Romeo (Blood Brothers) (7 page)

Romeo felt the tension slowly leaving his body. He couldn’t imagine the caliber of fool who’d let someone like Christine go. “What happened?”

Her lips twisted as though she’d just tasted something bitter. “He left me for a whole woman.”

Romeo crinkled his forehead in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can’t have children of my own and he couldn’t stand the idea of adoption or as he put it, raising someone else’s children.” Christine shrugged with a nonchalance that surprised him. Not every woman wished to be encumbered with kids but Christine seemed like the warm-hearted type who would enjoy little ones.

Romeo examined her closely, searching her face for signs of sadness, but found none. “You seem to be taking it rather well.”

“It was five years ago and, trust me, it hurts a lot less now than it did then. Besides, I think I fell out of love with Rick a long time before he left me. It’s hard to stay in love with someone who thinks the world revolves around him.”

“He wasn’t worthy of you. While I’m sure most people believe that children are a natural extension of marriage, if the foundation between a man and woman isn’t strong enough, children will only make things worse.”

Christine shot him a surprised look. “Very well put. You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“Like I said, I’ve lived a long time and have met many people and experienced many things.”

“Have you...have you ever thought of settling down like your brothers?”

“Hell, no!” Romeo regretted those words the second they left his mouth when he saw Christine wince. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. If that’s how you feel, then at least you’re honest.”

“But what I’m trying to say is—”

Christine shook her head. “There’s no need to explain. Let’s just enjoy the time we have together, okay?”

Romeo nodded his head, still feeling a little uneasy about how his statement might have come across. An awkward silence fell between them as they both resumed eating. He wasn’t particularly hungry anymore and only ate half the contents on his plate. He finally pushed it away.

“Now, it’s your turn. Do you have any family? Mother, father, siblings?”

“Well, my birth parents died thirty-two years ago when I was three. My father was a doctor and he came over from China to set up a practice in this country so he could provide a better future for my mother and me. I was two when he sent for us. From what I remember, life was good, but one night, the house caught on fire. You see, my dad was a heavy smoker; he’d fallen asleep with a cigarette in his mouth. He got caught in the flames and died. My mother got me out of the house, but just barely. She died that night of smoke asphyxiation.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Like you, it’s been a long time, and sometimes I can’t even remember what they looked like.”

“You were born in China, but Christine sounds Western.”

“I was adopted at four and my name was changed. My original name is Li Mei.”

“Beautiful Plum Blossom. It suits you.”

“You speak Mandarin?”

“I speak many languages.” He broke into a stream of Mandarin.

Christine laughed. “Whoa. You’re going much too fast for me. My Chinese language skills are basic at best. I haven’t spoken it in so long I’ve forgotten most of it.”

Romeo grinned. “Terrible with languages, are you?”

“Awful.”

Maybe I’ll have to teach you.”

“Maybe.” Christine wiggled her dark brows at him. “I think your grasp of languages is pretty amazing.”

“When you’ve lived as long as I have, you pick up a lot of things.”

“But I’m guessing by your name, you’re Italian.”

“One hundred percent.”

“Your accent is so faint, it’s indistinguishable.”

“Unlike my brothers who spent the first few centuries of their lives based in our native country, I began traveling as soon as I was able to fend for myself. I’m a bit of nomad which is how I learned a lot of different languages so early in life.”

“The brothers you mention, are they as adept at picking up other languages as you?”

“Yes, although they speak Italian more often than I do. I only use it when I have to.”

“Your family sounds fascinating.”

Romeo laughed. “Only if you haven’t met him. What about your family. You didn’t mention your adoptive parents.”

“There’s not much to say. Although I’m grateful that they took me into their home, I never really felt like a part of their household, especially when they had a child of their own. I was good enough for them when they thought they couldn’t have any, but when they finally conceived and had their own... Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad people and I never wanted for anything, but they just loved their own child a lot more and showed it in many ways.”

“How?”

