“Something like that,” Mia answered evasively, then shared a smile between Christian and her girls. “I told you my girls were coming for a visit.” She introduced them, then Christian last. “This is Dr. Christian La Mond. My husband.”
Brittany’s jaw dropped and her pen and guest check book hit the floor. Once she retrieved them, she said, “Well congratulations, I guess, but what happened with you and Nathan Davenport? After the fourth, I thought it was totally on between you two.”
“Who the heck is Nathan Davenport?” Tiffany demanded.
Dannie said, “Surely, not the Nathan Davenport?”
Chelsie just stared at her wide-eyed, her mouth in fly-catching mode.
Mia glanced at Christian who didn’t appear prepared to field this disaster, then grit her teeth. Leave it to Brittany. If the girl even possessed a dictionary, the word, subtle had surely been expunged from it.
“Yes, the man who hired me was the Nathan Davenport.” she told them, then frowned at Brittany.
She stared at her with a squeamish expression. “Mia, I hate to tell you this, but he’s here tonight. Alone.”
Chapter 14
Just great, Mia thought, glancing around for him. She was in no mood for another confrontation with Nathan, especially with her girls present.
Brittany offered her a half-hearted smile. “If you don’t want to run into him, I can move you to the private dining room. There’s no party in there tonight. I’m sure Joe wouldn’t mind.”
Mia swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes closed to settle her nerves. She’d known she’d be running into Nathan, she just hadn’t expected it to be this soon.
She felt Christian take hold of her right hand resting on her thigh beneath the table. He fused their fingers together. She looked up at him, noting his concern and she tried for an appreciative smile.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should have scented him, but the food smells and the fact I’m hungry kind of, uhm, tied up my nose.”
She squeezed his hand. “Not your fault.” Both of them had been preoccupied. Mia knew moving to a different location would do no good because Nathan would have already scented her. Now that she knew he was here, she inhaled and picked up his delicious, familiar scent, which started a movie of sweet, painful memories rolling through her head.
No. She could not do this. She had to get out of here now.
“Thanks, Brittany, but I think it’s best we leave.” To her girls she said, “I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to find someplace else to eat tonight.” She backed up her chair and stood.
“Hang on,” Tiffany said, scowling at her. “You’re obviously scared of this guy. What did he do to you?” She paused and glanced at Brittany. “From what she just said, sounds like he was a hell of a lot more than your employer.”
Tiffany was really starting to chafe her hide with her attitude and unending suspicions. “Tiffany, that’s just about enough. I’m trying very hard here to have a nice dinner with you and your sisters. I simply don’t want to run into my ex-employer.”
“Psssht! Figured you wouldn’t shoot straight. I’m beginning to wonder if I even know who you are anymore.”
That hurt Mia’s feelings, but the harsh statement rang true. Mia didn’t even know herself who she was anymore.
Tiffany glanced around the restaurant. “And where is this asshole?” she asked Brittany. “If I find out he hurt Mom, when I get done with him, he’ll be sucking his meals through a straw for the next month.”
Christian grinned, stood and wrapped his arm around Mia’s waist. “Tiffany, darlin’, trust me the man hasn’t harmed your mother. If it did come to protecting her, I’d be right beside you and we were done with him, I’d wire his jaw so tight, he’d be lucky to get a straw in his mouth.”
Tiffany let out a wicked laugh. “I say, let’s get-r-done.”
Christian shook his head and chuckled. “Lord, you’re vicious, but let’s not end this night in a holding cell, darlin’. There are plenty of other places to eat in this town. What’s your thoughts on Cajun girls?” He glanced over the three of them.
“We don’t know,” Chelsie said. “We all want to try the local cuisine. After all, this is New Orleans.”
They agreed to the idea, then headed for the door, but the quiet exit Mia hoped for was not to be. Nathan stepped in front of them, just feet from the front door, quietly glancing over her and her children. His expression was settled, but she noticed a tick start in his jaw when he spied her and Christian’s fused hands. The tick turned into a teeth grinding episode when his gaze honed on the wedding rings each of their hands bore.
