That’s why she’d been so irritated yesterday on the phone when it seemed like it was brushing off her concerns about this weekend. But then he told her the real reason why he called. He’d been thinking about things and decided he was ready to get married and wanted to know if she still wanted to get married too. Without thinking—or maybe thinking too much about the possibility that she might be dead by Monday—she said yes.
They made plans to make plans the following weekend. As he caught her up on what he’d been up to the last few months, she told herself she could finally be happy.
That didn’t stop the twinge of hurt when he told her she didn’t have to check in with him every day this weekend unless she wanted to.
And at that moment, with Diego sitting next to her talking about the fundraiser and her parents’ foundation with the excitement of a little kid during his first visit to Disneyland, Mila decided she didn’t want to.
***
Diego wanted her so badly that it physically hurt him. It seemed as if every part of his body screamed in misery because he couldn’t touch any part of hers. At least, not yet.
His dead heart nearly jumpstarted itself as he watched her walk down the staircase earlier that evening. She’d picked a black, strapless gown that sinfully hugged her curves and prominently featured her smooth, perfect neck. But it was after she descended the staircase, that he started to notice little things that turned up his degree of need. The way she laughed at a silly comment he made, the way she grasped his hand when helped her down the outdoor steps, the way she looked at him when he brushed a stray hair behind her ear.
Diego could sense a definite change in her comfort around him. While yesterday she seemed uninterested in the prospect of taking over the reins of the Solis Family Foundation, today she acted engaged and had given him her full attention when he showed her records, grant applications and this year’s business plan. The fact that she never called her supposed fiancée also spurred his hope that her feelings about him were changing.
On the ride to the gala, they sat next to each other in the back of the Towne Car. When the car took a sharp turn causing her to slide closer to him so that their hands touched, she didn’t move back. Subtle hints of her vanilla perfume or lotion made him ache with the urge to taste the sweetness of her bronzed skin. He wanted to grab her then and kiss her, but before he could gather his nerve, they’d arrived at the hotel.
Their connection pulsed strong tonight. He knew she felt it too and he decided tonight would be the night he confessed everything to her— body, mind and spirit. He felt confident once they became one, her soul would remember that she loved him.
Cocktails and dinner passed in a blur. Then the agency’s director motioned to him that it was time for the presentation.
“Where are we going?” she asked when he took her hand and guided her toward the stage.
“It’s time to present the check, well, the big fake check. The money will be deposited in the agency’s account on Monday. Plus, they want to give you a plaque or something. Are you up to saying a few words?”
Her eyes grew big. “Oh, I’d rather not. I mean, you’re the one who should be accepting this award. I haven’t done anything.”
“I’ll make you a deal then,” he whispered in her ear as they waited off stage for their introductions. “I’ll speak tonight and you speak at the next one.” She started to say something but before she could the director called them up to the stage.
Both of them posed for photos with the fake check and he was proud of how gracious Mila acted. He held her waist close for every click and flash and the longer the damn photo-op lasted; the harder it became not to move his hand to a more inappropriate spot on her body.
Photos finally done, Diego only released her in order to take the mic. He began by telling the audience how his friends Luis and Estela Solis had taken in an abandoned baby girl and raised her as their own until they both died in a tragic helicopter accident during a family vacation in Hawaii.
“They had left behind their 17-year-old daughter and instructions for me to watch over her and to do what was best with their estate.” He turned to meet Mila’s sad eyes, “I knew in my heart Luis and Estela would want their hard-earned money to go toward not only securing their daughter’s future, but to also guarantee a future for the hundreds of children who are left parentless every year, especially here in Los Angeles. There is no greater pain in this life than losing someone you love…” he heard the crack in his voice and paused to regain his composure. “But when you lose a parent, it’s easy to feel disconnected and alone in this world and that can set you on the wrong path. Both Mila and I feel blessed to be able to do something that can help as many lost children as possible find their way to new, loving homes.”
As the audience clapped and cheered, he stole another look at Mila. Unshed tears filled her eyes but she smiled at him with such warmth and love that his own eyes watered. He remembered that smile, had missed it almost as much as the feel of her body next to his.
She was coming back to him.
The director of the agency brought out two little girls to present Mila with a marble plaque. She explained that the girls were sisters still looking for a family to adopt them. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the director went on to explain that because of the grant by the Solis Family Foundation, the agency could continue to subsidize the legal costs for qualifying families and that the sisters’ chances of being placed together had greatly improved. That’s when Mila surprised him by taking the mic from the director and walked to the center of the stage.
