Heart Ache (Bound by a Touch Novels #1) (17 page)

“
I’m sorry if I so rudely found a man who loved me.”

“
I lo—”

“
Save it.” She glared at him. Her shoulders straightened and the fight came back. “I loved Jayson and you
killed
him. Why? Because he had the balls to do something you never did? Dammit, Nikolai, you had the power a thousand times over to step forward and claim what was yours. But that wasn’t good enough for you, was it? You had to go to Hawaii, and dump him off the balcony!”

She slammed her fists into her thighs. “The truth is I felt it, too. That first moment, I felt it, Niko. I felt the spark, but fought it off because you didn’t do a damned thing. You didn’t give me a single hint that there might be something between us. Least of which some cosmic destiny crap.

“
Dammit! If we’re destined to be together, how could you possibly not say something?” She shook her head and tipped it to the side. The motion was sluggish and slow. Her voice shook in its near whisper. “You didn’t even try, Nikolai; no flowers, no invitations to go out, no nothing. You are no different than your father. He just chose to steal the bride instead of offing the groom!”

With knuckles turning white, she turned on her heel and stomped toward the front door. She paused, and Nikolai thought she might give him a chance to explain. Instead, she sighed and her voice caught on a sob.

“
And just so there’s no confusion, if you’d have tried to take me … I would have gone willingly.”

Nikolai watched as she flung the door open wide. He expected the walls to shake, the windows to burst under the slam that would follow her departure, but there was only a soft click as the door closed.

Chapter Eleven

Niko paced from one end of his office to the other, feeling more like a caged tiger than a vampire. He tugged on his tie, threw it on his desk, then popped the top two buttons on his starched shirt.

“
I don’t see how your plan is going to work.”

“
There is only one thing that
might
fix the shitfest your life has become.” Gustav lounged lazily in the leather chair in the corner, one ankle resting on the opposing thigh.

A head full of tight, gray curls poked around the corner of the open door.

“
Mr. Voinea, there is a Mr. Stephon Stephon here to see you.” It was clear by the older woman’s tone she didn’t approve of the man who stood in the foyer. She had good instincts.

“
Stephon?” Niko had tried not to let hope build, but it had. Only to be crushed, cutting and shredding as it moved down his body to rest in shards on the floor at his feet. He shook his head and glared at Gustav. “What were you thinking?”

“
Shall I call security?” she asked.

Nikolai stared at the elderly lady the temp agency had sent a week ago and wasn’t sure what to say.

Gustav jumped to his feet. “No. Please show him in.”

Stephon strolled in with a black doo-rag covering blond curls and dark glasses on his face. His black leather jacket clung to muscular, broad shoulders and black jeans hung low so the waistband of his Calvin Klein boxers could be seen. Around his neck hung a gold chain, the size of a choke collar for a St. Bernard, with an enormous dollar sign adorned with diamonds.

Real diamonds no doubt.

Stephon sauntered in with the style of a rap star and Nikolai wondered how many hours the male spent watching MTV to get it right. He pulled the dark glasses from his face and a pair of periwinkle eyes flashed as did the white teeth of his smile.

“
How’s it hangin’, boys?”

Nikolai shot a questioning look at Gustav, then glanced down at his crotch before responding, “It’s … hanging fine, thank you.”

Stephon burst into laughter. He shook his head. Niko had obviously missed the joke—and couldn’t care less. Gustav walked over to join them, and Stephon stuck out his hand. The two did some fancy handshake thing that ended with the two of them hugging. Nikolai watched the exchange in curious horror. He couldn’t believe his brother actually paid any attention to this male, who was nothing more than a two-hundred-year-old vampire with an identity crisis.

“
So, I hear you’re in need of some assistance.” Stephon sunk down into one of the two chairs facing Niko’s desk.

“
You hear that, huh?” Irritation boiled in his veins and Niko went back to the large, wingback chair behind his desk to keep from strangling someone.

Gustav returned to his perch on the leather chair in the corner. “Oh, come on, Niko, somebody killed that human. Don’t you want to know who the asshole is? ‘Cause, sure as shit, they want to make your heartmate believe you did it. I’d bet my last million bucks it was a vamp.”

He would make the same wager and, yes, he did want to know who it was. But to bring Stephon into the mix? The male was annoying as hell.

“
Fine.”

Stephon smiled. He ran a huge palm over his diamond encrusted insignia, only to raise it in front of him. Fingers flew to form weird looking symbols Nikolai couldn’t even begin to decipher.

“
I got your back, Nik. I’ll find that mofo and bust a cap in his ass.”

Not wanting to appear as dense as he felt, Nikolai didn’t ask what a mofo was or how breaking a hat in the male’s ass would solve things, so he just nodded. “Where do we start?”

“
The beginning. I need to know what happened. Everything. From the last second you saw Gabrielle Ryan and her husband, Jayson McDade.” Stephon leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His façade gone, he was all business. His eyes deadly serious.

“
Sounds like you already know what happened,” Nikolai said, shooting yet another annoyed glance at Gustav. His brother only shrugged.

“
Yes, Gustav gave me a few details. From what I understand, your heartmate, Miss Ryan married Mr. McDade. Pretty dumbass mistake to let it get that far, but who am I to judge?” He shrugged. “They went to Hawaii on their honeymoon, where Mr. McDade was found after his
fall
from the balcony. Have you seen the body?”

Gustav and Nikolai both shook their heads.

“
What was the actual cause of death?” he asked.

“
I’m not sure.” Nikolai shrugged.

Stephon clucked his tongue. “For a man who’s been judge-and-juried in the eyes of his heartmate, you don’t seem to care much about clearing your name.”

