High Stakes (27 page)

"Atelier's research is an explosive issue, Brittany. If you associate with him, you will be caught in a huge controversy if he succeeds in finding a way to reverse a turning. There has beentalk, too, that Atelier knows how to clone vampires."

"Jesus," Alexis said, her normally golden skinbleached, show-ingfreckles Ethan hadn't realized she'd had.

"If he does, he would never do it. Corbin's research is focused on what he calls the cure to vampirism."

Alexis sat heavily on the bed next to him. "Brit, why the hell didn't you marry an accountant like I told you to? This Corbin sounds a little scary."

"Oh, he's not at all,"Brittany said warmly. "He's very sweet, with the cutest little accent, and this sort of proper outrage when he thinks I'm being unladylike."

Uh-oh.That sounded like the serious beginnings of an infatuation. And they'd already been intimate, Ethan was certain. The bites proved it.

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Alexis seemed to sense it, too. She looked liked she'd been chewing on nails. Ethan rubbed her back.

She turned to him.

"So what happened to you? Did you really fall off the balcony? You don't look hurt." She sounded accusatory, like she'd prefer if he were laid up with casts and IV tubing.

Ethan cleared his throat. "I dropped something over the edge and I didn't want it to land on someone's head and kill them, so I jumped for it. I couldn't stop myself, so I hit the sidewalk with my wrists and nose. No big deal."

"Then why did Seamus call me?" She sounded exasperated, but at the same time, she massaged both his wrists, like she was comforting him and reassuring herself he was okay. Alexis cared way more than she was probably willing to admit.

That thought eradicated the last of his discomfort with the way their discussion had ended that morning.

Alexis just needed time. And he had plenty of that.

"Because I didn't want you to see it on the news.Because I was in a bit of pain and wanted to see your beautiful face to ease my suffering."

She rolled her eyes.

Brittanylaughed.

Ethan dropped a smacking kiss on her lips and held her when she tried to wriggle away. "I love you," he said.

Her cheeks turned crimson. "You're such a freak."

"Alex!"Brittany sounded horrified. "Geez, be nice." She moved over to his dresser and watched herself in the mirror so she could tie her scarf back on.

"Yeah, be nice," he murmured to Alexis, nuzzling along her neck.

She pinched his arm. "I love you, too," she said, before jumping off the bed and joiningBrittany at the mirror.

Ethan stared after her in shock. Well, hell. She'd said it.

And it had sounded bloody brilliant.

"You're late."Donatelli glanced at his watch. "By about ten hours. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you."

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Ringopulled his gun onDonatelli ."Because I'll kill you first." He was going on no sleep, and he was getting himself out of this if he had to waste the man in front of him.

Donatellimerely glanced at his gun, looking unperturbed as he sat on his ivory sofa, stroking an ugly little brown dog. It was such a fuckingcliche ,Ringo almost laughed.

"This is how we're going to play this. I shot Carrick,then sent him over his balcony. I did my job, but I won't take any money. I'm just going to walk away and you and I are both going to forget we ever met."

"Do you really think I'll agree to that?"

"You don't have a choice."

Donatellisnapped his fingers, which nearly got him shot.Ringo stopped from pulling the trigger at the last possible second. Then he regretted his self-control whenDonatelli spoke.

"Maybe your girlfriend will give me some choices back."

Sweat trickled downRingo's back, sticking to his silk shirt. "What are you talking about?"

But he already knew, because he could hear Kelsey crying from behind him. A quick glance over his shoulder showed her being held by two brawny guys, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Her eyes pleaded with him.

Shit. "Do you think you could listen to me?" he yelled at her. "I fucking told you to stay at the hotel."

"I'm sorry… I thought that I could help."

"Women are such a hassle, aren't they?"Donatelli clucked with sympathy, the bastard. "You should just hire a mistress like I do. Much lowermaintenance, and they know to stay out of your business."

"Thank you, I'll consider that in the future."Ringo stepped closer toDonatelli , marking the heart as his target, watching the other two men with his peripheral vision. "Let her go."

