Susie looked like she was at a loss for words. She stood in the doorway, mouth open until Anna waved her off. “Long story, I’ll tell you over coffee some other time.”
****
Despite repeatedly telling herself that she didn’t want to run into Derrick Corel, Anna found reasons to remain at the gym until the night staff began to arrive. During the day she had even managed to get in some weight training with Susie and an hour in one of the Pilates classes. The class left her with little doubt as to why the memberships were high … it was fantastic. If the other classes were of the same standard, she might be able to save enough money to have a real holiday someday.
After her shower, she changed into the clothes she had brought from home in her backpack, applied fresh makeup and dried her hair using one of the gym-supplied hairdryers. No wonder the gym was so popular; the ladies room looked like something out of a fashion magazine, even supplying shampoo and conditioner. Heading back to her office to collect her things, loud voices greeted her. She stopped to listen to the two men arguing inside. One she recognized as Derrick, the other sounded like … Patrick? Hesitant to intrude, she waited impatiently outside the closed door, trying to pick up parts of the conversation without being forced to actually lean her ear against the door. Whatever the topic of conversation, it was heated.
“This is the last time I’m going to tell you. Someone has filled your head with lies.”
“We both know that’s not true Mr. High and mighty Corel. You just can’t stand to see me as your equal. I don’t understand why you won’t help me.”
“It will never happen, Miller. Please do us both a favor and give up asking.”
“No. I don’t see why this is a problem to you. I will do anything—anything.”
“There is nothing you could offer that would interest me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
The sound of shuffling feet became louder, closer. Suddenly the door was flung open. Patrick fell through. She scurried to get out of the way before he knocked her over.
“Patrick! Derrick! What the hell is going on here?” The room almost buzzed with negative energy. The hatred emanating from both men was palpable. Derrick’s clenched knuckles white.
“Anna?” Derrick appeared shocked to see her. “I thought you were only coming in during the day.”
“We made an arrangement to share the office. I didn’t know I was actually barred from entering the gym after dark.”
“Of course not. I just … didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
“I hate to interrupt.” Patrick stepped beside Anna and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “But it looks like I’ve outlasted my welcome. Could I give you a lift home, Anna?”
“I’ll escort Anna home.” Derrick took her free arm and held it.
She pulled clear of both of them. “I can get myself home thank you both very much.”
Turning her back she headed for the foyer.
“Damn,” she muttered. Her handbag was still in the office. She reluctantly turned and walked past them into the room, grabbed her things and left.
She crossed the street to the carpark and pressed the unlock button on her car key. I wonder what that was about? She glanced into her rear vision mirror and noticed Derrick roughly escorting Patrick out of the building. Their discussion appeared to have started anew and her curiosity got the better of her. She adjusted the mirror for a better look. Patrick waved his fists in a threatening manner while Derrick remained motionless, seemingly in control and unaffected by the aggressive gestures. Suddenly he lunged forward, shoving Patrick … hard. He seemed to fly across the bonnet of his car, setting off the car alarm. When he recovered, Patrick slid off the hood and scrambled into his car. The tires squealed as the car peeled away from the curb and disappeared down the street in a haze of smoke.
“It isn’t polite to watch other people’s disagreements.”
“What the—”
How the hell did he do that? Somehow Derrick had managed to get from the front of the building to the car park in what seemed like only seconds.
“I wasn’t watching. I was just … okay, I was watching. So sue me.”
He opened the car door and offered his hand.
“Your hands are cold again.” She squirmed in her seat before stepping out. “You really should see a doctor about your circulation problem. Seriously, I’ve never known anyone with a body temperature as cold as you.”
He smiled and shrugged, then tilted her chin with his fingers and examined her neck. “Looks like that cut is healing nicely. It shouldn’t scar.”
“The bruises are already going yellowish too.”
When Derrick lifted her skirt slightly to inspect her thigh, she slapped his hand.
“Just wanted to be sure.” He flashed his dimples and she felt a flutter in her stomach.
He moved closer. She leaned back against the door frame. He nuzzled her neck with his cheek. His cool breath tickled her skin sending ripples of warmth through her body. Not this time. Reluctantly she pushed him away and slipped back into the driver’s seat, starting the engine. It was his turn to suffer. “I’ll see you later.”
As she drove away, Anna glanced at the rear vision mirror but Derrick was already gone.
****
“She insists I see a physician,” Derrick told his brother.
“Whatever for?”
“She believes I have a circulation problem resulting in my low body temperature.”
“Oh.” David laughed as he helped pack away the training equipment. “Why don’t you tell her it’s a family problem? Something in the genes. I could demonstrate with a laying-on of the hands if that would make things easier to explain?”
“You keep your hands to yourself.”
“I’m only trying to help. I got another glimpse of her as I pulled into the car park tonight. She really is a cute little firecracker isn’t she?”
“Did you also happen to notice Patrick Miller leaving the gym?”
