by Lynsay Sands
The men were all obviously impressed.
“That’s cool,” Dante said with surprise.
“I want a pair,” Tommaso decided.
Tiny merely smiled. He loved his spy camera.
Boys and their toys, Jackie thought, exchanging an amused glance with Marguerite. Shaking her head, she peered around the room again, her gaze falling on Elaine and Roberto Notte. It was the first time she’d actually seen the couple. Jackie had been in the midst of the change when they’d arrived at Vincent’s house.
Her gaze slid over Elaine Notte. She was slender with short blond hair and—guessing by how she measured up to the men standing around her—wasn’t much taller than Jackie herself. Roberto Notte was only a couple of inches taller than his wife, with a stout build. Not fat. Immortals simply didn’t get fat, but he had the wide, thick body of a laborer. Of course, neither of them looked old enough to have adult children.
“I suppose we should offer our condolences,” Marguerite commented.
Jackie nodded. “It would seem odd if we didn’t.”
“Come,” Neil said. “I’ll introduce you.”
Vincent took her arm and followed as Neil led them across the room. Tiny immediately took Marguerite’s arm to escort her, leaving the rest of the men to trail behind. Two people Jackie recognized from V.A. Productions were offering their condolences when they reached the couple. The two men now nodded respectfully to Neil and Vincent, then moved on to view the closed casket. Jackie had no idea how the men had explained the reason for the closed casket, but there had been no other choice. They could hardly expect Stephano to lay silent and still in the coffin for hours while people walked past viewing him.
“Mother, Father, this is Vincent Argeneau, his personal assistant, Jackie Morrisey, his aunt, Marguerite Argeneau, and Tiny McGraw.”
“Vincent.” Elaine Notte’s eyes widened, then glazed over with tears as she clasped his hands. Her voice trembled with emotion as she said, “Thank you for my son’s life. You—”
“Mother,” Neil said in warning tones, reminding her of the situation, and that Stephano was not supposed to be alive.
Jackie hardly noticed. Her gaze was moving around the group with surprise. While she’d been unconscious when the couple had come to Vincent’s home, he hadn’t been, and she’d thought he’d met Stephano’s parents.
“Vincent didn’t leave your side during the turn,” Marguerite whispered by her ear, apparently reading her confusion. “This is the first time he’s met them too.”
Jackie nodded her understanding, and then forced a smile as Neil’s parents turned their attention to greeting her and the others.
“Miss Morrisey,” Roberto said with heavily accented English. His Italian ancestry was very obvious. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You will find the man who did this, yes?”
“I’ll do my best,” Jackie murmured, thinking that the entire cover story was blown all to hell if anyone was near enough to hear.
Vincent murmured something then, a few polite words she missed altogether, then she found herself being urged away.
“I don’t think anyone heard,” Vincent assured her as he led her across the room.
Jackie nodded, but her thoughts were on the promise she’d just made to Neil’s father. She would do her best to catch the saboteur, but didn’t seem to have gotten very far yet and it bothered her. Had she been so distracted by her attraction to Vincent that she hadn’t been doing all she could to track down the saboteur? Jackie had no clues, no ideas. Usually, when they took on a case there was some sort of trail to follow, or they had some idea of what the motive was, but with this case, she felt as if she was stumbling around blind. Vincent had no idea of anyone who might wish to cause him such grief, and the only trail the saboteur was leaving was becoming a bloody one.
As if reading her thoughts, Vincent squeezed her arm and said firmly, “You’re doing everything you can. I know that.”
But it wasn’t enough, Jackie thought and was grateful for the distraction when Neil and the others rejoined them. She listened absently as the men spoke for a bit, but her gaze was moving around the room, gliding over face after face, searching every expression for something that might stand out. Unfortunately, no one had killer or saboteur written across their forehead.
Sighing inwardly, Jackie let her gaze drift back to Neil’s parents. As if sensing her gaze, Elaine Notte suddenly looked her way. The woman smiled faintly, then her face was blocked by the back of a man’s head as someone else stepped up to offer their condolences.
