Delarossa (The Hadley Caro Series Book 1)

by R M Taylor

  “Lucrezia Delarossa” he replied, and Will’s face dropped.

  Chapter 20

  Lucy was stuffed, after finding the kitchen bare of anything more filling than biscuits she had ordered room service. Pappardelle Ragù D’anatra & Tartufo, Focaccia garlic bread, Tiramisu and Prosecco wine, a nod to her Italian heritage. She had dragged the big solid book from her case and now stared at the pages, willing the words to make sense. They didn’t, much to her chagrin, but then what did she expect? She could navigate the minimum as needed as a tourist, but this book held a huge amount of information, the pages at the front looked a lot older than the more recent entries, judging by the dates on the top of each page. She wondered how old the book was, it was leather bound, and looked antiquated, like it could have jumped from a library in an aged old mansion, which it likely had.

  The leather had elaborated gilt decoration both front and back, and what looked like a family crest carved into the front cover, With the name De La Rossa underneath. It not only looked old, but it smelled old too. It smelled of leather, and libraries, sort of musty or mouldy, although no damage was apparent on the cover. She scanned the pages, finding drawings and images painted on the thick pages. There were images of weapons, of jewellery and of dragons. The dragons got her attention, all of them were red of varying colours and patterns. One had the name Lucrezia Mariella Delarossa under the image, the colours of the dragon bright and fierce. Her grandmother, like Lucy, was red, almost identical to her except for the purple. The rest of the paintings of the dragons showed red dragons of varying shades with the occasional ruddy brown. Names she had never heard of adorned the images, like strangers talked about on the news. Concetta Delarossa, Gio Delarossa, Candido, Jacoppi, Luigi, all Rossa, the surnames blended and changed as time went on. Some were Delarossa, others Delarossi, some Delarosso. All linked by the colour of their dragons it seemed.

  She googled the surname Delarossa and found a whole wealth of information. “Of the rose” “But, The Rose” “Red as the Rose” popped up for definitions of the name. It seemed her maternal line of her family were nobility, which did not shock her, David had explained some key details. She turned a page and her stomach dropped. There, front and centre, was a photograph of a red dragon, and next to it a photo of her human form, a slight dark-haired woman who reminded her of herself. She had never seen her mother’s dragon, or her human for that matter, but she knew in her heart this was her. She was elegant and feminine, you could tell she was a female dragon. She was pretty in dragon and human forms, Lucy thought. She also saw how little she resembled her mum, they shared the same face shape and hair colour, but other than that they were different. Her mother looked slight and demure, she definitely took after her dad; there was no way Lucy was slight or demure, her eyes, thick hair type and build also came from his side.

  Tears pricked her eyes as she lamented the missed opportunities, the flights she could have had with her mother, the shared experiences. She turned a page and saw another dragon, this one mainly black, which was a surprise. Looking at the name below she was even more surprised “Marius Chizeck figlio, nato dal matrimonio” which she translated as “Marius Chizeck, son, born out of wedlock”. The page had very little information except dates and facts, and no photograph in human form. So, a dragon without the Delarossa name, very interesting. What it all meant she did not know, she desperately needed to learn Italian. Like, now. She looked in the App store for a translator app, something she could use to translate the book, but it became obvious that it would take ages to do as you had to scan the pages or type the words in and mess on. She needed a translator, someone who could give her quick answers immediately.

  She checked the time, it was 8.00pm. She debated internally whether meeting Aris was worth the effort, considering the earlier run in with the two men who followed her. How the hell had they found her anyway? No-one knew her address except the rental company. There were thousands in the city how would the men know which one leased her the house? She had told Connor nothing, literally the only person who knew was the landlord, the maid and Althea. Even the utilities were all managed by the landlord, she paid a set rate each month for these things to be dealt with. Despite her falling out with Althea, she refused to believe she would reveal her address to anyone, least of all strangers who looked like they could be club bouncers or thugs. Lucy realised with dread that she had greatly underestimated things. She had honestly thought she was safe, tracing mobile phones and tracking credit cards was just in the movies, not many people could get that information, right? The registry of detectors was updated with her profile. They could have traced something through that. Activating her profile meant she was more traceable, but even then, her address etc should not have been easy to get for a regular person. Which means the people after her were not just regular people.

