Needed: A BBW Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance (6 page)

T
he facility was actually
an old mansion turned rehabilitation center. It was amazing. The rooms varied from an almost hospital feel for those who still needed monitors and such to the homey feel of your own bedroom and everything in between. The people who led us through answered every single one of my questions and didn’t even treat me like a stupid kid like the place at she was currently.

They actually already had requested and received files from her current placement and, even though I’m sure there had to be a bazillion laws broken to make that happen, I was happy. Happy they took time and happy they already had a proposed plan for me to discuss with them. I had a strong feeling it wasn’t actually the home that had broken any laws, by the way. Jameson quickly changed the subject every time I broached the topic of the files.

The files actually pissed me off more than anything. The anecdotal notes from the staff made it clear that they believed she had zero hope of functioning with any independence whatsoever. I might not have seen her nearly as often as I wanted because of working two full-time jobs, but even in the limited time I got with her over the past year, I saw some progress. Progress they completely disregarded.

Thankfully her new
home
, for it was a home and not a glorified hospital, agreed with me based on some recent testing. They assured me that even though she would never fully recover from her brain injury, they would help her live the best life she could, and that included goals like a job and an apartment. Yes, they thought she would someday in the not too distant future live in one of their onsite assisted living apartments. The tears flowed freely when they showed me all they could offer her.

I didn’t think twice about completing all of the paperwork and starting the process. The only detail that still needed to be worked out when we left the facility was the actual date of transfer. It was all too surreal. My sister would finally be getting the life she deserved. Well, the best life she could have post incident, and that would have to do.

As we walked back to the car I turned to view the campus once more. This was going to be Mary’s home. I was pretty confident I had a smile plastered on my face a few miles wide. Yes, it had all of the medical and therapeutic necessities, but looking at it from this angle, it was just a glorious old mansion with gardens in full bloom.

“You seem to approve.” Jameson enveloped me in a hug from behind as I etched the campus into my memory, focusing on the details I thought would intrigue Mary the most: the colors of the flowers, the birdbaths, and a small fountain.

“It is so much more than I could have hoped for.” I rotated in his arms so I was facing him and snuggled in close. “I wasn’t sure if you were being…exaggerating…”

“Lying about the money part,” he voiced what I had been trying to avoid saying.

“Yeah that,” I mumbled, all of a sudden very ashamed at myself. “Not a mean lie, but possibly an exaggeration?”

“No, love. No exaggeration. This place has had a piece of my heart for decades and now it will hold even more.” The sincerity of his words made my eyes tear up once again. It seemed to be that kind of day.

“Thank you,” I mumbled into his chest, my voice cracking as the emotion nearly overcame me. This was real. Mary was going to get the best possible treatment.

“There’s no need to thank me. Even if we weren’t bond mates, I would want this for you.” He rubbed small circles on my back as I looked up to his face. “For anyone who was willing to make the sacrifices you made for someone they loved.”

He was so unlike the vision I’d had of vampires before this week. Yes, he had the mass sums of money and fancy car that had become the stereotype, but that seemed to be where it ended. He was using his time to give back. Even if this place represented one hundred percent of his charity work, it was mind boggling, and I highly doubted he stopped there. His heart, while no longer beating, was too large for that.

“Come, let’s get your things.” His had grabbed mine.

The trip back was so much quicker than the trip out and, miraculously, we found a place to park on the street very close to Arabella’s apartment.

I reached up, knocking on the door before using the key. True, I was told to make myself at home, but that didn’t mean I needed to be rude. As I put the key in the lock, it stopped half way. I turned it around again, hoping I had been doing it backward, but that way it didn’t even pretend to go in.

“Here, let me try.” I

handed the key to Jameson who had the same luck I did.

“Call Arabella.” His voice was commanding and I didn’t ask any of the questions forming in my mind. Heck, I wasn’t even sure what to say when she answered. Not that I had to worry about it. It went straight to voicemail.

