Dripping with sweat had never felt so good.

In his hotel room, Turner pushed through the last set of sit-ups, then moved to the after-workout stretching routine.

Regrettably, there wasn’t enough free space in the room for martial arts katas, but old-fashioned lunges, sit-ups, and pushups provided enough of a workout to produce a good sweat.

There was plenty of space to practice in the suite of rooms Sandoval had reserved for him and Alfred, but naturally, Turner and his hacker weren’t staying there, even though Sandoval assigned two goons to guard them. With how easy it had been to slip by them, they weren’t the guy’s best. And if they were, it would explain why Sandoval’s network was leaking like a sieve and why his nephew had been snatched with such humiliating ease.

If he could take on new assignments, Turner would’ve sold Sandoval more of his services, performing background and security checks on the guy’s personnel.

It could have lined Turner’s pockets nicely. But until he attempted transition and either emerged immortal, unchanged, or dead, he wasn’t going to take people’s money for a job he wasn’t certain he would be around to deliver.

Done with the stretches, Turner wiped his face with the hotel towel and headed for the shower.

The workout had been invigorating, physically and mentally.

It seemed that his mood had been improving at the same rate the side effects from the chemo were diminishing. Regaining mastery of his body felt great. Turner felt sharp, strong, and ready to take on the world.

He was back to his old self.

Including the sex drive.

The problem was that Bridget was thousands of miles away, and transporters were still in the realm of science fiction. It could have been great to get himself beamed over to Bridget and then return to his hotel room in the morning.

As it was, they could only talk on the phone.

Hey, he hadn’t had phone sex yet.

The idea excited him. But before he got comfortable in bed and dialed Bridget’s number, he needed to check on Alfred. The guy might decide to come in for a chat and ruin the mood.

Dressed in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, Turner stepped out into the hallway and knocked on the door of the next room over, using a short sequence of taps and raps to let Alfred know it was him.

“Yes, boss?” The guy opened the door after several moments of fumbling with the lock bar and disarming the portable alarm Turner had brought for each room.

It was a precaution he always used while traveling. Both he and Alfred slept with a handgun under the pillow, and if an intruder opened the door while they were asleep, the alarm would wake them up and the lock bar would give them a few seconds to get to their weapons.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I was in bed already.”

It seemed Turner had interrupted virtual sexy time for Alfred. He knew no one had come into the hacker’s room because he had two hidden cameras out in the hallway monitoring it. Alfred was either sexing up his wife on the phone or watching porn.

“I just wanted to say goodnight and see if you need anything.”

“Thank you. I have everything I need. Goodnight, boss.”

“Don’t forget to put the alarm and the lock bar on the door.”

Alfred chuckled. “Don’t worry. I might forget that my glasses are on my nose but not this. Your two-step blockade is the only reason I can sleep at night in a place like this.”

He meant the country in general, not the hotel which was modest but decent.

“Good to know. Goodnight, Alfred.”

Back in his room, Turner checked the time. It was a little after eleven at night, which meant it was after seven in the evening in Los Angeles, and unless there had been a medical emergency, Bridget should be back in her apartment.

Their apartment, he corrected himself. Even though he knew he was welcomed, Turner still didn’t feel like the keep or Bridget’s place were home because they weren’t. It was a temporary arrangement. Soon they would be moving into his renovated apartment. He couldn’t wait. Finally, he would have his privacy back. It bothered him that his comings and goings were being monitored by security cameras that were not his.

Hopefully, Bridget would feel better about moving in with him than he felt about moving in with her.

Picking up his secure sat phone, he got in bed and dialed her cell phone.

“Hi, Victor,” she answered on the first ring. Had she been waiting for his call? It made sense that she’d expect him to call at the same time he’d called her last night.

“How was your day?” He got comfortable on the bed.

“Great. Brandon’s ball is going to bring in lots of donations. He was lucky to get Belinda Rochester on board. They are expecting over a thousand guests.”

Turner whistled. “Impressive.”

“Very. Other than that, I spoke with a couple of Guardians that are arriving within a week because they just sold their startup to a larger company for a solid half a million.”

“Software?”

“Naturally. What else brings in that kind of money?”

“And they are willing to go back to being humble Guardians?”

Bridget chuckled. “Humble? There is nothing humble about Guardians. They think they are the best of the best and that the entire clan owes them a debt of gratitude.”

“I guess they’re entitled to that.”

“True, but they don’t need to be so cocky about it.”

“Are you back at the apartment?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes…” As always, Bridget caught on right away.

“Can you get in bed?”

“I sure can.”

“Get naked.”

“I’m not sending you a nude pic even if we are on a secure line,” she teased.

“I don’t need you to send me a picture. All I have to do is close my eyes, and I can see you. I have every little detail memorized. Last night, I masturbated while imagining I was with you.” Hopefully, he wasn’t giving himself away by admitting that. She might guess he’d stopped the chemo.

He heard the rustle of clothing. “Really? Your client didn’t push beautiful bimbettes at you?”

“He gave up. Probably thinks I’m gay.”

“Why, did you ogle one of his bodyguards? I bet they are handsome. Big and muscular.”

She was teasing him, he knew that, and yet the idea of Bridget thinking of any man as handsome or desirable irritated him.

“They are big and muscular, like overgrown apes with brains to match.”

“Ugh, that totally spoiled the image for me.”

Turner smirked evilly. “That was the intention. I don’t want you thinking about any other males but me.”

“Victor, Victor, Victor. Are you jealous?”

“Yes.” There was no point in denying it after he’d just admitted as much.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Say again?”

“Jealousy is a strong feeling. You’re opening up emotionally.”

She was right. How had he missed that?

It had been happening so gradually that he hadn’t noticed the change until Bridget voiced it.

Compared to a few weeks ago, he was feeling many things he hadn’t before, or perhaps just hadn’t allowed himself to feel. Most of them weren’t positive, though. Jealousy and possessiveness were not good traits to have. He would’ve expected that from Sandoval’s goons, but not from himself.

“Are you there?” Bridget asked. “Did I stun you into silence?”

“I was thinking that jealousy is nothing to be proud of. It’s a primitive feeling.”

“True, but so what? I’m a jealous woman. Do you think I keep asking you about bimbos just to tease you? I keep imagining you surrounded by gorgeous Latinas in bikinis, and even though I trust you, I can’t help but get mad. It’s irrational, but it’s part of our makeup. Humans and immortals alike. In fact, I think immortals are worse than humans when it comes to their mates.”

Turner sighed. “It’s sad. On the inside we are chimps.”

“Why sad? Look at the bonobos. These chimps know how to live the good life.”