Page 11 of Depths of Desire (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #3)

CHAPTER NINE

W ith my eyes still closed, I lay quietly and listen. I’m not sure what woke me up, so I hone all my sense to determine the source. Luna is up. She’s downstairs talking to Carson. She’s asking about a phone.

I sigh and glance at the clock.. It’s three p.m. I’ve been down for ten hours, but I feel like I could sleep for another ten hours.

Instead, I put my feet over the side of the bed and head to the shower.

It’s still bright and sunny outside, which is not optimal for me.

I can do sunshine for a while, but I find it drains me far more than it used to.

I would prefer to sleep until the sun sets however my guess is Luna is already planning her escape.

If I don’t get down there soon, I’ll end up having to chase her. I smile. That might actually be fun.

Ten minutes later, I walk into the kitchen to find Luna sipping a glass of wine. The wine is from one of my vineyards, although I doubt she knows that. Carson would never tell her. I keep that side of my life private.

“I’m glad to see you’ve made yourself at home,” I say as I nod to Carson who quickly pours me a glass as well. Alcohol doesn’t affect vampires as it does humans. I can drink it, and I enjoy the taste, but I don’t get drunk. More’s the pity.

Luna tugs at her dress. “Um, Carson found me some clothes. I hope that’s okay?”

It was more than okay. The dress hugged Luna’s curves and the color accentuated her pink complexion. She looked…delectable.

“Of course. I’m glad he found something to your liking.” I clear my throat. “Carson, can you find Luna more clothing? She lost all of hers overboard. She will need everything. Casual and dressy, including shoes.”

“Very good, sir,” Carson said with a nod.

Luna shook her head. “I don’t need that much, really. Just a couple of changes of clothes would be great.”

I sit down next to her. “Luna, you are going to be here for a while. At least until we figure this mess out. You need clothing.”

“It’s just that I?—”

I cut her off. If I don’t stop this now, it’s going to take up way too much of my attention and energy. She also needs to know I respect her.

“Stop arguing with me and just accept the help. It will make life easier for both of us. I hereby acknowledge that you are a smart, independent woman who can take care of herself outside of these extraordinary circumstances. I agree that you would not ask for help unless the circumstances were dire, which, I will point out, they are. I will not think less of you, nor will I hold the fact that you need help over your head in any way.” I pick up my wine goblet and click the rim to her glass.

“There now, can we just relax and enjoy the wine without fighting over every little thing?”

Luna’s mouth had fallen open during my speech. She immediately snapped it shut and the took a long drink of wine. She put the glass down on the counter and swallowed.

“Thank you,” she managed to utter, but it sounded strangled.

I’m not sure if she’s angry or happy with my little speech. I was hoping for happy, but either way, maybe just maybe she’ll stop arguing with me.

“So,” she said as if she was trying to restart the conversation. “Any news from your brothers? Any ideas on who’s behind the sinking of the ship?”

I swear I can smell the anxiety coming off her in waves. “I’ve been up for all of sixteen minutes, so no. I will reach out to them soon. Probably after dinner. If there was any news, they would contact me.”

As if I had summoned them, my cell went off in my pocket.

I pull it out and glance at the Renzo’s name on screen.

The fact that he was calling rather than reaching out telepathically was puzzling.

Pick up . His voice resonated in my skull.

And there it was. My brother nudged me again.

I answered the call and his face appeared on the screen.

“What do you need?”

“Luna is with you,” he said bluntly.

Luca, that son of a bitch, blabbed. “Er…”

“Don’t bother to deny it. I know it’s true. Luca pulled the video footage from the ship. There’s a small clip of you, but it’s from a distance, so it could be anyone. But surprise, surprise…Luna is front and center and all over the place. Why didn’t you tell us she was with you?”

I gave a mental sigh. “Luna and I ran into each other on board the ship.”

“What was she doing on the ship?” another voice demanded.

“Hello, Mia. How are you?” I ask as I capture Luna’s gaze.

Her shoulders sag and she grabs her wine glass, taking another healthy swig. Mia’s face appears next to Renzo’s.

“I’m fine. How is Luna? Why was she on the ship? What’s going on?” Mia’s voice is icy. Worry is written in the lines between her eyebrows.

I prop the phone against the wine bottle so Renzo and Mia can see both of us.

“Hey, Mia,” Luna says. “I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing…you were on a ship that blew up. You could’ve been killed. What’s going on?”

