I Want You to Want Me (22 page)

“I should have gotten the address of where you were working,” he finally admitted, when it was clear that Ren and Maggie weren’t going to provide him with another excuse.

“Okay,” Erika agreed, “I probably should have told you where I was, just in case. But this isn’t the first time you’ve been panicked when you couldn’t find me. Why?”

“Umm,” Vittorio shifted from one foot to the other, “I’m—”

“He’s just a huge worrywart,” Ren said, shaking his head. “He does the same crap to me.” He looked at his brother. “You got to mellow out, dude.”

Vittorio nodded. “I know.”

Erika looked back and forth between the brothers, trying to understand what was going on. She wasn’t a fool. Vittorio’s agitation when he came into the apartment went beyond merely worrying. He actually seemed scared.

Of what?

“Maggie, Ren, I think I need to talk to Vittorio alone.”

I
f Erika thought her friends would just get up and leave, she was sadly mistaken. Ren rose, but instead of leaving as she asked, he turned to Vittorio.

“Little brother, I think you need to chat with me for a minute.”

Vittorio looked toward Erika and evidently decided Ren’s questions would be easier to deal with.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her. Erika nodded. She could wait, but she would still have plenty of questions for him.

“Maggie, why don’t you stay with Erika,” Ren suggested.

The two brothers exited the apartment, going out into the darkness.

Erika watched them until they stopped in the courtyard, facing each other. She crossed over to the sofa, dropping down beside Maggie.

“Was he really worried about me?” she asked Maggie.

Maggie nodded, but added, “He is a worrier. He watches out for Ren all the time. In fact, if he didn’t, Ren and I might not be together now.”

Erika considered that. “But he seems almost afraid for me when I’m not in his sight.”

“These boys are just a little different than your typical guys.”

Erika already knew that. Vittorio was different from her on so many levels. She’d never been so crazy about, so attracted to, and so cared for by another boyfriend. But instead of saying all those things—which just sounded too extreme for a relationship that was only a few days old—she asked, “How so?”

Maggie didn’t answer right away, clearly looking for the right words. “They are just different.” Not exactly the explanation Erika hoped she’d get. “But they are such good guys. Amazing, really.”

Erika didn’t need to be sold on that idea. She’d seen for months now what a good and kind and loving partner Ren was for Maggie. He was all the things her friend needed. And Erika certainly didn’t need to be told how special Vittorio was.

She knew she was already in love with him. And maybe that was what had her feeling as scared about his reaction as he’d been about her being gone all day.

After all, she’d probably be nervous if he was gone all day and she didn’t know where he was. New Orleans could be a dangerous city. And he was a protective guy—not controlling, but cautious.

“Maggie, I think Vittorio is the prince that Philippe kept predicting I’d meet.”

Erika waited for Maggie to express the same reservations Jo had about the idea. But Maggie only said, “I know you’ve wondered about that.” She moved to hug Erika. “And I think it’s wonderful. And always remember these are men who would never hurt you. No matter what.”

Erika frowned, wondering why Maggie would even say that, but before she could ask, Maggie pulled away.

“Did you tell Jo? Your dad?”

“I haven’t talked to my dad,” Erika said, “but I did tell Jo. She didn’t seem too happy about it.”

Maggie frowned. “I’m sure she is. Maybe she’s just feeling left out. It’s got to be hard for her to still be in D.C., while we are here. And seeing brothers, no less.”

Erika hadn’t thought about that.

“Maggie, do you know if Vittorio has a girlfriend that he’s still in touch with?”

Maggie thought about it. “No. Not that I’ve ever heard about. Why?”

Erika shook her head, feeling silly and insecure for asking. He’d told her more than once there was no other woman, but still she had a niggling feeling there was. She couldn’t say why.

“It’s just something Philippe told me. But I don’t think it can be true.”

“I don’t think it is. Ren mentioned he’d been seeing someone years ago, but not since. In fact, he often commented to me that Vittorio didn’t usually involve himself with women, period.”

Erika thought about that. There had been a woman, but years ago. Yet, he’d stayed away from women since. That sounded like someone who was still emotionally involved.