Mia knew this could get seriously ugly. She looked at Nathan in a way she hoped conveyed for him to speak to her mind to mind. If she’d possessed the maturity to do so herself she would have initiated the conversation, but she didn’t have that vampire skill yet.
He got it. Mind to mind, he said, I assume these are your children because they are replicas of you. They’re beautiful, like you, but don’t worry. I won’t make a scene. I wouldn’t embarrass you that way, Mia.
Thank you. That being the case, get lost. I don’t need to be explaining you to my girls.
Understood. But I would like an explanation to those gold bands you and that doctor of yours are wearing.
Now is not the time, Nathan. Back off.
He did not appear pleased, but nodded once, then smiled kindly at her three girls.
Dannie said, “So you’re Nathan Davenport. Mom said you hired her, but she didn’t say why she quit and she probably won’t. She’s loyal to a fault. Something must have happened. Do you have the guts to explain what you did to run her off?”
Tiffany snorted. “Yeah, right, Dannie. You think he’s going to come up with anything close to the truth?” She glared at her mother. “Mom, I don’t know what worm crawled into your brain, but it must be a mid-life thing, taking a job with a man like him.” She glanced at Christian. “The jury is still out on your new husband there, but as for this guy…” She paused and glanced over Nathan with a sneer. “…he obviously has a thing for you, based on the way he was staring at you. You’re wasting your time, dude. Mom, is married and she doesn’t take an oath lightly, so back off. I don’t care how rich you are. You ain’t immune to an ass kicking.”
Mia could tell Nathan held back a grin. Christian too. Tiffany probably appeared to be all bravado to them. Little did they know, if pushed, she’d attempt to make good on her threats. Nevertheless she didn’t need her daughter defending her. “Tiffany Jane, button it. I’ve had just about enough of your mouth tonight. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.” To Nathan, “We were just leaving. Excuse us.”
He nodded and glanced over her three daughters again with a despondent look.
Mia heaved a sigh. There was no sense in being rude. It would only fuel the girl’s suspicions where he was concerned. “Girls, Nathan did nothing inappropriate,” she lied. “The job just wasn’t the right fit for me.” She faced Nathan, then said, “Nathan, this is Danielle.”
“The artist.” He smiled at her and she returned a strained one.
“And this is Chelsie.” She gestured toward her.
“Your mother told me you’ve been accepted to Harvard. Congratulations.”
She smiled shyly and adjusted her glasses. “Thank you.”
Mia turned and frowned at Tiffany. “This is my oldest, Tiffany Jane. She has a mouth like a sewer rat and I haven’t been able to hold her down to wash it out with soap since she was thirteen. So I apologize for her fresh talk.”
That lightened the mood. Everyone laughed except Tiffany.
“It was good meeting all of you,” Nathan finally said.
Mia stared at him and her heart did a little uneven skip. He looked so sad and hurt. Lonely. The notion seemed crazy, but she wanted to hug him. She wanted to reach up and rub away the worry lines creasing his forehead. Her perusal brought to her attention his p
ale coloring and the swathes of gray under his eyes. He didn’t look healthy and he was shaking, which really worried her. She’d noticed that earlier too and although it concerned her, her mind had been too wrapped up with her kids. She frowned, afraid he wasn’t taking care of himself.
Christian interrupted her musings. “We’d better go.”
Mia turned to him. “Yes.” She gave Nathan one last glance then headed out the door with Christian, her girls in tow. No one spoke as they walked down the street to Christian’s Hummer.
Mia could only imagine what her girls must be thinking about her, but Tiffany was correct about one thing. She had made some very stupid, impulsive choices because she’d let her heart rule her head where Nathan was concerned. She’d known from the beginning he was a bad romantic risk, feared he might destroy her heart. She snorted at the irony. Instead he’d destroyed her life.
Hormones sucked. In general, but also good sense from one’s head.
