I try to recall our conversation. I told him I was making dinner for him, but he wanted to talk. Finishing up making dinner would give us time to eat and talk about whatever he needed to talk about. If I’m being honest with myself, I wanted to get some food in him to sober him up a little.
That’s when I saw the darkness cloud over in his eyes. Joe said he wanted all of my money. My savings only amounted to four thousand dollars. I wanted to know what had happened for him to need what little I had saved. If I am giving him my savings, I should at least understand why, and that’s when he hit me. I put what little self-defense moves I had into action. I didn’t aim for his crotch. What I saw was an attacker coming at me, not my dad. Breaking myself away from the situation was all I wanted.
I think I need aspirin. My head is throbbing, and I am growing tired. I glance around and realize I have walked almost a mile and a half. Helen’s coffee shop, where I work part time, was in sight. It will be a good place to hide for a while. I need to put some space between Joe and me. In fact, I need to come up with a plan to get away from him all together. What he did was wrong on so many levels.
His problem, whatever it is, is his problem. Not mine. He will have to figure out how to fix whatever it is on his own. I’m not giving him my money. Knowing Joe, it won’t be enough to cover whatever his debt is, anyway. His bad choices caused this problem, and I don’t need to know what he did to understand his clear inability to delineate right from wrong is at the root of his problem.
I will head into the coffee shop and go straight for the back patio. It will be quiet back there, and it will give me time to think.
“Kelly honey, is that you?” Helen calls out.
I turn and give her a little wave, hoping she will stay busy long enough to forget that I am here. It’s best that I settle down and clean my face before she sees what happened to me. Helen has been incredible to me. We never talk about it, but she knows I don’t have the best home life. She will want to get involved if she sees the black eye. Snagging a glass of water and napkin to wipe my face, I head to the patio.
I move across the patio to the last table in the back corner. The light from inside the coffee shop seeps into the darkness, giving off a soft glow. It is just enough light to allow me to take a deep breath and gather myself without interference from Helen. I dab the napkin into the glass of water and hold it to my face. The cool air on my wet skin is good.
I pull out my Mythology and Folklore book Gods, Vampires and other Mystical Folklore and set it aside.
I deep voice startles me out of my concentration.
“You okay there, Kitten?”
I heard no one walk across the patio, but yet a tall, muscular man wearing a suit stands in front of me.
“Yes. Thank you.” I peer back down at my bag and pull out my pen, hoping he will walk away and leave me. Unfortunately, he has different plans. The metal chair next to me scrapes against the concrete as he sits himself down.
His face hardens as he realizes there is a bruise forming around my eye. “You know, a girl like you deserves better than that.” The man’s jaw clenches in anger, but his voice is gentle. “Who did this to you?”
I glance up at him and make eye contact. “I’m okay. Thank you for your concern though.” I pull out my notebook and find a blank page.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Do I have a what?” He startles me with his question.
“A plan, Kitten. Do you have a plan to get away from the asshole who did this to you?”
I push myself up to sit a little straighter. “Yes, I do.”
“What is it?”
“My plan?”
“Yeah, your plan. What is it? Tell me.” He leans forward but keeps from entering my personal space.
My radar has not gone into alert mode, but I half expect it to at any moment. I will not wait for it to signal me. There is something off with him. Needing to leave, I can’t physically bring myself to move from my chair.
“Tell me what the plan is, Kitten.”
My mouth moves without my consent. “I plan to go home, pick up my things and leave tomorrow.”
“You got some money? Somewhere to go?”
His presence seems to calm my fear, but I feel like my mind is fogging up. Maybe Joe gave me a concussion along with a black eye.
I focus on his east coast accent, which makes me smile. Peeking at him, I can see he is handsome, but there is something predatory in his eyes.
I feel myself soften a little more. My shoulders relax as I answer. “Yes, I have some money hidden away, but I’m waiting on deciding where to go until the last minute. I don’t want anyone to know where I end up, so I’m not taking any chances.” Why am I telling him this?
He tilts his head and taps the cover of my schoolbook. “Vampires? You think that’s real or something?” His lips curl into a grin.
I smile. “No, not really. I needed to fill an elective for my class schedule and thought it would be fun.”
The man smirks at me as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a blank business card and scribbles something on it, then hands it to me.
❖
NICK
702-532-0011
❖
Picking up the card from him and placing it in my pocket, with no intention of ever using it. For all I know, he’s into human trafficking.
Sweeping his fingers against my swollen face, he scowls again. “You want me to kill this guy for you?” That’s when I understood this guy was dangerous.
“No. No, thank you. I’ve got this.”
“You keep that number and call me if you need help, you hear me, Kelly?”
“Yes. Thanks again.”
He caresses the side of my face and stands. “You will call me for help, Kelly.” He didn’t wait for a response from me. “Ciao, Bella.”
I close my eyes for a moment, trying to clear the fog in my brain and peer back up to see that he has disappeared before my eyes.
“How did he disappear like that?” I wonder out loud.