She wondered if she could get this woman’s name. Just to see. She put an end to that train of thought. Here she was, finding Vittorio’s protectiveness weird, yet she was considering acting like a jealous lover. Tracking down past girlfriends.

Maybe they both needed to discuss things, before both their behaviors got stranger.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ren asked Vittorio as soon as they were in the courtyard and out of earshot.

“What do you mean?” Was Ren concerned because he shared Vittorio’s concern about Erika, or because Vittorio was deeply involved with Maggie’s friend?

“Why are you acting like a panicked, controlling aristocrat?”

“I’m not,” Vittorio said, not necessarily disagreeing with the panicked part. When the sun set and Erika wasn’t back, he of course had grown concerned. Perhaps panicked.

But he had no intention of trying to control her. Only protect her. And he supposed the aristocrat thing could apply too. After all, he was born into royalty, although he didn’t think many of those aristocratic behaviors remained after all these years.

“Okay,” he admitted. “I was worried about her.”

“Why?” Ren asked.

Where to start? Vittorio guessed it was best just to jump in. “I came back here to do some research. Remember when I worked with drug addicts here?”

Ren frowned. “No. Not really.”

Vittorio fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Well, I did. And I continued to do so for a while in other cities. When you misunderstood the outcome of Mother’s curse, I realized that maybe what you considered your curse was actually my curse. Maybe the women I helped were being killed because of our mother. Many of the women I worked with have passed away.”

“Okay,” Ren said, “but they were drug addicts—so their deaths were not all that unusual.”

“True, which is why it took me a while to realize just how many of them had died. Twenty-six in as many years. That’s high, even for the lifestyles they led.”

Ren nodded. “I suppose that is.”

“I really believe Mother killed these women.”

“Why?” Ren asked.

“Because she’s jealous and petty and always wanted me to herself.”

“That is true,” Ren agreed. “And I think she’s more than capable of murder.”

“So do I,” Vittorio said.

“And you are worried that she might try to hurt Erika?”

Vittorio nodded.

“That makes sense.”

Ren’s agreement didn’t make Vittorio feel better. “But the problem is, I don’t know how to stop her.”

“A stake through the heart could work,” Ren said.

Vittorio had thought about old-school tactics like that one, but the truth was, he didn’t think he could bring himself to kill his own mother. Evil as she may be. Something about killing her made him feel as if he would be becoming just like her.

But he didn’t say that to Ren. Ren wouldn’t understand. Then again, Orabella had never been any sort of mother to him. Not that she’d been much better to Vittorio.

But Orabella did fancy herself a loving mother to her second son. Even if it was a weird love, to say the least.

“So are you using Erika as bait to draw Mother out?”

“No!” Vittorio cried. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“But it could work—and then we could be rid of the crazy old bat—hey, that’s quite literal now.” Ren refocused. “We could be rid of her forever.” He smiled at the prospect.

“I’m not using Erika to lure her out. I’m trying to keep her safe from Mother while I try to have a relationship with her.”

Ren nodded. “Well, if that’s the case, then you know you can count on Maggie and me to help as well. None of us will let anything happen to her.”

“Thank you,” Vittorio said honestly. It did make him feel better to have their support. Three vampires against one seemed like decent odds. Even if the one was bat-shit crazy.

“She will be okay,” Ren assured him. “But you do need a plan if Mother tries anything.”

Vittorio knew that. He just didn’t know what the plan could be. And was luring his mother out and getting rid of her once and for all the only way to protect Erika? That seemed risky, and he couldn’t think of using Erika as bait.

But he knew he did have to know the truth. What was Mother capable of?

“She’s truly vile.”

Maksim lolled on the bed, an arm resting behind his head, his foot wiggling to some unheard beat. He stared at the ceiling like he had been for hours. Many long, long hours.

“I found her to be a very sweet girl,” he said placidly. “And like Vittorio, I’ve actually been inside her. Well, her head, that is.”

Orabella made a noise close to that of a growl, and Maksim didn’t suppress his smile. If he was going to be trapped here indefinitely at least he could get some entertainment out of goading her. His smile quickly faded. It wasn’t much of a consolation, really.

“She’s wretched, weak, and pathetic,” Orabella said, not masking her venom—there wasn’t much point now. “Just like all mortals.”

