A Bite to Remember (31 page)

“Yeah?” Jackie asked, leaning back into him and allowing her eyes to close as his lips trailed over her neck, and his fingers caressed her breasts.

“Yeah,” Vincent let one hand slide away from her breasts and Jackie shuddered as it drifted down across her belly, then moaned and pressed her behind back against him as his hand continued downward. When it slid between her legs, she gasped and tipped her head further back, her body arching. Jackie was sufficiently distracted that she didn’t feel her teeth slide out. In fact, she wasn’t aware they had until Vincent took his other hand from her breast, grabbed up the bag of blood from the counter and popped it on her teeth for her.

Startled, Jackie almost closed her mouth on the bag in surprise, but then caught herself, and raised her hands to take over holding the bag. The moment she did, Vincent turned her to face him and tugged her robe closed, then tied the belt tightly for her as well. When Jackie raised her eyebrows in surprise, a wry smile crossed his lips and he nodded toward the door. “We have company coming.”

The bag still on her teeth, Jackie turned toward the door just as it opened and Tiny walked in.

“Oh, hey. Hello,” the giant greeted them with a smile and Jackie found herself smiling around the half-empty bag in her mouth.

“Morning, Tiny,” Vincent said for both of them, then turned and gestured toward the almost full coffeepot. “Is the coffee fresh?”

“Yep. I was just coming to see if it was done,” he admitted, then glanced to Jackie to add, “I was just on the phone with New York. I thought I’d call and check things out for you. Everything’s fine there.”

“’ood, ‘anks,” Jackie said around the almost-empty bag. It was very difficult to pronounce consonants with a bag in your mouth. Shifting to the side to get out of the way as Tiny joined them at the counter, she watched Vincent fetch cups and set them down for Tiny to pour coffee into. They then each fixed their own coffee, Jackie working one-handed until the blood was done and she could take the bag away and toss it. She did so, then stirred her coffee and carried it to the table. They sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying their coffees, then began to discuss Vincent’s saboteur. They were still doing so when Christian entered the kitchen and joined them.

Unlike Vincent, Christian didn’t bother with human food or beverages…ever. Ignoring the coffeepot, he retrieved a couple of bags of blood from the refrigerator and slapped one on his teeth. Once it was gone, he replaced it with the fresh bag, then tossed both empty bags in the garbage and moved to join them at the table.

“So, today you’ll be working on bringing on your teeth,” he commented, then glanced toward Tiny before adding, “You should also learn to slip into the thoughts of mortals and control them. You need to be able to do both to feed on one.”

“But feeding on mortals is forbidden,” Jackie said with confusion. “Only people with medical conditions like Vincent are allowed to feed on living donors.”

“And any immortal who finds themselves in an emergency,” Christian corrected. “You have to learn how, in case
you find yourself in an emergency where your life is threatened if you don’t feed.”

“I’d rather die than feed off of—” Jackie began.

“You may think that now,” Christian said, “but once your life was threatened it would be another story. Besides, it isn’t just for our individual good that we have to survive.”

Jackie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Say you were in a car accident,” Christian suggested. “You weren’t decapitated or anything else that was life threatening, but were injured enough that you’ve lost a lot of blood and are weak, too weak to get yourself away from the scene without feeding. The driver of the other vehicle is alive and well and uninjured.”

Jackie frowned with displeasure, already knowing where he was going with this.

“If you don’t feed off the other driver, you will be there when the police and ambulance arrive. The ambulance would pack you up and take you to the hospital and they would take all sorts of tests, and so on that would make you a threat to the rest of us. A threat that could have been easily avoided if you’d just fed off the other driver.”

Jackie sighed in defeat, knowing it was true.

“So,” Christian continued, “you can practice on Tiny and—”

“Oh, no,” Jackie interrupted firmly. “Fine, I see the need to learn how to read thoughts and control people, and I’ll even acknowledge that there might come a time when I need to bite a mortal, but I’m not using Tiny that way.”

“It’s okay, Jackie,” Tiny said soothingly. “I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do,” she said grimly. “We’ve been friends for too
long for me to intrude on your thoughts like that, or use you as a pin cushion.”

