Page 11 of Vein & Vow (The Bouchers #1)

Chapter 10

Beau

I ’d spent the first two hours in my car outside of Accord, but for the last twenty-five minutes, I’d been sitting in the lobby, fielding texts from my brothers about Zeke’s mate and what they’d found while analyzing the objects they’d brought back from the Huts of Horror, as Chance called them. Ambrose was right. Zeke hadn’t been the first Vampire tortured in those rooms. They’d been able to identify at least four others so far from the blood samples alone, and they were currently contacting families.

It was impossible to believe that someone was able to capture, much less hold, five different Vampires. The organization must’ve had unlimited resources or damn good luck. I wasn’t sure which of those options was worse, but the more I’d learned, the more anxious I’d been to be closer to Reese while she worked.

Effects from the heat had begun as soon as she’d walked inside the building, and they’d been slowly but steadily increasing as time passed. It was now to the point that my stomach was clenching with nausea. I honestly wasn’t sure how she was holding on for so long.

By the time the door to the offices and her workspace swung open, I was pacing the floor while the receptionist tried to pretend she wasn’t watching me out of the corner of her eye.

“I’m done for the day,” Reese announced, striding out with Noah Miranda-Whittaker following behind her. “Noah wanted to say hi and ask your intentions.”

“I never said I was going to ask his intentions,” Noah argued. “That’s a moot point now.”

“Good to see you again,” I said, lifting my arm so Reese could scoot in against my side. By the way her body immediately relaxed against me, she’d clearly been wrestling with symptoms too.

“Please,” Noah said, gesturing to the open door. “Come back to my office.”

We followed him into the back while he ordered the receptionist to hold his calls. As we walked, Reese tucked her hand between the waistband of my jeans and my shirt so she could lay her palm on my bare back. Her body was practically humming with tension.

“I’ve offered Reese a leave of absence?—”

“Which I told him I didn’t want.”

“I know enough about the Vampire mating bonds?—”

I straightened, my body tightening, and his eyes flared for only a moment before continuing.

“I know enough to know that the first few months at least can be painful for mates to be apart.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Mr. Boucher, it’s a small world. I have clients I consider friends. Reese has been trying her best to hide the fact that she’s extremely uncomfortable?—”

“I’m fine,” Reese countered.

“But I’ve known her since she was a teenager, and I can see that being separated from you at this point in time is physically painful for her.”

“You’re such a busybody,” Reese griped, glaring at the man.

“She’s an integral part of our team here?—”

“Oh, brother,” she grumbled.

“But I’m not sure how it will be feasible for her to continue working right now while she’s, for lack of a better word, sick.” The man was stuffy and held himself very carefully, but underneath it all was a very real concern for my mate.

“This is discrimination. I’m going to sue,” Reese announced haughtily.

“Reese?” I asked, looking down at her.

Her shoulders slumped. “It sucked,” she said quietly. “The entire morning fucking sucked.”

Noah smiled sadly at her. “I knew you were lying through your teeth.”

“I have bills to pay,” she replied tiredly.

“I’ll have to hire someone in your absence, but could you make do with half-pay while you’re gone?”

“No way,” Reese argued. “You’re not paying me to stay home. Are you crazy?”

“You’re crazy if you think that we’d just leave you high and dry while?—”

“That’s not necessary,” I interrupted. “We can easily afford for Reese to take some time off.”

“Not an option,” Reese said flatly.

“Excuse us a moment,” I muttered to Noah as I tugged her back out the door and a couple of steps down the short hallway.

“You’re not going to pay my bills,” she snapped as soon as we were alone. “I pay my own way.”

“Be reasonable.”

“I’m the only reasonable one in this entire fucking building!”

“You can’t work while the heat is this bad,” I told her gently, wrapping my hands over the sides of her throat. The skin there was so soft, it took a second for me to remember my train of thought. “I can’t sit outside all day, every day, waiting for you to be finished. I could barely keep my ass in the car when you walked into the building this morning. So, either you take the time off and half your salary from Accord, like Noah offered, putting him in a tight spot—or you concede with some grace here and let your mate worry about the money.”

“Conceding with grace isn’t really my MO,” she grumbled.

“You and I are connected now,” I reminded her, pulling the tie out of her hair so it tumbled down her back. “Consider it a human marriage on steroids. Would you argue with a husband?”

“You know the answer to that.”

“I stepped right into that one.”

“You really did.”

