Strangers would stand out like a pimple on a baby’s ass.
He glanced out the basement window, where practical shoes strolled by and pondered his finances. Would he kill the American girl or sell her? She was pretty enough, but too thin. The men in the North of Africa preferred them with more meat. They lasted longer that way.
Suddenly, he wondered how she was faring. He walked to the back of the hall, switched on a weak bare bulb, and descended to the floor below. There, his wife sat glued to an Italian daytime TV show. His American merchandise sat curled in a corner, eyes wide.
He growled, “Feed her, for fuck’s sake.”
The mother of his good-for-nothing sons narrowed her gaze and said nothing. She’d not spoken to him since he’d found a powerful mate. After twenty years of her whining, he actually preferred it that way. She’d no real reason to be angry with him. After all, he did not divorce her and did not kill her. What more could she ask?
Shaking his head, he left after ensuring his skinny hostage ate a cheese sandwich.
Upstairs, his pregnant mate sat at a small table playing a game of solitary.
Her face contorted into a sneer when he approached, making her wide features uglier than normal. “I want to go home.”
Fat cow. “Soon, my little Pereche. I told you, dearest. I need you.”
She played her last card, pushed back from the table, and stretched. “You’ll never beat the others.”
But for her swollen belly, he’d beat her within an inch of her life for that insolence. Fuming, he glared.
As always, the bitch ignored him. She laid down the ace of hearts, shuffled and said, “Best we make a hasty retreat. My family will find a better plan. They have brains, not shit for gray matter.”
Never looking up, she raised her left arm and flicked a wrist. Cold, musty air hit his face as her magic swirled about the room. She laughed when it curled into a spinning dervish and knocked him off his feet.
He sent an equal wind in her direction and scattered her game.
They glared.
Would that he could have mated with anyone else. But, like him, she was from an ancient family. Her heritage could be traced back for hundreds of years. And while not a perfect match, their connection had increased his own power exponentially.
The Council had no idea what they were up against.
She stood and stomped across the dimly lit room and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Admit it. You failed, Gregor.”
His heart pounded at his mate’s tone and he pictured all the ways he would make her pay after the birth of their child.
“I weakened them.” He towered over her five foot form.
She crossed her arms over her chest and wrinkled her wide nose. “But not enough.”
“One battle is not the totality of a war. You are only a woman. What do you know of such things?”
Her hand snapped back without warning and his face stung from her sharp slap.
He grabbed her wrist hard, and twisted it behind her back. “You go too far, Elena.”
“You bastard. My father will kill you.” She struggled with a wind power that equaled his own. Pews overturned, and a six foot lantern hanging by a chain crashed to the linoleum.
“Careful, dear. Do not injure our child,” he hissed in her ear, tightening his grip. “If you are good, after the birth, I may let you live.”
She struggled and he smiled at her furious tone. “I should never have mated with you. You are nothing but a blow hard. All talk. No talent.”
“But you did. And now we both are stronger.” He held her upright and backhanded her.
She wriggled out of his grasp and spit blood into his face. “But not strong enough to beat the Fialko brothers. Let me take the human girl, sell her, and be gone. We will lick our wounds from Romania.”
He shouted, “Enough! They ruined my plans. My storm. What do you think buys you all the pretty things you like? Your jet? Your diamonds? Jack Fialko must die.”
“Don’t blame me for your endless greed. Fialko will come with his brothers and more. He defeated you in the ocean, and he will again. Right here.” She inched toward the door. “You are an idiot, Gregor. I will not stay and fight with you.”
He sent a whirling wind to catch her, but she turned and hissed with palms toward him. A larger orange gust streaked across the room, through his power, and knocked him flat. “Next time I will dry you out and watch you eat your tiny balls.”
Chapter 24
Headed to Romania on Jack’s private jet, if Maya didn’t know better, she’d say she was going on one grand vacation. Flight for her, meant the confined quarters of a helicopter or a commercial jet. The ability to stretch her legs and not hit her knees on the bathroom cabinet was divine. The comfortable recliners complete with a personal steward was beyond compare.
In the living room-like cabin, the three Fialko brothers were sweet and attentive. Their jokes, crass and funny. They told the most outlandish stories of their boyhood adventures in the beach house on the New Jersey shore.
Josh was being extra nice, but in a weird way. Not sure if she liked it.
“Wine, Miss?” Jack’s personal steward held up a bottle of Domaine Leroy Bourgogne Rouge.
She shook her head no. She needed to keep a clear head for the fight that was ever on the back of her mind.
“We aren’t going to get there for hours. It will help you sleep.” Jack lifted his own crystal for the steward to fill.
“I never sleep on planes. No point in trying.” With an apologetic shrug, she settled into the soft leather recliner. She thumbed through a romance novel she’d started weeks ago and tried to find the corner she’d folded over.
“I hate to fly.” Josh leaned back in a chair beside her. “Always have. Have to take a pill or the motion makes me sick.”
She laughed, shoulders touching. “But you don’t get seasick?”
“No. Completely different.” He moved so that they lost body contact.
Obviously, in their new role as friends, they needed to keep physical space between them.
