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R oman stood in the backyard of a wealthy socialite’s home, owned by someone whose name he’d already forgotten. On the other side of the perfectly manicured lawn from where Roman stood, a live band played classical music, and the guests mingled amongst each other. Everyone in attendance reeked of wealth and beauty. It was, to date, the most boring charity party he’d ever been to in his life, he thought, as he gazed out over the view of Beverly Hills twinkling brightly in the dark.

Not bad, but mine’s better. He smirked as he gazed around the party in search of his brother, Maalik.

He tugged on the collar of his shirt, wishing he could undo the buttons and take off the annoying tie and jacket. This was not his type of scene; he couldn’t wait to donate some money so the people living in the Hills would leave him the hell alone for a while. Humans asked too many questions, so he kept his socializing with them to an absolute minimum.

Just as he was about to call his brother and see where the hell he was so he didn’t have to suffer through this boredom alone, he saw him working his way through the crowd.

Men stopped him to shake his hand, and the women seemed to melt as soon as he smiled at them. His emerald eyes and golden hair seemed to be a panty-dropping combination with every lady, married or not, in LA. His brother was the complete opposite of Roman. He lived in the limelight, loved to brush shoulders with the elite of the town and party the nights away like a playboy.

Roman shook his head as Maalik finally made his way to where he stood. His brother greeted him in a tight bear hug before releasing him and giving him a crooked smirk.

“Well, brother, you look excited to be here.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you sign me up for things like this when you know I hate them. We have more important things to be dealing with right now.” His mind briefly drifted to the demon they currently had tied up in his basement, or dungeon, as some of the others liked to call it.

“Come on, think of the children your donation will be helping. Plus, people were getting suspicious. Everyone’s been sending you invitations for the past twelve months, and you have declined every one of them. It’s all about appearances, brother. If you want these snobby, opinionated people to keep pretending you don’t own the most elite and sleazy nightclub in town, then you need to make an appearance now and then so they don’t think you’re a drug dealer or something,” Maalik told him, scanning the crowd.

Roman shrugged his shoulders. “I have seen almost three-quarters of the husbands at this party enter the VIP rooms of my club. I don’t think I have anything to worry about while they are receiving the questionable services my club provides, and as long as you continue keeping the wives entertained, they won’t complain about what their husbands get up to, either.”

Maalik’s eyes widened in shock. “How dare you try to insinuate that I sleep with married women. I am highly offended right now.”

Roman rolled his eyes at his brother as Maalik burst out laughing, watching a busty brunette as she walked by, giving Maalik a wink while she smoothed out her disheveled dress before putting her arm around her husband.

“Did you just sleep with that woman? Is that where you were?” Roman asked him.

“A gentleman never tells,” Maalik replied with a grin.

Roman shook his head and laughed. “Gentleman my ass, and where the hell is a server? I need a drink.”

Maalik waved over a server girl and asked for two whiskeys neat. She gave them both a sexy smile and quickly went about her business. When his brother knew no one was in earshot, he turned to Roman, whose eyes landed on a small drop of blood on the collar of his white dress shirt.

“Did you feed on that woman you slept with?” Roman asked, wishing his brother would leave his feeding for strangers on the street. A hint of guilt tried to push its way to the surface.

When Roman, his brother, and the other angels were kicked out of the heavens, a few lucky angels had fallen straight to Earth. But for Roman, Maalik, and most of the others, they had fallen straight into the depths of Hell. Some had fought and clawed their way out over time. Maalik and himself had been among them. Although most of them had made it to the surface unaltered, his brother had crawled his way out of Hell at a price. Some kind of blood-feeding demon had bitten him. On top of Lucifer ripping out Maalik’s wings, a direct message to Roman, the demon bite had turned him into the first of what humans now called vampires.

Roman quickly shoved down the dark memories from long ago, bringing himself back to the present and realizing Maalik was talking to him. “What?” he asked, feeling guilty all over again.

“I said I only had a sip, and I’ve wiped her memory, so she doesn’t even know. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I promise I’ll go into the city later and feed properly. Stress less, Roman.” He patted him on the shoulder. “Now, back to business. Did Phoenix say if the demon they captured had mentioned anything?” he asked in a whisper.

Roman shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t breathe a word. As soon as I’m done here and we finish at the club tonight, I will interrogate the demon myself. We need to know why their presence has increased in the city. They appear to be searching for something, and we need to find out what it is.”

“Thank God, here come our drinks… and look at that stunner,” Maalik said, looking over Roman’s shoulder.

As Roman turned, he forgot how to breathe. Walking toward them was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life, and what a long life he’d had. She had twisted her honey-blonde hair up on top of her head in a tight bun. Her almond-shaped eyes scanned the party, and when her gaze finally locked with his, he saw they were a beautiful gray, like looking into a magnificent storm. He noticed her eyes widen as she stared at him, but she recovered quickly, her luscious red lips curving into a heart-stopping smile as she walked toward them in a plain black dress, which only made her sinful curves stand out more. She balanced their drinks on a silver serving dish with ease as she stopped in front of them. She was stunning, and for the first time in his long life on Earth, Roman was left speechless.

“Your drinks, gentlemen,” she said with the voice of an angel.

Mesmerized, Roman couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her mere presence was enchanting. She stood close enough for her scent to wash over him. She smelled like heaven and honey, and his body responded instantly. This blonde angel had him rock hard.

“Why, thank you, and I have to say you look ravishing tonight in that dress,” Maalik told her as he took his drink, giving Roman time to quickly pull himself together.

The girl gave Maalik a nervous smile. “It’s my uniform, nothing special. All the servers are wearing them.”

“Yes, but I can tell you right now none of them look as beautiful as you,” Roman told her, taking his drink from her tray.

She looked at Roman and smiled shyly. It took all his willpower not to reach out and trail his thumb over her plump bottom lip.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked, gazing at him intensely.

A loud crash and the sound of breaking glass snapped Roman out of his trance, all three of them looking to the paved back patio where a server girl was on the verge of crying, apologizing to the man who owned the house. Next to him stood a plump woman in a black suit, and by the way she was telling the girl off, Roman guessed she was the boss. She lifted her head, scanning the crowd until her gaze landed on the stunning blonde standing in front of him.

“Charlotte,” she half yelled, snapping her fingers at her.

Before Roman could say anything, the beautiful girl was hurrying away, his hungry gaze following the sway of her hips as she made her way over to the plump, angry woman.

“Well, never in my life have I ever seen a woman leave my brother speechless,” Maalik said from beside him, also staring after her.

Roman looked at him, shoving him slightly. “Shut the fuck up, Maalik. Come on, let’s get out of here. You need to go feed, and we have more important things to attend to. Who the hell do I give this check to?” Roman asked as he quickly gave Charlotte one last longing glance, then shook himself and walked away.