“Let me take care of this, Reese. I know you like your job, but we have the money. Take the leave of absence. Once we’re able to spend periods of time apart, you can come right back.”

She was quiet for a few moments, her hands stuffed up the front of my shirt so that she could press her palms to the skin on my stomach.

“Things are changing too fast,” she whispered with a grimace.

“We’ll figure it out. Let’s stay at your place tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. I need to fix your door anyway.”

Reese nodded and dropped her forehead against my chest with a thud before straightening back up. She pulled her hands out of my shirt and marched back into Noah’s office.

“I’ll take a leave of absence on two conditions.”

“Jesus Christ,” Noah muttered as I followed her into the room. “What now?”

“First, I get my job back when all of this mating crap is over with—even if you find someone absolutely brilliant to replace me. You’ll fire them anyway.”

“Done.”

“And second,” Reese said, hands on her hips. “You and Mr. Miranda come to dinner at Beau’s parents’ house later this week to meet them.”

I was pretty sure the man wouldn’t have been more shocked if she’d punched him.

“His mom really wants to have my family over so everyone can meet each other,” she said with a huff. “And I don’t have parents, so you’re up.”

“We’d be honored,” he replied, one hand pressed against his chest.

“Oh, don’t be a sissy-lala,” she said, waving him off. “It’s dinner.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Good.”

She took a step toward him and then thought better of it and sent a little wave his way before turning back toward me.

“Let’s go.”

As we headed down the hallway toward the door to the lobby, Reese paused.

“I love you too, you old pain in my ass,” she called over her shoulder before reaching for my hand and tugging me along.

Hours later, I found myself lying on her couch while she put dishes away. For some reason, she refused to let me help even though I’d offered multiple times.

“Do you think my landlord will charge me for the new doorframe?” she asked, glancing at me over her shoulder. “Technically, I didn’t run it by him first.”

I looked at the doorframe in question. The piece we’d replaced looked the same as the old one, only in better shape.

“I doubt he’ll even notice.”

“You just always see those horror stories of people not getting their deposit back.”

“Would it really matter?” I looked around the apartment. Reese kept it clean, but it was impossible to hide how run-down the entire complex was. “How much was your deposit?”

“None of your business.”

“It couldn’t have been that much,” I mused.

“You’re a snob,” she announced, her face appearing above mine.

“I’m not a snob.”

“ It couldn’t have been that much ,” she mocked, her face pinched. “Actually, Beaumont , it was a month’s rent, and even though these apartments were built when disco was big, the neighborhood is expensive.”

I couldn’t tell if she was actually offended or just fucking with me.

“Come here,” I ordered, reaching for her.

“Snob,” she grumbled as I tugged her down onto the couch with me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked when she’d gotten comfortable, her body blanketing mine.

“It’s bearable,” she replied, bracing her elbows by my head so we were nose to nose. “You?”

“Better now.”

“You’re going to need blood soon,” she murmured, brushing my hair off my forehead.

“I’m all right.”

“It’s already getting a little easier. You haven’t needed it since this morning.”

“Eventually, it’ll only be once a day.”

“Really?”

“Your need will supersede mine,” I told her quietly. “For now, it’s equal, but eventually, it’ll be your half of the bond that keeps us from spending any length of time apart.”

Reese wrinkled her nose in disbelief.

“Not that I’ll ever want to spend time apart,” I continued. “I just won’t be physically uncomfortable because of it.”

“Aw, you won’t ever want to spend time apart?” She pinched my cheek.

“You’re my mate.”

“You don’t even like me,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It seems like you’d be jumping for joy to get some time apart.”

“Rethinking my position on that,” I confessed, running my hands down her back.

“I knew it would happen eventually,” she replied with mock seriousness. “You just have to give it a minute for my awesomeness to really sink in.”

“Oh, is that what it is?”

“Yep.”

“I fucked up in the beginning.”

“I didn’t exactly put my best foot forward.” She shrugged. “You probably thought I was a freak for jumping you right after we met. Your mate for eternity, you say? Yes, let’s make that commitment even though we know nothing about each other.”

“I didn’t think that.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious. Mates are destined. To be completely honest, that was the last thing on my mind.”

“What was the first?”

“Damn, she’s mouthy.”

Reese tipped her head back and laughed. For a moment, I was stunned. It seemed insane to me that I’d ever found her lacking. She was fucking gorgeous when she laughed. She was pretty all the time, but she was a damn showstopper when she laughed.

