Romeo (Blood Brothers) (10 page)

“Damn straight you weren’t thinking, so how about getting your ass out of my bed and out of my apartment?!”

He winced at her harsh words but was glad to do as she asked. How could he have possibly mistaken this brash and uncouth woman for someone as classy as Maggie. He was really starting to lose it.

Rhoda screamed at him. “What the fuck are you waiting for?”

Dante realized that he’d hurt Rhoda and no amount of apologizes would rectify this situation. He quickly dressed and left her apartment in time to hear his cell phone ring. “Dante here.”

“It’s Romeo.”

“To what do I owe this honor, little brother?”

“I took care of another one.” Romeo didn’t need to elaborate. Dante knew exactly what he referred to.

“Good, but why are you calling me now? You haven’t bothered to check in with me before.”

“I’m not in the mood for your sarcasm so will you shut the fuck up and listen?”

The serious note in his brother’s tone made Dante pause. “What’s wrong?”

“I think we have a traitor in the Underground.”

Dante heart began to pound erratically. It was a serious accusation that Romeo was leveling. He trusted all of his agents, but if Dante had to choose, he’d take his brother’s word first. “Why do you think that?” Even as he asked the question, the memory of Trent Black came to mind.

“The Council seems to know what we’re up to. This last time, they were aware of when we would show up. How would they have fathomed our plans unless someone told them? The only people we notify of what we’re up to are agents. Shit, how am I supposed to proceed?”

“You were with Wolf and Aries for the last kill, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think it could be one of them?”

“I don’t think so and I don’t think we should look at the people I’ve taken on the mission, but maybe the ones who wanted in but were denied.”

“That’s an interesting theory. I’ll get on that now. Proceed with your assignment, but if something smells fishy, pull out. I don’t want you walking into a trap. Do you understand? No heroics.”

“Have you known me to be out of control?”

Dante was not amused. “I mean it, Romeo. I won’t lose you to something stupid. Be careful.”

Romeo sighed on the other end of the phone. “Yes, Papa.”

“Cut it out.”

“Well, you do act the role of a father sometimes.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t act it, if you didn’t act like a child.”

“Okay, I’m ending this conversation now. I’ll talk to you later.”

The loud clicking in his ear told him that Romeo had hung up on him. Damn it. Would he end up alienating all of his brothers before he worked this demon out of his system?

<><><>

Christine walked into the group home, her arms full of toys.

“Hey, Christine. We haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks. Your little buddies have been asking for you.” Marla Walker, the case worker for the facility, smiled at her.

“Did they? How sweet. I missed them, too. Are they home now? I know this isn’t usually when I visit, but I figured since this is after school hours, I had a good shot of catching them both.”

“Yes, Jaxson is in his room having a time out, but you know how that is. And, of course, Adrienne is sitting with him. It’s a wonder we can get him on the school bus every day without the little one having a fit.” Marla shook her head of fluffy brown curls, sighing with obvious frustration. “Jaxson was at it again in school today. I wonder about that one.”

“What did Jaxson do to deserve a time out this time?”

“He bit the teacher.”

“Did the teacher touch him? You know he doesn’t like being touched.”

“He says that she tried to hold him down in his seat.”

“What excuse did the teacher give for doing that?”

“She claims she only guided him to his seat when he wouldn’t sit down.”

“Jaxson isn’t the type to make up stories,” Christine said.

“You’re right, but while I don’t necessarily agree with her methods, it’s no excuse for biting.”

Christine shrugged, thinking the teacher should probably have kept her hands to herself. “May I see them?”

“Sure. I see you’ve come with gifts, again. You’re really spoiling those children.”

“Isn’t that what children are for?”

“Well, I have four of my own at home and if you spoil them too much, they’ll walk all over you. Maybe it’s different for you since you don’t have any of your own yet.” Marla turned around, her ample hips swaying.

Christine was glad the other woman had turned her back; otherwise Marla would have seen how upsetting her comment had been. The case worker was a very nice person, but she didn’t have a great deal of tact. At times, Christine thought she had accepted not being able to have children, but in the past couple of months, that fact had hit her harder.

Marla led Christine through the house and up a flight of steps until they stopped on the landing. “You know the rest of the way. Stay as long as you like. I’m sure the kids will enjoy your visit.”

