Damek nodded. “I am, and I’ll take good care of her.” Sonia was smiling now as her father lifted her off her feet and swung her around. Her laughter reached his ears and lightened his heart.
“I would not let you have her if I did not think you would do so.”
“You could not have taken her from me,” Damek pointed out.
Roberto shook his head. “Maybe, maybe not. I have a lot of friends in low places, vampire. Do not forget that.”
Damek respected the werewolf and the family he’d built. He even admired the organization he’d built. The Keepers were indeed helping other paranormal creatures to adapt and thrive in the human world, living side-by-side without harm. But he was getting tired of being threatened by them.
A muscle beneath his eye ticked and he needed to get away from them all for a while before he did something he’d regret. Before he could make his escape, Sonia’s brothers stopped before him.
“How are you enjoying yourself?” Milo asked. He was a banker and the most even-tempered of the two brothers, but not by much.
Damek sipped his ouzo. “You throw quite a party.”
Stefano laughed and slapped him on the back. “You get used to us. Sonia is a package deal. Her family comes with her.”
“So I’ve come to understand.” His dry tone made both brothers laugh again. In the past few weeks he’d come to see how the family worked. Sonia talked to her mother every day and her grandmother at least twice a week. While he was glad they were close, he was happy they’d decided to keep living in Chicago. Too much of this togetherness would drive him mad.
Sonia laughed again and Damek smiled. Idiot that he was, he would visit her family as much as she wanted if it made her happy. She practically skipped to his side, shooting her brothers a nasty glare. “You’re not giving Damek a hard time, are you?”
“Who, us?”
Sonia laughed at Stefano’s look of innocence and shooed her brothers away. When they were alone, she wrapped an arm around his waist. “I know this isn’t easy for you. Thank you.”
She understood him so well and he loved her for it. He was also concerned for her. While she was getting stronger at resisting the bloodlust, it was difficult for her to be around large crowds for such an extended period of time, and it could come over her at any time. Unbeknownst to her, he was constantly monitoring her, ready to step in if needed. She was strong, but they both could use a respite from the large gathering.
“I was thinking it was time for us to take that side trip we talked about.” Craig had used the identification they’d found on the vampire hunters’ bodies and his computer skills and had found all three residences of the deceased hunters. Luther Kostas had lived right here in New York, and Damek wanted to search the Manhattan residence.
“Sure. They won’t miss us, and we’ll be back before they know it.”
Damek began guiding her through the room as he raised his hand and caught Jerome’s attention. The driver had been alerted earlier that they’d be going out later so he put down his plate of food and met them at the entrance. Unfortunately, so did Sonia’s mother.
“Where are you going?” Celia Agostino frowned at him and then at her daughter. “The night is still young.”
Sonia hugged her mother. “We’ve got to go out for a bit but we’ll be back. I promise.”
Celia searched her daughter’s face, finally sighed and patted her cheek. “Stay safe.”
“I’ll watch over her,” he assured her.
“I know you will.” She patted his cheek as well. He didn’t understand this family at all. They had no fear of him. It was totally disconcerting.
He opened the door and ushered Sonia outside and down the stairs. Jerome already had the car waiting out front. They’d elected to drive to New York, rather than fly, as it gave them more freedom to move about whenever they wanted.
Since Jerome already knew where they were going and the privacy screen was in place, Damek pulled Sonia onto his lap. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I’m having the best time.” Her hand settled against his chest. “I know this isn’t your idea of fun, so thank you for agreeing to stay for a few days.”
“I don’t mind your family.” They understood the necessary precautions and had already outfitted Sonia’s apartment with a state-of-the-art alarm system and installed metal shutters on all the windows. They loved Sonia and accepted him. He couldn’t ask for any more than that.
She laughed and hugged him. “You’re so diplomatic.”
He snorted. He’d been called many things in his life but that certainly wasn’t one of them. “We’ll get your things packed up and loaded tomorrow and leave the day after. I need to get back to the club.” He’d spent more time away from his business than he had there for the past few weeks, his need to stay with Sonia until she was comfortable with her new lot in life being paramount above anything else. Byron was handling things, but there was no substitute for the owner being there.
“I could help you.” She ran her fingers over his chest and shoulders. “We haven’t talked about what I’m going to do now that I’m suddenly unemployed.”
He caught her face in his hand and brought it close until their noses were almost touching. “I know it wasn’t easy for you to quit your job, but you can do anything you want. I don’t want you to overdo it until you’re stronger.”
Sonia smiled and kissed him. “I’m as strong as an ox and ready to go out of my mind if I don’t find something to occupy my time.”
“Are you sorry to leave your job behind?” He worried she would grow to resent him.
“No.” She shook her head and played with a lock of his hair. “I enjoyed teaching and the research, but it’s time to start a new chapter in my life.”
The vehicle sped through the streets of the city, the lights and people never ending. They were silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts, until the car pulled in just down the street from the building they were going to.
Damek hit the intercom. “Stay here. We shouldn’t be long.”
“Yes, sir.” Jerome was human and had no idea his boss was anything but what he appeared to be—a nightclub owner with dubious connections. Most thought he had ties to the mafia and had no idea what he truly was.
He opened the door and drew Sonia out of the limo. “Stay close.” She nodded and kept pace as they walked up the sidewalk. Damek barely glanced at the doorman, who immediately opened the door for them. He’d already used his preternatural powers to mess with the cameras so there would be no record of them coming or going.
Sonia breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped into the elevator and the doors shut tight. “I’m amazed he didn’t try to stop us.”
“He did not because I planted the suggestion in his mind that we belonged here.”
“Handy skill.” She took his hand and held it as the elevator went up to the twentieth floor.
They ghosted down the corridor and Damek waved his hand and the locks tumbled open. He pushed the door open and ushered Sonia inside.
Sonia wished they were anywhere but Luther Kostas’s home, somewhere they could be alone together. She knew Damek was finding it difficult to be around her family and was only staying in New York for a few days to make her happy. She loved him for it even as she wished he were more at ease around them. It might never happen, but she hoped he might relax around them with time. Of course, if she’d known her family was going to descend en masse for a party she would have told her mother not to do it. She’d planned to keep this visit low-key, to give Damek time to acclimate.
He was so aloof, so alone even in a room of boisterous people, maybe even especially then. She planned to take him back to her apartment when they finished here and show him just how much she loved him.