Dalakis Passion 4 - Eternal Brothers (18 page)

indication that he thought Stefan might have overheard them. Zane wasn't going to
give away anything. Not yet.
Keeping Sophia close, his gaze swept the room, taking in the occupants. He knew
all but one. As expected, Lucian and both the
Dalakis
wives were there as well. There
was a blonde-haired woman seated in a high-backed chair. Zane's eyes narrowed. If he
wasn't mistaken, she was bruised and slightly battered. Sam Cassidy stood beside the
woman, his arm draped across the back of the chair. There was no mistaking the
protective posture.
Interesting.
Lucian had shifted his position as soon as he and Sophia had walked into the room,
sliding in front of the sofa where his wife and sister-in-law were sitting. Zane nodded
his approval. Good. They should be protective of their women. Anything less was
unacceptable.
Lucian's eyes widened ever-so slightly in surprise, but then they became shuttered
again as he glanced over at his brother.
"This is Sophia Daring. A reporter," Stefan informed them as he strolled over to
stand beside his family. "And we all know Zane York."
The women nodded, but didn't speak. Obviously, they all knew he'd been asking
questions about them for several years now and didn't trust him. He'd known this
wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined.
Sophia straightened and squared her shoulders. "I'm pleased to meet you all, but I
wish it could be under other circumstances." Before he could stop her, she launched
into a full report of the night in the cemetery and the call she'd received earlier tonight.
She spared no details, giving the graphic facts of the woman's death and of the note
she'd found with the body. Sophia also gave her opinion of the caller and what he was
trying to accomplish. He noted that she left out any mention of their relationship, but
the other three men in the room were staring at him with speculation in their eyes.
Both women seemed shocked by the news, Laurel Rose even more so than Delight.
Stefan's large hand wrapped around the back of his wife's neck, kneading it, offering
silent comfort.
Zane noted that Laurel Rose shifted closer to her husband as she rubbed
her hands up and down her arms.
The blonde next to Cassidy gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes
flew to Stefan and Lucian and then back to Cassidy. Now that was telling. Seems she
wasn't sure of the
Dalakis
brothers either.
"Why are you telling us this? Why didn't you go to the police?" Lucian stepped
forward, pure menace emanating from him.
Zane stepped in front of Sophia.
"Back off,
Dalakis
.
If she'd just handed the note
over to the police, you and your family would be front-page news by now." He kept his
body loose, prepared to fight. He still didn't quite trust these men. Stefan left his wife's
side and started to saunter closer while Cassidy left his position by the blonde and
shifted in front of her.
The tension in the room was palpable. A rumbling, much like a growl, came from
deep in Zane's chest. Lucian's eyes narrowed and Stefan moved still closer. Cassidy's
fingers tightened around the gun he still clenched in this hand.
"This is ridiculous." Sophia stepped around Zane, her hands on her hips.
"I agree." Delight stepped forward, shoved past her husband and held her hand out
to Sophia. "I'm Delight
Dalakis
, Lucian's wife, and this is Laurel Rose, Stefan's much
better half." While Zane watched, Laurel Rose eluded her massive husband as he
reached for her and clasped Sophia's hand.
"This is Sam Cassidy," Delight continued with the introductions.
"And Blythe
Nixon, who we just met earlier this evening."
The name triggered something in Zane's head. He knew that name. He sifted
through his memory banks as he studied her and he suddenly remembered where he'd
heard her name before.
The Club.
She used to work at
Jethro
Prince's club. Now, this
was getting more intriguing by the second. What the hell was she doing here?
"Why don't we all sit down?" Delight was already leading Sophia to the sofa.
Damn it, he'd told her to stay next to him. Frustrated, he stalked after her, only to meet
a solid wall of resistance as Lucian and Stefan stepped in front of him. Standing
shoulder to shoulder, they blocked his view of Sophia.
His eyes flashed and he growled, exposing his fangs to them. Both men were
momentarily shocked and then they flashed their sharp teeth as well, their eyes
changing from green to red in a split second.