“Thank you.” Christine walked over to the familiar bedroom, knocked, then gently pushed it open. Her heart flipped when she saw her two friends sitting in the corner, a small boy and a tiny girl who had a head full of braids and barrettes. She studied them in silence, her heart swelling with love.

She loved all the children in the home, but she had a special place in her heart for these two in particular. Their story had touched her heart. Jaxson and Adrienne had been born to a drug-addicted mother who’d shamelessly neglected her children. The kids had been removed from her home and placed in the care of their only surviving relative, an aunt, who apparently had taken in the children for the sole purpose of getting the monthly check the state sent for their care.

It had only come to light that the children were being abused when Jaxson ended up in a hospital with both arms broken and several cracked ribs. As tiny as she was, Adrienne was also a victim of abuse. Not only was she physically tortured, the aunt kept her locked in a closet for most days only letting her out on occasion like she was an animal. The children had also been starved, fed only enough to survive. When Jaxson was admitted to the hospital, he was only twenty pounds, dangerously underweight for a four-year-old... Adrienne, who was now three years old, was still roughly the size of an eighteen-month-old baby.

The little girl only said a few words and had only recently learned to walk. At six, Jaxson was at times labeled a troubled child because of his “acting out.” It was no wonder, considering what he’d gone through. The most tragic part of the whole affair was that their mother had gotten herself together and was on the verge of taking her children back when she’d learned she had full-blown AIDS. She had died within months from pneumonia.

Thankfully, the children had tested negative for HIV. It was very hard not to sympathize with these two when they’d gone through so much in their young lives. They clung to each other fiercely. Once, when a couple had tried to foster Adrienne, she had had a screaming fit because she wouldn’t be parted from her brother. Christine knew the two of them had little chance of being adopted together so she had put in the paperwork to take them into her own home. She’d been so eager to provide them with a loving home but then she’d received her life-changing news and had to withdraw her application. She’d been angry and sad, for herself and for the two children.

“Adi, this is an A. Say ‘A’.” Jaxson held up a red wooden letter in front of his little sister.

Adrienne looked at her brother and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Christine smiled. It was obvious these two adored each other.

“Say ‘A’. If you say it, I’ll give you candy.”

Adrienne seemed disinterested and continued to suck her thumb, her large eyes never leaving Jaxson’s face. Jaxson shook his head with exaggerated impatience. “Come on, Adi. You can do it. This is A for Adrienne.”

The little girl pulled her thumb from her mouth. “A,” she said, before stuffing the digit between her lips again.

“Very good!” Although Adrienne still looked very unimpressed, Jaxson leaned over his sister, giving her a hug.

“Yes, very good, Adrienne,” Christine couldn’t help adding as she stepped further into the room. Jaxson looked over with a frown until he spied her. His small face lit up with pleasure before he jumped up and ran over to her.

“Miss Christine! You came back. We thought you forgot about us.” He hugged her leg.

Her heart did another flip and tears filled her eyes. How could anyone label this child a problem when there was so much love in his heart? Adrienne wobbled to her feet and toddled over to them. Her eyes wide, she gave Christine a shy smile but didn’t speak, which wasn’t a surprise.

“How can I forget about my two bestest friends in the whole world?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, but it has been an awful long time since your last visit.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” Christine apologized solemnly.

“We forgive you.” Jaxson eyed the toys and smiled, revealing a missing front tooth. “What did you bring us?”

“I wonder if you miss me for myself or the toys,” she teased.

“Well, you always bring really neat stuff, but you’re okay, too.”

Christine laughed. Leave it to a six-year-old to deflate one’s ego. “I brought you the robot action figure you told me about and, for Adrienne, I brought a doll that comes with accessories.” She handed them the presents.

“Thank you,” Jaxson said, then nudged his sister. “Say ‘thank you, Adi.”

The little girl removed her thumb and showed tiny white teeth. “Tank oo.”

Christine was glad to see the child was starting to say a few more words, although not speaking on the level a three-year-old should. Still, she was showing progress.

“So what’s this I hear about you getting into trouble at school?”

Jaxson screwed his face up. “Mrs. Duran wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom and I almost had an accident, so when I got up to go anyway, she held me down in my chair.”

“And that’s when you bit her?”

The little boy nodded.

Personally, she thought the teacher should have been reprimanded for not letting him use the bathroom, then compounding her error by keeping him in his seat. On the other hand, she couldn’t encourage his biting. “You could have really hurt her. Do you remember what I told you before? We don’t solve our problems with our hands or teeth; we do it with our words.”

