Seduced and Ensnared

by Stephanie Julian

  Of course Cam didn’t seem to mind, if the way his eyes followed her as he called in his brothers was any indication. It made her feel like the sexiest woman in the world, something with which she had no experience.

  “Yeah, I’m gonna bring you here now, Rio,” he said into his cell phone. “Don’t give me any shit. I told you not to make plans, ceffo.”

  He listened for a few seconds then his lips turned up in a grin. “Yeah, well, baciami il culo. Hang up.”

  Cam clicked the phone off and motioned her to his side, putting his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close to him, as if he’d been doing that for years. “Stay here a sec, babe. Rio’s been known to take a dive after he’s transported.” Then he closed his eyes.

  The hair on her arms rose as she felt him do whatever it was he did to transport people from one place to another. It felt like standing next to a huge electrical current.

  The man fascinated her on so many levels, held her attention so completely she almost missed the second his brother appeared in front of them.

  One moment, no one was there. The next, a dark-haired man in a tight black t-shirt, faded ripped jeans and worn black Chucks stood in front of her.

  If Cam was all dark brooding intensity, Rio was baby-faced innocence. The guy couldn’t be more than twenty years old, with sleepy, sexy dark eyes, high cheekbones and a mouth too pretty to be a guy’s. He was shorter than Cam and slighter, more wiry. They shared the same dark hair though Rio’s was stick straight and hung in his eyes—and of course covered his ears. If she had to pick someone out of the crowd and call him an elf, this would be the guy.

  Then he yawned, shook his head and took an unsteady step forward. Cam reached for him, grabbing him by the arms and steadying him. “Hey, kid. You’re such a wuss. Get a grip.”

  Cam’s soft tone belied his words and Rio’s mouth kicked up in a smile that surely sent teenage girls into fits of ecstasy.

  “And you’re a controlling SOB but I don’t hold that against you.” Rio put one hand on Cam’s shoulder and took a deep breath before looking over at Stella. “Hey,” he said. “Don’t think any less of me but I think I’m going to pass out now.”

  When his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp, Cam muttered something under his breath and caught his brother in his arms before he fell.

  “Here, Cam. Lay him on the bed.” Stella rushed over to pull the quilt up over the sheets before Cam got there with his brother.

  Cam shook his head as he set Rio down as gently as he would a sleeping baby.

  “Is he okay?” she asked.

  Cam sighed. “Yeah, he’s fine. He’s just young and he gets disoriented because he doesn’t listen. Thinks he knows everything.”

  She sat on the edge of the bed and felt his forehead to make sure he wasn’t overheated or clammy then felt the pulse in his neck. “He works with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But…he’s only a kid.”

  Cam snorted. “Don’t let his looks fool you. He’s a few years older than you. The Fata…age differently than other races.”

  She raised her eyebrows as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Oh yeah? So how old are you?”

  “You really want to know?”

  Hmm. Maybe not. “Yes.”

  “One hundred and twenty-seven.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “How long will you live?”

  “About three hundred years, give or take.”

  She opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. Luckily she didn’t have to because Rio shifted on the bed and opened his eyes.

  “Dude, you know I fucking hate that shit.”

  Cam sighed. “Watch your mouth, saccente. Stella, I’m almost embarrassed to admit it but this is my youngest brother Valerio. Rio, Stella Palmer.”

  The kid smiled almost bashfully and, oh holy hell, he was a heartbreaker. “Nice to meet you. And the passing out was all his fault.” Rio pointed at Cam as he sat up.

  Cam snorted. “Yeah, then why are you the only one who passes out when I transport you?”

  “Non rompermi le palle. Where’s Antonin?”

  Cam pulled out his cell phone. “I’m not trying to break your balls, and Nino’s next.” He hit a button on the phone. “Hey, you ready? Good. Hang up.”

  “Guess you can tell he’s the oldest, huh,” Rio said to Stella, leaning on his hand on the bed and staring up at her. “He’s a bossy scassacazzo.”

