Eternal Craving

by Nina Bangs

  Lio dismissed her comment with a contemptuous twist of his lips. “We don’t save souls, Ms. Maloy.”

  She opened her mouth to blow his sarcastic butt off the chair when Fin saved him.

  “We’re not missionaries in any religious sense, Jenna. I’m sorry if you got that impression. We search the night for people who’ve been cast aside by society, who need a second chance at life, and we give them that chance. We’re sort of hands-on philanthropists.”

  Jenna nodded. “That makes more sense. You guys don’t fit the missionary mold.”

  “and what’s the missionary mold?” Al sounded as though he was holding back laughter.

  She hated anyone laughing at her. Always had. Jenna turned on him. “Gentle, kind, caring, and good.” And yes, she’d just insulted all of them, but maybe they needed to know from the beginning that she wasn’t a naïve ninny.

  He watched her from eyes backlit by something savage and hungry. “What are we then?”

  Jenna wasn’t sure who was more surprised when the truth popped out. “Hard, predatory, and…” She shrugged. “Only as good as you need to be.” Fine. So she wasn’t sure about the last.

  “An interesting judgment.” Fin’s voice was the purr before the pounce.

  Suddenly, Jenna knew she had to get out of there. Panic was an invisible hand clapped over her mouth, her nose, smothering her until she didn’t think she could take another breath. Where, how…She never panicked. “I think I’ll pass on breakfast.”

  With no other explanation, she pushed her chair away from the table. Fin watched her from those strange eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw satisfaction there. “I want to save my appetite for a Philly cheesesteak.” She kept her walk to a slow stroll even as her breaths came in short gasps. These guys wouldn’t see her run.

  Jenna was leaning against the wall outside the dining room trying to catch her breath when Kelly showed up. Her sister looked a bit wild-eyed.

  “Where were you? I knocked on your door, but you’d left.” Kelly must’ve realized she sounded a little strident, because she smiled. “I thought we could have breakfast together, just us.”

  “That’s okay, I grabbed something. Ty’s waiting for you in there.” Jenna wanted to talk to Kelly alone but not right now. She needed time to recover from whatever had just happened. “I have a couple of things to do in my room. Knock when you’re ready to go shopping.”

  Once back in her room, she avoided all thoughts of breakfast as she turned on her laptop and pulled up her file on the Endekas. She’d put it together back in Houston, but no matter how hard she had dug, she’d found zip. Fin and the others seemed to have sprung up fully grown from, well, nothing. No record of parents, past jobs, or just plain living.

  For a short while, she immersed herself in adding the details of who had said what at breakfast and a description of each man.

  Finally she shut down the computer, leaned her head back against the couch, and allowed herself to think about the panic. It hadn’t come from inside her. No amount of psychobabble would convince her it had. Then where the hell did it come from?

  Jenna had no answer to that. Yet.

  Chapter Three

  Hell was shopping with her sister at the same time she tried to wring information from her. Jenna knew this for a fact. She’d been working at it all afternoon. But Walnut Street had too many damn stores. Every time Jenna brought up Fin or his men, Kelly ducked into another shop and bought something expensive.

  So now it was almost dark, Jenna’s feet hurt, and she hadn’t squeezed even a squeak out of her sister. The thought of walking back to Fin’s condo carrying a mountain of bags made her want to groan.

  She played with the idea of letting Kelly win this round, but too much was at stake. Sure, Jenna had avoided things in her life when it suited her, but this wasn’t one of those times. This time the safety of her sister was involved.

  Without giving her sister a chance to fight her, she steered Kelly into a small restaurant. “Look, you’ve dragged me to every store on this street, and now I want my reward.” Once they went back to the condo, Jenna would have Ty’s presence to contend with. This might be the last time today to get her sister alone.

  Looking weary for the first time, Kelly allowed herself to be led to a dimly lit corner of the restaurant. With a huge sigh, she piled her bags beside her.

  Jenna waited until the waiter had taken their order before easing into what she wanted to say. “Jeez, sis, I can’t believe you bought all this stuff. Why didn’t you go shopping with Ty sooner if you needed clothes and shoes and purses and everything else under God’s blue sky?”

