Haven (6 page)

“Nothing to see here.” My rescuing wall’s voice rang out, the sound vibrating through my back and making my dizziness verge on nausea. “Go and dance. You are having a wonderful time. The girl is merely
tired.”

Thomas
.

Others, including Gen just visible on the strobing stage, parroted his words and wandered off.

Fear prickled my skin. My uncle froze people
and
controlled their minds.
Lovely.

I renewed my efforts to escape. Even mostly blinded and wheezing, I managed a decent finger jab to his neck and an elbow strike to his head. He hissed and dropped me. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I stomped hard on the arch of his foot and bolted. He caught my arm and dragged me backstage.

The two guards stationed there shouted in alarm.

“No problem here. Ms. Tranquilli is fine, merely tired. Take a break.”

“There’s no problem here, Ms. Tranquilli is fine. We’re going on break,” the guards echoed and departed.

No.
I screamed in my head, but couldn’t find my voice. A trickle of air escaped my mouth. Fear gripped me; fear of suffocating to death in the arms of a mind-controlling madman.

Footsteps clattered on the Tower’s metal staircase. “Thomas, what the hell are you doing?” Adrian’s shout rippled in concern.

“Adrian, there’s a problem on the dance floor. They need you.”

“I’ve got a problem on the dance floor. Gotta go.” Like a good little puppet, Adrian vanished.

“Alone at last,” Thomas crooned in my ear.

I’m so screwed.
I blinked back tears of frustration.

Thomas sat us on the bottom stair, cradling me on his lap. “
Calmati, cara mia
. Breathe.”

My body relaxed, airways opening, taking on oxygen, obeying him whether I wanted to or not. My vision cleared, and I found his grass green gaze too close to mine.

“Stay away from him, Carina. Resist the call. Until we have repaired your pretty head, you are still mostly
human. And as you have experienced, you would not survive the contact for long.”

Anger overrode my fear. I so did
not
need another bossy bullying man in my family
.
Especially
one daring to hold me captive, and who clearly possessed the strength to break my neck like a toothpick. And what was that
mostly human
crack all about?

“Who died and made you God?” I snapped, happy to have my voice back.

He kissed my forehead, his lips cold. “There, that’s my fiery girl.”

His cool lips parted in what felt like a smile and his teeth grazed my skin.
Sharp
teeth, predator teeth. Was I the prey? Imagining his teeth sinking into my flesh gave me strength to struggle, but he stopped me with a gentle caress of words.

“Oh no,
cara mia
. Not you. Never you. Well, not without permission.”

He sounded amused. I was not.

“Relax,” he soothed. “We will open the door soon. Make you whole and free your inner power. But for now, sleep and heal, little one.”

Brilliant idea. I did just that.

Three

I awakened to the sound of voices. Eyes closed, I took a moment to determine my location. Silk sheets, faint whiff of rose geranium, soft warm body to my right—Faith—another harder one to the left—Kai, I assumed—but then Faith whispered, “Don’t wake her, Adrian.”

“It’s been over twelve hours. What if she’s in a coma?”

I snorted and opened my eyes. “Dude, I’m not in a coma.”

Relieved shouts erupted from Mark, Ren, Kai, and...Lorenzo? My brother rarely made an appearance at my house and an even more rarely wore a black tracksuit, T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Too casual. And wrinkled.

“Why are you dressed like that? Did you sleep here?” Color me astonished.

He nodded and produced his phone, telling someone in Italian I was awake and okay.

“Who are you talking to?” I sat up. Wooziness struck and I fell back against the pillows.

Kai offered me a glass of water. I drained it. “Thanks.”

Still conversing on the phone, Lorenzo left the room. Mark and Ren dropped onto the foot of the bed with a bounce that churned my stomach. They gave me twin ‘we’re happy you’re okay but we’re pissed so don’t do that again’ looks. Adrian stroked my arm, reminding me of his presence in my bed. I yanked up the sheet, relieved to discover we all wore T-shirts and underwear.
Phew.
I dropped the sheet. Adrian’s knowing chuckle relaxed me.

