H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (76 page)

When I got back to the house, Lena was
swimming in the pool, alone. I went into the backyard and watched
her as she swam. She looked cute in her white, two-piece bathing
suit. “Hey, baby-girl,” I said, walking up to the pool. Lena had
stopped swimming and moved her way to the shallow end.

“I was getting a workout in,” she said,
sliding to the side of the pool.

“I never knew you were one to work out.”

“I don’t work out all manic like you, but I
do some things here and there.”

“Well, you look great,” I said, giving her a
sincere smile.

“Why don’t you come in the water with
me?”

“I don’t have swimming shorts.”

“You must have a pair of shorts
somewhere.”

“Just basketball shorts.”

“Go put those on. You don’t need swimming
trunks.”

I looked at Lena in the pool and she seemed
to be relaxing and enjoying herself. So I figured, why not? “Okay,
I’ll get in. Hold on.” I ran upstairs and changed out of my clothes
and put on a pair of red basketball shorts and grabbed a towel. I
came down the stairs and everyone was watching a movie in the
living room.

“Josiah is going swimming,” Yari laughed.
“That boy must be whipped.”

“Yeah, don’t you wish,” I said, back to
her.

“A whipped Josiah is a happy Josiah,” she
grinned.

“Yeah, bro,” Cyrus said. “You were pretty
depressed there for a while.” Cyrus was sitting in a recliner and
Yari was on his lap. The others were all sitting on the other two
couches watching the movie.

“I wasn’t depressed,” I said, to Cyrus. “I
was just being introspective.”

“No, you were a lost puppy, Josiah,” Hector
chimed in. He was on the couch closest to the kitchen with his arm
around his girlfriend.

“I liked you better, Hector, when you didn’t
talk. So, is everyone going to bust my balls?”

“If we didn’t bust your balls,” Yari said.
“You wouldn’t know how much we all love you.”

I smiled. I never thought about the word
‘love’ when it came to all of us. I thought about words like trust,
honor, and loyalty. Never ‘love.’ But, in the end, we all did love
each other.

“I love all you guys, too,” I said, then
walked into the backyard. It felt good saying it to a room full of
people who have proven to have my back. In my entire life, I’ve
only had one person that was always by my side, and that was Tommy.
These guys have proven a lot to me in such a short amount of
time.

I walked out and Lena was wading in the
shallow end. “Is the water cold?” I asked.

“No, it’s heated.”

“It is?”

“You’ve never been in the pool before?”

“Nope, first time.”

“Oh, Josiah. You really need to start having
a little bit more fun.”

“I guess I can start right now.” I dove into
the deep end. Wow, the water was warm. I swam underneath the water
all the way up to Lena and grabbed her and she squealed.

I pressed her up against the side wall of
the pool. I turned her body around and held her tight as if I was
going to do a wrestling move on her.

“Don’t be rough,” she said.

“Rough? This is me being romantic,” I said,
as I softly leaned into her.

“Aren’t I the lucky girl?” she said,
teasingly.

I turned Lena around and loosened my grip
around her waist. “Well, aren’t you?”

Lena looked me in the eyes. “I’m very lucky,
Josiah.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, sometimes it’s hard for me to
trust what’s going on here.”

“Why is that?”

“It just is. You can’t blame me for having
doubts.”

Lena looked up at me and I could tell she
was hurt. “Haven’t I proven myself?” she asked.

“Proven yourself?” I didn’t like that choice
of words at all. “What does that mean?” I asked. “To say you’ve
proven yourself? Are you trying to earn a promotion at a job or are
you someone who wants to be my girlfriend?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. Josiah, I have
given you 150 percent of my heart, time and love. I would hope at
some point that you realize that I can’t change the past. I can
only be here in the present and hopefully that will prove our
future.”

I looked at Lena and felt bad that I made
her defend her words, but I couldn’t help but be a tad insecure
when it came to us. I hated feeling that way, but I have never
cared for anyone as deeply as I did her. It made me a little crazy.
“I know you love me,” I said. “Sometimes I just get a little
scared.”