  “Rio. Mouth.” Cam glared at his brother. “Stella, stay there.”

  This time, Stella watched the space in front of Cam carefully. Right before the next man popped into sight, she thought she saw what looked like a tiny rip in the air. In the blink of an eye, the rip lengthened and in its place stood the brother she’d met earlier.

  He glanced at Cam, nodded then walked over to Stella and extended his hand. She took it this time.

  “Hello again. I’m Antonin.”

  “Yes, I remember.” She nodded. “I hope you can forgive my earlier rudeness. I wasn’t exactly at my best.”

  The guy’s smile widened into a grin and her eyes popped open as she felt a relentless tug of attraction. Oh God, that wasn’t right. He was Cam’s brother—

  “No harm, no foul.” He released her hand but continued to smile at her. “Sorry, I can’t do anything about that, but you’ll learn to block it.”

  What? How the hell could he know what she was thinking? Was it written on her face? She blushed and felt heat climb into her cheeks as she dropped her eyes.

  “Hey, babe, it’s okay,” Cam said. “You can’t help but be attracted to him. It’s in his genes, a spell. I’ll explain Nino’s deal later. Right now we have to figure out what to do with your uncle.”

  There was a reason she was attracted to Antonin? A spell? And she could block it? Staring at Nino, she imagined a wet blanket covering that unwanted attraction, smothering it. Surprisingly, the attraction diminished a bit. How weird was that!

  The bed shifted as Rio got to his feet, leaving her slightly off balance—or maybe that should be even more off balance than she already was.

  Still, she wasn’t going to stick her head in the sand.

  Stella stood, determined to contribute something to the plans—and figure out how to make her uncle pay for his crimes.

  Chapter Nine

  “So we’re clear? We need him alive.”

  Cam watched his brothers nod as they sat around the table then turned to Stella, sitting on the couch, knees drawn up to her chest.

  She hadn’t said a word the entire time, listening to him and his brothers discuss how they were going to take care of her uncle.

  Her silence had made him damn uncomfortable and he knew that was a problem just waiting to jump up and bite him in the ass.

  Still, their plan was simple, as the best plans often were.

  Stella would call her uncle and ask him to come pick her up at the cabin, where she had spent the night after the party. Some guy with weird pointy ears had turned up at her door this afternoon. He knew her name and had wanted her to let him in. She’d refused and he’d disappeared but she was afraid to leave by herself and she wanted her uncle to pick her up.

  After Bonnini agreed to come for her himself, Cam would send her back to his home while he and his brothers waited for her uncle to show. He’d probably have a few bodyguards with him but maybe they’d be lucky and he’d only bring one or two, because he wasn’t expecting Stella to turn traitor.

  That aspect worried him a lot. After Bonnini realized she’d made that call to draw him here, her uncle would know without a doubt that she’d turned on him—and that would be a huge, dangerous complication.

  They needed Bonnini alive. The bastard knew too much about the Mal to be killed without attempting to extract information from him first. That’s what Rio was here for.

  But what if Bonnini escaped before Cam could take care of him for good and went after Stella? Cam had absolute faith in his broth
ers but there was always the possibility of something going wrong. Something unexpected. Something out of Cam’s control.

  It made him crazy just thinking about it. If the guy went after Stella, he’d kill him. Wouldn’t think twice.

  If he hurt Stella… Cam wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Because it’d be his fault.

  “Cam?” Nino’s voice drew his attention back to the table. “You want a few minutes?” His brother glanced in Stella’s direction.

  He obviously wasn’t hiding his feelings well. “Yeah. Check the surrounding area. I haven’t gotten around to it,” Cam answered.

  Nino’s eyebrows rose at his admission but Rio’s snort of laughter was cut short, probably by Nino’s foot connecting with Rio’s shin.

  Both men got up and left without another word but once outside, Rio laughed and Cam heard Nino say, “He is so screwed.”

