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going to need replacing when he was through.
    Bullies threaten, and I don’t like bullies. Even if they come packaged like a brick outhouse. If Aleksei wanted to scare me into inviting him inside, he had gone about it the wrong way. Any initial fear I’d felt at seeing him on the other side of my door had now vanished. I’d been scared enough these past twenty-four hours. Nothing he said or did was going to top it. All his veiled threat did was piss me off, causing my temper to spike recklessly.
    â€œThen knock yourself out!” I snapped before slamming the door in his face.
    Immediately I jumped back to a spot halfway down the hall, waiting for the only barrier that separated us to be ripped off its hinges. If Aleksei made good on his threat, it would prove what an idiot I was.
    But nothing happened.
    I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until I was forced to exhale, which the vampire on the other side of my front door heard.
    â€œRowan, you must invite me in. Is for your safety.”
    The frustration in his voice was evident, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it felt good to hear it. Hah! Score one for the puny human. But even so, I was still scared half to death. My heart was beating so hard, I expected it to burst out from between my ribs and flop around on the carpet, kind of like a fish out of water.
    â€œYou can’t come in without an invitation,” I muttered, more to myself than the closed door.
    â€œNo, I cannot.”
    He sounded royally peeved. Guess I wasn’t playing nice. Hearing him loudly expelling his own rush of air, I could almost picture his expression as he tried to get a handle on his temper. “I am sorry I told you untruth.”
    Oh well, that changed everything. I mean if he was sorry . . . “Go away, Aleksei, I’m not going to invite you in, no matter what you tell me.”
    â€œBut Rowan, you might have danger—”
    â€œYou think?” My knees turned to jello. “Do you think I’m so stupid I don’t realize Gabriel needs me to disappear now that I know what he is? What you all are?”
    The sound of his fist banging on the door’s wood paneling made me jump. The door was sturdy, but it was also quite old. I had no idea how much of a battering it could take. Not from a vampire.
    â€œGabriel is not problem,” the big guy growled.
    Yeah? After last night I wasn’t so sure. “What do you mean?” I yelled back, but the only answer to my question was silence.
    Hurrying to the living room, I went to the bay window, which gave me an unrestricted view of the front porch. It was empty. Somehow I doubted Aleksei was hiding in the hydrangea bush at the bottom of the steps. I had a pretty good idea where he was headed, and a hollow feeling swirled in the pit of my stomach. How long did I have before Gabriel showed up?

CHAPTER 4
    T he unopened bottle of Jack Daniels sitting on the kitchen counter next to the coffeemaker brought me to a screeching halt. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the realization that my vampire boyfriend knew me a lot better than I was willing to admit. But perhaps it wasn’t that much of a stretch to suppose I might need something stronger than coffee. Or maybe he just figured a face-to-face would go a lot better if one of us was drunk. At least now I knew who’d stripped me down to my underwear and put me to bed the night before.
    I got a glass from the cupboard, cracked the seal on the bottle, and poured myself a generous measure. I downed it in one go, spluttering a little as my throat caught on fire. Refilling my glass, I repeated the action. The idea of being totally shit-faced when Gabriel arrived seemed like an excellent plan. Carrying the bottle in one hand and my glass in the other, I pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down. Might as well be comfortable while I waited.
    Forty-five minutes later I made an unsettling discovery