Seduced and Enchanted (3 page)

Rio walked several yards behind her, far enough that she shouldn’t sense him. He didn’t want to freak her out on her way home. In the dark. Alone.

She walked all the way to Eleventh Street, head up, alert. She didn’t run but she didn’t meander either. She didn’t talk to anyone, avoided eye contact with any men but smiled at a few of the older women sitting on porch steps, as if she knew them.

By the time she got to Eleventh, the streets had cleared again, only the occasional car cruised on the road. His
linchetto
senses picked up the deeper hum of traffic from the highway surrounding the city, voices from various televisions and music from several different sources.

When she slowed after turning right onto Eleventh, he figured she was close to home.

Then again, maybe not. Head cocked to the side, she stopped in front of the unattached building on the corner. There was nothing remarkable about the brick structure set back from the street. It had a single front door flanked by two large windows covered by wooden shutters. The second story had two more large covered windows while the third half story had a small gabled window.

18

Seduced and Enchanted

A light shone dimly on the porch that ran the length of the building, a few tables and chairs sitting empty. The sign over the door read
Lacey’s Stay-a-While
but it was the Latin word hidden in the decorations on the sign that intrigued him.

Taberna.
Tavern.

A deliberate message to any Etruscan descendant who might wander by that this was a friendly place to congregate. Since Reading and Berks County were home to

salbinelli
,
linchetti
,
gianes
and an entire tribe of
lauru
, as well as various other
Fata
and
Enu
, there were several places like this around. It wasn’t that they weren’t open to
eteri
.

It was just that they also catered to a different crowd.

Rosie was eyeing the place as if it was Mount Everest and she had a new pair of climbing boots.

Damn, of all the places she could’ve stopped…

19

Stephanie Julian

Rosie had passed the new bar every day on her way to and from work for the past few months while it was undergoing renovations, so she’d almost forgotten the place had opened two weeks ago.

Only a block and a half from her home, Lacey’s kept a low profile. There’d been no after-hours fights, no drunken patrons relieving themselves on street corners, no thumping music that rattled the windows. More importantly for the neighborhood residents—no police visits.

Just the type of safe place for her to have a drink. Relax. Hell, maybe she’d even flirt with a guy.

She allowed herself a few brief seconds to imagine walking in and seeing Mr. Lunch Hottie sitting at the bar. She’d slide onto the stool next to him, ask to buy him a drink then proceed to seduce him.

She snorted.
Yeah, right.
She’d be lucky if she could make herself walk through the front door.
No, don’t think like that. Just do it.

Besides, any bar that included the Latin word for tavern in its sign couldn’t be a dive. Squaring her shoulders, she marched up to the porch, grabbed the door and stepped through before she managed to talk herself out of it.

The interior was smoke free and smelled of herbs, spices and hops. It was surprisingly muted. Soft lighting illuminated the small round tables to the right of the door while a long wooden bar ran the length of the wall to the left. There weren’t many people, which caused her to sigh in relief.

Of course now that she was here, she was a little worried about actually having to talk to another adult. She was great with kids—toddlers, adolescents, teens. Anyone under eighteen. Adults… Now that was a different story.

20

Seduced and Enchanted

The female bartender was a welcome sight. Taking a deep breath and trying not to look nervous, Rosie stepped up to the bar and slid onto an empty stool surrounded on both sides by other empty stools.
Coward.

“Hi there,” the woman said with a bright smile. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a glass of white wine, please.”

“Coming right up.” The brunette with the willowy body grabbed a glass and a bottle from under the bar. “I’m Lacey, by the way. Thanks for stopping in. How’d you hear about my place?”

Lacey set the glass in front of her then leaned on the bar, a smile on her face, waiting for her answer.

“I live down the street.” She took a sip of the wine. “Mm, that’s good. You’ve done a great job on this building. I know it sat vacant for years but it’s beautiful now.”

The woman’s face lit up with a smile. “Thanks so much, Ms…”

“Oh sorry. I’m Rosalia Bianchi.” She held out her hand and Lacey shook it. “But please call me Rosie.”

