Page 39 of After Darkness Falls

"Yes, girl. I have great taste, right?"

"Yes, it's very…look, that's not the point. I'm a functioning adult, not a charity case. If I need a damn coat, I'll buy a damn coat. I have a credit card for that."

"You tell him!" a woman added encouragingly.

Chloe was feeling more and more foolish at every moment. She'd made a bigger deal of this than it was, hadn't she?

"Well, if I offended you, I apologize. May I go back to work now?"

It was probably past time she left.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the sleeping draught, by the way."

"Wait, how does that work?" the assistant asked. "He can give you draughts, but not coats?"

"Because draughts don't cost an arm and a leg," she mumbled.

She didn't think they did, in any case.

The assistant snorted. "Girl, no offense, but the draught, the coat? Same difference. It's peanuts to him anyway. He accumulated billions before billionaires were a thing."

Oh. Well, that certainly explained why he thought it was okay to send her coats that cost four figures.

"Look, in my world, people don't give expensive shit for nothing, and I don't like having that sort of dynamic with anyone."

"And what, pray tell," said Levi, very slowly, enunciating each word, "do you believe I'd want from you, Chloe?"

She avoided his eyes. "It's not okay on principle, all right?"

Every time she opened her mouth, she felt like remaining silent might have been a wiser idea.

"Sweetie," said a tall, beautiful blonde, joining them and opening the box. "Ancients don't really understand human interactions. For thousands of years, it was quite all right for Levi to buy anything he liked for anyone, male or female. Society has changed quite a bit over the last two centuries or so, but it can take the old ones a while to adapt."

Shit, that made a lot of sense.

"All right. Sorry I flew off the handle."

"Good to see you can be reasonable,” Levi said. “Take the damn coat and go. I have work to do."

Chloe almost heeled like a good little girl. His tone accepted no argument, but that tone was bugging her nearly as much as his smug, annoying grin.

Instead, she did it again. Let her mouth do its thing without using her brain first.

"Have you ever thought of getting that broomstick removed from your posterior?"

What. Was. Wrong. With. Her.

Blair had clearly told her who—what—Levi was. She really shouldn't have been talking to him like this, as though he were just a random guy in the street.

Maybe she had a death wish.

The others weren't even trying to hide their laughter.

"Seriously, you're just so tense and high-handed. Sounds like you need…"

The next instant, she was hit by a tornado that pushed her against the wall. Chloe questioned why her bones hadn't shattered in the process. Levi was caging her with his arms, teeth bared. His dark eyes were glowing blue.

"You will not question my authority, child. You will not dismiss me. Youwillbehave."

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