Page 5 of Roman

Roman rolled his eyes at his brother as Maalik burst out laughing, watching a busty brunette as she walked by, giving Maalik a wink while she smoothed out her disheveled dress before putting her arm around her husband.

“Did you just sleep with that woman?Is that where you were?”Roman asked him.

“A gentleman never tells,” Maalik replied with a grin.

Roman shook his head and laughed.“Gentleman my ass, and where the hell is a server?I need a drink.”

Maalik waved over a server girl and asked for two whiskeys neat.She gave them both a sexy smile and quickly went about her business.When his brother knew no one was in earshot, he turned to Roman, whose eyes landed on a small drop of blood on the collar of his white dress shirt.

“Did you feed on that woman you slept with?”Roman asked, wishing his brother would leave his feeding for strangers on the street.A hint of guilt tried to push its way to the surface.

When Roman, his brother, and the other angels were kicked out of the heavens, a few lucky angels had fallen straight to Earth.But for Roman, Maalik, and most of the others, they had fallen straight into the depths of Hell.Some had fought and clawed their way out over time.Maalik and himself had been among them.Although most of them had made it to the surface unaltered, his brother had crawled his way out of Hell at a price.Some kind of blood-feeding demon had bitten him.On top of Lucifer ripping out Maalik’s wings, a direct message to Roman, the demon bite had turned him into the first of what humans now called vampires.

Roman quickly shoved down the dark memories from long ago, bringing himself back to the present and realizing Maalik was talking to him.“What?”he asked, feeling guilty all over again.

“I said I only had a sip, and I’ve wiped her memory, so she doesn’t even know.Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.I promise I’ll go into the city later and feed properly.Stress less, Roman.”He patted him on the shoulder.“Now, back to business.Did Phoenix say if the demon they captured had mentioned anything?”he asked in a whisper.

Roman shook his head.“No, he wouldn’t breathe a word.As soon as I’m done here and we finish at the club tonight, I will interrogate the demon myself.We need to know why their presence has increased in the city.They appear to be searching for something, and we need to find out what it is.”

“Thank God, here come our drinks… and look at that stunner,” Maalik said, looking over Roman’s shoulder.

As Roman turned, he forgot how to breathe.Walking toward them was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life, and what a long life he’d had.She had twisted her honey-blonde hair up on top of her head in a tight bun.Her almond-shaped eyes scanned the party, and when her gaze finally locked with his, he saw they were a beautiful gray, like looking into a magnificent storm.He noticed her eyes widen as she stared at him, but she recovered quickly, her luscious red lips curving into a heart-stopping smile as she walked toward them in a plain black dress, which only made her sinful curves stand out more.She balanced their drinks on a silver serving dish with ease as she stopped in front of them.She was stunning, and for the first time in his long life on Earth, Roman was left speechless.

“Your drinks, gentlemen,” she said with the voice of an angel.

Mesmerized, Roman couldn’t take his eyes off her.Her mere presence was enchanting.She stood close enough for her scent to wash over him.She smelled like heaven and honey, and his body responded instantly.This blonde angel had him rock hard.

“Why, thank you, and I have to say you look ravishing tonight in that dress,” Maalik told her as he took his drink, giving Roman time to quickly pull himself together.

The girl gave Maalik a nervous smile.“It’s my uniform, nothing special.All the servers are wearing them.”

“Yes, but I can tell you right now none of them look as beautiful as you,” Roman told her, taking his drink from her tray.

She looked at Roman and smiled shyly.It took all his willpower not to reach out and trail his thumb over her plump bottom lip.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”she asked, gazing at him intensely.

A loud crash and the sound of breaking glass snapped Roman out of his trance, all three of them looking to the paved back patio where a server girl was on the verge of crying, apologizing to the man who owned the house.Next to him stood a plump woman in a black suit, and by the way she was telling the girl off, Roman guessed she was the boss.She lifted her head, scanning the crowd until her gaze landed on the stunning blonde standing in front of him.

“Charlotte,” she half yelled, snapping her fingers at her.

Before Roman could say anything, the beautiful girl was hurrying away, his hungry gaze following the sway of her hips as she made her way over to the plump, angry woman.

“Well, never in my life have I ever seen a woman leave my brother speechless,” Maalik said from beside him, also staring after her.

Roman looked at him, shoving him slightly.“Shut the fuck up, Maalik.Come on, let’s get out of here.You need to go feed, and we have more important things to attend to.Who the hell do I give this check to?”Roman asked as he quickly gave Charlotte one last longing glance, then shook himself and walked away.

3

Charlotte waited impatiently at the back of the long line.People laughed, yelled, and talked amongst themselves ahead of her, all of them sitting at different levels of drunkenness, waiting for their turn to be let into the club.

Unfortunately for Charlotte, she was dead sober.She couldn’t wait to get inside, down a few drinks, and hit the dance floor.She was exhausted.This week had dragged on, and she was ready to let her hair down.

Where the hell are you, Ava?

Charlotte looked around, annoyed.Ava had been relentless in getting Charlotte to come out to the club tonight, and she wasn’t even here to meet her yet.

Typical fucking Ava.

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