I gave him a soft smack with the back of my hand. “Okay, who wants to tell me why we’re all so cozy in my bedroom?”

Kai plunked down next to Faith, the movement causing another roil of nausea. “We found you backstage passed out on the stairs. You were freezing.”

“So we wrapped you in one of those emergency fire blankets you made me stock the club with,” Adrian added and stretched his muscular arms over his head.

“Mark snuck you out the back,” Kai continued.

“You guys carried me up our hill?”

Kai shook his head. “Nope. In a limo.”

I frowned. “Whose limo?”

Lorenzo reentered the room, looking too big and too worried. “Thomas’s.”

“Yeah,” Kai confirmed. “Ward joined us on the dance floor, where we were handling the guy who hurt you.”

“He has a name,” I interrupted, unreasonable anger thrumming some life back into my bloodstream. “Alexander. And he wasn’t hurting me.”

Mark and Ren both grumbled at my comment.

I crossed my arms. “Fine. He didn’t hurt me on purpose. Anyway,” I prompted Kai, hoping to distract them from my hot guy.

“Right. Ward apologized, said his friend was drunk, and took him away.”

I shook my head. Impossible. “No way. Alexander wasn’t drunk.”

“How do you know?” Adrian asked.

“I know.”

He shrugged.

My stomach growled, earlier sensitivity replaced by a more pressing demand. “Okay guys, I’m starving. Let’s put this story on speed dial and make some food.”

Mark slid off the bed. “On it.” He strode out of the room with Ren.

“I’ll help.” Lorenzo followed them. I let him go without complaint, though part of me wanted to smack him and make him tell me what he knew about Thomas and this whole mess.

“Anyway,” Kai continued. “The two dudes took off, Adrian and security did a little crowd damage control, and we found you.”

“How did you know where I was?”

“Thomas told us,” Adrian explained. “And offered his limo.”

My scowl deepened. My so-called relative was quite the puppet master. I supposed I should feel grateful for his aid last night, but irritation crowded out any appreciation. I just didn’t trust the man.

“Anyway.” Kai shot Adrian a stop-interrupting stare. “You were freezing.”

“You mentioned that already.” I shifted, adjusting myself more comfortably.

“I know, but you were wicked cold.”

“Okay, freaky hypothermia moment. Check. You didn’t take me to the hospital because why?”

“Faith called your brother. He vetoed it.”

I crossed my arms. “Of course he did. Bad publicity for the family, right?” My lips curled downward. “Worst. Birthday. Ever.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” Adrian purred. My elbow dug into his side. “Ow. Okay, okay, I’m gonna shower.” He retreated to my bathroom.

I motioned to Kai. “You were saying?”

“We put you to bed and tried to warm you with body heat. It worked. And here we are.”

“Here we are,” I echoed. “I’m starving. Can you let me know when the food is ready?” My nice way of asking for alone time. I needed to process all of this.

“Sure.” Kai strolled out with Faith in tow.

I stretched and stared at the ceiling. I should use this time to analyze the witch attack and the appearance of this powerful uncle who intended to muck about in my head. And strategize ways to avoid said head-mucking. Vacay to Hawaii, anyone? But my mind—and hormones—clung to one overriding obsession.
Alexander.

A wave of desire roared through my body like nothing I’d ever experienced, leaving me trembling in its wake. Not that I’d had many men, just two in fact. But still, no man ever made me want to throw them to the ground and sink myself onto his shaft in the middle of a crowded dance floor. No man left me aching with an unfulfilled need just remembering them.

No man almost accidentally killed me before, either. But I couldn’t hold that against him. I
would
hold my body against his, however, at the first possible opportunity. I rubbed my own arms, trying to alleviate the pulsing ache of my flesh wanting his. Who cared about a little near-death experience? It paled compared to this driving force.

Adrian sauntered from the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and I blinked past the spell of Alexander, focusing on the now. “Tell me about Alexander.” Just saying his name, having it slip past my lips, left a delicious taste in my mouth.

Adrian grinned, humor crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I love that about you, babe. Straight to the point, no BS.”

“Well?” I pushed. I needed to know.
Now.

