CHAPTER EIGHT

" H i Mom," Brooklyn answered groggily. It was early in the morning, and she'd forgotten to put her phone on silent.

"I was hoping to catch you before work," her mom said.

She wasn't going to explain she didn't start work until the afternoon. That would just bring up questions she couldn't answer.

"You sound like you are asleep."

"I'm just"—Brooklyn cleared her throat and sat up, rubbing her forehead—"tired. We had a late night."

"On a Wednesday?"

Jesus Christ.

"Yes, I went out with some new work friends."

She didn't. She went straight home and watched a Netflix show, then crashed.

That was four hours ago.

"Well, that's nice. Are you liking the new job?" her mom asked. "It's a shame it's on the East Coast."

Not really.

"Were you calling for a reason, Mom?" Brooklyn asked, desperate to get more sleep.

"Yes. I have a surprise for you. Your father and I were thinking we would get a place in New York. A condo. Then we could see you more often. Dad's found a place and if you wanted, we could fly you in this weekend to look at it with us."

Oh god.

Her parents were loaded. She might have forgotten to mention that.

Having them move to NYC was the last thing Brooklyn wanted. Next minute, they'd want to see where she worked and that was impossible.

Completely impossible.

Vincent Moretti, who she'd met as part of her induction, had been very clear she had to keep what she was doing confidential. She had signed the NDA (non-disclosure agreement), but it was his words as he slid the cosigned copy across the desk that would keep her lips closed.

"This piece of paper is useless, but its meaning is not. The consequences of you telling a single soul about my race of vampires would be deadly." Vincent held her eyes firmly that day.

"I understand," Brooklyn had replied, swallowing loudly.

So no, she had to talk her parents out of this.

"I have to work this weekend," Brooklyn replied, reaching for the glass of water beside her bed and sipping it.

"Well, that doesn't sound fair. Do we need to speak to your employer?"

Water sprayed from her mouth.

"No. Mom. It's fine. I volunteered," she replied quickly and swung her legs out of bed, sitting up.

I'm awake now, damn you.

"You don't need to move over here. I'll visit. I told you that," Brooklyn added, wiping water off her chin and down her front.

"It's already been a month and we haven't seen you. You've rung once."

Ugh.

Brooklyn was enjoying her new life. Sage treated her with respect and now that the shock had passed learning about a new race, knowing what few other humans did was exciting.

Well, when Logan wasn't threatening to eat her.

And her mind wasn't drifting to the more sexual meaning, which was completely inappropriate.

And yet, that's where she'd gone.

But yes, she was enjoying her job. Brooklyn considered herself smart and a quick learner.

Her manager, Susan, at BioZen had thought otherwise.

"I haven't received the results from your research project yet."

"Oh. I understood the deadline was next week." Brooklyn had felt heat flush through her body at the worry of missing a milestone.

"Yes. But I would expect to see preliminary data first so we can go through it," Susan had said.

Then why hadn't she said so?

"I see. Perhaps we could have put that as a note in the project timeline, so I knew," Brooklyn had stupidly said.

Susan had glared back at her.

"You won't get far by deflecting blame, Brooklyn Wade. I would expect you to ask questions and understand how these things work. BioZen employs the best and I won't have you making our team look bad to the directors."

She had been there for years, but Susan was fairly new and, for reasons she never understood, seemed to feel threatened by Brooklyn.

At least that's how she explained away the bullying behavior.

"I'm sorry," she'd replied. "I wasn't—"

"Dr. Rogers might believe you have potential, but I'm not convinced." Susan had continued, referring to one of the senior scientists. "You have a long way to go if you can't follow simple instructions."

She'd then been dismissed and sent back to work that day.

It was one of many conversations she'd had with Susan, where she'd call her out in front of people, nitpick at the smallest things, and set her almost unachievable deadlines.

Brooklyn had met every one of them.

Sage had been present during one of the occasions and, later that week, asked if she was okay. "That was out of line. Your work was outstanding. How do you stand it?"

"Thank you," Brooklyn had replied, surprised the younger scientist had said something. "Susan doesn't like me, but I've seen managers come and go, so I can handle her."

Although, in truth, it had been wearing her down.

"You shouldn't have to. It's not high school. Have you talked to human resources about it?" Sage had asked.

"No. It will just make it worse." Brooklyn had replied, laying a hand on her arm. "I appreciate your kindness. I'm fine."

