When I finally joined Cassius on the terrace, I noticed something was wrong. Something in his expression. He was stiff, his face pained. I followed his gaze and my muscles twitched. “How did she get in here?”
Cassius shook his head. “How does Camille do anything? I haven’t taken my eyes off her since I saw her.”
The rage I felt was strong enough to wipe out an entire city. Not only did Camille crash my party, she had Raven cornered over by the caviar station. “I knew she was going to be trouble again. I need to get her away from Raven before she ruins everything.”
“Just keep cool, brother. You don’t want to cause a scene. That’s what she’s hoping for,” Cassius muttered under his breath. “She loves to provoke you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” I winked and flashed my fangs before charging over to them.
I came up behind Camille and pinched her elbow, pulling her into my chest as I did. “A word please. Now. In the study,” I whispered angrily into her ear. I turned toward Raven and gave a slight nod. “Pardon the interruption, Miss Deveraux and I have some business to discuss.”
Camille eyed me like a cat who was readying to pounce. “By all means, lead the way. Raven, it’s been a pleasure. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”
At that, I yanked on her elbow and led her through the crowd. As we passed Cassius, he turned and followed.
Camille kept a plastered smile on her face even as she gritted her teeth. “Why is the wolf following us?”
Cassius always did make Camille nervous. He made most vampires nervous for that matter. Aside from the fact that he was the alpha of his pack, which meant he was deadlier than all of them put together, he also had silver on him at all times. Despite what the movies depicted, silver was deadly to vampires, not werewolves. I liked the fact that I had a werewolf as a best friend. It kept all the other creatures at bay.
“Just an insurance policy to make sure you stay in line,” I spat at her.
I shoved her into the study while Cassius shut the door behind the three of us. “Start talking Camille. What are you doing here?”
She rested her ass against my desk and leaned back. “Don’t mind if I make myself comfortable for your lecture now, do you?” No matter how much I despised her, she was still sexy as hell. Wearing a tight black dress with a plunging neckline, I couldn’t help myself from admiring the shape of her. From her perfectly perky tits all the way down her slender calves to her red stilettos. It was a shame that all she had was venom running through her veins. I remember how sweet she first tasted.
“Answer the question. What are you doing in my house? Again?”
“So paranoid, Ozi. Relax, one of my investors invited me. I didn’t know it was your house. I swear.” She batted her fake eyelashes at me demurely, but I knew better. There was nothing demure about her.
Cassius feigned a cough. “Bullshit.”
She glared at him; her eyes glowing. “Oh, sweet Cassius. Still bitter that I chose to fuck Ozi instead of you?” She giggled as his face turned beet red.
My patience was waning. “Enough. I don’t care who invited you, you’re not welcome here. You need to leave now. And stay away from my staff.”
She scooted herself fully onto my desk and crossed her legs as she licked her red painted lips. “You mean, stay away from Raven, right? She must be special if you are being so protective over her. I was simply letting her know that there was more than one restaurant in New York to work at. That if she ever felt…uncomfortable, she had…options.”
Before I could stop myself, I flew across the room and wrapped my hands around her neck. “How dare you. Dolce Sale and everyone in it, including Raven, belongs to me. I implicitly told you to stay away from what is mine.”
Camille laughed and held my gaze. “She doesn’t belong to you until you claim her. And you know what that entails. Until then, rules are rules. She’s fair game. Maybe I’ll claim her for myself.” She winked and I lost it.
Cassius had to pry my hands off her neck. “Ozi, let her go.”
I backed off and straightened my tie. “Get out.”
She slithered off the desk like a snake. “I’ll see myself out. Remember what I said.” The sound of her heels clicking across the floor, the way she pranced off satisfied with herself, it was enough to send me over the edge.
Cassius shoved a whiskey in my hand. “She’s just trying to get a rise out of you and it’s clearly working. The angrier you get, the more she will fuck with Raven. You need to take it down a notch.”
