16. Gage
Sixteen
Gage
F uck, fuck, fuck .
Gage looked down at Willow’s head resting against his shoulder and felt her naked body pressed against him fall into an even breathing pattern as she drifted off to sleep. Without speaking, they both curled up together under his duvet and became lost in their own thoughts.
His shifted to memories of Venice and her betrayal. He had met her in a strip club, selling her body to be able to afford the simplest necessities. He had been captivated by her fierce beauty with her pin straight black hair chopped off at her chin, her amber eyes that glowed in the stage lights, and the countless tattoos that wrapped around her entire body. Her smile was closer to a sneer and should have been a warning, but instead it pulled him in even more.
He had been at the club with Nikolas hunting down a sex offender who had been on the verge of reoffending again when he’d noticed her sensual dance on stage. She had approached him after—hindsight told him she’d known who he was and wanted a taste of the rich and powerful life—and used her charms to win him over.
Honestly, it didn’t take much since he was still healing from the loss of his father’s family.
They’d had a whirlwind romance, with plenty of fucking but also plenty of fighting. Within weeks she had moved in, which led to most of their fights revolving around Matteo and Horatio. She’d never complained about Nikolas - she had been smart enough to realize Gage would have never put up with that.
As much as the fighting had worn him down, there had been a small, self-deprecating part of him that loved it. He’d felt like he deserved it for letting his father down by not being able to save his family.
Even with their fighting growing more physical, with her slapping and spitting on him on more than one occasion, his love for her was intense. She had known all the right things to say to make him forgive her and believe she loved him. She was the perfect example of why women could not be trusted.
He’d trusted Venice to love him. To never leave him. Yet she had run off with Waldo.
He’d also trusted his mother to love him and always be there, and yet she’d ended her life. His love had not been enough to make either of them stay.
He looked down at the brown halo of hair outlining Willow’s peaceful face. A hint of a smile was resting on her lips as her eyes slightly moved behind her lids, telling him she was dreaming of something happy. There was something different about her compared to Venice. She was sweeter, more accepting, and seemed to be the type to work through problems instead of screaming about them. Willow also got along well with the others, and Clay was fond of her.
How long would this last before she left him, too?
A deep ache bloomed in his chest. He was positive he wouldn’t survive giving his love to someone again, only to have them throw it away like it meant nothing. Another heartbreak would push him over the edge and he knew he would become the monster that he feared he’d become.
The image of him almost killing Destiny flashed through his mind. He wouldn’t let that happen to Willow. Now he had to figure out how to get her out of his bed and pretend like nothing had ever happened.
But that was going to be hard with the taste of candy imprinted on his tongue.
And the feel of her tightness clamped around his cock.
He shuffled out from under her before he became hard again and tried to get inside her one last time. He needed to get away from her since he couldn’t trust himself not to do it again. And after learning that she tasted how she smelled, he definitely couldn’t trust himself not to bite her during round two.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes, her hair frizzy and tangled around her bare shoulders, giving her a freshly-fucked look that wasn’t helping his self-control.
“It’s fine. I should go and mingle with people since this is my house, after all.”
“I guess Robby was right. Snacks and sex do pull you out of your cranky mood.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he mumbled.
He dressed quickly and tossed her clothes toward her. She took the hint and began putting herself back together.
“Are we good?” She asked.
He looked up to her and his knees almost gave out. She looked close to tears, and he was causing them.
He knew he should say something, but the words were lost to him. Anger sparked at his inability to handle this situation, which was clearly causing her pain. He wondered how he was supposed to be the leader of his family when he couldn’t even handle this situation in a dignified way.
His tone came out harsher than intended. “Yeah, we’re good. This shouldn’t have happened—this was a mistake on my part. I’m sorry.”
“Oh.” The tears finally came and her eyes glistened. “I should have listened to John weeks ago when he told me to be careful with you. It’s not that you’re a dangerous vampire. You’re a user. I should have seen this coming, this was my fault.”
She broke eye contact with him and pulled out her phone to order a cab. “There are a lot of people here, so I think I’m going to get going. Marla is with Matteo, Sammy’s drunk as hell, and I don’t really know anyone else here well enough to hang out with them all night. I guess I’ll see you around.”
She turned and dashed toward the door, not even bothering to retie the bow around her midsection. He didn’t stop her. Instead, he sat on the bed and waited for Buffy to come soothe his tumultuous thoughts.
He waited and waited, but she never jumped up. He left to join the party instead of stewing in the isolating feeling of self-hate.