He retrieved his phone from the bedside table, tapped the surface a few times, and tossed it to me. On the screen, a picture of Alexander with me, frozen in our moment on the dance floor, holding hands.

“The looks you two gave each other last night were worthy of a porn movie. Hot. Totally X-rated.” His tone teased, and I searched his face for more. “Next time, get a room. Or go to Heaven.”

“Ha. Ha. Now tell me about him.” I cradled the phone, drawn to the image.

Adrian pulled on his shirt, a rustle of sound. “Last name, Wallace. That’s Scottish.”

“That’s it? That’s all I get?” I devoured his handsome face on the screen.
Alexander Wallace. Scottish. Mine
. My heart raced with the undeniable knowledge.

Adrian said something else and I missed it. “What?”

He pried the cell from my fingers. “I said, I think he’s The Guy.”

The statement should’ve given me pause, a huge dose of
whoa, hold up
, but instead my body agreed with him one hundred percent. That in itself was crazy, but I didn’t care.

Mine
.

“Stop that,” I grumbled at the possessive voice in my head. Heat crept over my face.

Adrian whistled. “Well, look at you.”

“Shut up.”

He snickered.

“So, is he a friend of yours? Can you give me his number?”

He nodded. “Sure. He comes to Sanguine on Sundays. Hangs with Thomas and his crowd.”

Damn, they’re friends. No escaping my uncle.

A knock on the door interrupted us. “Breakfast,” Kai called.

I slid out of bed, happy my body functioned even though my mind remained locked on Alexander. “One last thing. Why are you doing business with a guy who can turn you into a mindless robot?”

He understood I meant Thomas. His expression shut down. “Aw, c’mon, babe—”

“Don’t you
babe
me.” I grabbed my black silk robe from the closet and pulled it on. “Don’t tell me it’s about the money. No amount of money can justify letting that kind of crazy in our club.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Translation,
like never.

My stomach growled, overriding my quest for answers. “I need food. But don’t think you’re off the hook for long.”

~ * ~

Mark plopped a mound of scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese onto a plate and pushed it in front of me on the breakfast bar. “Eat up.”

Ren placed a mountain of toast in the center for everyone then took a seat next to his brother and dug into his food.

“Thanks, guys.” The scent of the food made my mouth water. I took a bite of egg while eyeing Lorenzo near the sink, his back to us. I smelled coffee. When he turned, he held a
caffè latte
.

He placed the glass by my plate. It was a true Italian
caffè latte
, no fancy foam or toppings, just hot milk with extra strong black coffee poured into it. Served in a glass, not a mug, breakfast style.

Déjà vu struck and my hand trembled, just shy of touching the glass. “Have you made this for me before?”

He nodded and took the seat across from me. “
Si
.”

I considered his face, trying to read him, but he remained impassive, as usual.

“When?”

His eyes narrowed. “A long time ago.”

His vague reply stirred a dusty corner in my mind. I took a careful sip. Heavy on the milk, the way I liked it. “When exactly?”

Lorenzo shifted in his seat. “When you were a kid.”

“How old?”

He looked away. “That’s not important.”

I took another sip of the perfect
caffè latte
. Lorenzo was uncomfortable, but why? “I think it is. Important.”

My tension flooded the room. As if they sensed it, everyone stopped eating.

“All of a sudden, I remember you making me coffee. That was nice.” I lifted the glass. “
This
is nice. And weird. Weird like last night when you kept hugging me.”

Silence answered me, not even the clack of fork on plate breaking it.

“So, now I’m wondering what else you used to do when I was a kid. Why don’t I remember? What did Thomas do to me? What memories are locked inside me? Good or bad?” My eyes watered, and I scowled and blinked fast, choosing anger over sadness. Anger kept me strong. Sadness would tear me apart.

Kai, Mark, and Ren rose as one, picked up their plates, and headed downstairs. Adrian gave me a quick peck on the cheek and beat a hasty exit too. Faith remained seated beside me, muttering about cracks in the door and eating her food as if Lorenzo and I weren’t about to argue, as per our usual.