Lacey picked up her glass of water and took a small sip. Viktor remained quiet as he watched her.
“The money I’d saved to live on is almost gone. The tips I make here are enough to buy groceries for the week, and my Uber rides to wherever I need to go. My father still gives me a weekly paycheck just like the other employees, but what he doesn’t know is I’ve continued to pay medical bills that are ready to go in collections. My father could lose the tavern. I will do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen. I don’t know what would happen to him if he lost the only thing keeping him going.”
“And your mother?” Viktor asked, his voice low.
Clearing her throat, Lacey looked away. “She passed almost a year ago.” The lump in her throat hurt. A year and her grieving for her mother was still so raw. A tear escaped, and she swiped it away. “Sorry. It’s still fresh.”
Something touched her hand intertwining with hers. She slowly glanced to his large hand swallowing hers—as she knew it would. “Never be sorry for a loss of someone you love.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Grieving takes time, and there are many facets that come along with the process. Anger, sadness, rage, memories and, if you’re lucky, acceptance.”
“Who did you lose?” she asked, because the pain in his voice clearly indicated he was not over a loss he had suffered. When he didn’t answer, she gave his hand a squeeze as he did hers just a few moments ago. “Well, whoever it was must have been very special to you because I hear the pain in your voice that I feel in my heart.”
“She was.” He nodded, then let go of her hand. “But I am sorry for your loss, Lacey.”
“Thank you, and I’m also sorry for yours,” she replied, missing the strength of his touch.
“Mine is not so fresh. It was a long time ago.” He sat up as if ready to stand.
“But just as painful as if it were yesterday.” Lacey knew she had read him right when his shoulders stiffened. Whoever he lost, he was not over, not by a long shot. A sadness gripped her, but she pushed it away. “So, to answer your question, money is the main reason I am taking that job. The tips are amazing from what Sasha says, and I can do my research at the same time.”
“Just be careful of what you ask and who you ask. Some of us paranormals are not as forthcoming with humans,” Viktor warned with narrowed eyes.
“I’ll be on my best behavior.” Her grin turned into a laugh when his eyes narrowed further. “I promise.”
He gave her a nod but continued to stare at her. Actually, he stared so long she touched her face, wondering if she had cheese ball on her lips.
“Have dinner with me?” he suddenly said. A flash of surprise on his features quickly followed.
“You didn’t mean to ask me that, did you?” She chuckled when he grinned.
“Actually, yes, I did want to ask you that, but it sounded more like an order instead of a question.” Viktor frowned. “I really need to work on my people skills.”
“Your people skills are just fine.” Lacey smiled. “And yes, I would love to have an actual dinner with you without fake fangs flying everywhere.”
She had heard Viktor chuckle but never had she heard him laugh. Really laugh. The masculine sound made her feel like she was home. How freaking weird was that! It eased her to the point she wanted to crawl up his body so she could feel his laughter.
“Great. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night when you find out what your schedule is going to be,” Viktor replied, seemingly unaware about how he had just affected her.
“You’re going to be at the Red Dragon tomorrow?” Lacey frowned, wondering why he would be there.
“Yeah, a few of the Warriors will be there. After you left, some more information was brought up, and King didn’t know how to work the program so we could see footage from the previous night,” Viktor explained just as his phone went off. He pulled it out looking at it with a frown.
“Oh, okay,” Lacey replied. She stood when he did. “That’s not a problem and very easy.”
“Listen, I have to go.” He didn’t look happy about it, which made her heart flutter. He headed toward the door with Lacey following. When he glanced toward her laptop, a small smile lifted his lips. “How’s the book coming along?”
“It’s.... Shit!” Her laptop was wide open, the words taunting her on the backlit screen. With the sleep mode turned off, which she always deactivated when she worked, Viktor’s name blared like a red flashing sign. She tripped her way toward it and slammed the screen shut. “I mean it’s going well.” She gave him a wobbly smile, praying he hadn’t spotted his name. Holy shit, she was going to die if he had.
He just nodded, but a larger smile tipped his lips as he once again continued to the door. He stopped, turning toward her before opening the door. “You want the answer?”
“Huh?” Lacey stopped right in front of him still thinking of ways to torture herself for leaving his name on her computer.
“Julia’s question. You want the answer?” His voice was low as he stared down at her.
“Oh, God. You read that?” She covered her face with her hands, sick with embarrassment.
“I’m a fast reader and have excellent eyesight.” He removed her hands from her face.
“I accidentally typed your name. Travis is who I meant to type. Then I thought next to your name Travis was just... blah, you know? So then I came up with Derek who could also be called Deke and—” She realized she was talking so fast she was breathless and a little lightheaded. “—then you knocked, cheese balls went flying, and I forgot it was up on the screen.” She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.
“Derek sounds like a good name for Julia.” Viktor leaned down, his face inches from her. “Viktor would most likely be interested in someone else.”
