Chapter 3 #2
“Would you like to take a seat?” he offered, beckoning toward the couch and I nodded. I waited for him to go first. I wasn’t yet ready to turn my back on him, especially when it was just the two of us up here alone in his own private penthouse. Interestingly, he turned his back on me first.
Was he that confident? Had no one ever threatened his life before? He obviously knew that I was searching for Irina, which almost certainly meant that he knew what I was capable of.
That I wasn’t afraid to kill people to get the answers I needed.
There wasn’t even an ounce of fear in the way he carried himself. He radiated power and a sense of self-assurance like I’d never seen before. It was unsettling in a way, and I knew that I’d have to tread with caution from now on.
I sat down on the couch opposite from him, with the table in between us. I leaned back and crossed my legs, ensuring that my skirt lay over my knees in a way that kept my guns fully concealed.
“I’m going to assume you’re a friend of Vinny’s,” I began carefully, and his returning smile told me that I was correct.
“I am. He’s one of the many reasons I own this hotel and I’m grateful to him for that,” he answered.
“I’m also going to assume he told you the context of how he and I met,” I replied boldly, and he chuckled lightly.
“He did. While you’ve reached the limit of Vinny’s reach, mine goes a bit deeper.
I can help you in ways that he can’t,” Adrian responded.
His words were careful and well thought out.
So far, he was saying no more than he needed to.
I had the distinct feeling that I was playing with a completely different caliber of man with him. I needed to remember that.
“What are you implying? Vinny Genovese is the kingpin of one of the strongest mafia families here in Vegas,” I countered.
“You would think that,” he murmured knowingly.
“What do you mean?”
“Vinny is human, and I am not,” he continued. His gaze narrowed in on me and something in my stomach dropped as I recognized what he might mean.
“You’re a vampire,” I gasped.
“No. I’m not one of them,” he answered.
I swallowed hard and lifted the glass of wine to my lips once more. I tried to cover up the way my hand was trembling just a little, but the way his mouth curved up in amusement made it clear that he’d seen my moment of weakness.
“What are you?” I pressed.
“I’m someone who can help you,” he said coyly. My nose twitched in annoyance. I was used to the people I questioned being more upfront, mostly just because they wanted to avoid the inevitable bullet between their eyes.
This one was different.
“You told me that you knew where Irina Kotova was being kept. Does that mean you are associated with the Asamire family?” I asked.
“I am not associated with them. They are not my allies,” he replied.
“So, they are your enemies,” I stated, and his gaze flicked to mine. He hadn’t expected that. His returning smile was one of surprise and respect.
“Indeed, they are,” he verified.
I slid my thumb back and forth across the wineglass, trying to figure him out. He didn’t offer anything further, so I decided to be more direct.
“On the phone, you told me you would tell me what you know, but in my experience, men like you don’t share anything without something in return.
In exchange for Irina’s location, what do you want?
Do you want my body? My allegiance? Something else?
” I questioned and his eyes crinkled further with delight.
For a long moment, he dragged his gaze up and down my body, taking care to study every inch of me including the ones covered by my dress.
Under his scrutiny, I could feel my nipples hardening shamefully beneath the fabric and I knew he would be able to see them.
I did nothing to cover myself. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of acknowledging my body’s natural reaction.
When his appraisal rose to my breasts, he lingered there, and my nipples grew harder.
I pressed my lips firmly together, wishing I’d at least tried to cover them with some sort of pasty or expensive bra that was more tailored to this kind of dress, but how could I have known that he would have had this sort of effect on me?
I pulled my shoulders back and presented myself so that he would know that I was unashamed and proud of who I was. If this man did anything to me, I was more than capable of killing him very quickly. All I would have to do was reach down, un-holster one of my guns, aim and pull the trigger.
But then he would be dead and so would the knowledge in his head. That wasn’t useful to me either.
“You need me, and I want to help you,” he finally said.
“I don’t need you,” I replied. “I’m more than capable of finding my sister on my own.”
Fuck. The moment the words slid from my lips, I knew I’d made a mistake. I’d made my search personal and now he would know just how important it was to me.
