She was silent for so long he sighed. “Rowan, I don’t wish to disagree with you over the phone or via text message. Nuance and subtlety are lost without facial expression.”

  She made a rude sound he was sure came with a middle finger on the hand that wasn’t holding her phone. “I bet you can guess exactly what my expression is right now.”

  Clive very nearly laughed because he knew exactly what sort of face she was making. Annoyed. Frustrated. Disgusted by the attempts at delaying Hunter Corp.’s new teams. She’d leave him wary and at full attention in case she leaned toward violence, but she’d draw him in anyway. Because he found his Hunter irresistible in this guise. Even while he protected his bollocks.

  But he didn’t want to derail his very reasonable request to have this discussion. In person where the chances of a great deal of misunderstandings cropping up were lower. And he wasn’t above knowing—and using—the fact she could be swayed with some sensual chat and persuasion.

  “Of course I can. I know my wife very well. Have dinner with me at home. We can talk about this in private. Just an hour from your day,” he coaxed.

  She snarled. “I arrived home ten minutes ago,” she said and disconnected.

  “Alice, please contact Elisabeth to let her know I’m on my way and I’ll require a dinner for Rowan and myself,” he said as he paused at her desk on his way out.

  “You should perhaps bring something along. You sent her flowers recently, so how about chocolates?” Alice went to a cabinet in her office and pulled out a deep brown box he knew held Fran’s caramels, a favorite with his Hunter.

  Another reason he appreciated Alice so very much. “Thank you,” Clive told her as he took the box. “I’ll be back after my dinner. Give me two hours.”

  “I have the first aid kit ready just in case,” she called out as he left.

  It didn’t take very much time to get from Die Mitte, the Vampire Nation‒owned casino, hotel, and the Scion’s current headquarters in North America to the home he and Rowan had moved into the month before.

  Grumpy wife inside or not, the sight of the gates opening and the lit windows of their house just beyond brought him a deep sense of satisfaction. They were making a safe harbor for themselves. Complete with a dog and staff.

  He’d walked in through their front door, held by Betchamp, his butler and co-house manager, when Hunter Corp.’s official response to the Nation came through.

  “Where is she?” Clive asked, sliding his phone away. He’d read it after he was with Rowan.

  “Elisabeth will serve dinner in fifteen minutes. Ms. Rowan is in the pool with Star and David,” Betchamp said.

  Clive thanked him and, after dropping off his things, he headed out to the backyard, following the sounds of barking, splashing, and a lot of laughter. Enough that it warmed his heart, welcoming him home more deeply than the sight of the lights in the windows.

  And there she was, his finest thing, swimming, tossing a ball as Star jumped into the air to catch it before she landed in the water with a splash. She paddled over to Rowan, dropped the ball off, and scampered out of the pool to do it again, this time on David’s side.

  “Elisabeth says dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes,” Clive called out.

  Rowan tossed—threw—the ball to him but his reaction time was faster than she’d assumed because he caught it easily. And then realized his error when Star barreled into him after it, soaking his suit.

  Clive couldn’t even be mad because the dog began to kiss his chin, clearly pleased to see him. And because it was a clever way to poke at him and he found it incredibly alluring when his wife was devious.

  “Oops,” Rowan said as she got out, water cascading down her skin, silver in the moonlight. “I’m going to clean up and I’ll meet you at the table in fifteen minutes.” She sauntered past him, the ghost of a curve to her lips.

  Somehow, he ended up totally wet and stinking of dog but the dog in question was dry and clean. Fluffy as she barked and then trotted past him into the house.

  This is what became of your life when a magic dog chose to be your spouse’s familiar.

  “I need to change as well,” he told her as he followed in Rowan’s wake.

  “We’re not having shower sex so forget it. I’m hungry and pissed off and not in a hey-let’s-work-it-out-on-one-another way.” She shut the door in his face, and growling, he moved into his closet to get rid of his wet clothing.

  By the time he sat across from Rowan at their dining table, he’d cleaned up, changed his clothes, and read the Hunter Corp. response.

  Elisabeth poured him a glass of wine and put a basket of bread out with fresh butter. As Rowan dived in, Elisabeth gave him a look that told him to let his wife get some food into herself before he started in.

  It would be safer, certainly. A hangry Rowan was a dangerous creature. More dangerous than usual in any case.

  “I made some short ribs and roasted potatoes. Tomato and cucumber salad because I know how much you enjoy it, Rowan.”

  Rowan smiled, pleased, a slight bread high already leveling off her outward anger. “Thanks, Elisabeth.”

  Clive knew for certain his cook, housekeeper, and co-house manager couldn’t have put this meal together in the short time since he’d left his office. She’d clearly been cooking for hours given how tender the meat was. Having her and Betchamp there with them in Las Vegas had been surprisingly smooth. And had definitely eased their lives. The house was expertly run, and Clive had two allies making sure his wife was fed, watered, and rested.

  David joined them, filling his plate like Clive wasn’t about to have a private conversation with Rowan. Who gave Clive a narrow-eyed look daring him to say a single word about it.

  In for a penny.