Christine shrugged. “They weren’t unkind intentionally but whenever we’d go out, they’d introduce my brother to other people and forget about me. They’d remember me only as an afterthought. I’d get second hand toys while my brother got the best and most expensive gifts. They threw the most elaborate birthday parties for him while I was lucky to get a happy birthday. It was a lot of little things.”

Romeo was upset on her behalf. How could people treat children like that? It still amazed him that someone could go through as much as Christine, and yet have such an innate goodness shine through.

“Hey, Romeo, heads up!”

He looked up only to get a face full of French toast. It stuck to his cheek and Christine began to cackle like a loon.

“What was that for?”

“Haven’t you ever had a food fight?” She took her fork and flicked scrambled eggs at him. This time he ducked, laughing. Peeling the toast from his face, he flung it back at her, his vampire reflexes not allowing her enough time to get out of the way. It caught her in the chest. A knock-down, drag-out food fight ensued.

Breakfast remains flew across the table, some of it barely missing him. Romeo got in a couple of good licks, taking care not to hurt her by unleashing his full strength. By the time there was nothing left to fling, they had both fallen to the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

Romeo couldn’t remember a time when he’d had so much fun with a woman outside of bed. He looked at her, taking in the beauty of her delicate features now animated with merriment. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“What?” Christine grinned at him.

“We’re going to have to take another shower.”

“Are you just trying to get me naked again?”

“You read me so well, my dear.”

Chapter Eight

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Romeo was supposed to take care of this and I can’t get a hold of him.”

Nico patted Dante on the shoulder. “Calm down, Dante. He’s already taken care of three Council members. There are only two more... three, if you count Locke. He’s been at this for the last two months. You know just as well as the rest of us how difficult it is to track Council members when they don’t want to be found.”

Dante growled in frustration. “He said he was going to the States for a week; he didn’t say he would be incommunicado.”

“You know Ro, he’ll get the job done,” Nico reassured him.

Dante slammed his fist in his palm. “And in the meantime, more innocent people will die. I gave him a job to do and because he decided to take some time off, people are dead.”

“Whoa! You’re not being fair.”

“Fuck being fair! Do you realize how difficult it was to keep those reporters away? We won’t be able to keep this undercover for very long. You should be pissed. Your mate and son are now lying in a hotel, exhausted because they were drained from the sheer amount of power they had to exert in order to cover up this mess.”

After communicating with the witch, Liliana, Dante and the others had flown to Warsaw. Just as he was getting off the plane, one of his agents had informed him of a massacre in the heart of the city. What they’d found was far worse than any of the scenes they’d come upon before. The victims were not only murdered, but they had been brutalized and mutilated. Some had even been devoured with only the remains of gnawed bones left behind.

And the stench was like nothing he’d ever smelled. It was a wonder that some hapless human hadn’t stumbled upon the scene. The cleanup effort had almost turned his stomach. What kind of sick bastards could do this to innocent people even if they were trying to rid the world of humans? The other question was how did the witch know this would happen?

A psychic occurrence possibly could explain it away, but if Liliana knew about this, why hadn’t she done something to stop it? But then, although she’d denied it, wasn’t she also the one who’d set up him and Marco in the London club to be taken out by a couple of rogues?

None of this made sense and he was no closer to the mysterious Adonis than he had been before. He silently cursed in frustration. Ivan’s last words had also worried him. How was it possible that they had two brothers he knew nothing about? His parents had had no other children after Marco. If it were true, they had to be older. He wondered at the circumstances of their births. Why had Mama and Papa never mentioned them?

“Even if Ro was on the job right now, it wouldn’t guarantee that this wouldn’t have occurred,” Nico said

“And maybe it would have.”

“For all we know, the Council might not be behind these deaths. Perhaps, Ivan was mistaken. Sasha said her father was near death when he mentioned the Council’s involvement.”

Dante grew angrier as he remembered the warlock’s confession. Ivan Romanov was not only powerful before his death, but he had had many powerful allies as well. It had been no secret that he’d backed the Council in all their decisions. Ivan had had no reason to lie about their involvement in this diabolical plot.

