DraculaVille - New York - Book One (28 page)

Pip jumped up and down saying, “Yippie, we’re back, Yippie.”

Her assistant set her down. Tears coursed his cheeks though he grinned.

“Please don’t cry, we’re fine.” She patted his shoulder, his emotion bringing tears to her own eyes.

“I can’t believe it. I didn’t know what to do,” he said brushing the tears from his face and wringing his hands. He gave her a misty smile and then hugged Drake and Pip. “After I left Pip at Club Ariba, I thought about calling the police, but I figured they’d think I was nuts. Gerri’s been calling night and day. We were so worried we’d never see you guys again.”

Talia patted him on the back. “It’s over. We’re safe and Carlotta killed the bad guy. Now we’re just very tired and very hungry.”

“Gosh, I’m sorry. You look beat. I didn’t mean to keep you standing here. You must be dead on your feet.” He hurried back to the living room

Talia shared a smile with Drake over Felix’s unintended pun. They were indeed nearly dead. But she didn’t want him to know all the details, he’d just start crying again and she couldn’t take any more rush of emotion tonight. Her senses had been on overload for the past five days.

She followed Felix and flopped on the couch next to Drake. Pip ran to his room and returned with his Nintendo DS. Just like a kid. Now that the drama was over, he seemed content once more with video games. He sat on the floor at the coffee table across from them, intent in a game, thumbs flying.

“You guys wait right there.” Felix held out his hands. “I’m going to make you something to eat.”

“Make sure that includes a glass of wine,” Talia called as he hurried to the kitchen.

A moment later he offered her a glass of wine. He gave Drake and Pip their blood then rushed back into the kitchen.

“There are no words to describe how happy I am to be home.” Talia kicked off her shoes and propped her feet up on the coffee table. She let out a big sigh.

“I’m glad we’re home, too,” Pip said, his eyes never leaving his game. “But I ain’t happy I had to miss the fight. I wanted to stab Maron right in the gut.”

“We all wanted to stab Maron in the gut,” Talia said. “You aren’t the only one disappointed. But the fact that
somebody
stabbed him is enough for me.”

“I guess.” Pip shrugged.

Drake’s lips twitched.

Felix bustled in and handed Talia a plate. “Sorry, it’s a sandwich. I know you don’t normally eat them, but it’s the fastest thing I could make.”

She plucked it off the plate. “Are you kidding? I’d eat a three day dead raccoon right now.”

“I hope you’re not upset.” Felix twisted his hands together.

“Why would I be upset?” Talia said after she swallowed the first bite.

“Well, I’ve kinda been pretending to be you.”

She swallowed. “Explain.”

“I’ve been trying to keep things going on the presentation. I had to hack into your e-mail and pretend to be you so Harvey wouldn’t throw a fit. He’s been calling every day. I told him you were too busy to call, that you’d e-mail him. Then I had to e-mail Anton about the pictures and Leslie about artwork.”

She swung her feet off the coffee table and set her plate on it. She slid to the edge of her seat. “Are you telling me that the project is still on?”

Felix glanced between her and Drake. “Of course. I’ve been working on it all along and hoping you’d make it back in time.”

Gratitude surged through her. She stood and grabbed Felix in a tight hug. “I can’t believe it. I thought we’d have lost the account by now. Can we still make it on time?”

He pulled back, blushing. “Yes, today’s Tuesday. We have until Friday evening to meet the Romanians.”

Talia kissed him right on the mouth. “I love you, Felix. Your bonus is going to be bigger than Dracula’s castle.”

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and crossed his arms. “It better be. I’ve had a hard time convincing everyone you were here working instead of held prisoner by a group of evil vampires.”

Drake dropped his head into his hands, laughter shaking his shoulders.

“Well, let’s get busy. I can eat later. Where’s my computer?” She gave her assistant a push.

“Everything’s set up on the dining room table. It’s command central.”

“Okay, I’ll start looking through what you’ve done. Call Gerri and tell her we’re all right.”

“Yes, master.” Felix hurried to the phone in the kitchen, humming a peppy tune.

She stared at Drake. “What’s so funny?”

He raised his head. “You.”

“I am not.” She planted her hands on her hips.

