Her knees gave out and she slid down the door to plop onto the linoleum floor. Oh God, she should have known. Maybe a part of her had always known. He couldn't have fallen in love with her so fast.
Tears streamed down her face. What a complete fool she'd been! The first time in her life that she couldn't detect lies, and she'd fallen for such terrible deceit.
No! She shook her head. She still wanted to believe. She wanted love to be true.
"Robby," she cried. She didn't want to lose him, didn't want to lose the dream, the magic, the glory of his love. She leaned her head onto her knees and wept.
Oh God, the last time she'd cried like this, she 'd been in Robby's arms. He'd held her and comforted her. Then he'd made love to her.
A twinge of nausea twisted in her gut, and she breathed deeply to get control. She was at work, dammit. She needed to get a grip. She could fall apart later when she was alone in her apartment.
She stumbled to a sink and splashed cold water on her face. She leaned over the sink, reluctant to even look at herself. She didn't want to see living proof of how badly her heart was breaking.
The door shook as someone tried to open it. Then she heard a knock.
"Olivia?" Yasmine asked quietly. "Are you all right?"
She took a deep breath. "I'm fine." She glanced at the mirror and winced. Her eyes were red and puffy, her nose pink and runny.
"Do you want to talk?" Yasmine asked.
No. Olivia trudged toward the door and unlocked it. Yasmine slipped inside with a large brown package hugged to her chest. She took one look at Olivia and gasped.
"I'm not feeling well." Olivia yanked a tissue from the dispenser and blew her nose.
"Man trouble?" Yasmine whispered. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I'll say you caught a bug on vacation. Happens all the time."
"Thanks."
Yasmine sighed. "It's so hard to find a good man these days. I should know. I've looked everywhere."
Olivia's tears threatened to flow again. "I should go home."
"Of course." Yasmine patted her on the back. "You still have some vacation days, so stay home and take it easy."
Olivia glanced at the mirror and winced. "I'll have to cross the office to get my handbag."
"I'll get it. You wait here." Yasmine moved toward the door, then stopped. "Oh, I forgot. Here's your package." She handed it over and left.
Olivia's heart lurched when she read the return address. It was from Grikos. Her fingers trembled as she ripped open the sticky flap on the supersized bubble envelope. Inside, she spotted cream-colored yarn. Her sweater. She'd left it at Robby's house.
She dropped the envelope on the vanity between the two sinks and stepped back. Memories of that night flooded her mind. She'd lain naked beside him. She'd let him touch her and kiss her everywhere. She'd felt so much love and desire for him, she'd been ready to give up her virginity.
She doubled over as her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. How could she have fallen in love so fast with a complete stranger? She should have followed her first instincts and stayed far away from a man she couldn't read.
Yasmine strode back into the restroom. "Oh my gosh, are you all right?" She dropped Olivia's handbag on the floor and rushed to her side.
Olivia took a deep breath and motioned to the package. "There's a sweater inside. Would you like it?" She and Yasmine looked similar in size.
"Are you sure?" Yasmine slipped the sweater out of the package. "It's very nice."
"Take it. Please."
Yasmine frowned. "Is it from him? He has good taste."
"It was mine. I don't want to see it again."
"Well, okay." Yasmine peered inside the package. "There's something else in here. A note." She pulled out a small envelope. "It has your name on it."
Olivia swallowed hard. She took the envelope, and her hand trembled when she saw the bold, masculine handwriting. Robby. A surge of love rose inside her, still clinging hopelessly and desperately to a dream that now appeared false. Before she could weaken, she ripped the envelope in two, threw the pieces in the toilet, and flushed it down.
"Whoa." Yasmine's eyes grew wide. "That bad, huh?"
Her eyes blurred with hot tears. "It's very bad. The worst ever."
Yasmine wrinkled her nose. "You deserve better than him."
Olivia sighed. Part of her still believed there was no one better than Robby. No man could ever touch her heart like Robby had.
No wonder this hurt so damned bad.
CHAPTER 11
Two weeks later...
