The Turning (9 page)

“Well shit,” I hissed. This really was a pickle. We finished putting on our street clothes and met outside the dressing room. “Nicole, you okay with this?”

“Hell ya, if I get to keep the dress,” she exclaimed, immediately perking back up.

“Kevin, what did you think of our choices?” I had almost forgotten he was there. “Did we do good?”

“You both looked amazing. I would be honored to have either one of you on my arm at any time. Though I am pretty sure my wife would then divorce me. But, your escorts tonight are very lucky men,” he said with that big grin. Wow, he wasn’t lying either! After I signed the slip that I received two dresses, worth almost ten thousand dollars, I had to remind myself to breathe as Kevin took the bags and opened the car door for us.

“One more stop,” he informed us after we pulled away from the curb.

“What else is left? Pick out what plastic surgery we want before tonight?” Nicole rolled her eyes. She might have been the only person who was a bigger smart ass than me. After a very short time, the car stopped.

“This is it? What is this place?” I looked around as we got out of the car, not waiting for him to open the door for us. Kevin shook his head at us and chuckled. I guess we weren’t his typical clients. Nicole and I glanced at each other for a second, turned back to Kevin and shrugged. What was there really to say? Instead we all made our way up the front steps and to the building.

“This is Mr. Grady’s corporate headquarters. It’s right here in Chicago, since he spends most of his time here,” Kevin explained as he opened the door to the building for us. He had our dresses in hand, which seemed odd to me. Unless maybe we were giving Brian a preview? I would have thought Brian would have mentioned that to me if it was part of the plan. But he punched the button for the thirty-seventh floor before I could ask, so I didn’t ask because we were going to find out soon enough.

“Does Brian own the whole building?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer.

“Yes, he does. But his offices are just the top half of the building. The rest are rented out to other companies.” The elevator dinged and Kevin seemed relieved I couldn’t grill him anymore. Poor guy. “Ah, here we are. Ladies, watch your step.”

We got off the elevator and I froze. After everything today, I didn’t think anything could surprise me. I was wrong. The big metal doors all around me and the two men with machine guns were very surprising.

“Kelly, it’s okay,” Kevin said gently as he stepped forward, trying to reassure me. “These are Mr. Grady’s vaults.”

“Oh well that makes perfect sense, of course,” I answered, glancing at him like he’d grown a second head. “Why the hell are we here? Are we going to try and steal something in sweats?”

Kevin snickered at my rant, but we just kept walking up to one of the guys. The guard swiped a card he had and put in some code, then the metal vault door groaned opened.

“
Holy shit
!” Nicole and I gasped together.

This vault was filled with jewelry… It was everywhere, locked behind cases. There were floor to ceiling lighted display cases with motion sensors. So as we stepped forward, the closest cases lit up.

It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen.

“Mr. Grady said to choose whatever you would want to wear for the evening, and he would be glad to loan it to you,” Kevin assured us. “Don’t worry. I had the same reaction the first time I was in here too.”

Nicole just looked around. “Damn, Kel, I know you haven’t dated in a long time. But I can tell you, this is not normally how it goes.” She rolled her neck even as she couldn’t seem to figure out what to do with her hands. Yeah, I felt the same, but we were also running out of time.

We looked through the jewelry pretty quickly. Nicole chose a ruby and diamond tennis bracelet with matching earrings. I picked a simple diamond necklace that had a trail of diamonds that would stop right above my cleavage, and the matching earrings. They weren’t heavy and looked very elegant. I felt bad that Kevin toted our dresses up so we could have them to match jewelry choices to, but red was red and diamonds went with everything.

We walked out of the vault into the elevator in silence, and back down to the car the same way. Next thing I knew Kevin opened the door in front of my place, and like zombies, Nicole and I got out and followed him up to my apartment. He walked in behind us after I unlocked and opened the door, hung up our dresses, and left the jewelry boxes on the shelf next to the racks.

“Ladies, enjoy your evening, remember to just breathe. Mr. Grady and his driver will be here at six sharp to pick you up. I will see you both soon, if you need anything, please let me know,” Kevin said as he was walking out the door. We both thanked him, and he closed it behind him.

“Wow, Nicole, I’m almost ready for bed after all this.” I let out a huge breath. And even I could hear the exhaustion in my voice.

