Chapter 11
BERNADETTE CRENSHAW
Itighten my hands in my lap and pinch my lips together, refusing to snap back. The limo may be huge but so is he, and no way am I getting into a spat with him while in a moving vehicle. I’ll take my chances after we get to this manor place he mentioned.
Something tells me it’s better to keep my mouth shut right now, the lines of Frank’s shoulders are lined with tension, his hands the size of dinner plates fisted in his lap.
Well, I wanted to piss him off. Looks like mission accomplished because Frank Stein is acting like a tiger in a cage, like one I'd seen at a circus that came traveling through the city once and Granddad took me to see.
He stares blankly ahead, barely moving, but every time I make even the smallest of movements, he seems to know about it, those gray eyes of his pinning me.
I don’t try to make small talk and instead look outside the window and watch the backdrop change from busy city streets to remote back alleyways and clear roads.
My brow puckers into a slight frown at how it doesn’t take long before the sidewalks turn to fresh green grass and lush trees dot the drive.
I sit up a little straighter to look out at the scenery and find myself in what seems like a different planet. The sight of fields and trees isn’t what surprises me though, it’s because we only left the city mere minutes ago.
Faster than I can believe possible, the car comes to a stop at a large concrete wall, so tall I wonder at what’s on the inside. I freeze in place when a set of armed guards seemingly come out of nowhere and start walking around the car.
My heart leaps in my throat when my gaze clashes with Frank’s, his demeanor entirely different than it was two days ago.
If I thought he was trying to intimidate me before, I was mistaken.
Because when he takes advantage of the parked vehicle to swap seats next to me, I feel very much like a rabbit and unlike the fox I thought I was.
He says nothing as the car pulls away and I choose to ignore him, my face plastered to the window to see where the fresh hell he has taken me.
My jaw drops, unhinging when I get a look at the large mansion coming into view.
Multiple turrets line the top, and a big balcony can be seen on one side with the other covered in ivy, its thick greenery creeping along the gray slate of the roof.
The car pulls into the circular driveway, and I can just make out a big willow tree in the distance and a rectangular pond in front, complete with geese.
What in the Pride and Prejudice is this place?
“Welcome to my home, or should I say, your new prison, wife,” he says, answering the question before I can ask.
My head whips around to him at the words, the underlying threat in them making me shiver for more reasons than one as I stare at him from across the limo, but I suppose this leaves the guessing out of it. Frank Stein has brought me to his house.
I quirk a brow, secretly elated. “Oh, honey bunches, you just signed up for your very own nightmare.”
FRANK N. STEIN
I step out of the car and breathe in the fresh air, letting my lungs inflate fully for the first time in what seems like weeks since leaving for the city while glancing up at the large house. For once, the peace that never fails to calm me is absent in the one place I can always count on it to be.
Stein Manor was the first purchase I made after seeking refuge from New Orleans, and I have cultivated much of its estate with my own hands.
“Let me go!” she shrieks, making the sound of a wounded animal as Bruno extracts her from the vehicle.
Its large brick facade, usually a welcome sight, brings me nothing but unease as I bring the one thing I said I never would cross its threshold—a human.
The topiaries I purchased and planted myself sit dotted around the circular drive, their leaves lush and ripe in need of an expert hand to tame them, but for now they will have to wait.
My home and sanctuary are being tainted by my enemy, and I will no doubt have to hear more than one complaint about the female’s arrival.
The ghouls that followed me from New Orleans, and Odette’s rule, expected and needed strong leadership, and I was the only one that could provide it.
In hindsight they saved me as much as I saved them in the long run. Although it wasn’t an easy process at first, and now, I will test their resolve in a way that hasn’t been done in almost a hundred years.
Bruno and Nero make their way to the front of the vehicle after extracting the menace; I shove my hands into my suit pockets as I wait.
“You can’t just keep me here you know,” the woman mutters, her tone petulant.
She sputters and blows at the fallen bits of her hair that covers her face, and glares. Her lip pouts making her look almost cute.
“Take her inside and see that she stays put,” I tell them, pushing away my wayward thoughts. “No electronics.”
Bruno snickers, but I ignore it and start up the stone steps to head inside. The sounds of her raised shouting music to my ears.
I don’t bother waiting on anyone to open the door for me, I’m the only one who’s ever lived here, and it’s unnecessarily wasteful to keep a crew on when I’m rarely in attendance these days.
Growing Talbot to the heights among the so-called elite of the humans took time and now that Jekyll is wanting to expand the supernatural product line, I haven’t been able to stay at the mansion for more than a few days when I get the chance.
The sage green walls of the expensive mansion sit mostly unadorned, and I look up at the staircase in a new light, the white pillars and the glittering chandelier overhead. I wonder if she will find it to taste. My brow furrows. Why should I care what a human likes?
A sharp squeal rings out from the drive, and it occurs to me that this may be the best place to keep the harridan out of trouble and bring her to heel.
The mansion sits in a valley along with Jekyll’s home and the nearby village, all heavily fortified.
Even if she were to make it out of the house, the ghouls guarding the entrances will keep her from leaving.
The sounds of her shouting escalate, and I turn to see Nero in the small parlor, pulling her across the wooden parquet floors bodily by her arm as she struggles to get away.
His hand tightens on her arm, and a flood of energy rises inside of me, threatening to overtake my will, raising to dangerous levels once more.
I withhold a growl and tamp down my ire. I need the induction chamber, now. Releasing some of this current is the only way to avoid an incident, and this interaction is costing me time and patience.
