Dark Redemption (18 page)

The tiniest part of her felt
sorry for him.
He’d been good to her and she’d turned her back on him. He’d been her friend.
Then again, that was before he killed Dominic and every positive feeling she’d
ever had for him, all with a single bullet. The rest of her wanted to scream at
the top of her lungs that she would never choose him, even if he was the last
man on the planet.

“Answer
me, damn you,” Alexander snarled, whipping her around to face him.

Katerina
lifted her gaze slowly, taking her sweet time before meeting his eyes with her
own. Her lips twisted into a sultry smile. “Perhaps I’m just waiting for you to
be the kind of man who doesn’t need to be chosen.
A man who
takes what he wants, when he wants, without asking permission.”

Alex
growled, the sound building from deep in his chest, and dragged Katerina to
him. Kate closed her eyes, wishing she could close her mind to the thoughts and
feelings of her darker self. But no, she was aware of everything around her. In
truth, she was party to it. No matter how much she wanted not to be.

Clutching
her face in his hands, Alexander claimed her mouth with his in a hard, bruising
kiss. His lips moved hungrily and unyielding against hers, his tongue thrusting
forward to gain entrance. Katerina purred in satisfaction, molding her body
against his as he punished her with his unforgiving kisses. He tasted sweet and
familiar on her tongue, like honey and almonds. Katerina longed to savor the
succulent taste of his blood as he moved inside her, to mate with the powerful
vampire in every possible way.

Breaking
away without warning, Alexander swept the contents of Massimo’s desk onto the
floor with an unceremonious
crash
. With one last furtive kiss, Alexander
whipped Katerina around and bent her over the desk. The soft flesh of her
breasts pressed against the cold wood surface as the curve of her ass stuck out
for his inspection.

Alexander
dragged her lacy black panties down her legs and stuffed them in his coat
pocket. His smooth, golden hands traced up the outline of her legs, then lifted
the hem of her dress to expose the naked flesh beneath.

With
one knee, he nudged her legs apart. Katerina’s breath came in quick, short
pants as she waited for him to touch her. The familiar
snick
of a
zipper, then his hands cradled her hips.

“Look
at me,” he demanded, his voice rough with desire. “I want you to remember who
you belong to.”

Kate
couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let this happen, even if Katerina was in the
driver’s seat. She fought to resume control. Yet Katerina had grown too strong.
High on blood, alcohol, and desire, the powerful demon would not let her take
over. Katerina snarled at her to shut up and fulfill her end of the bargain.
Kate crumbled in defeat.

Katerina
turned her head to meet Alexander’s gaze over her shoulder. His golden eyes
held hers as he pressed into her. Alexander began to move inside her, eliciting
a low moan of pleasure from Katerina. He thrust hard and deep, as punishing as
his kisses, as he laid siege to her body. Katerina clutched the desk and let
him ride her hard, caught up in the pleasure of each thrust deep within her
heated core.

“You’re
mine,” he whispered against her ear. When his lips brushed her throat, she grew
hotter, wetter, aching for the feel of his fangs in her neck as his body moved
within hers.

A
sharp pain shot through her as he sank his fangs into the artery at her throat.
The pain was quickly replaced with blinding waves of pleasure. His mouth moved
against her neck, sucking the essence of her blood, as he continued to move his
hips hard and fast against her. Katerina gasped and arched into him, reveling
in the heady euphoria of vampire mating.

She
longed to sink her fangs into his neck, to taste his honeyed essence on her
tongue. The thought alone escalated her thirst and desire. She lifted her hips
to meet each thrust, driving him deeper against the spot that made her moan
with sweet satisfaction.

Her
body exploded with pleasure, trembling as he pushed her over the edge to a
shattering climax. Her strength ebbed as he drank from her, her soul and blood
sapping away as she gave of herself without receiving any of him in exchange.
He continued to move inside her, pumping his hips faster until he stiffened,
groaning against her neck as he found his own release.

Dizziness
overtook her, the room spinning in a fuzzy haze as he sucked at her life force.
Katerina flinched when at last he pulled away, cringing at the pinch of his
fangs retracting from her neck.  He withdrew from her and stepped back.
Katerina rose to her feet, unsteady and lightheaded. She glanced at Alex to
find him righting his clothing and dabbing her blood from his lips with a
handkerchief. His golden eyes watched her like those of a predator as she shook
with weakness and adrenaline.

