Colin and Deidra had only been gone twenty minutes when the catering service arrived with food. This improved everyone's mood significantly, and the scene felt almost friendly. Throughout dinner, Vincent's phone chimed, and each time he made a point to respond to it. Amelia seemed to notice this as well, and when everyone had eaten their fill, she joined us in the kitchen to help with clean-up. Before conversation even started, Vincent's phone chimed again.
"Whoever is texting you is seriously needy," Amelia said.
Vincent nodded. "I agree with you. It's Colin. He and Deidra went to dinner and now they're at a bar with Adam and Rafael."
"Why didn't they just eat here with the rest of us?" Amelia said. "Were they too horny to wait?"
"Actually, Colin insisted they eat together and go dancing before they took things to the bedroom. He's been keeping me updated on her antics. Apparently, she's talking smack about Reese, and Colin wanted me to be aware of it."
"What kind of smack?" I said, stopping in the middle of loading the dishwasher.
"Hybrid bashing and playing the 'I know a big secret' card. Colin is staying neutral to see how far she'll go." Vincent's phone chimed again and he looked at the screen. "Hmm."
"Hmm, what?" I asked as Amelia and I moved in to get a closer look.
Vincent recited Colin's message. "Deidra is planning to issue Reese a challenge."
"A challenge? As in a battle until blood is spilled?" I said, feeling the initial signs of blood loss.
"Yes."
"No F-ing way. Deidra is a born fighter, and I most certainly am not. I may be able to ward off demon boyfriends, but a jealous female is lethal, no matter what species."
"And you would be one of the jealous females, Reese," Amelia offered with an encouraging clap on the arm. "You'd be protecting your investment. I know it's not done much with humans these days, but duels are traditional among gollums."
I stared at both of them, waiting for Vincent to stop texting and look at me. "I just boarded this ship. I'm not ready to adopt every gollum tradition. Besides, I don't have to prove anything to keep my man." I wrapped my arm around Vincent and he hugged me back, but his eyes had flicked to Amelia. "What? Please, don't tell me I have to accept her challenge?"
"No, you don't have to accept it," Amelia said. "But a challenge is not made lightly. It is a formal event that will be documented in the historical records of both domi."
"Seriously? I've already given the Valentino name a black eye," I said, arguing my case with everything I had. "I doubt getting my ass kicked is going to help your reputation."
Vincent turned me in his arms to face me head-on. The abrupt maneuver and his intense stare had me swallowing hard. "You may not have adopted the name yet, but you are a Valentino."
"Okay, now I feel worse." I shrugged my surrender, however temporary it might be. "Fine, but I'll need a few weeks to prepare for this challenge. My diet sucks and I haven't been working out, other than sex."
Amelia grinned as she clapped my arm again, using more muscle this time. "If you can get Deidra to wait six weeks, we'll have you trained and ready. Appeal to her ego. Say you want to give her a fight she can earn."
Another chime rang through on Vincent's phone and we all huddled close to read it.
If Deidra wins, she will officially put herself on the market. Rafael is licking his chops.
Vincent typed out his response.
Let Rafael take her home tonight. I'm sure Sylvie wouldn't mind.
No can do. We already made an arrangement.
"Slut," Vincent said as he pocketed his phone.
I finished cleaning the kitchen to take my mind off the situation, but I couldn't stop picturing scenarios where I ended up bleeding on a mat, and when Wren walked Marco down the hall to get him settled in her guest room, Vincent and I escaped to our bed, enjoying a much-needed reprieve from belligerent gollums.
"Thanks for reminding Colin about Sylvie," I said. "That was thoughtful of you."
"It didn't do any good."
"But you made the effort, and Colin will face whatever consequences come from his choices."
Vincent's hand came down on mine, and he pressed it against his chest as he caught me in his cool gaze. "You don't have to accept the challenge, Reese. You know I will keep loving you no matter what choices you make."
"I know you will, but I think part of me wants to prove I'm one of you - a gollum. Of course, the other part is afraid of my gollum side. I have spent the better part of two years struggling to find normalcy. Theo died, I left Heath, and I got sober all at once. Now, here I am facing an angry bitch with claws and fangs."
"But, you have claws and fangs too. Once you embrace that fully, your confidence will soar."
"Strangely, I'm not reassured." I snuggled against him, dropping the subject and wishing my decisions weren't always so life altering, like the days of high school when ditching P.E. was the hardest choice I had to make. Maybe I should have spent more time in the gym weight room.
~ ~ ~
The sharp scent of coffee woke me, but I had a feeling morning hadn't dawned yet. Vincent's side of the bed laid vacant, so I figured it was his coffee I smelled, but he didn't seem to be brewing it alone. A female with a shrill, irritated tone had me climbing out of bed and padding quickly to the door to listen-in.
"Is no one thinking about the wrath that will come down on all of you if Manjari knew the truth?" Deidra said. "You don't want to fuck with her family."
"You're not telling me anything I don't know," Vincent returned, his voice calm but fearless, and I pictured him in his CEO pose, maybe with his hands pressed on the counter as he leaned over it to skewer her with his eyes. "Are you seriously threatening to reveal Marco because of your own petty jealousy?"
