Chapter Six
People thought spying meant hiding; Verity had never found that to be true. The best surveillance happened in plain sight.
That’s why she sat with a book inside the coffee shop instead of skulking in the street. Hair down rather than up. Blazer instead of cardigan. Minor changes, but enough.
She doubted that idiot Toby would recognize her. Not if he kept his eyes glued to the woman whose leg he squeezed.
That piece of shit.
It had been a month since Cora admitted she suspected Toby-the-Flake might be playing away, but she forbade Verity from doing anything.
Her friendship was too important to risk, especially if she was wrong.
It had been hard to stand by and watch her friend suffer.
Why did men like Toby always find the brightest lights?
Last night she’d had enough. Sweet carefree Cora had cried over this scumbag. He came home late, and Verity saw it all. Apparently, he was out looking for jobs, but she didn’t believe him for a second.
So, when he hung his jacket up and ran upstairs to shower, Verity hatched her plan.
She didn’t tell Cora, she felt bad for that but couldn’t risk her friend saying no.
Instead, she fished the FindMe coin from her handbag.
The handy gadget, connected to her phone, meant for finding lost things.
She’d also been known to use it for a touch of illegal tracking.
When she hugged Cora goodbye, cursing Toby like she always did, she brushed past the hanging jackets, slipping the coin into his breast pocket. It had been too easy.
Now, she sat across the coffee shop, watching him make gooey eyes with some woman.
His companion laughed at something he said and Verity’s stomach churned.
She normally enjoyed the chase, but watching the scene in front of her and knowing she was going to upset her friend wasn’t fun in the slightest.
The woman got ready to leave and Verity pulled out her phone, pretending to read something on the screen. Sure enough, Toby stood and kissed her, not bothering to hide it in the crowded coffee shop.
The fucking nerve of this guy!
She let them leave before packing her things away and heading out, walking straight for Cora. Gods, she was dreading this.
A few customers were sat in the Corner Cafe when she arrived, which was nice to see. Her friend sat by the counter on her laptop, oblivious to the world.
Despite her pounding heart, Verity held her head up, breathing deep. It was going to be a long night, but this needed to be done first.
“Hey, babe.” Verity smiled, approaching the counter and taking a stool beside Cora.
“Hey,” her friend said, offering a pathetic excuse for a smile, shoulders slumped.
“What’s up?” Verity asked, resting what she hoped was a comforting hand on her back.
Cora looked around the room, eyes rimmed with silver. “I don’t know how long I can keep it,” she whispered.
“Keep what?” Verity asked, pulling her friend a little closer.
“The café. My dad ran it for years and now I’m screwing it up.” A tear broke free.
“How are you screwing it up? Business is bad right now. That’s not your fault.” People struggled to pay their bills; never mind going out to eat.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s all going tits-up,” she rested her head on Verity’s shoulder. “I don’t know what to do.”
Verity didn’t know either, so she settled for a hug.
“If you need help, I’m doing okay at the minute,” she offered.
“Don’t waste your money on me,” Cora said, wiping her eyes. “Maybe I should join the Exchange too.”
“Hmm, maybe.” The word came out a little higher than it should have and Cora pulled back to look at her.
“Everything okay with sexy Theo?” Cora asked.
“First off, for the millionth time, don’t call him sexy.”
Cora smirked.
Verity went on. “Secondly, some of the other donors are a bit… weird. I dunno, sometimes it’s fine and sometimes it feels a bit off.”
Cora hummed thoughtfully. “Well, right now, it might be that or lose the cafe.”
“I guess it’s something to think about,” Verity said, though she wasn’t keen on her friend joining.
After her first donor support meeting she realised it wasn’t weird because Vivienne was there, it was somehow worse without her.
The divide in the room was stark. There were the veteran donors, led by Mike, so they all hated her, and there were the cool kids, led by Sienna, who pretended she didn’t exist.
High school politics, eat your heart out.
The vets, she didn’t care about. But the cool kids? There was something very wrong with them. She overheard the club mentioned all the time and it never sat right with her. Adam was too chatty for his own good and got his fair share of kicks from Sienna for it.
From what Verity could work out, Sienna wasn’t Queen-Bee through her own scheming. She led the group because she was donor of the highest-ranking vampire among them, Harris. Yet another reason for her to dislike Verity. Everyone knew there was no love lost between Harris and Theo.
“Toby’s got an interview tonight, so hopefully he can help out,” Cora said, pulling Verity back to the room. Back to the issue at hand.
“Oh, yeah?”
Shit shit shit!
“Listen…” Verity started.
“And he got me flowers this evening,” Cora beamed. “Said I deserved a little pick-me-up.”
“Did he now?” Verity sighed.
She knew she needed to tell her but talk about kicking a girl when she’s down.
“Yeah,” Cora went on. “He’s talking about going to the sea for a few days once it warms up. It’ll be so nice to get away for a bit.”
A customer headed to the counter for another coffee and Verity realised she was wimping out. Maybe she could tell Cora later.
“You dressing up for Lord Mayor Sexy?” Cora asked, giving Verity a once-over with a low whistle. “Babe, you look hot!”