They did, shoving her forward toward him. Kelsey stumbled in her heels and fell to the ground five feet behindRingo . The ping, ping sound and a scream had him spinning around and firing his own weapon at the bodyguard—who was already pumping Kelsey full of bullets.

Ringodropped both men with quick shots, but not before a whole round had gone into Kelsey's back and side. Blood spatter was on her dress, her arm, an arcing mist of red dusting the carpet.

Jerking at her arm, he turned her on her side and saw her eyes were open, but empty, her breathing stopped.Her body limp and very much dead.

Donatellihadn't moved on the couch, just sat with his leg crossed over a knee, stroking, stroking the rat-like dog,who let out a yip asRingo knelt beside Kelsey.

Checking for a pulse, he felt everything inside him that he'd pushed down, trampled over, hidden, and ignored burst forward. Sorrow, rage, disgust, grief all ripped out of him. He brushed a hand over Kelsey's cool cheek, closed her eyelids.

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"You didn't have to kill her," he toldDonatelli in a hard, low voice. "She had nothing to do with anything."

And she was dead because of him.

"Oh, on the contrary, she has everything to do with this. Boys, take care of Miss Kelsey, please. She's bleeding on the carpet."

Ringoturned, wondering who the hellDonatelli was talking to. What he saw made fear and disbelief crawl up his spine like an aggressive spider. The two guards he'd shot were sitting up, brushing themselves off.

"Holy shit…"

He'd put three bullets through the hearts of each of them. There was no way they could be alive. Cold panic iced his limbs and he positioned himself in front of Kelsey. They weren't going to disrespect her corpse, throw her in some Dumpster. "You're not doing a damn thing with her."

"You don't really have a say in it."

Ringofelt around for his gun. He'd set it down when he'd checked for Kelsey's pulse.

They were on him in a second andRingo kicked, punched, clawed, but they pinned his arms behind him.

The big one with dark hair, who smelled like mothballs, coveredRingo , blocking out the light. He brought his knee up, making contact, but it didn't stop the man's descent, his body crushing outRingo's breath, his face leering and grinning as he bent over, closer and closer.

Fangs, long and violent, flashed in the man's mouth, andRingo felt pure and total terror as the creature, person, whatever the hell he was, cut off his air, light, sound. A sharp pain sliced into his neck.

Ringoheard himself moan, felt the shock, the pain, the cold as a violent tugging consumed him. He hurt everywhere, frozen in place, his body shuddering and panicking, his cells collapsing in, his teeth sinking down into his tongue. From across the room, he heardDonatelli's voice floating over to him.

"I knew you couldn't kill Carrick, you know. Not because you wouldn't try, but because you cannot kill the undead unless you cut their heads off, and I strongly suspected you would think that too messy. All I really wanted was to rattle Carrick, throw him off his game as we head into the homestretch of our campaigns. It was a psychological tactic, but I didn't expect you to get involved with Carrick's secretary."

Ringotried to open his eyes, tried to focus, but the room was spinning and exploding behind his eyelids.

He must have been injected with a drug, something that was paralyzing him, threaten-ingto send him unconscious.

"A little more, Smith."

Ringogave a silent scream in his head as his insides felt scored and raked, trussed and sliced.

"That's it. Good. Now go take care of the girl, give her your excess. I'll finish here."

Ringofell back on a soft heap as hands let go of him. Then he hit the carpet with a hard thud that jarred his skull when Kelsey's body was pulled from beneath him. He wanted to move, wanted to protest, but he was a fly caught in the spider's web, andDonatelli was playing with him.

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Warmth smothered his mouth, a sharp, tinny kind of liquid that moistened his dried, cracking lips, and lifted his tongue off the roof of his mouth.

"I appreciate your qualities. And I find it rather quaint that you thought to protect the girl—I didn't expect that of you."

Ringosucked eagerly on the source of liquid dribbling into his mouth. It tasted exotic, necessary, easing the pain and cramping in his body with each swallow. He managed to open his eyes, but was too close to the man that knelt over him—he could only see shirt fabric, flesh hovering in front of his face.