“But she was so mean. I hate Mrs. Duran and she has a big hairy wart, probably from kissing a frog.”

Christine stopped herself from laughing out loud. “Hate is such a strong word, don’t you think? Why don’t you and I write a letter to her? You can tell me how it makes you feel when she doesn’t listen to you and I’ll write it down.”

Jaxson placed his finger under his chin, a look of deep contemplation on his dusky face before he nodded. “That sounds fair. Okay, I’ll do it, but I don’t know if it will work. She’s pretty mean.”

“It won’t work if we don’t try.”

“Okay.”

“Go get some paper and a pen and we can start working on it.” She followed the children to Jaxson’s desk in the corner of his room.

Christine loved these two so much that it hurt her heart to know that she would soon have to stop visiting them.

<><><>

“Five down, one to go,” Romeo muttered, wiping the blood from his mouth. A dead shifter now in human form lay at his feet. The dead man had once been Gordon Wyatt, former Council member.

It hadn’t been easy to locate him. After leaving Buenos Aires, one of his contacts had notified him that Wyatt was in hiding in Montreal. Romeo was thankful he had Wolf and Aries with him to take care of the rogue guards who’d been surrounding the house. Wyatt had fought to the bitter end, but like the other four Council members before him, he had met his end.

“Romeo, look out!” Aries shouted, just in time for Romeo to see two rogues spring from what seemed like thin air in front of him. Where the hell had they come from? He leapt aside, barely missing a stocky vampire’s blow, but he was caught on the side of the face with a left hook. Wolf and Aries jumped on the second rogue, pulling him away from Romeo, giving him the opportunity of a one-on-one with the rogue who’d attacked him.

Romeo brought his knee up, jamming it into his adversary’s stomach, then followed it up with a quick punch, only to have it blocked and countered. The rogue interlocked his hands and swung at Romeo, catching him on the side of the head again and snapping his head back.

Holy shit, that blow had packed a lot of power! He glanced up to see the rogue advance on him with glowing red eyes and extended claws. He was so swift that Romeo could barely make him out. Fingers locked around his throat and he felt air expelled from his lungs.

Why was this rogue so damn strong and why did that crazed look in his eyes seem so familiar? His mind drifted back to the fight in a London nightclub when it had taken him and all his brothers to take out two unusually strong rogues.

This particular rogue bared his sharp incisors before lowering his head. Romeo shoved at his enemy’s face, trying to still the descent, and transformed his fingers to sharpened points. He brought his free hand up and tore the other vampire’s eyes out along with part of his cheeks.

Though the rogue howled, his murderous grip continued to tighten. Romeo clawed at the hands, unable to believe his opponent’s incredible strength. One thing was certain—these were no ordinary rogues. Gripping his assailant by the shoulders, Romeo used all his strength and propelled the vampire backward, slamming him into a wall.

Still the rogue wouldn’t release him. Bright spots of light danced in front of Romeo’s eyes and he knew he’d soon pass out. His knees grew weak; he felt them buckle, but Romeo couldn’t let things end like this. He thought of his brothers and knew that he had to stay strong for them. Then he thought of Christine.

Christine.

She had never been far from his mind since he’d left her and now, the thought of not seeing her again gave him the strength to hold on to consciousness. With one last burst of strength, Romeo gripped the rogue’s head and twisted as hard as he could, snapping the vampire’s neck.

Finally, the grip on his throat slackened enough that he could take advantage of his enemy’s momentary weakness. Romeo jammed an elbow into the vampire’s face, which sent his nose’s cartilage and bones into the cranium. Snapping a neck or receiving a shot to the nose like that would have killed any human and at least have temporarily disabled most vampires, but the rogue stayed on his feet.

Something was definitely off. However, the fingers around his throat loosened. Romeo twisted away and sent a heart-stopping blow to his opponent’s chest with a kick, then followed up with his claws, tearing into the rogue’s torso and not stopping until he reached the heart. Only when Romeo squeezed the beating organ to a pulp did the rogue finally fall.

Romeo dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. That fight had taken more out of him than the one between him and Wyatt. He looked up just in time to see Aries’ wolf form gnawing at the second rogue’s entrails while Wolf yanked out the screaming vampire’s heart.