"This is not about jealousy. It's about fair play. Just as males are bound by tradition, so are females."
"If you're talking about the challenge you intend to make to Reese, that tradition lost favor with the magisters when female numbers began dropping. It's not a battle if only one can meet the challenge fairly. And Deidra, I can't stress this enough, it would not matter who won, I would still choose Reese."
Deidra snorted. "What if Reese was dead."
I startled when a hand smacked the counter hard. "If you ever attempt anything so vile, I will make your meager life a living hell."
His words silenced her, and the next sound came in the form of a slamming door followed by Bonnie and Clyde's nails on the foyer tile. Casually, I walked out of the bedroom and found Vincent in the exact position I'd imagined him, slouched over the counter, squeezing the life out of it.
He looked up at me when I entered. "Oh, good. You heard."
"At least the last two minutes."
"You didn't miss anything. She came here to make a final bid for my favor and it didn't work. Now, we wait to see how she retaliates."
"Do you think she will?"
"Most likely. She has lived in the shadow of two brothers and a male cousin. She is used to fighting to get what she wants. She was also pissed because Colin left her in bed at three AM to be with Sylvie."
"Good for Colin. What about Marco? Where is he?"
"I'm not sure, but I figure he'll be here shortly to say goodbye."
As soon as Vincent got my mug filled with coffee, Marco came by the apartment without his nasty niece, and we exchanged reasonably pleasant goodbyes, although my gut still told me to be wary. Blood relations didn't always guarantee allegiance. Deidra had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
When the Bourdains left the building, Vincent used the downtime to escape to his office, and I got a call from Mr. Pearlman at the hospital. He told me his condition had actually improved, which seemed to surprise him, and his doctor wanted to talk to me about in-home therapy. I promised to visit soon, then I filled him in on Marco, since meeting your birth father is a pretty big deal, and I also told him I wasn't too sure about Marco's deal. This was where he shared a Mr. Pearlman-ism, the one about knowing when to listen to family, and when to tell them to shove off.
Shortly after I emptied my mug, I took advantage of the quiet to call Sylvie. I'd been wondering if Colin managed to soothe her damaged heart. With phone in hand, I grabbed the blanket off the couch, apologizing to Clyde for disturbing his resting spot and explaining that I needed to keep warm on the balcony. He forgave me and followed me outside where the sky had just begun to pale. Keeping a safe distance from the wall, I sat on the chaise, and Clyde reclaimed his spot on my lap, carefully arranging himself so his nails wouldn't get caught in the blanket.
I scrolled to Sylvie's number, debating on whether to call this early, and my phone rang in my hand, making both me and Clyde jump. I sighed when I read Christoph's name on the screen. Was this a friendly reminder that my demon family still had their eyes on me?
"Hi, Christoph. How are you?"
"Hi, Reese. Can't complain. You got a minute to talk?"
I automatically glanced through the sliding glass door, knowing Vincent wouldn't be there, but I did find Bonnie with her nose to the glass, begging to be let outside. I unseated Clyde once more to let his mate onto the balcony.
"Sure, Christoph. What's up?"
"Josh and I had an impromptu meeting with your friend. The guy who gave you that business card."
Yikes.
"His name is CW, or the chinless wonder, as I like to call him. What happened during this meeting, or was it more like a battle?"
"Well, it started out friendly enough, but he wouldn't participate in the conversation, so we had to use physical coercion to get the information we were after."
My heart rate sped up as I sat back down, pulling Clyde onto my lap. "What information were you after? Can you tell me?"
"A friend of ours overheard CW talking at a bar. Something about a secret door under a church. Apparently, CW and his friends are very interested in it. After some persuasion, he finally gave us the location of the church."
Shit.
"Oh? Which church is it?"
"I think you know the answer to that, Reese."
I let the silence grow, staring into Clyde's innocent blue eyes and wishing I could trade places with him for a while. By the time I heard Christoph's sigh on the other end, it was too late to cover my ass.
"I wish I could see your face," he said. "Then I might have a clue what you're thinking."
"It's not that interesting, really. So, you and Josh chose violence over asking me about it first?"
Silence fell again, only this time it was all on Christoph.
"How is it you can make me feel guilty for being myself," he said finally.
"I'm sorry, Christoph. I'm in a no win situation, here. Serving two opposing camps like a traitor."
"I know this must suck for you, Reese, but it sucks for me too when I can't confirm the source of my information. Can you at least tell me whether this guy took a beating for good reason?"
"Yes, it's true, but Vincent still hasn't told his family. We don't even know how to keep the door open."
"What do you mean?"
"My touch opens it, but as soon as I remove my hand, it closes again, so I'm not able to enter the hidden room or whatever is down there."
"Oh. Cecile didn't give you instructions about that?"
"No. Vincent thinks she has an ulterior motive for leaving me in the dark."
"Of course, he does. How long are you going to keep this a secret?"
"I don't know. Some other stuff came up that pushed it off to the side. Domus stuff."
"Are you talking about the gollum and the hot chick who visited yesterday? Who were they?"