“Scared?” Lena asked. “What are you scared
of?”

I looked away from the pool to gather my
thoughts. I knew if I opened up in this way, it would lead to a
kind of vulnerability that I wasn’t sure I was ready to show.

Lena repeated her question, “What are you
afraid of, Josiah?”

I sighed deeply and I knew if I exposed
what’s truly in my heart, it could be catastrophic in the long run
if it backfired. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to put myself out
there, even to her. I figured she needed to know what was stirring
up inside me. So I said, “Sometimes I think that the reason you’re
here with me is because I’m ‘The Chosen.’ I feel like you’re afraid
of being ostracized by others if you reject me or, worse yet,
cursed by the Triat.”

Lena smiled at me and just shook her head
and said, “Let me ask you a question. When have you ever seen me do
anything that I didn’t want to do?”

I thought about it and she was right. She
always did what she wants. “Never,” I said.

“Think about it, Josiah. I stubbornly was
going to allow Atticai to drain all my human blood because I was
sure I’d live forever with him. Do you think for one second if I
wanted Tommy or anyone else over you I’d be here right now? Do you
think I would give a shit about being ostracized or cursed? Josiah,
you are the most beautiful person inside and out that I have ever
known. I choose you, Josiah. I choose this moment. I choose to be
in the pool and to love you till the end of my days. The Tommy’s,
Yari’s, Atticai’s, were all stumbling blocks for us to get to where
we are tonight, for us to have this moment we’re having right
now.”

That was exactly what I needed to hear. I
was afraid of exposing my heart, but Lena flipped it and exposed
her innermost feelings. I stared across the pool at Lena and wanted
her in a manner that I hadn’t quite ever felt. I wanted to consume
her with every inch of me. “Why don’t we go upstairs?” I said,
taking her hand.

“Good idea,” she said. Then the two of us
dried off and went to my room and shared a closeness that was
pretty out of this world, to say the least.

Chapter Seventeen

That weekend, I headed down to Tijuana. I
wasn’t planning on staying long. I wanted to see Tommy fight a
match and I also needed to have a serious talk with Romero.

I made an excuse to Lena about where I was
going. I didn’t like lying to her, but in this case, it didn’t
serve her any good to know what I was up to.

I told her I was going out for some air. I
wasn’t necessarily lying. I made my way down to Romero’s fight
ranch. I transitioned into the great white eagle mid-flight. When I
reached Romero’s compound, I decided to land past the security and
transitioned back to my Mani form. I was pretty discreet as I
landed and I wanted to see if I could sneak in past his security
and I did pretty easily. I guess a million-dollar security detail
doesn’t account for a freaking eagle. The problem with sneaking
past the first set of guards was no one knew I had shown up. I
decided to go to the front and request a sit down with Romero.

I walked out to a couple of his security
detail. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’m here to see Romero.”

“Who the hell are you?” the security guard
asked, in a very thick accent. He looked at me, frowning and very
perplexed at how I had obviously gotten past their checkpoint
without being stopped. I looked at the little shit in his full army
gear. He looked like he had just gotten dropped into the jungle of
Vietnam by a freaking helicopter.

“Tell him that Josiah Reign is here to see
him,” I said, calmly.

Another security guy walked over to us and
scolded the man in Spanish who had originally addressed me. He
obviously knew who I was and was making sure this guy would show me
a little more respect. Whatever he said to him put the little shit
in his place, because he changed his tune real fast.

“Hold on,” the original guard said, to me.
He radioed in to the front and spoke Spanish into his
walkie-talkie. After a moment the guard said, “Follow me.” He led
me through the back entrance Romero had brought me through weeks
earlier. I looked up into the sky and the moon was as full as it
was ever was going to be. I wondered if Tommy had the night off
because the other wolves would be available.

I was led back up into Romero’s private
suite. As I entered the room, Romero was sitting at a table in a
very slick gray suit. He looked like a hit man. His hair was
slicked back and he was smoking a cigar. Damn, he could look
intimidating when he wanted to. “Josiah! Have you come to see your
friend?”

“Actually … yeah,” I answered.

