Cum on feel the noize! She jumped. Now this had to be Howard. Or Sabrina. She pulled out her cell phone. "Hello?"
"Toni?" Howard's voice boomed. "What's going on?"
"Everything's fine. Ian's in the bedroom on the fifth floor. The phone was off the hook, but I put it back."
"What was so urgent that he had to call Connor?"
Toni winced. "He was probably calling about me. The concept of a female guard was too bizarre for him."
Howard chuckled. "He'll get used to you. Has he seen you fight yet?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Then he knows how tough you are. He'll learn to trust you in time."
She grimaced. Ian was actually right to suspect her. She did have a hidden agenda, though she certainly didn't mean the Vamps any harm.
"Do you need anything today?" Howard asked. He made sure groceries were delivered to the townhouse, so Toni wouldn't have to leave her charges unprotected.
"I'm fine for now, but I have a final exam Friday at NYU. I'll need to leave around noon."
"I remembered that. We've arranged for me to come to the townhouse so you can go."
"But I thought you had to guard Roman and Connor."
"They're staying at Romatech, so the guards there can keep an eye on them. Don't worry. We've got it covered."
"Thank you." Toni felt relieved, but a bit shocked that the Vamps were willing to change their routine just to help her out. "Just one exam to go, and I'm officially done with my master's."
"Great." Howard paused. "You know, you can probably get a better job than this. It's not very…intellectual."
"It's fine. The pay is a lot more than I expected."
"Yeah, well, the Vamps know how important it is to have mortals they can trust."
"I understand." The phone on the nightstand rang. "Oh God, I hope that's not Mitzi or Lola."
"Who?" Howard asked.
"These girls keep calling for Ian. Apparently he signed up with an online dating service."
"You're kidding."
"I wish. I'll call you back for the ten o'clock report." Toni shut her cell phone and answered the house phone. "Hello?"
"Hi," a soft female voice answered. "Is Ian there?"
Toni groaned. "He's…meditating right now."
"Cool. I'm Destiny." She gave her phone number. "Ian is just so hot. You know, I'm totally synthesized to the harmonic vibrations of the cosmos, so I can tell that Ian and I belong together."
"I see." And his vast fortune had nothing to do with it. "Any message for Ian?"
"Yes. I love to take walks in the rain and sit on the beach to watch the sunrise."
"Great." Toni wrote Plans to kill you by spontaneous combustion beneath her name. "Thank you for calling."
She hung up and glared at Ian. "Do you realize my best friend is in the hospital, and instead of being able to call her, I'm stuck talking to your silly girlfriends?" Her voice rose to a shout, but Ian just lay there, oblivious.
"Why are you looking for a woman? Why would a vampire even believe in true love? Do you really think you can be faithful for centuries? A few years is too much to ask for these days!"
He didn't answer.
"Well, at least you don't talk back. I'm the boss here during the day, and don't you forget it."
He didn't argue.
She stalked into the adjoining office. She hadn't gone to college just to end up a social secretary for a horny, hot vampire. So much for her third affirmation, I will achieve something meaningful with my life.
She needed to talk to Sabrina. That would calm her down. She opened her cell phone and dialed the hospital. "Sabrina Vanderwerth's room, please?"
"One moment," the operator replied. "Please hold."
Toni sat in the black leather chair behind the desk and booted up the computer. Maybe she could find something useful in the computer files. Her search in the library had yielded nothing. The phone on the desk rang. Great, another woman. Toni quickly took her name and number, then hung up after Britney expounded on ten reasons why Ian was hot.
Meanwhile, the hospital operator came back on her cell phone. "Sabrina Vanderwerth has been released."
A sliver of alarm crept down Toni's spine. "But I just saw her last night. When was she released?"
"I'm not able to give out any personal information."
"Wait," Toni began, but the dial tone signaled she'd been cut off.