Page 37 of Marcello
Marcello
Irubbed my forehead, knowing what the pain there meant. I needed to feed, but Abel had been understandably upset with me for the past week. The door to my office was pushed open the rest of the way, and I would admit that I hoped it was Abel coming to spend time with me, but it was Vincent.
“Fix it,” he growled out. For a vampire, he was really good at growling like one would expect from an alpha shifter. But Vincent Vittone was incredibly good at growling.
“Fix what?” I asked and went back to staring at my computer screen. I was looking for nursery furniture. Did I know what Abel wanted? No. Did I need to talk to my beloved? Absolutely.
He moved so fast, I didn’t realize until I felt the whack on the back of my head. “Owww,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head. “What the fuck was that for?” I glared at Vincent.
“Fix it. You fucked up. I took a huge chance to have him brought here. I did not put my life on the line with Master Ambrosius for you to fuck it up a few weeks after claiming him. He’s sad, he’s moping. Fix it.”
Vincent left the office, and I sighed deeply as I continued to rub the back of my head. It added to the throbbing that was already there, and I knew that I needed to do exactly as Vincentsaid and pull my head out of my ass, apologize, and make up with my beloved.
I gave up trying to locate Abel’s father. How the man was still alive I couldn’t understand. He’d sold his own son to sex traffickers. That was all right though. I was going to make it a priority to find the sorry excuse of a shifter and deal with him personally.
“Abel?”I reached out through our bond.“Are you in our room?”
Silence. It had been like that for a week. Mazzi had taught my beloved how to filter his thoughts to me, and later how to turn the connection off and on completely. I’d been a complete ass about it and had become upset that my beloved’s every thought and feeling were no longer being projected to me. That was wrong of me, and I regretted it immensely. He had a right to his privacy, and the fact that I hadn’t completely opened up to him was why it was so incredibly wrong of me.
He didn’t have our bond closed, but he was ignoring me. I understood. I had been completely unfair, but if I couldn’t find my beloved to apologize, how was I supposed to do so?“Abel? I know you can hear me. I would very much like to talk to you. In person. I’m coming up to the bedroom to see if you are there,”I told him.
I heard my beloved sigh through our bond.“I’m in the garden at the fountain not far from your office.”
I froze at the bottom of the stairs, turned around, and backtracked. When had he gone outside? It was perfectly safe, but it troubled me that my beloved was outside and I’d not realized it. He had obviously gone out a different door, but if he was right outside, how had I not sensed him nearby?
I stopped at the door in my office and stared out at my beloved. He was so beautiful, sweet, and had such a pure heart. He was by far too good for me, but for whatever reason, the fatessaid we were perfect for one another. Granted, they were right when it came to sexual compatibility. We certainly had amazing chemistry, and Abel had been so willing to explore things with me.
Until I fucked up. I stood there staring at my beloved, noticing for probably the first time how sad he looked. What he’d said to me hit me hard. He had given up so much to stay here with me, and I’d not made the effort to help him get in contact with anyone from Montana. Granted, we had both been preoccupied like newly mated couples always were. And then he’d gone into heat. And, well…there was even more sex.
I sighed and opened the door. Abel looked up at the sound of the door slightly scraping on the tile outside, and I made a mental note to have it looked at. It hadn’t been that way a week ago, so why now? I’d let others know, but that wasn’t my priority now. I needed to talk to Abel about things.
I smiled as I approached my beloved. He immediately stood up and frowned. “Why do you look pale?” he asked. “Really pale?”
I sat, probably a bit too hard, and pulled my beloved down beside me. “I’m fine. I skipped lunch and need to eat, but I wished to talk to you.” I took a chance and kissed Abel’s temple. When he leaned into my side, I closed my eyes before wrapping my arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer. “You ever been completely terrified of having the most important person in your life so disgusted with you that they can’t look at you, let alone be near you?”
Abel pulled away and looked up at me. “I could never be disgusted with you, Marcello. I know what your job has entailed. I know that you have done some truly horrible things.” He sighed and shook his head. “I know these things because Naldo has told me. I should have heard them from you and not him.” Abel shrugged. “I had an idea though. It’s not a secret whatmafia families are like. I know you were the number one hit man. You were ruthless, and you killed without a thought.” Abel sighed. “I don’t like your job. I never will, and I can’t quite understand why we were paired for that reason alone. But that doesn’t mean I’m disgusted by you.”
Abel stood and held out his hand. “Come on. It’s been a week since you fed from me, and something I also know from talking to Naldo and Mazzi is that at your age, that can be at the end of your timeline for going without blood.”
I looked at Abel’s outstretched hand and was torn. He was correct. I needed to feed, and I could drink blood from a cup, but there was a chance that my body would reject it and I’d become ill. My beloved, the angel that he was, was offering to let me feed from him, despite the fact that we’d not exactly been getting along well. It was completely my fault, and I admitted that.
“You do not have to do that,” I told him.
Abel rolled his eyes before shaking his head. “You’re right. I don’t have to. But I do need to take care of my mate. That’s you. And I know you need to feed, which is why you look so pale. Right now, you wouldn’t be able to win in a fight against the others if needed. And that isn’t a good thing.”
It stung to hear that, but in all fairness, he wasn’t wrong. I could still hold my own, but I would tire quickly, and that was no way to be when I had a pregnant beloved to protect and care for.
I stood, and although I tried to hide the slight sway when I did, Abel saw and grabbed my hand. “Damn stubborn alphas and sires. They’re all the same,” he muttered under his breath as he pulled me along. I knew where this was going, and I should be elated because it meant I was, at a minimum, going to get the chance to hold Abel in my arms for a bit. We’d slept in the same bed for the past week, but my beloved had been sound asleep and turned away from me when I came to bed.
Vincent was correct. This was my doing, and I was the one who needed to fix it. Yet, it was Abel who was fixing things. By the time we reached my office, I’d gotten my feet back under me and was able to walk beside my beloved. He’d slowed his steps, and I had to wonder if it was because he was suddenly having second thoughts or if he had caught on that I truly was having difficulties.
“It will be okay if we just disappear in the middle of the day?” Abel asked. “Everyone will know why, but I’m pregnant, so it’s not like they don’t already know we’ve had sex.”
I chuckled. “They absolutely know we have sex. Sex is very much part of our lives,mio angelo. We are vampires who need blood to survive. We have to get that some way, and when added to the act of sex, it is so much more enjoyable for all involved.”
Abel stared up at me for a moment before he nodded. He continued on, opening the office door that Vincent had not so quietly closed earlier after he’d left. The villa was eerily quiet when we left the office and made our way to the stairs.
“Where is everyone?” Abel asked.