Dante folded his arms over his chest. “And if you believe that the Council is innocent, you’re being damn naïve.”

Nico gave him a long, searching look, annoyance flashing in the amber depths of his eyes. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into you lately, but you’d better get over it quickly before you alienate everyone.”

“What,” Dante began through clenched teeth, “Are you trying to say?”

“I’m not trying to say anything. I believe I just said it. You’ve been acting like a dictator these past few months and some members of the Underground have mentioned it.”

Dante froze. He’s always made it clear to anyone in his organization that they could come to him if they had any issues, be it with a mission or with him. To learn that the agents he trusted were discussing him behind his back was disappointing. “What have they said?”

“That you’ve changed. And not for the good. They say, you have no patience and you’re short with everyone. Many are speculating what may have caused this change in you. Some even think you might be under some kind of spell of your own.”

“They need to mind their own god dammed business and I don’t put much store in things people can’t say to my face.”

“This! This is exactly what I’m talking about!” Nico poked a finger against Dante’s chest. “So since you don’t care to have people talk behind your back, I’m telling you straight to your face to stop being such an asshole. You know damn well that we all work our asses off for you and God knows, it’s not for the money. Most of these men could buy and sell Bill Gates ten times over, but they do it for a common goal. We all want to eradicate the rogue threat. Marco, Romeo and I have been with you from the beginning and we’ve put up with a lot of your shit without complaint. Don’t make this harder for us than it already is.”

Nico’s words were hard to swallow, but Dante knew there was more than a kernel of truth there, too. He, however, wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable. “Are you saying the threat to our family means nothing to you?”

“Of course I’m not. You’re deliberately twisting my words. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here. If Maggie weren’t in a delicate condition, Marco would be here as well and you damn well know it.”

At the mention of Marco and his wife, Dante ground his teeth together. “So where is Romeo? Let me guess. He’s probably in some bar causing trouble or with some whore. I guess I should have known better than to trust him with so important a mission. I suppose if I wanted things done right, I should have done them myself.”

Nico’s amber eyes began to glow and Dante knew he’d gone too far.

“I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“Then why the fuck did you say it?”

“I don’t know... I just... I didn’t think.”

“Damn right, you didn’t. Look, you can stand here like a jackass, if you want, but I’m going to the hotel to be with my mate and son.”

Dante closed his eyes in despair. Had the stress gotten to him so much that he could no longer control his emotions? He realized in that moment he didn’t want to create an issue with yet another of his brothers. When his brother turned to walk away, Dante called to him. “Nico! Listen, you’ve got to know, no one is more important to me than you and our brothers. I love you all.”

Nico’s face remained stony. “Then start acting like it.” With that, Nico stormed away.

Dante leaned against the stone wall of the abandoned building. He felt like crying, but tears were not a luxury he’d indulged in since childhood. Nico was absolutely correct, of course. He
was
being an asshole and the last thing he needed or could afford was to lose the respect and love of those around him. If only he could figure out why he was still having these feelings for Maggie, then perhaps he wouldn’t be so short with everyone, especially when they didn’t deserve it.

His cell phone rang. He answered it straight away without checking for the identity of the caller. “Dante here.”

“It’s me.”

“Where the hell have you been, Romeo? I left several messages on your phone. You should at least have the courtesy to return my calls in a timely fashion.”

“I’m not calling to be lectured. I just wanted to let you know that Wolf and I are flying to Buenos Aires in the morning. I believe Pierre Renault has a summer home there.”

Pierre Renault was the number three man on the Council, a centuries-old warlock who was also a tight ally of Devlin Locke’s, the current head of the Council and Dante’s personal nemesis.

Dante bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying what was really on his mind. He silently counted to five before speaking. “Are you certain of this?”

“I’m pretty sure. Wolf received some tips and we’re going to head down there.”

“Wolf received the tips? Where. Were. You?”