"That was my birth father and my cousin."
"Holy crap. Was he just finding out about you?"
"Yes, and my cousin wants Vincent for herself."
"Oh? That adds a twist to the drama."
"I hate drama, and I hate my cousin. She plans to challenge me to a battle over Vincent."
"Really? Are you going to accept?"
"I don't want to, but there's this domus pride thing..."
"Don't do it, Reese. You know Vincent won't care whether you win or lose. There's no sense risking your life to appease a female who can't admit when she's been beat."
I snorted. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. I need the battle training, anyway. Vincent is going to lose his shit when he finds out I told you about the hidden door."
"What will he do? He won't hurt you, will he?"
"Of course, not. He's just not going to be happy about it."
Vincent walked onto the balcony and I startled, upending Clyde from my lap.
"What won't I be happy about?" he said as he eyed my phone curiously.
"I need to go, Christoph. I'll talk to you later."
I hung up the phone and Vincent's gaze turned a little grayer. I went ahead and explained before I lost my nerve. "Christoph called to tell me something important. Something you're not going to like."
With a tired huff, Vincent pulled out a chair from the patio table and sat heavily into it, causing the metal legs to groan. "Okay. Hit me."
When I realized Vincent still looked taller than me, I stood and used the space in front of him to pace, going for a direct approach to get it over quick. "Word got leaked to Christoph about the secret door at Trinity Church."
"What? How?" Vincent grabbed the arms of the chair, pressing down on them as if preparing to leap up. Instead, he just stared at me, waiting.
"CW. He folded under demon pressure."
"Christ! Can't anyone keep their mouths shut around here? Now, we have to tell the domus, and the sooner the better. If they found out we knew..." He finally followed through and pushed up from his chair, stalking to the balcony wall as he shook his head. "I can chalk this one up to another bad decision I made to protect you."
Damn. My fault again. "I'm sorry. I know your life would be a lot less chaotic without me."
Vincent wasted no time crossing the floor and catching me up in a ferocious kiss. His passion rolled over me like the waters of a dam bursting, engulfing me in taste and smell and touch until my knees gave out and I slouched over his arm. When he pulled away from my lips, his eyes shone brighter than the horizon. "I would dodge lethal arrows every day to be with you. Please, do not ever doubt my devotion. It is stronger than a tsunami and surer than the dawn."
Woah.
"Are you trying to get me out of my pants?" I said with a cheeky grin.
"No. I'm trying to get into them." He slipped his hands down the front of my sweatpants, breaching the waistband of my panties.
"How am I supposed to function with you constantly seducing me?"
"You don't have to give in. You can tell me to stop any time." Vincent ran his tongue along the shell of my ear, igniting a full body shiver. "Will you let me take you here on the balcony?"
Yikes.
While the balcony remained in relative privacy from our apartment neighbors, we were surrounded by buildings, giving a free show to anyone with a windowed office, or a demon staked out on a nearby rooftop.
"Even at fifty-eight stories above the street, I'm sure someone would see us," I said.
"Would that bother you?" He smirked and I read the challenge behind it.
"What did you have in mind, oh wicked one?"
"Fast and hard against the patio table."
Fast, huh? Vincent's deep exhale warmed my head as he held me close, and he worked a finger inside the lining of my panties, tracing my already slick entrance. Oh, yeah. That's nice.
"Okay."
As soon as Vincent received my breathy consent, he sprang into action, backing me up as he yanked off my sweatpants. I stepped out of them, trying to maintain my balance as he swiftly spun me around and bent me over the table. I reached for either side of the heavy gauge iron, listening to the sound of Vincent's zipper and feeling his thickness against my sex with almost no delay.
He entered me in one powerful thrust, and I cried out at the fierceness of his possession. This was Vincent under duress and losing control. I felt it in the way he grabbed my hips to hold me still and how his breaths sounded feral as he drilled me from behind.
"C'mon, baby. I need to feel your release," he rasped.
"Don't worry about me. This is your rodeo, cowboy."
"Don't you want to come?"
"I don't have to come every time."
Vincent's pace slowed, and he rested his chin on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong, Vincent. Fucking you is my favorite thing to do. It doesn't matter if one or both of us doesn't finish."
"Do you have to use the word 'fuck'? It makes the act sound cheap."
"Well, you are pounding me pretty good over a patio table. It feels like fucking to me."
He stilled inside me, and I felt his chest rise and fall on my back. "You're right. I got carried away. It was a knee-jerk reaction to... I'm a possessive asshole."
"No, you're not. You're in love, and love makes us do crazy things sometimes."
"I'm so crazy in love with you that I act like an asshole. And the worst part is, I don't know if I'll be able to stop. I'm sorry, Reese."
"Apology accepted. Now, take me inside and fuck me properly over the dining room table."
"So, not a fan of lewd acts in a semi-public place? I'll make a note of it." Vincent said this as he carefully slipped out of me and pulled up his pants.
"I just flashed my naked ass at anyone who might be watching from their cubicle window," I said. "I'm not that opposed."
I grabbed my pants and his hand and hauled them both into the apartment before my cheeks could burn any redder.