“Let go, Jerry.” I wiggled my fingers. “Seriously. Do you keep track of all the other vampires you've turned during your long and not so illustrious career? Heard from Katie lately?” Oh, boy. Call nine one one. Blade was going to blow. Mr. Wonderful had made a few mistakes in the past. I hadn't been the first woman he'd turned. Or the first one to decide he wasn't her lord and master.
“Leave Kaitlyn out of this.” At least he finally let go of my hand.
I could see his struggle to contain his anger. If I had any sense, I wouldn't goad him. But I was sick of being sensible, sick of being controlled. I mean, he'd interrupted me in bed with another guy. It doesn't get any worse than that. If that made me an ungrateful bitch, so be it.
“Katie seems to have figured out how to be free of your control. Maybe I should give her a call. You got her number?” I whipped my cell phone out of my purse.
“Damn it, Gloriana. Why do you fight me?” He crushed me in his arms, purse, cell phone and all.
I felt the scratchy wool of the plaid tossed over his shoulder against my cheek and voted against an undignified struggle to put distance between us. Forget getting away from
that
iron grip.
“Give it up, Jerry. You can't keep me safe. You can't control me or every nutcase out to stake a vampire. Not and leave me any kind of life of my own.” I looked up and met his gaze. “And, news flash, Jerry, I'm going to have a life of my own.” Why did I waste my breath? I'd have as much luck convincing Valdez to eat Alpo. I pushed.
Blade was stony faced. But he did let me go.
I wrenched open the door. And came face-to-face with a white-haired vampire carrying a hot pink Kate Spade purse.
Eight
"You!” I grabbed his shirt and jerked him into the apartment.
“What the hell?” I swear he started to cross himself.
“I know this purse. It belongs to Florence.”
“Is Florence here? Do I have the right apartment?” He looked down at the purse. “I'm just returning this.”
“Who's this?” Blade was fingering his broadsword again.
The vampire stiffened. He was a pretty tough looking dude. I never could have pulled him inside without the element of surprise.
“I could ask the same. I'm looking for Florence da Vinci. Is this the right apartment or not?”
“She lives here. What's it to you?” Maybe I was crazy, but I got up in tough dude's face. This jackass had been going around snacking on students without taking the proper precautions. He narrowed his gaze on me. Another mind reader. Why was I not surprised? Everyone did it but me. And could I read his? I actually tried and hit a brick wall. Of course not.
“Florence and I are, were, close. She left this at my place last night.” He held out the purse.
I took it, handling it with the respect it deserved. Florence has a terrific purse collection. One I was planning to raid as soon as I had some place special to go.
“You let a defenseless woman go out alone last night?” Blade had abandoned his broadsword to pluck a dagger from his shoe. “Haven't you heard vampires are in danger here?”
“Perhaps
you
are in danger, Scotsman. Not many men have pulled a knife on me and lived to tell the tale.” The vamp slipped his own dagger from his sleeve. Slick. He tossed it from hand to hand like he'd welcome a little street fight. Valdez growled, obviously eager to join the fray. In my living room? Not tonight. I glanced at the clock. I
had
to get downstairs.
“You boys play nice.” I laid the purse on the coffee table and opened the door. Valdez came with me, though he gave Blade a lingering look like he was hoping to be invited to participate in the action.
“Blade, explain to our guest how we blend. Nicely. And tell him what happened to Flo after she left him last night.” I slammed the door and headed down the stairs. They couldn't kill each other unless one of them packed a wooden stake. Not my problem. I'd had it up to here with men.
I got to the shop. At least one part of my life was on track. Lacy was ringing up a sale. The woman at the counter gasped when she saw Valdez and I quickly stowed him in the store room. He growled when I slammed the door in his face, but business is business.
Two other women were checking prices on my selection of vintage handbags. I needed more but Flo had already refused to part with any of hers.
Flo. Obviously the white-haired vampire was her lover, ex-lover now. He was handsome, looked in his midthirties and his hair was platinum, not white. It was easy to see why Flo had been attracted. He had an edgy quality, but most male vamps did. And that just added to their attraction.
