Page 85 of The Hunter’s Affection

Torr poured himself a shot of tequila behind his brother’s bar. Ignoring Laria’s question, he drank it. Then refilled it and drank another.

“You hate tequila.”

He glared at her and went to pour a third but was stopped by his tormentor, otherwise known as his sister. One week before opening, the bar was chaotic. Between the banging of the kegs being brought in by the distributor and a meeting, of sorts, his brother was conducting with the new staff in the corner, his arrival had attracted little notice. Except from her. She’d been all over him from the moment he walked in.

“I said not now.”

He tried to shake her hand off, but she was strong.

Possibly the strongest woman in the world, in fact—the only surviving female vampire among the two original families.

“Christ, Laria.”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Torr.”

“Then leave off.”

“You broke up.”

She did let his hand go then. But instead of pouring himself another shot, he sank down onto the stool normally occupied by his bartender brother.

“What part of ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ do you not understand?”

“Fine,” she snapped, walking away, “you want to be a dick. Be a dick.”

Toni cocked her head, and he could tell she’d caught Laria’s parting words. But she didn’t question him—instead, she simply looked at him.

Torr finally cleared his throat, impatient with the staring contest.

“I’ve always liked you,” she blurted.

It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected her to say.

“Pardon?”

“I said I always liked you.”

“What exactly does that mean?” he asked, curious.

“You did everything in your power to act like what Laria was accusing you of being.”

Like a dick. Right.

“But I saw past that from the start.”

Torr would love to argue with her, explain that he really was a dick and that her first inclination had been on target. But there was no denying he and Toni had always gotten along.

“I’ve always liked you too,” he said honestly.

She nodded to the tequila. “You sharing? I could use one.”

“At this hour?”

She gave him a wry look. Touché. He was man enough to admit it when he’d been a hypocrite. And so he poured two more shots.

Handing her one of the glasses, he asked why she needed it so desperately.

“Alessandra did an amazing job of getting some of the SHU students down here for jobs, but staffing is already our biggest headache.”