ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (18 page)

I spent the entire day in that room, wracking my brains for a way to get out of this mess, secretly hoping for another moment with Markus. But since he had left me early that morning, he hadn’t been back. A woman with a muffin top and oddly fitted shorts came in with a plate of bacon and eggs and a small bag with some books, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush. I told her I was allergic to pork just to see what she would say. She nodded and left. Thirty minutes later, she came back with beef sausages and a piece of cornbread.

I smirked at that. I wasn’t their prisoner. So, what the hell was I?

At around lunch time, I thought about going outside. The creative part of me was starting to get antsy. It fluttered around in the back of my mind. I wondering what the hell this building was? What part of New York was I in? Was I even still in New York? A long, scouring look out of the window told me that I most definitely was. The bodegas, the gas station, the people walking around with their carts, the women with their tennis shoes made me realize that it was definitely a borough. But which one? And how long would I be here? My curiosity was almost enough to push me out of the door and down the hall. But every time I would get within an inch of the doorknob, my leg would throb. The cut Eliseo dealt still itched and burned under the dress. The thought of running into him again, of him finding a reason to hit me again, or stab me, stopped me cold.

By the time I had finished a sandwich, started reading one of the novels and made it through another round of mentally berating Cody, I heard a knock at my door. I cleared my throat, but the time I could open my mouth to greet whoever it was, Markus walked in.

My heart fluttered in my chest, a ripple of excitement traveling my entire body. “Hey.” I could have internally kicked myself. What a dumb thing to say.

His lips curled into a crooked half-smile. “You haven’t taken down the room yet.” His eyes raked over me so hungrily I blushed.

I glanced around. “Well, what the hell did you expect?”

He crossed the room towards me.

I took note of his dressed down attire. The suit jacket was gone and his sleeves were rolled up. I could see the cut in his thick muscles. He was undoubtedly in excellent physical shape. His face showed a days worth of dark stubble running along his chiseled jawline.

I tried to look stern, or angry, or forlorn, or anything appropriate for the situation, but the inner thrill I felt at seeing him betrayed me. My lips stretched into a smile. His presence had the odd effect of clearing the voices in my mind.

He knelt down in front of me.

My jaw swung open and I inhaled a sharp breath, but I covered my mouth with my hand as he grabbed my leg. A grunt slipped out of my lips.

“Sorry, I just had to check on it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you a doctor?” My core tingled
woman-hood throbbed at his touch.

He glanced up at me and, God help me, the expression on his face, the way his eyes met mine, made me want to grab ahold of his thick, dark hair and thrust his head between my legs.

Oh, lord.

I had just made myself blush.

“No, but I’ve been around.”

I huffed. “What the hell does that mean?”

He stood up, but his hands remained on me. He pointedly avoided answering my question. “You’ll be fine.”

I glared. Where did he get off telling me I’d be fine? There was nothing fine about any of this. “Oh really? I will?” I couldn’t explain the rush of tears to my eyes. Through the blur, I could see his face soften.

“I’m sorry we met like this.”

I cocked my head to the side as he moved around me, going straight for an armoire I was too afraid to open. “I didn’t realize any of this was about us.” I spat.

He spoke with his head in the wooden piece of furniture. “I need to find you something for tonight. Family dinner. You’re invited.”

Nothing about this made any sense. “Am I a groupie now?”

He emerged with a striking, deep red dress. My eyes popped. As he dropped it on the bed in front of me, it seemed to sparkle, even in the middle of the afternoon. I felt like I needed to take a cold shower just from looking at it. It was obviously an expensive dress, designer no doubt. I wondered where the hell it came from and what it was doing in Markus’s armoire. But, damn, I had never worn anything so exquisitely beautiful, sexy, or expensive, and the thought of wearing a designer gown made me shiver. My face must have given away my thoughts.

Markus put his hands in his pockets, his eyes flashing. “Something like that.”

I didn’t like the idea of being chosen, even if it was by him. “What if I don’t want to be?”

He winced at this, a shadow crossing his eyes. “Let’s just say, I hope that isn’t the case.”

Before I knew it, I was fingering the dress. It was so soft. “Who’s family?” I looked up at him in time to see a smile flash across his face.

