by I. T. Lucas
Kajeck laughed again, and once more his image wavered for a split second. “I love it. I’m going to use your wife and mistress analogy.”
David became suspicious.
They hadn’t had any alcohol, he didn’t feel dizzy, and yet his vision was playing tricks on him. Had the guy put something in his coffee while he wasn’t looking?
But why would he do that?
As an uncomfortable feeling washed over him, David leaned back and regarded Kajeck. What if the Russian was after more than a conversation?
David had been propositioned by men before, and he’d declined as politely as possible, but even though fifteen percent of date-rape drug assaults were perpetrated against males, it had never occurred to him that he might become a victim himself.
Except, he didn’t feel drowsy or confused, but he felt compelled to answer Kajeck’s questions, which was unlike him. He wasn’t in the habit of telling casual acquaintances his life story.
What if instead of a date-rape drug, the Russian had mistakenly slipped him a truth serum? Who knew what the guy was up to?
“Are you all right, professor?” Kajeck leaned forward.
David narrowed his eyes. “Are you married, Mr. Zolotovsky?”
The smile blooming over the guy’s face was too genuine to be fake. “I am. Not only that, I’m a newlywed.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled until reaching the photo he was looking for. “This is my wife, Jacqueline.” He showed David a picture of a beautiful blonde. “The moment Jacqueline entered my life, my business empire and even my most beloved hobbies got pushed down the priority list and became distant mistresses. She comes first.” He took the phone back and put it in his pocket.
David let out a relieved breath. A picture of a pretty woman on the guy’s phone was not proof of anything, but the way he sounded when talking about her was either superb acting or true love.
In fact, it was quite enviable.
David wished he could feel so strongly about someone.
“When was the happy occasion?”
“A little over a month ago.” Kajeck shifted in his armchair. “We are going on honeymoon to an enchanted castle in Scotland, and we are taking a plane full of friends and family with us.” The Russian waved a hand. “You should come along. It will be good for your novel. A different setting, new people, maybe even a love interest.” He smiled. “How about it, professor? I’m offering you an all-expenses-paid vacation. You can’t refuse.”
A vacation in a Scottish castle sounded very appealing, but the invitation to join the guy’s honeymoon was strange, and it raised David’s hackles again.
“Thank you, but I wouldn’t dream of intruding.”
Kajeck waved a dismissive hand. “Nonsense. I’m a businessman, David, and when I see an opportunity that is mutually beneficial, I hate not taking advantage of it. You need a change of scenery to write your novel, and I can provide it at no cost to you. In exchange, Jacqueline and I would benefit from many hours of stimulating conversations with you.”
David shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept.”
“I insist.” Kajeck slapped his hands on his thighs. “We are going to have a splendid time together. My driver will pick you up Wednesday at twelve-thirty in the afternoon. You have only two options. You can either pack for the trip or come as you are.”
8
Richard
As Richard tucked his laptop under his arm and headed for the door, Vlad lifted his head from his tablet. “Are you going to the construction site?”
“Yeah. Kalugal wants me to give him daily updates.”
“The construction didn’t start yet. What are you going to report?”
Richard shrugged. “They are regrading to combine several plots together for his house, and I can snap a few pictures and send them to him. After all, I need to justify my pay until the construction starts, and I will actually have something to report.”
The surprising job offer had come a week ago.
Kalugal wanted his own supervisor on the construction site, someone that would report to him daily and include photos and videos when relevant. Kian had suggested Richard, and Kalugal had accepted the recommendation.
Vlad closed his tablet and put the stylus on the table. “The ladies must be disappointed that the auctions were temporarily suspended.”
Not Richard’s problem. “They’ll get over it as soon as Kalugal’s men arrive.”
“So that’s it for you?”
It seemed that the kid wanted to talk, and perhaps it was time to level with him about his mother.
Not that it was a secret that they were seeing each other, but so far things had been casual between them. Hopefully now that Richard was no longer obligated to service other women, that would change, and Stella would be willing to give him a chance.
“Unless I have no other choice, I’m never going back to that.”
What had seemed at first like every guy’s dream come true had soon become a chore and an embarrassment. Richard was relieved to be done with the thrice-a-week auctions and serving as the clan’s gigolo. At least he could comfort himself that he hadn’t done it for money. The auction proceeds had all gone to charity, so he had done a good deed, and if he was incredibly lucky, one or more of the clan females had conceived.
If he didn’t transition and become immortal, he would at least have fathered immortal children. Fortunately, the godly genes passed through the mother.
“I feel you. It was a tough job.”
If it was anyone other than Vlad, Richard would have thought that the comment was meant as a tease or a jibe. But the kid meant it.
Richard opened the door. “Do you want to accompany me to the job site?”
If Vlad wanted to talk, he would accept the invitation, and if he didn’t, then he probably wasn’t ready for that.
“Sure.” Vlad pushed to his feet. “Wendy won’t be home for another couple of hours, and I can use a break from this project.”