Before I could even hand up, Jameson used his shoulder to break down the door. It wasn’t like in the movies where the hero had to slam into it multiple times to get it to budge. Oh no, he barely moved back to get momentum and one hit of his shoulder popped the door open and I jumped back into someone, someone I hadn’t even known was there.

I let out a yelp before Jameson was in front of me, relief on his face. I left into his arms, unsure of who was behind me, but knowing they were safe. It was all happening too quickly.

“Bob.” Jameson held me tightly as he greeted the man behind me. My fear began to dissipate. Bob was fine. “I dreaded the worst when we discovered your lock was tampered with.”

“That explains the busted door?”

“It does.” The door open, the apartment dark before us. “Please stay here with Angel as I check out the apartment...”

He was gone and back faster than I thought possible.

“They never got in.” Jameson pulled me to him, a place I longed to be. “Thoughts?” He tilted his head to Bob.

“None. Let’s go in and talk.”

We followed Bob in, the door only staying closed because of the chair he moved in front of it. It was weird being here with Bob since things were so different than last time. Not just him, either. I was different. I might be in the same dress as the night before, but I was no longer the desperate girl. My sister was going to be fine. Better than fine. She was going to be amazing. I still needed to figure out a lot of things, but the most important of them was looking like it was working out, allowing me to actual focus on, dare I say, me?

I remained silent as the two men discussed the situation. In the end, Bob seemed to draw the conclusion it was probably just a random break-in attempt. Not that it was good enough for Jameson, who called the management team for the building asking them to deliver the security footage.

“Bob, I was hoping you had my bag I could grab a change of clothes out of,” I piped in as the conversation lulled. I got the impression that the two men wanted to speak more freely and my presence was inhibiting them and a change of clothing would be nice. Jameson had refreshed my clothes while I was in the bath, but it wasn’t the same.

“Oh, Angel, there is no way you are leaving here dressed in any of those. Go into the bathroom and take a shower and I’ll have the other outfit from yesterday laid out for you when you get out. Take your time.” I knew this was code for them wanting to talk in private and decided not to argue that I didn’t actually need a shower.

Jameson nodded at the idea and I scampered off for a quick shower. Jameson had scoured the apartment before I stepped one foot in, yet I still found myself looking under the bed on my way into the bathroom. The shower was just as luxurious as yesterday and I forced myself not to hurry. Bob probably wanted to tell Jameson things that were private and I wanted to give him the time.

I slipped into the blouse and red skirt left for me on the bed, my hair still damp. I just didn’t feel right going into the drawers looking for the hairdryer, and if I had a hair tie I would have had my hair up in a loose bun so quickly it would make your head spin. I made sure to make extra noise as I exited the room so they could stop discussing anything not for my ears. Surprisingly they just kept talking, Jameson patting the seat beside him, not taking his attention from Bob.

“So, that means what I think it means?” Bob looked to me as he spoke, but I knew the question was actually for Jameson.

“It does. How did you know?” Jameson immediately placed his hand on my knee as I sat, still not giving me a glance.

“Because I see things I should not, you know this.”

If Jameson hadn’t acknowledged me with his touch, I would have felt like I was completely interrupting and tried to leave. As it was, I decided just to sit and listen and hope that they wanted me to hear.

“I knew you saw glimpses of the future, yes.” All the questions flooded my brain as Jameson spoke. Was Bob a psychic, a warlock, something else altogether? “
This
... This seems like more.”

“Potato potahto, my friend.” Bob shrugged it off as if it was no big deal, but no one in the room was fooled. Seeing the future was huge. “Just know it’s true and she’s yours. I knew the moment I saw her.”

Holy freaking cow!

“Getting run over in a bus station by an asshat told you he would like me?” It wasn’t a memory I relished but if this was about me, I had to know.

“Oh sweetie, I had no idea if he would like you, I just knew you were his.”