Maksim turned his head to look at her where she sat on a chair in the bedroom doorway, being ever so careful not to scuff a break in the iron filings lining the floor.

“You seem to forget you were a mortal once too.”

She made another noise. “Well be that as it may, I was certainly never one so worthless and silly.”

“I think you are mistaking kindness for silliness and goodness for weakness.”

“Maksim,” she said sharply, clearly irritated as he hoped she would be, “I don’t have time to chat. And I’m sure you are tired of having so much time on your hands. So let’s get down to what I want from you.”

Maksim rolled over onto his side, resting his head on his hand. “You didn’t already do that?”

“Oh, I did,” she said with a sweet smile. “Thank you. But I have more that I want. And if I get it, I’ll let you go.”

“If you let me go, I think I’d be forced to hurt you. Even as a demon, I’m not a big fan of hurting women, but in your case, I’m not sure you even constitute a woman.”

She made a tsking noise. “Insults really aren’t going to help your cause.”

He didn’t react. He just waited for her to continue, which she did.

“As you have had time to figure out, I’ve found the spell that vampires can use to basically create a sunscreen.”

Yes, he had figured that out. Demon semen, when taken internally, acted as a heat repellent and sunscreen, keeping vampires safe from sunlight.

After all, something kept demons from burning up in the bowels of hell. It just happened that not many knew what it was. Yet, Orabella had figured it out. A fact that irked him to no end. He had really underestimated her.

And Maksim had also had time to figure out where she might have discovered such a spell.

“So you know my sister, Ellina?”

“I’ve met her,” Orabella said. “Nice girl. And a great writer. It was in her research that I found this spell. I’d heard rumors of it, of course. But Ellina actually had the spell written down. As part of a book on demon lore.”

Now that, Maksim hadn’t known. He guessed Ellina probably had something do with Orabella finding the spell, but he hadn’t known she was writing a book. About demons, no less.

“Which leads me back to what I need from you. I need a female demon who is strong enough to make this spell work on Vittorio.”

That was right. The spell would only work with a demon from the fifth circle of hell downward. And those demons were always harder to summon. The farther down the more workload a demon had. Hell was a busy place with quite an involved system of delegation. Demons didn’t have time for trifling conjurers.

“So you want me to summon a demon for you?”

“Exactly. And as soon as you do, I’ll let you go,” Orabella promised.

Maksim raised an eyebrow. “You have to know I will kill you if I get out of here.”

“Temper, temper,” she said to him. “Now is that going to get you released? I think not.”

“So say I help you do this, what’s the final outcome for you?”

“I get to walk in the sunlight again with my son.”

“Your son?”

Orabella smiled, a broad grin filled with desire. “Yes. Vittorio is my son and my only true love.”

Maksim actually shuddered. God, this chick just got creepier and creepier.

“You are in love with your own son?”

Orabella blinked at him, obviously confused by his expression of disgust. But hell, even a demon had limits. And the romantic love of your own child definitely was one of them.

His grimace deepened.

“Yes. Vittorio is my perfect man. Begat from me. Part of my soul, my body, my heart.

Maksim found he couldn’t keep his opinion to himself any longer. “That is truly repugnant, and I will not help you in any way. You are going to have to figure out how to summon your own demon.”

Orabella practically shrieked,
“I can’t!
And I won’t let you leave here if you don’t do it for me.”

Maksim flipped onto his back again, staring up at the very, very familiar ceiling. “That’s fine. I’m cool with just hanging out here. Relaxing.”

She made another discordant, frustrated noise. And he could feel the daggers her eyes were throwing in his direction. He ignored them. He could hold out as long as he needed to. Hell, he’d done time in the abyss. Lounging around on a bed with lots of pillows, comfy bedding and air conditioning wasn’t close to the worst that he’d suffered.

And he’d be damned if he’d help this crazy bitch. Of course, that was after the fact, being damned already.

“You think you can out-wait me, but we’ll see about that,” Orabella finally said, and he heard the scrape of her chair’s legs on the wooden floor as she rose.

“You will give in to me eventually.”

He didn’t respond, but they’d just see about that.