Claude's Conquest (Maura's Men Book 2)

by Stella Williams

  When Molly came to she was on her bed, her skin tingled, but was otherwise unharmed. She sat up and faced her mirror. Her hair and makeup were perfect. There wasn’t a single mark on her face. She took a deep calming breath. Whatever crazy dream she had just woke up from, it had only hardened her resolve against staying in the mansion. Grabbing her purse, she headed for the front door. She had an appointment to keep.

  Brody, one of her new vampire friends, had invited her out for drinks. He’d called her earlier, excited about a possible business deal. Molly had agreed immediately. She’d have agreed to anything to get her out of that damned mansion and as far away from Shane as possible.

  Molly released a sigh of relief as she drove past the gate guard. She had almost run into Shane as she’d made her escape. He’d been making his own nightly patrols of the mansion while Xander and Claude hunted in the city. Since Gretchen’s little nightmare, everyone had been on red alert. That girl had some serious issues, and it wasn’t just from having her throat torn out. Although, Molly was grateful Gretchen kept them to herself. Molly had enough drama dealing with her own crazy dreams as of late.

  Molly steered Xander’s car through the familiar streets of her home town. She passed the house she once shared with Cat, before the accident, and an unwelcome ache settled in her chest. Molly reached over and turned the radio up, loud dance music filling the empty space around her and forcing the pain away. She didn’t want to think about the past, she only needed to focus on her future from now on. She sped up, eager to be out of the residential district and into downtown.

  “Why do they have to make things so complicated?”

  Cat jumped as the shadow figure appeared next to the tub she was bathing in.

  “I guess they don’t stress privacy, where you come from,” Cat replied pushing the soap bubbles to cover her naked body.

  The shadow always managed to find her alone. Even today, Xander was out hunting Maura in the city.

  “You haven’t done a thing to help get Claude and Shane their happily ever after.”

  “I’m sorry if my honeymoon wasn’t reason enough not to be in my friends business.”

  “Destroying Maura is more important than you fornicating on every surface of the house.”

  Cat rolled her eyes at the shadow.

  “If it’s that important, why haven’t you tried talking to Molly and Gretchen? Why am I the only one graced with your presence,” she sneered.

  “You think I haven’t? Gretchen completely shut me out and Molly, well. I literally set her on fire, and she still refuses to see the truth.”

  “What? You set her on fire? What the hell does that have to do with getting her to give Shane a second chance?”

  “She set you on fire and you fell into Alexander’s bed.”

  “No, he fell into mine. Anyway, that still doesn’t mean its okay to set my best friend on fire. That shit sucks, and I’m speaking from experience.”

  Cat grabbed her robe and stood using the robe as a shield from the shadow. As soon as she could, she would go check on Molly.

  “No damage was done to your friend. At least, none that wasn’t already there. I’m just here to warn you that time is running out.”

  Cat sighed as the shadow disappeared. Just what she needed, a deadline, on not just one, but two damn near impossible situations. Now that her relaxing bath was ruined she marched to the closet to find some clothes. She was calling a girl meeting and putting an end to this drama.

  “Alright you two, I’ve called this girl meeting because I wanted to talk about the two giant elephants in the room. Let’s start with you Gretchen,” Cat said as soon as she’d corralled Molly and Gretchen into Shane’s Theater room.

  The guys had meetings in the study. The girls had theirs in Shane’s Theater room. They were the only true safe common spaces in the entire mansion. Gretchen shrunk into the leather recliner she was sitting in. Seriously, the last thing she wanted to do was talk about Claude. She might be able to avoid him in real life, but he dominated her dreams.

  When she wasn’t having nightmares about Declan attacking her, she was dreaming of hot sweaty nights with Claude. If he were even half the lover he was in her imagination, then she was in serious trouble. All the more reason for her to not only avoid this discussion, but to get out of the mansion.

  “I’d rather watch a movie,” she grumbled.

  “Me too,” Molly said.