Freddy came into the shop just then. Not edgy. But a welcome sight. I could send him upstairs to referee. Though I knew from past experience that he had a wicked temper himself when riled.
“Why do you want me to go upstairs? And I've worked on anger management. It takes some serious shit to make me blow.” He had a pile of clothes over his arm.
“Blade and the white-haired vamp I told your mother about are upstairs circling each other with knives.” I heard a customer gasp. “Sorry, ma'am. Figure of speech. They're cutting up veggies for the potluck later.”
Freddy grinned. “And I forgot my wok?”
“Good comeback.” I lowered my voice. “I know they can't kill each other, but I'd hate to have to get blood out of the carpet.”
“I'll go up.” Freddy looked down at the clothes in his arms. “Mother thought you might want these.” He looked around. “I don't see a men's section, but these are good quality, hardly worn.” He made a face. “From my zoot suit period.”
“You've got to be kidding!” The customer at the register whirled around. “My husband would kill for a zoot suit.” She looked him over. “And he's about your size.”
Freddy grinned and nodded toward me. “Bring him back, I'm sure Ms. St. Clair will have it ready to sell by the end of the night.”
“You bet I will.” I took the suits into the back room and hung them on the spare rack there. Freddy followed me, nodding to a sulking Valdez. My dog didn't speak, not with customers still fairly close by. I'd warned him about that too many times to count.
“I heard you had a date last night. Damian?” Freddy fingered a fox collar I'd picked up from a fellow vamp cleaning out her closet.
“Another reason you need to go upstairs. Damian's up there too, with Flo, but Blade knows Damian and I had a little”â I grinnedâ“fun last night. Of course Damian's doing everything he can to rub it in. As if Blade really cares who I have fun with.” Oops. My grin slipped and unfortunately I sounded bitter.
Freddy smiled. “You deserve some fun and Damian's hot. But then so's Blade.” He shook his head and tossed the fox back on the table. “I should be so lucky as to have two hunks wanting me for fun and games.”
“Fun interruptus. Blade sent me a mental telegram at the worst possible time. Threatened to show up. And not for fun either. Because he thought I was in danger.”
“Danger?” Freddy put his hand on my shoulder. “What's happened? Why would he think that?”
“Ask him. Upstairs.” I patted his hand, then shut the storeroom door again and headed to the counter. Lacy had sagged onto a stool. “How are you doing?”
Lacy looked up and yawned, a real jaw cracker. “Sorry. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was dying, I'm so tired. But overall it was a great day. We sold a ton of stuff. Look around.”
Sure enough, there were significant inroads into our stock. I could definitely squeeze in a men's section.
“Go home, go to bed. We need to talk about a better schedule for you. Maybe hire someone else.”
Lacy sighed. “Yeah. I thought I was Wonder Woman, but turns out I'm more human than I thought.” She stretched, a sinuous motion that was pure cat. “And I still need to,” she glanced at a customer, “um, eat.”
“Go, then.” I pushed her toward the door. “I'll count receipts, put away our excess cash if there is any.”
“There is. It was a great day.” Lacy looked Freddy over. “Your mom says you're gay. You sure?”
Freddy laughed and hooked arms with her. “Sure. But I'll walk you upstairs. Glory's afraid there's murder and mayhem going on up there.”
“Sounds interesting.” Lacy looked back at me and winked. “Any eligible guys involved in the action?”
“They're
all
eligible. Help yourself.” I picked up a stack of receipts.
Lacy made a face. “Wouldn't you know I look like hell?” She fluffed her hair.
“You could use a little blush.” Freddy nodded toward the counter. “Mother left some makeup here in case of emergencies.”
“You
are
gay!” She patted his cheek. “Thanks. I know about the makeup. Give me a minute.” She grabbed a gold brocade bag from behind the counter and headed toward the dressing rooms.
“Lucky. She can actually use a mirror.” I looked down at my fifties pencil skirt and twin set. Red. Which Blade had always said was my color.
Freddy grinned. “You know you look good. So who's it going to be, Blade or Damian?”