  Everything left a trail, you only needed someone with access to a database or system of some sort to look it up. She realised it was her own fault, of course they would trace her, anyone who needed a detector could potentially search the database, all someone had to do was bribe someone with access or hack the system. People could do that right? She was so naive, so much faith in technology that she had assumed she was safe. She could feel anger rising in her chest, her dragon was outraged at the intrusion into their lives and didn’t understand how to defend them from this. They may have all sorts of resources. She needed to get cash, and a throwaway phone if she was going to go full on “on the run” She looked at the time again, 8.20pm.

  To hell with it, you only live once she thought, if people were following her and trying to kill her she may as well enjoy her last hours. Plus, she had a feeling Aris was well connected and may be able to help her, she felt safe around him too, which was daft since she had known him only a few weeks. She had to take a chance and she had no-one else. Vampires were mega secretive, he could show her how to hide. She could hide for the rest of her life, spending her time playing with sexy vampires like Aris. She laughed at herself as she turned shower on, she needed the heat to relax her muscles and wash the sweaty stickiness away from rushing around the city. She quickly tapped a text off to Aris, meeting him was a good idea, maybe he could connect her with some body guards, he had bouncers at the club after all he had contacts, he had to. Her gut told her he was safe, which made absolutely no sense.

  Hey, all finished here are you still up for meeting?

  There was no reply immediately, so she jumped in the shower, enjoying the hot streams of water. She had to get one of these showers in her new home, wherever that may be. Fully aware she was a bit in denial over the severity of her situation, she decided to try and contact David, and get more answers. He said he was going into hiding so she might not get far, but she had to try. The men earlier were sloppy really, they should have tracked her and killed her face to face, or even caught her at home, something that would guarantee she would not have survived. Lucy had no intention of giving them another chance to fulfil their mission.

  Something nagged at her subconscious, something important, and she couldn’t pin down what it was. She was rattled, and needed a bodyguard or something, someone to keep an eye on her and fight in her corner if needed. She was a dragon, this was true, but dragons needed a lot of room to change and if she was cornered in the hotel she would have no time to do it without wrecking the building. Even using her fire as a human would be destructive and too conspicuous, not to mention painful in her human form. It would mean her hurting if not killing others, or damaging property, which was a no go for her. She was strong and quick, and had enhanced senses, in theory stronger than other shifters but then it depended on the shifter. She had no training or experience, no fighting skills that would be useful if confronted with an attacker. So maybe some beefed up shifter bodyguards would be a clever idea. Aris had to know somebody.

  Happy that she had justified a genuine reason to spend time with him, she finished her shower. Once finished she got out, grabbing a thick white towe
l from the rail to wrap around herself. Towelling off and then wrapping her hair in the towel, twisted and then propped up, she walked back to her mobile which was sat on the bathroom shelves beside the door.

  I am, where shall we meet? I like the bar at The Mark, do you know it?

  Lucy read and reread the text as adrenaline pumped through her. She was staying at The Mark; how did he know? Was it coincidence? Was he following her? Good grief she could trust no-one, being followed and threatened that way had her riled. Standing naked in the hall feeling water dripping down her neck, she decided she had had enough. If he was involved, then best know it now. She could meet him in the bar, it was a public place after all, and simply ask him. But if he was not involved she would seem a bit crazy, and she didn’t want that either. She looked inward to her dragon for advice, but her dragon had a perpetual question mark above her head, her expression thoroughly confused. All dragon wanted was some fun with the vampire. She was annoyed and a bit spooked but not particularly bothered by people following her, dragon could genuinely not comprehend how anyone could hurt a dragon shifter. Typical.

  The dragon was all about expressing her opinion when it didn’t matter or when Lucy didn’t want it, but when it counted she was no use. Lucy stomped to the bedroom, threw the phone on the bed and set to drying her hair, still unsure what to say to Aris without sounding like a paranoid crazy person.