“What are you working on?” Richard closed the door behind them. “Is it for school?”
Falling in step with him, Vlad pushed his hands into his pockets. “Jin asked me to design a logo for the clothing company she and Mey are working on. Once that’s done, they want me to handle all of their graphic design.”
“Are they paying you?”
Vlad shrugged. “I offered to do it for free. I need some commercial work for my portfolio. It will help me get future jobs.”
“Paid work is even better for your portfolio. Jin and Mey can afford to pay you.” He clapped Vlad on the back. “And if you are embarrassed to ask, I’ll gladly do it for you.”
The kid straightened his shoulders. “I don’t need help. Not in this.”
That was an invitation to talk if Richard ever heard one. “Whatever you need, just say the word. I’ll do my best to help.”
Vlad cast him a sidelong glance from under his long bangs. “Why? Because we are roommates or because you are dating my mother?”
“Both, and because I like you. You are a good man, and I consider you a friend.”
Vlad chuckled. “I like you too, but only as long as you don’t start calling me son. So, what’s going on with you and my mom? When I asked her, she said that you are just friends.”
“We are.”
“I find it hard to believe. You are both adults.”
“Stella wasn’t comfortable with my previous occupation. Now that I have a new job, I hope she’ll regard me as a potential mate and not just a friend.”
That was Vlad’s opportunity to tell him that he wasn’t right for Stella, and then it would be up to Richard to convince him why he was. It was natural for a son to view all potential suitors as not good enough for his mother.
“You are human, Richard. You can’t be anything more than temporary entertainment for her. Why set yourself up for heartache?”
That was true, and it was also nice of Vlad to word his opposition in an inoffensive way.
Richard sighed. “I haven’t given up yet. I have all the indicators of a Dormant, and there is a slight chance that once I bond with an immortal female, I’ll transition.”
The bond was a mystical connection between fated mates, and even though Richard had a difficult time accepting the mumbo jumbo, most everyone in the clan believed in it, so who was he to doubt it?
Vlad cast him another sidelong glance. “And you think that my mother is the one for you?”
“I can’t be sure, but I like her a lot, and I believe that she likes me too. So far, Stella has held back because of the auctions, and I had no choice but to do the same.” He shook his head. “I feel weird discussing our relationship with you. You’re her son.”
Vlad nodded. “It’s awkward, but we have to talk about it. I don’t want you sneaking out of the house to go see her. I know that the two of you are spending time together.”
Richard smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. I figured that since Stella and I were just friends, there was nothing to talk about.”
“But now that you hope for more, it’s time. She seems happier lately, or at least less moody, and I assume it’s thanks to you. She enjoys your company.”
“And I enjoy hers.”
“I just don’t want my mother to get hurt.” Vlad cast him a lopsided smile. “And frankly, I don’t want you to get hurt either.”
Richard nodded. “Regrettably, I can’t promise you that because it’s not up to me. If I fail to transition…”
Vlad lifted a hand to stop him. “I mean other than that. Be kind to her.”
“That I can promise.”
9
Vlad
If Richard had even a slight hope of transitioning, then Vlad had no problem with him mating his mother.
The guy wouldn’t have been Vlad’s first choice of mate for Stella, but he would have probably thought the same no matter who his mother’s boyfriend was. No one was good enough for her.
Did his mother view Wendy the same way? Was Wendy okay in her eyes but not as wonderful as she had wished for him?
The two got along fine, but it wasn’t the mother-daughter relationship Vlad had hoped for. Wendy had no family of her own, and she could’ve benefited from a warmer relationship with his mother.
Oh well. It was what it was, and Vlad was thankful for what he had. A devoted mother and a loving mate were all he needed to be happy.
Besides, Wendy seemed to consider the entire village as her extended family and didn’t feel the need to adopt Stella as a substitute mother. Perhaps if Stella was more outgoing and not such a space cadet, she could have coaxed Wendy to open up to her, but it wasn’t his mother’s style.
That was why her relationship with Richard was so surprising. She seemed calmer, happier, and if he was to believe Richard’s hints, that was even before the two got intimate.
It was odd for an immortal female to hold off for so long, or to be concerned about a guy’s other hookups, but then his mother was different from other immortal females in so many ways, so why not in that?
Unless she was holding off because she had feelings for Richard. Then her aversion to his prior occupation would make sense.
And then there was the issue of him being a human. If she fell for Richard and he failed to transition, she would have to suffer through watching him get old and die.
If that was the case, and if Richard was right about the bond acting as a catalyst for the transition, then it was a catch-22 situation.
Should he talk with his mother about it?
That would be awkward. His mother’s sex life was none of his business.
Besides, she and Richard were both adults, and they should be able to figure things out for themselves.
“What do you need help with?” Richard asked.
“What?”
“You said that you didn’t need my help to ask Jin and Mey to pay you for your graphic design services, but that you need help with something else.”
