Page 17 of Vicious and Volatile (Vengeance and Venom #2)

I watch from across the street as Ophelia leaves the office building. It’s the same one she left yesterday. Two days in a row where she’s stayed inside for a solid eight hours means she’s secured a job.

At the top law firm in the city.

There isn’t anything higher than this one. I asked Ares. I dug into them online.

They weren’t hiring. Every other paralegal there has worked there for at least five years.

There’s no way Ophelia should have been able to walk in there and get a job. But she’s just like that. Sometimes. She can talk her way into just about anything.

It still hurts that she won’t talk to me. She hasn’t answered any of my texts or calls. But I keep reminding myself that she needs time. It’s only been two weeks since we plucked her from that nightmare. It’s still raw.

So, I don my sunglasses. She doesn’t need to know I’m following her, checking on her—making sure she isn’t going to do something dangerous and rash. Something vicious and volatile. I walk in the opposite direction down the street.

It’s a twenty-minute walk, but I told Ares I needed some time to get my head together. And it just reminds me why I love him—he didn’t get all protective or overbearing, saying I shouldn’t walk alone or that Billings needed to drive me. He knows I’m capable, and that doesn’t change just because we’re together.

The meeting is in midtown. I’m not sure which one of them owns the building it’s in, but there’s no doubt that one of the five Barons owns this beautiful high rise. I pull the door open and head straight to the elevator. I only ride up to the fourth floor.

The space the doors open to is beautiful. There are no windows—fitting for five vampires with serious sun sensitivities. The walls are all glossy black, and all of the decor and accents are gold. Dramatic black leather furniture makes the place cozy in a very mafia-esque way. There’s a circle of sofas gathered in the center of the space.

Harry Kim is the only one here. He sits with one ankle crossed over the opposite knee, tapping away at his phone. When he looks up at me, he doesn’t look surprised, he heard me the second the elevator doors began opening.

He rises to his feet, though he doesn’t extend a hand. He looks me over, but there isn’t anything about it that makes my skin crawl. It’s simply evaluative.

“Lana,” he says simply. “I’m glad you’re attending tonight’s meeting.”

“You are?” I question as I raise an eyebrow in surprise. I round the couch and take a seat. Harry sinks back into his own opposite me.

He nods. “We’ve been needing a woman’s touch ever since Cliff’s mother was killed by that Hunter.”

“Hunter?” I blurt, taken totally off guard. “There are Hunters out there?”

Harry nods, though he doesn’t look concerned. “They surface every now and then. Humans with a vendetta against vampires. They’re usually justified, our kind can do some deplorable shit at times. But they arise. Search for justice. Usually don’t find it. But vampires tend to be stronger, so they don’t typically last long.”

“Cliff’s mother was a Baron before him?” I ask. It’s actually kind of nice, getting this surprising moment alone with the Baron I know the least about.

Once again, Harry nods. “She formed the organization with Augustus. She’d been friends with the Steele family. But since we lost her, it’s been far too masculine around here. Ares was wise to bring you into the circle, even if you can’t have an official title as a human.”

I make an acknowledging sound, though I don’t really know how to respond to that. Instead, I take it in a different direction. “I didn’t think the Barons thought too much of women, with the whole breeding program.”

Harry lets out a tiny noise of annoyance, and it’s hard to tell if he rolls his eyes or simply looks away. “Half, Lana. Only half of the Barons care about increasing the vampire population in New York. As you know, Sysco has no children. I have no children. Obviously, Ares has no children—yet. Giovanni was already married, and their children were all their decision because they wanted them, him and Francesca. So, really, it was only Augustus who took on the role of breeding stud, and Cliff, though I think he actually hates his wife and his kids.”

“That’s sad,” I say frankly.

“It is,” Harry agrees. “But don’t forget, you were brought into this world under the influence of Augustus, the one who cares about it most. He does not speak for all of us.”

“That’s actually really nice to hear,” I say honestly. I cross one leg over the other, my hands folded in my lap. “I love Ares, and I’ve never respected anyone as much as I do him. But I was starting to think most other vampires are misogynists after all the shit Augustus has said.”

Harry shakes his head. “If I’m being honest, the role of the Barons is damn near laughable. We’re establishing influence in the city through wealth. We have sway in the government, so we can keep our kind out of trouble and influence laws that might make our lives easier. But there are so few vampires in New York, they don’t need a leadership council.”

“Why are there so few vampires here?” I ask, my brows furrowing. “From what I’ve heard, other places have a much higher population. Someone mentioned Seattle and Chicago. Considering the massive population of the city, now that I know they exist, I’d kind of expect New York to be crawling with vampires.”

Harry crooks a tiny smile, one that makes me think it’s a tell of admiration. Maybe I’m asking the right questions. “The vampiric population of New York has seemed to fluctuate throughout the years. This tends to be a place of violence at times, though. Gangs. Religion. Cultural groups. It’s always caused an ebb and flow. I think vampires haven’t felt particularly safe here in this city all the time. But when the Steele family was slaughtered, it caused a mass exodus that the city still hasn’t recovered from.”

