Chapter 17

“Sixty-three years?” Mary asked, once he came out carrying a tray with the coffee. “Who else got a piece of you?”

Gideon waved it off. “Oh, just someone who never could see the bigger picture. But I can tell you, it was a woman, too.” He smiled, sitting down at the opposite end of the couch, bending his knee and twisting in order to face her. “You women always manage to surprise the hell out of me. Men are far more predictable.”

“Maybe that’s because you underestimate women.”

His smile never wavered. “Maybe.”

“Did she live to tell the tale of the day she almost ended Gideon Keel?”

“Did she live? Yes. Did she tell?” Gideon shrugged. “I stopped trying to figure out how Michelle’s mind works a long time ago.”

Mary shook her head. She didn’t understand. Gideon seemed to be the sort of man—vampire—who would react quickly and exact his revenge without blinking. Yet, he didn’t seem to be interested in extracting a pound of flesh from her, and he let this other woman walk away as well.