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helped Ty and Peter when they’d needed her most, but her assistance had been more about using them than saving them. Carly was doing what she needed to adjust to her new life, part of a team but very much alone. Just like him.
    Ty glanced in the direction Ana had disappeared. “No,” he said, this time letting a trace of humor leak into his voice. “I can handle her. I’ll just have to be a little more direct, that’s all.”
    “You don’t have authority to reveal what you are, Ty,” Carly snapped. “Not yet. We have one month until the leaders of Salvation’s Crossing attend the HispanicCommunity Alliance fund-raiser, and we need Ana fully invested before we show our hand.”
    “I have no plans to tell her I’m a vampire right now. But she still has my gun, and I have no intention of letting her think she can take anything from me and just walk away.”

CHAPTER
TWO
    Inside the coffee shop she’d built with blood, sweat, and tears, Ana leaned against the closed door, keenly aware of the tension that zipped through her body like an electrical charge. The man had done a number on her, both physically and mentally. She tipped her head back against the door, forced herself to take a deep breath, and focused on the small but well-appointed space with its gleaming wood, plush sofas and chairs, and brightly colored walls, trying to get her mind off the encounter in the alleyway.
    Not much luck. The man’s heady scent hung about her, as if he was still near. The sensation of his muscular body on hers—his pelvis pressed to hers—still echoed in her bones.
    She forced herself to listen to the familiar strains of one of her favorite songs, playing softly in the background. Calming, but not enough to wipe clean her distress.
    Handling the gun, holding it to his head, trying to come off tough—it had all shaken her up more than she wanted to admit. Her insides still quivered, both from challenging him and from the way he’d made her feel.
    Alive.
    And empty at the same time. He’d brought out a rush of feelings inside her, but the moment he’d mentioned Gloria, he’d blasted it all away again, leaving her numbbut longing for those few blessed moments of sensation. Longing for things that could never be hers.
    She should be used to it by now, but she wasn’t. It hurt. It made her want to cry out, Why? Why me? Why now? Why can’t people just leave me alone to live my life in peace?
    Swiftly, she sent Paul home. With no customers in the coffee shop to see her do it, she took both her gun and his and stuck them into a cabinet behind the counter. Then she picked up her cell phone and dialed Téa’s number. Cursing softly when it went to voicemail, she left a message asking Téa to call her back right away. A glance at the clock on the wall confirmed she only had another half hour before closing time. She shut off the music then waited, steeling herself for what was coming.
    Ten minutes later, the man walked in. Ana was finishing up an order for a last-minute customer, one of her late-night regulars, Bobbie Hernandez. As usual, Bobbie was accompanied by a pretty girl. Even as she tensed, Ana continued to chat with the two of them, refusing to look at her unwanted guest even though she really wanted to. Bobbie glanced at the other man curiously, but he simply stared back, expression inscrutable.
    The moment Bobbie and his girlfriend left, Ana snapped around the Closed sign so it was facing out. Moving away from the glass door to the solid wall beside it, she leaned back, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned to him. As she watched, he shrugged out of his jacket and sat down, shirt untucked, legs splayed out in front of him.
    “Don’t get too comfortable. I’m closed now. You need to leave.”
    “I’m not leaving until I say what I came to say,” he said softly. “You know that.”
    His voice caressed her, as did his gaze. Once you were able to see past all the mesmerizing angles of his faceand body and