Wanton With a Vampire (25 page)

The best solution was to get some distance
from Trish. He couldn’t see himself staying out of her life long,
but he needed a break before he did something stupid like profess
his undying love. The last thing he wanted was to make her
uncomfortable like one of the idiots who pursued her at clubs. She
seemed to like him, so maybe he could at least have her
friendship.

“Hey!” Trish said nervously. “I didn’t know
you were back.”

“I just got back a few minutes ago,” Alek
said without meeting her eyes. “Actually, I still need to change
and take a shower.”

“Can I talk to you first?” Trish asked.

“Sure,” he said, forcing himself to look at
her.

“I was thinking that the danger is gone, and
my head injury is doing well enough that I don’t need a caretaker.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her feet. “Okay, that
wasn’t how I meant to start this.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Alek said
because he knew how hard this sort of thing was for Trish and
didn’t want to put her through the stress of telling him she wanted
to end things.

“I really do,” she insisted.

“Listen,” he said, looking over his shoulder
at the bathroom door. “I’m dying to grab a shower and get some
sleep. I’m sure you’re looking forward to some time alone as much
as I am.”

“Oh,” Trish said, sounding confused.

Alek refused to look at her again. If he
looked at Trish, he was sure he’d say something stupid. “Did you
want me to take you home before I nap?”

“I’d like Hunter to stay with me,” she said
after a pause.

Alek swallowed hard, wishing she’d say she
wanted him to stay with her. Pulling his mind away from that
thought, he focused on Hunter. “That’s a good idea,” he said,
because it really was a good idea. Hunter liked her, and she would
treat the boy well.

“I’ll need a car seat before I take him home
with me,” she said. “I looked it up, and he’ll need one for at
least a couple more years.”

Alek nodded. “All right. I’ll get someone to
pick one up and get him some clothes and stuff for your place.
After I get some sleep, I’ll take you home.”

“Alek?” she asked. “Are you angry with me
about something?”

The lost quality in her voice broke his
resolve. Alek gathered her in his arms and stroked her hair. “I
could never be mad at you, honey. No matter what, you can always
count on me. We’re friends, right?”

“Right,” Trish said with a too bright smile
as she pulled away from him. “I’ll arrange for Hunter’s things. You
shower and rest.”

Alek watched helplessly as the woman he loved
walked away. Doing the right thing sucked.

Trish felt somewhat numb as she made her way
to the kitchen. There was this crazy part of her that wanted to be
angry with Alek. That part of her wanted to scream at him, maybe
even hit him. Emotions didn’t always lead to the most logical
impulses. She’d been the one to suggest no-strings sex, something
Alek had wanted to avoid because he didn’t want to hurt her.

Swallowing hard, she did her best to force a
smile. At the moment, she couldn’t think about Alek because she
needed to focus on Hunter. Later, when Hunter was sleeping, she’d
fall apart. Funny how she’d thought having Noah end up with Hannah
had hurt. It was nothing compared to her pain now.

Walking into the kitchen, she knew she must
be projecting some serious grief because Caitlin was glaring at
her.

To avoid bringing up the subject of her lack
of a future with Alek, Trish got right to the point. “Alek is
exhausted after being out all night. I would appreciate it if the
two of you could help me get things together so I can take Hunter
home with me today. Maybe Hannah and Noah can help pick out a car
seat for him.” With a frown, she realized she had another problem
to worry about. “My car isn’t even here.”

Justin shook his head. “Doesn’t matter where
your car is,” he said. “You can’t drive until you get new
glasses.”

“That’s right,” she said. “I keep forgetting
about my bad vision. I guess that’s a good thing, since it means
I’m getting used to it.”

“Here’s the deal,” Justin said, all business.
“I already talked to Roman, and he said to make sure you have
whatever you need. We’ll work on getting a nanny to watch Hunter
while you work or go to school. Ursula would normally help out, but
she’s already over-committed. Your car is too old, so we’ll get you
something newer, and the nanny can drive on days you can’t. Roman
also wants you to have a home with a backyard for Hunter.”