His fingers rolled into fists and he had to remind himself the moron across the desk wasn’t the enemy. “I didn’t know I
needed
to know the facts.”

Stephon snorted. “Well, if we’re going to figure out who’s framing you, you probably ought to learn the facts. Or am I just wasting my time?”

Before Niko could use a fist to close the mouth of the arrogant wannabe, Gustav stood next to the desk with a hand firmly planted on Niko’s shoulder. The grip tightened when muscles tensed. “We’ll clear your name, brother.”

“
Yeah, we will,” Stephon verified. “I’ll need Gabrielle Ryan’s address and every phone number you have for her. Do you have any information on Mr. McDade?”

“
You’re the private investigator, Stephon, shouldn’t you be able to investigate your way into that kind of information?” The armrests creaked under Niko’s grip.

Stephon remained unruffled by the question, only reacting with a quick nod. “Yes, I
could
get that information. But the more time I spend tracking down information you already have, the longer it’s going to take me to get your answers. Are you hiring me to find out who killed Mr. McDade?”

“
Yes,” Nikolai growled.

“
Then we are in this together, my friend.” Stephon sighed. “I need her address, phone numbers, email addresses, anything else you have on her. And any information you have on Jayson McDade. I’ll start with Gabrielle and go from there.”

“
You will keep me posted on every step of your investigation.” It wasn’t a request.

“
Of course. You’ll be informed of everything. This is your case. I’m merely your eyes and ears. I
will
find your guy. I always do. Always.”

Resigned, Nikolai scribbled Gabby’s information on a piece of personalized stationary and held it out to Stephon.

He stuffed the paper into his jeans pocket as he stood. His hand moved over his broad chest and the contact with the gold chain caused a metamorphosis to occur. His head jerked slightly.

“
Peace.” His fingers formed a V, which he tapped twice to his heart, then his lips. “Later biotches, I’m out.”

Nikolai watched in utter disbelief until Stephon had cleared the reception area.

“
It’s a sad day when that male is my best chance for redemption.”

“
Stephon
is
the best. If anyone can get to the bottom of things, it’s him.”

“
Heaven help me,” Niko moaned, dropping his head into his hands.

Gabrielle spent all day feeling like she was being watched; in Starbucks, at the grocery store, in the bookstore while she perused the romance section looking for something to take her mind off the love she wasn’t making. She’d tried to search, nonchalantly, for the Peeping Tom, but was never able to find anything—anyone—out of the norm.

It wasn’t until she dropped her keys just outside her apartment door that her eyes made contact with a pair of wing-tipped shoes. She looked up to see a man looming over her, dressed as though he’d stepped out of a 1930’s movie in his chocolate brown, pinstriped suit, complete with matching vest, white linen shirt and derby hat.

“
Gabrielle Ryan?” he asked through a smile, offering her a hand the size of a small ham.

“
Y- yes.” She straightened and took a step back. “And you are?”

Her hands shook as she poised the key to open the lock as soon as she got rid of the potential attacker. Oh, she hoped he didn’t attack her. Wouldn’t that just be the cherry on top of the hell month she’d had?

“
My name is Stephon.”

“
Stephon?” She looked into his face, his very handsome face.

“
Yes.”

“
Do you have a last name?”

“
Stephon.”

Gabby raised a brow and laughed out loud. “Your name is Stephon Stephon?”

The man rolled his beautiful, light blue eyes. “No, of course not. My name is Stephon.”

“
So, I should call you Mr. Stephon?”

“
No,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He sucked in a deep breath, held it a moment then blew it out. Slowly. “Please, Miss Ryan, just call me Stephon.”

“
Fine,
Stephon
. Who are you and how do you know me?”

He smiled and his canines were just a bit larger—and sharper—than usual. Damn, the man was a vampire.

“
My name is Stephon.”

“
We’ve established that.” She snorted.

“
Yes, yes, I guess we have.” He lifted the gold watch from his pocket and stretched it out on the chain, flipping it open to check the time. “I’m sorry, Miss Ryan, where are my manners? I am Stephon. I have been hired by your heartmate, Mr. Nikolai Voinea, to clear him of the accusations that have been made against him.”

“
You’re a—” She suddenly remembered they were standing in the very public hall of her apartment building. “You’re like him?”

He smirked, his eyelids dropping as if they offered the nod his head did not. “Yes, Miss Ryan, Mr. Voinea and I are … of the same race. May I please come inside and speak with you for a few moments?”

She might not feel threatened by the guy, but she wasn’t going to allow a stranger into her apartment, especially a stranger who might consider her a potential meal. That would just be stupid.

Stephon dug into the pocket of his tailored pants and pulled out a piece of ivory paper. She recognized it immediately. He held it out to her.

“
Like I said, Miss Ryan, Mr. Voinea hired me to clear his good name, to find out who murdered your husband.”

“
Husband?” she nearly shrieked, surprised by the word—and her reaction to it.

Was it possible Nikolai still thought she’d gone through with the ceremony? Did he really think she could marry Jayson while loving another man, finally knowing he loved her in return?

“
Yes, Mr. Jayson McDade. Your husband.”

“
Oh, no … we—”

A door opened across the hall. A silver head emerged, covered with spongy pink curlers.

“
Is everything okay, Gabby?” The elderly woman looked Stephon over, from wing-tips to derby, and narrowed her eyes behind the thick lenses of her glasses. “Do I need to call the police?”

“
No, Mrs. Wright, it’s okay. He’s a friend of a friend.” Gabby once again glanced down at the paper. Not only was it from Nikolai’s desk, it had her name, address, phone numbers, and even her email address written in Nikolai’s elegant handwriting. She wasn’t sure what to think of this throwback to the early twentieth century. He certainly didn’t appear to be the axe murderer type, but what did Gabby know?