I take the business card out of my pocket and gaze at the messy handwritten number. “Nick,” I say to myself. And then I realize something. I never told him who I was, and he knew my name. Oh, my god! How did he know my name? I read my notes I have on the table, and there is nothing labeled with my identification. I gather my things up. This scared me and I need to lock myself in my room where I can pretend I am safe from scary Italian men.
I push the hair out of my face and check the time on my phone. 7:53 pm. I hope Joe has calmed down by now. Better yet, passed out. I slip the business card with Nick’s number into my back pocket as I stand up.
I knew Helen would wait for me up front. But I am too tired and don’t want to explain to her what happened tonight. So, I walk out the back way into the alley and head home.
Chapter 6
Grant
My phone buzzes. It is a text message from Alex.
❖
Need to talk.
❖
I have been avoiding my sire all day. He wants an update on Finn.
❖
Trying to wrap things up here. Talk tomorrow.
❖
A few minutes have gone by and I don’t receive a response. Good. Perhaps he will give me a little more time. Slipping my phone into my back pocket of my jeans, I walk to the windows of my penthouse, overlooking the strip. With my eyes closed, I picture Kelly in this room with me. The time has come to bring her into our world sooner than later, but the world that hides from humans can overwhelm her if we do not ease her into it.
One thing at a time. Nick and I need to put an end to Finn’s escapades first. Then I will ingratiate myself into Kelly’s life and make her mine. I rest my forehead on the cool glass. I can only hope for this to be an easy transition for her into the supernatural world. My breath fogs the glass when I chuckle to myself. Nothing seems to be easy with my girl.
The elevator opens, and Nick’s pensive look alarms m
e.
“What’s wrong?” I move through the living room and meet him in the foyer. “Has something happened?”
He shrugs off his coat and lays it over one of the dining room chairs. “Yeah. Something has happened.” Nick rubs at the nape of his neck. “First, we need to off that loser, Joe Kennedy. He is a worthless piece of sh…”
I grab his arm and swing him around to face me. “Is Kelly all right?”
His lips twist into a faint smile. “Our girl is strong. Maybe not physically, but she has a real sense of right and wrong. She knows what she wants and is smart enough to get it.”
“Nick. Tell me what happened.” My fangs push the edges of my upper lip and I am losing patience. “What the hell is going on?”
“Sorry, Boss.” Hands offered in surrender. “Kelly’s okay. A little beat up, no thanks to her worthless father.”
“What did he do?” I pick up my keys to the SUV.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
I turn and level a glare at Nick. “To kill him.”
I head to the elevator knowing Nick wasn’t far behind me.
“Boss give me the keys. I’ll drive.”
I shove the keys at my progeny once we hit the parking garage and continue heading toward the SUV. “What did he do?”
“So, I was watching the apartment, to know who was coming and going, you know?”
He unlocks the doors, and I situate myself in the passenger seat and wait for him to climb in.
“And?”
“Well, I was just getting ready to leave because nothing was out of the ordinary and then Kelly rushed out of the apartment. So, I followed her. She went to the little coffee shop off of 17th Street where she works. It was weird, she grabbed a glass of water and went out back to a little private like patio garden and sat down in the shadows. I suppose she was trying to avoid the lady working the counter. The closer I got, I realized she had been crying. So, I talked to her.”
“You talked to her? And what did you talk to her about?”
“So, don’t get mad, but I used a little glamour to relax her. She was upset, and I needed to know what was going on.”
My hands clinch into fists. “Go on.”
“She had a black eye, Boss. He hit her.” A twinge of anger laces his voice. “I couldn’t figure out what the fight was over, but she told me she was leaving tomorrow.”
“And you left her. Alone. With that blood bag.” The copper taste of blood drips on my tongue as my fangs tear into my lips.
“Boss. Please. Let me finish.” He spills. “I don’t know what the fight was about because I’m not sure she even knows. I pulled an image from her mind. She was kicking Joe in the balls.”
Nick smirks. “She did good, Boss. Our girl is a little toughie.”
“She is not OUR girl. She is MINE.” I crush the dashboard with my hands. “Why did you not call me? And why did you leave her alone, Nick?”
“Grant. She is yours. I mean nothing by it. I just, I want to protect her. You know, like a brother would protect a little sister.” My progeny’s eyes ping pong between the road ahead of us and back to me. I know he is struggling to find the right words.
“And I didn’t leave her alone. I called Tony and had him leave his watch on Finn and moved him to the apartment. I made sure she was inside. Joe the idiot, passed out on the couch and won’t be moving from that position anytime soon.”
We turn into the apartment complex and I see Tony leaning against the back fence, in front of her apartment.
I suck in a deep breath and let it out. “What did she say about leaving? Where is she going?” I need to get a handle on this before I lose my mind. Before I lose her.
“She’s got some money hidden away, and she said she would pack and leave tomorrow. I don’t think that we have any more time.” Nick parks in a space near Tony. “What do you want to do, Boss?”
That is the question, isn’t it? What do I want to do? I can either grab her tonight and explain things later or leave it to tomorrow and watch how the day unfolds.
“I will make sure she is secure inside.” I rub my forehead and push my hair out of my eyes. “We will wait and see what she does. She may change her mind once she’s calmed down.”