“Hold on a minute,” Trish said with a hand
up. “I am not about to have all of you use this as an excuse to
boss me around. We can work out details later. For now, I need to
go home.”

Justin nodded, and soon, he was on the phone
making arrangements to get supplies for Hunter.

While Justin was distracted, Trish went into
the sitting room off the kitchen with Hunter right behind her. He
looked exhausted, and she wasn’t at all surprised when he settled
onto the sofa beside her and fell asleep. He’d only slept a few
hours the night before, and she was guessing his schedule had been
anything but normal lately.

She had Drew’s number on her phone from when
she’d read his book. Luckily, she was one of those people who never
deleted phone numbers.

“What?” Drew answered in a monotone
voice.

“Hey,” Trish said tentatively. “You doing
okay?”

Drew let out a humorless bark of laughter.
“Not really, but crazy as this may sound, it’s nice knowing someone
gives a fuck.”

“I’m not the only one,” she assured him.

“No shit. Auntie Lydia’s already told me to
get my ass ready for a spa day,” he said. “I tried telling her men
don’t do spa days, but she called me a liar.”

“You strike me as the spa day type,” Trish
said thoughtfully.

“How’s the kid doing?” Drew asked.

“Better than I would have expected,” she told
him. “He’s napping right next to me. Hunter’s the reason I
called.”

“Is there a problem?” Drew asked.

“No, but I figured someone should talk to you
about what we’re thinking about doing with him,” Trish said, hoping
Drew would agree with her plan. The rest of the family seemed to
forget Hunter was Drew’s son.

“Is he gonna stay with you and Alek?” he
asked.

“Just me,” Trish said. “I promise I’ll take
good care of him.”

There was a long pause before Drew spoke.
“Have you talked to Alek about this?”

“Yes, and he thinks it’s a good idea,” she
said.

“Huh,” Drew said, sounding perplexed. “I
didn’t see that coming. Not you and Hunter, just Alek not being
there.” Before she got a chance to answer, he changed the subject.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do to help you with the kid, but
you let me know if you need anything.” There was a hesitation
before he spoke again. “Thank you for doing this.”

“You’re welcome,” Trish said. This was the
most normal conversation she’d ever had with Drew. Not once had he
said anything about sex or killing. That was proof he really was
having a hard time with everything, but before she could say
anything else, he hung up on her.

Cuddled up with Hunter, Trish dozed off and
dreamt of Alek telling her he loved her. When she woke up, she was
still in the grips of that happy dream, and it was hard to pull
herself back to reality, but she did.

Forcing herself to focus on the present,
Trish got Hunter moved to the condo, along with more stuff than she
thought any little boy needed. The Draksels had cleared out
Caitlin’s room and set it up for Hunter, even though Trish
suspected he’d sleep in her room at first.

Finally home alone with Hunter, she settled
onto the sofa with a book. Cuddling the little boy made her heart
swell with love. At the same time, it felt like her heart might
shatter from the pain of losing Alek.

Alek had been wallowing in his own self-pity
all day. When he’d woken up the previous evening, he’d expected to
find Trish and Hunter waiting for him to drive them to the condo.
Instead, he’d learned that Caitlin had driven them there already.
Even knowing that was probably a good thing because it meant he
couldn’t do something stupid like beg Trish to give him a chance,
he was still a little hurt and angry.

Caitlin was obviously pissed at him, though
he had no clue why since he wasn’t the one who’d left Trish. Rather
than deal with Caitlin’s attitude, he’d headed back to the
apartment he’d been renting while looking for Phoebe.

He’d broken down around seven last night and
sent Trish a text message. What he’d wanted to do was call her. No,
what he’d wanted to do was drive over to her place, but he wasn’t
ready for either yet.

Staring at his phone, he read the text string
again.

I wanted to see if you need anything. I can
always bring dinner by.

Her reply had come quickly.

Thanks, but I’m getting Hunter ready for bed.
Maybe another time.

He hadn’t bothered responding to that message
because it was an obvious attempt to get him to leave her alone.
Any response would just be pressuring her.

