Drowning in the dichotomy of both grief and gratitude, Naia turned and threw her arms around Cortez, her breath hitching as she thanked him for saving her brother’s life. He seemed startled at first, his body stiff, but then he rigidly returned her embrace.

Cole was alive. Alive! Locked away, sure, but not forever. He just needed to learn to control his cravings, much in the same way she had learned to use her abilities. She’d be here to help him in any way she could. Soon enough he’d be out hustling again.

When the elevator doors opened to the main floor, she realized Cortez had permitted her to hold onto him for the entire ride. She was grateful for that small show of kindness.

He gazed down at her with a strange expression. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he appeared almost unsure. Maybe he didn’t know how to tell her it was time for her to go back to her apartment.

She offered him an I-can-play-ball smile. She would do anything to stay in Cole’s life, even pretend she wasn’t gutted whenever she looked at Cortez. “I’ll see you around,” she said and then started for the exit.

Cortez cleared his throat. “I have something else to show you.” With that, he stalked past her, expecting her to follow.

She did.

He led her to his office, the one she had snooped through. She sat across from him and placed her hands in her lap to keep from wringing them. Was he preparing to chew her out again? Did he want to talk about their relationship? Whatever things he didn’t think they were ready for?

Silently he rummaged through the desk drawer and then pulled out a large navy-blue binder and placed it in front of her. Hesitantly, she flipped it open and gazed down at a calendar...no, wait, it was a schedule sheet. In elegant scrawl, her name was written in a timeslot (eight to eight thirty) under the column designated Whitlock Stage.

She blinked up at Cortez. “You...you’re giving me a job?”

“Three days a week, you can come here and sing. I’ll pay you a salary. We can talk numbers later.”

“Why? Why now?” Why did this feel like a nail in the coffin of their relationship?

“As long as Cole is my charge, you’ll be taken care of.” He was so business-like, calm, cool, and collected, Naia wanted to spit just to get a different reaction from him.

“That’s the only reason?”

He leaned back in his chair. “The vampires I sire are unable to lie to me when I ask them direct enough questions.” He paused and raised a brow. “I questioned Cole extensively.”

She swallowed painfully. Translation: he knew all her secrets. He knew what she was. Knew that singing wasn’t an ego-driven desire, but a necessity of life. Cortez felt obligated to her because of Cole. He might not be happy about it, but he was breaking his own rules to give her what she needed. Was making sure she was taken care of. It was what she’d wanted. So why did she suddenly feel like pelting the schedule at him while telling him to shove it up his ass?

“And what about us?” She kept very still lest she betrayed her emotion.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that it might be better if we remain...friends.”

She lost the air in her lungs. Devastation was a plague in her system that was spreading fast. He wanted to be friends? She had fallen for him completely, and he wanted to be friends?

He continued as if he hadn’t just stomped on her heart. “You know a relationship with an employee isn’t something I’m interested in.”

That was an easy fix. “Okay, so then I won’t take the job.”

“That’s ludicrous. Don’t be stubborn.”

“I’m the one being stubborn? You won’t even give us a shot.”

“Naia,” he sighed. “It would never work out in the long run.”

“So you’re a relationship psychic now?”

“I’ve been through enough of them to know—”

“Oh pa-lease.”

“Pardon?”

“I’d understand if there was no spark between us, or even if it was just mere attraction, you have to feel it. I know it’s not just me. We’re combustible. Have you ever experienced that with anyone else?”

His expression shuttered and he didn’t respond, which was a big fat answer if there ever was one.

“I know I haven’t. What we had...have is incredible. And I’m not ready to let it go. What are you afraid of?”

He scoffed. “I’m not afraid of anything. We had fun. That’s all it was.”

That boot twisted.

“You are just another member of my clan now.”

Planting both palms on his desk, she stood and leaned forward.

“Tell me you don’t want me.”

It seemed to take him a moment to realize what she’d said since his gaze had dipped to her cleavage, turning heated. “I don’t want you,” he muttered, his tone guttural.

She grinned triumphantly.

His brows knit.

“Then I’ll take the job.” She stood and headed for the door, glancing back over her shoulder where he sat, confounded. “Call me when Cole has fed.” Then she left, a plan forming in her mind.