Dark Redemption (5 page)

         
Dominic grinned.
“Really?”

         
Kate nodded. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

         
Taking her by the hand, Dominic led her around to a door at the side of the
church. He knocked once,
then
pushed the heavy wooden
door aside. The light from inside flooded from the opening and Dominic stepped
aside, gesturing for Kate to enter the room ahead of him. It was a tastefully
appointed sitting room, decorated in light, neutral colors. Though the church
appeared to be part of an archaic cave-like structure of stone, it had been
beautifully renovated at some point in time.

         
“Gianna and Lindsey will take care of you from here,” Dominic said, pressing a
kiss to her hand before releasing it. “I’ll see you at the altar,
cara
.”

         
Kate watched his retreating back in stunned silence.
Did he say Lindsey?

         
“Kate Gertrude Murdock, stop staring after that man like he’s the last piece of
chocolate in the world. You get over here right now and give your best friend a
hug,” a familiar voice teased from behind her. Kate’s heart thrilled.
Lindsey!

         
Tugging the door closed behind her, Kate turned with a grin. “You know I don’t
have a middle name, Linz.”

         
The tiny blonde returned her smile. “Well, you know me, if nothing else, I’m
adaptable. Besides, Gertrude is such a lovely name.”

         
Happiness filled Kate’s heart to the point of aching. Dominic had brought
Lindsey here for her. She closed the space between them and threw arms around
her best friend. She never thought she’d see the exasperating woman she loved
as a sister ever again.

         
Lindsey squeezed her a little too tight, crushing Kate to her boney frame. Kate
couldn’t help but inhale the intoxicating scent of her blood as it coursed
through her veins. She couldn’t help the quickening of her own pulse at the
sound of Lindsey’s heart pumping in her chest. Kate’s throat burned and her
incisors lengthened. Thirst shattered her perfect moment of happiness. She was
a vampire. Lindsey was human, her prey.

         
Stiffening in her friend’s embrace, Kate carefully withdrew. It took every
ounce of self-control not to sink her teeth into the flawless skin of Lindsey’s
tanned neck.
Just a bite, just a taste
, Katerina begged from within.
No.
Kate stepped back, fighting to clear the red haze of need. She’d sooner die
than hurt her friend. Lindsey must’ve been the reason Dominic had tried to get
her blood-drunk before they’d left. He wanted her bloodlust to be
sated
enough not to hurt her all-too-human friend.

         
Lindsey stepped back as well, watching Kate with caution in her wide blue eyes.
Kate could feel her nervous energy in the air. Lindsey knew.

         
“
Lindseys
are friends, not food,” the petite blonde
joked with a weak smile, still watching Kate as though she might need to make a
run for it.

         
“I know that, Lindsey,” Kate sighed. “My inner bitch just didn’t get the
message.”

         
Lindsey laughed. “I knew you had an inner bitch somewhere. Keep her on a tight
leash, okay?”

         
Kate nodded and smiled back. “I should be alright. Dominic fed me before we
came.”

         
Lindsey’s blue eyes grew mischievous. “
Ooooh
, that
sounds hot. I could sink my teeth into that man myself. You’re the luckiest
girl in the world, you get to have your man candy and literally eat him
too.”      “It’s not like that Linz,” Kate choked out.
“He gives me blood bags.” Though the idea of blood sharing with Dominic made
Kate hot and tingly in all the right places, it scared her to death. One taste
and she could lose control. She could kill him and he wouldn’t stop her.

         
“Pity,” Lindsey said with a dramatic sigh. “There
goes
all my hot vampire-werewolf sex fantasies.”

         
Kate rolled her eyes to the ceiling. It was good to have her friend back, lust
and all. She opened her mouth to counter with a witty retort, but a low
feminine voice stopped her.

         
“Please, keep in mind that’s my brother you’re talking about.”