Were there more of these creatures? If so, they needed to retreat and fast.

“They were strong.” Wolf said, stating the obvious, his breath coming out in heavy pants.

Aries stepped away from the body and shifted back to human form. “There was something different about them,” he agreed.

“What—” Romeo broke off his statement. Two women now stood in the room, one of whom he recognized. “Nya!” Romeo shot to his feet.

She stood next to a diminutive redhead. “You are going about this all wrong, Grimaldi. Killing the Council won’t stop the massacres.”

“Have you come to fight us, too, honey? Woman or not, if you’re not on my side, I have no problem with taking you out.” Romeo advanced toward her.

Nya looked unmoved. “You talk a big game for someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. If you go after Locke, you’ll only end up getting hurt.”

The redhead standing next to Nya chuckled. “I’d listen to her if I were you.” With a brief wave of her hand, they were gone.

“What the hell was that about? That was the femme from the club!” Wolf exclaimed.

“Yes and she doesn’t appear to be working with the good guys.”

What was Christine doing hanging out with that woman? He needed to get to her right away!

Chapter Twelve

GianMarco growled at his wife. “You know Dante won’t thank you for this, Maggie.”

She batted her lashes innocently. “Whatever do you mean, sweetie? I’m simply asking him over for dinner and Montana just happens to be coming by as well.”

“You are trying to play God. Just because you think he and your friend will be good together doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll like each other. It doesn’t work that way with vampires. If anything thing comes of it, maybe they’ll end up as lovers but bloodmates? I seriously doubt it.”

Maggie waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “The way I see it, is we’re all going to have a nice meal together and that’s all there is to it.” She grinned.

GianMarco was fighting a losing battle and there was no changing Maggie’s mind. Ever since Maggie had come up with her bizarre matchmaking idea, she’d talked of nothing else. He wanted to give his mate anything her heart desired, but this was beyond his power. He couldn’t make two people care for each other if they didn’t. Maybe by some off chance Montana and Dante would hit it off, but the possibility was slim at best.

GianMarco scolded her lightly. “I still can’t believe you called him and told him there was an emergency.”

Maggie grinned. “It
is
an emergency. We haven’t seen him in several weeks and we miss him. How’s that for an emergency?”

It was like banging one’s head against a brick wall. He knew he’d get nowhere with his stubborn wife. He sighed, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “You know as well as I do that Dante is doing important work right now. To ask him to come here on a whim was selfish.”

Her lips pursed and she placed her hands on ample hips. “Selfish? Are you serious? I’m trying to do a good thing here. Besides, you said you’d talked to him yesterday and that he was in New York to take care of a few things at home and that he’d be in the States for a few days. How is it selfish that I think he’d be happier spending his time here with his family?”

“Because he wouldn’t be happier, damn it!” He snapped and instantly regretted it when Maggie’s face fell. “Maggie —”

“Save it. I know what you meant. Look, do you think I like being the cause of this tension between the two of you. I know you miss him and that it’s hurting you when he deliberately keeps himself away like this. Dante is my family, too, and I want him to be happy. It tears me apart to see the sadness in your eyes when his name is mentioned. I hate seeing you like this and I don’t know what to do to fix it, so I thought...” She sighed. “If you really think he’ll have a problem with this dinner, I’ll call Montana and tell her not to come.”

Just then the doorbell rang. “I think it’s a bit too late for that.” GianMarco rolled his eyes.

“That’s odd, she’s early. Montana’s never early.” Maggie stood on tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. “Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

GianMarco’s cock jumped to attention. No matter how many times she touched him and in what manner, he always got horny. He loved her so much that it sometimes hurt to be away from her, even for only a few minutes. “I could never be angry at you. I just don’t want you to be disappointed if things don’t work out the way you want them to. Now, I think you had better go answer the door.” He brushed his knuckles against her cheek in a light caress, his heart swelling with love and his loins aching for her.

When Maggie turned around, he playfully swatted her on her generous backside. She stuck her tongue out at him. “If you keep it up, the door will never get answered.”

“Maybe that’s the idea.”

She seemed on the verge of walking back into his arms when the doorbell rang again. Maggie pouted. “I guess I’d better go get that.”