“Probably neither. Good looks aren't everything.”
“But they don't hurt.” Freddy patted my shoulder. “Give the guys a chance. See what develops.”
“The only thing developing with either of them right now is hand-to-hand combat. I really need you to go upstairs and check for survivors. Okay?”
“On my way.” Freddy smiled as Lacy emerged, looking like she'd just taken a twelve-hour nap instead of working all day. Did I really want her to help herself to the men upstairs? A customer approached with a vintage Gucci bag. Whatever. Blade infuriated me. Damian infuriated me. Even white-haired no-name vamp infuriated me. I was making money. Not infuriating at all.
Lacy and Freddy left and I was too busy to spare them a thought. I waited on customers. Rearranged things to make room for my new men's section and counted money. No way was I giving up the store just because Westwood had come to town. And, wow, I really could afford to hire someone else.
The store was empty when the bell tinkled on the front door. Derek.
“Freddy was upstairs last I knew.”
“I'm not looking for Frederick.” Derek ran his fingers through his hair. “I'm looking for a job.”
“Here? You want to work for me?” I looked him over. He was dressed right for a college student. Vintage rock band T-shirt, faded jeans and running shoes. A decent look in this college town. Of course he was to-die-for handsome.
“I've had retail experience.” He strolled over to the rack I'd just set up in one corner. “Frederick's suits.” He sighed and glanced at the tag. “A bargain. Man, I wish I'd known him then.”
“You know him now. So why do you need a job?” Were the von Repsdorfs in financial trouble? They'd always lived well, but, unlike Blade, Freddy didn't own businesses or seem to work. Certainly CiCi never had.
“No financial problems. Freddy has investments. I want my independence.” Derek made a face. “Sorry, I know you hate mind reading, but you're so easy to read.”
“Unfortunately I'm used to every vamp I know browsing through my brain. I can relate to your need for independence. ” Poor Derek was probably on an allowance. He looked up. Got it in one.
“What I really need is another day person. But I guess I could use you for a few hours. We could try eight till midnight a few nights a week. I'm putting Lacy on commission and it's adding up to a fair amount. How about minimum wage plus that?”
“Really? You'll give me a shot?” Derek grinned. “And I know a little about women's fashions too. One of my former boyfriends was a drag queen. He had a fabulous wardrobe. You should have seen him do Marilyn Monroe.” He fingered a fifties shirtwaist and looked wistful.
“What happened to him?”
“Killed crossing a street in New York City.” Derek dropped the dress and moved on to the nightgowns. “Mortal obviously. We'd talked about making him vampire but he was still weighing the pros and cons.”
Pros and cons. Turning vampire was really all about trust. You were literally dying when you changed. And you had to know the vamp turning you wouldn't just suck you dry and leave you for dead. They had to infuse you with their own blood, at no little risk to themselves, to give you immortality and all those vamp powers that I'd been determined to squander for so long.
I'd trusted Blade like that. So very, very long ago. And I'd been so crazy in love I'd never really thought the whole vampire thing through.
“I'm really sorry, Derek. But at least you and Freddy found each other.”
“Yeah.” Derek straightened a stack of hankies. “So when do I start?”
I looked around. “It depends. How do you feel about spirits?”
Derek looked startled. “I'm not like Trevor if that's what you're getting at. I'm not into alcohol.”
Dumb ass
appeared on the wall behind Derek's back. Harvey.
“Not alcohol, Derek. Ghosts. We have a situation here.” I gestured toward the wall, but the words vanished.
“Ghosts? Cool.” Derek looked around. “Helloooo.”
Emmie Lou appeared next to the nighties. “Hello, cutie.”
“Great outfit.” Derek grinned and winked.
“Thanks, hon.” Emmie Lou did a little twirl.
“She's taken, fella.” Harvey appeared just after a crocodile handbag flew through the air and bounced off Derek's head.
“Whoa. Back off, Grandpa.” Derek picked up the purse and slung the strap over his shoulder. “She's safe from me. I'm gay and I'm in a committed relationship.”