Bella Vita (15 page)

I think you should contact
him. But I think this should be done with your minds. I know you
have never done such a thing over longer distances, but I believe
you can. It is the same as if you were doing it and he was right
here.
His voice floated over me like a
warm comforting blanket.

Okay, Grandpa.
I closed my eyes. I knew Dominic's energy better
than anyone else. I could find him in a cosmic blanket filled with
other people. I knew that for certain. I took a deep breath and
sent my thoughts to him.

Dominic?
I held my breath as I waited.

Emma?
His voice was faint but there.

I'm sorry about yesterday.
I handled it poorly.
Another deep
breath.

It's okay,
mia bella
. I should have
asked what happened. I clearly missed something. How are you doing
such long distance communication?
Intrigue
filled his thoughts.

It's me. What a silly
question to ask. I want you to know what happened. Let me show
you.
I projected everything from yesterday
to him.

If I had known... I'm so
sorry I put you through that. Never again, my Little Emma
Bird.
His thoughts were like gentle
caresses.

It isn't your fault. You
couldn't have known. Your sister is fine, I got a message from her.
Oh, and Kelly is coming for a visit.
I
wanted him to know what was going on.

So you heard from my
sister?
Worry clouded his
words.

Yes, I got an email from
her this morning. She's fine and she'll check in more often.
I didn't want to tell him where she was without
asking her for permission first.

That's good. When will
Kelly get here?
He asked.

Soon. I would guess the
next day or two. I'll call and find out from her agent. I won't be
back in classes til next week, I just thought you should
know.
I didn't know how Dom would handle
that.

I heard from the office. I
figured as much, I actually thought you would try to take a longer
break and I would have to drag you back there. Although I doubt
that would be effective with your new ability.
Laughter colored his words like little rays of
sunshine.

Where are you? It feels
like you're not at home.
I knew he had to
teach classes today so he couldn't be really far away.

Some trouble came up in
Bella Notte in Paris, so I had to catch a flight over to deal with
things. I'll be back soon. I've yet to sleep. I miss you. Maybe
tonight we can go out to eat?
Dom was
clearly testing the waters.

Maybe. I'll let you get
back to work. I love you, Dominic. Be safe.
I cut the link before he could push the subject
further.

“
So he is well, and things
are better.” Grandpa beamed at me.

“
I don't know why you even
bother asking, you know more than I do.” I smiled at
him.

“
Your friend Kelly called
the house as well, she'll be flying in tomorrow and flying out at
the end of the week- they've another shoot in Paris after.” He
shook his head.

“
That's good to know.
Perhaps I can take her shopping in Rome or something. So, what do
you have planned for today?” I didn't really want to go back to my
other house, and staying with Grandpa and Grandmama seemed like a
good idea.

“
Well, I'm going to the
city to try and get some of the things your grandmother couldn't
get taken care of with the house done. You, my dear child, will be
sorting out your room and painting it.” He smiled at me.

“
But I don't know what
color to paint it.” I wasn't sure if painting my room was what I
had envisioned doing today when I asked him that
question.

“
Not to worry, the color
will come to you. There is just about every color of the rainbow in
the basement. And painting will help settle your mind. Think of it
as training. You'll learn control and patience.” His smile twinkled
in his eyes.

“
Okay, Grandpa.” I stood up
and walked to the door that led down to the basement. “I'll do
it.”

When I finally got back up to my room,
Grandpa had already left and the house was empty. I moved
everything that I could out into the hallway and my bathroom, what
was left I covered it in plastic. I taped drop clothes to the
hardwood floor so I wouldn't ruin it.

The color I chose was a deep red. I
considered doing the walls black, but the space wasn't huge and the
dark color would only shrink it more- even the red might threaten
to do the same. I zipped up my coveralls and went to work.

My radio blared music from the bathroom and
I sang loudly along to it. Hours ticked by and I never noticed.
When I finished, I moved all of my stuff back to the center of the
room. I pulled out some fresh clothes and went and showered. It
took me awhile to scrub off all the paint I managed to get into my
hair and caked onto my hands, but eventually I was enamel free.

Unfortunately, most of the
clothes I wanted to wear were at my house, so I had to settle for a
thin black sundress. It was utterly inappropriate for the weather
here. If my grandparents had a place with close neighbors then they
might have thought I was insane. I pulled on my extra pair of Doc
Martens- my second favorite pair, the first I unfortunate
destroyed.
Well, at least you get to wear
boots with the dress.
It was a happy
thought.

Once I was all dressed, I headed downstairs
and found Dominic sitting in the kitchen with my grandmama. They
looked deep in conversation. I cleared my throat loudly announcing
my presence. It seemed that when I became a vampire, I became more
stealthy and often startled people.

Ah, Emma, Child, it's nice
to have that music finally stop.
Grandmama's cool voice tickled my thoughts.

Sorry, Grandmama... there
wasn't anyone home when I started painting. If I had known, I'm
sorry.
I smiled at her.

Not to worry.
She smiled back.

Dominic rushed forward and lifted me off the
floor and into a bear hug.

“
It's good to see you too.”
I puffed out.

“
Ah, sorry.” He laughed
nervously.

“
So, tall, dark, and
handsome, what's got your confidence all in a bunch?” I cocked an
eyebrow at him.

“
That just sounds strange
coming from you. But I guess you could say I'm nervous I might set
you off again.” He looked down at his feet.

