| |
Craig spotted her from the office window. She was one tough looking woman walking against the breeze, her coat billowing out behind her. Craig got a glimpse of an axe and some other short handled blades. He hustled down the stairs, hoping to reach the front door before Troy caught her scent. The boss was one mean growling bastard since that Celeste chick was killed and perched on Velvet’s front porch.
“Is Troy in there,” she demanded before he even said hello.
“Velvet, what’s going on, girl?”
“The usual, except I want to see Troy.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We’ve had too much drama around here.”
“What drama?”
“First you and your vampires, now the police.”
“Hold it.” Velvet put up a hand. “Let me get this straight. For years, I’ve dealt with every creep and hooligan this city had to offer and you telling me your so called leader of the pack can’t handle a little drama? What kind of wimp is he anyway that’s got you hopping and skipping to get in my way?”
“Now, hold on!” Craig got his back up. “Watch what you be saying. Troy is a strong decent guy, the best pack leader Fairlight ever had. And I’m not hopping and skipping! I just happen to know the boss’s state of mind. Right now, he doesn’t need any aggravation from you about that Jerome bullshit.” She was heading for the front entrance as though he wasn’t just talking to her. “Hold up, now!”
“Don’t touch me, Craig,” she warned. “Run ahead if you like and tell him I’m coming.”
“That’s it, Velvet!” Craig leapt over her head, positioned himself with his back to the door. “We ain’t chumps around here like the men you usually deal with. Now, I just told you, you don’t need to be bothering him.”
“Why don’t you go mind your own business?”
“Troy is my business, girl.”
“Craig, you ain’t old enough to be calling me girl. And you ain’t man or wolf enough to keep me away from Troy. Now, you back off.”
“Let her in, Craig.” Troy spoke from behind them, standing within the club entrance, he held the door open. His eyes didn’t meet hers.
“With that attitude?”
“Craig, take an early lunch.” He backed up to let her enter his club.
She waited at the bar getting madder by the second. Finally, he ambled his way to the counter and took a stool beside her. He seemed to prefer viewing her in the mirror, rather than just turn his head and look at her.
“I’m not going to knock Craig for trying to shield me,” he said.
“From me?”
“Yeah.”
“So you never meant to call me?” She watched his stiff profile. He wasn’t going to answer. “A simple yes or no, Troy. Aren’t you man enough to utter one word?”
“At first I was considering it.” He wiped his mouth like he was in need of a drink. “But you know... how things keep happening.”
“What things?”
“Everything! A lot of things! You aren’t the only one with problems in this damn town!” He pounded a fist on the counter, then quickly composed himself. “Sorry, I just...”
“I didn’t come here to upset you. Do you want me to leave?”
“Why did you come? Why today?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“It’s been weeks, Vee. Why couldn’t you stay away?”
“Something happened and I just wanted to see you.” He wasn’t even going to ask her what was going on? “Troy?”
“What, Vee?”
“Nothing.” She eased off the bar stool. “I don’t deserve this shit from you,” she said with a calmness she didn’t feel and walked back out into the brisk breeze. Damn it, why do I keep hoping, when it’s clear he doesn’t care about me, she silently asked the growing wind. She felt the tears welling up and before she was able to wipe them away they spilled splashing against her cheeks from the wind.
“Wait.” Troy sprinted to catch up with her long stride. “I was being a jerk, I’m sorry.”
“And I’m sorry I was reaching out to you. I won’t be doing that again.”
“You said something happened.”
Oh, now he wanted to know? Did he think she was going to sit at his bar begging for him to talk to her while he acted like she was somebody off the street that came in to bug him?
“It wasn’t anything.” She lied and kept stepping. To think she actually thought he might want to share her burden just a little by listening to her problems. All Troy Tanaka was interested in was himself! What did she expect from him anyway? Wilder was right, he was a big, stupid jerk. She never wanted to like him anyway. And it made her mad that she did. Sharply, she turned her head to look at him. Some nerve he had to come trotting after her. What did he want after being so cold and rude?