I shot the whiskey down and poured another. “She’s right though. I have no claim to her.”
“Have you thought about—”
“What? Making Raven a vampire?” I didn’t need a mirror to know that my face was twisted in horror at the thought.
Cassius sighed. “Yes. If you want to be with her. If you…love her. Then that’s the only way you can keep her safe.”
He was right. Camille was right. Even Enzo was right about me staying away from her. But it was too late. I’d already painted a target on Raven’s back the minute I took an interest in her. Camille wasn’t stupid. She’d no doubt seen me fuck hundreds of girls that I simply discarded the next morning. She knew this one was different. And she was going to use it against me. This was payback. She was going to try to force me to turn Raven. Because if I didn’t, Camille would find a way to turn her herself.
“I never wanted it to come to that. I’m going to ruin that girl’s life. But what choice do I have now?”
Cassius nodded. “She might surprise you. Tell her the truth, Ozi. Tell her how you feel. She’s not like Camille. Maybe she will embrace it.”
I nearly choked on my drink. “Right. Because humans respond so well to supernatural phenomena. She’ll probably try to drive a stake through my heart like they do in the movies.”
“We both know that’s not going to work. But you need to do something before Camille sinks her fangs into her.”
“I know,” I whispered.
Other than Enzo, I hadn’t shown another human what I was in hundreds of years. The thought of it terrified me. The reaction. The fear mixed with horror that Camille gave me on the night that I turned her. The hatred in her eyes. It was more than I could bear. The heartbreak and pain sent me into a hundred year funk. I killed a lot in that century. And now it seemed history was repeating itself. Only this time, I hoped it wouldn’t end in a bloodbath.
Something was up with Ozi and that blonde. I didn’t know him that well but by the way he gripped her arm, it was easy to see he was furious with her. He tried to play it cool, but I saw right through it. He was not his normal charming self with her. There was something feral in his eyes when he looked at her. Not lust or love, but undeniable fury. I could only imagine what she had done to piss him off. He nearly tore my head off for discovering his blood bags.
Ugh the blood bags. I’d been racking my brain to figure out why he would be stockpiling them. He didn’t seem sick. In fact, he was one of the healthiest looking people I’d ever seen. His skin glowed with a radiance that were usually only possible with a photo filter on social media. His body was lean and muscular. His hair thick and shiny. No, he didn’t look sickly at all.
Maybe the blood bags were for a friend or family member? Or one of his housekeeping staff? Rich people could be bizarre and eccentric but this was weird even on that level.
I went into the kitchen with a tray full of plates and nearly dropped them when I heard my name. Then came the snickering and spiteful laughter. I paused outside the door to listen.
“Can you believe he defended her? They must be sleeping together,” Tori murmured.
The other voice was Mara’s, one of the on call servers who only came out for the parties.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. She’s just so not his usual type. She looks like she came straight from the farm.”
“Well, we better be careful. Ozi made it clear he’d fire us if he catches us tal
king about Raven again.” Tori lowered her voice.
Mara replied, “Wow. You’ve been with Dolce Sale for ten years. He’d fire you over some newbie? She must be good in bed.”
They both erupted into quiet laughter, shushing each other like babbling teenagers. I’d heard enough. The nerve of these idiots to assume I was sleeping with the boss. But were they right? Did he favor me? There was something going on between us that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. We’d kissed twice now and we couldn’t seem to stay away from each other. Maybe the girls were right to hate me. To be jealous of me. I didn’t quite understand it myself. I’d seen a few of the women Ozi’s been with. They were more sophisticated than me. Sexier than me. I didn’t get why he wanted me.
I made a point to come in loudly, letting the plates bang around in the dish tub.
“Careful, Raven, you’re going to break all of Ozi’s plates,” Tori snapped. She ripped the tub out of my hands as she shook her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
“Sorry. This was the last of the dishes on the terrace. Anything else you need help with?” Exhaustion was setting in and all I wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to bed.
