Delilah shook her head. “What are you guys? How can you think of business right now? Shouldn’t you be biting me and drinking my blood by now?”

“Thanks for offering, but Samson would so kick my ass if I did that, and, yeah, most likely turn me into dust. So, no thanks. You’re safe from me.”

“I wasn’t offering …” Was she truly safe from Amaury? He looked too relaxed, leaning against the kitchen counter, to seem ready to attack her.

“I know that. Anyway, while Samson and you had your lover’s quarrel, I was thinking. Have you looked into what else John might have done besides those depreciation entries?”

If he wanted to talk about the audit, fine. At least it would bring some normalcy back into her shattered life. “What do you mean?”

“What other transactions has he authorized? What information has he accessed? I think we have to look at everything he did.”

Delilah had an idea. “Does the computer system track which logon has accessed certain files?”

“Sure does.” Amaury nodded, obviously understanding what she was thinking about.

“Then let’s see what he’s been up to.”

FOURTEEN

Eventually his antique rugs would show the wear and tear from his heavy footsteps, but Samson didn’t care. He’d screwed up. He wasn’t angry with Delilah, but rather with himself for not handling the situation right. Since he’d betrayed her trust before when he’d looked into her background and had gotten caught red-handed, she was obviously not cutting him any more slack.

He couldn’t really blame her. Having to accept that she’d slept with a vampire—and liked it—was probably too much to swallow in one big gulp. But he had to get her to accept the fact. And not just that, he had to get her to embrace it, to embrace him, because he knew he couldn’t give her up. When he’d smelled her blood he’d already realized that he was lost, but when he had tasted it, tasted her, he had known there was only one acceptable resolution to their situation: a blood-bond.

Even though Dr. Drake had not helped him resolve any issues before, he’d been right about one thing. A vampire could sense a bond with the person he was meant to blood-bond with, even before the ritual was performed.

Samson sensed this special bond with Delilah. He couldn’t describe the feeling; he just knew that it was right. Almost … instinctual … was the word that came to mind. Whenever he looked into her eyes, he lost himself in them and knew she had to sense it too. There’d been such understanding in her eyes the night before that he was certain he wasn’t wrong.

But even if he tried to explain all this to her, he figured she wouldn’t listen to him. Not right now. But maybe she would listen to a professional. He had to try.

Amaury and Delilah weren’t in the kitchen any longer. Samson listened and could hear faint voices coming from his office. What were they up to? He found her sitting in his chair behind the desk with his friend hovering over her as they both stared into the computer screen.

Even though he knew Amaury would never make a pass at his woman, Samson didn’t like how close his body was to hers. His stomach tightened uncomfortably. Would he always be this jealous when another male was close to her? Was this what it meant to love somebody?

He stopped at the open door without making a sound.

“I’m not sure why he would access this file,” Amaury said.

“Wouldn’t this be part of his job?”

“Not really.”

“Can you check what other coded transactions he submitted?”

“Sure. Won’t be easy, though. I should probably get Thomas to help us: he’s the IT expert, not I.”

Delilah, sweetness.

She looked up as if she’d heard his voice, even though he hadn’t spoken. Her eyes met his. Yes, she sensed the connection too, probably without realizing what it was.

“What are you guys working on?” Samson stepped into the office.

“We’re looking into what files John accessed recently,” Amaury answered. Delilah had gone quiet at the sight of him entering the room.

Samson raised an eyebrow. “Good idea, Amaury.”

“It wasn’t mine; it was Delilah’s.”

Samson looked at her with approval. “Even better. Check it out. But I need to steal Delilah from you for now. We have to talk.” He looked at her, but she made no move to get up.

“We have nothing to talk about. I’ll finish the audit, and then I’m leaving. The sooner, the better.” She had that hard, unyielding tone in her voice again.