“That’s very admirable of you.” Radinka tried the risotto. “Excellent. Is my son treating you well?”
“Yes.” Abigail felt a blush sweeping across her face as she recalled Gregori’s lips and fingers caressing her neck.
She watched him as he approached them with a tray. He set glasses of ice water in front of each of them, then gave Charles a plate of risotto.
He turned toward them, frowning. “This is just the first course. The chef has Chilean sea bass coming up next. And he selected a wine for you.”
“Wonderful! Thank you.” Radinka smiled at him, then at Abigail. “Isn’t he sweet?”
Abigail grinned. Radinka’s matchmaking efforts were far from subtle.
“May I ask why you’ve been so careful to stay out of the public eye?” Radinka asked.
Her smile faded.
Gregori lifted his eyebrows, obviously waiting for her answer.
“I was never comfortable with all the attention,” she mumbled.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “And?”
“And when I went to college, I wanted to be left alone so I could concentrate on my studies. My papers were all published using my mother’s maiden name, May.”
“Abigail May?” Gregori asked.
She nodded. “I did my doctorate on a formula I developed that would put a person into stasis. I intended to use it for accident victims to keep them stable until they made it to surgery. Or if my mother took a sudden turn for the worse, we could use it to keep her stable.”
“How interesting,” Radinka said.
Abigail sighed. “The military wanted to develop it as a weapon, a way to put the enemy combatant into stasis. I went along with it because I thought it was better than killing the enemy. So I let them work with the formula, and they gave me free use of their labs and resources for my own research. It’s a secret military installation, so I can’t afford to have any media following me.”
“You’ve dedicated much of your life to helping your mother,” Radinka concluded.
“Yes.” Abigail glanced at Gregori. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He adjusted his tie. “I’ll see if Roman is available to meet you now.” He dashed toward the double doors and left them swinging in his wake.
He’d certainly been in a hurry to leave. Abigail picked up her fork and poked at her risotto.
Radinka huffed. “He forgot to bring us the wine.”
Abigail shrugged. “I’m not sure he understands how important my mother is to me.”
“He may not want to admit it, but he does.” Radinka sighed. “You see, my husband died from bone cancer. Gregori had just started his master’s degree at Yale when we got the news. He quit school, came home, and spent all the time he could with his father. He knew what was coming, but he was still devastated when Heinrich died. We both were.”
“I’m so sorry,” Abigail said. So this was the sad place Gregori had gone to when she’d told him about her mother’s illness. He did understand what she was going through.
Radinka’s eyes glimmered with tears. “It was a difficult time. So much sadness. And so much debt. Gregori lived at home and worked two jobs to help pay it off. I took a job here as office manager for Roman Draganesti. As soon as the debt was paid off, Gregori finished his master’s at NYU. He’s such a good man. So loyal and hardworking. I hope you don’t hold it against him that he’s a vampire.”
Abigail didn’t know what to say. “Well, I—”
Radinka reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “Please don’t think ill of him. It was all my fault.”
“Your fault? How?”
Radinka sat back and sniffed. “After a few months of working the night shift here, I started to catch on. Roman is a brilliant scientist, but a bit absentminded when he gets involved with a project. He would leave half-empty bottles of blood in his office. And since I was raised in the old country, Czechoslovakia, I was aware of all the old vampire tales. I soon figured it out.”
“Did you tell him?” Abigail asked.
Radinka nodded. “And I swore to keep the secret. I needed the job. And Roman needed me. It worked out well until Gregori got it into his head that it wasn’t safe for me to work and commute at night. He wanted me to work during the day, but of course, that was impossible. We argued about it.”
She sighed. “I lost my temper and told Gregori I worked for vampires. You can imagine his reaction.”
Abigail took a sip of water. “What did he do?”
“At first, he was afraid I’d lost my mind. Then when he started to suspect it was true, he was worried for my safety. He drove here to confront Roman. And that’s when it happened.” A tear ran down Radinka’s face. “My poor son. He was only trying to protect me.”