“Who
do you belong to?” He purred silkily.

Dominic,
Kate cried at the top of her
lungs.
Dominic, Dominic, DOMINIC!
Katerina ignored her protests and met
his probing gaze head on.
“You.”

“Come,”
Alexander commanded, scooping her up in his arms.

Seating
himself in Massimo’s desk chair, he cradled Katerina on his lap. Loosening the
tie at his neck and thumbing the top two buttons open, he extended his exposed
neck to her. Katerina licked her parched lips, watching the pulse throb in his
throat. Kate braced herself. This was it.
The moment of
truth.
The moment she’d sacrificed every last shred of dignity for.

Opening
her mouth, Katerina slowly sank her fangs into the smooth golden flesh over his
artery. Her fangs tapped the vessel and the moist heat of his blood filled her
mouth. Her mouth exploded in a combination of flavor and pleasure unlike
anything she’d ever tasted. Sweet and honeyed, his blood filled and satisfied
her in a way she knew only fresh blood could. Katerina moaned and sucked
harder,
drinking him in with every ounce of strength she had
left.

Unfamiliar
images danced through her mind, seen through the golden eyes of her tutore. She
sifted through scenes of his childhood and young adulthood, all tainted by the
condemnation of being born a vampire. From Caprice’s torture to his ordination
as her tutore, his memories were as real as her own within her mind. Katerina
saw Kate through his memories, growing as he watched her from the shadows. Felt
his attachment to her. Felt his confusion and frustration over her rejection of
her birthright.

She
felt his heartbreak and humiliation over her disappearance. She felt the pain
of each lash as the Whip of Light scarred his once beautiful back. Katerina
knew his satisfaction as he pulled the trigger on Dominic. Kate screamed
inside, but no one could hear her, except Katerina. And Katerina could care
less.

She
drank in his soul, relishing the power flowing through her veins as his blood
mixed with hers. She saw Dominic, strapped to a stone floor in an archaic
dungeon. Dominic bleeding in the dark, biting his lip to avoid crying out in
pain as atrocities
were
repeatedly carried out on his
rapidly healing immortal body.

He
was alive!

Kate
could feel Alexander’s pleasure as he tortured and taunted Dominic. He’d used
her numerous times as a tool to inflict pain on the proud wolf. Kate’s heart
broke as she watched the memories from Alexander’s mind play out in front of
her like a horror film. Her beautiful, proud husband was beaten, broken, and
butchered on a daily basis, only to heal and live it again. True, Dominic was
alive, but he was suffering the unthinkable.

Enough
.
Kate mustered every last ounce
of strength she had, drawing on her love for Dominic and her hatred for
Alexander, and dragged Katerina back into the shadows of her mind, slamming the
prison door shut behind her. Katerina howled in protest, but Kate ignored her.
Their deal was met.

Kate
jerked away from Alexander, ripping her fangs from his neck and twisting out of
his embrace. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sprinted for the door.
Swiping haphazardly at the streaks of moisture with the back of her hand, she
crashed through the door and plunged back into the crush of the club. She
needed to put as much space between her and Alexander as possible.

“Katerina,”
Alexander shouted, following close behind her.

Scanning
the club, she frantically searched for Massimo. She found her cousin leaning on
the bar, deeply engaged in conversation with one of his bartenders. The crowd
parted for her as she elbowed her way toward him.  Luckily, they were not
so considerate of Alex, for the gap between them spread as bodies filled the
space.

“Massimo,
help me,” she pled, skidding to a stop when she collided with his back.

“What
the hell,
cuz
?” Massimo growled
,
his chiseled features pinched with impatience.

Gasping
from the combination of fear and exertion, Kate pointed to the healing wound at
her neck. “I need you to get me away from Alex.”

“He
did that to you?” Massimo asked, his dark eyes burning with rage.
“Without your consent?”

Kate
couldn’t get into the complicated discussion of what she had and hadn’t
consented to, so she bit her lip and nodded to the affirmative.

“That
son of a bitch,” Massimo snarled. “I’ll tear him to pieces and feed him to the
wolves.”

Alexander
emerged from the crowd to stand before the two of them. He took in Kate’s
horrified expression and Massimo’s thunderous countenance, and turned to
Massimo. “It’s not what you think, Cacciatori.”