“Yes, you are.” He chuckled. “You’ve spent the last five days terrorized to the point of death, now all you care about is making sure you don’t lose your account. You’re simply amazing.”

“Don’t you forget it.” She pointed her finger at him then whirled and headed for the dining room. A spark of hope burst into fireworks. There was still time to complete the project. Maybe she could make it happen after all. A surge of relief followed the pyrotechnics, tempered by gratitude. Felix was a magician to have kept everything going without Harvey finding out what had happened.

Nobody could take her account while she had a breath left in her body. DraculaVille would happen and it was her baby all the way.

Felix carried her sandwich plate in and placed it beside her. “Gerri says she hates you for scaring her and she’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Talia smiled. That settled it. Everything was back to normal.

***

By noon the next day, Talia was up to speed on everything her assistant had done in her absence. She’d only slept a few hours, eager to dig into the project and see what she had left to accomplish.

She tapped a pen on the table and stared at her list. She called Leslie who promised to have final artwork to her this afternoon. She would tweak it and send it to the printer to produce proofs for the presentation. Time was tight, but she could do it.

With a sigh, she dropped her pen and left command central to make another pot of coffee. She hit the start button then headed for the living room. Felix dozed on the couch, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets.

“Wake up.” She tapped him on the head with her knuckle.

“Ouch.” He brushed her hand away and sat rubbing his eyelids. “Stop.”

“It’s noon, sleepy head. Time to rock.” She went to the kitchen and the phone rang.

“Tiger?” It was Harvey. Damn it.

“Yes, what do you want?”

“Why the hell haven’t you called me?”

“I’ve been very busy, Harv.” And that was no lie.

His voice lowered. “Look, we got a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“The Romanians want to move the meeting to tomorrow night.”

“Tell them no. That’s ridiculous.” Her voice raised an octave. What kind of crap were they trying to pull? “They can’t spring a change like that at the last minute.”

“Sorry, we can’t. Their president has called them back to Romania for an emergency meeting on Friday. They’ll meet us Thursday evening then leave immediately to fly home.”

She shook her head. After all she’d been through, now she had to pull a miracle out of a hat. “Okay, tell Leslie I need that artwork in two hours instead of at the end of the day. I’ll call the printer and tell him he’s working all night. We have to move everything up six hours.”

“That’s my girl. I knew you could make it happen.” He chuckled. “Oh, and Tal, the secretary wants your Dracula model at the meeting.”

“No.”

“Just bring him. That’s an order.” He hung up.

Damn it. She didn’t want Drake involved in this mess yet. They’d just gotten through fighting for their lives, and their relationship was in limbo. She avoided discussing their attraction by immersing herself in work. After Thursday night, however, she and Drake had to have a serious talk.

She trudged to the living room. “Great news. Harvey says the meeting is moved to tomorrow night.”

Felix exploded. “That’s insane. We’ll never make it.”

“I’m not giving up. I told him to tell Leslie we need the art by two. I’ll call Tom and coerce him into working all night.” She headed back to command central. “Grab some coffee and let’s get going.”

Her assistant grumbled and padded after her.

***

Drake wandered into the dining room that evening. Pip tagged along behind, a stuffed bear under one arm.

“What’s going on?” Drake rested his hands on Talia’s shoulders where she hunched over her laptop.

“Just a major crisis,” she said. “The Romanians moved the meeting. We have to be ready by tomorrow night.”

Felix handed her a sheaf of papers.

“No, no, yes, no,” she said, thumbing through them. She handed them back.

“I’ll make food.” Drake headed to the kitchen.

“Crank up another pot of coffee if you don’t mind. We’ll be at this all night,” she called over her shoulder.

He retraced his steps and stood staring at her, arms crossed over his chest. “You just escaped a flock of bloodthirsty vampires. I’m sure you haven’t had much sleep in the last few days. You’re going to kill yourself.”

“I’d rather kill myself than let some schmuck steal my idea and make a fortune.”

He raised his hands and returned to the kitchen.

“Wow, this picture of Drake with a wolf is fantastic. I can see this on a billboard.” He handed the folder to her.

“You’re right. This last piece looks good. I’m going to send the digital files over to Tom.” She typed for a minute then hit SEND. She leaned her head back, then stood and stretched her arms over her head, leaning side to side. “Whew. Now we need to go over there and monitor production.”

