"Your fault? How?"
Radinka sat back and sniffed. "After a few months of working the night shift here, I started to catch on. Roman is a brilliant scientist, but a bit absentminded when he gets involved with a project. He would leave half-empty bottles of blood in his office. And since I was raised in the old country, Czechoslovakia, I was aware of all the old vampire tales. I soon figured it out."
"Did you tell him?" Abigail asked.
Radinka nodded. "And I swore to keep the secret. I needed the job. And Roman needed me. It worked out well until Gregori got it into his head that it wasn't safe for me to work and commute at night. He wanted me to work during the day, but of course, that was impossible. We argued about it."
She sighed. "I lost my temper and told Gregori I worked for vampires. You can imagine his reaction."
Abigail took a sip of water. "What did he do?"
"At first, he was afraid I'd lost my mind. Then when he started to suspect it was true, he was worried for my safety. He drove here to confront Roman. And that's when it happened." A tear ran down Radinka's face. "My poor son. He was only trying to protect me."
Abigail leaned forward. "What happened?"
"He was attacked in the parking lot. We found out later it was Casimir, the leader of the Malcontents. He overpowered Gregori and ripped open his neck. Drank his full and left him to die."
Abigail swallowed hard. Poor Gregori.
"We didn't have all the security cameras back then. A guard finally found him when he was making his rounds." Radinka wiped a tear from her face. "I'd already lost my husband. I couldn't bear to lose my son, too. I begged Roman to transform him. And he did."
Abigail took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She couldn't blame Radinka. She'd be desperate, too, to save a loved one. "It must have come as a great shock to Gregori."
"Yes, I believe it did." Radinka dabbed at her eyes with her napkin. "But he tried not to show it. He's tried so hard to fit in. Roman offered him a job here, and he's worked awfully hard. He's vice president of marketing now, you know."
Abigail smiled. Radinka was clearly proud of him. "How old was he when was transformed?"
"Twenty-nine." Radinka ate some risotto. "But that was back in 1993. It's high time he stopped playing around with those silly Vamp women. He needs to settle down with a nice mortal girl. I won't live forever, you know, and I want some time with my grandchildren."
"I'm sure you do." Abigail tasted the risotto. It really was excellent. She glanced over at Charles, who had cleaned his plate. "There's more food in the kitchen," she called to him. "And some wine. Could you bring it out?"
He frowned, looking Radinka over, then hurried off to the kitchen.
Radinka snorted. "Does he really think I'm going to hurt you? My own future daughter-in-law?"
Abigail's mouth dropped open. "I - I think you may have misunderstood my relationship with your son. We're not dating."
Radinka shrugged. "All in good time." She pointed a fork at Abigail. "But I'm not getting any younger, so don't wait too long."
"But I - "
"At least two grandchildren," Radinka continued.
Abigail stuffed her clenched fists into her raincoat pockets, then felt something bump against her knuckles. She peered into her pocket and found a ball. Where on earth did this come from? She pulled it out to look at it.
Radinka chuckled. "Did Gregori give you one of his stress balls?"
Abigail gave it a squeeze. Did he? When?
Chapter Sixteen
Gregori found Roman in his office, enjoying a Bleer with Angus. "I - " He dragged a hand through his hair.
"Out with it, lad. I'm no' getting any younger." Angus lounged back in his chair and took a long sip from his bottle.
Roman set his bottle on his desk. "Would you like me to talk to Miss Tucker now?"
"In a little while." Gregori yanked the knot of his tie loose. "I-I've done something awful."
The two men stared at him for a while.
"How awful?" Roman asked finally.
Angus sat up. "Did ye bed the lass?"
"No!" Gregori huffed with indignation. "What would give you that idea?"
The two men stared at him again.
He shifted his weight. "I realize I have a bit of a reputation, but I don't - "
"We're no' blind, lad," Angus muttered. "We can tell ye're attracted to her."
"You can?" When they continued to stare at him, he swallowed hard. "All right, it's true."
"You slept with her?" Roman asked.
"No! I find her attractive." He grimaced. "I erased her memory. About fifteen minutes' worth. The Secret Service guy, too."
Roman and Angus exchanged a worried look.
"Do they suspect?" Angus asked.
"I don't think so." Gregori groaned inwardly as he ran a hand through his hair. "If she ever finds out, she's going to be so pissed."
"With good reason." Roman frowned at him.
"I know it's bad, but I didn't see any other way out. We were in Laszlo's lab, and he accidentally let it slip that we heal automatically in our death-sleep."
Roman winced, and Angus muttered a curse.
"I tried to cover it up, but she's really smart, you know. And the next thing I knew she was asking for tissue and blood samples, and I explained why I couldn't, but she wouldn't back down. She even threatened to have her dad break the agreement with us if I didn't give her some blood."
Roman shook his head. "We can't let them know that our blood heals."
"The government would definitely say we doona exist," Angus growled. "And then they would secretly come after us and drain us all dry."
"They would become an enemy instead of an ally," Roman concluded.
Angus gulped down a swallow of Bleer. "I know ye doona like it, lad, but ye did the right thing."
Gregori sighed. He still felt guilty.
"Do you know any more about the mission she wants to go on?" Roman asked.
"She mentioned to Laszlo that she was looking for some plants in the Yunnan province of China."
Roman's eyes widened. "That's where I got the - "
"Yes, I know, for the Stay-Awake drug," Gregori interrupted. "Laszlo told her about it. Of course, she doesn't remember that now."
Roman nodded. "I'm not surprised she wants to go there. It's extremely bioperse. Over two thousand plants are endemic to the area."
"And I can understand why her father wants the trip to remain secret," Angus said as he rose to his feet. "I'll put together some plans. Stop by the security office later tonight." He strode from the office, the bottle of Bleer in his hand.