  “As I just read your reply to the Nation’s response, I assume that’s why you’re vexed?” he asked.

  “I’m past vexed.” The calm manner she said it didn’t fool Clive one bit.

  “Sending a response like that to the Nation after the sun has risen certainly indicates such a thing, yes.”

  “It was sent five minutes before sunrise. After spending hours going back and forth with the other partners to decide on wording, that’s when it was approved to go. Contrary to Vampire belief, the world doesn’t revolve around them. Things take time. Time I could have spent continuing to hunt down the people responsible for this mess. By the way, I was in Long Beach earlier today at yet another missing persons situation, so Vampires picked the wrong day to declare themselves lords who think they are the boss of me. Furthermore? If I want to find a spell that causes that response to end up tattooed on Theo’s balls, I’ll do it whenever time of day I please. The Nation doesn’t own me or pay the bills at Hunter Corp.”

  Well. He’d have to pretend he didn’t hear that heretical rant regarding the First. He tried very hard not to listen or remember anything Rowan said about her foster father when she was angry at him. The First loved his daughter very much. In a twisted way that had left scars inside and out. Things were...complicated and had left Rowan with very strong feelings about Nation attempts to control her in any way.

  “I rather find the response to have been gracious and measured,” David said with a shrug before he speared a potato and popped it into his mouth, the little shit stirrer.

  “Right? I could have said so many things. The options really were endless, and I’ll never stop being bitter that Susan and Celesse vetoed the best ones,” Rowan said. “You’ll note the absence of the term numbnuts. Because I’m fucking gracious.”

  Clive pulled up the response on his phone and read, “Hunter Corp. will continue interviews for these positions and expects to have the first teams up and operational within sixty days.”

  “See?” Rowan put some more asparagus on her plate before she pointed her fork at him for emphasis. “Gracious. I didn’t say, hey fuck you for wasting my time when my friends got killed because of Nation and Conclave treachery. I do what I want, so suck it.”

  “Hunter, I do think sending something telling them you’re hiring who you want and not addressing a single point in their first response is telling them you do what you want and to suck it,” Clive said. “And then waited until after sunrise to send it.”

  “I heard you the first time. Goddess you’re annoying.” She flipped him off. “It’s not a secret or some clue you had to figure out. We all know when it was sent. That was the actual point. Like the way the Nation response was only sent to London and Paris.” She sent him a smile full of teeth and he was glad of his training that kept him from rearing back.

  These bloody idiots.

  Clive shook his head. “I didn’t know that,” he admitted. “I’ll send Nadir’s office my opinion of such a reckless and petty delivery. She’ll see it when she wakes for the evening.”

  “They’re all ancient Vampires. They’ll be up a while yet, certainly long enough to read our reply.” She cackled. “I know you all don’t really dream, but I hope they think of me all day long.”

  “Taunting Nadir seems ill advised,” he said. Though there were others involved in this mess, Nadir was the Voice and as such had responsibilities far beyond her personal feelings. “Though you must know she supports efforts to come to a compromise between the Nation and Hunter Corp., she’s walking a line here in her official capacity. She’ll hold to the demands of her position.”

  “Are you telling me she’ll do whatever Theo tells her to do and she’ll never show any indication of how she really feels even if she disagrees with him? Uh, yeah I remember,” Rowan told him, voice thick with the emotion of the memories of some of the darker sides of her father’s Vampires looking the other way, or worse, when he’d disciplined—a polite word for what had happened—Rowan.

  Clive took her hand a moment.

  “I apologize. My wording was clumsy.”

  “I got you, Scion.” Rowan smirked at him, and she returned to the subject. “I see what’s going on. Very little about that response says Nadir. I mean, she’s got a certain way of negotiating and I saw parts of her there. But on the whole, that response reads like it was written by committee. Vampire lords, really.” She rolled her eyes, and he barely resisted a laugh because she was right. “Doesn’t look like these bellends were active until this month. I’m going to imagine they got access via Scions who then opened the door.”

  Clive raised a brow, needing to tread carefully. He didn’t want to evade her attempts to get answers but his position and his relationship with his wife relied on each making the other do their respective jobs. He needed to know how much she’d figured out already so he could do what he could to help her get the answers she deserved.

  “They’re being treated as senior advisors. The Scions are involved, obviously, and the advisors are handpicked and forwarded via our offices.”

  Her sour expression was accompanied by a rude hand gesture.

  “That’s a new one. Or, rather an old one made new again,” he said, admiring her ability to pull rude gestures from across time and geography to find the perfect one for any given situation.

  “You deserve even worse, Clive. I told you not to treat me like I was ignorant. Senior advisors with enough access and power to get in the middle of Nadir’s process? Who? If this was such a regular occurrence, why did I never see it or learn about it? He doesn’t consider them as important as Scions or I’d have known. I’d have met one or he’d have taught me about their purpose.”

  Clever. Clive simply devoured her with his gaze. His brilliant wife. Her brain as sharp and dangerous as her blade. She was a bulldog, stubborn, vicious when necessary and once her jaws locked on, woe be to her enemies.

