Her lips trembled when she rasped, “Don’t get hurt.”
Luis didn’t breathe again until he was certain she was out of the room. When he was, he turned on his heel to meet the chaos he’d started.
Contestants, proxies, and entourages were arguing the finer points of the rules. No one seemed particularly bothered by the corpse on the lounge, which was slowly dribbling blood on the carpet. The cleaning fee would be enormous, but it always seemed to go that way when vampires gathered in one area.
As the joke went,“Three vampires walk into a bar. Two walk out.”
From across the small but furious crowd, Malachi caught his eye. He appeared to be in the middle of threatening a babbling Easton, who kept pointing to the unbothered priest picking through the bottles of liquor behind the bar. Furious, he tossed Easton aside and began to shove his way toward Luis, the knife gripped in his white-knuckled fist.
Knowing he wouldn’t be far away, Luis pivoted to find his brother a few steps behind him.
“Keep him busy, will you?”
Milo nodded. Stepping into Malachi’s way, he neatly intercepted him and opened a path for Luis to escape.
TWELVE
No one triedto stop him from leaving. Likely no one but Malachi noticed, but even that was probably the least of his concerns, considering he’d been given Milo to deal with. Luis ducked out of the parlor as quickly and unobtrusively as he could, leaving Tomas to guard the door for him.
It took longer than he liked, but he eventually found Francesca and Maxine hidden away in a small sitting room on the other side of the mansion. Only when he saw her standing by a window, her arms tucked tightly around herself, did his heartbeat begin to slow back to its normal pace.
Maxine glowered at him from the middle of the room. He got the sense that he’d just walked in on an argument. That feeling was confirmed when the redhead demanded, “You can’t seriously expect me to leave you alone with him!”
Whatever thin veneer of respect she’d held onto at the beginning of the night had obviously worn off. Luis didn’t really care about that, but hedidhave a problem with her trying to keep him away from his girl.
“You should probably check on your cousin,” he advised.
Maxine’s mouth popped open, no doubt to say something withering, when Francesca called out, “Max, I’m fine. Justmake sure Easton hasn’t caused more trouble, okay? I’m barely hanging on as it is.”
“Fine,” she huffed. Her heels clicked menacingly across the floor as she approached Luis. Shoving one finger under his nose, she seethed, “Tonight wasnotsupposed to go this way. This is your fucking fault, jackass. If I so much as get aninklingthat you made her feel unsafe, I’m taking down your entire family. Got it?”
“Message received,” he replied, stepping aside to let her pass through the door.
He barely waited for her to close it before he flipped the lock. Her gaze was heavy on him as he slowly crossed the room to sit on one of the couches arrayed before an unused fireplace. The room was lit by a single lamp on an end table, but a vampire had no trouble seeing in the dark.
But just because he could see her didn’t mean he couldreadher.
Worry crawled up the back of his throat and putrefied on his tongue. The bitter taste filled his mouth when he tried to find the right words to lure her closer. “Frankie,” he grated, spreading his hands in invitation. “Come here.”
After everything, he didn’t expect her to heed the order.
She’d abandoned her shoes somewhere, which was for the best. He’s seen her tottering on those ridiculous stilts and wasn’t entirely confident she’d escape the evening without a sprained ankle. Her feet made only soft tapping sounds on the floor as she shuffled toward him. That familiar, intoxicating sensation of triumph filled his chest when she stopped only a foot away from his knees.
Using only the softest touch, he gathered her hands into his. “Are you scared of me, kitten?”
“I don’t know,” she answered. “I’m feeling a lot of things right now. I don’t think I’ve settled on what yet, though.”
The urge to soothe her was overwhelming. Luis carefully tugged her closer, ever-mindful of the slightest flicker of unease in her expression or body language. When she showed none, he dared to pull her into his lap — the position he’d been dreaming about since the very first time he managed to convince her to sit with him in the penthouse.
Wrapping an arm around her back, he eased her into his chest. His bare skin burned where it touched hers, like she had a little sun inside her that threatened to destroy him if he got too close.
“Easy,” he whispered, tucking her under his chin. “I’ve got you.”
Her breathing was alarmingly fast but she didn’t say a word as she leaned into him. One hand settled over his heart and the other in her lap, the fingers curled tight.
After a moment of tense silence, she whispered, “I didn’t know people would die.”
Luis closed his eyes. Pressing his lips into her hair, he murmured, “I know.”