Tooth and Claw (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 2) (15 page)

Henry dropped me off in front of the restaurant. At least I
wouldn’t have to run the gauntlet of vampires back at Dante’s.

I was dressed in a chic little cocktail dress made of black
and gold organza embroidered in a paisley pattern. It was flirty and feminine,
the puffy skirt falling about mid-thigh. The hostess had obviously been waiting
for my arrival because she jumped to attention the moment I came through the
door.

“Miss Russo, if you will follow me? Mr. Arroyo is waiting for you upstairs.”

She showed me to the elevator and I could feel her critical gaze. Obviously I didn’t make
the cut as Salvador’s date. As the elevator doors closed I smiled smugly and wiggled my
fingers at her in a little wave.

When I stepped off the elevator on the fortieth floor - did I mention that Cirque had a
phenomenal 360 degree view of the city? - I stopped in shock. What should have been a busy restaurant bursting with the
dinner rush crowd was empty. A man in a black suit greeted me with a nod.
“Miss Russo, your party is waiting for you in the lounge.” He held out a hand
directing me which way to go.

“Thanks,” I replied, giving him a small nod. I started to
walk towards the lounge then turned back and asked, “So where is everyone?”

“It is Monday, Miss Russo. Cirque is normally closed. Mr.
Arroyo made special arrangements for your meal this evening.” He held out his
hand again. “If you will follow me?” Without waiting, he stalked out of the
lobby.

“Of course he did,” I said, more to myself than anyone else,
just as well because there was no one else there. I shook my head. Well, at
least I wasn’t going to be walking into a room full of vampires.

The maître d’ ushered me into the lounge and then
disappeared. I stood at the entrance and looked around. The place was
spectacular. Floor to ceiling windows encompassed the space, looking out over
the river and downtown, the lights of the city twinkling all around. The
tables, all empty but one, were covered in white linen table cloths, each set
with an assortment of sparkling silverware and fine crystal. Salvador sat at a
table for two closest to the windows overlooking the river. As far as I could
tell, we were actually alone.

“Harry, my dear!” Salvador rose from his seat to greet me.
“Come, come.” He gestured me forward.

I walked towards him, trying not to be self-conscious, but
it was hard because it felt like Salvador was always appraising me, which he
more than likely was.

“Good evening, Salvador,” I said, extending my hand as I
crossed the room. This was another one of his little concessions to our deal
that he insisted on after the fact, that he greet me properly, as a gentleman
greets a lady, with a chaste kiss on the hand. So far he had behaved, no
tasting. I wasn’t particularly sure how I’d stop him if he tried.

Salvador grasped the tips of my fingers with his own, bowing
slightly over my hand. I just about jumped out of my skin though when suddenly
his hand wrapped around my wrist in a punishing grip. He pulled me closer to
him, a look of feral anger in his eyes.

“You let that cur
Mark
you?” he bellowed, his hand continuing
to crush my wrist in his grip.

“Ow! Hey!” I exclaimed, trying to pull my hand from his.
“Salvador, you’re hurting me.” I tried to pry his hand off mine with my other
hand. “I don’t know what you are talking about. Let me go!”

Salvador pushed my arm away from him with a look of
disgust. I threw my hand out to the nearby table trying to maintain my
balance. He paused for a moment, as if trying to calm down before saying, “You
have had relations with the wolf, our dear Detective Nash.” The last few words
he practically spat out. He took a deep breath and then tugged at the sleeves
of his jacket and smoothed down the front of his shirt, slowly seeming to
regain his composure.

“My sex life is none of your concern,” I replied coldly,
rubbing the already forming bruise on my wrist. Relations? Seriously? Who
says that anymore?

“Sex? Sex is one thing, but you have allowed his Mark,”
Salvador growled, his usually husky voice sounding harsher. He took a step
towards me.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about. Not that it is
really any of your business.” I took a step back, crossing my arms. It was
healthy to always be a little afraid of Salvador, but now he was just freaking
me out.

