Page 14 of Depths of Obsession (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #2)

CHAPTER 14

M y cell is vibrating on the nightstand. I grab it and glance at the screen. I slowly ease Pippa off my chest and slide out of bed. I pull on a pair of jeans, grab my phone and head out to the living area.

“Rocco,” I say as I enter the kitchen. I open the fridge and pull out a bag of blood. I put one in there last night. Now that Pippa knows my secret I don’t have to hide this from her anymore.

“I’ve got a line on our mystery man.”

“Who is he?” I demand. I open the bag and drink deeply.

“Still don’t know that part yet,” Rocco says, “but now we know what he really looks like or at least what we think he looks like.”

“Explain.” I finish the blood and dump the bag in the garbage. I walk around the kitchen and set up the coffee pot. Pippa will wake soon, and she’ll want coffee. I’ll have to drink some as well. Don’t think she’s ready to taste blood when I kiss her, and I will be kissing her. A lot. Last night was just an appetizer and I am hungry for the full course.

“I sent you the picture. Pull it up on the screens.”

I go over and turn on the monitors. I login and pull up the picture. “Where did you get this?”

“Nico came through, or rather, Esme did. She managed to take the picture, add a bit of magic and more than a few guesses and come up with the general idea of what he looks like.”

I stare at the screen. “Are we sure this is him?”

“Sure? No, but we think this is pretty close. I’m running him through facial recognition software now. Hopefully we’ll get a hit.”

“Do me a favor and reach out to Bob Colebrook. Get him to run the pic through his system. He’s got access to every camera in Italy pretty much and I’m sure in a host of other countries. I’m confident he can run the picture against airport security cameras. Let’s see if we can’t find this bastard.”

“I will reach out. In the meantime, I’ve instructed our people that someone is out to get you and that it is top priority to get more cameras installed as quickly and quietly as possible.”

“Okay, keep me informed. I’ll be in later.”

“See you,” Rocco says and hangs up.

I continue to stare at the screen. It’s scary how much he looks like he could be my brother. Renzo, Nico. I nudge my brothers.

Everything okay? Renzo asks . How’s Pippa?

She’s adjusting.

Nico sighs. Glad to hear she’s not completely freaked out.

I didn’t say that, but that’s not why I reached out.

Why did you wake us so early? It’s just after noon. I don’t need to be up for hours, Nico complains.

I sigh . I sent you both a picture. This is what Esme thinks the guy selling Black Heart looks like. Check it out.

There are a couple moments of silence and then, Shit. He could pass for one of us, Nico says.

He’s a bit leaner but yeah, Renzo agrees, he could be our brother.

I stare at the screen and sweat breaks out across my skin. What did you say? I ask.

He could be our brother , Renzo repeats. Are you sure this is what he looks like?

I hear Renzo but don’t answer him. My brain is going in all different directions.

Luca? Renzo nudges me. What’s going on?

Er…nothing, sorry. Got distracted. Just wanted to keep you two in the loop. If you have any ideas on how to track him let me know.

Will do. Now I’m going back to bed, Nico says and drifts away, closing the channel.

I’ll reach out and ask Bob ? —"

I cut Renzo off. I already have Rocco on it. Renzo, what you said, it made me think. I hesitate.

Think what? Renzo prompts.

Think that he actually could be our brother.

What? He scoffs . Did you fall on your head? I think if we had another brother we might have discovered him sometime in the last four hundred years.

Would we though? Our mother… I don’t say the rest. Mother is not something we discuss often, and even less often with Nico, as he was her favorite and views her through rose colored glasses. In reality, she was a mean spirited bitch to me and Renzo, and she had brought nothing but heartache to our father.

Renzo was silent for a long moment. You think she might have had another son without telling anyone? You think she would have been able to hide it from Father?

I pause. Could she have hidden it? I think it’s a possibility. I sure as hell wouldn’t have put it past her. Mother and father had their issues, and she was gone a lot when we were young. Honestly, after my eighteenth birthday, I don’t think I saw her again for more than a dinner here or there for a good fifty years. She spent a lot of time in the magick realm. Father was busy teaching all of us how to survive as vampires. He had us all over Europe and the New World for centuries. She just came and went until that whole business of her trying to become the most powerful vampire in existence. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to hide having another son.

Renzo’s anxiety buffets mine.

It will never go away, will it? I ask.

What?

The anxiety around Mother. She was insane and we all pay the price. We are literally cursed because of her. I hate my mother, but I also love her. Or loved her because she could be amazing when she wanted.