I mull all of that over. It’s tempting to tell him that not the entire Steele family was taken out. I’ve now met Aleah and Duncan Steele myself. But Ares and I haven’t discussed sharing the information about the Houses with the Barons just yet. Which feels like further proof of how isolated New York is from the vampiric world.

Is New York safe for vampires? It’s feeling like the answer is no. And suddenly, I have to consider my hometown a little differently. The person I love most in this world is a vampire, and the city we live in isn’t the friendliest to his kind.

“You think there are still threats out there?” I ask Harry. “To vampires? We still don’t know why that uncle went crazy and killed the family. What if the reason is still out there? What if it’s the reason there aren’t more vampires in the city?”

“It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about,” Harry admits. I like how honest he is without being overly dramatic. There’s something soothing about Harry Kim. I didn’t expect that from my previous interactions with him. “It can get lonely in this city, with so few of us. To be honest, it’s one of the only reasons why I bother with the Barons. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to move somewhere with a higher population. I’ve never cared for Chicago, though, and I’m not sure I fit in on the West Coast.”

“I’ve never been to either place,” I admit.

Harry offers a small smile at that. He opens his mouth, about to speak again, but the elevator dings, and we both look over to see Ares and Sysco step out. They’re talking, and it makes something in my chest warm when I see Ares smiling and Sysco laughing at something he said .

Just a moment later, the second elevator slides open, and Cliff and Giovanni walk out.

Ares meets my eyes and leans down. “Hello, gorgeous,” he says as he presses a kiss to my lips. His hand lingers at my jaw, his eyes gazing into mine. “How did things go?”

I shrug, ignoring the fire that’s lit in my lower belly. “Fine. She’s gotten a job. Doesn’t look like she’s doing anything to worry about.”

Ares nods and sinks down onto the couch beside me. His eyes slide to Harry, but he must not find anything to worry about with us being one on one because he doesn’t say anything.

“Are we just bringing our wives to all the meetings?” Giovanni asks, sounding annoyed that I’m here. “I will have to let Francesca know.”

“How about you just shut your trap, old man?” Sysco says with a narrowed look. He sinks down onto the couch next to Ares. “Lana’s the shit, and you know she’s helpful.”

Giovanni mutters something in Italian, but he just takes a seat, looking generally pissed off.

Cliff eyes me warily as well as he sits beside Gio. “Augustus isn’t joining us today?”

“No, he isn’t,” Ares jumps right to it, his tone low and with a hint of anger in it. “He’s the reason I called this meeting.”

Here we go.

Every Baron turns his attention to Ares, none of them saying a word as they wait for him to explain.

“Until a month and a half ago, Augustus and I were estranged,” Ares begins. He takes my hand, lacing my fingers through his. It almost feels strange that I can comfort a man like him. But his hold tells me that’s exactly what he’s seeking right now. Support. Strength. “Before that, it had been three years since I’d seen or spoken to him. I wasn’t going to bend to his will. But I knew he was doing something… suspicious. So, with Lana’s help, we investigated what he was up to.”

“Men do not get as rich as Augustus by doing everything above board,” Gio says. I already liked him least among the Barons, and now it gets worse.

“We found out that Augustus was trafficking humans and selling them to other vampires,” Ares says bluntly, harshly. The room falls deadly silent. It feels as if each of them has come to an abrupt stop. Ares meets their gazes, and every inch of his face says he’s dead fucking serious. “He was putting on parties, though he never attended them. He was renting spaces, which is what made me question. It didn’t make sense, considering how much of Manhattan he owns. So, we investigated.”

Ares looks over at me, and I see how much he hates that this is tied to him. I lost my best friend because of all of this.

Yet, if none of it happened, we never would have met.

“He had a crew,” Ares continues, looking back to the Barons. “They were taking people. He was then keeping them prisoner until he could sell them to a vampire.”

“What the fuck?” Sysco is the first to react, his words coming out confused and disgusted.

Ares nods. “When Augustus realized Lana and I had found his warehouse, he took Lana.”

Harry’s grip on the arm of the couch tightens, his expression growing colder.

“He sold me to a vampire in Connecticut named Lawrence,” I say, my words coming out hoarse sounding. “I was there for six days before Ares found me. I was his blood bag whenever he needed a fix.”

“That fucking bastard,” Sysco says, rage twisting his expression. “Where is he? I will kill him.”

He rises from his seat, but Ares’ free hand flicks out, and he catches Sysco by the arm, stopping him. “After I got Lana back, I killed him.”

“Augustus is dead,” Giovanni says it as a statement, disbelief coloring his words.

“Like he deserves,” I say coldly, recalling how gleeful he was when he told me I’d be sold.

“It wasn’t just Lana,” Ares says, his tone cold. Sysco’s jaw flexes, his entire body taut and ready to spring into violent action. But he sits back down. “There were dozens of people. He was selling them for astronomical amounts. Any person who takes someone’s freedom and life so casually, and profits from it, doesn’t deserve to live.”

He stalls now, and this is the tell. This is when we evaluate each Baron’s reaction to this sickening news. Sysco has already proven himself a good man. But what about the rest of them?

