Vein of Love (Blackest Gold Book 1) (5 page)

September gave Molly a wide-eyed look. “Michael was there?”

“Yup, he got back last night. He waited for you Molly,” Stella interjected, all traces of her previous pain replaced with arrogance. “He only came because you promised me you’d go, and then you ditch? Thanks.”

Molly’s patience was waning thin. “I
needed
to go.”

“Can we please go eat? I’m literally starving here! You coming?” Tina said, interrupting them. She was always skilled at diffusing the tension, though she seemed oblivious to that fact.

Molly’s stomach grumbled and she glanced over at September, smiling weakly.

September rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll be the hobo stealing tea sandwiches. It’ll be like the good old days at Dalton High, except we’re all mature, savvy women now
—almost
all of us, at least. Right Stella?” September grinned widely as Stella scoffed.

September and Molly trailed behind the others up Fifth Avenue, listening to them discussing the politics of their Upper East Side world.

“She dumped him, and then she slept with him a week later,” Stella said, regaling the tale of Helen St. Jude’s latest blunder.

“Well, I heard she slept with him and then slept with his cousin and then dumped them both,” Tina argued, gesturing back and forth.

“Are you two describing each other?” September said as she squeezed between them, hands thrust into the jeans that barely hung on to her jutting hips.

“Don’t you have some old junkie car to fix?” Stella hissed. September was obsessed with old vehicles; her dad was a mechanic and she’d spent a good amount of her spare time during their school years helping him.

September sneered. “Now ladies, my affairs are quite different from your whoring ones.”

“They won’t let her in the hotel dressed like that,” Stella muttered over her shoulder to Molly, eyes widening to stress her disapproval.

“She’s fine,” Molly argued, walking toward the curb. She wanted to step out in front of traffic; September and Stella had been fighting like that since they were kids.

She looked down the street to see
him
, standing at the edge of a fountain, hands in pockets.  She gasped, catching the attention of her small group. Her body shut down, a deep chill settling into her bones. The urge grew to step out in traffic then.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his full lips, and Molly’s heart stopped. Molly had a distinct sense this demon fiancé wasn’t going anywhere soon.

Not without her.

ALL THE BLOOD
rushed to Molly’s head. “Why is he here?” she muttered to herself.

“Do you know him, Mol?” September asked, squinting to get a better look. When Tensley simply stood in place and lifted his hand to wave, Tina squealed.

“Who is that, Molly?” Tina yanked at Molly’s arm. “Is he your secret boy-toy? Are you shagging him?”

“You aren’t British so stop with the
bloody
and the
shagging!
” Stella scolded, shaking her head.

Molly took a deep breath to compose herself. “He’s a friend staying with my family.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Tina was on the edge of hysteria.

“Introduce me to him!” Stella ordered, nudging Molly’s side. “I can show him around the city.”

“You mean your bedroom.” September snorted. Stella glared.

The idea of him spending time with any of them made Molly’s chest constrict painfully. He’d snap their necks. “I gotta go,” she mumbled.

“You better get a good lay for ditching us! Details!” Tina hollered.

Molly ignored the blatant stares from strangers who’d heard Tina’s proclamation and approached Tensley with calculated steps.

“
Leave,
” she hissed. Even fully clothed, she could see his muscles straining within his clothes. They were a warning; he was not to be messed with.

Tensley half-grinned. “Hello
Darling
. Am I supposed to give you a good lay now?”

Ooooh, you jackass.
She so badly wished she had carried her baseball bat with her to work that day. Oh how effectively it would have smashed his pretty white teeth out.

Tensley continued closer, his hot breath on her face causing a weird pull of desire from her navel downward.
What was that?
Her hands shot out upon contact, pressing firmly against his chest and shoving him away.

“
Get off of me
,” Molly growled, relishing how surprised he looked. He didn’t think she’d make a scene in broad daylight? He was dead wrong.

More people stared around them, and September’s brow furrowed to the point that she looked in dire pain.

