Read vampires in america 7 - Aden for Free Online Page A

willing to put up with his toying with her. And yet she hadn’t told Travis anything at all, clearly not willing to give up her purpose until she had the right audience. Interesting.
    She sat down, crossing her long legs with a slide of silk stockings. Aden gave her a blatant once-over, starting with her legs, traveling to her chest, and finally to her very annoyed expression.
    “We have business in common,” she said primly.
    “And what business would that be?” he asked, letting his doubt, and his amusement, show.
    “The late, and unlamented, Klemens was a drug dealer, and—”
    “I’m aware.”
    “But that was the least—”
    Aden’s phone rang, interrupting the woman’s discourse on Klemens’s many dissolute ways. He was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Relieved because he really wasn’t up to a lecture on the evils of drugs in modern culture, and disappointed, because he’d expected better of Sidonie Reid. She’d gone to all this trouble only to tell him what he already knew? That Klemens had derived the bulk of his income from various illegal activities, including drugs? How very ordinary.
    He picked up the phone. “Bastien, what is it?” he asked, hoping it was something worthwhile.
    “We’ve found Silas, my lord.”
    “Tell the others. We’re leaving immediately.”
    He’d expected disappointment, but Sidonie’s look was more one of disbelief than anything else. “You’re leaving?” she asked.
    “Duty calls,” he said abruptly, not feeling any particular need to explain himself. “I’ll have my car—”
    “No,” she said quickly. “I’ll get a cab. Is it the challenge?”
    Aden was already halfway to the door, but her question made him stop and stare at her. “Why would you ask that?”
    “Curiosity,” she admitted, shrugging. “It’s a rather unique process, one we know little about. And it’s not exactly front page news.”
    “No, it’s not,” Aden said flatly. “And we intend to keep it that way.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I’ve no interest in writing an article on the inner workings of vampire politics. That’s not why I’m here.”
    “Why are you here?”
    “Because Klemens’s dirty business got a friend of mine killed.”
    “Vengeance? Klemens is dead already. There’s not much else you can do to him.”
    “But the others aren’t, the ones who worked for him. I want to see them destroyed, too. Them and their whole network.”
    Aden nodded, only half-listening. His thoughts were already on the fight ahead. Silas was very possibly the strongest opponent he had in this challenge, and Aden couldn’t afford to be distracted. “Be here tomorrow night,” he told her, not because he cared about her personal war on drugs, but because he wanted her . And he always got what he wanted. “Same time,” he added, not bothering to ask if the date and time were convenient for her.
    He started to turn away, but then looked back and skimmed his gaze over the bare skin of her neck, the snug sweater and form-fitting skirt, the spike heels. And he bared his teeth in what some might call a smile. “I do like the sweater,” he said, then strode out of the office without another word.
    “THE MOST ARROGANT, high-handed, rude man I have ever—” Sid paused in her muttered imprecations against Aden long enough to flash a reassuring smile at the building’s doorman and ask him politely to call her a cab. She’d been surprised initially that Aden’s office was in Chicago’s Loop District. It was an older building, although completely renovated, and the neighborhood was very expensive for a supposedly temporary office, especially when that office took up two entire floors. Not that she’d seen much of the fifth floor. It seemed to be little more than a transfer point for the private elevator.
    She gave the doorman another smile and a generous tip, then climbed into the back seat of the cab and immediately pulled out her cell phone.
    “Sidonie,”