“I said I was sorry.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“You came to me. If there is something you need, tell me.”
“There isn’t anything I need from you. I see I was wrong to think you gave a damn about me as a real person.” And she’d been waiting and waiting for him, fighting with Wilder and hurting his feelings! With swift abruptness, she turned to the left, leaving him moving on ahead. She wanted to lift up and fly high into the air, disappear right into the clouds.
“I do care about you, Velvet! But you know why I’ve stayed away.”
“Actually, I don’t!” She swung around making him collide into her. She pushed him right back off her. “Don’t pretend you are so afraid of what Wilder has compiled on you from what happened years ago in Japan! By now, you’ve had time to take care of all that! I can only think of one reason you’ve acted this way.”
“Velvet, you don’t know anything.”
“Right! I don’t know anything at all about you. Maybe if I did, I’d never believed you liked me. Any maybe my friends wouldn’t be looking down on me because of you!”
“Velvet, don’t say that.”
“You didn’t even have the guts to tell me to get lost! You could have done that over the phone, if you couldn’t look me in the eyes!”
“Telling you to get lost is the last thing in this world I want I do! And looking you in the eyes is hard.”
“Why?”
“Because I know I let you down. I know you expected me to come back.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I know in the end, you’re going to hate me anyway.”
“Troy, you didn’t give me a chance. If you liked me at all you would have talked to me. Maybe, I would have agreed and accepted our relationship wasn’t worth pursuing but you didn’t even give me that.”
“Velvet, you are right, and you are wrong.”
“What?”
“I want you, Velvet. I never thought a woman like you was in this world. Not for me. Maybe I’m being punished for not loving Jasmine.”
“Troy, you did love her.”
“No, I didn’t. She was my responsibility and I tried to honor that. For her sake, I pretended. It was the least I could do for her.”
“You can’t help how you felt, and she seemed content enough. It was you that wasn’t satisfied, and there is nothing wrong with admitting that.” Anyway, talking about Jasmine wasn’t what she wanted to hear from him. “What did you mean by you didn’t think there was a woman like me in this world for you?”
“In my whole life, I’ve never felt connected to a woman the way I am with you. I always miss you, I always want you. I even believe when it gets bad it’s because you miss me too.”
“Then why did you let Wilder scare you off?”
“Because he is right about us being together puts you at risk.”
“Wilder is just using that! He knows you feel guilty about Jasmine’s death, and not being able to protect her. Unlike her, I know I have enemies. And my life in general is always at risk.”
“There are other things, Velvet.”
“And your mind is made up? Even though, you’ve never felt this way before, those other things are in the way?”
“I’m only thinking about you right now.”
“Bullshit.” If he were thinking of her he’d be kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Clearly, he just wasn’t man enough to tell her how he really felt. He’d had her and had a good time and sex wasn’t worth the aggravation of being threatened by her former lover. “All you think about is yourself and what is easiest for you! Ignore me and hope I’ll go away!”
“Velvet, that isn’t at all what I’m trying to tell you!”
“You think I’m going to freak out just because you dumped me?”
“I didn’t dump you! Why won’t you listen to what I’m saying?”
“Because I’m sick of you and your weak ass ways! Don’t worry, I won’t be coming back around you ever again! I just wish I never-” Damn. She was practically freaking out in the street! “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s the stress of everything and everybody.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me. I know-”
“I know I don’t. Why would I apologize to you? I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just explaining that I have more important stuff going on than you in my life.” Sure, she was disappointed, but it wasn’t like he was the only man in the world. She just needed to get her priorities straight. Great sex was going back to the bottom of the list. “So long, jerk,” she sneered, and strutted off. As she started to run in the wind, big strong arms locked around her waist. “Get off me.” She shrugged to get him off her back. He wasn’t playing though. He meant to hold her down. Unless she really fought him, she was stuck with him. “I hope you aren’t afraid of heights,” she said. “Because I’m out of here!” And as if they were light as feathers, their feet left the pavement and they lifted into the air taking flight up into the clouds.