Before I could suck in a gasp of surprise, I found myself
pressed up against the cold glass of the window. Salvador had my hands pulled
behind my back, my head turned so that my cheek pressed against the glass.
He didn’t press his body up against mine. Instead he just held me in
place with a hand palming the back of my head, the other pushing my hands into
the small of my back. He dipped his head close to my ear, his breath tickling
the hair on my neck.

“He has claimed you, has our wolf,” he hissed. “Where is
the Mark? I can smell it on you.” He examined my bare skin, exposed by the
keyhole cut-out at the back of my dress, while I struggled uselessly. I was no
match for his strength, even with my burgeoning powers. Finding nothing, he
frowned and pushed my hair up off my neck. I could see his penetrating gaze
reflected in the dark glass of the window as he examined what skin he could see
that wasn’t hidden by the collar of my dress. “Ahh, yes,” he rasped, obviously
finding what he had been looking for. His fingers brushed across my skin,
still tender from Nash’s bite. I shivered, but unlike when Nash had touched
it, I felt nothing but revulsion.

“It’s just a hickey for crying out loud,” I protested,
trying to free my head from Salvador’s grip.

Salvador laughed harshly. “Oh my dear Harry, it is much
more than that, so much more than a
hickey.
” He made a face as if that
word tasted unpleasant in his mouth. He pushed himself away from me and stepped
back towards the table, once again straightening his clothes. With a final tug
on one shirtsleeve, visible under his suit jacket, he sat and gestured to a
waiter I hadn’t known was there.

“I really don’t know what you are talking about, but I get
the feeling that every time you say the word marked you’re using a capital
letter.” I stepped away from the window but no closer to the table and
Salvador. I straightened my dress and wiped away a stray tear that had escaped
and was making its way down my cheek.

“Ahh, my dear. I apologize for my outburst,” Salvador
said. He looked legitimately sorry, which was a surprise. “I was not aware
that you and our dear Detective were so close.”

I snorted out a little laugh before I could stop myself. “I
don’t know if I’d say close.” I crossed my arms defensively. “It’s
complicated.”

“Yes, I’m sure it is.” Salvador gestured to the empty seat
at his table. “Please, have a seat. I promise you, I will behave.”

I looked at the empty chair and then at Salvador, my stomach
in knots. “Listen, I don’t think this is a good idea right now. You’re upset,
I’m upset. If you have any information about the
missing werewolves, just tell me.”

“
Sit
.” Salvador’s gaze burned into me even as the
power behind his word washed over me. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.

I took a deep breath and then walked stiffly to the empty chair,
sinking into it, my eyes never leaving Salvador’s. I carefully crossed my
legs, smoothing my dress out over my thighs.

As if waiting for his cue, the waiter appeared with two
old-fashioned glasses filled with an amber liquid. I grabbed one of the
glasses off the tray and tossed the drink back in one swallow. The fiery
whiskey burned all the way down.

“Smooth,” I gasped giving my chest a thump with my fist and
earning a raised eyebrow from Salvador.

“It should be. It’s twenty-one year old, single malt,” he
added wryly, taking a sip of his own.

“Great. I’ll have another,” I replied, holding my glass up
to the waiter who took it with a nod and then disappeared towards the bar.

Salvador was eying me critically again. He shifted in his
seat and if I didn’t know better I would have said he was uncomfortable. “So
you and Detective Nash, you are, as they say,
an item
?”

I snorted again. “No, we are not
an item
,” I replied, my fingers air quoting as I spoke.
“We hooked up. It’s no big deal and as I said, really none of your business.”

Salvador shifted again in his seat, his eyes narrowing.
Luckily the waiter arrived with my refill, giving us both a moment to regroup.
I took my drink, but the waiter didn’t leave.

“Sorry to interrupt, Sir,” he said with a little bow. “The
chef has prepared
un petit amuse-bouche
. Would you like me to serve it
now?”