Jackie was about to continue examining the other people in attendance when the man turned his head to speak to Roberto Notte and she caught a glimpse of his profile. Jackie immediately sucked in one quick gasping breath of shock, then shook her head. No. It couldn’t be.
“Jackie?” Tiny asked under his breath and she was vaguely aware of his stepping closer to her, but didn’t respond. Her attention was wholly focused on the man across the room, waiting for a better look at his face. She seemed to wait forever, then the man turned to glance around the room and she felt a shock of horror slide through her.
“Cassius.” The name came out on a shocked expulsion, but Tiny, Vincent, and the others heard it and turned, their eyes all locking on her.
“Cassius?” Tiny echoed on a rumble of displeasure. “Here?”
“Where?” Vincent asked sharply.
Jackie blinked in surprise at the harshness to his voice and peered at him with confusion. She hadn’t told him about Cassius, yet his expression was tight and he’d immediately moved closer to her in a protective manner.
Vincent saw the question on her face and hesitated, then sighed and admitted, “I know about him. I read Tiny’s mind.”
Jackie stilled, anger welling up in her at this news. Before she could respond, Tiny squeezed her arm.
“Don’t be angry with him,” he rumbled. “I let him read me. I thought he should know about it.”
Jackie turned her furious glance toward her partner, her anger immediately transferring to him.
“And I read Vincent,” Christian announced, drawing her fire away from Tiny. He added, “Without his permission.”
“So did I,” Marcus announced.
Jackie was scowling at the two men when Dante said, “We didn’t read anyone.”
When she glanced at the twins, Tomasso added, “But we overheard the conversation in the kitchen while we were guarding the door and know he hurt you somehow and made you fear immortals.”
Jackie’s shoulders drooped and she let out a small sigh. It seemed everyone knew, or at least knew Cassius had done something, if not what. Except Neil, she realized as he spoke.
“Is there a problem?” the vice president asked with a frown. “Cassius works for Vincent.”
“He what?” Vincent looked shocked at this news, but Jackie was frowning over the information. Vincent had taken her from office to office in search of information on who had worked on the play in New York. She’d thought she’d met everyone.
“We consult him over contract issues on occasion,” Neil explained. “He actually works in the legal department of V.A. Incorporated, not the production company itself.”
“Not for much longer,” Vincent said grimly.
Jackie squeezed his hand. “You can’t fire him for something he did years ago.”
“The hell I can’t. I can fire whomever I want,” he said arrogantly. “They’re my companies.”
“Yes, but we have labor laws,” she pointed out. “Besides, why bother?”
“He hurt you,” Vincent said simply. “And mortals have labor laws. Immortals don’t. I don’t want someone of his kind working for me.”
“Mr. Notte?”
Jackie glanced around, recognizing the voice of Vincent’s secretary, Sharon. She couldn’t see her, however, the men were in the way.
“I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Stephano. He—oh, Vincent.” Sharon blinked at her boss as Neil shifted
and Vincent’s presence was revealed, then her gaze slid to Jackie and surprise crossed her face. “Jackie.”
The woman was obviously startled to see her there. She wasn’t the only one. Lily stood beside her, looking just as stunned at her presence.
“Is there something wrong, Sharon?” Jackie asked calmly.
When the secretary simply stared at her wide-eyed, Lily forced a smile to her face and said delicately, “She’s just surprised. We didn’t think you knew Stephano Notte.”
Jackie was silent, considering the two of them. She suspected it was more than that. After all, the last time they’d seen her she was a mortal. One look at her eyes now and they should both be able to tell she’d been turned.
“No,” Jackie said finally. “I never had the pleasure of meeting Stephano while he was alive. I’m just here out of respect for Neil and his family.”
“Yes, of course,” Lily murmured, then glanced toward Sharon as the secretary returned to offering her condolences to the vice president of V.A. Productions.
Once the attention was off her, Jackie glanced back toward Elaine and Roberto Notte. Cassius had moved on and Max Kunstler was now there, speaking solemnly to the couple. Jackie started to peer around in search of Cassius, then sucked in a breath as she saw he was moving in their direction, his eyes fixed on Neil. She had no doubt he was coming to offer his condolences and suddenly wished she was anywhere but there.