“Nope. We’re done in here too. It’s party time.” Tori grinned at Mara.
Max ambled in. “Ladies, what’s taking you so long? I already got the tequila shots lined up in the guest house. Music is pumping. Let’s go, come on.”
An overwhelming sense of dread came over me. Other than Max, these people hated me. And now they were turning our sleeping quarters into a party den. I could barely stand working with them. The last thing I wanted to do was lower my defenses and inhibitions by getting drunk with them. I needed to find another place to sleep tonight.
“Um, sorry, guys, I’m not up for partying. Is there another guest house I could just crash out in?” I was already an outsider with them. What did it matter if I isolated myself even more?
They all exchanged a look that seemed to say I told you so.
“Raven, you have to come. It’s tradition,” Max whined.
Tori chimed in, “Max, if she’s too tired then let her be. There will be other parties. Right, Raven?”
She was only defending me because I was the last person she wanted to party with as well. “Thanks Tori,” I replied flatly.
She squealed with delight despite Max giving her the sad eyes. “I’m sure Enzo can find you a quiet place to sleep tonight. Or maybe Ozi will.”
Mara whipped around toward the sink to stifle a laugh while Max arched an eyebrow at me. I had never felt more uncomfortable in all of my life. Like I was some freakshow on display for them to gawk at. “Um, cool. I’ll leave you all to it then. Have fun.”
I bolted out of there before anyone could say another word. But I couldn’t drown out the giggling that I’d left in my wake. It echoed off the marble floors behind me until I’d reached the foyer. I was about to burst into tears until I turned the corner and ran straight into Ozi. Literally.
Ozi stood in the foyer looking disheveled. His face was pained and sweaty. Like he had just run a marathon. He gazed at me mysteriously. Probably wondering why I wasn’t in the guest house with the others. I wondered that myself. But I had enough of the gossip and excessive taunting.
“Hi. Do you know if there’s a bus or taxi I can get out here? I’m going to head back to the city,” I said.
His eyes widened. “Why? What happened? I have plenty of beds for you to sleep here.”
I hesitated. I didn’t want to be a snitch. The last thing I needed was to give Tori and her evil minions another reason to talk shit about me. “I’m just tired and I don’t feel like partying. I need a quiet place to lay down. Honestly, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d rather just head back to my place.”
Ozi contemplated what I said. His face ranged from a flash of emotions that I couldn’t quite place. But it seemed to only add to his stress and exhaustion. “Raven, I don’t know what happened and it’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it, but the city is three hours away. I would offer my helicopter but it’s already one AM and my pilot is probably asleep. Look, I have plenty of space here. I’ll see to it you get a quiet room upstairs where you won’t be disturbed… Please stay.”
I really didn’t want to trek three hours back to the city and his house was more than comfortable. But being in such close proximity to Ozi was nerve wrecking. All I wanted to do when I looked at him was tear his clothes off. I didn’t want to be that girl. The one Tori and Mara were convinced I was. But there was a spark between us that was getting harder and harder to resist.
“I just need to sleep. That’s it.”
He smiled. “If you are worried about having a repeat of our little kiss downstairs, don’t. I will not force the issue if it makes you uncomfortable. You have my word that no one will bother you tonight. Especially me.”
I was a bit disappointed that he gave up so soon. Even though that’s basically what I’ve been asking him to do. Ugh. What was wrong with me?
“Okay. I’ll stay. Thank you.”
His eyes lit up. “Perfect. Follow me. I’ll show you to your room.”
I followed Ozi up the spiral staircase that led to a lavish upstairs level. The floors were marble and the windows were dressed in red velvet drapes. The décor was Southern Gothic meets Italian Renaissance. The halls revealed rows upon rows of doors, much like the downstairs wine cellar. Again, I wondered why a man living by himself would need so many rooms?
We stopped at a door that was nestled in an alcove. “Here you are, Raven. Let me know if you need anything. There’s a call button next to the bed that rings directly to my staff. They will bring you anything you want at any time. And if you have any questions or concerns, I’m just the third door down on the left…There’s also a lock on the door if it makes you feel better.”