“Yes, that is acceptable,” Salvador said with a wave of his
hand, dismissing the man. He leaned forward in his seat to look at me
intently. “You have feelings for our wolf?” he asked.

“Yes. No…I...it’s complicated.” I frowned. Why did he care
about my love life? Salvador raised his eyebrows giving me a skeptical look.
“Okay, yes, I have feelings for Nash, when he isn’t pissing me off going all
alpha male on me,” I admitted in a rush, my cheeks turning red.

“And our dear Detective, he is very protective of you. This
I have seen, although he has tried to hide it from me.” Huh. News to me,
although I guess being overly protective was part of the whole alpha male thing
that tended to piss me off.

Salvador nodded his head, lost in his own thoughts. “Good.
Yes, this is good,” he said. He smiled at me and took another sip of his
drink.

I frowned, totally confused at where the conversation had
gone. “Great. Now that you have my love life all sorted out, could we maybe
talk about why I’m here? Do you have information for me?”

“Patience, my dear Harry, patience.” Salvador smiled and
nodded his head at the approaching waiter. “Let us see what Alejandro has
prepared for us.”

The waiter set two small plates in front of us and then
clasped his hands in front of his chest like he was about to start singing an
aria. “Tonight Chef Alejandro has prepared a caviar amuse bouche. It’s Russia
Osetra, crème fraiche and zucchini mignonette, delicately wrapped in a potato
crepe.” He bowed taking a step away from the table. “Enjoy.”

I eyed the tiny morsel on my plate suspiciously. I wasn’t
sure what I was supposed to do with it. With a grin, Salvador picked his up
with his fingers and popped it in his mouth. He chewed once or twice and then
savoured the flavour for a moment before swallowing.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed, dabbing his fingers off on a
napkin.

With a shrug, I followed suit. My eyes widening in surprise
as the flavours burst in my mouth. The ever so slightly salty caviar popped against
my tongue releasing a sweet aftertaste that was chased by the tangy acidity of
the zucchini sauce. The crème fraiche added richness to the whole bite.

“Wow!” I said. “That was fantastic.” I sat back waiting
for the next course.

***

“I think I’m going to explode,” I groaned, but
nevertheless managed to scrape the last mouthful of bittersweet chocolate tart
with red wine sorbet off my plate and clean my spoon with a happy sigh. “That
was probably the best meal I have ever eaten.”

Salvador grinned, dabbing the corners of his mouth with his
napkin. He had forgone the dessert and instead had been served a tall
champagne glass with a suspiciously thick, red liquid. I chose not to comment.
Rather that than end up on the menu myself.

“I am glad you found it so enjoyable,” he said.

And I had. Not just the food, which had been out of this
world, but once we had both settled down from our initial confrontation, the
conversation had been pleasant, if not completely relaxed due to my worry over Christina.
I had excused myself to the Ladies’ room once to check my phone for messages,
but although there had been several from Nash of the ‘call me’ variety, there had
been no news about his sister.

“I did, thank you.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat,
leaning back while the waiter cleared the table. When he had gone, I leaned
forward again. “Now can we get to business?”

Salvador laughed. “Ahh, my dear Harry, always so serious.”
He waved at the waiter again and then paused as the man approached, carrying a
small silver case about the size of a hardcover book but three times as thick. He
set the case down on the table in front of Salvador then turned and left
without saying a word.

I watched curiously as Salvador opened the case and then
turned it to face me. Inside were three separate stacks of one hundred dollar
bills. “I believe you are in need of an entry fee,” Salvador said, pushing the
case towards me.

I looked around quickly and then reached over and slammed
the case shut. “Are you nuts? You don’t just flash that kind of money
around.” Salvador shrugged, a sly grin on his face and I scowled at him. I
pushed the case back towards him. “Thank you, but we have it covered.” I
really didn’t want to take his money. Who knew how many more dinners that
would cost me, no matter how delicious.