Jackie felt Vincent step closer, his arm sliding around her waist. At the same moment, Tiny moved nearer on her other side, then the rest of the men crowded closer as well, puffing up like protective roosters. It seemed they’d been paying attention to what Cassius was doing too. The entire group was suddenly stiff and tense.
You aren’t nineteen anymore. The words floated through her mind and Jackie turned her gaze to Marguerite. The woman stood a little to the side, watching the men with amusement. As her gaze shifted to Jackie, Marguerite’s expression became solemn and she nodded meaningfully. And now you’re immortal too.
Straightening her shoulders, Jackie turned back as Cassius paused at Neil’s side. She peered at him curiously, noting that he wasn’t nearly as attractive as he’d always been in her memory. His hair was blond as she recalled, but when she’d met him at nineteen it had seemed to shine like spun gold and she’d ached to touch it. Now, it just looked dirty blond to her. As for the body of Adonis she’d always recalled him having, he was slender and wiry, and not especially tall. Five foot ten was her guess. Every man around her had at least four to six inches on him.
Jackie turned her attention to his face, inspecting him closely. His lips were a bit thin, his nose straight, his eyes neither large, nor small. He was just average in looks. Only the color of his eyes was not average, at least compared to mortal eyes. His were a shining bronze brown, incredible next to normal, mortal eyes, but not nearly as beautiful as Vincent’s silver-blue eyes, or as interesting as the silver-flecked black eyes of the Nottes.
Jackie shook her head with confusion. There was absolutely nothing noteworthy about Cassius. Either her tastes had been vastly different at nineteen, or the man had controlled her from the moment she’d opened the door to him that day a little more than ten years ago. Jackie suspected the latter was the case. Cassius had come to their home intending to seduce her and shame her father. He’d made himself appear beautiful in her mind to do it.
She hadn’t had a chance, Jackie realized. For years she’d felt guilty, thinking that if she hadn’t followed her attraction for Cassius and rebelled enough to go on that first date with him, he’d never have been able to get control of her as he had. But she no longer believed that was the case. He’d made her think he was attractive. Perhaps he had even instilled that rebelliousness in her to go against her father’s wishes and sneak out to meet him. Cassius had set out to control her from the start. He’d probably even arrived when he knew her father wasn’t home just so that he could do so.
Finished with his duty, Cassius glanced expectantly around the group, obviously awaiting introductions. Jackie stiffened as his gaze slid from Sharon, to Lily, to Vincent, then her, but his eyes continued on to Tiny without stopping. His expression was polite and enquiring. He hadn’t recognized her.
Neil started his introduction with Christian, Marcus, Dante, and Tomasso. The four Italians stared at Cassius with cold eyes, none of them accepting the hand he offered in greeting. Neil raised a curious eyebrow at their rudeness, then introduced Vincent. “And this is Vincent Argeneau. The V.A. in V.A. Incorporated and V.A. Productions.”
Cassius’s attitude immediately became annoyingly obsequious. The fact that he behaved so with Vincent and not Neil, said he considered himself an equal to the vice president of V.A. Productions. But then, Jackie supposed, he wouldn’t feel threatened by Neil, or as if it was not worth much effort to impress him. Neil was the vice president of V.A. Productions, not V.A. Incorporated, where he worked. Vincent, on the other hand, was the owner of both, and Cassius was suddenly basically brown-nosing, telling him how pleased he was to meet him and how much he admired him.
Vincent stared at the man with open dislike and—as with Christian and the others—didn’t accept the hand he was holding out in greeting. Instead, he took over the introductions then, introducing first Tiny, who reacted exactly as Christian and the others had, peering down his nose at the shorter man with cold eyes.
“And this is Jackie Morrisey,” Vincent said, but even the name didn’t bring any recognition to Cassius’s face.
