With a Kiss (26 page)

The expression of the woman standing behind the counter morphed into a huge grin the moment she caught sight of them. Short blonde curls, green eyes, freckles. She was obviously the woman Jenny spoke to him about—Diana something-or-other.

She hurried around the counter and immediately enveloped Liam in a huge hug, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck. Marcus’ hand clenched into a fist at his side.

She wasn’t hitting on Liam. She wasn’t copping a feel either. For God’s sake, she was a damn lesbian. Liam wasn’t her type—Jenny was. It was still far harder than it should have been for Marcus to accept the spontaneous show of affection with complete composure.

He did his best not to glower at Diana when she finally released Liam, and turned to him. Marcus didn’t have time to say a word, polite or otherwise, before her arms were wrapped around him in an equally intense gesture.

Marcus met Liam’s eyes over the girl’s shoulder. Even if his pet hadn’t relaxed when she threw herself at him, his amusement over his master’s plight seemed to be doing the trick perfectly.

“Come on, I’ll give you the tour!” Diana grinned up at Marcus as if he was her new best friend.

He’d been so sure Jenny would have had better taste in women. Marcus found himself more than a little disappointed by the nurse.

“No.” Marcus only just stopped her catching hold of his hand.

Diana blinked up at him. Liam’s smile faltered.

Damn!

“Thank you, but I think we can all do without hearing every animal in the place screeching at the top of its lungs,” Marcus rephrased.

Diana was instantly all smiles again. “Of course! Jenny told me you were a vampire.” She turned to Liam. “The animals tend to get a little nervous around top predators.”

“Oh.” Liam hesitated.

“Go and enjoy your tour,” Marcus said. “I’m going to stay here for a while.” He waved toward a few sets of tables and chairs for people to fill in whatever forms were considered necessary when someone wanted to adopt a non-human pet. “I’ve got a few calls to make. I’ll make the most of the good reception while I can.” Marcus held up his mobile phone as proof.

If Liam thought it was a very transparent excuse to stick around and keep an eye on him while he settled in to the job, he didn’t mention it. He smiled briefly across at Marcus before he allowed Diana to drag him off to see whatever was to be seen.

Taking a seat at one of the tables, Marcus flicked open his phone and scrolled through the menu. He hadn’t been convinced that phones could have become any smaller than they had been last time he’d seen them, but they had. His thumbs were far too big to operate the buttons. For once he wished Jenson hadn’t been quite so efficient.

Fashion and the latest technologies be damned, he’d have much preferred the other man simply provide him with the same model he’d had before he lost the last couple of years of his life.

Marcus pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. It was stupid which details brought it all rushing back. The image of his phone flying through the air and the casing smashing open as it was tossed from his hand. Marcus scratched irritably at the scar on his finger, trying to rub away the sensation of an impossibly sharp point breaking his skin.

Just the memory of it made his stomach twist into knots. Turning his attention back to his phone, Marcus dialed the number and waited impatiently for the man on the other end of the line to pick up. As the phone rang, Marcus’ gaze wandered toward a glass panel in the far wall. In the room beyond it, he could see Diana enthusiastically pointing into a cage.

Liam grinned as she extracted something small and furry and placed it in his arms.

 “Hello, Hansford and Associates.”

“Have you tracked him down?” Marcus demanded. The man had better know who he was talking about without needing to hear a name. If Hansford was taking time off his case to work on anyone else’s behalf, he was about to find out that at least one of his clients could be just as dangerous as any of the men he tracked down for a living.

“Mr. Corrigan, I’m so glad you called! One of my associates just this second came back into the office and it seems they’ve found several very promising leads that we hope will—”

“A simple ‘no, we still don’t have damn clue where he is’, is quite sufficient,” Marcus cut in.

Hansford fell silent.

“The other matter I asked you about,” Marcus prompted, with another glance in Liam’s direction. The furry ball was climbing up the boy’s chest and trying to lick his face. Liam’s attempts to push it away were halfhearted at best; he was too busy laughing to really stop the thing attacking him with a tiny pink tongue.

“I have some definite addresses for you there,” the man said with obvious relief. He sounded like the kind of man who found vampires to be intimidating by definition. Marcus smiled. He rather liked dealing with people like that.

“Do you have pen and paper?” Hansford asked.

“I’m a vampire,” Marcus reminded him, only partly because screwing with the man’s mind was mildly amusing. “Apparently a steady diet of human blood is very good for the memory. Get on with it.”

Hansford rattled off two sets of contact details. Never taking his eyes off Liam, Marcus easily filed them away in his brain for future reference before hanging up without another word. What to do with himself now…

Marcus tapped his fingertips on the table and picked up the phone once more. Yes, it was about time everyone in the vampire community found out that reports of his demise had been very much premature.

Jenson, gem that he was, had already programmed in all the numbers he could possibly need, as well as quite a few that hell would need to freeze over before he’d deign to call. Ben Probert was only just on the side of the angels in that particular equation, but Marcus pressed the ring button anyway.