Vlad waved a dismissive hand. “It was just a figure of speech.”
“Or a Freudian slip. What’s on your mind? You can tell me anything, and it will stay between us. I’m a vault.”
There was only one thing Vlad needed help with, and that was finding Wendy’s missing mother.
Other than Roni and maybe Sylvia too, no one knew that he had been looking into Wendy’s father’s record and searching for her mother.
Vlad had decided to wait with everything until after his and Wendy’s wedding, which was five months away. But what if he could find her mother before that? Wouldn’t Wendy be happy to have her at the ceremony?
On the flip side, her mother might be dead, and getting confirmation of that would devastate her.
“It’s about Wendy.” Vlad cast a sidelong glance at Richard. “But I don’t want her to know. Not yet.”
“A surprise?”
“I want to find her mother if she’s still alive. Roni looked into it, but she’d disappeared, and there is no record of her death.”
“If she’s alive, she must have very good fake documents.”
“She was Director Simmons’s niece. He told Wendy and her father that she was his sister, but she was his sister’s daughter. He might have helped her with the documents.”
Wendy had kept her familial relation to the director from everyone else, but she must have told Richard because he didn’t look surprised.
“I understand that the father was abusive.”
“He was. Both toward Wendy and her mother. I have an uneasy feeling that he murdered his wife and invented a story about her running away because she was a druggie.”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to get him to admit it.”
“True. But to do that, I need to leave the village and tell Wendy where I’m going and why. She is finally happy, and I don’t want to ruin it by dragging up the past.”
“Perhaps you can ask one of the Guardians to do that for you.”
Vlad’s fangs punched out over his lower lip. “If he killed her mother, I want to avenge her and Wendy. I don’t want someone else to do it for me.”
Turning toward him, Richard put a hand on his shoulder. “I understand your need, but my advice is to let the pros deal with that. You are not a fighter, Vlad. You don’t have any combat training, and even though a mere human is no match for your mental tricks and for your physical strength, you don’t have the right constitution for it. If you kill Wendy’s father, you might get in trouble, and even if you don’t, it will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t think so. The instinct to do right by my mate is overpowering. I have to do this, and I won’t feel remorse. I’ll feel good about ridding the earth of the scumbag.”
“What if he didn’t kill the mother, though? Would you leave him be or kill him for abusing your mate?”
“I won’t kill him, but I’ll give him a taste of his own medicine.”
“You are incredibly strong, and you are emotionally involved. You might kill him accidentally.”
Vlad shrugged. “He will not be missed by anyone.”
“It will still be murder, Vlad. Abusing a child is a terrible crime, but it doesn’t carry the death penalty. Besides, it’s not your place to be judge and executioner.”
“Why not? The police didn’t do anything about it when it was happening, and they are sure as hell not going to do anything now that Wendy is an adult. Besides, she no longer exists as far as the human world is concerned.”
Smoothing a hand over his clean-shaven jaw, Richard was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know much about abusers, but I know people. They don’t change. If he was abusive before, he’s abusive now. Perhaps he could be put away for crimes that he committed recently and is probably still committing.”
“Even if I knew how to go about making it happen, it wouldn’t satisfy my need for revenge.”
“Did you talk to Kian about it?”
Vlad shook his head. “I intended to, but
then I decided to wait with everything until after the wedding. I hope that by then Wendy will feel secure enough in our relationship and in the loving embrace of the clan that it won’t throw her back into the state she was in before.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Except, I have a feeling that you are impatient.”
Vlad nodded. “I’m restless. I have dreams about finding Wendy’s mother’s unmarked grave and then tearing the fucker’s throat out.”
“Must be difficult.” Richard clapped him on the back. “If I were free to come and go, I would go snooping around for you, or at least accompany you to make sure you didn’t get in trouble.”
“I appreciate the offer. But what can you do?”
“As a human, not much. But if the merciful Fates grant my wish and I transition, I’ll gladly come as your backup.” He smiled. “Your mother would never forgive me if I let you do this alone.” He chuckled. “Not that she would ever forgive me for letting you do it at all.”
“Don’t tell her anything.”
Richard shook his head. “I won’t. But if you decide to do this, you need to let her know your plans. And please, I implore you not to go at it alone. If anything happens to you, your mother will not survive it, and neither will your mate.”
10
Stella
“Thank you for coming.” Jin pulled out a chair for Stella. “I know that you are busy.”
“Lately, I’m not as busy as I would like to be.” Sitting down, Stella smiled and waved at Wendy, who returned the greeting from behind the counter.
The girl really liked her job at the café, but Stella hoped that Vlad’s future wife would do more with her life than serve coffee and sandwiches. She should go to college and get a degree in something useful that paid well.
As Vlad’s mate, Wendy had become a clan member with all the benefits that came with it, but she wouldn’t get her share in the profits until she was either twenty-five or enrolled in college.