“What does he want? As if I didn’t know.”
“He’s beginning to act desperate, even threatening to go public about us. I’m afraid if I don’t agree he’ll find another way.”
“So, where’s the problem in that? It will keep him out of your hair.”
“There is something unstable about him. If he continues along this path … someone might get hurt.”
“Someone like Anna?”
“He’s hurt her before.”
“I know the story.”
“I’m not sure if he would follow through on his threats. He’s greedy but I don’t believe he’s entirely ruthless. Jake once told me that, although he hated the pain it caused Anna, he was glad that the wedding didn’t go ahead. He said that Patrick was immature and impulsive due to his fatherless upbringing. Money was hard to come by in his youth and he was always looking for a way to make a quick buck.”
“We’ve met his kind before.” David threw a medicine ball at Derrick who caught it effortlessly and tossed it back. “He won’t give up easily. You’d better watch your back.”
“Thank you for your concern.” Derrick locked the weapons cabinet and turned off the lights to the Dojo as they left. “I have every intention of watching my back. You do the same.”
“So”—David slapped his brother’s back—“are we heading out for a night of debauchery?”
“I have other plans.”
“Plans that include your little firecracker?”
A wide smile spread across Derrick’s face. “You never know.”
Despite the sermon he had given his brother on his intention to give Anna time to grieve, he found himself unable to function every time they parted company. It was as though she took a part of him with her and his body grieved for its loss. Without her, he was incomplete … defective. And it was not a condition he enjoyed. Never, in all his years as a vampire or the previous years as a human, had he ever felt such a strong connection. Not even with his beloved Isabelle
, his little sister who had been left in his care after the sudden deaths of their parents.
David rested a hand on his shoulder and Derrick knew by the expression on his brother’s face that their psychic connection had revealed his thoughts.
“I wasn’t your fault,” David told him. “There was nothing you could have done.”
“I should have been more perceptive.” Derrick maintained. “She was my responsibility. I should have protected her.”
“She was a married woman, Derrick. She was no longer in our charge.”
“She was still our sister!”
David shook his head. “We’ve gone over this more times than I care to remember.” He picked up his jacket and headed for the door. “It’s been over one hundred years. When are you going to forgive yourself?”
****
After David left, Derrick sat cross-legged on the Dojo floor and contemplated his brother’s words. He had dedicated his entire second life to the protection of women and instructing them in the art of self-defense, and he had trained his body to become a deadly weapon, but none of these things would bring his sister back. If he lived a million lifetimes, he would never forget the vulnerable look on Isabelle’s badly beaten face as she took her last painful breath. If it had not been for David’s unexpected return from Paris, he too would be dead. Many times he wished he were, and blamed his brother for not allowing him to join their sister in the afterlife. He had felt as though he did not deserve to live and, until he met Jake and eventually Anna, he never wanted to part of this world, but now … now he had a reason to wake up each night and a plan for the future.
****
“How long have you been waiting here?” Anna asked. She unlocked the door and waited for an answer.
“I came straight over from the gym.”
“Why?”
“I thought I owed you an explanation.”
“For the way you acted at the gym? Or do you mean for humiliating me in front of the whole town?”
“You aren’t ever going to let that go, are you Anna?”
“No, Patrick. Some memories stay with you forever.” She stepped inside and started to close the door.
“Please, Anna. Just let me come in for a while and try to explain. You promised at the restaurant that we could finish this discussion in private. I’m only asking for an hour. Surely you can’t deny me one hour of your time? I know that deep down inside you’re still the sweet, thoughtful Anna I fell in love with. That Anna would give me a chance.”
“That’s not fair.” If she had indeed buried the sweet Anna down deep, it was to protect herself from having her heart torn out and handed to her on a silver platter. It was all Patrick’s fault she had become the cynical person she was today. “Don’t you blame your problems on me.”
“Please, Anna. Half an hour? Twenty minutes? I’m begging you.”
“Oh, come inside before I change my mind.” She threw open the door and allowed him to enter.
“Do you have any wine?”
“Don’t push your luck Patrick. I said we could talk, not socialize.”
“I thought it might ease the tension, that’s all.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. I should tell him no. Hell, I could use a drink myself.
“All right then. Just one.” She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. “Is red okay?”
“My god, Anna … red wine in the fridge? And in a cask no less?”
“I like my wine that way. What’s wrong with that?”
“No, no. I’m sorry. The wine is fine. It’s great.” He hurried to the kitchen cabinet for glasses and poured them each a drink. “Let’s talk.”
“Whatever.” Anna sat on the sofa and as she did, her hand accidently knocked over a small silver frame, containing a photo taken seven years earlier, when she was around nineteen. It had been taken after an especially enjoyable day at the beach with her father. Her nose was spotted with freckles and her skin flushed with color from the race up the sand dunes to the car to get the camera. Her wind-tousled hair was slightly shorter then but it was the same coppery blonde. Void of makeup and still laughing from one of her father’s lame jokes—her face positively glowed with joy. It was one of the happiest times in her life. A life that Patrick had torn apart.