“Uh, I just…” Luna’s voice faded out.

Her heart rate had ticked up when she’d heard me say Mia’s name, and now adrenaline is flooding her veins, making her smell all the sweeter to me. She was trying to come up with a plausible reason for her to be on the ship, but was failing miserably.

“Just what?” Mia demanded.

“She was leaving town,” I supplied, putting her out of her misery. There was no point lying about it now, not with the explosion. “Apparently, her father was driving her crazy, and she wanted to get away without him catching on.”

Mia swore but went silent. Then she said, “I’m sorry, Luna. You should’ve told me. I could have helped you. Going as a passenger on one of these freighters is never a good idea.”

“Yeah,” Luna said. “I figured that out in a bit of a hurry.” She played with the stem of her wine glass. “Does my father know?”

The anxiety flooding through her almost broke me.

I clenched my fist on my thigh to keep from reaching for her hand.

I hated that she was this upset, this afraid of her father.

I thought we’d left that world behind in the nineteenth century.

Early twentieth tops. But here we are in the twenty-first century, and she is still afraid of what her father may make her do.

I grind my teeth. I would very much like to have a few moments alone with Luna’s father.

He seems to need an education in these changing times.

“We didn’t tell him,” Renzo supplies, “but I’m guessing it won’t be long before he finds out. He has contacts in this world, as we do. Just because he’s retired doesn’t mean he isn’t in the know on things.”

Luna shakes her head. “He’s not.

Renzo frowns. “He’s not what?”

“Retired. My father still does business with”—a quick flash of fear crosses Luna’s face—“people,” she finishes quietly.

“Jesus Christ,” Renzo growls. “What the hell is it with your fathers?” He glances at Mia. “All of them have become pains in my ass. What deals is he doing and who is he doing them with?”

Luna opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. “I…”

“Maybe it’s better you find out for yourself,” I interject. Luna obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t blame her. Renzo could be intimidating when he was angry, at least to a human.

“I need to know?—"

“Luna.” Mia cuts Renzo off. “We really do need to know what your father is involved in. There have been some…issues of late, and if he’s causing them, it will be very—problematic.”

Luna bites her lip, and once again her body tenses.

I know immediately her father is involved in the shit that’s been going down lately.

That’s not good. Renzo is not going to let him get away with blowing deals or skimming off the top.

For someone to try to get away with that would make Renzo look weak.

He sure as hell wasn’t going to put up with that kind of disrespect.

Luna hesitates, “I—I know he’s been doing some stuff, meeting with men from Eastern Europe.”

She’s lying. She knows way more than that, but for some reason, she’s not saying. Is it loyalty to her father? Seems an odd time to be loyal if she wants to get away from the man. I sigh to myself. Family is always complicated.

“Eastern Europe. That could be the Albanians or the Croatians. Hell, it could be all kinds of people,” Renzo scoffs. “Can you be more specific? I need names and?—”

An alarm went off on my phone, blocking out whatever Renzo was about to say. I grab the phone and open the app.

“What’s going on?” I hear Renzo say.

“Someone is breaking into my apartment in Genoa.” I click a few more buttons on the phone. “They’re entering through the skylight. How the hell did they get up there without me knowing?” I’ve never experienced this kind of attack, and my blood begins a slow boil.

“Do you see them on the camera?” Renzo asked.

“I’m staring at the roof now and it’s empty.”

“Could it be a false alarm?” Luna suggests.

“Highly unlikely.” I stare at the screen but still nothing. I turn and head toward my office. I need larger screens. I enter my office and hit the button to light up the wall of screens. It takes me only a moment to pull up the camera feeds from my apartment.

“The skylight is busted.” I pull up different camera angles. Several of them are down. Someone knows what they’re doing, but I have a few tricks of my own. I pull up another feed, and then loop Renzo in.

“What am I looking at? This isn’t the normal camera angle, is it?” he growls.

“No. My cameras appear to be down. This is from the bookshelf in my living room. A ‘nanny cam’.”

There are two of them. Blood Orcs. Created centuries ago through forbidden blood magic by a rogue vampire king, Blood Orcs are a hybrid of vampire thralls and creatures pulled from the lower magickal realms. Originally designed as disposable soldiers in ancient supernatural wars, they were later adopted by criminal syndicates, especially those dealing in blood, drugs, or magickal trafficking.