  Kelly cast a disgusted glance her way. “Oh, come on, you’re smart. How long do you think Ty would’ve lasted after I hit the first shoe store? Only a woman can shop with a woman.”

  Some women weren’t born to buy, and right now Jenna hated Ty for sacrificing her to the gods of obsessive shoppers. He’d given Kelly this idea. Only her need to ferret out the truth about Fin and his tribe of really weird but beautiful men had kept her trudging from store to store. “Yeah, well, I think the shop owners of Walnut Street are going to erect a statue to you and your credit card.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, sis, you know what I’m going to ask. What the hell is going on with Ty and his relatives? Oh, and by the way, I don’t believe that relative crap either.”

  The expected denials didn’t come this time. A promising sign. Kelly seemed to wilt in her seat.

  “This isn’t the place, sis. I’ve got a lot of things to explain, and I don’t want you going ballistic in a public place.”

  Whoa, that didn’t sound good. “Have you read the kind of stuff I write? There isn’t much that can shake me.” Jenna hoped.

  Silence stretched between them as their waiter brought the food. Afterward, Jenna poked at her salad, waiting for Kelly to begin. When she didn’t, Jenna gave her a gentle sisterly nudge. “For God’s sake, stop with the mysterious silence. Just spit it out.”

  Kelly abandoned what she was trying to eat and leaned back in her chair. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Hey, mind if I join you?” The voice was deep, male, and had “in bed” tacked onto the end of that sentence.

  No, no, no! Jenna turned with a snarl on her lips to the man who’d interrupted them. And then she blinked. Somehow she’d thought he’d be one of Ty’s “cousins.” She was wrong.

  What was it with Philly? There must be some kind of magnetic field around the city, because Jenna had never seen so many extraordinary men gathered in one place before. He towered over them, at least as tall as Ty. Hair that blended shades from intense to pale blond fell in a tangled glory around a face that at first she didn’t think could possibly exist outside the imagination of an artist. Al and the others were great looking, but in an earthy, savage, human way. Except for Fin. He was different. Like this man was different. Both of them had a kind of unearthly—had she really said that?—beauty that made them hard to describe. It was in this guy’s icy blue eyes. Stare into them long enough and you’d freeze solid.

  Exhaling deeply, Jenna let the bullshit go. She wasn’t writing one of her tabloid pieces. This was just a stranger who’d interrupted her very important talk with Kelly. “Do we know you?” She tried to send a “get lost” message his way, but it was hard to sound imperious while she was sitting down and he was looming.

  Not waiting for an invite, he slipped into one of the two remaining seats. “No, but I think you’ll want to, Jenna.”

  She stiffened. How did he know her name? Not only had she never seen him before—and she certainly would have remembered that face and body—but this was her first visit to Philly.

  Jenna got her second shock when she looked at her sister. Kelly had turned white as she stared up at the man.

  He smiled at Kelly, and the temperature in the whole place seemed to rise a few degrees. No matter how cold his eyes might be, that smile was pure sizzle.

  “Kelly kn
ows me.” His attention returned to Jenna. “We met back in Houston.”

  “Kelly?” Jenna looked to her sister for an explanation.

  “Jenna, this is Seir.” There was something in Kelly’s voice. Not exactly fear, but a deep wariness.

  Which immediately raised all of Jenna’s be-careful antennae. “Since I didn’t meet you in Houston…” She wasn’t going to give her sister a chance to explain this man away as no one important. Every journalistic cell in her body was screaming in caps that he was very IMPORTANT. “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself so we can be on the same page?”

  Amusement gleamed in his eyes as he glanced at Kelly. “Why don’t you explain who I am? Ty must’ve told you.”

  Jenna didn’t like this guy. She didn’t like the way he’d managed to upset Kelly, and she sure didn’t like the way he’d taken a seat with them and made himself comfortable. On the other hand, he might open a crack in Kelly’s information box that so far had remained locked down tight.

  Kelly refused to meet Seir’s gaze. She stared fixedly in Jenna’s general direction. “Seir knows Fin. I guess they’re not on speaking terms. The last time Ty met up with him, Seir had Ty pass a message to Fin.”