“Mine.” He chuckled, as if it were some inside joke.

I furrowed my brow, my mind working through it. It made sense: Eliseo. Cody running away and them searching for him, the interrogation tactics, the ‘family’. “Are you the mafia? Did I just get kidnapped by the damn mob?” Suddenly, my eyes burned. I was surrounded by people without a bone of empathy in their bodies. My heart pounded against my chest and I didn’t even realize that I was moving away from Markus until my back hit the opposite wall. “I’m gonna die aren’t I? You’re gonna take me to fucking dinner and then butter me up and make me feel safe and then you’re gonna kill me like Johnny Depp in Black Mass. I’m gonna be fucking Juno Temple!”

His hand felt white hot as he pressed it against my cheek. “Stoppit.”

My next sentence got lodged in my throat. He tenderly stroked his fingers from my jaw, down my neck, and gently brushed my collarbone. Just like that, clarity left me.

“Don’t believe everything you see on TV.”

A breath slithered from my lips.

His finger traced my mouth. “Let me dine you.”

His other hand slid around my waist. “Let me woo you.” He whispered this, so close, I could smell the bourbon on his breath.

I clutched at his belt with both of my hands. It took everything in me to keep myself from jumping him right then and there.

He brushed his lips against mine. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

When Eliseo wasn’t trying to violently force the truth out of me, he was running a restaurant on Mulberry Street. He walked into
Gino’s
with a bright smile on his face, his gray eyes bright and his whole person glowing with the aura of approachability. The man who usually stood outside with his pen and his one-liners to lure people in, led us to the back of the restaurant, and then further, to where there was a private room.

It was dark, candles lined the walls and provided the only light in the room, which wasn’t very large anyway. The long, conference –style table took up most of the room and was dressed with formal place-settings leading me to believe we were sitting down to an entire four course meal.

I felt Markus’s hand on my lower back. I looked at him, taking in his immaculately tailored suit, his sharp alligator shoes, the scent of his aftershave. It was like looking clean was his part-time job.  “Come this way.” He pulled out a chair three places away from the head of the table.

I nodded, smoothing my dress with my hands before sitting down. The same woman who had unnecessarily recooked my breakfast that morning had brought me a bathing kit complete with a full array of makeup and toiletries before I dressed for the evening. She had even helped with my hair and makeup. It had taken a couple hours work and a lot of second guessing, but the reaction in Markus’s eyes when he saw my completed look made it worth every second, and I could safely say that by the time I was sitting at that dinner table, I felt as close to a princess as a girl from my side of the tracks ever would.

As Markus sat down next to me, I noticed Eliseo all the way on the other side of the table. He had a look in his eye that made my blood run cold. My body involuntarily trembled.

“How am I supposed to eat like this?” My stomach rolled.

Markus placed his hand on my thigh, leaning down towards me. “Like what?”

I nodded towards Eliseo. “I’m eating with the predator.” I spat, realizing for about the thirtieth time how much bullshit this whole thing was. “God this is so surreal.”

“You’ll be just fine.” After patting my leg, his hand disappeared.

A shriek of laughter exploded on the other side of the room.

I glanced up at the empty seat across from mine just as Eliseo grunted so loud I could hear it over the lull of other voices around me. “Fucking tourists man. I’ve been telling Gino to kick them out.”

“Why the fuck would you do that, Eli?” Another man spoke over his bread.

I took a sip of my water sensing the tension building in the room.

“So, do you eat Italian food often?” Markus turned to me just then.

“Because these Goddamn flower-shirts are destroying my restaurant.” He slammed his pudgy fist on the table and I shuddered. “None of the locals eat here anymore.” Eliseo kept going.

A different man responded while I worked through some sort of response to Markus’s mundane line of questioning.

“Because you hiked the prices.”

“Yeah. I… love pasta…” I mumbled.

“To get the fucking southerners out of here—“

Eliseo would have, no doubt said more if it weren’t for the sharp sound of a curtain being pulled back forcefully. We all turned towards the tall, thin man with graying hair and leathery skin standing in the doorway.

Everyone stood. “Don.”

“Don.”

“Don.”

Holy cow. I was in a lion’s den.

