My heart thumped. “I thought there was nothing to worry about.”

“There isn’t,” he said. “But just in case something goes wrong, I’d rather you hold onto that ring than me.”

I squeezed my fingers around the treasure. “Okay. I’ll admit. Having this does make me feel better.”

“Good.” His hand gripped the back of my neck, and suddenly, his lips were on mine. Chills burned across my skin as desire coiled in my gut. I fisted my free hand around his suit jacket, breathing in the scent of his flames. Hunger tore through me, matched by the intensity of his kiss.

When he pulled back, he gave me a wink. “If that doesn’t convince him, I don’t know what will.”

27

“Asmodeus.” The stocky vampire mob boss strode up to our table and held out a hand toward my fake demon boyfriend. As they shook hands, I turned my eyes onto my plate. I’d ordered the halibut, and the meal had been pretty tasty until now.

After our little kiss, I’d been lulled into a false sense of security. We’d had drinks. Our food had arrived. Everything was going well. We were going to get through our dinner without a confrontation. But the vampires had decided to take notice.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you around here,” Lars said. “Thought you might have forgotten about those of us who don’t live and breathe all things Hell’s Kitchen.”

“My friend here has said the same thing,” Az said easily, lounging against the booth’s maroon seat. “She says we don’t get out of Hell’s Kitchen often enough.”

Lars flicked his greedy eyes my way and gave me a knowing smile. “More than friend, don’t you think?”

“You caught me.” Az flashed Lars a smile full of teeth. “Mia is my paramour. She moved in with me a couple of weeks ago.”

“So I heard. So I heard,” Lars murmured, turning back to Az. “What’s the, you know, taste like?”

Az tsked. “You know we don’t drink blood, Lars.”

“I don’t know why. All the other demons do.” He leaned closer to the table and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Some of the fallen angels, too. Why do you Princes have to pretend you’re so above it all?”

“Because we are.” Az gave him a smile that masked the rage I could clearly see flickering in his eyes. Did the vampire notice it, too? “We don’t need to subsist on blood like you do.”

“Yes, yes,” Lars muttered, flicking his eyes to Az’s porterhouse steak. He wrinkled his nose. “You and your animal meat. I don’t know how you can stand it. The human kind is much more enticing.”