Birth of Jaiden (20 page)

He passed through the entrance
doors, then by the lobby desk and into the casino. The royal blue
carpeting and large glittering chandeliers gave the sinful place a
romantic feel. It was intentionally placed to make the patrons feel
pampered and wealthy, whether they
were
wealthy or not.

One of the waitresses saw
him and immediately hurried toward him. She had blond hair pulled
up into a ponytail and a cute round face, which accentuated her
bright blue eyes. He saw youth and innocence inside her eyes and
felt a twinge of guilt about her uniform.

The waitresses’ uniforms were
made of shimmering silver material which appeared to look more like
lingerie. A bustier covered her top area, which was laced up the
middle with a glittering fabric. She wore matching shorts which
were
barely
shorts at all and white stockings complete with the sexy
garter belts.

“
Can I get ya something to
drink, Mr. Lucas?” The cute waitress held a tray of drinks on her
silver gloved right arm.

“
No, thank you. I’m fine,”
Alex said sadly.

“
Well, just let me know if
you need anything.” She strode away but threw a smile back at him
over her shoulder as she approached some customers playing slot
machines.

He walked the floor for a
while, still conflicted about his casinos. Would it really hurt him
so much to sell the chain? He could make enough money off of that
to give Jaiden a decent lifestyle.

“
Alex. Alex!”

Hearing his name, Alex
turned to see Chris weaving through the crowd. Chris wore his suit
for work and carried a radio in his right hand.

“
Hey, Alex,” Chris said
when he finally got close enough for Alex to actually hear him
without Chris having to shout.

“
How are things going
here?”

Chris grinned. “Running
smoothly as always.”

Alex glanced around
awkwardly. “That’s good to know. I haven’t been here for a
while.”

“
More like, you haven’t been on
the main floor for
years
.”

“
I came here the other
night for a few minutes,” Alex confessed.

“
That’s
surprising.”

“
Yeah, it is…Chris, what
would you think if I told you I am considering selling?”

Chris didn’t appear to be
shocked by the question at all. In fact, he looked like he had
foreseen it. “I would tell you that you need to do what is best
for
you
.
I know this place makes you crazy.”

“
It just…makes me feel
like I helped corrupt all these people. I don’t want to feel like
that anymore.”

Chris raised his eyebrows.
“Well, why don’t you sell it to me? I don’t care if I corrupt
people.”

Caught off guard, Alex found
himself spinning the idea over in his head. Chris could run the
place. In fact, he already did.
Yeah, this could work, it’s perfect,
actually
.

“
It’s up to you, Alex.
But, I have enough to buy it and I can make sure the charities who
depend on your donation each year still get them. They are the only
ones who benefit from your ownership. You have been more than
generous toward them.”

“
It’s dirty money,
though.”

“
Who
cares
? It’s dirty money that gives helpless
people a chance in life. That doesn’t matter right now, anyway.
Come on,” he begged, “sell it to me!”

It was time for Alex to
raise an eyebrow. “Seriously?” he asked.

Chris nodded.
“Seriously!”

Alex paused for a moment,
and then slowly extended his hand to shake on the agreement. Chris
grasped his hand eagerly and they shook. Then, Chris grabbed Alex
and pulled him into a man hug.

“
Thanks, man, you won’t
regret this!”

Alex wasn’t a guy, vampire
or human, for man hugs, so he pushed Chris off of him.

“
Enough, Chris, get off
me.”

22

That morning, Alex went to
sleep in his chamber, choosing the feeling of security over the
feeling of comfort. He had forgotten how comfortable a real bed
could be.

When he woke in the
evening, he made his way through his maze and into his bedroom. He
knew he had people coming over for the meeting so he dressed
quickly and hoped he would have some time with Isabella and Jaiden
before everyone showed up.

He found them in the
sunroom again. Isabella sat with Jaiden on the very same bench
where she had been the last time he had found her in the sunroom.
Again, he rapped softly on the door jamb before
entering.

“
Hey,” he said
softly.

Startled, she jerked her
head in his direction. “Oh, hi. You surprised me.”

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to.” He sat beside her on the bench. Jaiden was awake and appeared
to be staring intently at Isabella.

“
It’s ok. I’m just glad
you’re up and about.”

“
Yup, I’m feeling one
hundred percent today.” He reached over and touched Jaiden’s little
hand. The mixed scent of Isabella’s peach perfume and the metallic
smell of her blood wafted into his nose. It nearly drove him
insane.

Suddenly, Alex wondered if
he
could
be happy simply being friends and roommates with her. He
feared it would be nearly impossible. Never, since Catherine, had
he felt such intense want for a woman.

“
Alex, you’re spacing out
again.”

“
Sorry.”

“
It just worries me,
especially after you were so sick and all.”

Damn it, I wish I could just
tell her
, he
thought. He was struck hard once again with guilt; he hated the
lies. “Yeah, I understand. I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be
sorry,
for crying out loud. I just want to
make sure you’re staying healthy now.” She tilted her head up
toward the stars. “
God
,
I am
such
a nag!”

“
No, no you’re not. You’re
motherly.”

“
Like I just said,
nag.”

“
Well, I don’t think
caring about people’s well-being is nagging. So, get over it,” He
said teasingly.

She stared him directly in
the eyes. “Alex, I just wanted to thank you again for the
opportunity to be here, and also what you did for my
family.”