“Something about Augustus always rubbed me the wrong way,” Harry says cooly, a look of angry disgust on his face. “But I never expected anyone was capable of this level of insidious selfishness.”

Harry gets clearance.

“Augustus was a powerful man,” Giovanni says, and suddenly I’m on pins and needles. “He made you a powerful man, Ares. There are many ways to further power. But taking people. Selling people…” Disgust grows on his face. “Too far. Too far. May he rot in hell forever.”

Interesting. I wasn’t sure how Gio was going to go.

My eyes slide to Cliff Morgan. He’s a quiet one. I haven’t liked him from day one, but that’s mostly based on his uptight, preppy boy look and his hesitance to make Ares a Baron. Here is where he can prove himself.

“May he rot in hell,” Cliff parrots Giovanni. But it isn’t particularly convincing sounding. It’s more as if he knows this is the appropriate response.

My eyes narrow at Cliff. In my list of who I like most to least among the Barons, he’s officially moved himself into dead last place.

Ares hand tightens on mine, and I have a feeling the same thoughts are going through his head. I glance over at Sysco, who is looking at Cliff with narrowed, calculating eyes. If I had to guess, I’d say Sysco is plotting Cliff’s demise right now.

“This will shift things in the city,” Ares says, moving on. “Thankfully, my father had a will. He owned far more of the city than I realized. But he left fifty percent of everything to me, the remaining half will go to his other children when they reach adulthood. For now, it’s all been placed in a trust that I’ve been appointed to manage.”

“That easily puts you as the majority landowner among the Barons,” Harry says.

“That’s a lot of shit to manage,” Sysco points out. “You sure you can balance all of that?”

Ares takes a deep breath. And I feel for him. It’s not like he wants all of this. He didn’t ask for it. But Augustus left it in his lap. “I have a team. I’ll need to expand it, but my property executor has really stepped up. We will get this under control.”

I eye Cliff. He’s watching Ares with evaluative intensity. I want to know what’s going through his head. I don’t like the look in his eyes. Like he’s silently plotting a move. Cliff comes from old money, and his family owns a large portion of this island. I have no doubt he’d like to get more. But he certainly can’t just take it from Ares.

Fuck. I really don’t like Cliff.

“Congratulations,” Giovanni says. “I’m pretty sure this makes you the richest landowner in the country for your age, Ares.”

That sounded like a genuine compliment.

And shit. Is Gio right? I look over at Ares, but it’s not like a financial report is stamped on his forehead. But I heard what Regina Wick said. Augustus’s net worth was over twenty billion. Ares inherited half of that. And then there’s what he already owned on his own. Fuck. And then I’ve never considered that he definitely inherited a portion of Hunt Pharmaceuticals. Florence may be the CEO and run the whole operation, but it was their mother’s first. There’s no way she didn’t leave part of it to her eldest child.

And I felt squeamish about letting Ares pay a few hundred dollars for the tattoo on my thigh.

Ares gives no reaction to that statement. He looks back around the room. “I don’t know that this changes anything, but I needed you all to know what Augustus did and why he had to be eliminated.”

“No arguments here,” Sysco says, holding his hands up, a disbelieving look in his eyes. “You did the right thing, my brother.”

Ares gives a small noise of appreciation. “Any questions for me?”

Maybe powerful men don’t like asking questions and looking like they don’t know something. Each one of them remains silent .

“I appreciate you all coming. That’s all I needed to say,” Ares says.

Cliff gets up from the couch and without saying anything else, heads for the elevator. I think maybe we should keep an eye on him for a while. I don’t trust him.

“You did the hard thing, Ares,” Giovanni says as they both stand at the same time. Gio claps a hand on Ares’ shoulder. “The right thing. This city needs more good men like you and fewer evil ones like your father.”

Ares gives a nod, and Gio strides off to the other elevator.

I rise from my seat, and I’m surprised when I’m immediately pulled into a vice-like hug. Sysco wraps me in his arms.

“I’m so sorry you went through that, Lana,” he says, his breath warm on my neck. “Your man needs to learn he can ask for help. If I’d known, we could have taken that bastard out together. But I’m so glad you’re okay.”

He releases me, his hands on my upper arms as he stares at me. There’s intensity there and maybe even a little emotion. Sysco might be a wildcard, but he is a good man. A man I know we want on our team.

“Thanks, Sysco,” I say, and I mean it. Something warms in my chest. People. We all have our people. We all need a circle, those who will have our backs. And I realize now that Sysco has become one of my people. Turns out a lot of my people are vampires. “I appreciate that. You should come over for dinner sometime.”

“I will,” Sysco says with a delighted smile. And then his eyes slide to Ares. “But seriously, bro, next time shit like this goes down, call me .”

“I appreciate that, brother,” Ares replies, the last word said pointedly but with sincerity. “And I will. ”

Harry rises from his seat last. “I never liked your father much, if I’m being honest,” he says as he slides his hands into his pockets. “I thought you’d just be another him. Successful. Powerful. Rich. But you’re more, Ares. And that’s a good thing. It’s not just Sysco who will have your back.”

Harry extends a hand. Ares gives a slight smile as he takes it, and they shake.

Well, look at that.

The circle got a little bigger today.