Gage entered the living room and immediately located his small troupe taking shots of something crimson in the corner. Nikolas was staring with an ashen face at the news program that was silently playing in the background. He followed his gaze to see a banner warning people of vicious dolphin attacks. If he were in a better mood, he would have taunted Nikolas for introducing the dolphins to human flesh during his nighttime feedings.
Next to Nikolas on the couch was Sammy, who was all but grinding on Horatio’s lap as she sang along to the song that was playing. Horatio was casually leaned back, acting like this was a normal occurrence. Gage noticed that Matteo and Marla were missing and Robby was in Matteo’s usual spot next to Horatio.
“You and Willow were gone for a while.” Horatio gently pulled Sammy to the side. “What were you two kids up to? ”
“That’s none of your business.”
A small gasp left Sammy’s round mouth and she stopped her squirming. “Ooooh, you totally fucked.”
“Shut up Sammy,” Gage growled.
“She pretty much ran out of here like a ghost was chasing her. Why did she leave in such a hurry, cuz?” Robby asked.
“Oooh, I take back what I said earlier.” Sammy leaned back and pointed her finger. “You didn’t fuck her, you fucked up. You said something to piss her off, didn’t you?”
He could feel himself losing his grip on his temper. “No! Nothing happened, she’s fine, I’m fine, we are all fine . She wanted to leave this stupid-ass party you threw. That’s all.”
“Stupid-ass party? Well, if you would stop being such a stuck-up little—”
Horatio clamped his hand over her mouth and stood up. “I think it might be time for a glass of water and to chill out in our room.”
“The fuck does that mean?” Sammy slurred from between his fingers.
“It means you’re a drunken mess of a person,” Gage hissed.
Robby stuck a refurbished wine bottle covered in gems between Gage and Sammy. “Hey cuz, want a shot? I found the perfect ratio of blood and vodka. I call these Shots of Death.”
“That’s a terrible name for a terrible drink.” Gage tried to turn his attention back to Sammy to remind her whose house she was currently using as a nightclub.
“Come outside with me for a second, would you?” Robby grabbed Gage by the back of the neck and squeezed.
“Well I would, but I’m in the middle of something.”
“Let me rephrase that. Come outside with me right now or I’ll cut off your dick and throw it out the door so you have to chase after it.”
Gage obliged, deciding that it was not worth causing a scene to put Sammy in her place. Horatio wouldn’t appreciate that, and the last thing he needed with Waldo sniffing around was to cause a rift in their family.
Once outside, Robby led him to a spot hidden away from the crowd. “I’m older than you so I have literally known you your whole life. I can tell something happened and everyone is not all right. You’re a terrible liar, you get all twitchy and short tempered when you’re upset. Look, your eye is twitching right now!”
“It’s twitching because I want to punch you in the face.”
“Then do it.”
Gage didn’t hesitate. He landed a blow right to his cousin’s nose, feeling a tiny bit satisfied at the sickening crunch it created. The satisfaction didn’t last long as Robby’s fist came flying toward his right eye.
“What the fuck?” Gage grunted as he held his face.
“You didn’t expect me to sit there and take that, did you?” Robby asked in a nasally voice.
A popping sound could be heard as he straightened his broken nose, holding it in place until it healed. For vampires, minor injuries like these would be healed before the next night, so Gage was not worried about his black eye. It was also why sometimes Robby and him ended up in fistfights, knowing that the damage they inflicted wouldn’t last long. It was a satisfying, though animalistic, way to release tension.
Gage groaned and kicked the ground. “I fucking slept with her. Then I made her cry by telling her it was a mistake. I’m the biggest goddamn idiot in the world.”
“I’m not disagreeing with you, that was extremely stupid.”
“I promised myself I would never date again, yet there I was at a fucking Mexican restaurant buying her margaritas and enchiladas like a hypocrite. A dumbass hypocrite with memory loss. When I’m with her it’s like I forget that woman are awful, manipulative creatures.”
Robby frowned. “ Can be, not are . Venice was horrible, I’m not denying that. I still think about that time I walked in to catch her slapping you and pulling your hair all because you wouldn’t give her money for something.”
“And I still remember how you pulled her out of the room by her hair.”
Robby shrugged. “Doesn’t the Bible say something about an eye for an eye or some shit? I was giving her a taste of her own medicine. But, that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t want you to use her as an example for all women. Especially with Willow, who seems like a sweetheart. I’ve only met her twice, but she seems like the total opposite of Venice.”