“Then who would you like to practice on?” Christian asked dryly. “Tiny is the only mortal around. Besides, at least he’s given permission for you to read his mind, so you wouldn’t be intruding on some unsuspecting person’s thoughts.”

Jackie frowned at his argument. It was one of the things she disliked most about immortals, when they rudely tried to read someone else’s thoughts. But Tiny was giving permission. If she practiced on anyone else, it would probably be without permission.

Sighing unhappily, she gave a brief nod. “Fine, I’ll practice reading thoughts and controlling minds and bringing my teeth out, but I’ll do it on my own time. Right now we have a saboteur to catch.”

“Actually, right now you have a funeral to get ready for,” Vincent said. When Jackie turned a blank face his way, he reminded her, “Stephano’s fake funeral. You thought it would be a good idea to hold one.”

“Oh, yes,” Jackie murmured. They had started the preparations with a view to keeping the fact that Stephano had survived a secret until he could wake up and tell them who had attacked him. However, when he’d awoken and not been able to do so, she’d decided it might be good to go through with a fake funeral. She was hoping the saboteur would show up at the funeral and somehow give himself away…Or make another attempt on her. It was also necessary to continue to keep him safe. She didn’t mind herself being bait, but wouldn’t put Stephano in that position.

“Come.” Vincent stood and caught her hand to pull her to her feet. “The funeral is at six
P.M.
We still have a couple hours. You can try my sunken tub. I’ll scrub your back.”

Jackie smiled despite the blush that colored her cheeks at the offer and allowed him to urge her to the door.

“I folded your clothes and set them on your bed,” Tiny announced as they started through the door and Jackie groaned inwardly as the door closed behind them. She’d forgotten about her clothes left scattered around the office. And he’d seen she wasn’t in her own bed when he’d taken the clothes up to her room.

“Tiny knows,” she whispered with embarrassment.

“Everyone knows. We weren’t exactly quiet last night and this morning,” Vincent murmured gently, sliding an arm around her as they walked to the stairs. “Do you mind?”

Jackie met his concerned gaze, then shook her head. She was a bit embarrassed, but other than that didn’t mind if everyone knew what they were doing. She just wished she knew what they were doing.

Sixteen

“Neil must have closed down the office so everyone could attend,” Jackie said as she peered around the crowded interior of the funeral home.

“He did,” Vincent acknowledged. “He wanted to be sure the saboteur could attend. He’s as hopeful as us that the man will show up and somehow give himself away.”

Jackie nodded, but thought the problem now would be that—even if the saboteur came and did do something telling—there were so many people in attendance they might miss it.

“Actually, Neil is
more
hopeful than us,” Christian commented. “Stephano’s making him crazy. He’s feeling fine now and is getting irritable about being stuck in that hotel.”

“Irritable isn’t the word,” Neil commented dryly, making his presence known as he joined them in the corner where
they’d taken up position to watch the room. “My brother is as grumpy as hell. He wants to get back to work.”

“That’s understandable,” Vincent commented.

Neil just arched one eyebrow and added, “He also wants pictures.”

Jackie blinked. “Pictures?”

“Hmmm.” He pursed his lips and grimaced. “He wants to see who attends, and who’s upset, and if the funeral is
nice
.”

As the others fought to keep their solemn expressions at this news—one didn’t laugh at funerals—Jackie bit her lip and said, “Well, as it happens, Tiny is taking pictures. Stephano can have copies.”

Everyone glanced at Tiny then, no doubt in search of a camera.

“Haven’t you noticed he’s wearing glasses?” she asked with amusement. “They aren’t to see through. Tiny has perfect vision. The camera is in the nose piece.”

The men were all obviously impressed.

“That’s cool,” Dante said with surprise.

“I want a pair,” Tommaso decided.

Tiny merely smiled. He loved his spy camera.

Boys and their toys, Jackie thought, exchanging an amused glance with Marguerite. Shaking her head, she peered around the room again, her gaze falling on Elaine and Roberto Notte. It was the first time she’d actually seen the couple. Jackie had been in the midst of the change when they’d arrived at Vincent’s house.