“Your sister,” he repeated. Carefully, I placed the wine on the glass table. I would have no more of that. I didn’t want it going to my head. I didn’t want to make any more blunders.
“Yes, my sister. The Asamire have taken her and I’m going to get her back,” I answered. There was no use denying it now.
“You need my help,” he repeated. “Your sister may not have much time and I know the place where they’re keeping her.”
The way he said it was so arrogant and self-assured that it made me feel inadequate and simmered under my skin in a way I didn’t like. He didn’t know anything about me. He didn’t know what I did for a living. Before I could help myself, I spoke again.
His arrogance had made me angry.
“Fuck off. I don’t need you. I can find her all on my own.”
I didn’t tell him that my father was already working on it. He didn’t need to know my history, my father’s connections and that we were already gathering the weapons I’d need to dispose of the Asamire.
He didn’t answer so I decided to continue.
“What do you want in exchange for the information about my sister’s location?” I asked, taking care to speak more calmly and levelly this time.
“I don’t want anything in return, Natalia. I don’t take part in the trafficking of women and it’s something that I absolutely detest. The only thing I loathe more are vampires, and the Asamire clan most of all. Your sister is being held in the Venetian,” he said.
He reached into his pocket and took out a small stack of pictures. He tossed them on the table and sat back, waiting for me to take a look. Cautiously, I leaned forward and grabbed them. I leaned backwards, wanting to put as much distance between us as possible.
There were several pictures all taken from similar angles of a group of girls decked out in nightclub dresses.
Their makeup was heavily done, and their eyes already looked a little glassy from the cute girly-colored drinks in their hands, but it wasn’t them I focused on.
It was a girl in the back. She was surrounded by a bunch of beefy looking dudes in black tailored suits.
It was my sister. She looked terrified.
I shuffled through the rest, looking at various angles of her head turning and them funneling into the back of the casino. The décor was distinctly Italian, or at least an Americanized version of it. He was telling the truth.
I glanced back at him. There was a dangerous air to him that hadn’t been there before, and I didn’t quite know how to take it. Why would he tell me this without making me agree to something first? What was his angle?
In my world, no one did anything for free.
“Why would you tell me?” I asked, trying to keep my cautious surprise at bay.
“I wish no ill will toward your sister. No one deserves to be stolen from their home, shipped across the country, and used against their will. I will not support that kind of industry here on the strip.”
“You have to want something in exchange for giving me that information. You’ve effectively cut yourself out of the equation. I didn’t need you before and I most certainly don’t need you now,” I countered.
His cavalier attitude was throwing me off balance. This was not how I imagined this meeting unfolding and it was far more unsettling than I cared to admit.
“I offered you my help, but it didn’t really matter to me if you wanted it or not because I was going to give it to you anyway.
What you ultimately turned down wasn’t the invitation for my help, but it was the opportunity to work together with me to save your sister.
For that, you will be punished for your disrespect,” he continued. And I froze.
“What does that mean?” I snarled.
His smile grew wider and that initial wild look I saw in his picture brewed to the surface behind those dark stormy eyes. For several moments, he just stared at me like a predator on the hunt and for the first time in my life I felt like a lamb caught in a snare.
I swallowed anxiously as I waited for him to answer. When he didn’t, I reached forward and grabbed my glass of wine in a sort of protective measure. I took a small sip, hoping to relieve my parched throat, but it didn’t really help.
He stood up. My gaze followed him, realizing how very tall he was.
He had to be more than six feet tall. His dark burgundy button-up shirt had a single button undone at the top.
It was tucked into a pair of dark gray slacks that hugged his body in a way that showcased his thick muscles.
A thick soft black leather belt with a silver clasp caught my attention before my chest lifted once again, too nervous to dip any lower for fear of what I might see.
His chest rose as he took a breath and his torso tightened as he released it.
His body was solid. He probably benched more than I could ever dream of lifting myself.
He was the kind of hard that could toss a girl like me around like she was nothing more than a plaything.