“Leave you alone? You’re the one squeezing the fuck out of my balls, Sweetcheeks,” Xavier grunted as he kept the gun out of Alicia’s reach.
As Shuggie watched, he remembered that the Doc needed a sample of Alicia’s DNA to test to see if she was, indeed, the fabled ‘Sanguis-solis’ vampire. As the fight between her and Xavier started for Round Two, he thought this might be a perfect opportunity to get some of her blood. Reaching down to his kitbag under his bed, Shuggie grabbed his first aid box, and took out a syringe and a vial, hiding it in the palm of his hand as he waited for the right moment.
Alicia's hand let Xavier’s jewels drop as if her hand was on fire, but the look in his eyes… He was enjoying it!
“Why don’t you fuck off and be the ‘leopard’ that you are? I was having a nice evening with Hugh and you just had to turn up didn’t you? Look Xavier Stalker Raige, I’ve done you no harm. I’ve been nothing but polite to you.”
Xavier’s jaw ticked at that comment. As he slid the pink gun into the back of his waistband, his jealousy started to rear its ugly head again. Alicia took a few steps back, looking over her shoulder at Hugh as she walked. “Sorry Hugh, I must take me leave now, thank you for everything, you have been so kind to me but I cannot stay here with Mr. Hottie Commander Prick.”
At this, Shuggie stood and placed a hand on Alicia’s shoulder, to make her sit back down. “Jist hold yer whisht lass, ye are going nowhere til we sort this oot.” Xavier’s eyes honed in on Shuggie and that was enough of a warning for him to move his hand away from Alicia’s shoulder.
“Apologies if I interrupted your date with your boyfriend, Sweetcheeks. I was intending to come down here and meet with you to offer our help with your mission to bring the Belcastros down, but I can see you neither want nor need…” He was about to say ‘me’ but instead said “my help”. Instead of walking out, though, his feet were cemented to the floor. The very thought of leaving her here to be consoled by another male had his wolf tearing him apart inside.
Alicia sat back down in the chair as Hugh gently pushed her into it. She crouched forward as her hand slipped into her right boot and pulled out a purple Glock, straightening her body back up, the gun spun around her index finger.
“Let’s get something straight here, Hugh is my friend. A male with impeccable manners — unlike you. I don't need anyone’s help, never have done, never will do! If the Belcastros are paying you to find me? Deliver me to them now! I am a vampire, Com-an-derrr. I can get myself free.” Alicia sat with a smug grin on her face, then drew a cherry lolly from her pocket and popped it in her mouth.
Xavier wondered where the hell the next weapon would appear on Alicia. She seemed to be able to pull guns out of thin air! He exhaled slowly, when she said she had no romantic interest in Shuggie. He wasn’t aware he had been holding his breath until then.
“I know exactly what you are, vampire,” he said, matter-of-factly and kicked the shards of broken door out of his way as he walked around the bed to lean on the back wall. Shuggie had shown him discreetly what he had in his hand and when he mouthed “Blood sample?” to Xavier, he had barely nodded. He had to keep Alicia’s attention on him so that Shuggie could quickly jab the syringe into her and extract the blood. “You have a personal beef with Belcastro, I get that. But what you don’t know is what I found out today, and that is the reason that I was proposing that we join forces to get him and his organisation once and for all. It’s true, I was hired to find you and bring you in, but that has changed and we are no longer in Belcastro’s employment.”
Shuggie knew what Xavier was up to and as he spoke to Alicia, he took the opportunity to stab the needle into the small of her back, extracting her blood and transferring it into the glass vial. Alicia must have thought she had been bitten by a mosquito as she tried to swat her hand behind her as the needle was inserted.
What Shuggie didn’t know however was that Xavier had ended the contract with Belcastro and he wondered whether it was just ‘talk’ to engage Alicia, or if something had happened in the time between his and Xavier’s disagreement earlier in the day and his returning to the base?
“Damn bugs!” Alicia mumbled as she shifted in her seat. “Tell Me Xavi, what did you find out? Perhaps that the Russians are involved with the fuckers that slaughtered my father and twin brother?” Alicia slumped back into the chair, sucking away on her lolly.
Chapter Forty Five
Bridging his arms across his wide chest Xavier kept standing, leaning his back against the wall. He took his time looking over Alicia — it was as if he was seeing her for the first time.
Really seeing her.
She was oozing confidence, and was self-assured. She had an inner strength and determination which showed in those big brown almond shaped eyes of hers, and the way her lips moved when she spoke was hypnotising. Her appearance was deceiving. She looked petite, frail, and delicate. There was no denying she was feminine and sexy as fuck, but that didn’t come from her small, fragile appearance. No, it was coming from her intelligence and tenacity.
She was right. She didn’t need anyone. So why did Xavier want her to want him so fucking badly? He shook his head as the word resurfaced in his mind. “Mine.” His wolf was rising, and he had never felt it before in his life.
It was impossible — wasn’t it?
He was faulty, the ‘runt’. He couldn’t shift, never mind communicate with that part of him. Pushing these thoughts out of the way, he tried to focus on the conversation. If he was having some sort of midlife crisis, he could deal with that later.
