Wanton With a Vampire

by Cassandra Lawson

  Alek would never forgive himself if Trish was hurt. She shouldn’t have been alone. This was his fault. Why had he been such an idiot? Why had he let Trish leave him, instead of doing everything in his power to prove he was the type of man she could build a future with? That was a mistake he had no intention of repeating.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Aiden said, pulling Alek from his dark thoughts.

  Alek nodded, afraid to speak.

  “Drew said it’s about his mom, and Phoebe thought they were a couple. She would have used Trish to get Drew to do what she wanted,” Nathaniel added. “Even if she was planning to hurt Trish, Phoebe wouldn’t have been willing to let anyone else hurt her.”

  They were right. Alek just needed to trust that Trish was safe.

  Justin was quiet, likely because he wasn’t good at offering comfort to anyone.

  Aiden’s phone rang, and he answered it without checking to see who was calling. “Hello.” There was a pause as he listened to the caller. “Don’t do anything. We’ll be there in less than ten minutes.” Another pause. “Listen, you little psycho, we don’t trust you.”

  “Give me the phone,” Alek demanded, holding out his hand.

  Aiden looked surprised, but handed Alek the phone anyway.

  “Drew?” Alek said.

  “Yeah.” There was no missing the annoyance in Drew’s voice.

  “It’s possible there’s an alarm, and you don’t want to set it off without back up,” Alek said as calmly as he could manage.

  “Isaiah disabled the alarm,” Drew said.

  Alek was impressed that Drew had thought of that. “Do what you have to do to get her out. We’ll be there to back you up soon.”

  “Got it,” Drew said and ended the call.

  There was stunned silence from the other passengers. Finally, Nathaniel spoke. “You trust Drew?”

  “Not completely,” Alek admitted. “I’m just desperate at this point.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Trish hated the stench of cigarette smoke, so waking up on a couch that smelled like it had been owned by chain smokers for decades made her want to puke. Her fuzzy brain was having a hard time making sense of what was going on around her. There were at least five men in the room. No one was paying any attention to her, which was surprising. It’s not like she was tied up. Then again, what was she going to do? They’d notice if she jumped up and ran for the door.

  “Looks like the pretty lady is awake,” called out one of the men. “Maybe we should have a little fun.”

  “You’ll keep your hands to yourself, Nick, or I’ll cut them off,” said another man. “That goes for all of you.”

  The man who’d warned everyone to stay away walked toward her. There was something familiar about him, but Trish couldn’t place his face. He was older, probably in his fifties, with thin hair that looked white in the lighting, although, she suspected it might just be a pale shade of blond. As he leaned over her, his breath fanned out across her face. The pungent odor of cigarette smoke and garlic added to Trish’s nausea.

  “Have you forgotten me?” he asked with a cruel twist of his lips.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Come on, Trish. How could you forget your Uncle Pat?”

  That’s when her brain started working, and her heart pounded so hard her chest hurt. “W- why are you here? Why am I here?” she asked, impressed that she managed to get the words out.

  “Call it a favor for a very scary lady,” he said with a shrug. “Of course, I probably would have come after you anyway. You’re causing me a lot of problems, little girl. Had I not met that lady who can control people’s minds, I might think you were just crazy— might even be able to get that pain in the ass Ramirez to stop looking into things. You aren’t crazy, though, are you, Trish?”

  Detective Ray Patella had always gone by Pat with the other officers. To her, he’d been Uncle Pat. He’d been her dad’s partner for years, but not when her dad had died. She was pretty sure she hadn’t seen her dad’s ex-partner for a few months before her dad’s death. He’d been at the funeral, and Trish still remembered the detached way he’d watched the whole thing.

  “What problems?” she asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

  “Bringing up all that ugliness with your father was a big mistake,” he replied in a much less calm voice.

  Before Trish could speak, Drew interrupted them. “I’d better not find my property damaged,” Drew said with a genial smile. “My mother said you’d be careful with her.”

  Pat turned to face Drew, reaching a hand toward his jacket like he was going to pull a gun.

  “I wouldn’t do that, you arrogant fuck,” Drew said before letting out a chuckle. “On second thought, do it. I’ll just make you eat that gun. You know what my mother was capable of, so I’m sure you don’t want to mess with me.”

  “Your mother?” Ray asked.

  “Don’t fuck with me, asshole,” Drew snapped. “My mother made a deal with you to bring my property here, to get me to do what she wanted. I killed her for that, so you can’t possibly think I’ll let you live if you mess with what’s mine.”

  Pat made a motion with his head and smiled, but that smile faded when nothing happened.

  Trish let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when Alek, Justin, Nathaniel, and Aiden stepped out of the shadows. Drew didn’t bother looking over his shoulder.

  “Alek,” Trish breathed out. Honestly, she’d never been so relieved to see anyone. Drew had been a relief, but part of her was terrified he’d get too caught up in the role he was playing to remember he was there to save her.

  “This just ain’t your fucking day, is it?” Drew asked with a smirk.

  “Don’t kill him,” Nathaniel said.

  Drew looked offended. “I wasn’t going to kill him until you got Trish out of here.”