  “Coward.” On Seir’s lips, the word wasn’t an insult. It was a warm caress and irresistible temptation. “You know more than that.”

  Jenna agreed. Kelly was talking in half-truths. She saw it in the way her sister’s eyes darted from side to side, never quite looking directly at her.

  When Kelly didn’t open her mouth to defend herself, Jenna spoke up. “Uh-huh. And who are you when you’re not busy passing messages to Fin? And by the way, since no one will tell me anything, who the hell is Fin? I know who he says he is, but who is he really?”

  Seir laughed. It was a good laugh, low and sexy enough to make all the women in the restaurant shed a layer of clothing. “I’m the man who’s watching out for you. For example, I can tell you that someone’s been tailing you all day. Thought you might want to know.”

  Even surrounded by people, Jenna felt a chill. “To know that, you had to be tailing us too.” What was going on here? It was her job to follow people, not the other way around. The cloud of doubt and suspicion that had been building ever since Kelly first told her about Ty might just be ready to rain on her. She chanced another glance at Seir’s eyes. Change that prediction to snow. One thing for sure, they weren’t walking the rest of the way to Rittenhouse Square. She’d call a taxi before they left here.

  Kelly reached over and touched Jenna’s hand. Jenna shivered. Her sister’s fingers were ice cold.

  “Don’t talk to him, Jenna. You don’t know what he is.”

  “What he is?” Jenna thought this whole conversation was getting weird.

  Seir didn’t look upset by her sister’s hints of something dark in his background. He stared at Kelly. “You couldn’t even begin to guess what I really am, sweetheart.” That sounded almost like a threat.

  Jenna pushed her plate away and tried to catch the waiter’s eye. “I think it’s time for us to head home, sis.” If she’d been alone, Jenna would’ve made a scene and had his ass thrown out of the restaurant, but Kelly really looked upset. And her sister didn’t let too much bother her, so this guy must be serious bad news.

  “Eating and running? Now you’ve hurt my feelings.”

  From the expression in his cold, hard eyes, Jenna figured it would take a lot to put a dent in Seir’s feelings.

  “Then I guess I’d better give you my message,” he added.

  Ah, the important stuff. In Jenna’s mind, her tabloid self’s fingers were poised over the keyboard, ready to pound out a headline.

  “Tell Fin he has a mole in his organization, and Zero is trying to eliminate one of the Eleven in retaliation for Fin’s getting rid of Nine.” He shrugged. “I don’t have the mole’s name, but I guess you’ll know soon enough if Fin doesn’t find him.”

  Nine? The Eleven? What was that about? Code names. Ah, she got it. Organized crime. It couldn’t be anything else.

  Suddenly, another man slid into the remaining seat. “I don’t know who you are, but I think you need to leave.” Al’s voice was a threatening growl.

  “Hey, Al. Taking a chance coming in here, aren’t you?” Seir glanced toward the ceiling. “Not much expansion room.”

  Al’s eyes flared with shock. Then they narrowed. Fury sharpened the lines in his face. He was death in high definition.

  Seir didn’t look scared. Jenna sure was. But her curiosity, which didn’t respond to piddling emotions like fear, waited breathlessly for more info. She’d opened her mouth to ask a question, but Seir spoke first.

  “Handling all that inner rage okay?” His smile lifted his lips, but his eyes remained frozen and flat.

  Al looked like he’d taken a blow. But where Jenna would’ve moved away from Seir, Al reacted by leaning across the table and locking eyes with him. “Who. Are. You?”

  Seir’s expression turned thoughtful. “Looks like Fin made Ty keep his mouth shut.” His gaze shifted briefly to Kelly. “But Ty wouldn’t keep secrets from his loving wife.”

  His attention moved back to Al. “I’m Fin’s brother. I’m deeply hurt that he never mentioned me.”

  Al couldn’t hide his surprise. “Why didn’t Fin tell us about you?”

  Seir shrugged. “Black sheep of the family?” He waved that explanation away. “No, that’s not right. I’m definitely not the blackest sheep in our family.” He smiled. Evidently that thought amused him.

  “How do you know me?”

