By sleeping with Lilo he’d made things a hundred times worse. Not only would she feel betrayed, but he was also sure now that he couldn’t let her go. He’d never felt such ecstasy in his life as when he’d come inside her and felt her interior muscles clamp around him as if she’d wanted to imprison him. But the chances of ever holding her in his arms again had just dropped to zero.

The hurt look she’d tossed him before he’d left the bedroom had said as much.

Coming clean now, laying himself bare before her, was his only chance at redemption in her eyes. But even if he could make her understand why he’d had to keep secrets from her, there was no way of knowing how she would react to finding out that he was the very creature she found so disgusting.

His ears perked up when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself. This was the moment of truth, and so much depended on how he handled the next few minutes.

When he heard her at the open archway, he turned slowly. She stood there between the hallway and living room, fully dressed, her cheeks still flushed, her hair unruly.

He motioned to the couch. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Believe me, you’ll want to sit for this. What I’m going to tell you isn’t easy to swallow.”

She lashed a glare at him. “Why? Because it’s another lie?”

He flinched. “I deserved that. But what I’m going to tell you now is the truth.” He sighed. “I wanted to tell you earlier. That’s why I sent Ryder and the boys away, but things…” He cleared his throat. “…things happened. And I’m not proud of how I behaved.”

He ran his eyes over her.

“But I’m only a man. And it’s hard to resist something that you want so damn much.”

She ignored his comment and walked to the sofa, sinking into one corner of it. He remained standing near the fireplace, sensing that she didn’t want him to come any closer.

“Lilo, I want you to understand something. It wasn’t my intention to take advantage of you, but I never had a chance resisting you. You’re brave and smart. And so damn beautiful.”

She didn’t buy it. Instead, she pressed her lips together.

“You might not believe everything I’ve got to say. But there’s one thing that you have to believe: I will never hurt you. I will protect you with my life, if it comes to that.”

She made an abrupt movement with her hand, cutting him off. “Get to the point.” She tossed the USB stick on the coffee table. “I gave this to the police. How did you get it?”

He nodded, trying to find the right way to start. Maybe the easy things first. “What I told you about myself is true. I’m a bodyguard for Scanguards. But what I didn’t mention is that Scanguards has a consulting contract with the police department. They rely on us to solve cases they can’t.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He motioned to the stick. “The video that’s on there. It’s real. Vampires exist, and I’ve been aware of it for a long time. As is the police chief and a few select police officers who act as our liaisons.”

“Like Donnelly?”

“Yes. He’s one of the few who know what they’re dealing with, and whenever a case in which vampires appear to be involved crosses their desks, they contact Scanguards, and we take over.”

He could see her mind processing the information he gave her. Her forehead furrowed. Suddenly she shook her head. “You pretended not to know Donnelly when you brought me to the police station that night. And he played along. I take it that it wasn’t a coincidence that you drove me to that particular station?”

Blake shook his head. “You insisted on going to the police, and I couldn’t let you go to just anybody. Public knowledge about vampires has to be contained, or there will be panic everywhere. So I texted Donnelly.”

“No, no, no! Don’t try to confuse me. You couldn’t have known back then that we were dealing with vampires. I found the video only today.”

He took a few steps closer and lowered himself to sit on the coffee table a few feet away from her. “Lilo, I knew immediately that night that the man who attacked you was a vampire.”

“How?”

He shrugged, not ready to give away his secret yet. He needed to explain a lot more before she was ready to hear this. “I can identify vampires. But I couldn’t tell you. You were scared enough. I needed you to remain calm.”

“So you lied to me?” Her lips quivered.

“I didn’t lie. I just withheld things from you. I had to.” He shoved a hand through his hair and threw his head back. “But you’ve earned the right to hear the truth now. Without your help we wouldn’t know who your attacker was. But with the video we’ll be able to find him in the database, I’m certain.”

“Database?”

“Scanguards has built up a database of known vampires.”

She shook her head again and again. “I can’t believe this. A company that consults with the city? That hunts vampires? This is crazy.”

“I know it sounds like it at first. But that’s what Scanguards does.”

“And the database? Why? I mean, if you know who’s a vampire, then why not kill them right away?”

As if she’d physically driven a knife through his ribs, pain seared through him. “Lilo, it’s not all black and white.”

“I don’t—”

“Not all vampires are bad. In fact, most are upstanding citizens with families and—”

“No, no, that’s not possible. They’re vile creatures. They suck humans dry. They kill them.”

“No, the vampires I know are honorable people. They protect humans.”

“They bite humans and drink their blood!”

If only she knew what a euphoric feeling a vampire’s bite could cause. But the way things stood right now, she’d never find out for herself. “Please listen to me. I want to tell you about the vampires I know.”

“How many do you know?” she spat.

“Many. They have families, children, dogs…”

“Children?”

“Hybrids to be exact. Half-vampire, half-human.”