Tensley gripped her hand, bringing her small fingers to his pillowy lips for a kiss. Startling heat scorched through her, and she held her breath. Molly’s whole body pulsed with embarrassment and anger…and a sensation she refused to acknowledge. Her mind grew foggy and she tried to shake it off.

Attraction.

“Don’t tempt me,” he said against her skin.

Molly pulled her hand back and dodged a group of businessmen. “I don’t want you stealing my
energy
or whatever.”

Tensley followed with a scoff. “We’re helping each other, isn’t that what I told you? You’re benefitting from my powers, too. You can absorb my strength.” His hand caught her wrist again and easily engulfed it.

“Can I?” She hated how eager she sounded and sucked in her bottom lip. She didn’t give him a chance to respond though.

When Molly glanced back, her friends were still gawking, so she waved to try and ease September’s obvious concern. “Don’t ever do that again,” she warned through her teeth once they were out of sight.

“Do what? Kiss your hand like a gentleman? No problem.” He snickered. “You should be flattered you
get
me.”

Arrogant bastard.

“I’m anything but flattered,” she spat, coming to a full stop on the sidewalk.

He smiled menacingly, and she swore she detected a hint of annoyance. “You don’t get it.” He bowed his head and stepped closer. “But since you don’t understand
who
I am, I’ll let it slide this once.”

“
Pico
,” she muttered under her breath. 

He lifted her chin then, glaring down at her with those stone-colored eyes. “You do know I’m Italian,
si?
And that Italian is very close to Spanish?” He bared his teeth like a true demon of her nightmares might. “You just called me a dick in Spanish,
si?
”

Oh shit.
She recollected herself and raised a brow. “Okay, fine. I’ll just stick to calling you things in French then.”

“Go ahead, don’t follow through with my orders. See what happens to your family,” he hissed.

Molly returned his gaze, burning with hatred. Why couldn’t she just
smite
him with her blessed eyes, huh? Take her sunglasses off and turn him to
dust
for threatening her family?

He yanked up his suit sleeve to sneak a look at his watch before seizing her arm again. “We’re late.”

“Late? For what?”

He pulled her along with him, clenching her wrist tight. “A meeting that’ll hopefully keep you hidden longer.”

She blinked.
Hidden?
“Meeting with who?”

“People who can help us,” he stated vaguely.

“Very vivid.” She tugged her hand back. “I’m not going anywhere with you—”

He pulled her with him.
Ugh!
“Do you want another gorgon after you like last night?”

“
No
.”

“Then move!”

“Then let go!” Tensley did as she asked and Molly wrapped her arms around her middle. She pictured him threatening her parents, hitting them, and cringed. She couldn’t stomach it and started walking beside him in livid silence. She had to protect them. When Tensley turned toward a white brick townhouse guarded by a large gate, Molly inhaled. He or whoever owned this had money—lots of money, and power. It was massive and elegant, dark green vines cascading down the stone, trimmed neatly.

“Wait,” Molly called out as Tensley moved forward.

Tensley paused before entering the beautiful house and glanced over his shoulder at her. “What?”

She shook her head and stepped back. “I’m not going inside there with you. For all I know, you could have a torture room in there!”

Tensley’s head lifted heavenward as his hands dragged down his face, groaning. “You gotta be fucking kidding me…” His head lowered, eyes sharp. “It’s in your best interest to get inside before I make you.”

Molly’s arms clinched around her waist. Even as the fear tightened around her throat, she feared what was beyond those gold-trimmed doors more. “There’s no way I’m going inside there.”

“For fuc—” Tensley sucked in sharply, cutting himself off. He pointed to her hand. “What do you know about that?”

Molly furrowed her brow. “Uh, well, I’ve had it since your family visited us when I was six, and I haven’t been able to remove it
—at all.
”

“Us meeting last night wasn’t because I suddenly felt the urge to take on a pet,” he said, gesturing to her.

I am
not
a pet, you mutt!

“I had to step in to stop the gorgon that had found you because—that ring failed to hide you, which it has done since the night we put it on your finger.”

Molly frowned. “Hide me?”

“From demons.”