  “So,” she continued as if he’d answered by his silence, “they’re recent. As such, they’d need to be, as you said, pushed forward. We’ve had some hours after your response to look into these self-titled lords. I know in whose territory they’re located, so it’s no big mystery which Scions brought them to the party. Tahar and Takahiro for sure. Warren has enough trouble in his territory, so I don’t think he’s inviting any more. Paola’s territory is far too stable. Her Vamps are all old loners. They don’t go on killing sprees and Hunters don’t need to get involved. None appear to be from North America. There are a few I can’t find. Yet. I will though. It’s all a matter of time.”

  She was, as always, astute about Vampire politics.

  “You are correct that none of it is coming from North America,” he allowed.

  “We’d be in an ER, not sharing a meal if you had done this behind my back. However.” She paused as she ate a while. “I guess the we’re at war on your behalf portion of the program is over and it’s back to business as usual. Fine. I’m not a Vampire. Hunter Corp. is not the Nation. We’re doing what we do, and we’re done seeking input over it. I’m hiring for these mixed teams. Tomorrow, actually, as we’ve got three potential Vampire candidates back for second-round interviews.”

  “Which Vampires?” he demanded.

  “If you won’t be part of the process, you can’t have access to those details. It’s not complicated. I’m not dick measuring or fang comparing or showing my feathers. You keep trying to suck us in to this ridiculousness, but we won’t allow that now any more than we would have a year ago.”

  Clive held a hand up. “If I know the basics, I can help. You don’t have to say names. Just whether they’re Nation affiliated or rogues.” They had people who could hack into Hunter Corp. just as Hunter Corp. had people who’d broken into Nation systems, so he didn’t need names. He didn’t want names at that point because if he did, he’d have to be truthful if asked by the First.

  “Two of them are rogues,” she told him. Meaning one was affiliated. “I’m telling Clive this information, not the Nation.”

  He nodded, accepting her terms. Grateful she was sharing at all.

  “Look, we don’t need to hire problems. That’s not our goal. We’re very aware of the fine line we need to walk with these teams. We received forty-three applications from Vampires. We interviewed six and only three made it to this last round.

  “As you can infer from the numbers, we were very particular about who made it to the interview stage. We’ve run deep background checks. Each has been interviewed in person. None have human or Vampire criminal records. Both in their application materials and to me personally their reasons for leaving the Nation were given and I’m satisfied with them.”

  “You know the issue of rogues within the Nation will complicate matters.” Rogues were generally ignored as long as they didn’t break laws or endanger anyone. They didn’t tithe like Nation-affiliated Vamps did, but they didn’t use any of the services provided to members either.

  But Vampires were hierarchical. They respected fear and power, and rogues made an end run around organized power structures. As Vampires were already suspicious of Hunters, adding rogues into the mix was going to be an issue.

  Rowan pointed her fork at him for emphasis. “I provided plenty of notice as to what I was planning. I explained why I needed to avoid delay and get this done to deal with the problem we’re facing right now. I made it very clear that should any delay tactics be used I would simply do things without your input. If Vampires were so set on Affiliated Vampires being on Hunter teams, you had a process to say so. Instead, you played to type and decided on games. This is what is colloquially known as fucking around and finding out.” She shrugged and Clive didn’t have the energy to argue. Especially when her points were correct, and he didn’t want to be cornered into having to admit that to her out loud.

  They finished dinner. “Walk me to the car, darling?” Though she gave him a hard side eye, she rose as he did and took up at his side on the way outside.

  Rowan said when they stood out front, “I’ll figure it out. We both know that for a certainty. So if you have the ear of any of them, you should let them know they have a closing window of time to jump ship. Otherwise, I’m coming for them. Maybe not this year because we’ve got far too many things as it is on our calendar. But I won’t forget. This is personal.” Rowan cocked her head. “Tell them, Clive.”

  “I have. And I will continue doing so.” He risked his health leaning down to kiss her, but fortunately she believed his promise and stepped into his embrace, opening her lips on a sigh.

  “This is for Carey and Thena and all the protected who have been targeted and harmed. I’ll burn their mansions, pied-à-terres, villas, and penthouses to the ground for this. Not as Hunter Corp. As the Vessel. Understand? I will consider them the same as the Blood Front fuckheads who ordered the hits.”

  He hummed his pleasure as he pulled her close again. “You know what it does to me when you’re a vicious bitch.” That she was so savage in the face of a threat by predators most people had no idea existed but would run screaming into the night if they were confronted with was part of the core of the woman he was endlessly fascinated by.

  He’d tell them. Some of them would listen. Others would have to learn the hard way and since he already thought Tahar needed to police his territory better, Clive really looked forward to watching the slow-motion car crash that was about to happen to him. The other Scion, Takahiro, wasn’t a true believer in this bizarre response to Hunter Corp, but he did, as Rowan rightly guessed, have pressure from some of the most powerful Vampires in his territory and had felt duty bound to put them forward to the First. He’d still get his ass kicked by Clive’s very pissed-off wife, but he’d probably survive without permanent damage.

  “I adore you,” he told her before giving her one last kiss. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Are you in for the night?”