“You can eat first,” Drake called.

Felix eagerly nodded.

She crossed her arms. “Okay. We’ll take a tiny break and eat. Tom won’t have anything ready for a few hours anyway.”

“Yes.” Her assistant pumped his fist in the air.

Pip came from the kitchen and climbed on his lap. “What are you doing, Uncle Felix?”

Felix wrapped his arms around the boy. “We’re making promotional material for DraculaVille.”

Pip laid his head against Felix’s chest. “I want to go to DraculaVille.”

“Why, midget?” Talia asked.

“It sounds like fun.”

Talia considered this. Good. Hopefully it would sound like fun to millions of other people, too.

Pans clattered in the kitchen, and she went and perched on a stool. “What are you making?”

“Something simple. Chicken marsala.” He flipped a pat of butter into a sauté pan and swirled it around until it melted. Then he tossed in some pounded chicken breasts.

Simple. Right. She smiled. How like him to minimize his skill. She rested her chin in one hand, elbow on the counter. Her mind searched back, before Drake came into her life. She could barely remember. It was a blur of sameness and meaningless accomplishments. Here she still struggled to achieve something that left its mark on the world.

Like a dancer, Drake moved fluidly as he stirred pots, flipped chicken filets, and grated parmesan. The vision of her tango with him pressed into her mind. What passion he had. Yet he had a gentle way at the same time. When needed, he could be ferocious. A killer. She shivered and ran her hands over her arms.

Who was he really? She had a sense of him, but was it true? At this point if she couldn’t trust him, she didn’t know when she could. He’d protected her throughout their adventure in vampire land. He’d said he loved her. What more did she want?

“Mom.” Pip ran into the kitchen and jumped onto the stool beside her. “Uncle Felix says you guys have to go out tonight.”

“That’s right. We’re working on the project we have to present tomorrow night.”

“I want to go with you.” He traced a finger over the counter.

“Not tonight. You and Drake need to stay here and, er, guard the command center.”

Drake glanced over his shoulder.

She shrugged.

“Oh, is that important?” Pip thrust out his chest.

“Very, very important. We have to make sure no one breaks in and steals our plans. If they do, we’ll lose the account. And there will be no DraculaVille.”

Pip crossed his arms, looking fierce. “Then we’ll make sure no one gets in. Won’t we, Dad?”

“Absolutely.” Drake poured sauce from a pot over the chicken breasts and turned off the stove. “Food’s ready.”

Felix strolled into the kitchen and hopped on a stool beside Pip. “I’m ready.”

Drake chuckled and dished the chicken onto two plates. He passed them to Felix and Talia then handed them silverware. He poured cups of blood for himself and Pip, then leaned against the counter.

“This is awesome,” her assistant said between bites.

It was scrumptious. Talia realized how much she’d missed Drake’s wonderful food. Maybe they could have some sort of life like this. She glanced at Pip holding his clown sippy-cup filled with blood, grinning between sips. He appeared happy to have his makeshift family back together. Could they be a family?

“How is it?” Drake asked, his gaze focused on her.

“It’s great.” She smiled. “Delish.”

He tilted his head to one side. “When will you be back home?”

“I’m not sure.” She scraped the last of the chicken onto her fork and popped it in her mouth. “Harvey said they want you there tomorrow night. So we’ll be back in time to pick you up.”

His brows came together. “Why do I have to be there?”

“I don’t know other than the secretary wants it.”

“You can wear the outfit we used in the first photo shoot,” Felix said. “This last one is a bit worse for wear.”

That was an understatement. They’d have to trash it after all the blood stains and rips it underwent. Same for the black vampire wedding dress she’d worn home. She never wanted to see that thing again. Talia handed her empty plate to Drake.

“Okay, let’s gather our files and head over to Tom’s.” She slid off her stool.

Pip held out his arms and she gave him a quick hug and a kiss to the top of his head. “Guard the command center well, King Pip.”

“I will.” He smiled and gave her a salute.

She glanced at Drake, but he didn’t smile. She gathered her laptop, then joined her assistant at the coat closet.

“I’ll call you later and let you know how it’s going,” she said to Drake.