“I
know exactly what it is, Ambrogio.”

Massimo
cocked back his arm and slammed his huge fist into Alexander’s face. The strike
whipped Alex’s head back as he tottered on unsteady feet. One of the guards
stepped forward to steady Alex, but Massimo stopped him in his tracks.

“Stay
out of this,” he snarled. The guard nodded and stepped back. He knew how their
world worked. Alexander was their captain, but Massimo was their prince.

Holding
a staying hand out in front of him, Alex regained his balance. “Massimo, please
I--”

Another
huge fist slammed into Alex, connecting with his gut with a
thud
. 
Alex doubled over in pain. Massimo brought his knee crashing into Alex’s nose
with a
crunch.
Blood poured from Alexander’s nose as he cupped it in his
hands. He glared at Massimo with pained eyes.

“I
guess friendship really does only go so far, Cacciatori.
Especially
when you take the word of your selfish whore of a cousin over your best
friend.”

Whipping
out his gun, Massimo held the barrel to Alexander’s forehead. “Call my cousin a
whore one more time and I’ll put a few new holes in you, Ambrogio.”

“I
call it like I see it,” Alexander hissed. “The bitch came on to me.”

One
dark brow arched in Kate’s direction. Massimo studied her,
then
shook his head.

“I
highly doubt that. Regardless, you and I will have words about your actions
tonight. In the meantime, I’ll take responsibility for her safety tonight.”
Massimo turned to Kate. “Come on,
cuz
. Let’s get you
out of here.”

Kate
nodded and followed him, brushing away more tears.  She was really
beginning to like her asshole cousin.

Chapter
19

Massimo
set Kate up in a small apartment in Milan, a tiny loft over a shop he financed
in a vampire-friendly neighborhood. He gave Kate three rules -- Don’t leave.
Don’t be seen. Don’t be stupid. Kate was pretty sure she’d break all three
before the night was over, but nodded her agreement anyway.  Massimo
chucked her chin and turned to leave, but she stopped him with a hand on his
bicep.

“Massimo,
wait. Does Cacciatori Castle have any dungeons?”

His
black brows scrunched over his dark eyes as he studied her in confusion.
“Yeah.
Why?”

Kate
shrugged. “No reason. I was just wondering, since it’s such an old castle.”

“Yeah,
well we haven’t used the dungeon in well over a hundred years.”

“Really?”
Kate asked, struggling to curb
her excitement. “Where is it?”

Massimo
eyed her with a curious look, bordering on suspicion. “Beneath the kitchen, I
believe.”

She
gaped at him.
“The kitchen!
Isn’t that a bit
unsavory?”

Her
cousin laughed at that. “Like I said, we don’t use the dungeon anymore.
Besides, it’s not like we use the kitchen anyway either.”

“True,”
Kate conceded with a laugh.

“Enough
of the morbid curiosity bit, I’ve got businesses to run, women to fuck, and
people to eat.”

Kate
rolled her eyes. “You’re such a pig.”

“Yeah,
well you’re a stuck up, self-righteous princess with bad decision-making
skills,” Massimo countered with a hint of affection in his signature smirk.
“There’s blood in the fridge if you’re thirsty. No one knows you’re here but
me. No one will bother you. Just remember the rules and stay out of trouble,
okay?”

Kate
smiled and nodded, warmed by the affection and concern in her brutish cousin’s
dark eyes. Massimo was a rough-around-the edges bad boy to the core, but he had
a good heart under all that sociopathic machismo. He was definitely an acquired
taste.

Massimo
gave her a curt nod and hit the road. The alarm system chirped as he activated
it behind him.  Kate sank onto the couch in the small sitting room, truly
alone for the first time in a long time.

Her
mind felt like the ball in a pinball machine as her thoughts and memories
bounced around inside her head in a discombobulated mess. She’d slept with
Alex, shared blood with him... Dominic was suffering. Which meant Dominic
wasn’t dead, but Alex should be. He held Dominic prisoner in the dungeon of Cacciatori
Castle for the purpose of torturing him.

Great.
Now she knew the truth. What
the hell was she going to do with it?

