He let Cedric drop to the ground in a crumpled heap. The other vampire tried to raise himself up on his elbows. Raul stopped him by putting a boot on his throat. He pressed down until Cedric’s non-swollen eye went wide and he started clawing and tugging at the boot cutting off his air.
Raul watched him suffer with cool dispassion. “You get to keep your life tonight out of my respect for the LaMonte family.However. If you even think about hurting Ji-Su again in any fucking way, if you so much as look at him sideways, next time I won’t be so nice. Do you understand, pendejo?”
Cedric nodded.
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes!” Cedric wheezed as loud as he could.
Satisfied he’d made his point, he removed his foot from Cedric’s neck and backed up. Cedric rolled over, violently coughing, clutching his throat as he gasped for breath. Raul watched him for a moment before he turned his back on the weak excuse for a vampire.
“Juan, give management Burke’s info so that he can take care of the damages.”
His guard nodded and passed a business card to the manager, who was staring at the wrecked VIP lounge in disbelief.
“Let’s go,” he said to his guards.
Once that was handled, Raul and his guards left the Snake’s Den behind. Cedric had been taught a lesson. The beatdown didn’t erase the hurt he’d caused Ji-Su, but now he knew that if he messed with Ji-Su, Raul would be there to make him regret it.
THE SKY WAS DARK WITHthe barest hint of gray on the eastern horizon when their trio of vehicles pulled up in front of the mansion. Raul thanked the guards for their help before he went inside the main house. Gloria opened the door even though the day butler should have been on duty by now. When he saw the first-aid supplies she carried in a small basket, he understood why she was there. Burke came out from the great room.
“Where’s Ji-Su?” Raul asked quietly.
“He went up to his room about an hour ago,” Gloria answered.
“Good. There’s no need for him to know what happened tonight.”
“Understood,” Burke said.
Gloria nodded before clucking her tongue at him. “Do I need to call the doctor?”
“No. I barely had to put any effort in giving Cedric his payback.”
“Of course you didn’t. But you did bust up your knuckles on his face.”
Raul looked down at his right hand. The knuckles were split and bloody. Raul shrugged but accepted a lemon-scented hand wipe to clean the blood away and let her spritz him with the anti-septic spray. The sting was minimal and the cuts would be completely healed over in a couple of days. “Thanks, Gloria.”
“You’re welcome. Good night, sir.”
She disappeared down the hall, leaving Raul and Burke there in the foyer.
“Feel better?” Burke asked.
Raul flexed his fist, flashing back to the satisfying thud of it slamming into Cedric’s face. “Mildly. But as long as Cedric stays away from Ji-Su I’m happy.”
Burke affectionately slapped him on the shoulder.
“I’m sure that ass-whupping you gave him let him know that Ji-Su is not to be fucked with.”
Raul snorted a laugh at that. “Hopefully. Expect a call from the Snake’s Den. They’ll need to be compensated for the damages from the fight.”
“Of course.”
Ready for sleep, Raul said goodnight to Burke and went upstairs. As he passed Ji-Su’s room, he heard the human’s steady, calm heartbeat, and the soft rustle of blankets. Good, hewas asleep. Or he would be soon. He continued on to his own room. As he undressed to shower, thunder began to rumble. The storm that had been threatening for hours had finally arrived.
Raul turned on the shower. He rolled his head on his neck, loosening the last of the tension from the fight before he stepped under the hot spray. Giving Cedric that beatdown had satisfied his need for revenge. Now, he needed to make sure that Ji-Su was okay. He’d had a rough time of it the past few days. First, the initial incident with Cedric and now tonight his belongings sent to him defiled and destroyed. All of that had to have taken a toll on him.
Raul moved the soapy mesh sponge over his body, scrubbing himself clean of spilled champagne and Cedric’s blood. He decided to give Ji-Su time to recover before he started to drink from him. Although the desire to bite Ji-Su and taste the sweetness of his blood grew stronger every night—he was going to wait. The last thing he wanted to do was attempt to bite Ji-Su and end up triggering him into a panic attack or sending him back into the dazed state he’d been in on the highway. It would be best if he gave his new little blood pet a few weeks to heal and find his footing there on the ranch first.