“I hope you’re not upset that I had him work
for me.” Romero tried to sound like he cared about what I thought,
but I knew better.

“He’s a big boy and he has big boy problems.
Sometimes we all need to be reminded that there are consequences to
all of our actions.”

“Well said.” Romero gave me a long stare to
see if I truly meant what I told him. After a moment, he smiled and
said, “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” It almost appeared that
Romero was disappointed that I wasn’t pissed off. “So, what can I
do you for, Josiah?”

“Well,” I said. “I want to talk to you about
the deal you gave Tommy.”

“Oh, you came here to talk business? I do
wish you would have called ahead. The only business I like to do in
this room is signing new talent.”

“Who knows?” I said, “Maybe that might be on
the table.”

Romero’s eyes brightened. “Now you have my
attention.” Romero cleared the room with a shrieking whistle from
his lips. “Wanna drink?” he asked.

“Not tonight. I’m driving.”

“Seriously?”

“Not unless you call my twelve-foot wing
span gliding across the sky driving. Plus the last time you got me
intoxicated, I offered up some pretty private info.”

“It was lucky that you did. Once I realized
who your friend was, it was the only thing that saved his life. And
luckily, for him and me, you did let me know. He’s my biggest
attraction. He’s the new fan favorite around this place. He has
changed the face of the crowd. A lot more women have been showing
up.”

“That’s Tommy for you,” I said. “The kid has
more sex appeal in his pinky that most men have in a lifetime.”

Romero looked at me and smiled. “You’re
telling me! Also, this used to be a three days out of the month
operation. Now we do this every Thursday through Sunday.”

“And that’s why I’m here. I need to talk to
you about your new product which happens to be a dear friend of
mine.”

“You want to renegotiate on behalf of your
friend?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly are we negotiating here?”

“Money, what else?”

“Money?” Romero’s eyes were glaring through
me. “I’m sorry, Josiah. I think we’re done here!”

“Done? We haven’t even started talking.”

“Let me guess where this is going,” Romero
said to me. “You want me to raise his per-fight fee to at least
double of what it is. Then you want him to have some kind of ‘super
fight’ where he can make at least $100,000 a fight.”

Romero did know business because that was
the exact direction I was going in. “I was thinking more like a
quarter of a million for the ‘super fight,’” I said, correcting
Romero.

I could see that such a bold statement
didn’t sit well with Romero. He wasn’t used to dealing with someone
like me who wasn’t the least bit intimidated by him. “Do you know
who you’re talking to, young man?” Romero stood up.

I was surprised at his tone. I came here to
have a mellow conversation, not be bullied by a billionaire. So, I
stood up, too. “No, the question is, do you have any fucking idea
who you are talking to?” I stated, as clearly as I could. “I’m
sorry, I think you have mistaken me for someone who gives a shit
about what you’re worth.” Now I was pissed.

Suddenly, the door flew open. Romero raised
his hand at his bodyguards to stop them before getting to me. I
backed up and cleared a table out of the way. If they wanted to
come for me, by all means they could write their own death
sentences.

“Calm down, Josiah. I’m not going to let
them get to you,” Romero said to me.

“I’m supposed to be impressed that you
stopped your thugs from coming at me?” I said. “The only lives you
saved were theirs.”

“You’re pretty damn confident aren’t you,
Josiah?”

“It’s not confidence; It’s fact. The fact of
the matter is, I’m being cordial with you and I don’t have to be.
If I wanted to, I could take Tommy out of here at any point and
there is very little you could do to stop me.”

Romero smiled at me. “You truly believe,
even if I called on all my soldiers, you would still walk out of
here alive?”

“I do,” I said, as sure as I ever said
anything in my life.

Romero seemed shocked. Then he switched
gears abruptly and mellowed out. “That is great.” Romero sat down.
“Please sit, Josiah. Let’s continue this discussion in a more civil
manner.”

“It would be more civil if we were alone,” I
said, referring to his room full of guards who had their hands on
their automatic weapons, just itching to pull them out and use them
on me.

Romero snapped his fingers and his body
guards all once again left the suite.