“Well, that’s true,” she replied, still grinning. “Maybe the universe thought you needed someone to keep you from being so stuffy.”

“I’m not stuffy.”

“You’re the epitome of stuffy. Poor Beau. Has that stick been up your ass since you were born, or was it a gradual thing?”

The bark of laughter that fell out of my mouth surprised us both.

“You need me to help remove it?” she asked, leaning up until she was straddling my hips. “I mean, I’m not into ass play, but?—”

“Mouthy,” I shot back, poking her in the sides until she squirmed.

“Stuffy,” she gasped as she tried not to laugh, shoving at my hands.

She’d just toppled back toward me, and I’d barely gotten my hands into her hair, remembering how good it had been on that couch the first time when her front door swung open.

“What the fuck?” Reese yelped, jerking back upward.

“You must be the flu ,” her best friend Rena said to me, staring at us from the doorway.

I’d heard people walking up and down the breezeway all day, so I hadn’t paid any particular attention when I heard someone outside the apartment. Gripping Reese’s hips, I sat up and turned so my feet were on the floor.

“What are you doing here?” Reese asked, scrambling off me. “And how the hell did you get in?”

“I used the emergency key,” Rena replied, lifting the key.

“That was for emergencies .”

“Well, when my best friend, who I talk to every day, tells me she’s sick and then doesn’t answer my calls, I get a little worried.”

“I’m clearly fine.”

“You’re clearly lying your ass off.” She looked me over. “Who’s that?”

“Beau Boucher,” I replied, getting to my feet so I could shake her hand.

“Rena,” she greeted suspiciously. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“Knock it off,” Reese ground out. “Don’t be an ass.”

“Oh, I’m the ass?” Rena asked, throwing her hands in the air. “What the hell?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Reese lifted both hands to her face and pressed her fingers against her forehead.

“What is the big deal?” Rena asked in exasperation. “You couldn’t just tell me you were getting banged by Adonis?”

“He’s my mate,” Reese mumbled, glancing at me.

“Say what, now?” Rena asked, looking back and forth between us.

“We’re mates.”

“Get the fuck outta here,” Rena blustered, her mouth dropping open.

“I know,” Reese groaned.

“And you gave me so much shit!” Rena crowed. “None of that shit is true, Rena. Those magazines are garbage, Rena.”

“They’re still garbage.”

Rena widened her eyes and pointed at Reese and then at me. “You sneaky bitch. You’ve just been trying to throw me off the scent. How long has this been going on? Why the hell am I just meeting him?” She looked at me. “I’m Reese’s best friend, and I will end you, Vampire or not.”

“Noted,” I muttered.

“It just happened,” Reese said, glaring at her best friend. “I thought I’d give it a few days?—”

“A few days ?” Rena blurted, glancing down at my sock-covered feet. “When the hell did you two meet?”

“Day before yesterday,” Reese mumbled quietly.

Rena’s back snapped straight.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Reese said quickly. “It’s been a crazy couple of days, and I’ll tell you everything. It’s just that things have been kind of intense and?—”

“Did you already seal it?” Rena asked flatly.

“I don’t know what you—” Reese hedged.

“Yes,” I replied at the same time.

“Not helping,” Reese snapped at me. As if I was the one losing my shit.

“You’ve known this dude two days, and you’ve already sealed the bond?”

“What exactly do you think it is?” I asked curiously. She was speaking like she knew all about Vampire mating bonds, but I wasn’t sure how that could be possible. There were plenty of news articles floating around, but I’d never seen one that came close to being accurate.

“We need a minute,” Rena said, not even bothering to look at me. She shooed Reese toward her bedroom. The door slammed behind them.

As if going into a different room in the tiny apartment gave them some kind of privacy.

“Are you out of your mind?” Rena hissed. “This isn’t getting drunk and eloping in Vegas!”

“I know that!”

“You’re stuck with that guy. Stuck. There is no escape.”

“I’m aware!”

“What could you possibly be thinking? Even if you wanted to leave, you couldn’t. They’d never let you. Jesus, Reese.”

“If you’d give him a chance, he’d grow on you.”

“Do you hear yourself? Not, you’d like him , but he’ll grow on you ? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing!”

“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“We had a rocky start.”

“Oh, yesterday? Yesterday was rocky but everything is all better now?” Rena asked derisively. “What the fuck?”

“He’s—It’s?—”

“What?” Rena snapped. “You can’t even say anything good about him.”

“He’s really close to his family,” Reese snapped.