“Thank you everyone. I can’t tell you how much tonight has meant to me,” she looked directly at him and smiled that smile again. She wiped at a tear and then turned back to face the audience. “And while I’d love to take credit for making a difference in the lives of so many children, I can’t. It was this man here, Mr. Diego de la Cotera, who deserves your applause.” She reached out her hand to him and he clasped it as though his life depended on it. When the clapping subsided, she continued. “I’m also happy and honored to share with you that moving forward, I plan to take a more active role in the Solis Family Foundation. Diego has some big dreams for our Foundation and he’s going to need some help, so I will be accepting the position as his co-director.”
His heart soared. As much as he wanted to take her in his arms right there in front of the world, he simply squeezed her hand. She squeezed back. After they walked off stage and were left alone for a few minutes, she hugged him at last and thanked him for bringing her. Lustful heat erupted between them. He knew she felt it. He could sense her feel it. If the director hadn’t interrupted them, he knew she would’ve kissed him.
He took a few minutes to let the events of the night sink in. Everything couldn’t have gone more perfectly. Not only had she accepted his offer, but he could see her feelings for him were getting stronger by the hour.
Yes, tonight would be the night.
The gala ended and many of the guests stood around the tables talking and laughing. Weaving in and out between bodies, it took him a few minutes to find her again. As he watched her smile politely at strangers falling over themselves to meet her—whether because of her beauty or rumored bank account—Diego could barely contain his desire.
That is until he recognized one of those strangers.
A smoldering fury combusted within him, threatening to burn anything and everything he came into contact with at that moment.
He walked as quickly as he could to the other side of the room without calling attention to himself. Mila’s back was turned to him and the man she spoke with met his eyes as he approached. The man’s smile made Diego want to vomit.
That’s when she noticed him standing there. She took his hand and introduced him to his maker.
“Diego, this is Antonio Montenegro, one of my most favorite clients in the world.” She patted the vampire’s arm with such affection he couldn’t wrap his mind around what he was see
ing. “He saw the article in the newspaper and came tonight to offer his own donation to the agency. Isn’t that wonderful?” Antonio’s sneer only grew uglier and bigger. Yet Mila still stood there with her eyes wide with delight.
“Actually, my dear Mila,” the devil purred, “I’ve known Diego for years.”
He fought to control his anger and stop his body from transforming. How dare Antonio say her name! His mind reeled at the thought of Mila being exposed to such evil. He wanted to tell her to stay away from him. He wanted to scream at Antonio to leave them alone. But he couldn’t speak, didn’t dare open his mouth for fear his fangs would unfurl.
“What a small world! How do you two know each other?”
“Well, it’s actually been awhile since we’ve seen one another. Right, Diego? We knew each other back in Mexico.”
Diego finally found his voice. “That’s right. Seems like many lifetimes ago.”
Antonio winked and then had the gall to put his arm around Mila’s shoulder. “So, Lance tells me that congratulations are in order, my dear.”
He could see the excitement in her face dissipate. Interesting. “Oh, yes. I guess so,” she told him.
“You know Lance, too?” He blurted out the question.
And then Diego’s world came crashing down.
“Actually, Antonio introduced us,” Mila explained. “He’s Lance’s boss.”
If the agency’s director hadn’t come at the moment to take Mila away to introduce her to more people, Diego would’ve broken off one of the banquet table legs, snapped it in half and plunged one sharp edge deep into the top of Antonio’s head.
When she was out of earshot, Antonio’s fake grin disappeared. “I recognize that crazy look in your eye, my friend. We both know you’re not going to kill me here in front of hundreds of human witnesses.”
“Why?”
“You’ll have to more specific. Remember, I can’t read your mind anymore.”
“Why do you hate me so much?”
He laughed. “I don’t hate you. I love you like a son. And like a father I’m just doing my duty to protect you from yourself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I gave you the most amazing gift in this world. Yet you’ve squandered hundreds of years away pining after this one woman. You could’ve had dozens. Why wait for this one?”
“Because I love her. I thought you understood that.”
“I never said I understood it. And God knows I never thought she’d actually come back to you. But it doesn’t matter anymore. This time tomorrow and she’ll be gone forever and then you can focus on becoming the vampire I always knew you could be.”
“You’re wrong. She’s remembering her love for me. She will choose me. In fact, she already has.”
“What? A couple of lingering looks and googly eyes and you think she’s in love with you? I only had to talk to her for a few minutes before I could see she was obviously under a spell. Isn’t Julissa still working for you? I’d bet all my riches in the world that Mila’s behavior tonight has less to do with real love and more to do with some love potion your house witch conjured up.”
Could it be true? Had Julissa given her something while she helped her try on dresses? As much as he hated to admit that Antonio was right about anything that would explain her sudden, newfound openness to him. The room began to spin and he stumbled onto a nearby chair.
“Poor, poor Diego. I really am sorry it had to be this way. But, like I told you on the night we met, you’ll thank me one day.” Then the demon disappeared into the crowd.
And so was any hope he had that Mila would be his.