Their lips touched softly, gently. Each of them testing each other. Her hands rose to his chest, and she suddenly hated the thick jacket he always wore, which admittedly, she thought was sexy as hell. When his kiss deepened, she welcomed it. Her mind and body became mush as he pulled her up against him. Suddenly it was over. Her lips quivered as the cool air touched their wetness. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and his irises were no longer golden, but black as he stared down at her.
“That should answer Julia’s question about fangs.” He glanced at her lips and backed away. He opened the door, his back now to her. “Make sure you lock this after I leave and don’t open it unless you know who is on the other side.”
All Lacey could do was nod. She watched as he closed the door. “Ah, th-th-thanks,” she managed to say, but he was gone.
Holy shit, if that was research, she wanted more, much more.
Chapter 10
Viktor went down the steps toward his bike, fighting not to turn around and go right back inside so he could show Lacey exactly what else he could do with his fangs. “Fuck!” He growled as he got on his bike more carefully than usual. When one’s cock was rock-hard, a bike was not the best way to travel. As he adjusted himself, his phone rang.
“Yeah,” he barked into the phone.
“Sloan’s getting a little impatient,” Steve said on the other line. “Are you coming in or not? And let me just say if the answer is not, I’m handing the phone over to him so you can break that news to the grumpy ass.”
“I’m on my way,” Viktor growled, then hung up, even though Steve continued talking. Starting the bike, he figured by the time he got to the compound, his dick would have calmed down. Then again, he had his doubts. It had been a while since he’d had a woman. Not that he was blaming that for his uncomfortable situation. No, Lacey Cruz was one hell of a woman. Her body pressed up to his was something he wanted to experience again, preferably without the barrier of clothing.
He pulled out of the parking lot after giving the Tavern one last look. His eyes shot up to the window. She stared down at him. When his eyes connected with hers, she didn’t look away. Instead, she remained, and he was convinced he could actually feel her need. Knowing if h
e went back up those stairs he would have Lacey in bed until they were both satisfied, he gripped his bars. He couldn’t let that happen... yet. Viktor had some unfinished business from his past that needed to be taken care of, and until that happened, he needed to stay strong where Lacey was concerned. Giving her a nod, he was the first to look away as he sped out of the parking lot.
Any other woman he would have already fucked. It was the truth, and he knew it. The women of his past all knew the score when dealing with him. He made damn sure of that. Lacey was different. He knew it the first time he saw her at Primavista. He’d had that reaction once before to a woman, but not as strong. This was definitely a similar situation, but by no means identical. It confused him somewhat, but all he knew was he needed to deal with the past before he could have a future. It had just taken a beautiful, raven-haired woman to set him on that path after so many years.
There was no traffic, so he made his way quickly down the quiet streets. This time of night he enjoyed. He felt content, as if he belonged. And he did because there wasn’t a soul in sight. He was a loner, and he liked it that way. Had liked it that way, until tonight. Now on the silent streets, other than the motor of his bike, loneliness clawed at him.
Pulling up to the gate attached to the high walls of the compound, he keyed in the code a little harder than necessary. He shot through before the gates were fully opened, parked, and headed up to the door. The loud click indicated someone was waiting to let him in.
Going straight to Sloan’s office, he stopped when Steve called out to him, “Hey, we’re in the kitchen.”
Walking that way, he followed Steve into the kitchen. Adam and Sloan sat at the table eating the biggest sandwiches he’d ever seen. Sloan pushed his plate away then glanced up at Viktor with narrowed eyes.
“What authority do you have that you think you can pull two of my men to take care of something you should have taken control of?” Sloan asked, his voice calm, which was surprising. If Viktor really thought about it, in Sloan’s placed he’d be pissed.
Viktor nodded. “I see your point.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “It won’t happen again.”
“Good.” Sloan reached for his plate and began to eat again.
“Okay, wait a minute,” Steve said, his voice sounding disappointed. “That’s it? No hellfire and brimstone?”
“No,” Sloan said as he took a bite of his sandwich.
“Well, that’s horseshit.” Steve snorted and sat down heavily. “If that were me, you’d be stringing me up by my fangs.”
“Absolutely,” Sloan added after swallowing.
“Adam, what do you think of this?” Steve glanced at Adam, who was shoving half his sandwich in his mouth.
“Honestly?” Adam said after a long pause as he chewed. “I don’t really give a shit, Steve.”
Steve snorted, then cursed. “Well, I call bullshit, but obviously no one gives a damn.” He pulled out Viktor’s knife. “Guess you want this wicked blade back?” He slid it across the table.
“Thanks.” Viktor chuckled at Steve’s disgruntled tone. “So what happened to those three?”
“Well, if you would have finished your job...” Steve glanced at Sloan then frowned when Sloan ignored him. “...you’d know.”
“Local cops charged them,” Adam answered, then nodded at the knife. “Dude had to have that blade surgically removed.”
“I know.” Viktor gave a grin as wicked as the blade. “The reverse serrations on the back makes that a definite. Unless I remove it myself, then no surgery needed.”
“Any reason you didn’t want to remove it on scene?” Sloan eyed him as he continued to finish off his food.
