Romeo (Blood Brothers) (15 page)

Adonis staggered. Nico joined them and backhanded Adonis. The four brothers took turns throwing punches and kicks. Even though they hit him as hard as they could, Adonis remained on his feet for a remarkably long time. When he finally fell to his knees, they surrounded him, but then a blinding white light filled the room.

“Get out of here now, Adonis!” A loud, deep voice boomed throughout the room.

In his temporary blindness, Romeo swung his arms trying to connect with anything. Bright, colorful spots danced before his eyes and it took several seconds before his eyesight came back to him.

Adonis was gone! The only people remaining in the room were his family and the remaining agents who’d survived the fight and three newcomers, one of whom he immediately recognized. “Nya!” He hissed.

“That’s the woman who had been with Adonis!” Jagger pointed in Nya’s direction.

Romeo had known there was something shady about that bitch and this only confirmed it. He wanted to fucking strangle her for not only being a part of the mess but also reminding him of what he’d desperately been trying to forget. Christine.

Nya nodded toward him in acknowledgement but didn’t speak. It seemed that Marco and Dante recognized another member of the trio, judging from the looks on their faces as they eyed a slender redhead of medium height and stunning features.

“Liliana,” Dante whispered.

Romeo looked to the tall, familiar looking man standing between the two women. His sadness was almost palpable. His jade eyes scanned each other them, his sadness evident.

“What is the meaning of this? Where is Adonis?” Dante demanded.

The tall vampire glanced at all of them before he spoke. “I couldn’t let you kill him. Forgive me... brothers.”

With a wave of the redhead’s hand, the three vampires disappeared.

“No! Goddamn it, no!” Dante yelled.

Chapter Seventeen

Romeo’s heart raced faster than he could ever remember it doing as he parked his bike in Christine’s driveway. He was relieved to see her vehicle in front of her house, because he didn’t think he had the patience to wait for her return. He would have knocked when he got to her door, but it was slightly ajar.

He frowned, thinking maybe Christine had forgotten to close it all the way when she stepped into her house. But, Romeo got another vibe. There was another vampire here. What the fuck? Had Christine already moved on to her next vampire conquest? Fuck that, she belonged to him and if he had to fight for her—he would. Hell, he’d already survived the fight of his life, what was one more battle?

He pushed the door in, his incisors descending. He was ready to kick someone’s ass. Romeo heard movements upstairs, which sounded like they were coming from the bedroom; otherwise the house was eerily silent. He took the steps three at a time until he reached Christine’s room.

Romeo kicked the door in and stormed through. What he saw angered and surprised him. Christine was nowhere to be found and Nya was rifling through her drawers. “You bitch! What the hell are you doing here?” He demanded. For all his clear animosity, she seemed unmoved, not even bothering to lift her head.

She continued her task as if he weren’t there or hadn’t said anything and that ticked him off. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Romeo demanded again.

“I heard you the first time. Lower your voice because I’m sure the neighbors can hear you as well.” Nya pulled out some clothes and walked them over to a suitcase. Her cool response had him so confused he didn’t quite know how to act, including whether he should just kill her and get it over with or torture her slowly. All he knew was that this woman was his enemy, probably in cahoots with Adonis, and she was in his woman’s house.

Deciding to attack now and ask questions later, Romeo was next to her so quickly, Nya didn’t move out of the way. He grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her slender body into the wall. It went against his principles to manhandle a woman, but she was no mere woman. She was a killer who was one of the rogues responsible for the massacres of hundreds.

Nya gritted her teeth, but didn’t express any pain or even a hint of fear. She merely looked at him with her usual contempt.

“I won’t ask you again, bitch. What are you doing here and where is Christine?”

“Do you honestly think I’d tell you anything after this, especially after you’ve put your hands on me?” She asked incredulously.

He rammed her into the wall again, her head making a loud thud as it snapped back. Romeo wrapped his hand around her throat and brought his face to hers until their noses touched. He could tell she was much younger than him, but there was still an immense power within her. He wondered why she didn’t fight back. The more passive Nya remained, the angrier Romeo grew. “Say something, bitch.”

“That’s the third time you’ve called me a bitch, even though you know my name. Apologize,” she said, an ironic smile twisting her full lips. Her chocolate brown eyes twinkled dangerously.