Patrick sat beside her and took a sip from his glass. His nose crinkled as he swallowed the cold Dolce Rosso.
Anna watched him warily. “There was a time when you would have enjoyed that.”
Patrick shook his head. “That was the real problem with our relationship. I tried to enjoy the things you enjoyed but it wasn’t for me—not really.”
The remark hit her like a slap to her face. “Was my way of life so bad?”
“Of course not.”
He tried to touch her hands but she pulled them back into her lap. “You loved the simple pleasures, walks on the beach … going to the cinema, watching old movies on television. Those things are … nice. I needed excitement, travel, night life. I love nightclubs and gambling. Fast cars and—”
“Fast women?” Anna took a large gulp of her wine.
“Maybe.”
“So what you’re saying in a nut shell is that I was too simple for you?” She swallowed more wine, half emptying the glass.
“You know that’s not true. Things happen around you. Strange and bizarre things. I don’t think anyone at school will ever forget when you lay down in front of the school bus and refused to budge until they had a doctor check the driver.”
She let out a deep sigh. Yes, she remembered the day. How could she forget? It was the day she became an outcast. “He was about to have a stroke. I couldn’t let him get behind the wheel. He could have died. We all could have died.”
His expression softened. “Yes, you were right about that, and all the other things you predicted. Even when it cost you all your friends. Life with you was never simple, Angel.”
“I told you not to call me that.” She finished her drink and poured another. “And while we’re talking about the strange things in my life, how much worse do you think it got after you walked out on our wedding? Everywhere I went, people stared and whispered. It was bad enough being the town weirdo without being the dumped weirdo. It forced me to leave town.”
Patrick leaned forward, she leaned back.
“Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life. I know now that your abilities only make you more desirable. I want a second chance. I’m begging you to forgive me. You may not believe it, but I have changed.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe it.”
“Anna. Why won’t you give me another chance? I’ve seen the error of my ways. Since we broke up, I’ve never been happy with any of the women I’ve dated.”
Anna knew where he was going with this. When they first started dating, Patrick always had a way of crawling back after every faux pas and she’d always taken him back. Even when she knew he wasn’t sincere. But she had truly believed he’d changed when he proposed marriage. He had promised he could accept the weirdness that was her life, and then he had left her.
“It took you seven years to discover that?”
“I never stopped caring about you.”
“I don’t believe you even gave me a second thought.”
“That’s not true. I wrote you many letters over the years.”
“Funny. I never received a single word from you.”
“Well, I didn’t post any but I did write them and tear them up.”
“You left me standing at the altar, Patrick. My father spent a fortune on a wedding that never happened. Did you ever consider compensating him? He almost lost his business over the debt. And for that matter, I don’t remember seeing you at the funeral.”
“I—I meant to attend. I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome.”
“Sure you did.” With a wave of her arm she dismissed him. “Just go, Patrick. It’s been a long day and I’ve had enough.”
“There’s some
thing I need to discuss with you first.”
“We’ve already been through this.”
“No,” he kept his eyes down as he took a deep breath. “It’s a business matter.”
“What business?”
“Your business. The health club.”
“What about it?”
“I want in.”
The uncharacteristic way Patrick got straight to the point sparked Anna’s attention. She realized the significance. Normally, he would have done his usual hinting and bargaining, and then eased it into the conversation.
“Why?”
“It’s a real money-maker, Anna. Derrick Corel isn’t building it the way he could and it’s not like he doesn’t have the money.”
“I’ve seen the books. He’s doing a good job. The place looks great and it’s full to the brim with clients. What more could he do?”
“I have lots of ideas.” Patrick sat forward on the edge of his seat, he positively buzzed with enthusiasm. “More advertising, sexier staff in more alluring outfits. We could approach local celebrities for television commercials.”
“I gather Derrick isn’t interested in your ideas?” Now she understood the earlier confrontation. Patrick could be like a dog with a bone when he wanted something. Derrick would have good reason to lose his temper.
“He’s narrow-minded. Says he doesn’t need more money and he doesn’t want his staff paraded around in their underwear.”
“Understandable.” She sipped her wine. “I don’t know why you’re coming to me with this?”
“You are half owner.”
“Less than half Patrick. I only own forty percent.”
“That would be enough to force him to listen to you. Make me your manager and I will make you a fortune. If I was the manager, we could spend more time together. I could prove to you how much I’ve changed. Please, Anna. Think it over?”
Anna crossed her arms, lifted one hand to her face and tapped on her chin. “Okay, I’ve thought about it. The answer is no.”
He made a grab for her, managing to snag her right hand. “If you’d just—”
Anna pulled free of his grasp and stood up. “It’s time for you to leave.”
Kiss of Death (Blood Brothers Book 1) Page 5