Verity laughed. “Please, I just thought I’d try something a bit different.”
“Well, I likey!” Cora exclaimed, making Verity blush.
Maybe the skirt was a little shorter than she would normally wear but she didn’t think it was that obvious.
“Talking of Theo, I’d better get going.”
Cora nodded, giving Verity a hug before slapping her ass as she left.
By the time she arrived outside Theo’s office, the early morning wasn’t so early.
Over the past month they had fallen into a routine where Verity would visit at the end of the night, after his appointments and meetings when they didn’t need to rush.
Sometimes their appointments were quick and sometimes they would lose track of time chatting after Theo fed.
It was on one of those mornings a few weeks ago, when they talked until the sun threatened to rise, that they discussed careers.
Verity had asked if he always wanted to be a politician and he had laughed.
Theo seemed a little embarrassed to admit he was eighty years old before he learnt to read, but Verity thought it was adorable.
He explained that history had always been his passion, and if given the choice he would have been a teacher, giving people the education he had been denied as a human.
It was with that knowledge, and another juicy little hint from Stella, that she knocked on his office door with a wrapped box in her hands.
“What’s that?” he asked, hands on hips, when she opened the door with a wicked grin.
“Well,” she said, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. “A little birdy told me it’s someone’s birthday today.”
His eyebrow rose as she walked closer, eyes snagging on her exposed legs until she cleared her throat and he looked up with a smirk.
“I err… don’t even know where to start,” he said, as she stepped closer and thrust the box towards him.
“Happy birthday, Theo.” She smiled, waiting for him to take the box.
“You really shouldn’t have,” he said, looking between her and the box.
“Well, I already did. It isn’t much, I just thought it was cool.”
He sighed. “Thank you, Verity.”
He took the box and unwrapped it, his smile faltering when he saw the contents.
“There was an excavation near the Albion border a few years ago and they found a whole load of these,” Verity explained, as he pulled the small framed coin from the box, details smoothed with time.
“That’s where you’re from, right? It’s Roman so while you were human, you might have been living right on top of it. ”
Theo’s face remained unreadable. The only thing she knew was that he was not smiling.
“It’s lame…” she started.
“It is not lame,” Theo answered. “It’s err… I love it.”
“You wanna tell your face?” Verity laughed and he rolled his eyes before smiling.
“I really love it, Verity. Thank you.”
“Good,” she smiled back before pouring them both some water and taking a seat. “Got any exciting birthday plans?”
“Seeing some friends tomorrow, but that’s it,” he said, before taking the chair opposite her and giving her dress another pointed look. “What about you? Any special plans today?”
She shook her head. “No, just thought I’d try something new.”
He cocked an eyebrow and gave the hum of someone unconvinced.
“What?” she asked, trying not to sound too defensive as she offered her hand.
He took it, caressing her skin like he always did, and asked again. “So, no plans after this?”
“Nope.”
“Liar.”
She felt her pulse pick up at the accusation before yanking her hand back. “If you can tell that from my heartbeat, that’s cheating.”
He laughed. “Cheating? Perhaps I’m just better at this game than you.”
She pouted, biting back her smile.
“Come on,” he said, holding his hand back out. “I’ve got a hot date with a book, and you’ve got a hot date with…” he waited for her to finish.
“No one,” she insisted. Okay, that time she sounded defensive. She placed her hand back in his.
“Fine,” he said. “Don’t tell me. But if he messes you about…”
Verity laughed. “You gonna beat him up for me?”
“Oh, I have my ways.”
He finished his usual massaging then raised her wrist to his mouth. For a moment he paused, looking at her as though he might say something, but instead waited for her nod like always.
She nodded and he bit.
She squeezed her eyes shut against the lightning his bite awakened in her and counted. On three he released his teeth. On five she felt his tongue. On seven he started sucking. And on ten she opened her eyes, head turned to the window.
He was predictable and that helped. It didn’t stop the fire in her veins or the steady throb of need in her core, but it helped. It also helped not looking at him. So, she never did anymore, training her eyes on the window instead. Thinking about anything but the vampire feeding on her.
When he finished drinking, he seemed to spend longer than usual healing her, licking and massaging her wrist. For a moment he was somewhere else entirely, holding her hand in his, skimming gentle fingers over the tender skin. Feeling her blood beneath.
She dared a glance at him, but he snapped out of it at her movement, releasing her and standing.
“Well,” he said, circling his desk. “I shouldn’t keep you.”
She stood. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday.”
“And I hope you enjoy your date,” he said with a smile.
She rolled her eyes at him, opening the door.
“And thank you, Verity. I really do love my gift.”
For a moment she had forgotten all about the present on his desk.
“You’re welcome,” she answered. “See you Monday.”
She waved before closing the door behind her. Stella was already gone, thankfully. Stella had a way of seeing straight through her. Theo might be able to sniff out a lie, but Stella would know she was up to no good on sight.
So, Verity straightened her dress and headed downstairs to find a taxi. She might not have a hot date, but she still had a club to get to.