Who the hell did she think she was? He’d destroy her. Romeo’s fingers tightened around her neck, his thumb pressing down on her windpipe. Nya gasped for breath. A knee came up, connecting with his balls so hard it felt like he would cough them up and a punch landed on the side of his head.

His grip loosened and she twirled away from him. “I suppose chivalry is dead.” She sighed and went back to her task of gathering Christine’s clothes and packing them neatly into a suitcase. When Romeo attempted to grab her again, she shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’m not as big a pushover as you seem to think.”

He wanted to question her about her dealings with Adonis but his concern for Christine outweighed his curiosity in that direction.

“Where is Christine? And why are you packing her belongings?” He asked through clenched teeth, realizing she wasn’t going to say anything further until he calmed down.

Nya sighed, flinging one of her long plaits over her shoulder and sat down on the bed. “Believe it or not, Romeo, I’m not your enemy.”

He snorted. “Yeah, right. It sure seems that way from where I’m standing, honey. My nephew identified you as the mystery woman with Adonis.”

She shrugged. “So?”

“So, you’re one of his rogues. I only wonder why your eyes haven’t turned red yet.”

“I’m not one of those monsters!” She shuddered. That finally got a reaction from her but Romeo wondered why that had bothered her after all the other insults he’d hurled at her.

“Rescuing Adonis certainly doesn’t indicate that.”

“There are things you don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand,” he practically sneered.

“It’s not my place to tell you. Everything will be revealed in time by Giovanni.”

“Giovanni? That’s the rogue you were with, right?”

Nya rolled her eyes. “For a seemingly intelligent guy, I fail to see how you can put two and two together and come up with five. Giovanni is no rogue. I don’t willingly hang out with rogues.”

“That’s a strange statement coming from you considering you spend a lot of time with Adonis.”

“I said I would never
willingly
hang out with a rogue.”

Romeo wasn’t sure what she meant by that cryptic statement but if it affected Christine in any way, he was determined to find out. “How would I know that? You’re pretty damned secretive. You show up in the damnedest places and even though you and Christine are supposed to be friends, she knows as much about you as I do.”

“There are some things that are on a need-to-know-basis, so if you don’t know, then you don’t need to know. And there is no supposed about it. I
am
her friend.”

“Sure, whatever. What does Giovanni have to do with this?”

She briefly glared at him before continuing. “He’d never allow you to kill his brother.
Your
brother. Like I said, it isn’t my story to tell. All I can say is that he is one of the few living creatures that I trust. Don’t go jumping to conclusions because that’s what got you and your brothers in trouble in the first place.”

Romeo didn’t want to believe her but, oddly enough, he sensed that she was telling him the truth. Besides, after seeing Adonis and Giovanni together, he could no longer deny their connection. Still, he knew no more about Nya than before. “Just whose side are you on, lady?”

Another humorless smile touched her lips. “That’s easy. Mine. Look, I suppose I can tell you why I’m here and Christine isn’t, although it should be obvious to you that I’m packing some things for her.”

“No shit. I’m not a simpleton.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged.

Romeo had never met a more infuriating woman. He wanted to wring her neck again, but kept his temper in check. “Why are you packing for her?”

Nya’s eyes were downcast and for the first time since he’d known her, she looked frazzled. Alarm shot through him. “What is it? What’s happened to her?” Romeo raced over to the bed and yanked Nya to her feet and shook her.

“Let me go, you ass. If you don’t stop shaking me, I’ll never get the words out.”

If he didn’t know better, Romeo would have thought she had tears in her eyes. But it couldn’t be, not this fierce vampire femme who’d shown no fear when he’s been seconds away from snapping her lovely neck.

This made him more panicked than before. “Nya?”

“Do you love her?” Her question took him by surprise.

“What?”

“Do you love her? Answer me truthfully.”

“I would walk through fire for her, kill a million rogues for her, and die a thousand deaths for her. If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what is. Just please tell me where she is.”

Nya nodded, seeming to accept his answer. “She’s in the hospital.”

“The hospital? What’s happened? Was she in an accident?”

“No. Her time has come. She’s worse off than ever before. The doctors said that in a couple days, she’ll probably slip into a coma, then she won’t feel a thing. That she’ll go peacefully.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Now, it was obviously Nya’s turn to be surprised. “You didn’t know? I was wondering why you hadn’t figured it out yet.”