When Alicia mentioned about the Russians, the last piece of the Belcastro phone call fell into place for him.
“Seems Snr Belcastro has moved on from gun running and drugs and is now getting himself involved in people trafficking. I was at the mansion earlier, incognito, and overheard an interesting phone conversation. My bet is that they are bringing in the females by ship and using the containers at the docks to hold them before selling them on.” Xavier was looking at Alicia, but was talking to both her and Shuggie.
“If some ill-mannered prick hadn’t stole my laptop then maybe we would have answers that we seek. Belcastro will be mine, and I want his blood all over my hands! Although, I may be willing to help you, Xavier Raige, for a price of course.” Alicia slowly rose from her seating position and walked towards where Xavier was propped up against the wall.
Shuggie was, by now, feeling like he was the spare prick at an orgy. There was an uneasy truce forming between Alicia and Xavier, although the tension was still heavy in the air. As Alicia stood and approached Xavier, Shuggie broke the uneasy silence.
“Why don’t we discuss the details when we all huv had a chance tae rest and mull things o’er? Ah don’t know aboot you two but I’m beat.”
Xavier was transfixed by Alicia. He gave a low, deep, growl but his attention was spoiled when he heard Shuggie’s dulcet tones.
“Sounds like a plan, what do you think, Sweetcheeks?” He reached behind him, and pulled out her pink gun, handing it back to her as a show of faith.
Alicia moved closer to Xavier as he held her pink gun above his head, wagging her finger to motion him to her. Xavier bent at the waist. She was dwarfed by his huge size but lowered her lips to his ear and whispered, “You would have got a kiss in the cupboard it you hadn’t of smelt of an ashtray.”
Nipping his lower lobe gently with her fangs, Alicia’s hand raised for the gun and with a final whisper of “I’ll be seeing you soon Xav,” she flashed away from him, hoping that he didn’t pick up that her pulse was racing.
Chapter Forty Six
Alicia lay on her bed in an upside-down position, her head hanging over the edge as the blood started to rush north. The night before was not as she expected her play date with Shuggie to end, and she most certainly had not banked on Commander Xavier Raige making a guest appearance.
Why would the male with the vibrant green eyes want to help her in the first place? Their previous enc
ounters hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms yet there he stood with his golden blond hair tied back with a leather strap, his handsome, chiselled face and vowed to help her bring the Belcastros down.
Why though?
Could she take him at his word that it was because he was morally offended that females were being trafficked by them? She could believe that Shuggie would react like that, he was a proper gentleman, after all.
But Commander Prick?
Questions that she had no answers to rattled about in Alicia’s head as she tried to work Xavier out and what exactly his agenda was. Alicia trusted Shuggie — he was the only person she did. Commander Prick was his boss, for all intents and purposes…with that thought, her mind was made up...laying low for a while was the best course of action. If she didn’t enter Mexico then Shuggie wouldn’t be able to trace her, and maybe their paths would cross again in a hundred years or so.
Exhausted from over-thinking she fell asleep in her upside-down position.
****
Shuggie had just returned from flashing back from their headquarters in France to drop off the sample of Alicia’s blood to the Doc.
He had tasted three drops of the blood on his tongue so that he could flash to Alicia’s location anywhere she was in the next twenty four hours. It was like vampire Sat-Nav, and was more than helpful to him and Xavier, particularly when Alicia had purposefully ‘forgotten’ to say where she was going when she left the night before.
Shuggie would have preferred to spend more time at headquarters, touch base with the other soldiers and maybe even help the Doc in the medic bay. She was overworked and it would have been manners to offer assistance. It was definitely not because he had any hidden agenda about hanging around her and being able to just be in the same room as her. Shuggie told himself this, but even he wasn’t convinced.
Unfortunately for him, the mission took precedence over anything else, so the way he seen it the sooner they did what they had to do in Mexico, the better.
For all concerned.
Chapter Forty Seven
Clicking his fingers before lighting his cigar, Snr Belcastro looked through the lenses of his shades and sized up the nervous blonde as she was dragged towards him. She was whimpering like a kicked puppy, but she was making no attempt to run away. Vladlina, her lifelong friend, had tried to do that before they had been herded into the containership back in Russia and she had been made an example of. First, Vladlina had acid thrown in her face, then a bullet to each kneecap before getting her throat slashed and bleeding to death in front of them all.
It was an extremely effective deterrent, and served its purpose well.
Petra Baranovsky had just graduated as an elementary school teacher and had been out on the town celebrating with Vladlina when they were picked up by the tall, well built, expensively dressed strangers. They were treated like Tsaritsa’s — wined and dined in the finest restaurants, champagne pouring like water. When the men suggested that they go to a club, both Vladlena and Petra had absolutely no hesitation. This was turning out to be the best night of their lives.
Or so they thought.
Vladlina’s ruined, lifeless body was now beneath the waves, and Petra was about to be sold into prostitution in a country she didn’t know by ruthless men who didn’t care. It was difficult to say out of the two girls who had the better deal.
Snr Belcastro muttered something to Martinez and they both laughed as Petra stood violently shaking in fear. The brightness of the sun after the blackness of the container was blinding, and the salty fresh air was making her lungs hurt.