She came and gave me a hug. “I know, Kelly, it is a lot. But he obviously did this out of the goodness of his heart, just keep telling yourself that. I’m going to use the bathroom before we get dressed. Can I borrow one of your new lingerie sets? What I wore won’t, well, work with this dress.”

“Of course, Nic, go right ahead.”

She walked to the bathroom. Deciding I should have some blood quickly while she was in there, I drank two pints in a flash and grabbed two red bulls. One I emptied out about half, and went to give the full one to Nicole. She was just walking out of the bathroom when I walked over and handed it to her.

“Thanks, Kelly, that’s a good idea. I was thinking a shot or two would help also. But this works,” she chuckled.

Her laughter was infectious, and soon I was doing it too. It helped a bit. I was almost out of my funk. I quickly used the bathroom and went back into the living room by Nicole where she was already pulling on her dress, smiling brightly. That did it, my exhaustion and pensive mood was gone, and I was excited again for tonight.

“It’s weird wearing your lingerie, especially since you haven’t worn it yet.”

“Then again, it might be weirder if I
had
worn them already. Let’s just say that set is my gift to you for passing your exams. I don’t think I need a bra, the bodice has one built in so all I need is panties.”

“Wear these, they are see-through silk. It will keep you feeling sexy,” Nicole coaxed with a devilish grin on her face.

I gaped at her as she dangled them from her hand. “Those aren’t panties. That’s floss!”

“Exactly. Do it. Just try something different, because tonight, you’re a princess.”

“Okay, but if I hurt later, I’m kicking you.” I rolled my eyes at her but couldn’t bite back a smirk. I pulled on my dress and then switched into the smallest silk thong I have ever seen. “Can you zip me up?” She did, and I fell in love with my dress all over again. “We have ten minutes to put on makeup and we’re all set. You excited?”

“Oh yeah,” she swore, with her eyes smiling at me. We worked on our makeup in silence and had just finished when we heard a knock on the door. “Shit, he’s here. I’m so excited to meet him.”

I calmly walked to the door and opened it. “Hi, Brian, you look handsome in your tux.” He stared at me as if his eyes were going to pop out of his head like a cartoon. “This is Nicole Thomas, my best friend.”

He turned and made a slight bow to Nicole. “My dear, you look delightful. Thank you so much for accompanying us tonight and going with Kelly today to the spa.”

“No, thank you,” she gushed when he grasped her hand to kiss it. “You are a very generous man. The spa was amazing, so is this dress, and I’m happy to come with you guys tonight. I am grateful for all of this and that makes me reluctant to say this, but I’m Kelly’s best friend, and it’s my responsibility. My girl here hasn’t dated much, and not in a long time, so I’m really glad you are treating her like royalty.

“That being said, you hurt her, and I will tear you apart and make your life a living hell. And with her dad being a cop, he would be more than willing to help me hide your body. Are we crystal clear?” Her tone had gone from light to dark so fast I hadn’t even seen that lecture coming.

“Shit, Nicole.” I gaped at her. “Brian ignore her, I’m—”

He cut me off midsentence. “Miss Thomas, we are completely clear. I promise I have nothing but honorable, tender feelings for Kelly. If I ever do injure her, I will turn myself in to you and Mr. Murphy to put my own head on the chopping block. You have my word.”

“Good, now that we’ve agreed and have that out of the way, let’s go enjoy our evening.” Nicole gave a satisfied nod as she walked towards the door.

“Do I get a say in this?” I criticized half pissed and half full of love for my friend. They both stared at me before chuckling. I couldn’t get over how they were acting. “I am standing right here.”

“Yes, you are. You look like a vision standing there. I have never seen a lovelier woman in all my life. I am almost afraid to touch you. That you might fade away, like the angel you are,” he testified as I looked into his eyes, and my annoyance melted. He gave me a soft kiss and seeing Nicole was already out in the hall, I let him lead me out the door. I locked it behind me and we headed out to the car.

“Brian, thank you for everything,” I hedged once we were in the car. “I’m not sure I’m worth all of this.”

“Of course you are!” Brian and Nicole exclaimed at the same time, but Brian continued, “I am a blessed, happy man that you even gave me a second look. I am also glad that your best friend also appreciates the amazing woman you are. I think Nicole and I are going to get along just fine.”