Alex couldn’t believe she was
thanking him. “Believe me, Isabella, if it wasn’t for you, it
wouldn’t be possible for her to be here.” He nodded down at Jaiden.
“There is absolutely no way I could do it alone.” He focused only
on her eyes. “I should be thanking
you
.”

She sighed. “I know you
couldn’t do it alone but you could have chosen someone else and I
just wanted to say thank you for choosing me.”

“
I am more than glad you
are here.”

Her lips spread into a
smile. “Really?”

“
Really” he assured
her.

A moment of awkward
silence followed where they were looking into each other’s eyes but
neither of them knew quite what to say.

A perfect moment to kiss
her
.

Then, the doorbell
rang.

“
I’ll get it.” Alex sprang
to his feet. “It’s probably the council; we’re having a meeting
tonight.”

It didn’t pass Alex’s
attention that she looked pretty disappointed. But, she nodded her
head.

“
We’ll be out here,” she
murmured.

He took his time to get to the
door; although he could have been there in a couple of seconds, he
let it be a matter of minutes. He wondered if she had felt the same
intensity of the moment as he had. He did know she liked him a lot
but he
loved
her.

What am I thinking? No, no, no!
I promised myself I wouldn’t do this
.

He opened the door to find
Chris on the other side. As soon as he had let Chris in and closed
the door, the bell rang again. That time, it was Victoria, with
Deanna right behind her.

“
Come in.” He held the
door open for them.

“
Where do we sit?”
Victoria snapped, and then plowed her way past him.

Alex caught Deanna’s gaze
and rolled his eyes. It never failed that the first words out of
Victoria’s mouth were always rude.

“
How are you,
Deanna?”

“
I’m doing really well,
Alex. Hello, Chris.” She went to Chris and gave him a
hug.

Alex knew they went
dancing together sometimes but that seemed a tad more emotional
than the normal friend hug.

Alex couldn’t help but
give Deanna a good glance over. She looked great; vibrant was the
only word he could find to describe her. She was sporting a short
red and black plaid skirt and black tank top. The skirt looked like
a catholic school girl uniform, only she had on black combat
boots.

He waited until Deanna and
Chris released each other before he led the way into the dining
room. Victoria was already seated at the head of the table so
Deanna and Chris sat down beside each other on her left side. Alex
chose to sit all the way at the other end of the table, as far from
Victoria as he could get.

Just as he was seated, the
doorbell rang again.

“
I’ll get it,” Isabella
called from the entryway. A moment later, she entered with Jaiden
sleeping in her arms and Jeremiah, Danielle and Damion in tow. As
soon as Deanna saw Isabella with Jaiden, she jumped up.

“
Isabella! How are you?
Oh, look at her.” Deanna gazed down at Jaiden with sincere awe. Her
hand rose to finger Jaiden’s red locks. “Good color,” she
murmured.

Deanna’s own red hair was
twisted back into braids. Isabella and Deanna giggled for a bit.
Then, Isabella seemed to notice an entire room full of eyes settled
on her. Alex saw her tense up and hug Jaiden a little tighter to
her chest.

“
Well, I should leave you
all to your business. I’ll see you later, Deanna.”

Deanna gave Isabella a
side hug and told her, “I’ll come and talk if I have time when
we’re done.”

“
Ok.” Isabella nodded at
everyone and left the dining room.

Alex scooted his chair forward
so he could lean on the table. “All right, let’s get started. I
suppose we need to come up with a plan of action for Stewart and
catch up with each other. First of all, as you can see, Christopher
is here today and
will be
from now on. Second of all, I think you all know about
Jaiden. I have been
informed
that I cannot take my usual part in any attack on Malcolm
or Stewart’s rescue because of my obligations to
Jaiden.”

He threw a slight glare at
Danielle as he spoke. It didn’t surprise him that she didn’t look
one bit guilty about forcing him to stay. She stared right back at
him with nothing but innocence in her dark eyes.

He continued, “Although, I
normally would take part, unfortunately, this time, I cannot. Now,
let’s come up with a plan to get Stewart home!” He focused on
Damion. “Does anyone know if the search parties have found anything
at all?”

Damion shook his head.
“Nothing, no one has anything.”

Victoria
snorted.

“
What is it now?” Damion
asked her impatiently.

“
Have any of you geniuses
tried using telepathy?”

“
Malcolm wouldn’t let us
into his mind even if we all tried,” Danielle said.

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Not
with
Malcolm
, you twit, with Stewart.”

Danielle recoiled at Victoria’s
snide comment. “Victoria, do
not
speak to me that way.”

“
Well, what do you expect?
You’re supposed to be an angel,
in league with god
. One would think you could talk the
big guy into telling you.”

Alex could see Danielle
getting frustrated with Victoria’s sarcasm. Luckily, Damion came to
her defense. “Have you tried telepathy, Victoria?”

“
Of course I tried. I only
asked because sometimes it takes someone who knows him
better.”

Damion nodded. “That’s true.
Who here
has
tried telepathy?”

All hands but Chris’s and
Alex’s rose into the air.

“
Hmmm.” Damion
thoughtfully looked at the raised hands.

Jeremiah finally spoke up.
“Could that mean that he’s…”

“
Dead?” Victoria asked
bluntly. “Of course it could mean that.”

“
Wait! Stop it… all of
you!” Deanna hollered as she rose from her chair. “Shhhhh. I’m
getting an idea. I’ll be right back.” With that, she ran out of the
dining room.