She clenched her jaw, still so angry with Nathan for pursuing her when she’d had no idea he wasn’t human. What had he been thinking? That she’d fall in love with him and when he got around to telling her the truth, she’d just blithely say, `Sure baby, turn me into a vampire.’.
Mia suspected that’s exactly what he’d hoped she’d say.
Christian told her over seventy five percent of his patients were turned vampires and had willingly turned when they’d fallen in love. Julia was one of them.
Mia shook her head. Sometimes people were just plain crazy.
***
Nathan had just returned home from hunting, a loathsome act these days and probably purposeless. If Mia and her doctor were married and God forbid planning on life-mating, he lived on borrowed time. The thought had been like a vicious cancer, eating through his brain. Last night he’d sucked down an entire bottle of scotch and still had not been able to exorcize the memory of those wedding bands on their entwined hands.
Logic told him it was a ruse for the sake of her children, but fear and misery had been having a field day with his thinking. Mia trusted La Mond and the man despised him. He was in the perfect position to fuel her fears where he was concerned and play hero.
He should have ripped out the bastard’s throat when he’d had the chance.
Nathan opened the back door that led to his kitchen and instantly caught the faint scent of Isabella. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He inhaled, trying to locate her. Seconds later, Dimitri and Julia strode into the room and the three of them locked gazes. Dimitri looked furious. Julia terrified.
“Is she still here?” Nathan asked them.
Dimitri shook his head. “She left about an hour ago. I’ll explain later. We’ve heard from Dominic. He has information and it’s urgent. We need to go to your office and conference with him now.”
He hurried after the two of them, having a good idea the nature of Dominic’s news. The men he’d hired to locate Isabella in New Orleans struck out. Nathan had been expecting another impromptu appearance from her and had been working on a trap, which unfortunately hadn’t come together in time.
Dominic was still on a round the clock mission to acquire the most highly skilled assassins he could garner. As long as the men Dominic hired were loyal to his dollar, Nathan didn’t care if they were ex-navy seals, gang lords, Ninjas or the fucking Taliban. If they didn’t have a problem killing a woman vampire, Dominic had been instructed to hire them. Since most would be human, Dominic would be able to read their minds and recognize whether they could be trusted. If not, that particular individual would never remember the interview.
No one spoke as they all took seats around his desk. Nathan made the call. Moments later, Dominic’s image appeared on the screens overhead. Nathan recognized he was in flight on one of his jets, because the Davenport logo was emblazoned on the tan leather, bucket seat beside him.
Dominic wasted no time getting to the point. “I’m on my way to New Orleans. I have twenty three men and enough weaponry to satisfy two swat teams. Our ETA is three forty five a.m.. Dad told me Isabella was there tonight again.”
Dimitri and Julia rounded the desk to better view the screens.
Nathan glanced at the couple. The tears swimming in Julia’s eyes and the hard set of Dimitri’s jaw told Nathan their encounter with Isabella had been a nasty one. He just prayed to God whatever she’d done hadn’t put his friends’ lives in peril. “What happened?”
Dimitri looked away toward an arbitrary spot on the wall. His expression bore shame. “She enchanted me and mined my thoughts. She knows everything. That Dominic is on his way with forces.” He paused there and swallowed hard. “She knows Julia is pregnant. I’m sorry, Nathan. I think she also knows where Mia is staying. If you do not give her what she wants, she will kill Julia. Then Mia next.”
Nathan glared at him and swiped a hand across his unshaven jawline. His heart hammered with a violent fear he’d never experienced in his life. He looked at Julia who stared at her son on the screen. There was love entwined with the worry in her eyes. Dominic’s expression mimicked hers, but anger overshadowed the softer emotions.
Dominic looked at him and said, “Dad told me about your life-mate, Nathan, and what Isabella did to her. You know as well as I do, she’s in grave danger if Isabella’s learned her location. Mom and Dad too. The people we care about can’t be spread out in multiple places. We don’t have enough forces to protect everyone in such a case. You know better than I, Isabella loves to collect fledglings. She probably already has an army of them waiting in the wings for a face off. She knows you’re never going to marry her willingly. She also knows we have a battle plan in the works. What she gleaned tonight from Dad has given her a very dangerous advantage.”