Well, shit.
She glared down at the discolored ring.

“You have two options: either follow me inside to the people who might be able to turn the protection back on, or stand out here and have your organs ripped out by the first demon who tracks you down. Either way, I don’t care. Suit yourself.” Without another word, he turned and marched up the smooth white steps.

Molly’s chest tightened at the memory of the gorgon’s teeth scraping against her throat, and the idea of a chance to get rid of Tensley if the ring worked made her feet move after him.

Molly reached the door just as he opened it and he gripped her wrist, pulling her close. “Just stay close when we go inside. Don’t say a word, don’t look up, got it?”

“Am I in danger?” She hated how her voice hinted at her hidden emotions—her fear, and that she was on the brink of tears.

She couldn’t muster the courage to look him in the eye, but she saw his jaw relax and his Adam’s apple bob nervously. He placed a tender hand on her shoulder. “Just listen to me and let me do the talking, okay? You’ll be safe next to me.”

Molly nodded; all traces of jest were gone from his voice, and she took that seriously.

Once they stepped inside, a flurry of faces and activity in an art deco-designed hallway, whispers about the “strange girl with Tensley” overwhelmed her.

“Who are these people?” Molly asked, trying to keep up with Tensley’s strides and eyeing the men who stood at every doorway, impassive like statues.

“Employees.”

“Of what? Who?”

He huffed and proceeded to ignore her, continuing down another hallway to a set of polished wooden French doors. He threw them open, not bothering to hold either open for her before entering.

Tensley mumbled under his breath as soon as they walked into the dark, immaculate office decorated in hues of black, grey, and dark blue. Molly paused by the doorway, unsure if she was supposed to follow.
I mean, he didn’t slam the door in my face. That’s a plus.
She inched in closer. She eyed the built-in bookcases filled with thick hardcover books. She ached to run her finger along their spines and see what books he had. She tiptoed closer to the chairs and watched as Tensley flipped through papers and filed them away.

Do I sit? Stand?

“
Where are they?
” he hissed under his breath.

Molly stiffened. “Uh…”

Someone chuckled behind her, and she spun to see the same girl from the night before. “Nice to see you both too,” Lex said, shaking her head. Tensley shot her a glare in response. “They’ve been waiting for an hour.”

Tensley sat down at the large oak desk—presumably his—and shuffled through his neatly arranged papers. “Well,
someone
wasn’t where they were supposed to be.”

Molly glowered
.
“I was working. Am I not allowed to do that now?”

His eyes flickered briefly to her, and after a long stare, he turned to Lex. “Bring them in.”

Lex smiled at Molly and vanished behind the doors.

“Sit.” The simple, clipped order startled Molly. She badly wanted to defy him, but trapped within his walls meant he’d have the upper hand in a fight. She plopped herself down and eyed the items on his desk, avoiding his stare.

When she
did
look up, he was studying her intently, lips slightly parted, and she found herself imagining them between her teeth—

A knock came at the door. She shook her head out of the familiar fogginess.
Thank god.

“Come in,” Tensley said gruffly.

Lex did, with two other men, one older with a shaggy salt and pepper beard that hid his features, and the other with dull brown hair and a hooked nose.

So they can help us with the ring…please, please help me!

Lex shut the door behind her, leaving the four of them staring back at each other.

“Names.” Tensley stood up, buttoning the front of his suit jacket.

“Albert,” the older one said in a wheezy voice, phlegmy from years of smoking.

“Jackson, sir,” the other said, his eyes trained on Molly.

“Can you fix it?” Tensley asked.

Molly looked back and forth between them, trying to figure it out on her own. All their eyes focused on her and she stilled.

Tensley rounded the desk and yanked Molly up by her shoulder, holding her left hand out to them. “Fix it. Now.”

Molly tried to shrug out of his grip. “Easy!”

The two men stared at Tensley, startled by his vehemence, before Albert’s focus moved down to Molly’s forefinger. He slid his thumb over the discolored ring there.

“What—what are you going to do?” Molly tried to take her hand back, but Tensley held it tightly in his iron grip.