Clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Isaiah gave her a friendly smile. “It’s coming along nicely. How are you today, Nikki?”
“Great!” she responded a little too cheerfully, and much like always, he got the impression she was lying to him. “You dropped something yesterday.” She handed him the driver’s license that must have fallen out of his wallet the last time he’d been here—the one that said his name was Jordan Drake. “I thought you said your name is Isaiah. You aren’t casing my coffee shop for some big heist, are you?”
Fuck! First he’d told her his real name, and now this? Isaiah was never this careless, which was one of the reasons he was so good at what he did.
The easiest way to handle things would be to use a compulsion to make her forget all his slip-ups, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Under normal circumstances, he didn’t like manipulating people’s minds, but it was worse with Nikki because he genuinely liked her.
“I hate the name Jordan, so I go by Isaiah,” he lied seamlessly. “It sounds better than Isaac.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I figured that out on my own. I was just teasing about you robbing the coffee shop. You’ve seen the kind of business we do here.”
Damn, she was even prettier when she laughed.
Today, the shop was pretty empty, so she was lingering at his table, making him so hard he was uncomfortable sitting. He decided right then to say screw it all and ask her out. This job would be over soon, meaning he’d have no excuse to come out here. Bad idea or not, he really wanted to spend a little more time with her. They could just have dinner after she got off work and see where things went from there. She was human, so things couldn’t go on very long. Reaching up to push his glasses back in place, Isaiah froze when he realized he didn’t have them on.
“When did you get your contact lenses?” she asked.
“Contact lenses?” he repeated, feeling like an idiot for being unable to just answer her question.
Her finger tapped the bridge of his nose. “When you’re thinking about something, you reach up to push your glasses back in place, so you must have gotten contact lenses or had laser surgery.”
“You’re very observant,” he remarked, neither confirming nor denying her suspicions.
“It’s useful in my job,” she told him.
“As a barista?” he asked.
“It’s just like being a bartender,” she explained with a laugh that sounded somewhat nervous this time. “I’d better get back to work,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything else, Isaiah.”
“Sure,” he agreed, getting ready to work up the nerve to ask her out when his phone rang.
“Hello,” he answered without checking his Caller ID because he was too busy ogling Nikki’s ass like a perverted stalker.
“Isaiah, it’s Drew.”
This was why he needed to look at who was calling before answering his phone. Calls from his psychotic cousin should definitely be screened—especially when Isaiah was working.
“What is it?” he asked, trying not to sound annoyed. It wasn’t for Drew’s benefit so much as his desire to avoid drawing attention to himself.
“I need you to help me find Molly,” Drew said.
“Who?” Isaiah asked, not recognizing the name.
“Hunter’s mom,” Drew explained.
“Can we talk about this later?” Isaiah asked. “I’m busy at the moment.”
“No. We need to talk about this now,” Drew insisted. “I need to find her.”
“Why do you need to find her?” Isaiah asked quietly. “And why is this suddenly so urgent?”
A man walked into the coffee shop dressed in torn jeans and a faded black t-shirt. The rest of his muscular arms were covered with tattoos. Fists clenched at his sides, the guy walked right up to the counter, looking ready to do battle. It wasn’t so much his appearance that set Isaiah on high alert as the aggression radiating from him.
“Nikki!” the guy shouted.
“I’ll call you back later.” Isaiah ended the call without giving his cousin time to argue.
“Keep your voice down, Mitch,” Nikki implored in a calm voice.
“Fuck you!” he spat out. “I am not going to keep my voice down. Some people came into my brother’s shop asking about you. I warned you about bringing your shit to our door. My brother should have sent you away the minute he saw you.”
“Mitch, please don’t make a scene.” Nikki looked around nervously.
“I’ll make a scene if I want,” Mitch nearly shouted. “You think you can put my family in danger and expect me to be nice to you? Fuck that!”
“She asked you to keep your voice down,” Isaiah said when he moved up to Mitch’s side.
