“Ma femme, why would you hurt me this way?” he said in a much softer tone. “If you truly don’t want to make love, of course I will not force you.”
“Of course?” I repeated with a snort. “Did you think I’d only remembered certain parts? The blade stays.”
“You were needlessly hesitant from your maiden fears, any man would have acted the same,” he began to sputter.
“Bullshit. You didn’t do what any man would do. You did what you wanted to do, as usual. I don’t want to hurt you, Gregor, but I don’t trust you enough to take out this knife, so here’s the deal. I remember everything, just like you wanted me to…and now I want to leave.”
Gregor looked shocked. “To go back to that hit man?” he spat. “You want to return to Bones, the dog who made you into this—this Red Reaper?”
He flung the name at me like the foulest insult. Far from being insulted, I laughed.
“Bones didn’t make me anything. I’d killed sixteen vampires by the time we’d met. Bones just made me better at it, and he never made me his whore, either. You’re far more of a tramp than I am; how many people have you slept with?”
He gave me an indignant look. “I’m a man. It’s different.”
“That sums up right there why the two of us would have never worked, regardless of Bones,” I muttered. “Call Lucius, have him come in here. Despite the fact that it would take care of a lot of problems, I don’t want to kill you, Gregor. But if you try anything, I will do what comes naturally, and we both know what that is.”
I should have killed Gregor as soon as I sank that knife into his back. Getting my memories back had proved he’d lied to me, manipulated me, and tricked me into binding myself to him. Plus, he was a threat to me and to Bones, since Gregor didn’t take rejection very well. But one, I wasn’t in any condition to fight off Gregor’s people if I killed him—and I was betting Gregor had more than Lucius here. Two, we’d made a deal that didn’t involve me murdering him at the end of it.
And three, the remnant of the infatuated teenager I’d been couldn’t bear the thought of killing Gregor, even though the adult in me knew he had it coming. Still, that didn’t mean I was taking out the knife. If Gregor attempted a double cross, I’d use it.
Gregor glared at me. I didn’t blink. This wasn’t the Catherine he knew. I was Cat, and he hadn’t met me before.
“Lucius,” he belted out finally. “Come to me at once!”
After a few seconds, the door opened. Lucius stopped short when he saw Gregor naked on top of me and a knife sticking out of his back.
“Master?” he began. “What—?”
“Listen up, Lucius.” I didn’t glance away from Gregor, only seeing the other vampire from my peripheral vision. “You’re going to get a speakerphone and bring it in here. Right now. You get any other ideas, and you’re the next to die, old pal. Got it?”
“Monsieur?”
“Do it,” Gregor said silkily. He’d regained his composure. “After all, I made my wife a promise.”
My lips curled at his emphasis, but that was a pissing contest for a later date.
“Glad to know you’re going to keep your word. With luck, you’ll have this blade out in a few hours.”
“Hours?” His forehead creased in incredulity.
“You said we’re in Austria,” I replied, thinking. “If he agrees to come, it’ll take him a few hours to get here. After he arrives, I’ll pull out this knife.”
“You’re calling Bones?”
Gregor asked it with a gleam in his eyes that reminded me how dangerous he was. I bet you were figuring that’s just what I’d do, and you’ve got the trap of a lifetime waiting for him.
“You wish,” I said. “But no. Someone else.”
Vlad Tepesh didn’t contain his laughter when he walked in the room. It came from him in full-bodied peals that had him briefly leaning on the doorframe for support.
“Now that’s worth the trip right there.” He chuckled, pink starting to sparkle in his eyes. “How goes it, Gregor? Forgot your manners, did you? If I’d known you were balanced in such a precarious state, I might have taken even…longer.”
I’d yanked a sheet between us and made Gregor pick up his hips, but the rest of him stayed where it was so I could keep that knife close to his heart. It left Gregor with his ass sticking up in the air while his face stayed level with mine. I wasn’t trying to be funny. Only practical.
“Thanks for coming, Vlad. My arm was getting tired.”