Chapter 12
Twelve
Rafe stood in his office overlooking the dance floor at Blush, a drink forgotten in his hand as he watched the revelers gyrating, grinding, and generally having a great time.
Booze flowed like water over them, washing away inhibitions.
Gideon, in his cage suspended above the DJ booth, appeared to be happy as he moved to the music.
The freedom and abandon usually tempted Rafe to leave his office and mingle with his paying customers. To forget about worries and family duties for a few hours.
But tonight, he wasn’t tempted in the slightest. He wasn’t thinking about his family, though.
His mind was still going back to Philippe.
A passionate, graceful, and generous lover.
He’d artfully brought Rafe to climax twice, and he seemed to do it with such ease.
And then that smile when they lay in bed together.
Laughter dancing in those moss-green eyes as they watched him.
So happy and at peace. Lost to the moment.
And Rafe had stolen it away. Crushed out that light like a petulant child breaking a toy because he couldn’t have his way.
He couldn’t just be happy with the pleasure Philippe had given him.
But why had Philippe hidden himself from Rafe?
After the past several days, after getting fucking shot for Philippe, he thought something had grown between them. He thought Philippe trusted him.
Heels clacked loudly across the floor. Rafe didn’t need to turn to see that it was Lola entering his office. He’d felt her drawing closer from her usual spot near the bar. Ryder was still close to the entrance to the small backstage area and Gideon’s cage, his eyes trained on the partiers.
“Surprised to find you here,” she said by way of greeting.
He ignored her comment. He knew he’d been spending far more time with Philippe recently than dealing with the club or even his brothers. Lola knew where he’d been. She was just probing for details he didn’t want to share. “Any problems?”
Her heels were muffled on the soft, thick carpet in his office, but he could still hear her moving closer. “Nothing out of the ordinary. We have more vampires in this city who’ve never been to a Rafe Varik club, but they’ve been informed of the rules and consequences.”
Rafe turned his head enough to see her out of the corner of his eye.
She was in a skin-tight black top that seemed to reveal more than it covered.
Her black leather skirt stretched down to the ankles of her black boots but was slit up to midthigh, giving her freedom of movement.
Sexy as always. And lethal. “Has there been an incident?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but we’ve reduced the number of vamps allowed in the club at any time to fifteen instead of twenty.”
“Good.” Rafe turned his gaze back to the crowd below him. Lola didn’t need him to effectively run the club. She knew what to do. She had everything well in hand already.
“How goes things with the Arsenaults? Making progress?”
Rafe grunted and walked from the window to the desk.
There was a scattering of opened mail from his assistant.
Papers that he’d need to look over and sign.
Most things were automated at this point.
Humans hired to deal with the mundane bits of running a club.
He had no interest in dealing with any of it now.
“Rafe?”
He placed his glass on the desk with a loud thunk and looked up at Lola. “Not as much as anyone would like.”
“Do you need more help? Ryder and the rest of the security team have everything in hand here if you need me…”
Her offer brought the first smile to his lips since Philippe walked out of his penthouse two nights ago.
Lola was always there for him, ready to jump into any insanity he thought up.
Most of the time it was a bit of reckless fun and mischief, but she’d also been there when he’d run afoul of other vampires.
Always had his back, just like his brothers.
Lola with no clan to claim as her own. No people dedicated to watching over her.
Rafe’s head snapped up, and he narrowed his eyes on her. “You trust that I’m always there for you if you ever need help, right?” he demanded suddenly.
“What?”
“If you’re ever in trouble, you would come to me. You would look to me to help you, right?”
She stared at him a second, so many emotions flitting through her dark eyes before she finally nodded. “Yes. I know you’ve always got my back. Even if it’s my fault.”
“And if I’m not around, would you go to my brothers?”
Her pause was a little longer this time, but he had the feeling she was taking his question seriously. “If the matter was dire enough, I would. I think…I think they would help me. At the very least, Bel would argue to help me.”
Marcus and Winter might not fully understand Lola’s place in his life, but he knew Bel would understand. Bel would go to bat for her if he wasn’t around to push for his brothers’ support.