I felt slightly annoyed
that he thought he had to tiptoe around me. Part of me felt that it
was brought on by the fact that I carry a wolf inside me.
Does he relate it to Mike?
I wondered if he felt jealous of the obvious connection I
clearly still had to my old life with Michael. I decided to play it
off.

“
Afraid I might bite you?”
I waggled my eyebrows at him.

His laughter was like a soothing balm on my
temper. It was like my body was going through the change again,
where my temper was close to the surface.

“
So what do you wanna do
tonight,
mia bella
?” His hand found mine.

“
Um, well, let's go to
Bella Notte. It's been a while since I got to go there. Oh, can I
take Kelly there when she comes?” I was trying to figure out what I
would do with her.

Absolutely not.
Grandmama's words were like cold
steel.

Why, Grandmama?
I didn't understand why she was so forceful about
it.

Need I remind you that
Kelly is human and not part of this world.
Her gray eyes felt like they were burrowing into my very
soul.

But she isn't completely
separate from our world either. The entire modeling industry that
she runs with are vampires! I helped her get into that world,
Grandmama.
It was like I needed to defend
my very friendship with her.

Yes, you put a human in
danger. Many vampires don't have such pleasant feelings for humans,
let alone when they're running around in the inner circles without
any knowledge of what they might see or stumble upon. Do you
realize the kind of danger you have put your friend in?
Grandmama sat with a straight back on one of the
kitchen bar stools.

Would it have been better
if I had explained everything about us to her?
I couldn't help the snarky remark slipping out of my
mouth.

Emma Mary
Hutchinson
,
you
will not take that tone with me!
I thought
that steam might shoot from her ears.

“
Ah, I see I'm just in
time.” Grandpa stepped into the kitchen and kissed Grandmama on the
cheek. He laid his hand gently on her shoulder and I could see
Grandmama visibly relax.

Grandpa?
I sent him a private thought.

Hush child. Do not question
this.
His words sent chills down my spine-
more secrets.

“
So Emma, you look ready to
go. How about we hit the road? My bike is outside.” Dominic gently
pulled on my hand, which I had forgotten was in his.

“
Yeah, Dom. I think that is
a great idea.” I grabbed my messenger bag from where it laid on the
kitchen counter, and we left.

I still had a hard time
getting used to the fact that amongst the vampires, Dominic and I
were considered to be royalty. There was nothing that said our
families ruled over the vampires, but our families basically did.
When the prophecy foretold of Mike and me changing the world
between our kinds, it bumped my status up very quickly. When Dom
and I went out, other vampires would slightly bow as we crossed
paths. That was something I had to seriously adjust to after
believing in never flaunting what you had in front of
others.
Man, life has changed.

Bella Notte was as amazing as the first time
I went into it, only it had gotten better because I actually knew
what was going on and because I was a vampire, unlike the first
time. I loved the gothic vibes that came off the place. There
weren't many people. Dom had called Abner in advanced to have
dinner ready for us when we get to the club. Typically people
didn't really eat meals there, but since Bella Notte was Dominic's
vampire club chain, he could do what he wanted. Abner ran the Rome
one for Dom while he attended to the newest ones opening all over
the world.

Our table was set up with tall black candles
in an antique looking candelabra, and was a deep crimson
tablecloth. There was platinum edged Black Aves bone china with a
monochrome design on it that looked like something from the 1930s,
but when you looked closer you realized that instead of the
traditional birds, the plate had bats on it. Each of the two black
cloth napkins on the table had silver holders that were engraved
with a small bat and moon on them.

Dom held back the thick curtains that
usually cut the booth off from the rest of the club. I stepped into
the dim lighting and slid into the cushy booth seat. Seeing the
elaborate table setting set me off edge as I had no clue as to what
was going on. The faint background music was a classical romantic
piece that I couldn't place. It was beautiful and calmed me down
instantly. Dom stepped into the booth and let the curtain fall.

“
So, what's the deal with
all the hubbub?” I tried to keep the nerves from coloring my
voice.

“
Oh, nothing. Let's eat.”
He pulled on a rope I hadn't noticed before and a waiter I had
never met came and put some of my favorite Italian food onto the
plates.

The smells filled the small enclosed area
and my mouth was watering. The baked ziti was piled high in front
of me. Another waiter appeared to pour a 1907 Heidsieck champagne
that was tinted slightly pink, indicating that blood had been mixed
with it. The sweet coppery scent caused my fangs to slide gently
into place. I didn't know what to taste first. I took a little sip
of the champagne first. It was like ambrosia to gods. As I ate I
realized that Dominic was staring at me more than eating.

“
This is great, you should
eat too.” I tried to look cute while I shoved more food into my
mouth.

He smiled. “I'm eating, but I enjoy watching
you more than anything else in the world.”

I blushed.

“
I think you'll love
dessert.” His voice was warm and full of happiness.

“
I can only imagine.” I ate
on.

When the waiters reappeared
with delicious looking lemon souffl
é
s I thought I couldn't manage to
eat another bite. But the diced strawberries and chocolate stick on
top drew me to take a bite. The flavor was light and tangy and left
my mouth feeling cool and refreshed from all I had eaten. I smiled
as I licked the last of the powdered sugar off my spoon.

“
I'm glad you enjoyed it so
much,
mia bella
.”
His cheeks were slightly flushed.