“Yeah” was all Viktor said. No way in hell was he going to tell them the reason. “They wanted my bike. I said no. He pulled a gun, so I blasted his wrist with my blade, informed them he needed to have it surgically removed. They left, and I sent out a text informing anyone in the area that three assholes needed to be arrested and were possibly heading to the hospital. And if they didn’t end up there, I gave the make, model, and plate number.”
“Damn, I think that’s more than I ever heard you speak, and you didn’t even answer his question,” Steve said a little in awe.
“I did answer the question. I said, yeah.” Viktor decided to make himself a sandwich and stood up. It was... he glanced at his watch, four in the morning, but a vampire’s schedule wasn’t like a human’s. They didn’t have a nine-to-five, breakfast, lunch, and dinner timeline. Grabbing the bread, he piled on lunchmeat and cheeses, finishing it off with mustard, lettuce, and onion.
There was no way in hell he was going to discuss his night past the three-assholes issue. The rest he would keep to himself. His thoughts went back to Lacey and the kiss they’d shared. His cock stirred, making him force himself to think of something else. But that was way harder than he would have ever thought. She seemed to be in his mind one way or another every minute of the day, and for a vampire, that was a whole fucking lot.
Chapter 11
Jax and Slade walked in, both a bloody mess. No one in the kitchen eating seemed to care. It was an everyday experience for them. Nothing grossed them out.
Slade’s limp appeared more prominent. Viktor didn’t know Slade as well as the others, but he liked the Warrior. He’d heard about his leg and working to save others before working on or seeking help for himself. His leg had healed wrong, which was one of the things vampires had to be careful of.
“Your blood? Or did someone else have a bad night?” Steve asked as they sat down at the table.
“Quite a few had a bad night tonight,” Slade grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Everywhere we turned there were rogues. The last was a group of five stalking a lone human female.”
“She was definitely lucky we passed when we did.” Jax cracked his neck back and forth. “The fuckers scattered, as they do, but luckily, Duncan and Ronan were close. They were stronger than usual and more violent. They kept trying to get to the woman.”
Viktor walked over and sat down. “What about the woman? Any idea who she is?”
“We got her name,” Jax replied, giving him a narrowed glare.
“Okay, what I should have asked is do you have any idea what she was?” Viktor sighed, realizing these guys were really overwhelmed with all the paranormal crimes going on and were missing things. Vampires were what the VC Warriors specialized in. What he used to specialize in until a certain witch walked into his life. “Was she a witch?”
Both Jax and Slade glanced at each other. “Guess we need to make sure we start finding that out.”
“I would suggest that, yes.” Viktor took a bite of sandwich, chewed and swallowed, as everyone seemed to be waiting for him to say more. “Especially now” was all he added.
Ronan walked in, a large frown on his face, gaining everyone’s attention.
“How’s it going?” Sloan asked, standing up and grabbing his plate.
“Strange,” Ronan replied, then looked to Slade and Jax. “None of them know why they are here. All they remember was following a woman, and they don’t know why. They are totally normal. They aren’t rogue. Everything they’ve told us about their lives and who they are is checking out.”
“Witch.” Viktor finished off his sandwich, stood and put his plate in the dishwasher. He pulled out his phone, hit his brother’s number before putting it to his ear. “Get to the compound.”
“But they were full-bloods. A witch can’t affect them,” Steve said, looking as confused as everyone else.
“They can with the help of a demon.” Viktor walked toward them and stopped, putting his phone away. “I think it’s time to go over Witch and Demon Relationships 101. You mind if I talk to them?” Viktor asked Sloan, who hesitated.
“Are you ready to sign on?” Sloan cocked his eyebrow but sighed when Viktor just stared at him. “Fuck it. Go on, but this won’t be protocol.”
“You need the help, Sloan. I’m here offering my help,” Viktor gru
mbled as he passed him, but Sloan and the rest followed him out the door to the elevator past Sloan’s office. “Why, all of a sudden, do you need us to sign on?”
“Why wouldn’t you want to sign on?” Steve butted in. “You’d be lucky to be part of this unit, asshole. What, you too good for us or something?”
“Or something.” Viktor gave Steve a narrowed glare.
“Damn, dude.” Adam whacked him on the back of the head. “Chill out.”
“Sorry,” Steve grumbled. “I get a little protective over my bros.”
“Jesus,” Slade hissed, shaking his head.
“Warms the heart, don’t it?” Steve grinned, then snapped his mouth shut when Sloan glared at him.
Once everyone was on the elevator to head down to the interrogation rooms the door closed. Elevator music played, which was odd, but what was even odder was Steve humming along to it. Viktor shut his eyes briefly realizing these guys were fucking strange.
“Seriously, why don’t you want to pledge with us?” Adam glanced at Viktor with a frown.
Viktor sighed as the elevator stopped, they all stepped out heading down the hallway where Viktor paused at the door to the interrogation room. “Because sometimes I can’t follow the rules.”
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