  “Detective Ramirez is on his way,” Alek said. “While I’d love nothing more than to kill this bastard, Trish’s mother deserves closure, and handing him over to the police is the only way to make sure she gets it.”

  Pat laughed. “You think you can prove anything? I had these warehouses cleaned out. All the police will find is an honest ex-cop running an export business he inherited from his father. You’ll never get me arrested. Even if you do, no jury will convict a man based on the word of some crazy woman with a head injury.”

  “I’m not at all worried about that,” Alek said in a frightening voice that made Trish glad he was on her side.

  “I’m here,” Detective Ramirez said as he walked into the room alone. Like before, he wore paint splattered jeans and a t-shirt.

  “What the fuck is this about, Carlos?” Pat demanded. “You let a bunch of civilians come in here and do your job?”

  “Tell him about the death of Trish’s father. Make sure you use full names,” Alek said, and Trish felt the push in his voice. He was forcing the man to tell the truth.

  Pat’s face went blank as he spoke in a calm voice. “Detective Michael Williams hadn’t been my partner for several months. We had a falling out after he found out about some of my side businesses— mostly just the bribes I’d taken. It was nothing for him to get so worked up about, but he still threatened to turn me in. I was shocked that my own partner would turn his back on me, so I transferred to another department, and we stopped talking. That seemed like the best way to avoid having him find out about the bigger stuff I was involved in. When I learned he was still investigating me, I got a few people to kill him. Others hired the men so nothing could be tied to me. I came up with the suicide angle, but that’s the extent of my involvement."

  “Why’d you leave the department?” Carlos asked.

  “Fuck you!” Pat spat out, and before anyone could react, he pulled a gun and a shot rang out.

  “Put the gun down!” Nathaniel shouted, pushing compulsion into his voice.

  Pat obeyed, but it was too late. The bullet had already hit Carlos Ramirez. Jumping up, Tr
ish started to rush toward Carlos, but Pat lunged at her. She wasn’t sure when Drew had moved, but he was suddenly there. Lifting Pat from the ground by his throat, Drew looked beyond scary. It was as if a switch flipped, and Drew went from being a slightly crazy pain in the backside to a stone cold killer. There was no light in his icy blue eyes, and Ray Patella struggled wildly as he stared death in the face.

  “I told you not to touch her,” Drew said calmly. “Now, I don’t give a flying fuck about you shooting the cop. He’s nothing to me. Trish, on the other hand, is nice to me, and hurting her is not okay.”

  “Please don’t kill me,” Pat pleaded in a hoarse voice.

  “Do you think her father begged for his life?” Drew asked. “Nah, he was probably a real man. You don’t deserve the title of man. I should just cut your junk off and send you to prison as the bitch you are,” Drew said with a sinister smile. “Better yet, I should make you cut your own junk off. Or, I could enjoy crushing your throat. You have no idea how much I want to make you hurt.”

  “Please don’t kill him,” Trish said with a hand on Drew’s arm. At her touch, there was a brief flash of humanity in Drew’s eyes.

  “Listen to Trish,” Alek said from his other side.

  In the background, Trish heard Aiden talking to the 911 operator. She also heard Justin giving Nathaniel orders as he worked to save Carlos’ life. All of that seemed far away as she and Alek tried to bring Drew back from the edge.

  “I warned him about touching Trish,” Drew said without looking away from Pat. “Don’t tell me you want to let this human scum live.”

  Alek hesitated, and Trish could tell he wanted Pat dead. As much as she hated to admit it, there was a big part of her that felt the same. The man had been responsible for her father’s death. He felt no remorse and had likely been responsible for the deaths of countless other people throughout the years. Still, she couldn’t let Drew do this.

  “Just let him go, Drew,” Trish pleaded. “He’ll go to prison for the rest of his life. Don’t you think that will be worse?”

  Pat’s skin slowly changed from the deep shade of purple to a more natural shade of red as Drew’s hold loosened and he was able to take in great gasps of air. Drew let him drop to the floor and stepped back.

  Trish spoke in a voice that was just loud enough for Pat to hear, but not loud enough for Carlos’ ears. “I recommend you confess to what you’ve done. If you get out on bail or fight the charges, I won’t be there to stop Drew, and he wants you dead.”

  As if he hadn’t been in scary killer mode just moments earlier, Drew had his usual smirk in place. “I’m really hoping you get out so I can do it. My mother taught me a lot about how to make the most of death. We can spend days together while I cut off little pieces. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Then Drew chuckled. “Okay, it won’t be much fun for you, but I’ll have a fan-fucking-tastic time.”

  Pat said nothing as he massaged his throat. The sound of sirens meant their time to chat was up. Trish had no idea how they were going to explain any of this. Come to think of it, she had no idea where Pat’s men were.

  Alek pulled her against his side, and Trish was so relieved to have him to lean against that she didn’t even think to question it. No, she’d take what she could get from Alek at the moment because she needed him.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Trish was exhausted and anxious to get back to Hunter. Alek had assured her he was with Noah and Hannah, so he was safe, but she suspected he was worried.

