Part 4 (1/2)
She threw back her head and laughed. ”You are the most self-centered man I've ever known. G.o.d helpme for falling in love with you. This is the root of the problem. You try to push the spotlight off to otherthings. Crazy homicidal mother? Here, move in with me and become a vampire! s.k.a.n.ky floozies whothrow themselves at you? Oh, you need donors, too, but only old ones because how canI make youstand it?”
She grabbed her coat. ”We have a long way to go before I'll be buying sheets with you. I have to get to work. Don't forget you promised to do pizza with Alex. He's talked of little else all day. I'll see you later.”
He pulled her back to the bed and yanked her down to the mattress, covering her with his body. ”This isn't over. I'll come into the bar after Alex goes to bed. I have some work to do, and then I'm going to deal with my mother. Be careful.”
She chewed her lip a moment, wanting to scream in his face that she wouldn't have to have bodyguards if his mother would listen to reason. But she just sighed, not having the energy to say it again. ”Dominic already has two bodyguards on me. One vamp, one human.”
He nodded, satisfied. ”We'll get back to the issue of donors later. Don't think I'll forget.”
She nipped his chin and got up. ”Donors and more, Xander. There's a lot more than the issue of my dozen studly donors to hash out. I'll see you later.” She stifled her laugh at the scowl on his face.
Downstairs, Dominic was waiting in the kitchen with two of his men. ”Hang on a sec. I need to go tell Alex that Stryker is awake.”
Poking her head into the TV room, she saw Alex watching a movie. ”Hey kiddo, your brother is awake now. He's getting ready to jump in the shower, and then he'll be down. But if he's not down in ten minutes, go and bug him. He's in the second room on the left.”
”She sent someone here to threaten you, didn't she?”
She thought about what to do and say to soften it, but how could she? ”Alex, Xander is not going to let her harm you. Dominic is here, his people are here, and your brother is here. She can't come in, and before you came to stay with me, Stryker had Dominic come and put in a new security system. You're safe here.”
He reached out and took her hand. She squeezed his in return. His voice was small when he finally spoke. ”But are you?”
She sighed. ”Of course I am. Xander is going to fix this whole mess. He won't let you down, Alex. He takes family very seriously. You're his family. He loves you.”
”And you, too. I can tell by the way he goes on and on about you all the time.”
She smiled. ”That so? Huh. Well, he's pretty all right for a vampire king. Now, I have to go to work.
Give that lazy bones brother of yours ten minutes and no longer. And tell him I said he can't use my hair product! He's always using it, and he never replaces it. Bad enough he always takes my coffee and eats my cookies.”
Alex laughed, and she couldn't help but lean in and kiss the top of his head. ”Keep him in line, kiddo. He needs a keeper when I'm not around.”
”Will do. And Lissie? Please be careful.”
”Will do.” She saluted and went into the kitchen where two men, nearly as hulking as Dominic, were waiting. She knew the vampire. He was a cousin or some such and was quite nice. You wouldn't know it to look at him though. His face was impa.s.sive, and he was the size of a mini van. She guessed that alone made it unnecessary to show his mean side most of the time. Since he was on Dom's team, Lissie guessed he had one though. When he needed to.
The human was quickly introduced as an old marine buddy of Dom's. Dominic gave her instructions, told her to stick close, and urged her to carry her cell phone with her all night, just in case of a problem.
”If you're trying to scare me, you're doing a bang up job,” she mumbled as she pulled her jacket on.
”Good. Fear keeps you alert, and being alert keeps you alive. Now, go on.” Dominic waved them out once his man outside had given the thumbs up. ”Oh, and your car stays here. You'll use one of ours until this thing ends.”
”What? I can't drive my baby? Why?”
”Our cars have armor plating on them.”
A sick feeling permeated her gut. ”Great. I could have fallen for a dentist, but oh no, I had to have the vampire.”
Fortunately, the bar was so packed and busy that Lissie really didn't have the time to think about anyone out to hurt her. Despite her fears, there hadn't even been a hint of danger. And thank goodness because it was Friday night, and the place was crawling with humans and vampires alike. The din was deafening, the crowd chaotic, and the air was filled with the clove cigarettes that vampires seemed to love so much.
Her core clientele was there as usual. The vampires who liked a bar experience where they weren't
gawked at or hara.s.sed, and the humans who liked to be around vampires. Most of them were young and good looking, and Lissie did have to admit that profits had gone up and problems had gone down after she'd allied herself with Emerald City. Now other vampires didn't come in looking for fights. She'd been concerned about how they'd react when she declared her allegiance and became a part of their territory, but more vampires came in when it was established as a safe place to hang out. Fights had all but totally disappeared.
The bar had belonged to her grandfather and his father before him. Of course, when the bar had first opened up, it served loggers, and vampires hadn't yet announced their existence to the world. Back then it was the Lucky Spur. She still had the large disc of a very old tree that her great grandfather had carved the family crest into. She'd finished it and hung it above the front door. It was smooth and s.h.i.+ny in the spot she reached up to touch each day as she came into work.
Of course, Jacques Norris would have lost all his hair if he'd had an inkling what his bar would be after she took over. The idea that she'd dare to change the name and add velvet upholstery was bad enough. But her clientele, vamps and wannabes with dental implants and spooky contacts, would have given him a heart attack on the spot Big night meant lots of trash. Needing some fresh air, she grabbed a bag, twisted it shut, and looked for one of her rent-a-vamps. One of them was across the room, near the front door where she liked him. The other had gone to the restroom.
Shrugging her shoulders, she realized she was being stupid. She took out her own d.a.m.ned trash every other night. There was no reason to panic, and the dumpster was just out back anyway.
She hefted the bag and told one of the other bartenders she was making a quick trash run and headed out back.
The relative quiet was like an instant calm around her as she stepped out into the alley. She took a deep breath. It'd rained recently, and the air was crisp and clean. The heat from the crowded s.p.a.ce poured off her skin, and she tossed the bag into the big dumpster. The night was cool, but not overly cold, and she hung back for a few moments more, just wanting that clean quiet for a bit longer when she heard a noise.
She turned quickly, but before she'd completely spun to face the noise, she was struck in the face so hard she saw stars. Hearing the crack, feeling the bones break and the skin tear, she felt almost as if it was all happening to someone else. She stumbled due to her loss of equilibrium. She held her hands out to find purchase and was shoved to her knees.
Knowing she was in big trouble, she screamed out so loud it hurt her lungs. She hoped against hope that she could be heard over the noise inside or by someone out front.
The blood from her head wound ran into her eyes, nearly blinding her. But she didn't need her eyes to get savage satisfaction from the pained grunt her attacker made when she kicked out and connected with his knee. The crack of his bone dislocating gave her a bit more energy to continue fighting, and she scrambled backwards, wiping her eyes.