”

He darkened again. “I so dislike nicknames.”

“I so dislike demons and their offspring, full-blooded or not. In fact, I dislike evil, period, no matter the shape, form, gender or DOB.”

He faced her. “You’re not afraid of me. That will change.”

Sam shrugged. “Hope’s a wonderful thing.”

“But the lack of respect, well, that does bother me. I admit it. I look forward to changing that myself…tonight.”

Sam wondered what ugly tricks he had up his sleeve. She wasn’t afraid. Hemmer was repulsive. The world would be a better place without him. She decided then and there to be the one to do the world a favor, when the time was right. Now she needed to know how he intended to use the DVD, and who his otherworldly connection was. “So let’s cut all the crap, Hemmer. What do you want?”

“You know what I want.” He led her across the room.

She kept step with him, waiting.

“I want my property back.”

Sam laughed at him. “Maclean won’t hand the page over to me—and if he did, I’d give it right to my boss!”

“Ah yes, the legendary Nick Forrester.”

Sam followed him to the back of the apartment, where the elevators and the vault were. He continued on into the media room. “How do you know Nick?” She was dismayed. Hemmer not only shouldn’t know Nick, he shouldn’t be aware of CDA’s existence.

He gave her a dismissive look. “I’m not a fool. Forrester has been hunting the dark side for decades. We have some common interests.”

“Like the page?”

“Actually, yes, but that wasn’t what I was thinking of.”

“So what do you intend? To hand a copy of the tape over to Nick? He won’t care. More importantly, I won’t care.”

He paused before the entertainment center and smiled at her. “I do my homework, Samantha, before I ever begin negotiations. How else would I have acquired my billions?”

“And that means…?”

“It means I know that you wouldn’t care if your sex tape was on every movie screen in America.”

This was not going well, Sam thought. “So blackmail is out.”

“Actually, blackmail can be so effective, if done right.”

She shivered. “And you will blackmail me…how?”

“Get me the page or I will torture Maclean—and enjoy every moment.” And his eyes blazed.

Sam went still. She’d been outplayed. The DVD had been a diversion. He knew too much about her and her feelings if he’d use Maclean to threaten her. But of course he did. They’d made love on that tape and he’d seen it. She fought the sudden dismay. Ian couldn’t withstand torture. She simply knew it. He’d been through enough.

But Maclean had white power, even if he didn’t use it very often. She knew he was powerful—she felt it every time he was present. So the question was, how much evil had Hemmer acquired? What could he do, exactly? And was Ian powerful enough to thwart him? “If push comes to shove, I have a feeling Maclean will eat you up and spit you out in indigestible lumps.”

“And you will watch,” he added softly. “I will torture him until he sobs like a little boy and begs for mercy like the coward that he is. Once he’s broken all over again, I can think of numerous ways to add to my power while adding to his humiliation.”