He watched her waddle down the hallway to the living room, knowing that if he even suggested answering the door, she’d yell at him. Since her pregnancy, GianMarco had barely let her out of his sight. Other than making love with him, he didn’t allow her to do anything strenuous, not letting her stay on her feet for more than a few minutes. She’d often get flustered with what she called his smothering, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want anything to happen to her or their child. Telling her to sit while he answered the door would probably have started an argument, so he allowed her this little victory but immediately regretted it when she released a blood-curdling scream.

“Maggie!” GianMarco raced into his living room in time to see two rogues trying to push their way into his home. Maggie pressed her body against the door, but he knew she wouldn’t be able to hold them off for very long.

His incisors descended and his fingers transformed to sharp talons. How had he not sensed their presence? He ran to the door to help hold them off. “Maggie, get back! I’ll take care of them.”

By now, however, the rogues had kicked the door forward, sending Maggie stumbling back. She landed squarely on her bottom. “Hide, Maggie!”

GianMarco flew at the closest rogue. Rage filled him. Rogues had broken into his home and threatened his wife and unborn child. They would die tonight.

He slammed the first red-eyed vampire against the wall, bending his head to rip a chunk from his throat. Blood spurted out of the wound he’d created, splashing him in the face. Just as he was about to take another piece from his opponent’s neck, the second rogue gripped him by the hair, yanking so hard he felt his neck snap.

“GianMarco!” came Maggie’s horrified scream.

“Run away, Maggie! Run, baby!”

“I’m not going to leave you,” she cried.

“Foolish woman,” he muttered as his body was picked up and tossed into the air. He went crashing to the floor. He was in excruciating pain, but it would take precious minutes before he would heal properly. He couldn’t afford to wait; he had to protect Maggie. He had to act now.

GianMarco sprang to his feet, his head drooping because the bones in his neck were fractured. His heart stopped at the sight that greeted him. While she struggled valiantly, one rogue had Maggie by the hair, a hand wrapped around her neck. Maggie, as a relatively new vampire, had no hope of matching the rogue’s strength. The second rogue, the one who had thrown him on floor, delivered a blow to the side of her face. She cried out but to her credit she was about to deliver a hard kick to her assailant’s stomach.

Racing forward, GianMarco attacked the rogue, who looked as if he were about to strike Maggie again, and wrestled him to the floor. He punched his enemy in the face with all his might. Sharp claws tore into GianMarco’s face, but he was too filled with rage to feel the pain. That this motherfucker had dared to harm his mate, there was absolutely no way he’d allow him to live. Channeling every ounce of strength he had, GianMarco gripped the rogue by the hair and pounded his head into the floor over and over again, hearing the sound of a cracking skull.

He stole a quick glance at the rogue holding Maggie and was surprised to see that she’d somehow managed to get out of his grip. She was actually raining blows over the rogue’s head.

His temporary distraction cost him, because the rogue beneath him rammed his fist into GianMarco’s face. His grip on his adversary’s hair loosened and he felt a knee to his stomach, which knocked the breath out of him. These rogues were extraordinary. Their strength was unbelievable and he’d only seen these glowing red eyes once before. Holy shit, they were the same kind as those rogues from the nightclub months before!

GianMarco heard a loud thud and his heart fell when Maggie’s body collapsed next to his. No! No! No! Not again! Damn it, no! If there was truly a God, He wouldn’t allow this to happen to him a second time.

To his relief she stirred, but she’d lost a lot of color. To his horror, he saw bones poking out of her skin. Letting out a primal howl, he jumped to his feet, pulling his rogue opponent off the floor. With all his strength, he flung his adversary into the other vampire, sending them both tumbling back. GianMarco would have charged them again, but another figure stood in the doorway.

“Dante!”

Dante’s steady cobalt gaze quickly surveyed the room before he transformed into battle mode. He didn’t speak, merely grabbed the closest rogue and pummeled him with his fists in a jackhammer motion. GianMarco charged the second vampire, his claws tearing through clothing, then gripping the rogue’s manhood and yanking it from the rogue’s body. The rogue howled, but GianMarco stuffed the vampire’s own balls into his mouth.

“Did you think you’d make it out of here alive after violating the sanctity of my home?” GianMarco was angrier than he’d ever been in his life. “You will die, but I’m going to make it as painful as possible.” With that, he ripped the rogue’s arms out of their sockets, then he tore into the vampire’s stomach, letting the contents spill out. He slammed the rogue into a wall and tore off a chunk of his face, all while enjoying the sounds of his screams.