When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity #1)(3)

Abby gave a lift of her brows, intrigued in spite of herself by his hint of bitterness. For God's sake, what more could he want? He possessed the sort of cushy life that most oversexed playboys could only dream of. A glamorous home. Expensive clothes. A silver Porsche. And a sugar mommy who was not only young, but beautiful enough to make any male hot and bothered. His life was hardly in the gutter.

Unlike her own.

"Oh yes, you must really suffer," she retorted, her gaze flicking over the silk shirt that cost more than her entire wardrobe. "My heart simply breaks for you."

The silver eyes flashed with a startling heat as the fierce power that always smoldered about him prickled through the air.

"Do not presume to speak of things you know nothing about, lover," he warned.

Just let it be, Abby, she sternly warned herself. Whatever his easy charm, the man was dangerous. A genuine bad boy. Only fools deliberately toyed with fire.

Of course, when it came to men, she might as well have the word idiot tattooed on her forehead.

"If you dislike being here, then why don't you leave?"

He regarded her in unnerving silence before his eyes slowly narrowed. "Why don't you?"

"What?"

"I'm not the only one suffering here, am I? Every day you seem to fade a bit more. As if your frustration and sadness has taken another piece of your soul."

Abby nearly tumbled backward at his sharp perception. She had never dreamed that anyone could possibly have noted her desperation at her tedious existence, nor the budding fear that she would soon be too old and tired to care that she was going nowhere.

Certainly not this man.

'You don't know anything."

"I know a prison when I see one," he murmured. 'Why do you remain behind the bars when you could so easily slip away?"

She gave a short, humorless laugh. Easily? Obviously he was not nearly so perceptive as she had given him credit for.

"Because I need this job. Unlike you, I don't have a generous lover to pay my bills and keep me in style. Some of us have to earn our pay with actual work."

If she thought to insult him, she was far off the mark. In fact, her sharp words merely returned that mocking humor she found so damn annoying.

'You believe me to be Selena's whore?"

"Aren't you?"

He lifted abroad shoulder. "Our… relationship is a bit more complex than that."

"Oh yes, no doubt being a boy toy to a rich, glamorous woman is astonishingly complex."

"Is that why you try to keep me at a distance? Because you believe I share Selena's bed?"

"I keep you at a distance because I don't like you."

He leaned forward, until his lips were nearly touching her own. 'You may not like me, sweetness, but that doesn't keep you from wanting me."

Her heart forgot to beat as she struggled not to close that shallow distance and put herself out of her misery. A kiss. Just one kiss. The tingling need was nearly unbearable.

No, no, no. Did she really want to be a poor joke to relieve his boredom? Hadn't she played that humiliating game before?

"Do you know, Dante, I've met my share of jackasses in my time, but you—"

The rather tidy insult was brought to a stunning halt. In the air there was a sudden, crackling heat. As electrifying as a strike of lightning.

Unnerved by the prickling sensation, she turned her head toward the stairs just as a thundering concussion ripped through the house. Caught off guard, she tumbled backward, her breath knocked from her body.

Just for a moment she lay perfectly still. She half-expected the ceiling to come crumbling down upon her. Or the ground to open up and swallow her.

What the blazes had happened? An earthquake? A gas explosion?

The end of the world?

Whatever it was, it had been enough to tumble the pictures from the walls and knock over tables. Suddenly the Ming vase she had broken matched every other priceless object.

Giving a shake of her head to clear the ringing in her ears, Abby sucked in a deep breath. Well, at least she seemed to be alive, she told herself. And while she was certain to be sporting a few bruises, she didn't think anything vital was actually missing or punctured.

Lying flat on her back, she barely heard the low feral growl, but it still managed to make the hair upon her nape stand upright. Dear Lord, now what?

Struggling to push herself upright, she glanced about füe littered foyer. Astonishingly it was empty. No wild animal. No approaching madman.

And no Dante.

With a frown, Abby ignored her wobbly knees and forced herself toward the nearby stairs. Where had Dante gone? Had he been hit by the explosion? Or thrown from the foyer?

Had he simply disappeared in a puff of smoke?

No, no, of course not. She pressed a hand to her aching head. She was thinking crazy. She must have been knocked unconscious for a moment. That would explain it. No doubt he had gone to check on the damage. Or to call for assistance.

Her job was surely to ensure that Selena was not injured.

Concentrating upon placing one foot in front of the other, a startlingly difficult task, she managed to climb the sweeping marble stairs and awkwardly make her way down the hallway. At the end of the long east wing, the door to Selena's chambers was already open and Abby stepped over the threshold.

She got no farther.