“If I knew, would I be asking? Stop speaking in riddles. You’re not some old wise man and I’m not your student. What’s wrong with Christine?”

Nya’s mouth fell open, her eyes searching his face for answers. “She’s dying.”

He gripped Nya by the forearms and shook her. “You’re lying! You’re a goddamn liar!”

“Bitch, I may be, but I’m no liar. Haven’t you been with her when she’s had one of her headaches?”

“She told me they were migraines!”

“Hardly. She has an inoperable brain tumor. It’s a wonder she’s been able to hold on this long, but Christine insisted on leading a normal life.

“No!” He roared. “No! You’re supposed to be her friend. Why didn’t you try to save her?” Even as he denied it, he realized that that was the reason he hadn’t been able to read her mind. In order to communicate telepathically, vampires tapped into the neurons that controlled thoughts. Obviously in Christine’s case, the tumor had been blocking his access to her thoughts. It had also clearly affected her physiologically and that was why her juices had tasted differently to him.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried? If she would have taken me up on my offer, she wouldn’t be in a hospital right now. It’s not something I can just force on her, because that would be the most horrible thing that I could do. This has been a weight on my heart ever since I found out.” A tear escaped from the corner of her eye, which she hastily wiped away.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Maybe because she didn’t want your pity.”

“But I love her!” Suddenly it all made sense, the cryptic statements and the abrupt way she’d ended things. She hadn’t wanted him to know because she loved him, too. His mind drifted to the time when she’d confessed her love for him while he was trying to rouse her from her sleep. It had been a whispered, ‘I love you’ but he’d heard it all the same. How could he have forgotten that? There was hope!

“Did you tell her you loved her?”

Romeo’s face grew hot as he thought of their last encounter and how shabbily he’d treated her. Fuck! He couldn’t lose her. He just couldn’t. “Take me to the hospital.”

“What do you mean to do?”

“Save her and I won’t take no for an answer.”

Nya sighed in apparent relief. “She has to consent, though.”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank you.”

<><><>

Christine looked out the hospital room window listlessly, not interested with what was on the television screen. Thank God for morphine, because the headaches were not only worse, but they were also nonstop. She knew it would be a matter of days rather than weeks now.

When she’d been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, the doctors had told her she’d only live for a matter of weeks when she’d refused the treatment which would only prolong but not save her life. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her days constantly in the hospital sick from radiation and chemotherapy treatments, too sick to fuck or enjoy life. It was a miracle she’d managed to hang on this long but she figured it had been her will that had gotten her this far. Yes, the headaches had been bad, but she’d managed to deal with them and had confounded the doctors with her continued survival.

Christine had drawn strength from her friends, her job, the children, then Romeo. But after the abrupt way things had ended between them, her health had rapidly declined. She wished he knew she loved him. Maybe Nya could relay the message for her. At least her soul would be at peace if he knew their brief time together meant more to her than she’d wanted to admit.

Christine was thankful she had been able to say a proper goodbye to Jaxson and Adrienne. They didn’t understand why she kept telling then that she loved them or kept giving them frequent hugs, but she made sure they knew they were loved. Saying goodbye and knowing it would be the final one hurt more than she’d realized it would.

She’d cried for hours but was happy to know that when they were older, they’d inherit her estate. It wasn’t much, just the proceeds from the sale of her house and a sizable savings she’d squirreled away courtesy of her divorce settlement. It was enough that they would both have something to put towards future college tuition. Nya had promised to watch out for them and make sure they would be okay.

Christine tried not to, but she couldn’t help thinking about Romeo. She missed him something fierce. Her heart ached and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. At this point, death looked awfully inviting, because living without Romeo just wouldn’t have been worth it. This love for him was so inconvenient, because the moment she opened her eyes and before she went to sleep at night, Christine thought of him.

The way they had parted still ripped at her insides. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she hadn’t wanted his pity, either. No. It was for the best. He’d soon forget her.

She also wished she weren’t such a coward when Nya had offered to bring her over, but Christine didn’t know whether the vampire life was the kind of life she wanted to lead.

Just then her room door flew open.

“Sir, you can’t go in there. It’s past visiting hours!” A harried nurse panted, obviously from trying to catch up with him.