“Oh, cool. Awesome. That tells me everything I need to know.”

“He’s protective.”

“Try possessive,” Rena replied. “They’re all fucking possessive. They can’t help it.”

“We’re figuring it out as we go,” Reese said firmly.

“You know I love you, and I love that you’ve always leaped before you looked, but this is bad. This is—I don’t even know. Bordering on self-destruction.”

Her tone grated along my skin, and I found myself taking a step toward the bedroom. I understood protectiveness toward family, but it was turning from a conversation between the two of them into Rena berating my mate. Fuck that.

“He is the first thing— the first thing —that has ever been all mine,” Reese said, stopping me in my tracks. “Vampires get one mate, and I’m his. He’s searched for me his entire life. His mother was so excited to meet me that she made a big dinner with everyone there. His dad called me daughter .”

“You don’t know anything about him.”

“I know he’s an ass,” Reese countered. “He’s stuffy, and he’s rude.”

“You’re acting like those are good things.”

“He also sat outside the blood bank today for hours so that I could work,” Reese said. “He freaked when I cut my arm?—”

“How the hell did you do that?”

“And he held me while it was stitched. He kisses the top of my head for no reason. When shit got heavy with his family—nothing to do with us—he leaned into me for comfort.”

“I see that you’re feeling all the things,” Rena replied gently. “But you barely know him and you’ve—you realize this is forever, right? This isn’t even tattoo forever. This is death forever. You will never be able to have a normal life.”

“When have I ever tried to be normal?”

“I wish you would’ve called me,” Rena said defeatedly.

“I didn’t want to,” Reese murmured. “I didn’t want you to try and talk me out of it.”

“You knew it was a bad idea.”

“I knew it was a crazy idea. Not all crazy ideas are bad.”

“This one was.”

“I don’t think so,” Reese said stubbornly.

“You have no idea. He’s going to completely take over your life.”

“He will not.”

“How could he not?” Rena hissed. “You’re now a Vampire’s mate. You’re not even considered part of the human race anymore—not legally. You’re under Vampire law.”

“What?”

“Oh, he didn’t tell you that part?”

“How do you know all this?”

“I read,” Rena said flatly.

She was lying. Nowhere in any media did it detail our laws. As far as the general public was concerned, we followed and obeyed the same laws they did. If they believed otherwise, it would cause an entire shitstorm.

“I was going to tell you,” Reese said after a few moments. “I was just waiting for the right time.”

“Right.”

“He’s actually not that bad,” Reese said, and I knew the words were for my benefit. My lips curved. “I mean, he’s listened to this entire conversation and hasn’t said a word.”

“Shit,” Rena spat.

The bedroom door swung open again. I was still standing in the middle of the living room when they came back down the hallway.

“You know, you could’ve stepped outside to give us some privacy,” Rena said, glaring.

“Why would I do that?” I asked.

“Be nice,” Reese warned as she came toward me, tucking herself under my arm.

“I’m being nice.” I looked at Rena. Her entire body was tight, and I couldn’t figure out if it was true worry for her best friend or if it was mixed with jealousy. Reese had mentioned more than once how obsessed her friend was. “How do you know so much about Vampires?”

“I read.”

“And what else?” I asked, knowing that wasn’t the full truth.

“Nothing else.”

Reese looked back and forth between us. The silence dragged out as I watched her best friend, waiting for her to tell the truth.

“My grandparents were Vampires,” she said finally, her voice so quiet it was almost silent.

“They were what?” Reese yelled.

“Explain,” I ordered, tightening my arm around her shoulders.

“My grandmother already had my mom when she met my grandpa,” Rena replied, lifting her chin.

“I thought all of your family was dead,” Reese said, her voice wavering with hurt.

“They are,” Rena replied, meeting her eyes. “My grandparents died in a plane accident when I was two. I never knew my dad, and my mom died when I was ten—which you knew.”

“How is that possible?” Reese whispered, looking up at me.

I knew exactly how it was possible. Vampires were nearly immortal after they’d mated, and a plane crash could easily cause decapitation. I knew the crash that Rena was referring to. There had been no survivors.

“Your grandparents were Joseph and Irene Rossi,” I said.

I remembered them well. Now that I knew there was a connection, I could see Irene in Rena. They had the same dimple in their cheeks and the same eyes.

“Yes,” Rena breathed, her eyes wide. “You knew them?”

