Chapter 1 Invitation at Gunpoint
In the comfortable silence of his study, Marek pointed his gun at Sophia Sterling’s head.
She shot him a bored look. “Put it down. We both know you don’t want me dead.”
Her calm voice reverberated softly from the heavy wooden furniture and floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
Marek growled. Nobody reacted like that. Not even the hardest mobsters. Certainly not a pretty psychotherapist who wasn’t even thirty yet.
“I’m going to charge you double if you keep obstructing the sessions,” she added, staring down the barrel with a smile colder than the metal.
He pressed the gun to her forehead.
Not even a muscle twitched in her beautiful face. She let the silence stretch until his hand quivered. Just a little.
“You know,” she smirked, her grey eyes locking onto his, “you need a revolver for Russian roulette.”
His wolf stirred, restless. He took a deep breath. She should reek of fear by now. Instead, she emanated a sweet fragrance of jasmine with something darker underneath that he couldn’t place.
He released the safety on the gun.
“This is leading nowhere,” Sophia sighed with the genuine exasperation of a teacher scolding a naughty child. “Call your goons to drive me home before you make a complete fool of yourself.”
He’d had her snatched from her office two hours ago. His men swore she’d only told them to mind their manners. And they had.
Marek holstered his gun, but kept his voice firm. “You’re not going anywhere.”
She shook her head, her tight blonde ponytail swaying in rhythm with her graceful movements.
“On the contrary. I’m going home, and you’re paying for my time tonight.” She handed him her business card, her long, jet black nail polish stark against the expensive white linen paper. “Contact my secretary for the payment details.”
His jaw tightened so hard his teeth ached. His wolf howled inside him as he slammed his fists against the polished oak desk.
Sophia didn’t flinch at the thud, her grey eyes following him with calm interest, like she was studying a wolf in the zoo.
The reckless human should have been grateful he could still control his temper.
“We’ll have to start with daily visits.” She stepped closer, invading his personal space, the darkness beneath the jasmine oddly familiar. “Send the limo tomorrow at five. Don’t be late.”
The words stuck in his throat. Nobody dared to speak to him like that. Except…
But the one woman who could command him had left. With a vampire.
Marek managed a curt nod. “Five o’clock.”
Sophia’s block-heeled loafers struck the hardwood floor as she turned toward the door.
He followed her with his gaze.
Calm. Professional. Immovable like a cursed mountain.
His wolf sniffed at her with interest that was a bit too keen.
He swallowed hard. Sophia might actually be the only psychotherapist who could help him forget the women he’d lost.
He clung to that hope. Because if he didn’t get his bearings quickly, he might lose far more than his sanity. And for an alpha, to lose his pack, was a fate worse than death.