  Chapter 21

  He had risked saying The Mark to see if she would hint at why she wasn’t at home. After the meeting earlier, he had checked in with Isla, had chatted for a while and found she was dating a guy a few floors above her. Aris was happy, the guy in question was the cousin of Ellie, the girl who Isla helped after her parents died. He was decent, a born vampire a few years older than Isla called Peter. She sounded happy and would be moving into her own apartment once she turned 16 in 2 months. Away from Isobel, which was good. She had shown no inclination of knowing what Isobel had asked Aris for, and he was in no rush to tell her. Why rock the boat? There was no way he would be fathering another child with Isobel, ever. Isla could do without the knowledge; her life was just starting.

  After talking with Isla and checking on work, he had grown restless, so he drove by Lucy’s on the way back to the coven to satisfy the stalker in him. He had a gut feeling something was up, and the house was in darkness when he arrived. He parked and approached the house. Then he saw movement at the rear, and he spotted her scaling the back fence. Confused, he followed at a distance, watching her navigate the fences with ease, he followed her into and out of so many restaurants and hotels that it was obvious she was trying to lose anyone following her. Determined to see why, he followed her taxi and hid in a shop entrance opposite the hotel she entered. So, she was staying at a hotel instead of her house, why?

  His curiosity got the better of him, he decided to prop the bar up in The Mark. He had a lot to think about. He should stay clear, given what Will had warned him about earlier, her family was powerful, dangerous and not to be messed with, he should steer clear etc. But he couldn’t, not then and not now. There was no way he could walk away without knowing what it meant, especially now. He sat at the bar, knowing she was upstairs, was she alarmed at his suggestion since she was staying at The Mark? Did she think it was coincidence? Why was she staying there? He needed answers. The time dragged on, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, he started to wonder if she would reply when his phone chirped to tell him he had a message.

  Sure, it’s a great bar, what time?

  He checked the time, it was 9pm. He wanted so badly to say “now” but that would be a tad alarming to anyone.

  I’m just leaving work, I’ll make my way there now, it won’t take me long. See you when you get here x

  Lying to his potential girlfriend already, he thought, classy. He couldn’t very well tell her he followed her here though, he was not a creep, contrary to the previously mentioned stalking and obsessive behaviour. Supernaturals did tend to be quite intense, and plenty know very quickly who their other half is. Shifters especially, who can identify their mate by just their scent, so maybe she was meant to be his. It didn’t work that way with vampires usually, but once a vampire finds a compatible good match they bond with, the relationships tend to last. Lina and Dante had been together over a century, so had many others in his coven. He did sort of believe in fate, and in something that guides people, an intuition that resonates with you when it’s right. But since he had never felt that himself, he doubted it’s existence.

  He ordered a bottle of Krug Champagne and two glasses and decided to wing it and see what she said. Downing the first glass, much to the surprise of the bar staff, who obviously thought he should savour it, given that it cost hundreds per glass. Stuff it, anyone could die at any time, so he had a very “seize the day” philosophy. You couldn’t take money with you when you died so why not spend it and live? He was rich by modern standards, but his coven leader Lina was richer. Far richer, billionaire multiple times over level richer, which Aris could only aspire to one day. Having said that, she had had longer to accumulate said riches, as many vampires did, which is something Forbes didn’t tell you when they published their top 20 billionaire lists.

  Vampires and shifters, hell any supernatural being, were fiercely protective of their identities. Vampires especially, so you would see no vampire on any top 10 richest people lists, as that kind of attention was thoroughly unwanted and easily avoided. He amused himself people watching while pondering it all, and when his phone chirped again, and he felt a surge of excitement at her text.

  Have you thought anymore about my request? Please reconsider Isla is the light of our lives we could have that again.

  Aris could feel his expression sour as he read the message from Isobel. This woman was relentless, and he was tired of her. His happy bubble just burst by her intrusion.

  I made myself clear Isobel, I will not have another child with you. Stop asking I won’t change my mind, if I ever have another child it will not be with you.