  Al seemed awfully intense about the whole thing. But then, she supposed everything in organized crime was about life or death. Not too many shades of gray. Jenna didn’t want any part of it, and she sure didn’t want Kelly mixed up in it any more than she already was.

  “I met you a long, long time ago, Al.” Seir’s gaze captured Al’s. “You don’t remember, but then you don’t remember a lot of things.” After watching that last missile explode in Al’s face, he stood. “I’ve done my good deed for the day, so I’ll be on my way.”

  “So you’re on our side?” Al’s voice suggested that being on anyone else’s side would not be a good thing.

  Seir looked surprised. “No. I’m on my own side.” His expression darkened. “Never forget that. I only do what will make my life better. Maybe you should hope we have a lot of common goals.” And he simply walked away.

  Jenna could track his path by the women’s heads turning to stare at him. There was a lot to stare at. Even though he was just wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket, no man could even begin to compete with his wow factor.

  Except for…Jenna looked back at Al. Sure, she was furious at him for following them and wary because of his possible criminal ties, but she hoped she could still be objective about some things. Al didn’t have Seir’s unearthly beauty going on, but he definitely called up a woman’s primitive memories. His face had a primal savagery that would send most women searching for a cozy cave. This was a man who could make a woman drown in everything female about herself. He was a hormone enhancer.

  Al was still staring at the door where Seir had disappeared. Finally he looked back at Kelly. Jenna might’ve been invisible for all he seemed to notice her. And that bothered her on some level.

  “Why didn’t Ty or you tell the rest of us?” His voice was hard, suppressed rage behind it.

  Now that Seir had left, Kelly’s courage seemed to have returned. “It wasn’t my call. Fin didn’t want anyone else to know.”

  “So? Last time I checked we still had free will.”

  Kelly glanced away. “Look, you’re going to have to talk to Ty or Fin. This is about the Eleven, not me.”

  Jenna frowned. The Eleven again? She mentally added that to the list of all the things she wanted to ask Kelly next time she got her alone.

  Then Jenna forgot about her list as she remembered she was really ticked at Al. “If what Seir said is true, you’ve been
tailing us all day. Who gave you the right?”

  Fin did. But Al couldn’t tell her that. Damn Fin to hell. He glanced at Kelly, but she only looked away. She’d understand why Fin had put a tail on them, but she wasn’t about to keep his ass above water. So he was on his own.

  “I don’t need anyone’s permission to go wherever I want.” Attack first had always been his motto. But that was in another time. It might not work so well now.

  Jenna seemed puzzled by his reply. She looked as if she was waiting for him to tack an excuse on to his statement. Well, she could wait until her pretty behind took root on that chair.

  Pretty behind. Not a safe thought. But once locked onto the mental image, his mind went crazy with it. He remembered the torture of watching the swing and sway of that behind as he followed her all day. Small, round, and compact, each cheek would fit his hands perfectly. And from there he could…

  Both Kelly and Jenna’s eyes widened and focused on him. Crap. He was broadcasting. Thank God they could only lock on to his emotions, not his thoughts.

  Kelly’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Stop it. Stop it now.”

  Jenna was on that so fast her mental processes must’ve been just a blur. “Stop what?”

  “Nothing.” He and Kelly answered at the same time.

  Al expected Jenna to demand an explanation, but she only nodded. Probably figured she’d corner her sister at home and get lots of answers to her questions. He didn’t envy Kelly that interrogation.

  “I called for one of our drivers right before I came in here. He’s probably parked close by waiting for us to come out. Want to ride home with me? Save taxi fare, and I get to lug all those bags to the car.”

  “I guess so.”

  Kelly didn’t sound enthusiastic, but she must have figured that Jenna wouldn’t ask any questions while they were in a car with the driver. He wouldn’t bet on it.

  Al waited for Jenna to reject the idea, but instead she nodded. Unexpected, but he wasn’t going to question his good luck. He waited impatiently as both women finished their meals. Kelly’s appetite seemed to suffer in his presence. Not so Jenna’s. She ate almost defiantly, as though by stuffing herself she could reject any idea that he made her feel uncomfortable. He admired her defiance.