  It was no exaggeration to say it took hours to get everything settled with the police. Had Carlos not been conscious, it might have taken even longer. Sure, the guys could have used their handy-dandy mind control trick, but that took time, and some people were immune to it.

  She didn’t know when they’d come up with the crazy story about her hiring Isaiah’s company to look into her father’s death. The whole thing was pretty convoluted, but the police didn’t care too much how she and the Draksel men had gotten involved since Ray Patella was confessing to quite a few shocking crimes. Apparently, spending the rest of his life in prison was preferable to Drew coming after him.

  Now, they were all outside the warehouse with only two cars to get home in— Justin’s Range Rover and Drew’s little Lexus RC F, which Trish didn’t know he had. She supposed he didn’t want to drive the car he’d transported his mother’s body in. At least, that’s how normal people would react. Drew wasn’t exactly normal, so he could simply be getting the blood cleaned out of his other car.

  Drew tossed his keys to Alek. “You can take my car.” He turned to glare at the others. “Before any of you start bitching about riding with me, I’ll walk.”

  “Enough with the pity party,” Justin said. “You’ll ride with us. I can drop you at Sofia’s, or you can stay in your old room at Nathaniel’s.”

  Drew looked like he was about to argue when Nathaniel spoke. “Get in the car so Aiden can get back to Tempest and his babies.”

  Drew nodded and started toward the Range Rover.

  “Drew,” Trish called after him.

  He turned to face her but said nothing.

  “Thanks for saving me,” she said. “Call me if you need anything.”

  Drew looked decidedly uncomfortable with Trish’s gratitude. He nodded and looked down at his feet. “No problem. Take care of the kid.”

  “I will,” she assured him.

  Alek hadn’t said much to her since he’d shown up at the warehouse, and she figured this was going to be one of those uncomfortable moments they’d have to work through.

  Alek was gripping Drew’s keys tightly and staring down at his feet when he suddenly tossed the keys to the ground. Trish was caught completely off guard when his hand snaked around the back of her head and his fingers threaded through her hair to hold her in place for his kiss.

  Even knowing she shouldn’t allow herself to go down this road with Alek again, Trish was powerless to stop herself from reacting to him. Clutching his shirt, she tugged him closer, needing the contact. When Alek pulled away, she made little whimpering sounds of protest.

  “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” Alek rasped out.

  Trish’s giggle was somewhere close to hysteria. The shock and horror were finally setting in. “Believe it or not, I didn’t exactly plan on being kidnapped.”

  “If you hadn’t left me, you would have been safe,” he said, sounding almost desperate.

  “Left you?” she asked. “You pushed me out the door.”

  Alek let out a frustrated sigh. “I was an idiot for letting you go. When I heard you talking to Caitlin, it reminded me of what happened with Helena all those years ago.”

  “Wait a minute,” she said, piecing together what had happened. “You were eavesdropping on me when I was talking to Caitlin yesterday?”

  He nodded. “I know I’m not great husband material, but I love you more than you can ever imagine. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to you.”

  Trish smacked him in the chest. “You idiot! Had you stuck around longer, you would have heard the whole conversation and realized I love you. I just didn’t want to make you feel obligated to stay with me.”

  “Did I hear you correctly?” he asked hesitantly.

  “Yes,” she muttered. “I said you’re an idiot.”

  He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Not that.”

  “Fine, I love you,” she said.

  “Thank God!” he said and kissed her again. When he pulled away this time, they were both breathless. “I want to take you home and spend hours in your body.”

  “As much as I like the sound of that, I have Hunter waiting for me,” she reminded him. “If you want to be with me, you’ll have to get used to sharing me with him.”

  “I guess I’ll have to get used to sharing you with all of our children,” Alek said.

  “What do you mean all of our children?” she asked.

  “I was thinking we should have four, maybe five,” he reasoned
.

  She snorted. “Unless you’re planning on getting pregnant, you might want to revise that number.”

  “How about if we start with one?” he asked with a playful grin.

  She tried hard to look serious, but her lips were twitching. “You’re just looking for an excuse to touch my lady parts.”

  Alek chuckled. “I like it when you talk dirty.”

  “I really do love you, Alek,” she said, staring up at him.

  “I never thought I could love a woman as much as I love you,” he said in wonder.

  “Take me home. Hunter needs me,” she said, leaning her head against his hard chest.

  “Us,” Alek corrected. “Whatever happens from now until the end of time, we’re in this together.”

  Epilogue

  It was a big day. Hunter had been living with her and Alek for the last two months, and they’d been in their new home for a month. Tonight, Hunter was moving into his own room, something Alek was incredibly excited about. It’s not that he’d been sleeping in their bed, but his bed had been in their room. That meant they weren’t getting very much time to do the sorts of things couples did.

  “Are you thinking about all the naughty things I want to do to your body?” Alek whispered close to her ear. His warm breath caressing her skin made her tingle all over.

  “What makes you think that?” she asked with an innocent bat of her eyes.

  “You’re blushing,” he said. “Either you’re as anxious to have our room all to ourselves as I am, or you’re running a fever.”

  “I have been feeling a little under the weather,” she teased.