         
Kate turned to the eavesdropper in surprise. She’d been so caught up in
Lindsey,
she hadn’t given the woman sitting on the sofa the
slightest notice. This must be Gianna, Dominic’s sister. Although how Gianna
came to be in her bridal suite, Kate couldn’t even begin to fathom. Didn’t all
the wolves want her dead?

         
Kate studied the woman through narrowed eyes as she rose and crossed the room.
Tall and thin like
Giovanni,
Gianna carried herself
with the grace and poise of a model on a catwalk. She had the same high
cheekbones and angular chin, but a much more delicate nose than her twin. She
was lithe and stunning in the soft champagne crepe of her tea-length dress and
matching flats.

         
Gianna came to stand face-to-face with Kate, her lips at Kate’s eye level. She
was even prettier up close, her smooth olive skin flawless and glowing. Kate
held her breath and waited for the beautiful, willowy she-wolf to introduce
herself. Or bite her head off.
Whichever.

         
Gianna studied her through narrowed eyes. Kate felt like a bug under a magnifying
glass in the hot sun. Gianna’s gaze was appraising and unforgiving.  She
pursed
her full, glossy lips,
then
finally spoke.

         
“My baby brother loves you more than anything in this world. For him, I will
embrace and protect you as a sister. But if you ever,
ever
hurt him, I
will kill you myself,” Gianna growled in a low whisper.

         
Kate swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. Not out of fear, but raw
emotion. She loved Dominic’s sister immediately for her fierce loyalty to her
brother. Kate bit her lip to hide her smile and shook her head at the taller
woman.

         
“I would rather die than hurt Dominic,” Kate assured her.

         
Gianna relaxed, the tension leaving her slender shoulders as she grinned at
Kate. “Good. Welcome to the family.” She swept Kate up in a tight hug,
then
released her.     

         
“I’m Gianna.”

         
“Kate.”

         
“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” Gianna gushed
with a warm smile.

         
“Uh-oh.
From Giovanni or Dominic?”
Giovanni hated her guts, last Kate checked. The last time she saw him, he’d
chained her to a stake and left her to burn to death in the morning sunlight.
Yeah, that was going to be a tough relationship to improve, but at least they
had nowhere to go but up.

         
“Both.”

         
Kate sighed. “Well, I guess a fifty-fifty approval rating is better than
nothing, especially when the approving fifty is Dominic.”

         
Confusion filled Gianna’s face. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

         
Kate shook her head.
“Never mind.
Is there a place I
can clean up a bit?” She felt way underdressed and a bit grubby next to Gianna
and Lindsey, in their matching champagne dresses.

         
“Of course.
That’s what we’re here for,” Gianna said
with a smile, floating across the room to open the door there.

         
She drew out a long, white garment bag. Holding the hanger in one hand, she
draped the length across her arm. Lindsey stepped forward to unzip the bag as
Gianna held it up for Kate’s inspection. The plastic peeled away to reveal
pristine white fabric.
A wedding dress.
Kate’s wedding
dress.

         
“You didn’t really think Dominic would marry you dressed like that,” Lindsey asked,
nodding with a chuckle at Kate’s worn Chucks and faded jeans.

         
Gianna cut in before Kate could respond. “Dominic would marry you in anything,”
she assured Kate, dropping the empty garment bag onto the sofa and holding the
dress out for Kate’s inspection. “But, he wanted everything to be perfect for
you.”

         
“It’s so beautiful,” Kate breathed, studying the delicate white lace of the
elegant, vintage-inspired gown.

         
“So are you,” Lindsey said with a smile. “Now, let’s see if he got the
measurements right.”

         
“Is there a bathroom I can change in?” Kate asked, eyeing Gianna with a
meaningful look.

         
Gianna waved her off, “We’re going to be sisters soon enough. But yes, it’s
right there.” She nodded at the door next to the closet.