He cleared his throat, rubbed his upper arm and said, “With your dad a pilot, I suppose you flew a lot growing up.”
“Yeah.” Her voice broke on the word.
“Shit. I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about him, if it you don’t want to.”
“No. I want to.” She swallowed hard. “I remember how my parents brought us to Disneyworld in Florida. He went on all the rides with us. Then we got to this giant roller coaster ride, he got green and puked in front of everyone. But that didn’t stop him. He had a little ice cream, rested for a moment, and was at it again. Mom told him to take it easy, but he just laughed. Said he wasn’t spending all this money and not doing all the rides.”
Josh smiled. “I remember when I was younger, and he came to the shore house for the weekend. Said he had business in New York. I was thirteen and not getting along with anyone. Hormones I suppose. He took me out sailing for the day. Just me. Like I was someone special. With two brothers and a sister all close in age, it wasn’t very often that I got to do something by myself with another adult.”
“I know what you mean. I was always the babysitter. Even though my brothers were older than me.”
“I bet you were good at it.” The dark centers of his eyes flared, then went out.
Friends, she reminded herself. Just friends. Not lovers. And definitely not husband material.
She kept the banter light. “Not really. More like an army sergeant. Ask them. I would have them all lined up doing chores so that when mom and dad came home, the place sparkled. Do-gooder through and through.”
“Not me. Shit. While Jack and Josh were getting straight A’s, captain of this and that, I went out of my way to be difficult. When I look back on it, I wonder how my parents survived me.”
“Must’ve been hard. Trying to keep up with them. How did all that change?” She touched his hand and he pulled it back, as if burnt. Bloody hell. Th
is friendship thing was going to drive her bat-shit crazy.
He shook his head. “Not even sure I did. Look at me? I’m thirty-three years old, mourning a dead wife that cheated on me, and living off my family’s money. Quite a catch, huh?”
She laughed, realizing this was just his low-key style. “I read online that you take charge as temporary CEO for any number of the Fialko-owned companies. Wall Street Journal says stocks shoot up whenever you’re in charge. If you went out on your own, you’d be a b’zillionaire.”
Her face felt like it was on fire when she realized she’d pretty much just admitted she’d googled him.
Josh didn’t seem to notice. He shrugged. “I guess I could, but why?
“You do realize what you’re saying?”
“Why would I work for anyone else? Family is everything.”
Her insides melted. Damn. What woman wouldn’t die to hear something like that? Good buddies. What the fuck? How the hell was this going to work? The more she was in close proximity to him, the more she wanted to jump him.
“I’m going to close my eyes. You should too.” The seat went all the way flat, as if a bed, and he turned his back to her.
She smiled sadly, wishing she could curl up next to him and looked out the window. Pink clouds floated beneath them.
When Josh snored, she gave up on her book, stood and stretched. The constant motion kept her awake worse than a few cups of coffee. Jack was sleeping too.
Jace caught her eye, and silently motioned her over to the lounge area where he sat.
“I hate flying at night,” he whispered, and adjusted his seat up.
“Me too.” Speaking just as low, she sat adjacent to him, in one of the four leather swivel chairs, facing a small round table.
“My wife falls sound asleep, just like those two. I can’t tell you how annoying it is. Then she wakes fresh as spring when the plane touches down, ready to go. All I want to do is crawl into bed.”
“I know what you mean. My sister is like that….” She grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and began to peel it. The fresh smell of citrus filled her nostrils. “You ever been to Jack’s castle in Romania?”
“No. He just got it recently. Apparently, Zoe has too many healer relatives. It’s the only way he can get some alone time. Says he has an off-limits wing for just him and his family.”
“That’s really sweet.”
“No he’s not. He’s just practical. I’m the sweet one. Ask my wife.” A crooked grin appeared.
She bit into her orange wedge, then snickered when he batted his eyelashes. “How long you been married?”
“It happened last solstice. Terra and I were a perfect match. Luckiest man alive.” He pulled out his iPhone. “That’s Ethan.”
She licked her sticky fingers before taking it. “Ahhhh. Oh my God. He’s so cute. Dark lashes. Looks just like you. I thought that perfect match stuff was a myth.”
For a moment, her biological clock tick-tocked her in the head. A baby. If she mated with Josh, theirs might look like Ethan. Cousins.
Shit. Not happening, clock. She made herself focus back on Jace’s explanation.
“…after me and Jack both mated, we did some research into the ancient archives. Apparently, in our clan, every three hundred years or so, there’s a spurt of sort. Multiple perfect matches that result in our clan’s power growing exponentially. It’s the reason the Iesco clan is so powerful.”
Her cheeks burned and he narrowed his eyes.
“Is there something you’d like to share?”
“I, uh. No.” Way too personal.
He tilted his head, not believing, and said, “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Josh, but he’s a really great guy. I wouldn’t want to see him get hurt.”
She snorted, a bit horrified at how unladylike she sounded. “Don’t worry about that. He’s made it perfectly clear there’s nothing between us.”
Jace shook his head. “Did he tell you about his ex?”
“Just that she died.” Trying to appear uninterested, her heart raced. Finally.