  “Nope, we need to talk about this.” Cat said, folding her arms over her chest. She tapped her foot like Gretchen’s mother did when she was impatient.

  After a few moments under Cat’s intense glare, Gretchen broke.

  “Fine, I give in. I gave him the opportunity to be with me on my terms, and he rejected me.”

  Saying it out loud gave it a finality that didn’t exactly sit well with Gretchen and judging by the look on Cat’s face it didn’t sit well with her either.

  “What terms?”

  “That’s personal.”

  “Cat doesn’t know the meaning of personal,” Molly whispered to Gretchen, and they giggled.

  “Since you’ve got so much to laugh about, why don’t you tell us about Shane? Why can’t you just find the same happiness you had before?”

  Molly stopped laughing and glared at Cat.

  “Look Cat, I know you are high on married life right now, but don’t try and force us into relationships because you think it’s what we need to be happy. Some women don’t need male companionship to validate their existence,” Molly snapped.

  Gretchen winced at Molly’s words and watched as the storm that was Cat began to brew. She was sure all hell was about to break loose when Xander’s head popped in. Seeing the two women at odds, he came into the room grabbed his wife and carried her out over his shoulder.

  “That was uh…” Gretchen didn’t finish her sentence as Molly stormed out leaving her alone in the theater room.

  “What set those two off now? Shane should ban you three from his theater if he doesn’t want anything broken,” Claude said appearing in the doorway.

  He leaned against the door frame. His chest in plain sight as all he wore was a pair of swim trunks, different ones than the pair she’d seen him in the other night. He had a towel slung over his shoulder as if he were on his way to the pool instead of just coming from it.

  “Girl stuff,” Gretchen managed to force her gaze away from his chiseled abs.

  She stood and tried to leave, but he caught her, bringing her in closer.

  “Avoid me while you still can, the anticipation of you in my bed again is the ultimate in foreplay,” He whispered sending a shiver of arousal through her.

  She looked into his eyes, seeing his need for her written across his face before he smirked and walked away. Leaving her wanting more and hating herself for it. Just a few more weeks, if things went as planned, and she would be starting a new chapter in her life. One without the sexy, but infuriating vampire named Claude.

  clean break

  “Please don’t go,” Shane pleaded, standing in the doorway of her room.

  Startled, Molly dropped the shirt she had been folding to put in her suitcase. Molly hadn’t even heard him come in as she’d been too busy packing. Too busy rushing to leave the mansion and more importantly Shane, behind.

  “There is no reason for me to stay.”

  Refusing to look at him, she continued to pack. The man in her doorway was not the man she thought she had loved. He was, in fact, a poor imitation, a shell of the rosy-cheeked, quick-witted man she had loved. He was the man who had abandoned her, who left her for dead and had the nerve to live in a perpetual pity party for himself.

  “Is my love really not enough?”

  His question tugged at her heart, but she wouldn’t give in. Couldn’t give in to him, not now, not ever again.

  “It wasn’t enough to save me. Why would it be enough to make me stay?”

  Molly slammed her suitcase closed and picked up her purse. She marched ove
r to the door and was surprised when he blocked her exit. His hand reached out and cupped her face, a familiar caress that brought tears to her eyes and a burning rage in her gut. Still she let it linger, let it burn as a reminder of their past. She moved closer, choosing just for a moment to forget the pain. She kissed him, just a soft brush of her lips over his, but he pulled her into him and deepened the kiss.

  His tongue pressing into her mouth, his technique was the same, but his taste was different. Not of spicy male, but bitter, poisonous filth. She pulled away then, if she’d needed confirmation that the man in front of her was not the man she’d fallen in love with, she’d gotten it. She had been so naive, blinded by the notion of fairy tale love. Shane was poisonous not only to her, but to himself. She pushed passed him. She took the chance to look back and was relieved that he wasn’t following her out.

  “You better keep in touch.” Cat gave Molly a hug.