~*~
“Why don’t you sit down?” She moved on the blanket making room for him beside her.
“I’m fine.” He remained standing near the tree.
“You’re still mad I took you up against your will?”
He actually grinned. “If I was mad this view is worth it. I’ve never been so high up before. You come up here a lot?”
“I have a few special places like this for solitude. We have to get away from it all sometimes, or go mad.” He gazed back out to admire the mountains and sky. She wondered what was going through his mind. Was he thinking about that afternoon in his office that went into the parking lot? Did it even cross his mind to kiss her? She lay back on the blanket, then wondered if he were cold without a jacket. He appeared comfortable, didn’t even put his hands in his pockets.
“I just wanted to see you, Troy. I just missed you that much. Maybe you can get over it, but I haven’t been able to yet. Each day that passed I missed you more. Today was the breaking point.”
“I’m not over it, Velvet. I’m trying to, for your sake.”
“You don’t have to do me any favors.”
“Velvet, why don’t you lie down and take a nap? You look kind of frazzled.” He came over and kneeled beside her. “I bet you haven’t had a decent night’s rest since all that Grove stuff started.”
“I’m fine.”
“Please, Velvet. Just take a moment.”
“Okay, just a moment.” She lay down on her side watching him watch her. “Are you mad at me for barging in on you?”
“No.”
“But you rather I didn’t come?”
“I’m glad you came. Now relax.”
She closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh air.
She wasn’t sure when he joined her lying on the blanket, just knew she’d been snoozing a while because the sun was starting to set. He was holding her hand and snoring. He was at peace. In his sleep, his grip tightened with her hand. Carefully, she moved closer, rolling on her side to press her body to his.
When she opened her eyes again, the sky was black and sparkling with stars. Troy was holding her against his chest, rubbing her back. She smiled at the realization that she’d impulsively spent the afternoon and went into night again with Troy.
“You awake,” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Me either.” His hand went from her back to her hair and then her face.
“We must be dreaming.” She hugged his chest and raised her leg across his lower body. “I don’t want to wake up.”
“It’s time, baby.”
He moved his body from beneath hers and rolled to his feet. He walked around the cozy little camp. A small fire was going, he frowned down into it as if thinking before he said anything else. Velvet sat up and gathered her knees inside her arms watching him.
“When did you make the fire?”
“Right before I went on my run. I didn’t want any animals bothering you while I was gone. I had to let the beast out for a minute.”
“Oh.”
“Want to tell me what happened earlier?” He came back to sit with her.
“An employee was murdered a few nights ago and placed on my property to be found. She was our receptionist, a healer and a witch. Her name was Celeste. Now, I am the prime suspect.”
“I heard about that. Why are you suspected?”
“Because Buster Zennith had Frank Mosby assigned to the case and ordered him to consider me as the sole suspect.”
“Seems to me the way she was killed is more the style of a raging vampire.”
“A certain raging vampire,” Velvet agreed. “Troy, did you know, Celeste?”
“No, uh, I met her once at the club. But, you know, I saw her a lot.”
“With Wilder?”
“Yeah, that guy loves to party. He’s down there just about every night with a different chick. Think he got tired of Celeste real quick.”
“Troy, are you sure you didn’t know Celeste?”
“I told you I just saw her around at the club.”
“With Wilder?”
“Yeah. Vee, why are you questioning me?”
“I just need to know more about Celeste. Seems like she was into tricky dealings with Jerome while she was getting close to my team.”
“I don’t know anything about her.”
“Okay.” She put her hand through his arm and leaned against him. “Thanks for staying with me. I really needed someone to hold me today. The things they write about me in the papers, and neighbors suddenly acting like I’m going to eat their grandkids, all that stuff suddenly got to me today.”
