Page 31 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“You can’t beat me.Stop trying.”

He snarled and I laughed.Before I turned, I’d been well on my way to beating Archie Moore’s world record of most knockouts for a middleweight fighter.And now I had the added advantage of immortality racing through my veins.

Had Jacqueline’s ex been turned centuries ago, he might have stood a chance against me.

When he finally stilled, I raised an eyebrow.“If I let you go, are you going to come after me again?”

“I can smell her on you,” he snarled.“She’s all over you.”

I licked my lips.“Yeah?You just missed breakfast.”

He fought harder at that, but I only laughed, holding him down as he swung at my arms, my sides, then reverted to girlish scratches down my forearm.

I hissed.“Fuckingscratching?Really?”

“Who are you?”he spat.

“Vincenzo Ricci.”

His eyes widened; whether due to my family’s infamy or my former fame, I didn’t know.His fingers stalled on my arm.Blood stained his fingernails even as the wounds healed beneath his hands.“No shit?”

“So you know who I am.Will you stop fighting now?”

He swallowed hard, then nodded.“Shit, man, I’m a huge fan.”

“And yet you didn’t recognize me.”I released his throat and stepped back, giving him space to stand and tensing for another attack.“Now, who exactly are you?”

“Gannon Hayes.”He straightened his jacket and shirt, then ran a hand through his mop of wavy curls.“How do you know my girlfriend?”

My jaw clenched and I tilted my head.“If you want to keep your head attached to your neck, I’d suggest not calling her that again.”

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t argue.

“Where have you been?”I flipped the light switch on and he flinched as the fluorescents buzzed to life overhead, then I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down my nose at the kid.

He ran a hand through his hair again, dropping his gaze.“I was...uh...”

“You were obviously turned.”I motioned toward him.“But only a few months ago at most.That doesn’t explain where you’ve been for a year—or why you left her when she needed you.”

He winced and I smirked.I hoped the weight of what he’d done kept him shackled with guilt and shame.Only a fucking chooch would turn his back on a girl like Jacqueline Fiorino.

“It was all so heavy.You don’t understand.”He shook his head, then finally met my gaze again.“I fucked up.Got scared.”

And that was exactly why he didn’t deserve her.“Why’d you come back?”

“I miss her.I love that girl.”

“She’s no longer yours to love.”

The way his eyes widened, I knew he understood.

“She’sright here,” Jacqueline said from behind me.“And she speaks for herself.”

I closed my eyes and hung my head.I’d been too focused on the ex-boyfriend to hear her come down the stairs and sneak in through the back door of the shop.

Fuck me.What good were heightened senses if I ignored them?

“And she doesn’t appreciate people stealing her keys.”

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