  “Of course, I lost my best friend once, and I have no plans on doing it again.”

  Cat smiled and let her go.

  “If you even get a hint of where Maura is or might be, I better be your first call,” Xander ground out.

  “Seriously? Who else am I going to call, Ghostbusters?”

  He glared at her, but Molly just smiled and slid into the driver seat of her new red sports car. Her best friend’s husband wasn’t sad to see her go, but Molly knew he had a hard time not knowing what her plans were.

  Gretchen came bouncing out of the front door, her own small suitcase in hand. She slid into the passenger seat and Molly took off. The two of them were starting fresh, away from the mansion and hopefully away from the drama.

  “I’m surprised Claude wasn’t chasing you down,” she said, and Gretchen sighed.

  “Only Cat knew I was leaving with you, and Claude is in town on business.”

  “Ah, so no messy goodbye. Good for you, making a clean break.”

  Gretchen smiled and looked out the window. Molly envied her, if only Shane hadn’t shown up when he had, Molly would have had a clean break also.

  “So this is home.” Gretchen eyed the downtown condo Molly had recently purchased.

  It was red brick, with white shutters framing the front windows. It had a small patch of grass for its front lawn.

  Molly grinned as she removed the sold sign at the edge of the front grass.

  “It’s not a mansion, but it’s got its own charms.” She headed for the door.

  “Oh, I’m not complaining. I’m glad to be away from all that drama.” Gretchen grabbed her bag from the back seat of Molly’s car.

  She followed Molly up the walkway to the front entrance. Molly opened the door and stepped inside.

  “Welcome to sanctuary.” Molly spread her arms wide in the small entryway.

  Gretchen laughed as she stepped inside, eyeing the open layout. There was a decent sized living area and kitchen to the right, on the left was a set of stairs going up to the second floor.

  “I, of course, have the master suite, but you are welcome to either the room next door or the room on the main floor. There is also a basement suite, but I’m planning to rent that to other vamps who need a place to stay,” Molly said nonchalantly as she headed up the stairs.

  “I’ll take the main floor room. I appreciate you letting me crash with you, but I plan on getting a job and paying rent.”

  “No worries. You can work with me.”

  “And what exactly is your work?” Gretchen was curious. Molly had been disappearing almost every night for the past few weeks, and it had put the boys on edge. She’d been very secretive about what she was doing. Cat was probably the only person who knew what had been going on.

  “I own a nightclub. I had to fire the old manager, and I’m sure you would be good for the job.”

  Gretchen thought for a moment before smiling.

  “Deal, but I don’t make any promises.”

  “Awesome, you can start tonight.” Molly said and disappeared into what Gretchen was sure was the master suite.

  Tonight was kind of soon, but it didn’t mean it was too much to ask. For the moment, Gretchen was kind of in Molly’s debt. Heading down the short hall, Gretchen found her room and started to unpack. She didn’t have much and quickly realized she had nothing to wear that was appropriate for her new job. Luckily the condo wasn’t far from the shopping area so Gretchen wouldn’t have to worry about borrowing Molly’s car.

  For the first time in ages it seemed, she pulled out her cell phone and quickly checked her account balance. Her cell phone had been in her pocket when Declan attacked her. It had been collecting dust in the drawer next to her bed after Claude had returned it to her, about a month into her new life.

  She hadn’t needed money being holed up in the mansion, so there was still a good amount there. She was no longer receiving the stipend for working at MacDonald Estate and with no other income she would have to make her meager savings last. Hopefully, she could find a good bargain. Grabbing her purse Gretchen headed for the door.

  “Molly I’m going out!” She called and after a few minutes without an answer she left.

  It took a few minutes, but Gretchen managed to find her way to the shopping district and find a store that sold the type of clothing she would need. It had been a few years since Gretchen had shopped in a store like this. It reminded her of her wilder days as Liz, short for her middle name Elizabeth. As Liz, Gretchen had been a total party girl. She’d been a regular at the clubs surrounding her college and although she had never joined a sorority had a standing invite to all Greek events.