         
Draping the dress over her arm, Kate headed into the powder room. After hanging
the gown on the hook on the back of the door, Kate turned to the oversized
cheval mirror. She’d definitely seen better days. She splashed a bit of cold
water on her face and raked her fingers through her hair. Hopefully, Gianna and
Lindsey were up for performing miracles.

         
A square package, wrapped in white and silver paper sat on the marbled stone
countertop. A single long-stemmed red rose rested across its top, tied with a
bow and a small, simple card. Kate recognized Dominic’s elegant script in the
black letters.
“
Cara
mia
.”
My beloved.

         
Kate removed the rose, lifted it gently to her nose, inhaled the sweet aroma
she would forever associate with Dominic, and set it aside on the counter.
Untying the bow, she carefully
unwrapped
the gift
Dominic had left for her. Tossing the paper aside, Kate lifted the lid off of
the plain white box.

         
Delicate, lacy white lingerie had been artfully folded into soft silver tissue
paper. Dominic had bought her lingerie for their wedding.
For
their wedding night, to be more specific.
A low throb built within her
at the thought. She pictured his big, strong hands, so tan and masculine in
contrast to the feminine white fabric, as he touched and considered exactly
what he wanted to take off of her the first time they made love as husband and
wife.

         
Kate lifted the lingerie and held it up in front of herself in the mirror.
Dominic had excellent taste, not that she hadn’t already known that. The top
consisted of a backless, strapless bustier. Dainty flower-shaped lace trimmed
the low-cut cups and hem. The satin body was lined with sturdy boning and
embroidered with small flowers to match the lace trim.

         
Heat filled Kate cheeks as she lifted the matching panties from the box. Of
course a guy would pick a thong. Kate held the panties up in front of her,
hoping that she could imagine a back on them if she stared hard enough at the
skimpy fabric. The satin front had
Mrs. Ridolfi
embroidered in a
shimmery script across the front.

         
Mrs. Ridolfi. Her heart thrilled at the words. She could face anything with her
ass hanging out, so long as Dominic was the end result.

         
Tossing the scrap of an excuse for panties aside, Kate lifted a pair of sheer
thigh-high stockings from the box, followed by stunning white wedge heels with
ribbons that would wrap and tie around her ankles like a ballerina’s toe shoes.
A white satin garter with a diamond encrusted triangle came next. Kate shivered
at the delicious thought of Dominic removing it with his teeth.

         
Her husband-to-be had thought of everything. Kate kicked off her shoes and
stripped out of her t-shirt.
Shimmying
her jeans down,
she stepped out of them and tugged off her socks. She quickly exchanged her
plain bra and panties for the bridal set Dominic had given her. The bustier
made her waist seem impossibly tiny, while increasing the fullness of her
breasts. Kate remembered the last corset she’d worn. The night she’d promised
her love to another man. Alexander.

         
What had happened to him in her absence? Did he know she was with Dominic?
Would he understand? Would he forgive her? Alex had grown to be her best
friend, but wanted more than Kate could give.

         
Kate’s heart ached with the pain she would cause her friend. She should’ve been
honest with him, honest with herself. Dominic had laid claim to her from their
very first touch. Nothing and no one could change that.

         
Kate brushed the melancholy thoughts of her golden friend and
tutore
aside. This was to be the happiest day of her life. Surely even Alexander
wouldn’t begrudge her that. She’d find a way to make things right with him in
time. Tonight was about Dominic.

         
Lifting the gown from its hanger, Kate let the skirts fall to the floor in
a
swoosh
of lace and underskirts. Kate unzipped the
back and stepped into the dress. The inside was lined in smooth, satiny fabric,
with mesh underskirts for fullness at the bottom. Shrugging into the bodice,
Kate smoothed the delicate fabric over her hips and abdomen.
      With a soft snick, Kate closed the low zipper at
the small of her back. Fumbling with the fabric at the back of her neck, she
managed to hook the clasps. Lifting the train to keep it from dragging, Kate
stepped out into the sitting room.