“I’ll handle this, Isaiah,” Nikki told him, sounding embarrassed that he was witnessing this scene.
“That’s right.” Mitch sneered. “Tell your little college prick to mind his own fucking business. Close the fucking shop and come with me, now.”
Isaiah had always been the type to avoid confrontation, and this was definitely a time when he should mind his own business. He was on a job, so he needed to sit back down and stay out of this. Still, when Mitch’s hand wrapped around Nikki’s arm, causing her to flinch, Isaiah saw red. He reached out and grabbed Mitch by the back of his hair before slamming his face into the counter, which had the desired result of forcing Mitch to release Nikki’s arm.
It also resulted in Nikki screaming at him. “No! Stop!”
Nikki’s order wasn’t what stopped him from smashing Mitch’s face into the counter a few more times. The laughter coming from his pocket stopped him. In his haste to rush to Nikki’s aid, he hadn’t hung up on Drew. Releasing Mitch’s hair, Isaiah took a step back.
“What the fuck?” Mitch demanded, but he sounded much less angry and slightly dazed from having his head slammed into the counter.
“If you so much as touch her, I will make sure you need to be carried out of here,” he warned Mitch. “Leave here and don’t come near Nikki again.” Isaiah felt no guilt about adding a mental push to his words.
“This doesn’t concern you, college boy,” Mitch spat out.
“Yes, it does,” Isaiah practically growled, surprised the compulsion hadn’t worked on Mitch. That meant Mitch had some sort of psychic ability. For whatever reason, vampires couldn’t use any sort of mind control with psychic humans.
“Fuck him up, cuz,” came from his pocket, making Isaiah sigh in frustration.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Isaiah ended the call, not surprised when his phone started ringing again right away. Drew would definitely want details on what had just happened. He supposed he should be glad Drew probably wouldn’t share this with anyone else in the family, mostly because the family did so much to avoid Drew.
“I think you should work on your paper somewhere else,” Nikki told him, and he cringed at her dismissal. “Just for today,” she added quickly.
Isaiah just stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “You want me to leave? I’m not the one threatening you.”
“Mitch won’t really hurt me,” Nikki assured him. “Right, Mitch?”
“Right,” Mitch agreed, rubbing his forehead. “My brother would have my balls if I hurt Nikki. Are you Nikki’s boyfriend?”
“Isaiah is a regular customer here,” Nikki explained, giving his real name out to yet another person. It would be a miracle if he didn’t get fired from this job. Her attention turned back to Isaiah. “Please, leave for now.”
“I’ll go,” Isaiah relented and went over to pack up his stuff, taking his time to eavesdrop on Nikki’s conversation with Mitch. Something told him Nikki was in trouble. If he were human, he wouldn’t be able to hear them talking in hushed tones near the back room, but being a vampire had its advantages.
“Who was harassing Brian?” Nikki asked urgently.
“Three guys, but Brian’s most worried about the one who did the talking,” Mitch answered with
a shrug. “When Brian told him he’d never seen you, the guy called him a liar and threatened him. Brian got pissed and told him that shit wouldn’t work, but then the asshole mentioned Brian’s woman and kid, so now Brian’s freaking the fuck out.”
“I’m so sorry, Mitch,” she breathed out. “I didn’t mean to bring trouble to you guys.”
“Yeah, I know. Fuck, I know you tried to take off before, but Brian convinced you to stay. You need to go talk to Brian and tell him what this is really about.”
Nikki nodded. “Brian knows, but he didn’t want to put you at risk by telling you. I’ll go by the shop after I get off tonight to talk to him.”
“You need to understand that no matter how much I like you, my responsibility is to my family.” Mitch’s words sounded like a warning.
“I get it, Mitch,” she assured him.
“No,” Mitch began in a softer voice, “I don’t think you understand. I will do anything to keep them safe.”
“Are you threatening me?” she asked.
“No, but I am making sure you realize that no matter how much I like you, I won’t let Brian be hurt to protect you.”