“I spent time with a friend.”

“A lady friend, I suppose?” Dante gritted his teeth, gripping his phone even more tightly.

“And if I was?”

“While you were fucking some bimbo, another incident occurred in Poland.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. “First off, I’ve done what you’ve asked. Half the Council members have been taken care of. Who knows when they’ll begin sending people after me? Second, I’ve spent the last two months eating, sleeping, and breathing this mission, so you don’t get to fucking imply that I haven’t been doing my duty. You’ll just have to forgive me for taking a few days off to unwind so I don’t end up a nut job like you. I’m hanging up now. I neither have the time nor inclination for this shit. I’ll check in when I get to Argentina.”

Before Dante could respond, the phone clicked off. He’d done it again. Fuck! His usually easygoing brother had nearly raised his voice at him. Dante cursed himself yet again for being such fool.

<><><>

Christine bent her neck, letting the water beat down on her head. Romeo had said he needed to make a call and would join her shortly, so she wondered what was taking him so long. She shivered in anticipation at the thought of him taking her in the shower again, just as he had earlier that morning.

She didn’t know what had made her start a food fight, but she’d felt so at ease with him that it never occurred to her that Romeo wouldn’t like it. Rick hadn’t been the laughing and joking around type. There had been little humor in their marriage, so it felt good to be around someone who didn’t take himself so seriously.

Christine had dated men with a sense of humor before, but Romeo made her smile without even trying. Although they’d known each other for only two days, she was starting to have feelings for him. When they made love, laughed with each other, and just talked, she could easily imagine a future with him. That was something she couldn’t afford to do. If her heart got involved, it would be harder to turn him away after a while.

It wasn’t as though he’d want to stick around anyway, but just in case, Christine knew she had to tread carefully. Why did life have to throw so many curve balls when you were going for the home run record? It just wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t she have met him years ago? Things would have been different then.

Her vision became cloudy, but it wasn’t because of tears. It was from the shower spray. At least that’s what she made herself believe. She rested her head against the shower stall, glad that the water covered her misery.

The next thing she knew, she was urgently pulled back against a muscular frame. Christine gasped when she felt firm, determined hands dip between her thighs and strong masculine fingers began to tweak her clit.

Her breath caught in her throat. “Romeo.” His free hand circled her throat and his lips slid up and down the side of her cheek, hot against her already heated skin. A burning ache built up in the pit of her belly and spread through every vein of her body.

Romeo’s tongue grazed her neck and Christine thought her knees would give out on her. His caresses were rough and hurried, as though he was driven by a force he couldn’t control, but she loved it.

She moved against his hands as his fingers probed her pussy so deliciously. Romeo’s cock pressed against her backside, sliding against the crack between her cheeks. Christine leaned into him, her arms coming up to reach around his neck.

“You feel so damn good, Christine. Just know that this is more than sex,” he whispered.

She wasn’t sure what he meant by that but his words filled her with a joy she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“It means more to me, too.” She sighed with pleasure.

The hand that had been caressing her throat dropped to one sensitive breast as he continued to play with her pussy, rubbing the talented digits along the length of her slit. “Please put your fingers inside of me,” she pleaded.

“How badly do you want my fingers inside your cunt, sweetheart?”

“Very badly,” she moaned. “Don’t torture me.”

“As if I could deny you anything.” He teased her by sliding one long digit into her channel.

“More!”

“More?” She could hear the smile in his voice.

“More,” Christine demanded again, bringing her arms down and gripping his hand, forcing another of his fingers inside her.

He chuckled. “You
do
want it bad, don’t you?” His grip tightened on her breast. She was on the verge of absolutely losing it as he continued to work her body like a finely tuned instrument. Romeo finger-fucked her with quick, skilled thrusts, making her pant for air.

Christine reached behind her and wrapped her fingers around his cock, sliding her hand over the slick rod, her pace matching the rhythm of his hand.