"That's enough." This time it was Laurel Rose who spoke. "We have bigger
problems at the moment than who's the toughest vampire in the room." She whispered
the last as she laid her hand gently over her husband's massive biceps. Zane hadn't
realized that she hadn't joined the other women on the sofa. All his focus had been on
getting to Sophia.
He bowed his head slightly to her.
"My apologies."
His words were drowned out by a gasp. "What are you people?" The blonde
woman had moved when no one had been watching her. She was just beyond them,
swaying where she stood, her eyes wide, her face alarmingly pale as she stared at all of
them.
"Blythe."
Sam Cassidy started toward her, but she jerked back and hit the wall. Her
arms were extended straight out as if she could ward them off somehow.
"Just let me go. You know everything that I know."
Zane's tension ratcheted up a notch. Had they kidnapped this woman?
"You know I can't just let you go, Blythe. Adrian Prince will just send more men to
find you. He knows that you know something, maybe even that you were the one to
warn the
Dalakis
family. He won't stop until he gets you." Cassidy inched closer to
Blythe.
Zane relaxed slightly. Okay, so they were protecting the woman. But now they had
another problem. Obviously, she wasn't aware of what they were. Or at least she hadn't
been until they'd all flashed their fangs.
"Why don't you just erase her memories?" Zane couldn't see why they didn't just
do what needed to be done. Ms. Nixon would be none the wiser and their secret would
still be safe.
"No." Cassidy glared at him. "No one is going to do anything to Blythe." He shot a
look at Lucian and Stefan, who both nodded, and then he turned his attention back to
the trembling woman. "Come on, Blythe. You're tired, honey. You just need some rest."
She shook her head, her mouth quivering. "I know what I saw."
Cassidy shifted closer, holding his hand out to her. "Doesn't matter what you saw
or didn't see." He stood near enough to touch her now, but he didn't. "I won't let
anyone or anything hurt you." His fingers grazed her cheek.
Blythe shook her head and stared at him beseechingly. There was so much pain on
her face that Zane felt sorrow for her. Whatever she'd been through tonight, it had been
traumatic.
"I promise," Cassidy whispered. Blythe nodded and Zane could see the fatigue in
her face. She sighed and closed her eyes. Cassidy wasted no time in scooping her up
into his arms and carrying her toward the door. "I'll be back just before dawn," the
other man tossed over his shoulder before he disappeared down the hallway, carrying
the exhausted woman in his arms.
Sophia cleared her throat. "I'm not sure what's going on with that poor woman, but
we do have an immediate problem. A woman is going to be murdered tonight and the
murderer is going to try to implicate one or all of you."
It was time to get back on track. "She's right." Zane strode forward. This time the
men let him pass. He could feel their tension. It matched his own, but he'd come here to
do a job and he'd damn well do it. Then he'd take Sophia home and take her to bed.
"Why would someone do such a thing and try to implicate you?"
"I don't know." Lucian dragged his fingers through his hair, his agitation plain.
"What's the deal with Adrian Prince? Does it have anything to do with his brother's
death?" Zane didn't let on how much he knew about the situation, but waited to see
how much Lucian would tell him.
Lucian hesitated briefly and then told them both in succinct terms everything that
had happened between
Jethro
Prince and the
Dalakis
family. "But I can't see Adrian
Prince as the man behind that murder. He's a murderer for sure, but he'd be much more
direct. He's already sent men to try to kill us--why try to implicate us in a murder?"
Zane could see Lucian's point. "It must be some other person. How many enemies
do you have?"
"Obviously, one we know nothing about." Stefan cocked his head to one side,
watching them all as he thought.
"There's one thing I don't understand." It was Lucian who spoke as he sat on the
arm of the sofa next to his wife.
"What's that?" Zane positioned himself at the other end of the sofa near Sophia, but
he didn't sit.
"Why are you involved in all this? What's your connection? For that matter, why
have you been asking questions about this family?"
Zane shrugged. "Something drew me to the cemetery." Rather,
someone
. He knew
now that Sophia was the reason he'd instinctually been led there that night, but he
wasn't about to tell them that.