Gage looked up at the night sky and let out a long, deep breath. “I don’t think I’m ready.”
“Is it that, or are you scared?”
“I’m not scared,” he answered too quickly.
Robby gave a tight-lipped smile and nodded like he knew better. “It’s okay to be scared sometimes. You have a lot happening with learning how to run your own family, starting your own custom shop, and dealing with Waldo coming back into the picture. Plus women, especially pretty ones like Willow, are scary. Why do you think I’m gay? I don’t have to deal with those beautiful, intimidating creatures this way.”
Gage rolled his eyes. “I don’t even know what to say to her.”
“She seems rational. I bet if you sat down and had a conversation with her, she would listen. Explain to her that tonight wasn’t a mistake, you just suck at handling emotions. Make sure you do this sooner rather than later. Don’t let her linger in that pain and embarrassment.”
“I suppose I can stop at the coffee house tomorrow.”
“Good.” Robby smiled and wiped the drying blood from his face with his sleeve. “Since I brought up Waldo, the jackass killed off one of my new turns yesterday. The poor guy wasn’t even a vampire for a full week before one of Waldo’s men chopped him up and left him in a sewer. I think his plan is to dwindle down my numbers because he’s planning on attacking you. He knows we would come to help if a fight broke out, and that there’s no way he could fight off both our families.”
Gage groaned. “Why does he keep wanting to start shit with me? This all started because of that bonfire.”
Both men’s face darkened at the memory of the night that had started everything. Gage had been attending a bonfire on the beach hosted by a few employees he knew from the casino. Waldo and his friends had been passing through Vista Maria when they’d stopped for dinner. They’d followed the old rules of killing innocents, and unfortunately their target had been the people at the bonfire.
Gage had been no match for protecting them by himself against four seasoned vampires, and Waldo had made sure to leave Gage broken and bleeding in the sand. Clay had found him dragging himself out of the sand and up onto the boardwalk a half hour before sunrise. He had never been so humiliated and angry at the loss of innocent lives.
Clay had lost his mind at seeing Gage so close to death. Gage knew it couldn’t have been easy seeing his son—the last thing he had to connect him to his deceased wife—bloodied and broken.
Clay went to Miami for justified retribution and killed the three that were with Waldo that night. Most families respected the law that one is allowed to extract revenge however one sees fit, but the Miami family was never one to follow mainstream laws. So Waldo’s father, Gerald, had attacked Clay and killed every last one of his family members. At the end of the fight, Clay had managed to kill Gerald and ripped his very lungs out of his chest. Gage had never seen his father act in such a brutal way before.
Robby frowned. “I think he’s trying to play it off as revenge for his father, but deep down he’s a psychopath that finds joy in causing you pain. You losing the fight at the bonfire wasn’t enough. He wanted to completely destroy you. So he took Venice away, and now he’s trying to take your territory and new family away, too.”
“But why me ?”
Robby shrugged. “Maybe because you tried to protect humans. Or because he views your territory as easy pickings since you’ve got the smallest family around. Before Uncle Clay’s entire family was wiped out, he was running with a minimum of at least thirty men, not including their spouses. Your group of four makes you look like an easy target for someone wanting to expand their territory. You really need to start adding more people.”
“I know, my dad’s been on my ass about that, too. I’m not like you though, I can’t add people I barely know to my family. We’re tight-knit and that’s the way I like it. Besides, being small doesn’t mean that we’re weak.”
“I know you’re not weak. My family is pretty tight-knit. I have my five guys I’m close to, and the rest are more like employees I barely interact with. I do a quick background check, confirm they know full well what being a vampire entails, then give them my blood.”
Gage gave a sarcastic snarl. “What, do you post job openings online and filter through all the applicants?”
“Kind of. The internet opened so many doors for us to find those weirdos that think they’re already vampires. All it takes is a couple messages and soon they’re begging to be turned. Also, hit up those goth clubs. You’ll find plenty of wannabe vampires there.”
“I hate clubs.”
“I don’t. I can find you some potential members while I’m out next weekend. I was thinking of taking a drive down to Miami to hit up the clubs down there. What a shame it would be if I ran into one of Waldo’s men and accidentally killed him. ”
“Think I can tag along? Not for the clubs, but I want to see if I can find out anything about Waldo when I’m down there. He told one of the casino employees that he was heading ‘north’ and I want to know what that means.”
“Sure, I’m always down for a road trip buddy.”
“Thanks.” Gage turned around and began heading back. “If you need me, I’ll be in my room working on some commissions.”