         
Dominic lifted his head at the sound of cheerful whistling. Someone was far too
happy, especially for this particular hell hole. Ambrogio stepped into his line
of sight, a huge, shit-eating grin on his face. Dominic closed his eyes to the
sight. He’d seen far too much of the devil to think for one second that
smile
meant anything other than more trouble for him.

         
“How’s my least favorite werewolf doing tonight?” Alexander greeted cheerfully.

         
“Go to Hell,” Dominic growled.

         
“Now, now.
Is that any way to treat a person who
brought you a gift?” The vampire chided.

         
“You’re not a person, Ambrogio. You’re a demon, a blood sucking parasite,”
Dominic hissed. “And you can keep whatever ‘gift’ you’ve brought me. I’ve
experienced enough of your generosity to know I want no part of it.”

         
“Come now. There’s no reason to be like that. Celebrate with me,” Ambrogio said
with a nasty smile.

         
Certain he’d regret it, Dominic took the bait. “What’s the occasion?”

         
“I’m glad you ask,” Ambrogio said, brightly. “For your gift is to help
commemorate this momentous occasion.”

         
“Enough of the bullshit, Ambrogio,” Dominic sighed. “Just spit out whatever
gloating bit of news you have to share and get on with it.”

         
“You never were any fun, were you, Ridolfi?” Ambrogio asked with mock
effrontery. “This is a night we both shall remember forever. It must be
observed with all the pageantry and pomp it is due.”

         
Dominic dropped his head to the ground, tuning out the vampire and his gleeful
dramatics. The evil bastard would tell him what he wanted soon enough. There
was no reason to sit and eat out of the palm of his hand.

         
Crouching down by Dominic’s head, Ambrogio bent his golden head close to
Dominic’s. “Do you want to know what we’re celebrating?”

         
“No, but I know you’re dying to tell me,” Dominic sighed.

         
Ambrogio gave a low chuckle, his breath hot and uncomfortable against Dominic’s
ear. “I fucked your wife tonight and she begged for more.”

         
Dominic lunged for the bastard, straining against his chains as though his life
depended on it. If he could just get his hands around the bastard’s neck, he’d
snap it like a twig. Yet his restraints held, as they always did, and Dominic’s
efforts were wasted. Quick as a cat frightened by water, Ambrogio leapt back
from his flailing limbs and laughed.

         
“I knew you’d be excited for me,” he taunted, his golden eyes dancing with
cruel laughter.

         
“You lie,” Dominic growled. Pain, jealousy, and denial all warred for
precedence.

         
Ambrogio arched a golden brow at him. “You see? I knew you wouldn’t want to
believe me.
Which is why I brought you a present.
”

         
A scrap of black, lacy fabric landed on Dominic’s chest. Kate’s sweet, familiar
scent wafted from the fabric, releasing the potent perfume of her pheromones.
Dominic sank his teeth into his lower lip and tasted blood.
No
. 
Damn
it all, no
. Dominic knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, those were Kate’s
panties. He also knew, as only a wolf and mate would, the scent they carried
was of her arousal.

         
Rage unlike any he had ever felt before built within him.
The
tiniest flame, growing into a roaring inferno.
Acid burned his throat.
His blood ran hot with fire.

That
godless demon had put his filthy hands on Kate. Had touched and kissed and made
love to
his
wife. The pain of it was more than Dominic could bear. 
He vowed vengeance, promising himself he would make the vampire pay for this
trespass.  He would make the leech suffer a million times over for ever
laying a hand on that which belonged to him and him alone.

“Not
so sure of yourself now, are you, Ridolfi?”

Dominic
refused to respond.

“Mmm,
she was so warm and wet and wild, writhing beneath me as she begged for more.
Oh, I gave it to her alright. I had her panting like a bitch in heat. O
h
,
and that little moan she made when she came? A man never forgets a sound like
that.”

“Enough,” Dominic ground out
through clenched teeth.
His entire body trembled with fury and pain.

“But
I was just warming up to our subject,” Ambrogio protested, mocking laugher
dancing in his leonine eyes. “This is almost more fun than gelding you over and
over again.”

“Then
get on with it and leave me be,” Dominic growled.

“Ah,
yes, soon enough,” Ambrogio promised. “I have one more present for you.”

Dominic
didn’t think he could handle any more ‘presents’ like this last one. Ambrogio
hovered over Dominic, the silver knife in his hand gleaming in the torch light.
An evil grin spread across
Ambrogio’s
face.