His words rang true. He thought of Mia’s children—three innocent young women who didn’t even know vampires existed, let alone one as evil as Isabella.
He cast a look at Dimitri and Julia, then stared back at Dominic’s image on the screen. “It’s even worse, Dominic. Mia, my life-mate, has three grown, human girls and they’ve just arrived in town. I’m guessing they’re staying with her at Dr. La Mond’s facility. Trust me, there’s no chance I could get them to come here. I don’t know how much your father told you about what happened between us, but currently, she wouldn’t adhere to any advice or warnings me, your mother or father offered her.”
Dominic scowled at them. “We have less than two hours to come up with a solution. Surely, between the three of you, enchanting three human women and a fledgling couldn’t be that hard in order to get them back to your place. I know you wouldn’t want to exercise such force on your life-mate, Nathan, but if she won’t be compliant, I really don’t see you have a choice.”
Julia said to Dominic, “My darling, Mia is currently under Christian’s care. He would never allow that. Perhaps I can call him and explain things. He knows the danger Isabella poses.”
Nathan sucked in a long breath, then said, “I wouldn’t count on him trusting anything that comes from this camp presently. I encountered him, Mia and her three girls at Mia’s restaurant a couple nights ago. She and La Mond were wearing wedding rings. Whether it was for show or for real I don’t know.”
Julia gasped. “Why have you not said something?”
“I couldn’t speak of it.” The memory still made him physically ill. “We’ve all had enough to deal with regarding Isabella.”
“You can’t mean their actually life-mated!” Dimitri exclaimed.
“No, but they were looking pretty damned cozy. I can’t be certain, but I suspect the two of them concocted a scheme to tell her daughters she’d married La Mond to provide a reason for why she’s staying with him. Considering her morals, it’s a logical conclusion. Hours before the restaurant incident, the two hadn’t been wearing them. Who knows. I haven’t a clue to what’s going on over there and I just can’t bring myself to mine her thoughts. I’ve violated her mind enough for a lifetime.”
Dimitri frowned at Na
than and said, “The time for delicacy where Mia is concerned has expired. I understand you don’t want to do anything that might hurt her or your future together, but many lives are at stake. I’m sorry, Nathan, but I will not sacrifice my own life-mate and unborn child due to the stubbornness of yours. We have two choices. We bring Mia and her children here, or we all go there to set up forces against Isabella. There will be gunplay and you know it. The authorities will be here in droves within minutes. It will take much longer at Christian’s place because it’s rural.”
They were all silent for a bit. He contemplated Dimitri’s speech, which was logical. However, there was a better solution for all of them. Sacrifice was the appropriate word. “I’m going to give her what she wants,” he announced.
“No! You can’t, Nathan,” Julia cried.
He had to. For Mia and his friends. “I have no choice. This battle is between me and Isabella and it was wrong of me to introduce your family into this.” The decision stemmed from the age old concept: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Once Isabella gained what she desired from him, Nathan hoped she’d let down her guard. Then he would end her miserable existence. Quickly, if necessary, but slow and painful preferably.
Dimitri approached him, his expression grave but determined. “You are not thinking straight, Nathan. If you give Isabella what she wants, she will have complete possession of you. How long do you think it will take before she requires you to kill Mia or one of her children? Us even? She already suspects Mia is your life-mate and she has a score to settle with her. If she forces you to kill Mia or does it herself, your own life will be over. War is the only option we have.”
Dominic added, “Dad’s right. All of us are now embroiled in this. Isabella has to die. I believe I have the resources to make that happen.”
Nathan had fought in many wars and he knew no matter how certain an army might be of the outcome, people died on both sides. He would do whatever necessary to protect his friends, Mia and her children, yet there were no perfect solutions to ensure none would be hurt.
Forever and a Night_A Vampire Romance Page 20