When he thrust his fingers into her cunt, she squeezed him harder, this mutual giving of pleasure driving her even closer to nirvana. Just when she didn’t think she could take anymore, in one synchronized motion, Romeo removed his fingers from her, turned her around, set her against the shower stall, and lifted one of her thighs, pushing his dick into her eagerly waiting pussy.

All she could do was gasp in surprise and pleasure. Even though they’d already fucked more times than she could remember, his size was still something she was getting used to. It made her ache a bit, but it was a good kind of ache. She loved the way his cock stretched her vaginal walls so deliciously.

The sheer power evidenced in his thrusts triggered a primal feeling within her to be taken and claimed by him. How she wanted this man and every inch of his wonderful vampire cock. “Yes, Romeo! Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!” Her voice grew louder with every word. Christine grasped his shoulders to steady herself, her fingers gripping his flesh, and her legs wrapping around his steadily thrusting hips.

The water grew cooler with each minute that passed, but Christine barely noticed. She was kept warm from Romeo’s skin pressing against hers. He bent his head and kissed her. “Beautiful, just beautiful. Let me taste you, Christine. Trust me.”

Christine couldn’t deny him, though her body began to shake; she tilted her head back in silent consent.

“Relax, sweetheart.”

She closed her eyes against the glowing of Romeo’s cobalt eyes. Holding her breath, she prepared herself to feel the sting of his bite, but what she felt when his incisors pierced the tender skin of her neck was like no other sensation she’d ever experienced.

His feeding from her created such a head rush that she was close to passing out with pleasure. His cock continued to work in and out of her. Her nails dug deeper into his shoulders, breaking skin, but she couldn’t help herself and Romeo didn’t seem to mind.

A torrid wave of lust rocked her body, guiding her to a mind-blowing peak. Her hands fell away from his shoulders. Feeling weak, Christine leaned back against the wall. Romeo finally lifted his head, a drop of her blood stained the corner of his mouth.

She never knew that a vampire’s bite could be so pleasurable. It took another couple of powerful thrusts before Romeo reached his own orgasm, the semen pulsing up inside her.

He stayed inside of her while he placed kisses on her face and throat. Christine felt safe and treasured in Romeo’s arms and didn’t want the moment to end, but like most good things she knew it had to.

Romeo grabbed a nearby washcloth and rubbed it over her body. The rag felt good against her burning skin. “That was amazing,” she sighed when his semi-erect penis slid out of her.

“You’re amazing.” Romeo turned the water off before lifting her in his arms and stepping out of the shower.

“We’re still wet. Shouldn’t we dry off first?” She murmured against his chest.

“Why? You’re just going to get wet again when I lick every delectable inch of your body.”

Christine smiled. “Promise?”

Chapter Nine

Christine could barely open her eyes her head hurt so much. The throbbing ache of her skull was even worse than usual. It was times like this when she wished she were dead. Trying not to make any sudden movements lest she cause herself more pain, she rolled over slowly and reached for her nightstand drawer. She pulled out her bottle of tablets and, not caring that she didn’t have any water, Christine swallowed the two pills carefully, then lay back on the bed with her eyes tightly shut.

It could partially have been due to waking up in the middle of the night to find Romeo gone. He hadn’t even left a note. She had realized that their arrangement would only be for a few days, but she hadn’t expected him to leave so abruptly, without so much as a goodbye.

She placed a hand over her head and one on her chest. She wasn’t sure which part of her hurt more. When she’d seen him walking toward her in the club, she should have run away and never looked back. Foolishly, Christine had let her guard down, and in the very brief time they’d spent together, Romeo had touched something within her that she thought was long gone.

Damn him! I’ll just have to forget about him, pretend nothing happened.
Perhaps when her head felt better, she’d go to the group home downtown she’d volunteered at off and on over the past few years. It was a place for children in the foster care system who were hard to place. Since she’d already called in sick for the day, there was no point in sitting around the house moping. That would be the worst thing she could do. Besides, she sincerely doubted that Romeo was thinking about her, wherever he was.