Isaiah had lingered as long as he could without attracting attention. Since today was obviously going to be a bad day for work, he decided to head home and try to figure out what kind of trouble Nikki was in. He had every intention of following her when she went to meet with Brian after her shift, but he’d need to do a little planning first.
Chapter Three
Phoenix’s heart was pounding against her rib cage as she watched Isaiah gather his belongings and walk out of the coffee shop. Even while she’d been talking to Mitch, she hadn’t been able to stop sneaking peeks at Isaiah. That was nothing new since she’d been sneaking peeks at him and finding excuses to go over to his table to talk for the last three weeks. She’d even played it off like she always delivered coffee and pastries to people’s tables, when really, she’d just been trying to get close to him. He was sweet and awkward in a way that made her pulse quicken just being near him. Never would she have pegged him for the type to jump in when Mitch had grabbed her arm. It was shocking, and kind of sexy at the same time.
Shaking her head, Phoenix reminded herself she needed to end her fascination with Isaiah now. Everything she’d told Isaiah about herself was a lie, and Mitch’s visit came as a much needed reminder of the danger she brought to those around her.
“Are you done ogling the college boy?” Mitch asked her.
“I was not ogling him!” she insisted.
“College boy seems pretty capable of taking care of himself,” Mitch observed. “It might be smart for you to keep him around.”
“He’s a regular customer, so I’m sure he’ll be in again tomorrow,” she replied.
“From what I can tell, he’d like to be a hell of a lot more than your customer,” Mitch pointed out.
“That can’t happen,” Phoenix argued, not sure if she was trying to convince Mitch or herself.
“What could it hurt to let him in?” Mitch continued to push.
That question just proved to Phoenix that Mitch was a complete fool.
“I let you and Brian in, and now Brian’s whole family is in danger,” she snapped before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Sorry for jumping down your throat.”
Mitch laughed. “Considering how I acted when I came in here, I don’t blame you. Can I give you some advice?”
“You can try,” she told him, even knowing she probably wouldn’t listen to any advice from Mitch.
“Stick close to someone who can protect you,” he warned. “Brian would rather die than sell you out.”
“I know,” she said, meeting his eyes. “You don’t share that sentiment, do you?”
Mitch stared at her for a long moment without replying, likely considering what his brother would say if he admitted the truth. While Mitch was mostly a self-serving ass, he loved his brother and didn’t like it when Brian was disappointed in his actions, something Phoenix had heard was a common occurrence. Mitch looked away. “Just make sure you get to the shop to talk to Brian by five.”
On those words, Mitch stormed out of the coffee shop.
It had taken less than thirty minutes for the carefully crafted lie that was her life to start to unravel.
Chapter Four
Four hours later, Isaiah had nothing on Nikki. It wasn’t just a matter of not being able to find out what kind of trouble she was in; he couldn’t even find out who she was. Finding the coffee shop’s employee records had been easy since their accountant wasn’t doing much to secure the information. After that, he’d come to the conclusion that Nikki must be getting paid under the table. The shop was owned by a guy named Michael Tanner, and there were three employees on record. The first two were men, so they were easy to eliminate. He’d assumed that the only female employee, Paula Nicole Davidson had to be Nikki, but he’d been wrong. Paula was Michael Tanner’s married daughter. She was in her forties and looked nothing like Nikki. In the three weeks he’d been going there, Isaiah had never seen Paula in the shop. In fact, it was rare for anyone other than Nikki to work the times Isaiah had gone in.
“Whatcha doin’, cuz?” Drew asked, plopping down uninvited on the sofa in the sitting room Isaiah was using—the one tucked away at the far end of the house where he’d hoped to avoid interruptions.
Isaiah had his own place, but he still spent most days at Nathaniel’s home where his brother, Justin, lived. Since Isaiah’s mental breakdown, Justin didn’t trust him on his own—not that Isaiah blamed him. To be honest, he didn’t usually mind it here. Most days, it was pretty peaceful. At least, it had been before Drew had moved back to the house.
