Chapter 20 #2
“—a stone cold cunt, decided to hold a meeting with Alastair Bowan to talk about uniting to take out the Amauris. Well, next thing I know, some idiot—”
Marietta helpfully supplied, “Zahir, and he still feels terrible about it.”
“—throws an explosive into the bar and I find myself skewered to Mr. Bowan himself. Wham, bang, boom, I’ve got vampire blood in me, my teeth are falling out, and all of a sudden everyone’s very interested in the fact that I’m venom neutral.
” Before Francesca could ask, Dahlia added, “Means I can mate with another vampire. It’s a big deal to them. ”
“Oh.” Francesca took a second to try and wrap her head around the abbreviated and yet terribly complicated story. “So… how did you end up with Felix?”
It was Marietta who answered this time. Gleeful, she slapped both hands on the island’s counter top when she exclaimed, “They’d been dating in secret for months!
A long distance thing, you know, since he was over here and she was over there.
But then we got the news that she’d been vampified and that she was venom neutral, so Felix hopped on over there to get her.
Had to blast another guy in the face first, but he snagged her and brought her home. It was all very dramatic.”
Francesca really couldn’t tell if it made her feel better or worse that her experience with Amauri men blasting heads to smithereens wasn’t singular. She was still processing when Dahlia dropped a steaming plate of egg scramble in front of her.
Stomach rumbling, she picked up her fork with more enthusiasm than she thought she would only a few minutes prior. Turning to give the blonde a look of sincere thanks, she said, “This is really sweet of you. I didn’t know how hungry I was until now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Dahlia dismissed. Settling down on the stool next to Francesca, she added, “You’ve been through a lot. The body forgets how much it needs to eat when you’re in crisis mode.”
It was true. Francesca couldn’t even recall when her last full meal had been. She shoveled the delicious breakfast into her mouth as the ladies chatted, entirely unbothered by either her silence or her chewing.
When her stomach was full and the plate cleaned, Francesca folded her arms on the counter and laid her head on them with a sigh.
Dahlia placed a hand on her back. “Better?”
“Almost.”
“What do you need?”
“I’d like to get dressed,” she answered. “But I don’t have any clothes. Ones without bloodstains, anyway.”
“A common problem for Amauri women.” Dahlia gestured to her chic crimson outfit in a dramatic wave. “Why do you think I’m wearing all red?”
“We can get you clothes,” Marietta offered.
Paling at the idea of these women shopping for her, she rushed to suggest, “Actually, I think I just need a ride to my apartment. Could you do that?”
Dahlia wiggled her fingers like it was nothing. “Absolutely. We’ll help you pack a few things and then bring you back.”
“Ah… I think I’d actually like a little alone time,” she hedged, worried she’d offend the women.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she replied, embarrassed by how tight her throat suddenly became.
Deciding that honesty was the best policy, she straightened her spine and confessed, “You’ve both been super nice and I really, really appreciate it, but…
I’m not like you two. I’m feeling really out of place in your world right now. ”
Dahlia’s smile fell. She took on a thoughtful expression as a beat of silence passed.
Closing a little bit of the distance between them, she said in a low voice, “Listen to me, Frankie: I’m the co-head of the Amauri Family and the only daughter of Alastair and Colin Bowan.
I live in a massive mansion and have everything I could ever dream of.
But I’m also Dahlia McKnight, who went hungry at school, slept on a mattress on the floor, and couldn’t pay her heating bill for six months when she was twenty-one and got pneumonia.
I was a waitress barely making ends meet when my life went tits up and I found myself here. ”
Her soft hand covered Francesca’s and squeezed. “Whatever you need, we’ve got you. If that’s space, then we’ll give you space. But we’re not going to leave you to handle all this change on your own.”
Francesca swallowed around the spiky lump in her throat. “You don’t even know me.”
Marietta threw her arms around Francesca’s shoulders and rested her sweet-smelling head against hers.
“Screw my cousin. If he doesn’t keep you — or you decide not to keep him, which is totally understandable — then we call dibs.
Anybody crazy enough to make Luis run around like a chicken with his head cut off is too valuable to lose. ”
Francesca laughed. The only thing that would’ve made the moment better was if Maxine had been there, too. That would’ve given her the tiny taste of normalcy she so desperately needed.
Sniffling a little, she realized, “You know, I think what I need is a little bit of my life. I want my apartment and my clothes and to not be stuck in this sex palace all alone. He said I’m not supposed to do anything while I’m here, but that’ll drive me nuts.”
“Sex palace?” Marietta wrinkled her pert nose. “Gross but accurate. I’m pretty sure there’s been, like, six orgies here. This year.”
All right, I’ll be bringing that up later, she decided, making a face. He better not have made me clean any of that up without telling me.
Dahlia patted her hand. “I completely understand and support you. How about we drop you off and whenever you want to be picked up, you give us a call.”
Recalling their conversation and his insulting offer earlier in the evening, Francesca decided, “Actually, I think I should be good. I can take the train from work.”
The women shared a look. “If you say so,” Dahlia allowed, shrugging, “but if I could give you a small word of advice, passed to me from a mutual friend, if you’re planning on running, use cash.”