“I
have one more memento for you, so we may always remember this special night and
the many more soon to follow.”

With
the flick of a wrist, Ambrogio made a long, shallow cut from the base of
Dominic’s throat to his navel. The poisonous sting of silver burned his skin,
the open flesh protesting as it failed to heal itself against the noxious
element.
Though too shallow to cause any lasting damage, the
cut would forever mark his body, thanks to the silver blade with which it had
been carved.

“I’ve
heard stories of men who keep a running tally of all the women they’ve slept
with. Whether it
be
a notch in their bedpost or a
notch in their belt, their virility is evidenced by their score sheet.”
Alexander ran the flat of the blade down the cut on Dominic’s torso. “The
Cacciatori princess is not just any woman to be tallied with the masses. She is
a woman deserving of her very own post. You, Ridolfi, will be my post. Every
time I bed your wife, you get a mark to remember it by.” The blade slashed
against Dominic’s skin, splitting the superficial layers from collar bone to
collar bone.

Dominic
felt the sting of silver down to his soul. Of all the times he’d longed for
death since his capture, this by far surpassed them all. Yet death would rob
him of his vengeance. No, he could not die. Not until he sent the demon back to
Hell.

Ambrogio’s
lips tipped up into a smirk.
“I think I shall bid you goodnight, Ridolfi. Far be it from me to distract you
from the suffering I see burning in your eyes.”

The
vampire turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness. Dominic tried to
close his jeering face out of his thoughts. He tried to purge the horrific
images of Kate with Ambrogio from his mind. It was no good.

Arching
up as high as he could against his chains, Dominic slammed his head into the
stone floor. He repeated this process again and again, then found blissful
reprieve as he lost consciousness. Dominic refused to let
Ambrogio’s
words torture him as his hands and tools had in the past. He wouldn’t give the
vampire the satisfaction of dwelling on his dismal reality.

***

         
“Sir, the phone is for you.”

Giovanni
looked up from the documents on his desk at the sound of his assistant’s voice.
Elena had been instructed not to bother him unless the world was coming to an end.
He gave her a patient smile that belied his tense mood. Damn Lindsey for doing
this to him. He shouldn’t care, but he did.

“Is
it Miss Ryland?”

Elena
shook her head.
“No, sir.”

“Then,
tell whoever it is I’m busy.”

         
“But, sir, she’s quite insistent that she must talk to you at once.”

         
Gio sighed. “Who is it?”

         
“She says she’s your sister, but--”

         
“Fine.
Send the call in to me, but no further
interruptions. Understood?”

         
“What if Miss
Ryla
—”

         
Giovanni cut her off with a sharp look.

“Yes,
sir,” Elena hurriedly agreed, rushing from his office.

         
The phone on his desk chirped a few seconds later and Gio picked it up. “What
is it now, Gianna? Was I photographed wearing the same clothes more than once?”

         
“Oh, um, Gio?”
The female voice on the other end of
the phone was
not
his sister, Gianna.

         
“Kate?” His mood rapidly transitioned from one of exasperation and annoyance to
one of concern and urgency. “Are you alright?”

         
“Yes. No. I don’t know…” Kate stumbled and stuttered over her words.

         
“Is it true, then? Is Dominic really dead?” Giovanni held his breath and waited
for her to confirm his brother’s death, to offer him some sort of closure for
the brother he would never get to bury.

“No.”

Giovanni
sighed in relief. “Thank God. Rumors have spread like wildfire that the
vampires shot him in Paris. I knew Dominic was too smart for that. Hell, he
probably started the rumors himself--”

“They
did shoot him in Paris,” Kate interrupted, her voice flat.

“But
you said--”

“I
said he wasn’t dead. He probably wishes he was though.”

Giovanni
closed his eyes to the flood of emotion, a mixture of relief and pain. “What
happened, Kate? Where the hell have you two been?”

Kate
sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh of air.
“Cacciatori
Castle.”

“What!?!”
Gio choked.

“It
doesn’t matter, Gio. What matters is that I need your help. More importantly,
Dominic needs your help.”

Giovanni
wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, but had to know. “Where is he Kate?”

“In the dungeon of Cacciatori
Castle.”