  Tell him something he didn’t know.

  Cam walked over to the couch and sat next to Stella. “You okay?”

  She set her chin on her knees and looked him straight in the eyes. “Yes. Probably. I guess I’m still processing.”

  He lifted one hand and wove his fingers through her hair, cupping her head in his palm.

  She leaned into him, her eyes closing for a brief second before staring back into his. “I’ll be fine, Cam. Don’t worry about me.”

  Yeah, right. He didn’t think there’d ever come a time he wouldn’t worry about her. “I know you’ll be fine because you won’t be anywhere near here.”

  Her smile flashed bright for two seconds. “Another command?”

  He shook his head. “A certainty. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “I can take care of myself. I’m a grown woman.”

  Cam looked at her and saw a beautiful woman. A woman who’d been lied to and betrayed in the worst way. A woman who just might hate him when he killed one of her last remaining family members.

  But Bonnini’s death was necessary. It was the only way Stella would ever be safe.

  * * * * *

  “I like her,” Rio said.

  Cam and Rio had dissolved themselves into shadow and waited by the door of the cabin. Nino was outside in the forest, also dissolved into shadow, to cut off Bonnini’s escape, should he try to run.

  Stella had called her uncle about an hour ago then Cam had transported her to his house. She’d gone without a fight, a sad smile on her face after she feathered her lips over his for a brief second.

  Now they just had to wait. But that meant Cam had to listen to Rio.

  “You gonna keep her?” Rio asked.

  “She’s not a stray cat, ceffo. I can’t just keep her.”

  “But you want to.”

  If Cam had had a corporeal body, he would have smacked Rio upside the head. “Just focus on what you’re supposed to do. I don’t want any screw-ups.”

  “She’s not your usual type.”

  No way was he responding to that one. “After you’re done, I want you the hell out of here.”

  “She’s blonde, for one thing. You don’t normally go for blondes. I always wondered if that was a conscious choice or what.”

  If the kid didn’t stop talking, Cam was going to strangle him. “Do you know exactly what to do, Rio?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m cool.” He blew off Cam’s concern with a snort. “She seems pretty into you too. Guess there’s no accounting for taste, huh?”

  “Are you done?”

  “Oh hell, no. I live to rattle your cage, bro, don’t you know that?”

  His brothers were the only ones Cam had ever allowed to do that—until now. “Yeah, and you’re lucky I don’t take your head off for it.”

  Rio snorted again. “Ooh, I’m so scared. Tell that to someone who can’t read your mind if he wanted.”

  “Which is the only reason you’re here, saccente, so make sure you do your job right the first time.”

  His youngest brother had been a surprise to their older parents in more ways than just by the fact of his birth. Though he didn’t have the ability to translocate, he was able to read thoughts through skin-to-skin contact. Since a linchetto’s powers tended not to manifest until they went through puberty, Rio had been old enough to realize he had the power to torment the shit out of his older brothers. But he still lacked the ability to keep his mouth shut about it.

  “Or what?” Rio taunted. “You’ll send me back to your house under lock and key? I hope you don’t expect Stella to take orders like that all the time. She’s too smart to put up with it.”

  Yeah, Cam knew that. That was why he was so surprised she’d gone without a fight—and a little concerned.

  But he didn’t have time to give Stella’s behavior more thought because, right then, he heard a car winding its way toward the cabin.

  “Heads up, Rio. Someone’s coming.”

  The car that eventually pulled to a stop in front of the cabin was one of the new Oldsmobile SUVs. Muscular yet refined, and big enough to fit at least eight people.

  Fuck. There better not be eight people in that fucking car, because if there were, they were screwed.

  He and Nino couldn’t take eight Mal. Not eight Mal with full powers. Of course Bonnini was expecting to capture only one Fata, so that probably cut the number in the car down by two. Better odds. And if one or two of those in the car were humans, well, that turned the odds in their favor, even if only he and Nino fought.