“What about Ryder and Gideon? Do you think they feel the same way?”
Lola’s brow furrowed and she frowned at him.
She shifted from one foot to the other as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sure they would come to you with a problem.
No doubt. But I don’t know about your brothers.
They’ve had far less interaction with them.
What’s this about? Did something happen with Arsenault? ”
Rafe shook his head. “No, it was just a random thought. Everything is fine.”
He said that, but it didn’t feel fine. He was sure he wasn’t going to feel fine until he finally saw Philippe, until he could look into his eyes and touch him.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he straightened.
The sight of Philippe’s name across the caller ID caused his heart to speed up.
“We’ll speak more later,” he said to Lola, who only rolled her eyes, understanding that she was being dismissed.
He waited for her to start toward the door before he answered the call.
“Philippe,” Rafe said, not caring that the man’s name came out in the form of a relieved sigh.
“We found Piper,” Philippe replied.
And like that, Rafe’s heart lurched to a painful halt, and his brain rushed to figure out if Philippe sounded relieved or disappointed, what this meant for them, what this meant for the Arsenaults in terms of an alliance with the Variks.
Well, it’s what his brain should have been sorting through.
The only thought that was clear was the demand to know if Philippe was calling to say good-bye.
“Is she okay? Where—”
“She’s dead.” Philippe’s voice was low and dull. “Her body was discovered several miles outside of town in a field. The cleaners have already been contacted to retrieve her and deal with the humans.”
“Philippe,” Rafe breathed, his heart aching for the clan leader.
It was the third clanmate he’d lost recently.
These poor souls meant a great deal to him.
They’d needed him, needed the safety and security he could offer, and someone was targeting them.
“I’m so very sorry. If there’s anything I or my brothers can do. ”
“No.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I just called to tell you that our search is over. Thank you for your assistance during this time. Can you please extend my appreciation to your brothers?”
“Yes, but this isn’t over.”
“It is. I requested help to find Piper, and she’s been found.”
“We need to find out who is targeting the Arsenaults and stop them.”
“It’s over.”
“Then you’re just going to have to tell me to my fucking face. I’m coming over.” Rafe snarled as he ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket.
The last place he needed to be was at Arsenault manor.
He wasn’t going to be welcome. The clan members were going to be hurting and angry at the loss of Piper.
They were not going to want an outsider among them.
He was half tempted to call his brothers and tell them to meet him at the house as a show of support on the part of the Variks.
But he knew it would be easier for the clan if it was just him rather than all of them descending on their safe place.
Philippe needed him. He knew it. Yes, he had Jullien and Ezra and the other members of his clan, but it wasn’t enough. He could feel it.
He just prayed that Philippe would let him in.
Philippe knew he should call Rafe back, tell him not to come to the house, but there was no point.
It was likely Rafe wouldn’t even answer his call.
It had been clear from the start that Rafe followed whatever he thought was best, to hell with what anyone else said.
And if Philippe was being honest with himself, he was glad Rafe was coming.
News of Piper’s discovery had reached him not long after he’d returned home from Rafe’s. He’d not even had a chance to think about what had happened between them, to contemplate the surprising strength of Rafe’s gift, before he was crushed by Piper’s death.
Not that he was surprised. He’d been expecting it almost since it was uncovered that she was missing. The deaths of both Erik and Sarah had made it clear that he was working on a very short time frame to find and save Piper.
He went through the same painful motions of hiring the cleaners to retrieve the body from the coroner and speaking with all the members of his clan. It was all becoming too familiar, too easy. Some of them had reacted with fear, while others raged.
Ezra growled and stomped about, complaining about the failings of the Variks, when it had nothing to do with them. This had all started prior to Philippe’s attempts to reach out to that clan. But Philippe didn’t have the strength to correct him.
Jullien remained painfully silent, seeming to draw further into himself. Philippe was out of words of comfort and hope. Their clan was shrinking. Their safety was violated and broken.
Surrounded by people, his people, and Philippe was sure he’d never felt so alone in his very long existence.