Letting Trish leave was the smart thing to
do, and he knew he had no damn business being a part of her life.
Looking around the quaint one bedroom apartment he had on a
short-term lease, Alek was lonely. This was his life— traveling and
short-term leases. Trish was right about him being poor
relationship material. He was a stranger to his own family, and he
had no real friends. All of that was his fault. No one had
ostracized him or made him feel unwelcome. Until recently, he’d
never been lonely. He had women when he wanted them, attended the
best parties, and lived life to its fullest— or so he’d thought.
Now, his life felt empty and hollow. Too bad the person he wanted
to spend the rest of his life with didn’t think he was good
enough.

The pounding on his door likely meant one of
his family members was here to bitch at him about walking away from
Trish. Damn people liked her more than they liked him.

Nathaniel’s fist connected with Alek’s jaw as
soon as he opened the door, and Alek stumbled back. Before he had
time to recover, Nathaniel stalked into the house, slamming the
door behind him. Nathaniel caught him with a right cross to the
eye, and this time, Alek went down. Damn! His nephew really packed
a punch.

“You fucking bastard!” Nathaniel bellowed.
“One woman! There was one woman who was off-limits, and you just
had to screw her. You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants.”

Alek stood but didn’t make eye contact with
his nephew because what the hell could he say? He knew he deserved
to have his ass kicked for sleeping with Trish. She wasn’t that
type of woman. Yes, it had been her idea, but he could have said
no.

“If you’d left her alone, she never would
have been hit by that car to begin with,” Nathaniel continued,
fists clenched at his sides.

Alek sighed. “You’re right. Don’t think I
haven’t gone over these same thoughts at least a hundred times.
From the beginning, I told myself to leave her alone.”

“Then why the hell did you keep bothering
her?” Nathaniel demanded, sounding less angry and more
perplexed.

Alek let out a frustrated breath and ran a
hand through his hair. “I’m obsessed with her,” he admitted. “From
the moment I met Trish, I couldn’t get her out of my mind.” He
collapsed onto the sofa, leaning his head back and closing his
eyes.

Nathaniel sat down in the chair across the
room. “I suppose I don’t have much right to judge people for their
obsessions.”

Alek sat up to study Nathaniel. No, Nathaniel
didn’t have a right to judge. He’d been so obsessed with Hannah
that he’d gotten her pregnant and tried to force her to marry
him.

“I don’t know how I’m going to live without
her,” Alek admitted.

“Why the hell did you end things with her?”
Nathaniel asked.

“I didn’t,” Alek said softly. “Okay, I sort
of ended things, but only after I heard her say I’m not the type of
man a woman gets serious about.”

Nathaniel stared at him, looking bewildered.
“None of this makes any sense,” Nathaniel said. “If she matters
this much to you, why haven’t you gone over to work things out with
her?”

“Ever since she went home, and I headed back
here, all I’ve thought about is going over there and acting like a
caveman. The woman made it clear she doesn’t want to be with me
long-term, but I want to toss her over my shoulder and keep her
with me forever. What does that say about me?” Alek asked.

Nathaniel chuckled. “It says you’re part of
this family. The men go a little crazy when it comes to women,” he
said. “Trish is special,” Nathaniel added.

“I know,” Alek agreed. “Christ, that’s been
the problem since the beginning. I won’t lie. The first thing that
attracted me to her was her looks, but it only took about five
minutes to move past that. There she was, acting all shy and
innocent with me. She was actually blushing, and I was suddenly
dying to see her smile.”

“That sounds serious,” Nathaniel said.

“No shit, it’s serious. After that, I was
trying to see her everywhere and asking people about her. That was
before I’d even kissed her. That first kiss added to my obsession.
She was so into it, I could have had her that night. I’d never
wanted a woman that much, but do you know what I did?” Alek looked
at his nephew and noticed Nathaniel was fighting back a grin.

“I’m guessing you put a stop to what was
happening,” Nathaniel said.

“Damn straight I put a stop to it,” Alek
said. “I didn’t want her to regret it and start avoiding me. The
whole thing just added to my obsession.”

“Sounds more like you love her,” Nathaniel
said.