Robby hesitated at the open doorway. He dreaded this evening, but everyone expected him to be here. No one ever missed the Christmas Ball at Romatech Industries. The partitions from eight large meeting rooms had been pulled back to make one huge ballroom. The band, the High Voltage Vamps, was onstage, playing a waltz. Normally, he would enjoy the lyrical music, but tonight it was just noise.
Shanna Draganesti had outdone herself this year. Instead of the usual fifteen-foot Christmas tree, there were four of them, one in each corner of the ballroom. Giant ice sculptures in the shape of reindeer adorned the buffet tables. By the looks of their shrinking antlers, they'd been in place for several hours.
The party usually started at four in the afternoon, with tons of mortal food and a mortal band for the unsuspecting human employees who worked at Romatech during the day. By six-thirty the last of them were shooed away, and a subtle change came over the ballroom.
All the buffet tables but one were cleared of mortal food. Huge tubs of ice were hauled in, each one containing bottles of Vampire Fusion Cuisine. Roman Draganesti had used his scientific genius to mix synthetic blood with beer, whiskey, chocolate, and champagne, resulting in Bleer, Blissky, Chocolood, and Bubbly Blood. For those who overindulged, there was Blood Lite, synthetic blood with low cholesterol and blood sugar.
Robby watched the couples happily twirling about the dance floor and decided to partake liberally of the Blissky. It would be the best way to survive the night. Hell, it was the only way.
As he trudged to the Blissky table, he spotted Howard Barr dressed as Santa Claus and sitting on a throne. Howard had a baby in his lap, a little girl with curly black hair. That had to be Sofia, the youngest Draganesti child. Her older brother, Constantine, was dressed as an elf, and he bounced around the throne, trying to make the bells on his pointed shoes jingle. Shanna had chosen well, having Howard look after her children. The were-bear would be ferocious if anyone threatened his charges.
Two little girls ran up to join Constantine. Robby recognized them as Bethany, Jean-Luc's stepdaughter, and Lucy, Maggie's stepdaughter. That could only mean that Jean-Luc and his wife Heather were in attendance, along with Maggie and her husband, Pierce O'Callahan.
Robby groaned inwardly. Just what he needed, an evening surrounded by happily married couples. He yanked a bottle of Blissky out of a tub of ice. There were glasses on the table, but he didn't bother with them. He unscrewed the top and jammed the bottle into the microwave.
Why didn't she call? Olivia should have received the package by now. He'd double-checked the tracking information, so he knew her jumper had arrived at the FBI office in Kansas City. He'd included a note, telling her how much he missed her and wanted to see her again. He'd written his cell phone number down so she could call him.
She never called. How could he interpret that except that she didn't feel the same way he did? He'd returned to New York two nights ago, his prison term over. If Angus and Emma had expected him to return all cheerful and full of energy, they were in for a big disappointment.
If anything, he felt worse. At least before, when he was consumed with anger, he'd had a purpose. His quest for revenge had motivated him and filled him with passion. Now, he just felt like an empty shell, quietly enduring each night, doing his duties and trying not to check his cell phone every five minutes for missed calls.
He opened the microwave and burned his fingers on the hot bottle. "Bugger." He'd left it in too long.
Some giggles sounded behind him, and he turned to find Constantine, Bethany, and Lucy watching him.
Bethany lifted her chin with a prissy look. "You said a naughty word."
"Aye, that I did." Robby inclined his head. "My apologies."
"You're wearing a kilt," Constantine announced.
"Ye're verra observant." Robby swallowed some hot Blissky. It sizzled painfully down his throat, and he liked it.
"Go ahead," Constantine whispered to Bethany, nudging her with an elbow. "I dare you."
"Eew!" Bethany made a face and ran back to Howard, followed by a giggling Lucy.
"Tino." Robby arched a brow. "What are ye up to, lad?"
Constantine assumed an angelic look, easily done with his blond curls and big blue eyes. "I was just wondering if you do like Uncle Angus. I heard he doesn't wear any underwear. So I dared Bethany to look under your kilt."