“It was bad.” He scratched his jaw. “She’d been messing around with other men. Even before the honeymoon was over, as I understand it. But Josh wouldn’t hear anything bad said about her. Even when they separated, he was certain they could work it out. A bit of an idiot in that way. Worshiped the ground she walked on.”
The thought of Josh in love with another woman, even a dead one, made her stomach churn.
“What happened?”
“She’d been playing us all.” Jace glanced over at Josh and frowned. “Details don’t matter. In the end, the bitch shot Josh. I deflected the bullet. It would’ve killed him if I hadn’t. My power kept traveling across the room, and the energy hit her. She died instantly. I killed her.” He winced, running a hand through his hair. “And Josh couldn’t forgive me for it.”
“My God. That’s awful.”
“Thanks.” Lost in thought, he focused on her hands as she played with the orange wedges. “He really did try for a while, and then just gave up. He loved that evil bitch, even as she tried to kill him.”
“So that’s why he came to Australia?’
“Yeah. My dad knows yours…shit. I’m sorry Maya.” He exhaled heavily. “Hard to believe he’s gone.”
“Uragan will pay. For everything.” She bit her tongue. Better the brothers didn’t know what she had in mind for him.
Jace nodded.
Maya stood, walked the small cabin, and tore open the small package with a wet-wipe. The whole sad story just made her feel like shit. There was no way Josh would love her the way he had Nicole. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to be loved like that. She was no goddess to be worshiped. Despite what their bodies wanted, she knew they could never be together.
Feeling like she needed to cry, she walked into the bathroom, and pulled a tissue out of the little metal holder, but no tears fell.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Maybe once she killed the Russian, she could go home and mourn both the loss of her father, and forget about the man who might’ve been a perfect match.
Chapter 25
Josh stared up at the Romanian gothic monstrosity. Medieval turrets and towers mixed with Renaissance architecture in a horrendous blend. On the left side of the building, a more modern wing was added on without a thought to maintaining a sense of balance or visual impact.
To top it all off, there was a modern metal sculpture depicting a knight and a windmill. The warrior’s helmet, however, was a huge colander, and the windmill, made of World War II propeller blades. The previous owner, obviously, had a complete lack of taste.
Jack noticed his appraisal and said dryly, “It grows on you.”
“Like a fungus.” Shaking his head, Josh muttered under his breath as the limo circled the so-called art.
Three armed security men met and briefed them at a small building at the bottom of the hill. Then they drove through the gate and up a forty-five degree angle. The engine whined and coughed until the road flattened on top, at the palazzo.
From the passenger seat in the front, Josh glanced over his shoulder. He wasn’t sure what had happened on the plane, but ever since he woke, Maya avoided him completely. Now she sat in the limo’s back seat, alone, quiet.
Jace and Jack raised eyebrows at each other as they piled out of the car, but were nice enough not to say anything.
Damn it. As he recalled, his and Maya’s conversation had gone well before the pill had taken hold. Except for him trying to avoid her touch. But they’d talked about being friends and she said she was good with it. He narrowed his vision at his brother Jace. He must’ve said something. The man never slept.
Jace shrugged his I-have-no-idea-why-you’re-glaring-at-me shrug. The one that drove Josh nuts as a kid.
He’d beat it out him later. Best to do it outside. With Jace’s new earth power, a quake would take down the medieval bricks in a heartbeat.
He t
ried to take Maya’s hand as she exited the limo, but she pulled back and pointedly refused his help.
She said coolly, “I think it’s better if we try not to touch.”
He hissed under his breath at Jace, when they entered the castle’s marble foyer, “What the hell did you say to her?”
“I swear I have no idea. We talked about Nicole. That’s it. I was just trying to help.”
“Well for fuck sake, stop trying to help me.” He grabbed his bags and followed security to his room.
By the time he put his stuff down and was settled, Maya had already shut and locked her door.
In another room, Jace hadn’t bothered to undress, and was sound asleep, diagonal across a queen size bed. Josh found a folded comforter and covered him up before heading back down the narrow staircase.
On the landing between floors, he had to stop and stare.
More metal art. This one was an ostrich made from tire irons, some kind of funnel, and other discarded garage items. Ouch. Obviously his brother and wife had been busy as of late. He smirked, or maybe Jack had left them there in fondness to his many in-laws.
They met in a room that seemed out of place in a medieval castle. It was filled with monitors, computers, and about a dozen geeky nerd-types typing madly.
“What do we know so far?” Josh pulled at the tags of his new jeans and black t-shirt. He’d have to thank Jack’s staff with a big bonus once this was all over. They’d thought of everything.
Jack tilted the twenty-four inch monitor. Google maps zoomed into a location just north of Rome. Soriano Nel Cimino. A village built on a volcano.
He moused over the map until he had the street view. “We’re almost certain they took her here. To this building.”
“Seems risky. Why there?” Josh grabbed a cup of coffee with one hand and a danish filled with nuts and cinnamon with the other.
Jack continued his show and tell, using the map as if taking a virtual walk. “Narrow streets, steep cobblestones. From the top, you can see for miles around. Only the smallest vehicles can get up the hill.” He zoomed out. “And only an hour’s drive from Rome. What better place?”
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