“Nice to meet you, Rosie. Are you meeting someone tonight? A friend? boyfriend?”

Rosie shook her head, trying not to look helplessly pathetic. “Nope. Just needed to get out of the house.”

Lacey rolled her river blue eyes. “I know just what you mean. Rosie, you and I are going to get on just fine.”

* * * * *

Rio considered the situation for a few seconds before he walked up to the building, stopping just short of the steps to the porch.

He took a careful look around to see if anyone was out and about on the street.

Nope, the coast was clear. Because if he was right then—21

Stephanie Julian

Yep. The protection spell surrounding the building jolted him back into his corporeal body. Several good wards protected the building. Strong wards.

Since he’d lived in Philadelphia for the past twelve years and was only staying with Teo temporarily, he wasn’t up on the Reading scene. With the exception of DownBelow, the secret Etruscan-only club located below a strip club on the south side of town, and the Cellar, a restaurant run by the
monacielli
, a few blocks from DownBelow, he didn’t know of any Etruscan hangouts.

He couldn’t believe his brothers hadn’t told him about this place. Then again, Teo didn’t play well with others, so he didn’t get out much. Cam, who lived just outside the city borders, and Nino, who had recently moved into the city from Philadelphia, were kept too busy by their security business to spend their nights barhopping. Add their women into the mix and his two oldest brothers had become romantic saps who only left home for work in the morning reluctantly and couldn’t wait to get back to their mates at the end of the day.

Rio smiled. Nino wouldn’t mind being called romantic but Cam would definitely be offended. His oldest brother had his reputation as a stoic badass to protect. Actually it wasn’t just a reputation. Cam
was
a stoic badass.

Shaking his head, Rio made sure his ears were covered before he opened the door and stepped into Lacey’s.

About twenty people sat in various positions around the room, probably half of those Etruscan. He picked out two
linchetti
females he knew well enough to say hi to, a
gianes
wood elf and a couple who looked like
fauni
nestled together in the back corner.

There were a few
versipelli
, probably wolves, at the end of the bar.

Working with Cam had taught him more than he’d ever wanted to know about paranoia, but he had to admit the ability to case a room in a few seconds came in handy.

Unlike in DownBelow, there were several humans here in addition to Rosie, who was sitting at the bar talking to the female bartender and smiling.

22

Seduced and Enchanted

She hadn’t turned around to see who’d come in the front door, as almost everyone else had, which gave him a chance to study her smile.

Well, maybe not study. Soak it in would be more apt. He hadn’t seen her smile more than a few times today and those smiles had been nothing like this. This one was bright, like the sun breaking through the clouds after a full day of rain, as warm as bread fresh out of the oven and… When the hell had he gotten poetic?

The bartender—his senses told him she was at least half
linchetti
—shot him a quick look then nodded. She knew what he was.

But he only had eyes for Rosie.

Rio walked up to the bar, sat down on the stool next to her and waited for her to acknowledge him—which took all of a second.

She stilled, as if realizing who sat beside her. Then she bit her lip, as if unsure what she should do. When she swallowed, she drew his gaze to her slim throat and the pulse that beat there. She drew in a deep breath and— He couldn’t help himself. His gaze dropped to her chest, still hidden under the baggy cardigan.

In a flash, his eyes shot back to her face just as she turned toward him with a smile.

Another blinding smile. His libido lit up as surely as if she’d put her hand down his pants and stroked his already hardening cock.

“Hello again,” she said. “Small world, isn’t it?”

“It surely is.” He stuck out his hand. “Hi. Valerio de Feo. Everyone calls me Rio.”

Despite the smile, she hesitated for a split second before she took his hand. “Nice to meet you, Rio. I’m Rosie.”

“Come here often?”

Her short laugh was a little bitter, a little rueful. “No. But I think I’ll be here a lot more often.”

The bartender smiled back at her, as if laughing at a private joke, then looked at Rio.

“Welcome to my place, Rio. I’m Lacey. What can I get you?”