“I’m a little busy,” Isaiah muttered, pulling up a satellite view of the coffee shop where Nikki worked. She planned to meet with this Brian guy after work, and the best way to figure out what she was doing was to follow her. With any luck, she wasn’t planning to drive to the meeting point. Having no idea where that meeting place was, he couldn’t be sure when she’d leave the shop or how she’d get there.
“Looks like you’re stalking someone,” Drew remarked, and Isaiah’s reaction must have given him away because Drew laughed. “When I said that, I figured you were just working on some job, but you really are stalking someone, aren’t you? You’re stalking a woman!”
“No. Okay, maybe I’m stalking her a little.” Isaiah knew he’d regret admitting that to Drew later.
Instead of teasing him like he’d expected, Drew moved around behind him and tapped a pizza place across the street. “You’ve been studying the little coffee shop, so I’m assuming that’s where she is. If you hang out in this place across the street, you’ll be able to see her leave, unless there’s a backdoor.”
“There is a back entrance, so it’s possible she’ll exit that way and cut through the alley,” he mused.
“So, is this where you kicked some guy’s ass earlier today?” Drew asked.
Isaiah blew out a frustrated breath, figuring the only way to get rid of Drew was to share some information. “Yes. I’m not sure what came over me, but I acted without thinking.”
“You’ve got a thing for coffee shop girl, and some asshole was yelling at her,” Drew stated with a shrug. “Makes sense that you’d fuck the guy up. Even an asshole like me would have done it.”
Isaiah laughed. “Watch what you say, Drew, or I might start liking you.”
“Good, then you can help me,” Drew said with a clap of his hands.
“What exactly do you need help with?” Isaiah asked suspiciously.
“Aren’t you going to promise to help me?” Drew asked.
Isaiah snorted. “Not a chance. Only an idiot promises to help a sociopath without finding out what the sociopath wants.”
“Like I said earlier, I want to find the kid’s mom,” Drew replied somewhat impatiently.
The kid Drew referred to was Hunter, Drew’s son. They’d only learned of Hunter’s existence recently,
and Isaiah had never heard Drew refer to Hunter by name. He always called him the kid. Since Drew was a total psycho, Hunter didn’t live with Drew or even see Drew very often. Instead, their uncle, Alek, and his fiancée, Trish, were happily raising Hunter.
No one had even considered locating Hunter’s mom, a hunter Drew had slept with believing she was human. She’d gotten pregnant and then ditched the baby with Drew’s psycho mom, who had tried to train Hunter to be a little serial killer. The fact that Drew had killed his serial killer mom to save Hunter was one of the only reasons Isaiah was putting up with his cousin’s presence lately. While he didn’t believe Drew had suddenly become a good person, he’d proven he wasn’t a complete waste of air. Then a thought occurred to him.
“You aren’t thinking about taking Hunter away from Alek and Trish, are you? Is that why you want to find Hunter’s mom? Are you suddenly having some crazy dream of being a happy little family?”
“Fuck no!” Drew replied immediately. “Alek and Trish are perfect for the kid. We all know I can’t be a father, but I have this nagging feeling that his mom might be in trouble.” Drew sounded embarrassed by that admission.
Isaiah took a moment to consider Drew’s request. He honestly doubted it was a good idea to hunt down a hunter. The hunters weren’t killing their kind anymore—at least not without provocation. Still, Drew getting a hunter pregnant might be considered provocation. Despite any issues he’d had with his cousin in the past, he didn’t want Drew getting himself killed.
“You do realize how dangerous it could be looking for a hunter, don’t you?”
“I get it,” Drew assured him. “Before you ask, I also know that it would be very bad for the hunters to know the kid exists, but I can’t stop thinking that she ran because she’s in some kind of danger.”
Vampire in Geek's Clothing (Psy-Vamp Book 6) Page 2