The problem with a witch’s spell, especially an old out-of-practice witch’s spell, is that you never know what kind of after-effects it will have or when it will even wear off. Unfortunately for Diego, whatever Julissa had given to Mila was still going strong by the time they arrived back home.
It also made her wobbly on her feet, so he had to help her up the stairs and to her bedroom. When she invited him in, that’s when he knew for sure that she was under some sort of magical influence. He declined and started to walk away.
She called after him. “Can I ask you question?”
Tired, angry, and disillusioned, Diego was in no mood for chitchat. But he walked back toward her anyway. “Of course you can.”
“What was she like?”
“She, who?”
“Your soul mate. Julissa told me she died a long time ago.”
The shock choked the air out of him. “What else did Julissa tell you?”
“She told me that when she died, you wanted to die too.” Her eyes shone with sadness for him.
“It’s true. I did.”
“So tell me who she was.”
“She was my sun and my moon. My beginning and my end. She saved me and I have spent my entire life since the night she died trying to be the man she thought I was.”
Mila reached out and tugged at his tie, which hung unknotted around his neck. Although she didn’t really pull him toward her, he moved closer as if she had.
“How lucky you are,” she whispered.
“How so?”
“To have loved like that. To have been loved like that.”
“Doesn’t Lance love you?”
She shrugged. “I guess. But…”
“But what, Mila.” He whispered too. Her hands moved to his chest, barely touching his shirt yet it felt like a ton of steel pressing against his heart.
“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be loved by someone like you. So passionately and so fiercely that even in death, that love still endured.”
He was so close to her now he could feel her breath on his neck, could smell the sweet wine still on her lips. Words eluded him.
“You still love her, right?” she continued. “I can hear it, almost feel it, when you talk about her. In a way, I envy her.”
“I will always love her. There is no doubt. But what I’ve come to realize recently is that there is room in my heart to love someone new. Someone who surprises me with her spirit and independence. Someone who has many qualities as my beloved, but who is also different in her own wonderful ways.”
He said these last few words against her cheek. All self-control dissolved as he reached her lips for their first, but not first, kiss.
And when she opened her mouth to allow his tongue inside, he exploded within. Diego grabbed Mila’s head as he explored her mouth, and then pushed her against the wall with an urgency he’d never experienced before. He couldn’t get enough of her and it seemed as if she couldn’t get enough of him. She moved one hand from his chest and found his bulging erection and rubbed and palmed his cock through the fabric of his suit pants.
He dropped his hands to cup her ass and pulled her tighter against his crotch.
“Oh, Mila. My Mila,” he chanted between their fevered kisses.
“Diego, please. Take me now. Carry me into the bedroom and make me yours,” she murmured.
He traced his thumb along the pulsating vein in her neck. Although her body shivered, he could feel the heat emanating from her like a torch. She sighed as his lips made contact with her skin and goose bumps erupted in the trail of his touch.
He wanted so desperately to do what she instructed. But, even as he approached his point of no return, he still couldn’t ignore the fact that all of this was because of a spell. And when that spell ended, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t leave him in the morning—betrayed and angry that he had taken advantage of her weakened state.
Well, there was one guarantee.
With one bite, he could claim her as his own for eternity. With one bite, he could ensure that she had to stay with him forever.
But then he would be no better than Antonio. Diego hated him for taking that choice away from him. He couldn’t do the same to her. He wanted Mila to choose him—choose them—all on her own. He had to trust in their love and leave it for Fate to decide.
Gr
oaning, he sucked on her neck one last time. Then he moved his lips to her ear, whispered “good night” and left her standing alone in the hallway.
DAY THREE
Mila wanted to die. Or at least stab herself so many times in the gut that it took away some of the crushing pain inside her head.
What happened last night, she wondered as she covered her eyes with one hand.
Bits and pieces floated around in her mind. She remembered arriving at the gala. And remembered many, many photos taken with a big check. The night had not gone at all how she expected, that she did know.
Had she really agreed to help run the Foundation? Thinking about it now, even in her excruciating haze, she knew it was the right thing to do. She owed it to her parents and to Diego.
Diego!
She’d kissed him. Or had he kissed her? Either way it had been unbelievable. Mila touched her lips, remembering the way his mouth and tongue had deliciously plundered them. Something—some type of intimate connection—was growing between them. And before she went downstairs, Mila had to decide if she wanted it to continue.
But first, she needed a shower.
***
It had been two days since she’d last heard a phone ring so it took her a few seconds to register the noise coming from her purse. Already dressed and in the middle of combing her hair, Mila lunged for her purse on the other side of the room after the fourth ring.
She answered breathlessly afraid she’d picked it up too late. She hadn’t.
“Mila! Thank God!”
“Antonio? Is that you?”
“Yes, yes my dear. I’ve been trying to reach you since last night. But I kept getting your voicemail.”
Sinsperationally Yours Page 19