“Romeo!” Christine tried to sit up, but didn’t have the strength to do so. She winced at the jarring movement.

“Christine! You are crazy if you think I’m going to let you die. I should shake you, woman! Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” He demanded, looking even angrier than when she’d last seen him.

Nya stepped into the room behind Romeo and the nurse. “Nya! How could you? I told you not to tell him until after I was gone.”

“I had to, Christine. He threatened to kill me if I didn’t.” The amused twinkle in the female vampire’s eyes had Christine highly skeptical of that claim.

“It would have been rather shitty of her if she didn’t,” Romeo added.

“Sir, ma’am, you’re going to have to leave or I’ll call security.” The nurse stamped her foot to get their attention.

Romeo turned to Nya. “Would you mind taking care of this for me? I promise I won’t ever call you a bitch again... well, not for the rest of the day, at least.”

Nya glared at him before turning dark glowing eyes on the now gaping nurse. “You will leave us. This man will be allowed to stay as long as he likes. You will make an exception for me as well. You have other nursing duties to attend to and you won’t come back to this room unless the patient buzzes for you.”

The nurse nodded. “Yes. Stay as long as you like. I won’t be back unless Miss Summers buzzes for me,” she said, walking back out the door.

Romeo smiled at Nya then. “Now, how about getting lost yourself? Me and my woman have some unfinished business to discuss.”

Christine gulped. His woman? This was news to her.

Nya gave Romeo the middle finger before turning on her heel to leave them alone. She shut the door behind her with a decisive click.

“That was rather nasty of you and I don’t really know why you’re here. I don’t need your pity.” She crossed her arms over her chest, but the movement made her dizzy. She sank deeper into the pillows, nausea hitting her hard. It felt like she was getting weaker by the minute and she hated him for seeing her like this. “Please go away, Romeo.” Even as she said the words, she was glad to see his beloved face one last time.

“I never pitied you, Christine. I... I love you. I wasn’t going to let another man have you, so what makes you think I’d let death take what’s mine?”

Her jaw dropped. “No, you can’t love me.”

“Why not?” Romeo sat down beside her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. She studied him intently, her gaze roaming over each one of his handsome features, from his deep cobalt blue eyes to his sexy lips and chiseled features. Her heart swelled with love for him.

“I’m a big mess right now.”

“Well, you might be very close to death, but you’ll always be the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes, no matter the circumstances. I love you so much that you’re the first thought when I wake in the morning and the last thought before I go to sleep. Please be honest with me, Christine. Do you love me, too?”

The anxious expression in Romeo’s eyes proved the love he’d confessed. Tears sprang to her eyes. How could she deny her feelings for him any longer? “Yes. I do love you, Romeo, but I’m dying. It’s not fair to you.”

“Christine, I’m a vampire. This tumor has obviously robbed you of your senses if you think I would allow you to leave me.”

“But you want to change me into a—”

“A vampire? Would that be so bad, my darling?”

“I don’t know if I can get used to drinking blood for the rest of my life.”

“After your first blood, you need never drink blood again.”

“What? I mean how?”

“It’s not the blood. It’s what’s in the blood. The same life-giving essence in blood is the same stuff in sexual secretions. Why do you think I enjoy eating your pussy so much?”

Christine gasped. “You’re kidding me right? You mean I could…?” She broke off, her face growing hot.

“You could feed from my cock.” He grinned at her embarrassment.

“Oh, I guess there’s still a lot I need to learn about vampires. What would happen? I mean how does this work?”

Romeo briefly detailed how they would drink each other’s blood, in essence exchanging fluids.

“I...” She didn’t know what to say. Could she completely give her trust and her heart to this man?

Romeo squeezed her hand, looking earnest. “Please be my wife. We’ll do the whole white wedding thing if you like and we’ll adopt Jaxson and Adrienne. We’d be a real family.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. Did he mean it? She searched his face and saw love and acceptance. “Is that what you really want to do? You’re not just saying that to get me to agree to this. Do you really want to adopt the children?”

“I know how much you love them and I’m already halfway in love with them myself.”

“But what if you want children of your own? I can’t give them to you.”

“You’re what matters to me and I
will
have children of my own, Jaxson and Adrienne. What do you say, Christine? Let’s get hitched.”

There was only one thing she could think to say. “Yes!”