He must have seen the apprehension on my face. “Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary but thank you for letting me know.” I didn’t want him to think I was afraid of him. As persistent as he’s been, he’s also been a gentleman.
“All right then, goodnight, Raven.” He bent down and placed a light peck on my forehead.
Every cell in my body awakened. Just the slightest touch from his soft lips sent my senses into overdrive. What kind of magic did he possess that he could just get under my skin like that?
“Goodnight, Ozi.” I went in and shut the door before I was tempted to make out with him again.
The bedroom mirrored something out of an expensive European hotel. “Oh wow,” I said under my breath.
The four poster bed was wrapped in gold threaded netting, encasing a king size bed fitted with silk sheets and fluffy pillows. The windows were dressed in black velvet drapes, tied back with gold ropes. It was almost too pretty to mess up. Like something you’d see in a museum or magazine.
An open walk-in closet revealed clothing and shoes conveniently in my size. That’s odd. Inside was an antique dresser. I opened up the drawers and found an array of silk pajamas, lacey lingerie, and even yoga pants. I opted for a silk chemise tank and matching pajama shorts. Ozi had done too good a job of heating my room and I didn’t want to sweat all over his silk sheets. I was already hot and bothered knowing he was just down the hall.
Ugh, there I go again. Why did my brain always wander to sex with him? When I was with Alex, I loved our intimate moments but it wasn’t quite so carnal. I didn’t crave Alex’s touch the way I did Ozi’s. I had never craved anyone’s touch the way I do his.
I drank the glass of water that someone had set on the dresser and then climbed into the silky sheets. As soon as I laid my head down, I was instantly relaxed. My sore muscles began to finally unclench and sink into the floaty marshmallow bed.
But I couldn’t sleep. My mind and body were both wide awake despite how tired I thought I’d felt earlier. I was finally in bed in a quiet room, but all I could think about was Ozi. How his hands would feel on my body. How his lips tasted earlier when he found me i
n the room I wasn’t supposed to be in. How dangerous it felt. The way I enraged him yet excited him at the same time. A tingle rolled down my thighs and I was lightly damp.
I threw the sheets back and stared up at the canopy for a few minutes before doing what I swore I told myself I wasn’t going to do. I peeked out into the hall and seeing it empty, tiptoed toward his room.
Ozi opened the door after one knock. I didn’t know what I was going to say or what I was even doing here in the middle of the night. I just needed to see him again. I craved his presence like a drug.
A smirk edged at the corners of his mouth. “You looking for something?”
“I—I don’t know,” I stammered.
He leaned into the door frame, towering over me with nothing on except black trousers. His tanned chest was ripped and covered in black and gray tattoos.
“What can I do for you, Raven?” He lowered his head toward mine until I could feel his hot breath on my face. What in the hell was I doing? This was dangerous.
“Thank you for sticking up for me earlier. I overheard Tori and Mara talking.” I looked down but he lifted my chin up so I’d have to look him in the eyes.
“You have such a beautiful soul, Raven. So kind and caring. When I see anyone trying to hurt you…it brings out a side of me that I didn’t know I had. I want to protect you, darling.”
No one had ever protected me before. I’d always been so alone. Tears threatened to spill out at the thought of it. “I…I shouldn’t be here. Sorry. Have a good night.” I backed into the hallway, suddenly aware of how vulnerable I was and how little I was wearing. My nipples poked through the thin cotton fabric of my tank top like high beams.
“Yes, you should.” In one quick motion, he pulled me into his room, shut the door, and pinned me up against it. His hands pressed into my wrists which he held firm above my head. My body quivered, ached for him. I couldn’t take it anymore. His lips traced the tip of my ear and he inhaled a deep breath. “Tell me to stop, and I will,” he whispered. “Just say the word.”
After I Fall (Immortal Billionaires Book 1) Page 9