In contrast, working with Sage, Anna, and Dr. Abbot was a dream. They were aligned in their determination to find an antidote for the serum—which she was sure they were close to achieving—and a vaccine which could protect all vampires. They were just getting started on it. Vaccines were complicated and needed years of testing.

Even on vampires.

"I've been busy and settling in, Mom. I'll FaceTime you both next week," Brooklyn replied, hoping it would persuade them to stay in Seattle.

"Well, I think your father is set on this condo. I'll speak to him," her mom replied, sounding disappointed.

"You love living in Seattle." Brooklyn pinched her nose and glanced around her dark room.

She had to convince them not to move because she knew the next step would be a visit to Maine, where the Moretti castle was located.

It would be a lot harder to get out of that.

"Listen, how about I pop home for a visit in a few weeks?"

"That would be nice," her mom said. "I'll arrange a party. Remember Gregory Davidson? He's now divorced. He's a lawyer. Family law. I'm sure that came in handy when settling his estate with..."

Brooklyn tuned out.

Her mom had been matchmaking her with sons of her wealthy friends for over a decade. She wasn't sure she was ready to be a wife.

First, she had to make things right in her heart.

Brad had died because of her and until she'd paid the price or made amends, she couldn't give her heart to anyone.

Brooklyn walked into her bathroom and turned on the light. It was going to be a long day now since she'd woken so early.

Fuck it. I'm going to have breakfast in the café today.

Brooklyn spent little time socializing. Mostly because she was still getting used to being around vampires. For all she knew, there were more Logan's around who didn't like her being there.

Why are you here?

I work here!

Maybe don't. It's dangerous for you here. Big bad vampires like me might eat you up.

Even though she'd had impure thoughts, so to speak, she was aware he was a danger to her.

Brooklyn didn't like that she was so attracted to someone who would happily snap her neck.

What was wrong with her?

Hopefully, their paths wouldn't cross again. There were hundreds of vampires in the castle. The fact he was one of the hottest men she'd ever laid eyes on was a pain in the neck.

Her entire body reacted when he walked into a room or was laid out unconscious on a table.

She liked him way more like that.

It allowed her to study the roped muscles of his arms and the tattoos on his neck, wondering what they meant. Taking in the fullness of his lips, the length of his dark lashes, and the perfection of his jaw with its dusting of hair.

He was like some Italian mafia movie star with his natural dark tan and large solid frame.

Perfection.

Until he opened his damn mouth.

She wasn't going to cower, though. Everyone knew you didn't let a predator know you were terrified of them.

Although Logan could hear her heart.

Which was why he thought she was sexually attracted to him.

Fine, she was.

But only because...

Well, who wouldn't be?

Goddamn him.

She ended the call, promising to visit her mom soon, and then shot off a text message to her best friend Belinda.

Hey honey. Miss you.

She immediately got a response, which meant she was either on a break or between patients. Belinda was a doctor.

Me too. Will you be home for Thanksgiving?

Of course. Are you free tonight?

Brooklyn would take a break and chat to her friend on FaceTime if they found the time.

While the freedom and space were nice, she did miss her life. This was the first time in her life she'd been away from her family and friends.

She's met Belinda at university and while most of their friends had drifted away, the two had remained close.

Explaining her decision to move across the country had been difficult the day they'd sat down over a wine, and she'd announced it. Far more difficult than with her parents.

Belinda was single like her, and they were very close. Brooklyn felt like she was deserting her, but also wondered if it would be healthy for them both.

They were in a rut.

Both of them worked insane hours, and like many in their fields, they dated people they worked with.

So she missed her friend, but felt it might be good for them to be forced to meet others outside their comfort zones.

Well, in her case, she would befriend vampires. Which was a complete mindfuck when you thought about it.

Tossing her phone on the bed, Brooklyn walked into the shower and took off her clothes. Turning on the shower, she waited for the water to heat and glanced in the mirror.

Cupping her breasts, she wondered if Logan had noticed their fullness. She pinched her nipples and felt a ripple of arousal flow through her.

What would it be like to fuck a man like him? A powerful vampire? A bad boy.

A warrior who would take no care and pound into her roughly.

Lord...the idea was way too enticing.

But he wasn't a bad boy. He was a dangerous predator, and she needed to stay far away.