  Slamming the phone down once the text had sent, Aris filled his glass again. This was good champagne. He usually preferred Bollinger, but this was better. Mentally making a note, his thoughts were occupied with Isobel when he spotted Lucy across the room. She met his eyes and walked towards where he was sitting in front of the arched window in the bar. She adjusted her black top nervously, so it stopped gaping at the front, and walked over to his table. Smiling as she looked at him, she gave a small wave as she approached, her clutch bag in hand as she did. She sat adjacent to him and he filled her glass up.

  “You look lovely” Aris said with a smile.

  “Thank you, you too” she smiled back, her gaze roaming over him. “So, did you know I was staying at this hotel or was it just a happy coincidence you suggested here?” She asked with a smile. Aris laughed lightly, he should have known she would call him on it.

  “I knew you were here, I saw you enter earlier when I was shopping before work. Why the hotel, I thought you lived in the city?” he asked.

  “It’s complicated, but I moved here, I just can’t stay at home right now” she replied.

  “Ok, why not?” he laughed “renovating or fumigating?”

  “Neither, unfortunately, I would rather be decorating or getting rid of pests. I’m hiding from someone” she replied taking a large drink of the glass of champagne.

  “Tell me about it if you want, you know I’m a good listener, I could help” Aris smiled a small smile and even though Lucy couldn’t read him since he was a vampire, she could tell he was being honest. Good grief this man was gorgeous, and a bizarre stray memory from the TV programme Grey's Anatomy of the women nick naming the male doctors McSteamy and McDreamy popped into her mind. This guy was definitely Sexy McHottie. Pulling herself away from wondering if he had a bare or hairy chest, she refocused on the subject at hand.

  “It’s a long story, and honestly I don’t know who to trust right now. Even my best friend betrayed me. Well, she didn’t real
ly, I guess technically she hasn’t done much wrong, I no longer loved Connor, so I shouldn’t be bothered by him getting with her. But her being on his side and now in a relationship with him, especially since it started when we were still together, it feels like betrayal. The lying by omission bothers me the most. I kept some things from her, but it was because I’m afraid of my friends getting hurt. Which turns out, I had good reason to be, since I’m now being followed. My family on my mother’s side were powerful, and since I inherited my grandmother’s estate, I’m vulnerable since she had enemies. So, I break up with my ex, move to Mathis City with the intention of starting afresh and learning Italian so I can read my family histories, fall out with best friend, wallow and sulk for a few weeks over it, then when I finally drag my ass out the house, I get followed by two guys who looked like mafia soldiers who put a bomb under my car. I’m not safe, and in my panic, I bolted, which is the reason for the hotel. I have no idea what to do and now I’m blabbing to you, someone who I met a few weeks ago. Probably not the wisest of things to do, I have no idea if you’re part of this or one of them” Lucy laughed nervously, gulping more champagne.

  Her eyes were glued to the table, unwilling to see his reaction to her summary of her life.

  “That’s a lot to deal with, you never mentioned this in our conversations over the last few weeks, you keep a lot to yourself, don’t you? You were followed? Why would they want to hurt you? How did you know about the bomb? Were you hurt?” Aris’s frown was deep as he considered her response. She condensed the last 24 hours, adding on what David had said last year and earlier that night in the email.

  “David said that I needed to understand my family. He gave me books about their histories, but they’re in Italian. So, my understanding is limited, I know the basics that’s it. I honestly underestimated the seriousness of it all. He warned me to be very discreet and stay hidden, keeping my spending modest. He warned me about keeping a low profile and that people were likely still interested in getting revenge by hurting me because of my grandmother and the wealth I now have. He even said that he thought my mother was murdered because of their enemies. I don’t know what to think about that, no-one knows what happened, there was no body, no sign of anything so we had no idea, she just vanished. I have too many gaps in my knowledge. I need answers, but David said he was going into hiding too, we’re meeting tomorrow so he can explain more” She risked a glance up to his face, expecting him to be sceptical. He looked thoughtful, but he believed her. She could just tell, despite the blank that he was to her extra senses. She continued, explaining in detail everything she knew, revealing the full extent of her paranoia and fear.