Lucian stared hard, not satisfied with Zane's answer. "You're obviously fully aware
of what we are, being a vampire yourself. Who are you and where do you come from?"
Zane glanced down at Sophia. Even she didn't know the full truth of it. No one did.
For over one hundred and eighty-five years, he had been the only one who knew the
truth of his family, of his heritage. She smiled softly, encouragingly. He wanted to
scoop her into his arms and run. He envied Sam Cassidy at the moment. At least he was
alone with his woman, and there was no doubt in Zane's mind that she belonged to
Cassidy. He'd been too protective for it to be otherwise.
The
Dalakis
family was all waiting. The women were relaxed, but the men were still
on edge. They didn't quite trust him and he didn't blame them for that.
"It's a long story," he began.
"We've got time," Stefan drawled. He was leaning against the wooden mantle, but
Zane knew that his relaxed pose was just that--a pose. The man was ready to attack
without warning, if he deemed it necessary.
"My parents came to America in the year eighteen hundred and six. I was about six
and I remember when we landed in New York." They'd come across on a passenger
liner, keeping to their rooms all day long and only venturing out at night. His father
had used his mother's illness as an excuse when anyone had inquired. Zane had rather
enjoyed the journey across the sea. He'd been so young and it had all been one grand
adventure. The night that the harbor of New York had come into view was one he
would always remember. All the people, the different languages being spoken on the
docks, the smells, the sights, all of it had enthralled him.
"My father told me then that we were taking our last name from our new city. Thus
my name became Zane York." He shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to relive the
painful memories of the past but knowing he really had no choice. Not anymore.
"I don't remember much about my life before then. We were always moving."
Running was more like it, but he'd never known what, or who, his parents were
running from. "My mother," he paused, searching for the right words. "My mother was
not well."
Fingers, soft yet strong, curled around his. He glanced down at where Sophia's
hand was wound around his. That one simple touch gave him the strength to continue.
He wanted so badly just to take her away from here and sink his cock into her soft
body, losing himself in her heat and her goodness.
"My father said it would be better here." Zane shook his head. "He was wrong.
Deluding
himself
. If anything, my mother got worse."
"I'm sorry." The unexpected sympathy from Stefan moved Zane. He could feel the
other man's genuine empathy.
Zane nodded, swallowing back the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.
"She had to be kept locked up for her own safety." He removed his hand from Sophia's
and steeled himself for what he had to say next. The story wasn't pretty to begin with
and only got worse.
"By the time I was eighteen, I realized that my father had also lost his grip on
reality. He'd tried to save my mother from madness, but instead descended into it with
her." This had been the darkest hour of his life. He'd been so young, so alone.
He felt raw, exposing his weaknesses to everyone. But they were all waiting and the
rest of the tale had to be told. "I followed my father and watched him. At first I couldn't
believe my eyes. My father, who'd always been so kind and so good, was..." Zane
broke off as tears pricked his eyes. He sucked in a deep breath, ignoring Sophia's
attempts to touch him, purposely stepping away from her. He ignored the blast of hurt
that he felt from her. He didn't want to hurt her. It just seemed as if the men in his
family were destined to hurt the people they loved.
"He was killing people."
"Oh no."
He ignored Sophia's whispered words, ignored the gasps of horror from the other
women and continued. He had to get this done.
"Not just once. I discovered that he'd been doing it for months.
Months!"
His
remembered shame washed over him and his stomach churned, burning with the
memories. Dozens, maybe hundreds of people had died because he'd been unaware of
what was happening with his father. "I'd been so wrapped up in my own life, the
changes that occur when we reach manhood, that I'd missed the signs."
"It's not your fault." Lucian spoke calmly and firmly. "He was your father. He
should have been taking care of you. You would not have suspected him of such
horrors."
Zane would not relinquish his part in this tragedy. "I should have seen it sooner."
He began to pace the room, needing to do something to keep the worst of the memories
from consuming him. "I did what I had to do." His actions had haunted him for almost
two hundred years. He turned to face the rest of them squarely. "I did what I had to
do," he repeated.
"What did you do?" Sophia's face was pale as snow, her few freckles even more