Robby took another swig from his bottle. "First, ye shouldna be frightening the young lassies. Ye could end up old and alone." Like me. He gulped down more Blissky. "And second, ye shouldna be spending all yer time thinking about a man's private parts."
Tino's mouth dropped open. "I-I don't. I was just teasing Bethany. Really."
Robby nodded. "Ye're a good lad. And I know what to get you for Christmas now."
Tino grinned and bounced, causing his shoes to jingle. "What? What will you get me?"
"A kilt."
A look of horror flashed over the boy's face before his training in etiquette kicked in. He attempted a wobbly smile. "Thank you, Robby." He ran away, his shoes jangling. "Mom, Mom!" He dashed around, looking for his mother.
Robby guzzled down the last of the Blissky. A comforting warmth spread through his chest and fizzled up to his brain. He stuffed a new bottle into the microwave just as Tino located his mother. With his superior hearing, Robby caught the conversation.
"Tino, what's wrong?" Shanna leaned over her son.
"If Robby gives me a kilt, do I have to wear it?"
Shanna grinned. "I think you would look adorable in a kilt."
"Agh!" Tino scurried back to Howard to tell him the terrible news.
Robby sighed as he removed the bottle from the microwave. He was certainly doing his share of spreading Christmas cheer. He saluted the dripping reindeer sculpture and took a long drink.
"Is it true, Robby?" a female voice asked behind him.
He spun around and saw double for a moment. Two Shanna Draganestis wearing matching red gowns. "Och, Shanna. A lovely party, as always." He bowed and watched her four feet transform into two.
"I heard some disturbing news," she said, thankfully with one voice. "I hope I can change your mind."
He straightened, and the room swirled around him. "I willna buy the lad a kilt if it fashes him."
"Not about that." Shanna waved a hand. "I heard you took your name off the Secret Santa list. You don't intend to deliver presents this Christmas eve?"
"I'm no' feeling verra celebratory this year."
"That's exactly why you should do it," she insisted. "It'll make you feel better."
He groaned. Why did every woman want to fix him? Correction, every woman except the one he wanted. He guzzled down more Blissky.
Shanna planted her hands on her hips. "Getting drunk is not going to solve your problems."
"Aye, but 'twill make me no' give a damn." He upended the bottle and finished it.
"Robby, please, you need to see a therapist. Emma and I were discussing it last night, and you're clearly - "
"No' another therapist. The last one nearly killed me."
Shanna's eyes widened. "You saw a therapist? When? Where?"
"On Patmos. But she ran away." He yanked a third bottle from the tub of ice.
"She?"
"Aye."
Shanna gasped. "Then it's true."
He stiffened. "I'm no' crazy. I never was."
"No, I mean Carlos was right. He told us you were lovesick, but we didn't think you'd met anyone..."
"That damned Carlos," Robby muttered. "I told him to keep his trap shut."
"Well, who is she?" Shanna asked.
"A Greek goddess." He gestured dramatically with his bottle. "To know her is to worship her. To love her is to spout bad poetry till the end of time."
Shanna's mouth twitched. "That sounds very promising."
"Nay." He pressed the bottle against his chest. "She's no' interested in me."
"Oh dear," Shanna murmured.
"Oh bloody fucking hell," he corrected her.
She winced. "Try not to pass out under the table. It might scare the children."
"As ye wish, madam." He unscrewed the bottle and drank the Blissky cold.
"Oh, look." Shanna's face brightened. "Darcy and Austin have arrived. Did you hear their good news?"
"Nay, but I have a terrible feeling I will - "
"You know how Darcy's eggs all died when she was a vampire?"
"I wasna personally acquainted with her eggs."
Shanna snorted. "She borrowed some eggs from her sister, and Roman used Austin's sperm to fertilize them. And it worked! They're pregnant!"
Robby slanted a bleary look at Austin. "He doesna look verra pregnant." When Shanna slapped his shoulder, he stumbled to the side.