“I know it’s rough, but all that is going to pass just like always.”
“That deal you made with Wilder, I want you to break it.” She felt sudden tension spreading in his body. Why was he so resistant when it was obvious he cared about her? Jasmine and Osaka weren’t real issues now.
“Wilder isn’t the problem,” he finally said. His voice was so low she barely heard it. “I wanted to go see you, call you at the least.”
“I wish you had.”
“I know, but it was best that I didn’t. I’ve been trying to keep you off my mind and get on with things.”
“Why? There’s no reason to keep away from each other. If the goal was to keep Jerome at bay, it isn’t working. The damage is already done. I need you.”
“Baby, you don’t need to be scared.”
“I’m not scared, I’ve never been scared. I just want you.” She hated the sound of him sighing as if he were tired. Was she just too much to deal with? “Troy, if you don’t feel the same, say it.”
“It isn’t that, but...”
“But what?”
“Vee, things are so messed up right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Pack issues. Reiko was right about how some pack members would take me being with someone so soon after Jasmine’s death, and they especially don’t like it being you since you killed Tank.”
“In self-defense- there were several witnesses.”
“Tank was an Alpha that stayed with his original pack. It was expected that he’d challenge me again, and that fight would be to the death. Some are using that against me, saying you killed him so he couldn’t challenge me later. They claim you put a spell on me to get control of the pack, in order to defeat Jerome, and eventually take over City Hall.”
“City Hall? I don’t have any desire to run the city. I just want it safe and productive. Where would they get that idea?” Of course, where else? Jerome and Buster. Make the city think it was headed to a war because of her. In that event, undoubtedly, every human and super-being would take actions against her. “Your pack believes all this?”
“Some do, or prefer to act like they do. Mostly, they are afraid of your magic.”
“Sounds like they prefer Jerome’s evil.” She let go of him to stare into the fire. She was losing him because of an ignorant and selfish pack. “Am I really that bad, Troy? Is liking you such a crime?”
“No, it’s just that they are losing confidence in me. We lost three members and I can’t explain it, except that I know Jerome was involved with an old witch that was hexing everybody left and right. And we lost Jasmine because I wasn’t aware of anything, but you and Jerome. I’m an Alpha werewolf that let a vampire trick and manipulate him. I don’t even remember when he first bit me!”
“Jerome is a master vampire, and he’s been one a lot longer than both of us have been alive. You were rather young when you took leadership and thirty is still young. What do they expect from you?”
“Not four dead members.”
“So what do they want you to do?”
“I’ve been told I can clear up any suspicion about our involvement by choosing a woman from the pack, and forsake you as my lover. Innocent or guilty, if I do that my position isn’t in jeopardy and I won’t have to appear before the Brotherhood.”
Just like that, it was falling apart so soon. She’d been here before, instead of a pack, it was a brood. Wilder had given it all up for love and she left him. Troy wasn’t going to make that mistake for her.
Gently, she pushed out of his embrace and went to stand in the shadow of the tree Troy had preferred earlier in the day. There was no view now. Almost without a sound, Troy came up behind her. There was more lousy news. She waited to hear it.
“We can’t be together again. If someone smelled your scent on me, I’ll have to face the Brotherhood. If that happened now without evidence to prove anything about Samantha and Jerome, I’d lose.”
“Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
She turned to see if he were still behind her when he didn’t respond. He silently stared at her face in the dark night. “Is there anything else?
“Vee, you know I don’t want to forsake you, right?”
“Troy, this is your last chance. If there’s another reason you don’t want to see me anymore, I want to hear it.”
“If it weren’t for the Brotherhood, nothing would keep me away from you. I’m sorry, but I have to put the pack first.”
“Naturally.”
“I’ll be looking out for you.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a smile then took his hand and kissed it. He vanished from the mountaintop. She took a deep breath and refused to cry again over losing something she never really had.