“Okay boss.”
We both get out of the SUV. Nick heads toward Tony as I head toward the apartment.
It only takes a few minutes to walk through the apartment once I pick the lock on the front door. And just as Nick said, I found Joe passed out drunk on the couch. The room is dark, but with vampire eyesight, I don’t miss the multiple empty bottles on the floor.
I hover over Joe, willing myself not to kill him in his sleep. If we didn’t need evidence of whatever wrongdoing Finn was up to, I would kill him. I see the small hallway and go to find Kelly’s room.
I find Kelly breathing smoothly as she sleeps. I step closer to her bed so I can see for myself she is all right. Her eye looks swollen shut; purple bruises have bloomed under her eye. My nostrils flare at the sight of her. The monster in me wants to claim her right now. The struggle is real.
“You deserve so much more, mo chroi.” The Irish term of endearment slips from my lips in a whisper along with a hint of an accent from another time. Without hesitation, I poise myself closer to her and bite my wrist. My thumb and forefinger nudge her chin down to open her mouth as a dribble of my blood hits her tongue.
Kelly licks her lip and readjusts herself, curling up in a ball. That will be enough to heal her eye. My wrist has already healed itself closed. I reach over to pull her sheet over her and then push the hair from her face.
“I’m so sorry mo chroi. Your life is about to be upended. But I’ll catch you and keep you safe, always.” I brush my lips across her forehead and then force myself to leave her room.
I hesitate as I consider beating Joe for what he has done to Kelly. “Oh, to hell with him.” I throw my hand back and belt him in the face.
Joe jolts up but before he realizes what is happening, I catch his eyes in my gaze and push into his mind, “go back to sleep, you bastard.” His eyes glaze over and then close. Rubbing my hands on my pant legs, I escape out the front door.
I make my way over to my men who wait for me near the SUV.
“She okay, Boss?” It is easy-to-read Nick’s concern etched on his face.
“She’s okay.” I smirk.
“Uh, something you want to share?” Nick asks as Tony waits next to him.
I pause for a moment before I tell them. “She’ll heal by the morning.” I smile knowing that my blood is part of her now. “However, Joe may find himself in some pain when he wakes up.”
Nick blanches. He bypasses Joe’s circumstances and goes straight to the point. “You shared your blood with her?”
“I did.” My eyes narrow. I know what he is feeling. “Is there a problem, Progeny?”
Nick scratches his arm and shakes his head. “No Sire. No problem.”
“Good.” Nick has been a close friend for a very long time, but this is not up for debate.
“Master, there’s some information you may want to know about.” Tony is a young vampire. Nick turned him only 20 years ago. He continues to show his anxiety when he is in my presence. Tony looks down at the ground as he kicks at an imaginary rock.
“Tony?”
He looks up and makes eye contact. “Yes, Master?”
“Tell me what you have.”
Tony runs down his day telling us nothing happened until sunset, when Finn is able to walk outside. Finn is not a part of Alex’s bloodline; therefore, he is not a daywalker. He has to wait until sunset before he can venture out into the world.
“Finn had argued with Joe over money. Finn told him he wants his money tomorrow and Joe said he didn’t have it.”
Tony, without realizing it, was stepping back and forth as he fills us in. “Go on.”
“He says he wants the money or Joe will have to give him the alternative.”
“What is the alternative
?” I ask.
“He didn’t say, but Joe saw what he wants. That’s when he yells at Finn. But Finn pushes him into a wall and must have glamoured him because he shut up real quick.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Uh, yeah. He’s supposed to bring the money or whatever the alternative is to a private hanger at McCarren Airport at sunset.”
“Boss, I’ve got a terrible feeling about this.”
I look in the apartment's direction. “Nick. We do this tomorrow.”
“She will not like this, Boss.”
“Yeah. I know. But we are not gambling her safety any longer.” I reach back and put my hand over Tony’s shoulder. “Good work today.”
“Thanks, Master Grant.” He gives me his best smile.
“Nick, you and Tony will follow Joe to the airport tomorrow. While he’s gone, I will take things into my own hands with Kelly.”
My phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket to see Alex calling. “Shit. You two stay here.”
I press the green phone icon. “Hello, Alex.”
My sire is angry. “I need you back here, Grant. What’s the holdup? I assumed you would have evidence against Finn by now.”
His tone makes me stand straighter in respect. No need for him to be present. He commands my attention no matter where he may be.
“There has been a complication, Alex. We will have this resolved by tomorrow night.” I hope my calm confidence will settle his displeasure, but it didn’t.
“Nick and Tony will have to do whatever it is without you. They can return when they have finished this assignment. You and I are meeting with the council tomorrow. I need to discuss with you my plans for you taking the open seat on the council beforehand.”
“But, I haven’t...” He didn’t allow me to finish.
“Be here, progeny. I expect you in my office before sunup.” The line goes dead.
“Shit.” It is then I realize he will never give me a choice in this. Alex has already filled James’ position. Whether or not I like it, I am his new council member.
Paid in Full: Kelly Kennedy Series (Book One) Page 4
