Ripper (Hunter #1)(60)

“I’ll call a cab.”

“Please,” he begged. “I’ve made a complete ass of myself. Just take the car. I’ll send someone to retrieve it tomorrow. I would prefer if you would allow me to drive you, but I understand if you do not wish to be with me.”

“I just want to do my job, Vorenus.” I felt stupid holding my shoes, but I couldn’t force myself back into them.

“Of course,” he said evenly. “I’ll make certain everything is ready for you tomorrow. It would be best if you allowed me to go with you. By now everyone believes you’re my mistress. If I make arrangements for another vampire to escort you, it would be…confusing. I swear to you that I’ll be on my best behavior. I will not hurt you again.”

I smiled as casually as I could. Everything that came out of my mouth was a total lie. “You can’t hurt me. It’s fine. You and the faery have some sort of war going. Leave me out of it. I want to close my case and then you never have to deal with me again. I’ll be professional if you will.”

“I will be whatever you want me to be, Kelsey. I would do anything to take back the last ten minutes. We were becoming friends.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure a councilman has enough friends. He doesn’t need a two-bit PI hanging around.” The elevator stopped.

“You would be so wrong, cara mia,” Marcus said so achingly I turned to him.

I was about to ask him what he meant when I saw Gray’s truck sitting right in front of the elevator and it seemed like all the air in the world fled. My breath caught almost painfully in my chest at the sight of him. I wondered if I would ever get used to how beautiful he was.

“Kelsey?” Gray said as his head came up. He was sitting in the cab with the door open.

“You came back for me?” I got out of the elevator.

His previously pristine suit coat was tossed aside and his tie was gone. His shoulders were slumped as he got out of the truck. “I never left, baby. I just waited. I’m so sorry. I was wrong. I was a bastard. Please, please forgive me.” He came to stand right in front of me and lowered his forehead to mine. “Please, baby. Please forgive me.”

My shoes fell to the concrete floor as my arms wound around his waist and I leaned into his warmth. I knew I should tell both men to go to hell and sink back into the shell I’d spent years perfecting, but I wanted what Gray had to offer so much. He’d lost his temper. It wasn’t like I hadn’t done that before. I got pissed off and said things I didn’t mean all the time. I let my head rest against his chest and felt the strong beat of his heart as his arms tightened around me.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” I heard Gray saying. At least he was trying to be polite.

“It was an honor, Mr. Sloane. Her work is important. I will help her and you in any way I can. Feel free to call upon me.” When I looked around to say good-bye to the vampire he was already gone.

“Let’s go home, sweetheart,” Gray said, weariness plain in his tone. “Did he behave himself?”

“He was fine.” He had been for the most part and there was a part of me that mourned the fact that he wasn’t still here. “The two of you have a lot in common. You both can’t stand Dev Quinn.”

His handsome face fell and he sighed. “I’m sorry, Kelsey. I let him get the best of me again. I should have called him and explained the situation and asked to be allowed in to investigate. I shouldn’t have tried to sneak in.” He noticed my bare feet and swung me up into his arms. I felt so small and delicate when he carried me. I suppose I was small and delicate compared to Gray. It was nice to feel feminine.

Gray carried me around the truck and settled me into the cab before going back for my shoes. He handed them to me and then got into the driver’s seat. As he drove I filled him in on everything I discovered. I told him about the trouble the Council was having with the wolves and the fact that one of the murders occurred during the day. I discussed the fact that apparently the actual Jack the Ripper was alive and well and living in Dallas. I didn’t mention that Marcus had been sweet and kind and up until he thought I was working with his nemesis, we’d had a real, undeniable chemistry. That was done and probably had been more a figment of my imagination than anything else.

“Are you sure Vorenus didn’t try anything on you, sweetheart?” Gray asked and I could tell he was being careful not to show his temper. He hadn’t liked the fact that I’d shown up with the vampire, but he was smart enough to know that a big display of masculine jealousy wasn’t going to help his cause. “It’s hard for me to believe he could spend time with you and not try something. He’s a powerful persuasive. He can make you do things you don’t want to do.”

“I know.” I didn’t really want to talk about that portion of the evening. For some reason, I wanted to keep my time with Marcus private. “He explained it to me. I told you, Gray, he didn’t try anything and he got angry with the one vampire who did try.”

“What?” The question was a curt slap of the tongue.

I sighed and leaned my head against the window of the truck. I must be tired or I would have known better than to mention that incident.

“Kelsey?” He wasn’t going to let me off the hook.

“Some vamp was looking for a date and he tried to persuade me to go with him. Marcus took exception, but he didn’t have to since I’d already handled it.”