Jameson’s hand left my knee and wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me close. He was probably assuring me he liked me since Bob seemed to think being fated and liking each other was not at all the same thing.

“And I was watching you before you were run over. I just wish I had seen his sorry ass coming.”

“Watching me?” I stiffened up. That wasn’t at all what I had expected to hear and it gave me the geebies.

“Yes, you and Jameson share the same hue aura, I guess you could call it, so you caught my eye as soon as you stepped off that wannabe bus.”

“This is news to me,” Jameson interrupted and I couldn’t tell if it was out of true curiosity or because he felt the tension building in me. It wasn’t even that I was scared or freaked out, it just made the reality of all of this more real and I still couldn’t wrap my head around that. “Your gift, I mean.”

“It’s why I needed you in the first place. Someone figured it out.” His voice lowered and found myself straining to hear the words.

“Brent.” The anger filling the room as he said the name left me no doubt that Brent was the “very bad man” Jameson had saved Bob from.

“Brent.”

“I never knew his intent was more than financial.”

“It wasn’t at first. But when he realized I could see more than glimpses of the future, he became obsessed.” Bob redirected his focus to me. “I used to not hide things as well as I do now.” As if I needed to know. Was he afraid I thought he would make me less than safe? His facial expression was schooled, so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Wait, slow it all down. I’m so lost. Are you saying you can see Jameson and I look different to you than other people do because we were meant to be bond mates?” Rationally, I knew there was so much more sitting out there that needed to be discussed, but the idea that people looked different to Bob had my mind stuck and I knew it was probably one of the easier things to settle in my mind so I started there. That way I could check it off my imaginary list.

“Not really different, but that is as good an explanation as any.” Or not check it off the list as the case may be.

We sat in silence as everyone, especially me, tried to wrap themselves around what we had just discussed. Bob was so much more than a hot man and sometime gorgeous performer. He was a psychic of some kind and could see a perfect match, at least one between a human and a vampire. That would make him very valuable in the wrong hands. Hands he had been in at some point, sadly enough.

“Wait, is that who you think tried to break in here?” I had taken the initial assessment of the broken lock at face value, but with this added information I pondered out loud if it were a mistake to dismiss his past.

“It couldn’t have been him. He’s dead.”

Jameson had killed him. I knew that not only from the fact that he had saved Bob, but also because the way he said dead. Did he worry that I would be upset because that man needed to die from all accounts?

“Ohhhh.” There was no use discussing that part of his past. It so clearly made both men uncomfortable, and if he was no longer a threat, enough said.

“Enough about this. You look lovely, love.”

“Thank you. I’m borrowing it from … Arabella.” My words got stuck in my throat. Was it Arabella I borrowed it from or Bob? Or did it even matter?

“The name thing confuses you, doesn’t it, sweetie?”

I nodded in reply. I wasn’t sure what I could even say in reply.
Sorry I don’t know who you are?
No that sounded wrong and harsh. I knew enough about who they were to know they were my friend and that was good enough in so many ways.

“How about when I’m in stage gear you call me Arabella and when I’m not, you call me Bob? Or you could simply call me friend, always.” His acceptance of my lack of social grace warmed my heart.

“Friend. I like that.”

“As do I.”

Before we could continue, phones started to buzz. Both men took them out and Jameson asked to use the computer. It seemed that the surveillance footage was sent to them via email and he wanted us to all look at it together. It blew my mind how something that happened in the hallway during the day could be recalled and sent via email. I guess I missed out on a lot of technology having my only internet time via the local library.

For the most part, the footage was boring. And by boring I mean an empty hallway. We must have fast forwarded through hours before someone finally came up to the door. Holy shit, it couldn’t be, but yet it was. What the eff was he doing here, at Bob’s?

“Bob…” My voice was shaking as we watched him try to pick the lock only to be interrupted by a neighbor coming home and scurried off.

“I know, sweetie, I know.”

“Someone better tell me what is going on.” The tension in Jameson’s voice wasn’t even close to masked.