“Let her go,” I say, clenching my hand at my side to keep from letting go of the tight fist I have on my power.
My gaze lands on the open door behind our little entourage and the billow of storm clouds brings a frown to my face. I walk back toward the door, liking how the miniscule female straightens to her full height, entirely unafraid.
The sky darkens as I stride closer, stopping just before her so she’s forced to arch her neck to look up at me.
“You will behave,” I say, unable to stop myself from reaching out to her.
Remarkably, she stays silent as I reach for her arm and touch her in exactly the place Bruno had, her chin tilted up defiantly and anger sparking in her gaze.
The moment our skin grazes the voltage inside me becomes a crescendo, and the pulse of electricity startles me.
She doesn’t seem to notice, but pulls away regardless.
“Where is Edgar?” she snaps, “I want my cat and some comfortable clothes if I’m being forced to stay here. In case no one noticed, I’ve been wearing the same pair of sweats for two days, and I would really love a bubble bath.”
I glance down at her attire and awareness washes over me, causing me to lose my concentration, but my anger fizzles as she goes on her tirade. “Oh?”
“Yes. And I want my freaking phone back. In fact, I want all of my stuff back,” she says, throwing her arms over her rather expansive chest. “I know you took stuff from my house, because I overheard the goon squad here discussing it. I want my things, or I am not moving another inch, and I promise you if you thought Talbot was cute, you’ll think what I do next is absolutely adorable, capisce? ”
She tries and fails to punctuate her words by stabbing a finger at my chest, her face screwed into a scowl of contempt that sends amusement coursing through me. Her head barely reaches my chest.
“You may leave,” I tell the men, unwilling to waste any more of their time. I’ve brought her here, which makes her my responsibility, and I have no desire to allow anyone else to watch how this plays out, not with her obvious lack of decorum and inability to guard her viperish tongue.
She scoffs and turns up her nose at me, and my lips twitch with the hint of a smile.
This woman hasn’t once treated me the way the social climbing humans try, nor is she really after my wallet, I surmise.
The fact that she donated twenty million to the animal fund is not the issue, the sum is pocket change in comparison to the chaos she could have caused.
Mikael told me the moment she made a call to Romania.
I just find it interesting she didn’t act maliciously until after her phone call to Vlad’s new mate.
But it’s the sheer audacity of her, as if she were trying to toy and play with me, not to truly harm or destroy. It’s almost as if she’s a bored child wanting for a new game and she acted in a pique of temper.
I glance up at the staircase and white crown moldings, and I can’t believe what I’m about to say. And to a human no less. “Have dinner with me, and we can discuss your demands.”
“What?” she asks, but I can tell I have her attention.
A frown pulls between her reddish-brown brows and her stance changes imperceptibly, as if she’s trying to perceive a threat.
Oh sweetheart, I don’t need to make threats to get what I want. “You will have dinner with me, consider it a business meeting.”
I step back a moment and reach up to tug at the tie at my throat, loosening it, and I get a peek of that ridiculous barbell as she swipes at her lips with her tongue.
“Get me my cat and I can maybe be persuaded to come to your business meeting then,” she says.
Intriguing. This tart is attempting to push my buttons on purpose just as I suspected. How amusing.
“I’m not so sure you’re in a good position for negotiating, Miss Crenshaw,” I say, stepping closer once more.
A bright grin effuses her face, and a tinkle of laughter escapes her. Her green gaze lands on me and somehow finds something on my person amusing, sending her into another fit of laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’ve been kidnapped by the billionaire vampire, who just so happens to take me to his mansion.”
I go still at her words. Where in the fuck did she get the idea that I’m a vampire? Vlad’s mate, the human, would have told her what I am. Unless Vlad hasn’t told her, which means he isn’t as stupid as I thought.
“And for all intents and purposes big guy, we’re engaged,” she continues, amusement spiking her tone, “It’s like a fairytale, or something out of a really fucked up romance novel, except for the part where we’re negotiating about my cat.”
I decide then and there I will shut up that annoying mouth of hers one way or the other, but not now, later—after I’ve gotten rid of some of this excess energy that seems to have accumulated overnight. The woman can believe me as a vampire all she likes, better than her learning the truth.
The sound of a car pulling down the drive, away from the house, reaches my ears and I turn to leave her in the entryway, knowing Bruno and Nero won’t be back until tomorrow.
“Pick any bedroom upstairs down the left hall. I don’t care which. Dinner will be in a few hours. I’m sure you can keep yourself occupied.” She can sleep on the fucking floor for all I care, and it will be a cold day in hell when I waste my precious time showing a human around my house.
“Has anyone ever told you the word, no?” she mutters, her tone full of derision.
I tighten a fist on my shortly held temper and keep walking, wondering what demon spawned this female to drive me to the brink, when all I want to do is to be away from her.
“Even the goon squad left without a word,” her soft voice echoes behind me before I reach more than a few steps up the gray marble stairs.
The challenge raises my hackles in a way that has sent lesser men to their graves and yet, when I glance back at her round face, at the soft blush of vitality just beneath her skin— I find I don’t want to see the light behind her eyes go dark for what she’s done, after all.
I want to see her on her knees.
I look down at her from across the room. “Rarely does anyone say no to me, but some are tempted by the carrot, and others— you have to show them the stick.”
The pretty green of her eyes fades as her pupils dilate, revealing her attraction to me, and I don’t have to guess further when her gaze drops to my trousers at my innuendo.
She will look even prettier with my cock down her throat.