He drank with a thirst he'd never experienced before, greedy and gulping, taking it in, refilling his dehydrated body, arms and feet going warm again.

"That's it.Just a little more."Donatelli stroked his forehead.

The sensation repulsedRingo , made him suddenly realize that he was sucking on the Italian's arm… and his blood. His mind screamed for him to pull away, to get up, to run, but his mouth, his body begged for more, and he whimpered whenDonatelli pulled away.

"You shouldn't overdo it."

Ringostared up at him, confused, full, hot, yet frozen, andfol lowed the pattern of the crow's-feet trailing out fromDonatelli's eyes.Hard eyes.Obsidian black, and full of deep, ugly secrets.

"You see it, don't you? Yes, I am a vampire. Now you are one, too, and in my service."

Ringohad thought he'd seen hell inGrenada in the Marines. But when he stared intoDonatelli's empty soul, he saw it all over again tenfold.

Alexis ran a brush through her hair and frowned at her reflection. She didn't look stately. She looked like a twelve-year-old playing dress-up in her mother's evening dress. And why was it that she couldn't fill the cups up in the bodice, but the butt was straining?

"You look awesome,"Brittany said.

"I look like an episode of
What Not to Wear
.Pear-shaped woman in clingy A-line dress. Gasp."

Her sister was lolling on the bed, her shoes and jacket off. The scarf was back firmly in place, but every time Alexis looked at it, she got the heebie-jeebies. It was one thing for her to be having sex with a vampire, and getting bitten in kinky places, but her little sister?Eew with a capital
E
. File that under //smc too much information.

But she was glad to have everything out in the open between the two of them. She didn't like anything that smacked of a secret being kept from her sister.Brittany seemed to be handling the whole vamp daddy thing pretty well.

"Alex, you look fantastic. If you would just stop wishing that you were five foot ten, you would recognize that you've always had a cute figure. Not every man wants a tall, skinny waif."

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"What the hellplanet are you living on?" Alexis tucked her hair behind her ears.Thenuntucked it. "Every man wants that."

"That's not true. A lot of men like big breasts."

"Strike two." Alexis pointed to her unimpressive chest. "And I have
never
heard a single man say he doesn't care about her breasts as long as she has a big ass."

She threw down the brush. "And why do I have to wear a cocktail dress anyway? It's a debate, not a party. I should be wearing a suit." '

"Ethan said to wear a cocktail dress. And come on, this is Vegas. Any excuseto pull out the sequins works here."

"Two nights ago I was Barbara Bush, now I'm Hillary Clinton. This is starting to get scary… who's next, Betty Ford?"

Brittanylaughed, which was easy for her to do since she was a tall, skinny waif.

"So now that Ethan's off doing his preparations—and I really hope they're not putting makeup on him or something—you can tell me the real story between you and Corbin." Alexis put chandelier earrings in.

Maybe dangling earrings would elongate her stature when people looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you got all weird and skittish when we brought him up, yet you defended him like a mother tiger with her cub."

Brittanypropped her head up with her hand. "Well, you know me. I get behind a cause and I can't let it go. But I have to admit, I'm not sure how I feel about Corbin. Having sex wasvery unplanned, and afterwards it was just totally awkward. I haven't seen him since, and I'm not sure that I will. He's really reclusive."

Alexis stepped into her shoes. "I'm not even going to pretend to give you advice. I know nothing about men. Never could I have predicted that Ethan Carrick would decide he has to have me, of all women."

"At first I think he was attracted to the fact that you didn't throw yourself at him."

"No. I kneed him in the nuts the first night we met." Alexis recalled the moment fondly. "ButBrittany , you know you have the biggest heart in Vegas. I don't want to see you hurt, but if you want to be with Corbin, you know I'm here for you."

The thought of her sister hanging with a scientist who might be responsible for either eradicating vampires or multiplying their numbers tenfold didn't thrill Alexis, but she had learned you couldn't control everything.

Brittany's eyebrows rose. "Wow. You must be falling in love with Ethan if you're feeling this mellow.

Normally you despise nine out of every ten men I date, and give me a laundry list of their flaws, followed by a background check."