  Three men got out of the idling car. One from the front, two from the back. The driver stayed with the car.

  Two men held guns. Mostly likely they were human. The third man was Bonnini.

  Anger rolled through Cam, the urge to kill fast on its heels. The bastard was going to pay with his life.

  But first he needed to calm down or he might blow it and possibly get his brothers hurt.

  With a huge effort, Cam submerged all feelings and watched the men walk up to the house. Bonnini showed no fear as he motioned for one of the men to head for the back of the cabin then walked to the door.

  He turned the knob silently and stepped through. Cam wanted both men in the house. Nino was supposed to take care of the driver and anyone else in the car then join them in the cabin. By that time, Cam should have these two and the one out back subdued.

  It was a decent plan. And it would have worked.

  If Stella hadn’t shown up.

  * * * * *

  If she lived through this, Stella decided, Cam probably would never speak to her again.

  But as much as she loved him—and she really did love him—she wasn’t the type to sit on her hands and wait for others to take care of her problems.

  And her uncle was her problem.

  She knew Cam’s plan and, except for her presence, everything should go according to it. Her only problem was when to time her arrival.

  She’d waited in Cam’s house and thought she’d given them enough time, but obviously she’d screwed up—and come back too early.

  She materialized in the middle of the room—directly in front of her uncle and his personal bodyguard. Cam was nowhere to be seen.

  Her uncle stared at her for several seconds while she silently cursed herself.

  Stupid. God, you are so freaking stupid.

  “Stella, you sneaky girl.” Her uncle’s voice sounded just as it always did—indulgent and a little patronizing. “I see we need to have a talk. I was wrong to assume the arus I sensed in you was dormant since you exhibited no sign of power before now. Foolish me.”

  Oh God, Cam was going to be so pissed, considering she’d just screwed his plans all to hell. Now she needed to give him an opportunity to reevaluate the situation. So she played for time. “Is it true, Uncle Daniel? Did you kill my parents?”

  His expression didn’t change a bit, his gaze never faltered, and she knew without a doubt that he had. A fever-hot fire started to burn in the center of her chest. Bastard. That coldhearted bastard. Why had she never realized how cold he was?


  “I loved my sister with no reservations, even when she refused to use her gifts for the good of the family business. Your human father,” he spat the word from his mouth as if it was used gum, “convinced her she could live apart from her parents, from her family. Be part of the human world. He was a fool and he made your mother an insult to her race.”

  Stella forced a confused expression onto her face. “What do you mean, an insult to her race? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows rose mockingly. “Don’t play dumb now, little girl. You obviously had your eyes opened since last night. Who told you what happened to your parents?”

  She straightened and glared at him, determined not to give anything away. “No one. I’m not stupid, uncle.” Well, not completely anyway. “You’re not as good at hiding your tracks as you think you are.”

  His small smile sent cold shivers down her spine. “No, that’s not true. I am very good at hiding my tracks. I’ve been doing it for decades. And I learned from the best. My father was one of the most powerful men of the Malandante. And I plan to be just as powerful. And you’re going to help me.”

  Jesus. Had her entire family been evil? And if so, what did that make her? Had she been born evil too? She needed more information and Cam needed more time. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What does that mean, Malandante?”

  Her uncle’s smile twisted. “Ah, so you’re not as smart as you think you are, Stella. But now is not the time for a history lesson. We’ll have more than enough time for that later. I’m going to hate to lose you in human resources but I’m sure we’ll be able to put you to good use elsewhere.”

  His obvious threat made her stomach roll. Now that he’d seen what she could do, he’d try to force her to use her gifts for his purposes. She had to get out of here, right now. She tried to will herself back to Cam’s but her uncle motioned with one hand and she couldn’t move, literally couldn’t move a muscle.

  Fear doused her entire body in goose bumps. She tried to scream but couldn’t get her mouth to obey. Her vocal cords seemed paralyzed.