Page 23 of Marcello
“I will try,mio angelo.”
“Try what?”
“To pull back some. To let the others do what they do. My position is more authoritative here since Vincent announced me as his second. I haven’t exactly listened to that, and I’ve still been filling the role I previously held.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as I asked the next question. “Which was?”
After a long moment, Marcello answered quietly. “Hit man. I did the dirty work for Vincent and the family. I was the best, which is why I have so many enemies now.”
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. Of course he was a hit man. He’d said he had killed four people right before he’d come to the room and I ran into him. How did someone learn to love a hit man? Could I?
Chapter 9
Marcello
“It is good to see you so…relaxed.”
I met Vincent’s gaze and glared. “I would be upset, and in some ways, I still am, but I cannot deny the fact that having my beloved here is what I needed.” I wasn’t just relaxed. I was grounded. Abel had no idea just how much he did for me simply by being here. For the first time in a year, I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t crave the touch of him because I could just go to our room and pull him into my arms.
“And when do we get to officially meet him?” Vincent asked. “I’ve seen him briefly when everything was happening last week, and of course, Mazzi and Naldo have seen him. But that is about it. The others in the coven are curious.”
I narrowed my eyes. I was sure they were. Coven family or not, if any of them mistreated Abel or took advantage of him, they would pay for their actions. “I’ll talk to Abel about it,” I said. “He’s still getting used to things here and with us.”
“Yet here you are.”
I rolled my eyes at Vincent. “I’m here because Abel is still asleep and I wished to see what was in the kitchen for him when he woke.”
Vincent pointed at the doorway. “The kitchen is that way.”
“When did you become such an asshole?”
“Apparently, when I decided to collect your beloved for you and it brought the council down on me and our coven.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that. I could ask Abel to help with the council situation if you wish. Maybe he can call…I assume Master Ambrosius and ask him to back off?” I didn’t think it would happen, and I really didn’t wish for my beloved to be involved in family business if at all possible. None of this was his doing. He had been kidnapped and brought here against his will. Granted, he’d chosen to stay, but that didn’t mean he agreed to join the “family” business.
“I do not need your beloved fighting my battles with the created vampire.”
I made a face. “Very well. Speaking of my beloved, we need to get his things from Montana at some point.”
“Already done,” Vincent said. “They were put in one of the guest rooms upstairs since the two of you were busy fucking like bunnies.”
I stared at Vincent. “I don’t know what is going on with you to make you this disagreeable, but you truly are being an ass. I was doing what any newly mated paranormal does. If you haven’t gotten your dick sucked in too long, I think you should take that up with whoever is warming your bed.” I stood. “I’ll be grabbing fruit for my beloved and then returning to our room since you’re in such a foul mood.”
I made it almost to the door before Vincent’s words stopped me. “I apologize,” he said quietly. Vincent never apologized for anything. Ever.
I turned with narrowed eyes. “If you recall, I was making do without him. It was no way to live, but I did not ask for Abel to be brought here.”
“I know.” Vincent leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his stomach. “You may not have seen what others did, but you were on a path of self-destruction. I did what I needed to in order to save you.”
“Oh, I saw it, and I’ve admitted as much to myself and my beloved. I even tried to get Master Ambrosius to end my suffering there in my room in front of him.” I grinned, thinking back to how my little beloved had come running across the room, flying at the created vampire, and whacking him in the chest with balled-up fists. Who would do that? Apparently, Abel would for me. I’d spent the evening before and the morning up until that point trying to keep him away, and he was already loyal and fighting for me. For us. He deserved everything I could give him and more.
“Do you realize how that would have destroyed him?”
“I wasn’t exactly thinking about that aspect of things just then. I did not want Abel part of this world. None of that matters any longer as that didn’t happen, and now, he cannot leave.”
“You have a beloved to think about.”
I narrowed my eyes again. “I’m aware of that. Care to tell me what you are hinting at? And why are you now acting as if I’m mated and things are going to change drastically? I am going to continue on as I always have.”