He sat down right next to me, resting his ring-covered hands on the table. The host himself came around with a carafe of water and of wine.

“What have you done with the place?” He spoke right to Eliseo, gesturing for him to come around. His voice rolled like that of a Jazz musician.

“I’ve tried father.”

Don glowered at him and grunted. “Far from adequate.” He then turned to me. “What have we here?”

Markus cleared his throat, metaphorically stepping in front of me. “She’s my guest.”

Don nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face. “My, my.”

He reached out for my hand in a way that made me feel like I had no choice but to give it to him.

He lifted it to his lips.

I felt Markus squeeze my knee again. It was almost as if it physically pained him to have another man touch me.

“You are simply lovely.”

I tried to ignore the hinting tone of possession in his voice.

“Am I?” I hadn’t meant to sound cryptic.

Markus cleared his throat again.

Don let me go, just like that.

I frowned. Who was really in charge here?

“I must say,” He said as he placed a napkin in his lap. “You are quite the beauty.” He shifted his gaze to Markus while I blushed and stared into my salad. “I was starting to wonder about you. Two years and you’re just now taking a lover.”

Eliseo coughed. “The most inconvenient one he could find.”

Was I imagining the growl in his voice?

Don took another sip of his drink. “Why do you say that?”

“She’s the only one who knows where Cody Sears disappeared to.”

My heart sunk. I broke out in a cold sweat. “I told you…” My cut stung.

Don reached over, his soft hands tracing my face. “She’s bruised.” He spoke over my head like I was a child.

“She’s strong.” I could hardly hear Eliseo over my pounding heart, but even so, I knew he had meant it as an insult.

“I know.” Markus took my hand. This time, on top of the table for everyone to see.

Don glowered at Eliseo. “No more talk of business.”

Eliseo flicked his gaze away.

“Where’s your wife? If I remember correctly, she was invited.”

He gritted his teeth. “I would have conveyed the invitation if we were speaking.”

The steaming second course interrupted our conversation. Puttanesca and roast chicken was placed on the dinner plate in front of me. The aroma made my mouth water. Who knew this restaurant was a measly thirty blocks away? That’s the strange thing. I had been kidnapped and dragged around my own city. How many of the people I walk past every day are kidnappees? How many others never notice?

Markus watched me take my first bite savoring it in my mouth. “Is it up to your standards?”

I looked back at him, his goofy, dimpled smile suddenly becoming the brightest thing in the room. I giggled like a giddy teenager, like how Cody used to make me feel. No, better. I wouldn’t think about Cody. He had left me here, to the dogs, Eliseo… and Markus. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Markus. It was as though he was the only thing in my life that gave me comfort. No, more than that, as though without him, all comfort would vanish. “Why are my standards so important?”

He leaned towards me, planting a greasy kiss on my forehead.

I feigned disgust. “Oh God, Markus.” I wiped the back of my hand against it.

He chuckled, wrapping my heart in the throaty sound. “I’m sorry, I was just so dead set on kissing you… I…”

“You’re impulsive, aren’t you?” I asked, taking another bite of my food.

He nodded. “It’s one of my many good qualities.”

I thought about impulsivity and how it made for great characters while I hungrily devoured the rest of my food. The whirl of voice drowned out my thoughts… and my worries, and the occasional glance at Markus, who took turns arguing with the other men and humoring Don.

“What are you so pensive about?”

“This scene…” I glanced around me at the men animatedly eating, my make-up woman down at the other end of the table scolding a man who appeared to be her boyfriend, and Don quietly watching all of this with a calm, smile on his face. “Everyone is such a lively character. It’s rich. I’m just itching to write it down. My head full of thoughts. I just… it’s almost painful.” One cautious glance at Markus told me I hadn’t alienated him. On the contrary, Markus was staring at me, waiting for me to continue. “God. Cody used to hate my ‘writing shit.’”

Markus shook his head and slid his hand over mine. “I want to hear more. You’re fascinating.” His thumb stroked the back of my hand. “So quiet and yet there’s so much whirling around in your head. I love it.”

I nodded. I wanted to get back to his big bed with him and have a nice, long pillow-talk session. “How is that possible?”

He took my hand in both of his. “How are you possible?”

