Page 37 of The Vampire’s Temptation

His eyes narrowed. “You are a fool, Scotsman. I need nothing from you.”

“We both know that if you were going to kill Alessandra, you’d have done so today.” This time, Lawrence did smile. “Fortunately, the one thing I never thought would happen, especially with a Cheld, has come to pass.”

If he hated Lawrence Derrickson, Kenton despised his riddles even more so.

“The great Sir Kenton of Rockford, eternal bachelor and pillar of restraint, is in love.”

The idea was too absurd for him to deign to comment. Kenton had been in love before, and certainly he had no such feelings for Alessandra. He hardly knew her. Besides, even if he did love her, which he didn’t, such a thing would not stop him from doing what had to be done. His family claimed his first loyalty and always would.

But he would humor Lawrence just the same.

“Very well. A two-week truce. You have my word, I will not harm her. Nor will I bring Drake or Rowan here. But in exchange, you will neither follow me nor seek to speak to Alessandra.”

“Done.”

Lawrence began to walk away.

“Besides, my job interview went quite well,” he said over his shoulder, “and I do believe Amendment 18 will make me an offer imminently.”

Like him, Lawrence had more money than any human on earth. But the Scot had a habit of finding work wherever he lived, for reasons Kenton could not fathom.

“And what, may I ask, will you be doing at said establishment?”

Lawrence turned to look at him, grinning so broadly his teeth showed.

“Bartending, of course. A skill you’d do well to acquire given your wretched taste in drinks.”

As his old enemy walked through the front door, Kenton laughed heartily. Despite the wretched day he’d had, the thought of one of the oldest vampires in the world standing behind a bar serving humans bottles of beer could not fail to amuse him.

He closed the door behind Lawrence and stared at it, thinking once again of what he’d done.

The Scot was right about one thing. The events of that day could very well break Alessandra, and whatever his motivations, Kenton found he didn’t wish for her to be afraid. Just the opposite, in fact. For if he wasn’t going to kill her for the next two weeks, he might as well play the hero and protect her, despite the fact that he was the very person she needed protection from.