1

      THERE WERE WOMEN EVERYWHERE.

      That was the first thought that struck as Travis Braddock pulled up at the front gate of the CB Ranch. The lawn in front of the sprawling two-story house had been set up for an outdoor ceremony, complete with a red carpet for the bride, huge flower arrangements and lots of free standing candelabras because it was an evening affair. He’d expected a small shindig, but there were at least a hundred people crowded into the rows of white chairs that flanked either side of the aisle. Mostly females.

      Hungry females.

      A mix of perfume, lush sensuality and raw need wafted through the open window of the Land Rover and teased his nostrils. His groin tightened and he stiffened.

      An overabundance of women was usually a good thing.

      Particularly for a one hundred and fifty year old vampire who fed off sex as ravenously as he did blood. But Travis wasn’t here because of the beast that lived and breathed inside of him.

      Tonight was all about revenge.

      He’d spent the last one hundred and fifty years blaming his three brothers for the massacre that had killed their family while they’d been off raiding for the Confederacy. He pointed the finger at his youngest brother Cody because he’d run off and joined the army in the first place, forcing the rest of the brothers to leave home just to keep an eye on him. He held Brent responsible because he’d refused to call it quits a week early when the war had been all but lost anyway. And he resented his oldest brother Colton because he’d forced them to detour to Austin to file an official report about their last raid before heading home to discover the carnage.

      He’d blamed his brothers. But the real blame lay with his sister-in-law. Rose was the one responsible.

      A traitor.