Stephen (14 page)

“
Sir, there is someone here to see you.” Edward started to back away even before the man continued. “He said he is with the insurance company that holds the policy on your home, and spoke with you earlier. Where would you like for me to set him up?”

“
I don’t know, in here?” The man started out but turned back to him. He looked at the glass doors and then at the chair. Edward knew he had figured it out.

“
If you were to tell the man what is going on in this household, sir, she will kill you. Not easily, I would imagine. If I were you, I would only answer what he asks of you, and perhaps bring up your plan with the mistress when she next rises. It might…you may live a good deal longer.” Edward nodded. “Very good, sir. I’ll bring in coffee, shall I?”

After he left with the trolley of his lunch plates, Edward sat down. It wasn’t a threat. It was a way for him to get by without being killed. He wondered why the man had done it, but didn’t care. Edward would do just what the butler had said and then figure out a way to tell Velvet his plan without making himself look desperate. He had no idea if he could pull it off, but it was his only hope.

As soon as Cantor Shill came into the room, Edward felt the need to tell him everything, but all he did was sit down and go over the papers. It seemed that the house fire was under investigation, and it would be a while before he was paid.

“
I understand. I don’t know what happened, as I’ve been staying with my friends for a few days, but—”

“
A weight loss guru, right?” Edward looked at him. He was confused by the question. “You look like you’ve dropped about eighty pounds. I don’t know what this guy is doing for you, but you’re looking a little…well, I’d not lose much more if I were you. You’re going to get ill. I mean, you needed to lose the weight but, damn, you are too thin if you ask me.”

“
I’ve been…I’m working on getting in better shape.” Edward felt a burble of laughter catch in his throat. Yeah, he thought to himself, I’m working on getting dead is what I’m doing. He wanted to tell the adjustor that being butt fucked by an Amazon while sucking off some vampire’s pussy was an amazing weight loss program, if you could stand to have them biting you and drinking you dry on a daily basis.

Edward was making notes after Shill left. The money mattered little to him at the moment. In fact, he figured he had a good deal stashed away if he wanted to simply build again. But he was more concerned with living until tomorrow. He was going over his notes when Velvet came into the room. For once she was alone.

“
I’ve got an idea.” She sat down across from him and stared at him. He’d seen this look before on her. It said she was going to hurt him if he didn’t get to the point. “I can have Silva come here, but I need to go and get his mate first.”

“
Mate? Silva has a mate?” She perked up, and Edward had a moment to wonder if he’d been wrong about this mate business and it wasn’t just some fuck buddy he’d found. “That’s rich. He didn’t smell like he’d found any female when I was at his place of business. This is great. What do you need?”

“
His mate is my stepdaughter. If I could go and get her, bring her here, I think he’d come here to get her.” Velvet started nodding even before he finished. “She doesn’t like me overly much, but that won’t be a problem if I can kidnap her. She owes me anyway.”

“
You’ll take a few wolves I know. They’ll know that you’re in charge, and if need be, they’ll simply tear her up a little to make her easier to subdue.” Edward liked the idea. He thought he’d pay real money to see Kelley eaten by a pack of wolves. “When do you want to do this? I’d like to be around, but I know that she’s more than likely human, so you’ll need to take her during the day.”

They planned for another hour before she stripped down to her bare skin and crawled up on his lap just as Ted came into the room. As much as he hated what was going to happen next, he hated it more that his cock was hard as stone, and his mouth was watering for another taste of either of them. Edward would gladly have put a gun to his head at that moment.

Chapter 8

Stephen was sick of walking around as if the house where a bomb and the slightest sound would make it go off. He moved into the kitchen to see if he could find Clarice, but all that was in the room was Kasen. He didn’t look any happier than Stephen felt.

“
She is out of doors with Master Vinnie. They have been out there for over an hour.” Stephen started to the door, only to stop when Kasen said his name. “Sire, may I be so bold as to ask you what you are going to do once you go out there?”

“
I suppose whatever I was planning will piss you and her off, so why don’t you tell me what I should do?” He hated himself as soon as the words left his mouth. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a real bastard for the past several days and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“
I’m sure you do.” Stephen waited for him to say more, and when he didn’t immediately, he looked out the door to see that Vinnie was talking to her and pointing to the trees. He looked up and saw a beautiful hawk there and wondered if it was their friend, Hawk. When the bird came down and landed on Vinnie’s arm, he figured it wasn’t. Hawk was a great man, but he didn’t do tricks. When Kasen cleared his throat, Stephen spoke first.

“
She hates me, you know. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a vampire, or simply because of who I am. Not that I blame her. I’ve not been the most friendly guy before she came along, and I’ve not changed all that much since she’s been here.” Stephen watched her back away from Vinnie when he seemed to get a little too close, if you could call five or six feet too close. “I guess I should be happy I’m not the only one she’s afraid of.”

“
She’s not afraid of you, my lord, but I do believe she is afraid.” He looked at Kasen. “Watch her. The faeries that are there are not touching her either. It is as if they too can sense that she is a bit…”

“
Standoffish?” Kasen shook his head and watched her for a few more minutes with him. She did seem to avoid touch, completely. When Leith landed on her shoulder, Clarice picked her up and set her on a nearby bush. “Why is she like that?”

