Page 80 of Taste of Blood

So why do I care? Why do I feel my heart clench at the thought that he’s tied up other lovers. That was our kink.

The fact that he’s moved at least once since we were together tells me this isn’t some leftover remnant of our relationship. Surely if that was the case he would have had time to get rid of it.

Right?

He reaches out to brush a stray hair back from my face. “Are you jealous?”

“Me? No. Of course not.”

He grins. “It’s okay if you are. I’m jealous of everyone who looks at you.”

“Just answer the fucking question.”

“Okay. If you must know, it’s wishful thinking.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighs. “In the ten years we were apart, I went to bed every night hoping you’d come back. That I would somehow wake up and you would be beside me and we could pick up our lives where we left off. That’s why I still have the rope. I guess I never stopped wishing.”

It takes me a minute to digest his words. “Ash, I–”

He places a finger against my lips and shakes his head. “Shh. Don’t say anything. Let me have my fantasy.”

I start to assure him–of what I don’t know–when my phone rings.

“You better get that,” he says.

I stand up and grab my pants off the floor, fishing my phone out. When I check the screen, I see it’s Dante. I’m surprised he waited this long to call.

“What’s up?” I answer, shifting gears in my head.

“Were you planning on coming back tonight?”

I glance over at Asher. “Yeah. Did you get a location?”

“We did, but that’s not why I’m calling. I sent some guys over to watch the place, though I don’t see what good it’s going to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a fucking bar.”

“A bar?”

“Yeah, the one that guy who left the warehouse went to.”

“O’Hara’s?”

Asher’s brow quirks up at the mention of the bar. Could it be the Python is using the same place Asher and I met at last week? We could’ve been that close to this asshole and weren’t even aware of it.

I know that area of town falls under the rule of the Italian mafia on the human side. We have an uneasy truce with them. They know about us and give us a wide berth to handle our business, but I doubt they’d want vamps moving in on their turf, so this Python character is either flying under their radar or has somehow stolen territory. Neither option sounds like good news for us.

“That’s the one,” Dante says. “There’s also an abandoned parts store next door to it, so who knows, maybe they’re in there. According to Russell, there were two doors in the tunnel.”

“There were. So what do you need from me?”

“You heard about the trouble we had at one of our dens last night?”

“Gio might have mentioned it.”