Nicole just smiled in agreement, and I sat there thinking about all the day’s events. How my life had changed almost overnight. When the car stopped, I snapped out of my daze and saw we were at the airport in front of a Learjet, which had to be Brian’s.

We got out and Nicole headed towards the plane while Brian put his hand on my arm to hold me back. “Kelly, my darling, are you all right?”

“Yes, I guess,” I whispered, but then realized I didn’t want to lie to him. Instead, I took a deep breath, which I didn’t really need to do anymore and tried to put what I felt into words. “It’s just, well, this is a lot to take in. I mean dealing with being a vampire, keeping secrets from my friends and family. Now I have a maker, who I slept with the same night I met. And today has been like a whirlwind. It’s been fun, but I’m a realist, and I can’t help thinking what this is going to cost me?”

“Nothing, Kelly, absolutely nothing. I did all this to show you how being a vampire can be, and how I feel about you. I am sorry if it was all too much too fast, but I did it because of my feelings for you. I can stop anytime and leave—”

This time I interrupted him. “Brian, I don’t want you to stop. And I appreciate all this, I just had to ask. I don’t know you, and I’ve known some shady people in my life. I just had to hear it from you.” To most there was no point in hearing it because if Brian
was
a bad guy he would just lie.

Except I wasn’t most and I would know if he was.

I turned his face towards mine, ignored that twice in one day I’d caused those broad shoulders to sag. He didn’t meet my eyes at first and he swallowed loudly when he did.

I gave him a deep kiss filled with the feelings I was starting to have for him. His pain melted off his face, and as I pulled away from him, I could see the smile replacing it. We walked hand in hand onto the plane. I had to start getting used to the changes in my life or they would overwhelm me.

I had never been in a private jet before and it was amazing. The plane took off perfectly and the captain came on over the loudspeaker. “We have clear skies all the way to Miami, with the wind behind us, and we should be landing around seven fifteen pm.”

Nicole sat towards the front of the plane, while we sat towards the back in a type of love seat. She chatted away with the flight attendant, totally oblivious to us. Brian leaned over to my ear. “Have you ever made love in an airplane? What do they call it, the mile high club?”

“No,” I drawled, seeing where this was going and leery of it.

“I’m going to get up now. Meet me in back in about two minutes,” Brian instructed with a great big smile.

“Excuse me?” I ground between my teeth.

His forehead wrinkled as he grimaced. “I want us to go in back and make love during the flight. I thought that was obvious.”

“I got that, Brian. I’m not some hooker you can just order to meet you in the back of the plane and put out. I’m not your mistress, and I won’t be bought, so if that’s your plan, then just turn the plane around and take me the fuck home. I won’t be your whore,” I hissed at him so I didn’t disturb Nicole or the flight attendant. Every part of my body was shaking, and I jumped up out of my seat.

Brian grabbed my arm so quick and so hard it hurt. “That is not what I meant and you should know that. I have never ordered a woman to have sex with me and I never will. I was just telling you something I wanted to do with you, hoping you would want to also. If you do not, fine, but I had hoped you would want to.”

His nostrils flared as his eyes went cold, hard even. He was so angry I thought his eyes would burn a hole in me. It didn’t even cross my mind not to piss off a vampire that was over four hundred years old—which was stupid.

And it seemed my prince had quite the Irish temper.

That makes two of us.
“Let go of me, or I will rip your head off and toss your body off the plane,” I growled through clenched teeth. “You’re hurting my arm, and I won’t be man-handled like this. I don’t care
who
you are.”

As soon as I told him he was hurting my arm, his face immediately changed and he released my arm. “Kelly, I am truly sorry. I did not mean to hurt you. I normally can control my temper better than that. I was just so insulted and hurt. Is your arm injured?”

When I rubbed it the pain wasn’t so bad anymore, and the bruise faded before our eyes. “It’ll be fine. Don’t ever touch me in anger again. Excuse me, I’m going to the bathroom.” I stormed off to the lavatory to cool off and think. Brian was right. I should have known what he meant. I completely overreacted. If a normal man that I had been dating had suggested sex on an airplane, I wouldn’t have yelled at him to not treat me like a whore. I sighed and knew what I had to do. I had to apologize to him.