There were apparently occasions where the font of all vampire gossip could be useful after all.

The phone only rang once before it was picked up. “Ben speaking! Spill the beans, darling!”

Marcus’ lips twisted into something that probably looked like a complete mockery of a smile. “Ben. It’s been a long time.”

Static buzzed over the line for several long seconds. “Bloody hell! Marcus! You woke up! No one’s going to believe it! Does Theo know? Stupid question. Of course he knows! That’s why no one’s seen him for weeks, isn’t it?”

Marcus settled back a little more comfortably in the rickety lobby chair, for once content to let the other vampire babble and exclaim until he ran out of steam.

On the other side of the glass panel, Liam grinned at something the fur ball did. Marcus’ smile became far less forced at the sight.

Chapter Eleven

“What do you think, should we name him Marcus?”

Liam peered down at the rabbit in his arms—its fur was pure white except for its ears which were completely black, just like the vampire’s hair. Its two front teeth even looked a little like fangs.

Liam lifted his gaze to meet Diana’s smiling eyes. He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. “I don’t think Marcus would be all that impressed with his namesake.”

Diana leaned toward Liam, and whispered in his ear. “That’s the idea.” She didn’t even try to hold back her amusement. Her laughter was light and joyous. It was also completely infectious. “It would do him good to learn to laugh at himself a little.”

Liam shook his head at her antics as he absentmindedly stroked the rabbit’s ears. “How about we call the little guy Mark instead?” he offered in compromise. He didn’t say the rest out loud, but the words were very clear inside his head.
And never tell Marcus what it’s short for.

Diana grinned as she wrote the name on the label above the hutch. “Done!” She looked down at her clipboard. “Only three more overnight arrivals for us to assess. Two dogs and a kitten.”

Liam carefully placed the newly christened Mark in his hutch and checked the level in his food bowl before fastening the door. “I still don’t get how people can just throw them away as if they’re nothing,” he said. Even after working there for over a month, he still didn’t get it.

“Spoken like a true stray!”

Liam spun around. Taking several rapid paces back, he stumbled against one of the trolleys containing the supplies for the rabbit hutches, but he never once looked away from the man standing before him.

He’d recognized the voice the moment he heard it. It hadn’t been his fear playing tricks on him. His paranoia was well-founded.

Ralph.

And he’d been drinking. Ralph wasn’t slurring his words or staggering around in circles, but Liam knew the signs. The other man had popped his first can of beer the moment he woke up that morning.

“Pathetic,” Ralph spat. He looked Liam up and down in disgust as he stepped forward.

Liam shook his head. This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be happening. Ralph didn’t know he was there. He couldn’t…

“What?” Ralph demanded. “Did you really think you could hide away here, that someone wouldn’t spot you and tell me where you’d crawled off to?”

Liam pressed his spine against the trolley. The wheels rolled back until it hit the hutches. Then, there was nowhere for him to go. Ralph was between Liam and the door. He was as trapped as any of the animals in the cages.

Liam’s pulse raced faster and faster, his head spun as his breath lodged in his throat, making it impossible to draw enough oxygen into his lungs. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. Another joined in. Soon all the animals were in full voice, as if screaming their warnings at Liam. They were all too late.

Ralph didn’t seem to notice the commotion. His eyes didn’t leave Liam until, out of the corner of his eye, Liam saw Diana step forward. Ralph’s attention was all on her then.

“Get out. You’re not welcome here,” Diana tilted up her chin. “If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll call security.” She was far better at bluffing than Liam had ever been.

Ralph’s face contorted into a deeper sneer as he laughed. There was no humor in the sound, no invitation to join in. He stepped forward again. Diana didn’t retreat a single pace. Her hands came to rest on her hips as she narrowed her eyes.

Liam didn’t think. Before he knew what was happening, he was already standing between Ralph and Diana. There were men who would never dream of hitting a woman, but Liam knew damn well that Ralph wasn’t one of them. Anyone weaker than him was a fair target and—

Ralph pushed against Liam’s shoulder, almost sending him crashing backward. The only thing that kept Liam upright was the knowledge that, if he lost his balance, he’d take Diana down with him.

Ralph’s expression distorted into something even more vile. “If you think I’m going to take you back after you’ve—”

“I don’t want you to take me back.”

“What?” Ralph glared down at Liam, making the most of his height advantage as he loomed over him.

“I don’t want you to take me back,” Liam repeated. It was impossible for him to keep the nervous tremor out of his voice, but he forced the words out.

“You ungrateful little shit,” Ralph began. He was almost nose to nose with Liam now. The stench of stale beer overpowered all the various scents that filled the animal shelter.

“I thought I was in love with you,” Liam rushed out, scrambling for anything he could say that might distract Ralph and buy him a little extra time before the first blow.

“What did you say?” the other man demanded.