Page 44 of A Bond Beyond Blood

Chapter Fourteen

Vinny

Surrounded by humans and vampires alike, I waited for Jacqueline as close as I could get to the chaos surrounding the tree.When I arrived, I sent a text with my location, but there’d been no response.And now, thirty minutes later, there was still no sign of her.

Punctuality was her favorite thing, and this was twice now she’d been late for a meeting with me.

Yesterday, however, she had an excuse.I’d forgotten it was the date of her father’s death—an oversight I wouldn’t allow to happen twice.Had today’s grief become too overwhelming for her?Had she decided not to carry on her father’s favorite tradition?

Maybe it was too painful.

Or...maybe she didn’t want to share something so sacred with me after all.

Fuck.

Tilting my head back, I looked up at the massive tree and breathed deeply, hoping to catch the scent of her in the air even with all these people around.It was a long shot, but I tried nonetheless.

I’d been here plenty of times, but Ricci family tradition dictated visiting during that first week of January to miss the holiday rush.The old man hated crowds.

If he could see me now.

I shook my head at the thought of my father seeing today’s New York.So much had changed since his passing.He wouldn’t even recognize midtown.

He’d hate it here.

We were different in that sense, he and I.As the times changed, I evolved with them.I enjoyed progress and didn't fight against things I didn’t yet understand.

I checked the time on my phone again, then pulled up her number and sent a quick text.

After a few minutes, when Jacqueline still didn’t respond or appear out of nowhere in the crowd, I hopped up onto the wall of a fountain, ignoring the shouts of a security guard nearby, and scanned the sea of people for the only one that mattered.

By half past ten, as I watched the crowds dispersing, and the ice-skating rink personnel began ushering people out, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.Jacqueline wouldn’t flake on me.Not without a text.She’d been ghosted herself in the past and I knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t turn around and treat someone with that same level of disrespect.

With a grunt of frustration—at the situation and at myself for waiting so long to go find my girl—I jumped down off the fountain’s wall, gave the red-faced security guard a toothy, fang-filled grin, and hurried toward the car.

That little fuck Gannon could have returned, caught her by surprise, used their past connection to weasel himself inside her house, then...

“Goddammit!”I punched a wall as I approached my SUV, wincing as the cement cracked loudly in the night, but I didn’t look back to assess the damage.I jumped in the car, turned the ignition, then threw it into drive and headed toward Fiorino’s Meats with my heart in my throat.

Why did I suggest meeting here instead of offering to pick her up?

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