Again, I blushed. No one had given me this much attention since… since… probably since that guy Robby from the 9
th
grade who used to put a short-stemmed rose in my locker every other day. What was the catch here?

“I dunno. Ask my mom.” I was leaning into him, again, slightly heady from the wine. The rest of the room was beginning to blur. For the first time, I stopped asking questions and started letting myself enjoy this little respite from my normal life, from my torn up living room and embezzling boyfriend. EX-boyfriend.

“And Cody wasn’t a fan of the creative?”

I nodded. Jesus, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “No. I don’t really know what he wanted out of me.”

Eliseo slammed his fist down on the table in front of me startling me out of my reverie. The Cannolis had just come around, along with a fresh round of port. His skin was flushed; his lips were sloppy. He was more than drunk… and in front of Don.

One glance at the head of the table next to me told me that Don had stepped out. How had I not noticed that? Markus blurred my senses. I wasn’t used to missing things.

“Maybe that’s why he stole from you and fucking disappeared.”

I gulped. The haze of my slight buzz made it difficult for me to fully process his words. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you being a cunt.”

It was like he had slapped me again.

“Hey!” Markus barked. “Eliseo get a hold of yourself!”

“Tell me where the fuck he is!” He jutted his finger at me.

Markus jumped up and grabbed his shirt front in a fist, knocking over a glass of wine. His face had turned beat red, the veins popping out on his neck. He looked as though he was straining to control himself. “You’re just angry Don put me on the bust tomorrow morning and not you. Do you want it?”

“Don’t fucking do that. Don’t you dare fucking try make me your charity.”

There it was again, that deep growl.

I started to scoot back in my chair.

“Get a hold of yourself, Eliseo.” His eyes glowed even more so than I had seen before.

Eliseo’s gaze had taken on a silver quality. He tipped his head up, letting out blood-curdling growl.

Why was I the only one in the room who wanted to scream?

My makeup woman-friend stood up, mumbling something and reached behind the curtain retrieving a faux wall. It was made of steel and slammed shut, a lock coming down with it. I glanced around me again, taking a closer look. Behind all the curtains, everything was steal. Holy shit. Phantom pain from the slaps and the punch and the torture took over my body. I was stuck. Fucking stuck in this room with mobsters and Markus…

“You don’t tell me what to do. Only Don can do that.” He reached over the table and backhanded Markus so hard he let go of the shirt. His chair tipped so he stood up, letting out a growl of his own. It was guttural, unhuman like. I pressed my back against the steel door, suddenly feeling like the whole room was closing in.

“Except you don’t listen to him. You don’t deliver.”

Eliseo was shaking all over. “Don’t provoke me.” His eyes changed right before mine. They weren’t grey, they were silver and they were getting bigger, red rims around them.

Markus backhanded him so hard he turned all the way around, flying against the wall. He turned back around and shoved Markus who flew towards my wall. I screeched stepping out of the way. I heard something crack. A bone maybe? “Markus!” I sounded like a hyena.

“Emily.” Another man stepped towards me. His face was stern, but unconcerned, like this scene was commonplace. He lifted me up and held me but I couldn’t tell if it was to keep me there, or to keep me out of harm’s way.

Markus rolled over. “You don’t need to be provoked.” He was growling like an animal or a monster. He was shaking too, just like Eliseo. Something was about to happen, I could feel it. “You can’t get results.” He was gaining on Eliseo, who had now started hyperventilating, breathing so hard his whole chest looked like it was going to explode. Was I watching a seizure? Were they both dying? No. That didn’t make any sense. “You are failing Don.” He reached out on either side of him, turning his head up to the ceiling again.

The make-up woman went around the room, blowing out all of the candles.

Suddenly, it was pitch black.

Another howl. I heard crackling and popping sounds, whimpers of pain. Something sloshed to the ground, blood? The sounds were coming from everywhere, all around me. I couldn’t distinguish anything but I thought I might have heard ripping and tearing. More growls. It was so loud, it drowned out my own heart pounding in my chest.

“Oh no. They’re dying.” Markus had slipped from my fingers. What was happening? Were they fighting? Why the hell didn’t anyone care? “Markus!”