Jackie felt her stomach roll over with disgust. She’d spent the last ten years haunted by this man, agonizing over what he’d done to her, what he could have done…and he didn’t even recognize her name. It appeared he’d forgotten her as soon as she was out of his life and yet she’d been tortured by his actions all these years. She’d been torturing herself.
Jackie felt Vincent squeeze her side and offered a stiff smile to let him know she was okay. He squeezed her again, then turned back to Cassius. “Her father was Ted Morrisey. You may have met him. He did lots of work for my cousin Bastien in New York. You lived there, didn’t you?”
Cassius went stiff and turned slowly back to peer at Jackie. The recognition was there on his face now as his gaze raked over her. The look said that he was recalling what she’d looked like under her clothes all those years ago. A small, leering smile immediately tilted his lips up and his eyes flashed.
Jackie was aware of the way Tiny and Vincent both moved in closer still. Each of them was now pressed up against her sides. She thought she heard a small growl from one of the Italian troop too, but didn’t glance around at the angry sound. Her gaze stayed locked on Cassius until he finally noticed her eyes. A slow smile pulled her lips apart as his own eyes widened with the realization that she was now an immortal too.
“Hello, Cassius,” she said sweetly, then tilted her head and commented, “you’re not nearly as tall as I remembered. You wouldn’t have been using some of that immortal mind control on me all those years ago, would you?”
“I…” Cassius glanced toward Vincent nervously.
“I bet you did,” she commented with feigned amusement. “It makes me wonder what else is smaller.”
Jackie heard the snort of amusement that came from the direction of the Italian troop and was aware that the cough that suddenly claimed Tiny was to disguise a laugh. Her attention, however, was focused on Vincent. He wasn’t amused. There was tension in every line of his body as he glared at Cassius. Still, he took her completely by surprise when he announced, “Jackie is my life mate, Cassius.”
Jackie froze as those words made their way through her brain. She turned abruptly to Vincent and he lowered his gaze to her, the hard anger on his face immediately giving way to a soft smile. He lifted a hand to her cheek, caressing her softly. His eyes radiated reassurance and, she thought, love. She hoped it was love.
Jackie’s lips turned up in a smile and she leaned into him, then turned back to Cassius. However, he
hadn’t got over his own shock at Vincent’s announcement quite as quickly as she had, and was still gaping at the man.
As she watched, Cassius seemed to regain himself. He finally turned toward her, his mouth opening, but whatever he would have said died in his throat as she smiled at him, flashing her fangs. She’d finally managed that skill just half an hour before leaving for the funeral and was glad she had.
Cassius snapped his mouth closed, murmured an excuse and quickly moved away to disappear into the crowd. Jackie felt like a chapter of her life had finally closed as she watched him walk away…and was grateful to have it so. She relaxed into Vincent’s side as he hugged her.
“You didn’t tell us you had mastered bringing on your teeth,” Christian commented as everyone relaxed. “Well done.”
Jackie smiled and nodded to acknowledge his compliment.
“You shall have to tell me what that was all about. I seem to be the only person here who hasn’t got a clue what just happened,” Neil commented.
“Not the only one,” Sharon murmured, reminding Jackie of the other women’s presence. Sharon and Lily had remained so still and quiet, she’d forgotten they were there.
“We’ll explain,” Christian said as he glanced toward the front of the room. “But later. Now it appears the service is about to begin.”
Christian was right, and they all moved to find seats. Jackie, Vincent, Tiny, and Marguerite settled near the back of the room where they could see everyone. Sharon and Lily settled nearby and Neil and the others made their way to the front of the room, where the family was situated.
The rest of the funeral was uneventful, but Vincent stayed at her side throughout. He also spent most of his time glaring at the back of Cassius’s head. He’d said he was going to fire Cassius, but Jackie suspected the man should be grateful if that’s all Vincent did. She considered telling Vincent firing him wasn’t necessary, but didn’t bother. Cassius had brought it on himself, let him reap what he’d sewn so long ago. Perhaps he needed the reminder that every action had a consequence, and that someone weak today may be the strong one later. Even mortals, with their short lives, forgot that lesson.