Her gaze slid over Elaine Notte. She was slender with short blond hair and—guessing by how she measured up to
the men standing around her—wasn’t much taller than Jackie herself. Roberto Notte was only a couple of inches taller than his wife, with a stout build. Not fat. Immortals simply didn’t get fat, but he had the wide, thick body of a laborer. Of course, neither of them looked old enough to have adult children.

“I suppose we should offer our condolences,” Marguerite commented.

Jackie nodded. “It would seem odd if we didn’t.”

“Come,” Neil said. “I’ll introduce you.”

Vincent took her arm and followed as Neil led them across the room. Tiny immediately took Marguerite’s arm to escort her, leaving the rest of the men to trail behind. Two people Jackie recognized from V.A. Productions were offering their condolences when they reached the couple. The two men now nodded respectfully to Neil and Vincent, then moved on to view the closed casket. Jackie had no idea how the men had explained the reason for the closed casket, but there had been no other choice. They could hardly expect Stephano to lay silent and still in the coffin for hours while people walked past viewing him.

“Mother, Father, this is Vincent Argeneau, his personal assistant, Jackie Morrisey, his aunt, Marguerite Argeneau, and Tiny McGraw.”

“Vincent.” Elaine Notte’s eyes widened, then glazed over with tears as she clasped his hands. Her voice trembled with emotion as she said, “Thank you for my son’s life. You—”

“Mother,” Neil said in warning tones, reminding her of the situation, and that Stephano was not supposed to be alive.

Jackie hardly noticed. Her gaze was moving around the
group with surprise. While she’d been unconscious when the couple had come to Vincent’s home, he hadn’t been, and she’d thought he’d met Stephano’s parents.

“Vincent didn’t leave your side during the turn,” Marguerite whispered by her ear, apparently reading her confusion. “This is the first time he’s met them too.”

Jackie nodded her understanding, and then forced a smile as Neil’s parents turned their attention to greeting her and the others.

“Miss Morrisey,” Roberto said with heavily accented English. His Italian ancestry was very obvious. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You will find the man who did this, yes?”

“I’ll do my best,” Jackie murmured, thinking that the entire cover story was blown all to hell if anyone was near enough to hear.

Vincent murmured something then, a few polite words she missed altogether, then she found herself being urged away.

“I don’t think anyone heard,” Vincent assured her as he led her across the room.

Jackie nodded, but her thoughts were on the promise she’d just made to Neil’s father. She would do her best to catch the saboteur, but didn’t seem to have gotten very far yet and it bothered her. Had she been so distracted by her attraction to Vincent that she hadn’t been doing all she could to track down the saboteur? Jackie had no clues, no ideas. Usually, when they took on a case there was some sort of trail to follow, or they had some idea of what the motive was, but with this case, she felt as if she was stumbling around blind. Vincent had no idea of anyone who might wish to cause him
such grief, and the only trail the saboteur was leaving was becoming a bloody one.

As if reading her thoughts, Vincent squeezed her arm and said firmly, “You’re doing everything you can. I know that.”

But it wasn’t enough, Jackie thought and was grateful for the distraction when Neil and the others rejoined them. She listened absently as the men spoke for a bit, but her gaze was moving around the room, gliding over face after face, searching every expression for something that might stand out. Unfortunately, no one had
killer
or
saboteur
written across their forehead.

Sighing inwardly, Jackie let her gaze drift back to Neil’s parents. As if sensing her gaze, Elaine Notte suddenly looked her way. The woman smiled faintly, then her face was blocked by the back of a man’s head as someone else stepped up to offer their condolences.

Jackie was about to continue examining the other people in attendance when the man turned his head to speak to Roberto Notte and she caught a glimpse of his profile. Jackie immediately sucked in one quick gasping breath of shock, then shook her head. No. It couldn’t be.

“Jackie?” Tiny asked under his breath and she was vaguely aware of his stepping closer to her, but didn’t respond. Her attention was wholly focused on the man across the room, waiting for a better look at his face. She seemed to wait forever, then the man turned to glance around the room and she felt a shock of horror slide through her.

“Cassius.” The name came out on a shocked expulsion, but Tiny, Vincent, and the others heard it and turned, their eyes all locking on her.