  Those had been frivolous days, filled with a torturous beauty routine and a catalog of drinking games. At least until she’d trusted the wrong guy to get her a drink, Justin. Gretchen shook thoughts of that mistake from her head. She wasn’t Liz anymore; she was Gretchen, and she was a lot wiser for it.

  Scanning the sales rack, Gretchen picked out a pair of shiny black jeans and a green corset top. She then headed for the rack of scarves. Choosing a short black one she tied it around her neck. It might look a bit awkward, but it would cover her scar. Her next stop was a shoe store where she found a cute pair of black flats. Her new outfit was simple and club appropriate, but still comfortable. Now her only task was finding her way back to the condo in time to get ready for the night.

  “Finally,” Molly whispered to herself as she flopped down on her bed. Today was the first day of her new life. An independent life. The mansion was miles away, and so was Shane. I can finally have my peace.

  “You will have no peace.”

  The voice was back. Molly sat up and shook her head, trying to dispel the voice.

  “You are in danger.”

  Molly stood and began to unpack her bags. Ignoring the voice hadn’t done anything to help in the past, but at least it gave Molly a sense of sanity.

  “Continue to ignore my warnings and see what happens.”

  Molly tensed remembering the way her body had burned only a few weeks ago.

  “Forgive him.” The voice was back to its old tricks.

  Molly relaxed a little.

  “Forgive him before everything is lost.”

  You seriously need a new mantra.

  “Fuck,” Molly cursed herself for answering back.

  She waited for an answer, but none came. As quickly as it had come, the voice was gone. With Gretchen out shopping, Molly was truly alone in her apartment. She should have welcomed the feeling, but instead she felt more vulnerable than ever.

  outsider

  Gretchen took one final deep breath before returning to the front of the house. All the lights, smells, and sounds were harsh on her partially trained senses. A dull headache throbbed at the base of her skull. It was times like this when she regretted forgoing extra training with Claude. Gretchen pasted a smile on her face as she pushed through the writhing bodies on the dance floor and over to the main bar.

  It had only been two months since Gretchen had started working in Molly’s club,
but she’d taken to it surprisingly well. Although, Gretchen was sure it had a lot to do with the amazingly well trained staff. They had been very accommodating as Gretchen got a feel for her new job.

  “You’ve got an admirer.” Mack, the bartender, pushed a pink concoction towards Gretchen and pointed to down the bar.

  Gretchen didn’t have to look to know who it was from. She picked up the drink and headed down the bar to where Lyle sat. Lyle was currently renting a room in Molly’s basement sanctuary. Ever since he’d laid eyes on Gretchen, the young vampire had made his interest clear. He was cute, but Gretchen still wasn’t interested.

  “I don’t drink at work.” Gretchen placed the glass in front of him.

  “Then what about meeting up later?” He fingered her now signature scarf.

  “Whoa there Romeo, she’s not interested.” Molly appeared next to them.

  Lyle smiled and threw an arm around Molly’s shoulders.

  “Come one Mol, let Gretchen answer for herself.”

  “I’m really not interested,” Gretchen piped up quickly.

  “Alright, alright, but if you ever change your mind,” he said and disappeared into the crowd of people on the dance floor.

  “Thanks,” Gretchen said, and Molly just shook her head.

  “No problem, but honestly if you had to date a vampire. Lyle isn’t a bad catch.”

  “He’s cute, but I’m not ready to date just yet. It still hasn’t been that long since we’ve been on our own.”

  “Don’t tell me you still have Claude on your brain.” Molly frowned.

  “It’s an illness,” Gretchen supplied.

  Molly laughed before handing Gretchen the pink concoction that was still sitting on the bar.

  “As the owner, I’m telling you to drink up.”

  Gretchen rolled her eyes before downing it. The liquid held almost no taste, but it burned her throat all the same. She coughed and set the empty glass on the bar.