Suddenly, Snr Belcastro turned and gripped Petra’s chin roughly, making her eyes water. He forced her mouth open, checked her teeth, and then started pulling at her eyelids, hauling her around inspecting her like a show horse. Petra was turned around and Snr Belcastro kicked her legs open. As he shoved his fingers roughly between her legs, she cried out and lurched forward. Martinez slapped her face hard as the two men laughed and exchanged words. She didn’t understand what they were saying, but she thought they spoke in Spanish, from the little she had learned at college. Pulling his fingers out of her violated body, Snr Belcastro, smelled them like he did with his finest cigars. He then put his sticky fingers in his mouth, suckling noisily. The disgust on Petra’s was mixed with fear and she was half glad to be taken back to the container with the other girls.
The two men made her flesh crawl.
“And all the girls are of the same calibre, eh? Very satisfactory, Martinez. I think the Russians have more than made up for their last defective batch, don’t you?”
Snr Belcastro gave a snake like smile as he walked back over to his waiting car. Martinez walked behind him, smoothing his greasy hair back. He knew that the old man wasn’t wanting a conversation. In fact, unless he addressed him personally, talking back to him would do nothing but get him an assbeating.
As Martinez got in the back seat beside the old man, he had already moved the conversation on from the consignment of prostitutes and back to their main business.
The other cartels had been making inroads in their territory with the drugs and guns. It seemed that word had got out that they were unable to cope with internal security issues, which gave them the confidence to start trying to edge them out of the market. It was obvious to Martinez that he put the blame all at one door — Commander Xavier Raige.
“This situation cannot continue, I will not permit it. Raige has been flaunting his presence and it won’t take long before the other Families figured out why he was here. Tell me again why you persuaded me to hire him, Martinez?”
Martinez knew that this was coming. The old man had been headed this way for days, ever since their meeting in the mansion, and he knew that his own situation was precariously tied to Xavier’s. It wasn’t that he gave a fuck about Commander Raige or what would happen to him, but as he was the one who hired him. He needed to play this clever if he wanted to keep his own head on his shoulders.
“His reputation is the best, Boss, and the thefts have stopped since he put his security measures in place.”
After an elongated silence, Snr Belcastro exhaled his cigar smoke into Martinez face.
“And isn’t it such a coincidence? We hire this Commander and suddenly - poof! - The robberies stop! It is an old fashioned extortion and protection racket. And he thinks that I, the notorious Mauro Belcastro, can be fucked like some street whore? And where has he been, this high and mighty Commander?” As he spoke, Snr Belcastro was waving his hands around wildly, almost singeing Martinez eyebrows with his cigar in the process.
“I have had him tailed, as you instructed, Boss. We are building up a portfolio of his movements and associates.” Martinez tried to keep his voice level, as any hint of fear would make the old man seize on him like a rabid dog. “There has been an interesting development. He seems to be working with a young lady. Might be his daughter, although there is no physical resemblance. She has been spotted by my men in town over the last month, but has so far evaded being caught on camera. She’s fast, and obviously professional.”
Giving a malicious laugh, Snr Belcastro leaned over to Martinez, his soft gut pushing against his arm as he bore the brunt of his weight.
“Then maybe we should introduce this Raige’s girl into a new profession?”
As he renewed his laughter, Martinez had a feeling that he couldn’t explain that this was not a road they should be going down, but from the look on the old man’s face, he would never be able to persuade him otherwise.
Chapter Forty Eight
Shuggie scrubbed his hand down his face as Teo explained for the third time the results of Alicia’s blood tests. He never considered himself of low intelligence, but as he sat opposite the Doc he knew he was asking the most dumbass questions. For her part, Teo sat patiently and repeated the same answers over and again until the information started to process.
Shuggie was loathe to leave the Doc, but not for his usual motives. He jus
t didn’t want to have to break the news to Alicia. The little vampire didn’t even know that he had taken some of her blood never mind consented to having it tested, and as uncomfortable as he was about that, having to tell her what the findings were would have implications for them all.
Xavier sat staring at Shuggie.
“Just a quick visit with the Doc this time, Shug?” A small smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“Aye, Commander.” Sighing, Shuggie rolled his shoulders then straightened his back and stared ahead of him. As he recounted the findings from the blood tests to his Commander, Xavier’s smirk disappeared, and his features become serious. Once he had finished talking, Xavier didn’t respond straight away and it was up to Shuggie to break the silence. “In light of aw that, Commander, ah think the best course o’ action would be fur ye tae tell Alicia. Ye are the Commanding Officer, after all. I wud also like tae propose that she be appointed a personal guard so that she is no left unprotected.”
Still, Xavier did not answer.
Xavier hadn’t known what to expect from the blood tests on Alicia, but he sure as hell wasn’t prepared for this. He agreed that Alicia needed to know, but thought it a coward ass move on Shuggie’s part to use Xavier’s own rank against him. The female already hated his guts, and this would only compound matters. As for a bodyguard? Well, on many levels it made sense, but getting her to agree to it would be a whole different ballgame.
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