23

Stephanie Julian

“Beer, whatever’s on draft.”

The bartender moved away to fill his order and Rosie took a sip of her wine, obviously trying to think of something to say. When Lacey set a mug in front of him then moved away, he opened his mouth to say something, anything—and shut it when he realized he didn’t want to do the flirting thing. He actually wanted to have a conversation, which required more than a little thought.

But Rosie beat him to the punch.

“So are you from around here, Rio?”

“Originally,” which was true, “but I live in Philadelphia. I’m…on vacation for the next couple of weeks, spending some time with my brother before I go back to work.”

Her eyebrows lifted politely. “What do you do?”

Damn, even her eyebrows were pretty. “I work in security. What about you, Rosie?

What do you do?”

Her smile dimmed as her gaze dropped to the bar top. “I’m the children’s librarian for the Reading Public Library.”

“That sounds…awfully noisy,” he laughed. “You must love kids.”

Her smile bounced back as she lifted her gaze to his. “I do. They’re unpretentious and funny and surprisingly undemanding. And they love a good story as much as I do.

But it doesn’t sound half as exciting as your job. Security, huh? What does that mean exactly?”

Nothing he could honestly tell her. And for some strange reason, he hated lying to her. “It’s pretty boring actually. I’m mostly doing computer work. We install security systems.”

The description wasn’t even close to what they did, but he couldn’t tell Rosie his last two jobs had been guarding the daughter of the Etruscan God of the Woods and trapping an evil
Malandante
businessman who’d been one of the county’s leading 24

Seduced and Enchanted

industrialists. That was until he’d been killed by his own niece, who now lived happily ever after with his brother Cam.

He couldn’t tell her any of that. Was he nuts? This woman wasn’t one of his own kind. He couldn’t understand the sheer irresistible force that pulled him toward her.

Rio wasn’t usually attracted to
eteri
. They just didn’t have that something special that women of the
Fata
and
Enu
, the descendants of the magical Etruscans, did.

But this woman, Rosie… There was something about her, something in the sweet smile still curving her lips. “So you don’t travel the world, guarding famous people, having shoot-outs and wearing little earpieces?”

Her question made him laugh. “I’ve never worn an earpiece in my life.” It wouldn’t fit unless he had it specifically made. “I’ve never been in a shoot-out.” Well, he’d never actually handled a gun. “And I definitely haven’t been a bodyguard to anyone famous.

I’m into IT. My older brothers usually handle those cases.” Because they didn’t trust him not to get hurt. It definitely sucked being the youngest.

Her head tilted again as if he’d said something interesting. “How many brothers do you have?”

“Three.” He grinned, shaking his head. “I’m the youngest and they never let me forget it.”

Rosie nodded but her expression was bittersweet. “I’m an only child. I don’t remember much about my parents. They died when I was a baby and my godmothers raised me after that.” Her beautiful mouth curved again. “Bet you boys all kept your mom busy. Must have been great to have all those brothers.”

“Believe me, having three older brothers is much less fun than you think.” In his case, it was almost like having five parents, considering his oldest brother was more than ninety years older than he was.

“So how old are you, Rio?” Rosie asked hesitantly then added, “I’m twenty-seven.”

Her tone made him laugh. He could tell she was worried about her age, about how much older than him she might be.

25

Stephanie Julian

“I’m older than I look, Rosie. Older than you. It’s a family trait. All my brothers looked really young at my age.” No lie there. When she still looked incredulous, he offered, “Wanna see my ID?” He winked as he dug his wallet out and flipped it open.

Rosie had a quick glance, her brows lifting in disbelief, then blushed.

Time to change the subject. “So do you live in the city, Rosie, or just work here?”

She slowly sipped her wine before nodding, leaving a wet sheen on her lips. The urge to lick it off made Rio’s body harden. “I live just up the street. Have all my life.”

“I’m staying with my next oldest brother Teodoro while I’m in Reading. He’s a writer.”

Her eyes lit up, as he’d expected they would. What librarian wouldn’t love a writer? “Really? What does he write?”