"Where is she now?" Roman asked.
"In the cafeteria, eating a gourmet meal," Gregori replied. "I'll take her to my office in about ten minutes. You can meet her there."
"All right." Roman sipped some Bleer. "You're doing very well, Gregori."
He balled his fists. "If she ever finds out - "
"We'll make sure she doesn't."
"I feel like an ass, especially when I keep trying to convince her I'm trustworthy."
"You are trustworthy. You have thousands of Vamps trusting you to keep them safe."
Gregori sighed. "I guess the needs of the many outweigh the needs of one." Even if he was falling for the one.
He strode back to the cafeteria. Roman and Angus had both confirmed he'd done the right thing, but he still felt guilty. She didn't remember going to a lab, but he suspected that on some subconscious level, she remembered the kiss. She kept looking at his mouth.
Did that mean she wanted to kiss him? Could he be that lucky? He'd admitted last night that he was attracted to her, but he still didn't know how she felt about him.
He did know how she felt about mind control. Her words came back to taunt him. If someone messed with my mind, I'd want to kill him, too.
He jammed a hand into his pocket to squeeze his stress ball, but it was empty. Oh, right. He'd given it to her.
He stopped with a jerk.
Shit. He adjusted his tie. If the ball caused any trouble, he'd bluff his way through.
Back in the cafeteria, the chef had taken a seat at the table with the ladies, and they were all eating and drinking wine while Charles sat at another table, eating and watching.
The chef gave him an annoyed look. "You did not tell me I would be cooking for ze president's daughter," he said with a French accent. "I would have made many more dishes."
Abigail smiled and touched her stomach. "I'm so full. I couldn't have eaten any more. And it was all fabulous. Thank you."
"Yes," Radinka agreed. "It was superb. Thank you."
The chef inclined his head. "You are most welcome. And if you ever need a guest chef at the White House, you will remember me, non?" When Abigail nodded, he slapped his hands together and grinned. "Merveilleux!"
"We need to go to my office now," Gregori told Abigail. "Roman will meet you there."
"You go on without me." Radinka stood and gave Abigail a hug. "I'll see you later, my dear." She sat back down and poured more wine into her glass. "It's not often I get a night off."
As they walked toward Gregori's office, Charles followed about ten feet behind. Gregori glanced back at him, wondering how he could get rid of their shadow. Mind control would be the easiest solution, but he didn't want Abigail to see that.
She leaned close and whispered, "I'm afraid your mom thinks we're dating."
"Is that all?" He gave her a wry look. "I'm surprised she didn't pick out names for all five of our children."
"Five? She only mentioned two." Abigail blushed.
Gregori chuckled. "Don't let her get to you. She's been trying to marry me off for years."
"You . . . were never tempted?"
He shook his head. "I wanted to be free. No worries, no responsibility."
"No debt?"
He shot a look at her. "She told you about that?"
She nodded. "And about your father. I'm very sorry."
A sharp pang of remembrance jabbed at him, but he mentally shoved away the old pain. "I don't have to deal with that anymore. Vamps can live for centuries."
"Is that why you date Vamp women? Because they're more . . . permanent?"
He scoffed. "There's nothing permanent about Vamp females. They're a bunch of butterflies, flitting here and there. They have so much time, it ceases to have any value to them."
"So you don't want anything permanent?"
No. He'd wanted to avoid falling in love. It hurt too much to lose someone you loved. So much safer to simply give and take pleasure. He glanced at Abigail. "Why all the questions?"
Her cheeks bloomed a brighter pink. "I'm just trying to get to know you better. So I can trust you."
Trust me? The vampire playboy who had messed with her mind? "I have a reputation as a womanizer." He scowled at her. "And I earned it. I spent my first few years as a vampire making Undead women happy."
She frowned and was silent for a while. "You were coming out of a long period of grief and financial difficulty. I can see why you wanted to have some fun. Your mother said you tried very hard to fit in."
He shrugged.
"Oh my gosh. You're vice president of marketing." She halted and stared at him. "You were marketing yourself."
He flinched. Of all the ridiculous things to say. He opened his mouth to disagree, but paused.
It was true. He'd tried to always be charming and successful, the life of the party. Gregori, the gregarious. But after a few years, he'd grown tired of the game. He'd wondered why the sex wasn't as pleasurable as it should be.
Because his heart wasn't in it. He was pretending to be something he wasn't.
He swallowed hard. "I woke up one night Undead. I couldn't go back. I could never be mortal again." Years later, Roman figured out how to transform a person back, but it had been too late for him. "I just wanted to fit in."
She nodded. "So you tried to please everyone."
He grimaced and looked away. Shit. All those years he'd thought he was being cool, he'd been an insecure idiot. He was like a school kid trying to get into the inner clique.
It was time to grow up. Figure out who he really was and what he really wanted.
He glanced at Abigail, and a wave of possessiveness flooded over him. He wanted her. He wanted her beauty. Her brains. Her bravery. Her insightfulness. Her kindness.
Her love.
He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. But he couldn't, not with Charles standing ten feet away, glaring at him.
"My office is this way." He hurried down the hall.
"I found it!" Laszlo called out from down the hallway. "I have the plant you wanted." He rushed toward them.
Abigail stopped with a confused look on her face.
Gregori stepped forward. "Laszlo." He gave him a pointed look. "I don't believe you have met Miss Tucker." He turned to face her, smiling. "Abigail, this is Laszlo Veszto, one of our chemists here at Romatech."
"Delighted to meet you." She shook his hand. "I would love to see your lab if that's possible."
"Ah, yes, of course." Laszlo fiddled with a button on his lab coat.