“Not well,” I conceded. “But your grandmother made this pasta dish that she’d always bring to parties, and I swear, I used to eat my weight in it.”

“Pasta alla Gricia,” Rena said, letting out a little laugh of disbelief. “My mom said it was my grandfather’s favorite.”

“I didn’t know they had a child,” I said as Reese stepped away from me to gently urge Rena to the couch.

“She was little when they found each other,” Rena said, squeezing Reese’s hand. “Grandpa Joe raised her.”

I sat down at the other end of the couch, perching on the arm so I didn’t seem like I was looming over them.

“That must’ve been hard for your grandmother,” I murmured.

“Knowing that my mother would grow old, and they never would?” Rena asked. “Yeah. My mom said that they were probably relieved that they went first.”

“Why didn’t your mother reach out afterward? If your family was Vampire?—”

“ We weren’t,” Rena said flatly. “She didn’t know where to look, who to talk to. It’s not as if you guys make it easy to find you. She tried searching my grandfather’s things, but by the time she was informed that they were gone, someone had already been through the house.”

“Shit.”

“Basically,” Rena said as Reese plopped down on the couch between us, her hand reaching out to rest on my thigh. “Thankfully, my mom was their legal heir, so we got the things that mattered. Then my mom died, and I lost all of it anyway.”

“We’ll keep looking,” Reese murmured. “Every thrift store and pop-up we find, right?”

“Reese has been helping me search for the last ten years,” Rena told me with a crooked smile. “There are certain things I remember that I’d like to get back if they’re ever for sale.”

“I can put some feelers out if you’d like,” I offered.

“I doubt your Vampire friends had any interest in some lady’s house of inexpensive antiques,” Rena joked. “I’ve got keyword alerts set up on all the resale sites, though.”

“We found an old green jar of her grandma’s a few years ago,” Reese told me with a smile. “We’re almost positive it was hers because it had a chip in the bottom exactly the same.”

“It was hers,” Rena confirmed. “And it was a decanter, not a jar. The lid was gone.”

“Whatever.”

As they bickered back and forth, I thought about Rena’s grandparents. Joseph had been as serious as his mate was bubbly. He’d spend the entire night in one spot, talking to old friends in his deep slow voice, his eyes always following his mate. Meanwhile, Irene would make her way around the room, greeting every single person by name. She’d been cheerful and bright and whip-smart in a way that let you know you’d never get away with anything but that she’d probably forgive whatever you’d done anyway. It made my gut clench to think of her granddaughter never getting to know either of them.

“My father was good friends with your grandfather,” I told Rena, interrupting them. “I bet he’d be glad to talk to you about him.”

“That’s—” Rena shook her head. “That’s so nice. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“Okay, he’s not all bad,” she said to Reese out of the side of her mouth.

“I told you.”

“So glad I have your approval,” I said dryly.

“And you’re right, kind of an ass,” Rena continued.

“Remember, he grows on you,” Reese said, smiling at me.

Rena stayed for a few more hours, and I got to see a completely different side of Reese as they argued over what to order in for dinner, whether or not Reese should buy a new car, and the fact that Rena needed a maid to bring her coffee in the morning. Rena tugged on Reese’s hair and told her she needed a trim. Reese told Rena that her shoes made her look like a dominatrix.

I was superfluous, and I didn’t give a single fuck. This was the woman I’d hoped for, and ironically, I was pretty sure this was the real Reese. She was still mouthy as fuck, but the hard shell that she usually had around her was completely gone when she was with Rena. It was the softest I’d ever seen her, and after a while, I realized that it was because, in this relationship, Reese was the little sister.

I wasn’t sure which of the two was the oldest, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask, but their dynamic was very easy to see. When Rena was there, Reese let her guard down. She even allowed Rena to boss her. I spent most of the evening saying just enough to be polite and engaging while simultaneously watching them interact.

It was important to Reese for Rena to like me. She pulled me into conversations that I had no opinion on just to make sure I was included. When I got up to get the dishes and silverware we’d need to eat our takeout, it was impossible to miss the look that the women shot each other. When I walked Rena to her car, Reese watched from the apartment doorway.

“I’m watching you,” Rena warned as she opened her car door. “And I’m reserving my opinion for now.”

“All right.”

She glanced up at Reese and waved before looking back at me.

“I’m serious. Don’t hurt her. I’m probably one of the only humans on the planet who knows how to kill a mated Vampire.”

She sliced her hand over her throat and climbed into the car, starting the engine as she shut the door.