She wasn’t insane. She was ambitious and power hungry. There’s a difference but you’re right, we pay the price, and yes, we are cursed because of her lust for power. Perhaps though, Nico suffers more so than us.

I’m surprised by that statement. Nico? Why

Because to us the ugly truth is our mother got involved with a group of dark magick practitioners. She was after a spell that would make her both witch and vampire—not a blend that loses some traits, but the full powers of both. She wasn’t satisfied with just telepathy, speed, strength, or daylight walking. She wanted more—spells, magick, control. She wanted the power of a witch and the strength of a vampire, wielding all of it without compromise. To us, that is horrifying, and we see her as awful. Nico, however, knows how wrong that is but still loves her. Still wants to defend her.

I think about that for a minute. I went back to the Duomo in San Gimignano, I say , right after everything happened. I wanted to see where Mother died without someone trying to kill me.

And? Renzo asks.

I thought I might feel her energy there, but I didn’t. Not one bit. It made me worry.

I can hear the frown in Renzo’s tone. Worry? Why?

Because I’m not positive she’s dead.

There I said it… Well, sort of. I shared that thought with Renzo at least. I know that the group that didn’t want a vampire with magick to exist supposedly killed her and many of her followers, but this is magick we’re talking about. No one is dead until they’ve been well and truly dead for a long fucking time.

Renzo goes silent again. It’s a possibility…I guess. With magick it’s always a possibility. Not every member of the group Mother founded was killed. The remaining followers went into hiding. We could poke around a bit and ask questions but I’m afraid of what we might stir up if we do so.

Yeah, no let’s not poke the bear. My unease is growing. I thought Renzo would dismiss me out of turn, but instead I realize, he’s been worried about the same thing.

If this guy is our brother, Renzo continues , do you think he is Father’s? Or someone else?

I have no idea. I debate whether to tell Renzo what I truly think . Finally, I decide I might as well be upfront about everything. To be honest, I’ve always wondered it Nico wasn’t someone else’s as well. She loved him so much more than you or me. Maybe she had a lover on the side. Nico and this other one could be his.

No, Renzo argues, this is pure conjecture. I don’t believe it. Nico is one of us. This guy, whoever he is, is an imposter. Just someone that looks like us.

Nico is one of us, but it’s a possibility that this guy is too. Maybe that’s why he hates me. Maybe he hates us and he’s going after all of us thinking you and Nico are involved in my clubs as well.

Either way, Renzo says, we have to find him before we can sort out anything else. Let’s just focus on that. We’ll deal with the rest if and when it happens. Do not mention any of this to Nico.

Do I strike you as stupid? I have no intention of ever telling Nico anything to do with our mother. I start to break the connection when Renzo stops me.

Luca, just promise me you will be careful. I know you know what you’re doing and I’m not trying to interfere, I just want you to be safe. Vittoria still haunts you, I know. Pippa isn’t Vittoria. Just…please be careful. Something is coming. We all feel it. The magick realm is on edge and now there’s someone trying to bring you down. I know you don’t want to ask for help, but I would hate like hell to lose you, brother. Please don’t be stubborn about this. Reach out if you need anything…anything at all.

I am touched. Renzo can be a pain in my ass as an older brother, but he is also great at being there when I need him. I promise, brother. I have no intention of doing anything stupid. You won’t be rid of me for many hundreds of years to come.

I break off the channel and slump in my chair, staring at nothing at all. I hope Renzo is right and my thinking is way off. Father would know. I feel quite certain Mother couldn’t have hidden it from him entirely. More likely, she would have rubbed his face in it. Or not. Hard to say. They had a strange relationship, as far as I could tell. There is nothing on this earth that would make me ask him. He has a temper that has no equal. It takes a long time to spark but once lit, he can burn down whole cities with his rage. I shudder just thinking about it.

I try to shake my unease but I know that’s not going away anytime soon. The fact that Renzo worries about Mother still has shaken me. I thought I was the only one. I thought it was just me being fanciful, but now I know it’s not. Couple all this with the fact that there’s something weird going on in the magick realm, and I know I’m going to be lying awake for nights to come. There’s a shift in the air and I just pray to God it has nothing to do with mother or our family.

I rub my hands over my face. First things first, I need to find this man who looks so much like me. The only way I will know for sure what the hell is going on is if I find him and ask him. I plan on doing just that as soon as possible, and I may not be so kind about how I ask.

The sound of water running reaches me. Pippa is in the shower. I smile. Time to say good morning to my woman. I want to hear her yell my name when she comes. It’s the only way to start the day off right.