“
I have heard from Master Samuel that she has lived alone for a number of years. And before that, her stepfather had been abusive toward her.” Stephen nodded but watched Clarice as she backed away from Vinnie when he shifted again. “Perhaps she has forgotten how to let anyone close to her; mayhap she is…sire, I do believe the girl is lonely.”

He looked at his long-time day walker and thought he was kidding. There had been any number of people in and out of his house since he’d brought her there, and most of them looked at him as if he were carrying a disease or something. Even Kennedy had been a little short with him. Of course, that could have been because he’d growled at her for being there in the first place. Stephen looked back at Clarice and thought of what Kasen had said.

Lonely. Okay, if you were afraid of someone finding you all the time, he knew that you’d sort of become a recluse. Even a hermit, maybe. He’d been one until recently, and still caught himself hiding away in his home rather than be around people. She’d been in a cave for the better part of a year too, with no friends, and as far as he could tell, no job either. He knew that she’d been in the diner, but then she’d not sat at the bar but at a table close to the door to make a quick escape. Stephen thought Kasen could be onto something.

“
What do I do?” Kasen laughed a little and Stephen turned to look at him. “She’s my mate and I have no idea what to do with her. She’s…I want her. More than I have ever wanted a woman before, but she keeps…”

He wasn’t going to tell his manservant that his mate wouldn’t have sex with him. There were just some things that he had to keep to himself. But even though he kept his mouth shut, Stephen knew that Kasen knew everything.

“
You should take her out. To dinner.” He looked at him again. “You do not have to have a meal, sire, but you could take her out. Maybe for a pizza or even to a burger place. I know that she enjoys them. She requested I purchase the items to make them just yesterday. And I have refused her money, before you ask me.”

“
She tried to buy her own food?” Kasen nodded. “I can afford to buy her whatever she wants. I’ve more money than…Christ, I have more money than I know what to do with.”

“
Yet she wears your castoffs.” Stephen looked at her shirt and pants. The shirt she had on he thought had been tossed to the rag pile some months ago. And the pants…well, he was sure he’d never owned them. He only ever wore dress pants and silk shirts. A suit and tie was his natural state of dress whenever he left the house, and sometimes when he was working from home. Looking at Kasen again, Stephen realized that he was dressed better than his mate. And he’d only just realized she was not wearing a coat either.

“
Could you call Kennedy and Gab for me? And Thor too. I’m not sure she knows all that much about fashion, but she might know something.” Kasen nodded and asked when. “I guess tomorrow.”

“
Perhaps it would be best if you talked it over with her ladyship and see when would be good for her.” Stephen nodded. Yeah, that was another thing she’d argued with him about. He was forever bossing her around. “I will make the calls, sire, when you have spoken to her ladyship.”

“
Good.” Stephen started out the door again and looked back. “You’ve probably saved me from making an ass of myself.”

“
It’s what I live for, sire. And you’ve been doing such a good job of it lately that I thought you’d need a break.” Stephen was out the door when it occurred to him that he’d just been insulted. But instead of being pissed about it, he laughed. Kasen was a good deal slicker than he’d ever thought him to be.

Clarice turned to look at him when he was nearly to her. Stephen looked at her in a different light now. She wasn’t just getting away from him, he thought, but people in general. Vinnie pulled him in for a big hug, which he returned. They had been friends for a very long time.

“
I thought you were with Hawk.” Vinnie laughed and shook his head at his statement. “The pretty hawk there, do you know if she has a nest about or at least close by?”

“
Close, and yes, a nest. Hawk and I have been helping her out. Her mate was killed a few weeks ago, and she had four chicks.” Stephen noticed that Clarice moved away from him when he took a step toward her. He wanted to tell her he’d never harm her, but knew that it would just piss her off again. Instead he ran his finger down her arm before moving away again. He’d show her in small doses if he had to. “Did Vinnie tell you he is a dragon?”

“
He did. He said someday he’d give me a ride.” She lifted her chin as she glared at him. “He said I’d need your permission first, and I told him you didn’t own me.”

“
I don’t. I would ask that you let me know if you go on a ride, but you can go when you want.” She looked confused, and he didn’t blame her. It was a lot easier than he’d thought it would be to not be a bastard. He just hoped he could keep it up for her. “I’d like to talk to you about something later if you don’t mind?”

“
Tell me something or talk
at
me?” Vinnie laughed, and she flushed. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me in front of your friend.”

“
So, it’s okay if you’re rude to me in private?” He smiled to try and take the bite out of what he’d said. “I think we’ve both been rude to each other, and I’m mostly to blame.”

“
I’m not going to disagree with you, but I should just learn to keep my mouth shut.” Vinnie laughed again. Clarice looked at him. “When you find your mate, will you treat her as an object as he does, or will you give her as much compassion as you do your animals?”

“
I’m not going to find my mate. Even if she’s out there, which I’m not saying she is, but I think she’d take one look at me and my beast and run for the hills. I certainly would.” Clarice looked at him, then at Vinnie again. He could tell what she was thinking. That they were alike. The difference was, he’d found his mate and she hated him. Vinnie’s was still to come.

After another ten minutes or so, Vinnie’s phone went off and he said he had to go. There was a project that was giving him fits and he was trying to work it out. After he left, Clarice started for the house and he stopped her.

“
Do you have a coat you can put on?” She shook her head, and he took off his jacket. “I don’t really need it, but I’d like to show you something on the other end of the property. It’s not far, but it’s cold.”