Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

turned away from her to stare out the window. He didn't know whether to laugh or be angry at her wild thoughts. She was so determined to find someone, anyone, other than him.
    
    "Aidan?" Stefan walked in. "I informed the police that you and Alexandria had returned and that she would be up to speaking with them this morning. I made certain they understood she would be unable to go to the station or even to stay up long. They're sending a couple of detectives over now."
    
    "Detectives?" Aidan raised an eyebrow. "For so trivial a matter?"
    
    Stefan cleared his throat and shifted his weight uneasily. "I believe Mr. Ivan has some political Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    pull. He went above the department's head and even, according to the detective I spoke with yesterday, went so far as to check to see that all of us were in the country legally. I believe he wished to have us deported."
    
    Alexandria gasped, her chin lifting. "He did what ?" "I'm sorry, Alexandria, I should not have repeated that within your hearing. Mr. Ivan was terribly upset at not being able to get in touch with you," Stefan said.
    
    Aidan could have strangled the man for attempting to get Ivan off the hook. Alexandria had been annoyed. Without her even being aware of it, she was already thinking of the members of his household as part of her family.
    
    "That is no excuse for Thomas to throw his weight around and try to get you and Marie deported. He didn't even care about completely disrupting your lives. And what about Joshua?
    He would have had to go into a foster home." Her anger at Thomas Ivan was rising. She detested people who thought they could have their way because they had money. Though she would never admit it to Aidan, never concede that tiny bit of power, she was less and less inclined to work with the man or be involved with him in any meaningful way. Surely she would find other creative outlets.
    
    "Actually," Stefan confessed, avoiding Aidan's sharp gaze, "I believe it was Aidan he was more interested in deporting. He had an investigator run a background check on him, hoping, I think, to come up with some hint of criminal activities. Unsavory is the descriptive I believe he used."
    
    Alexandria bit back a sudden laugh. "Perhaps Thomas has more intuition than we gave him credit for. Unsavory is an apt word, don't you think, Stefan? I wouldn't mind having Aidan deported myself."
    
    "I think it would be prudent to retire to the kitchen and eat my breakfast, Alexandria," Stefan said diplomatically.
    
    "Your only choice," Aidan growled.
    
    Stefan grinned at him unrepentantly and paused in the doorway. "You might want to give Mr.
    Ivan a call, Alexandria. The detectives said it might stop him from harassing them every ten minutes."
    
    "He's been calling them every ten minutes?" A slow smile curved her mouth. "He must really be worried. Isn't that sweet, Aidan? He's worried about me. He must really want me to work for him. What a break. With the money he pays me, Joshua and I can…" She trailed off, looked quickly up at Aidan.
    
    His hand curled around the nape of her neck, his fingers moving in a soothing massage. "I am proud of you, Alexandria. Your work must be extraordinary to have Ivan after you to this extent.
    You deserve to feel good about yourself." He didn't believe for one moment that Ivan's interest in her was purely business, but he knew she was truly talented. Aidan was a shadow in her mind, seeing her vivid pictures spring to life in her imagination.
    
    She smiled up at him. "I used to dream about working for Thomas Ivan. His company is always on the leading edge of graphic designs, and his games are like full-length movies. When the rumor hit the street that he might be looking for another graphic designer, I started sketching night and Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    day. I didn't believe I'd really get a chance to show him my work, let alone that he would want to hire me."
    
    "From what I saw of your drawings, you are very talented," he acknowledged softly. "But perhaps you might want to correct some of his false impressions of vampires." Her eyes flashed at him, but a dimple deepened in her cheek. "Make them more ruthless and merciless, you mean?" she asked mischievously. She touched the petals of the nearest rose and bent once more to inhale their fragrance. "I can't believe he sent