I brushed her away.
I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Scout.
She scooted closer, and despite my annoyance, I didn’t push her away. She wrapped her arms around me, using her vampire strength to keep me in place. She kissed my cheek and then moved to nibble and suck on my earlobe. I closed my eyes and tried not to tear myself away too fast. I didn’t want to lose my ear.
“Tell me about it,” she whispered into my ear.
“About what?”
“How you killed Lawson Loren.”
I hadn’t been able to talk to anyone. Gianni was completely uninterested in helping me when I asked, so I had to figure it out on my own.
“I followed him. Starting at a deli uptown. Then, he went to work at an office.”
“You waited all day?”
“No, just until lunch. He had parked his car in a carport. I jiggled the window down and unlocked the door. I waited in the passenger’s seat until he came to take his break.”
“Then what?” Aleida stopped nibbling my neck and turned to rubbing my shoulders.
It was as if I were back in his car, reliving it so vividly. My vision glazed over as I recalled how I took someone’s life.
“I put the gun to his head, and I asked him if he knew why I’d been sent.”
“Did he?”
“He had suspicions,” I confirmed. “He listed a number of people, including Greco. He asked how much I was being paid. I told him it didn’t matter, and then I cocked the gun and shot him.”
He’d slammed into the side of his door, blood smeared all over the windows. I’d stared at him for a long time before I moved. I was waiting to feel something. But… I didn’t.
“You shot him in the car?” Aleida pulled her hands away and gasped. “And no one noticed?”
“I had a silencer and it was an empty garage.”
Just our two cars.
“Then what?” She put her hands in her lap like a child, eagerly listening to a fairy tale.
“I put him in my trunk, and when night fell, I took him over to that pig farm. Tossed him right over the fence.” That was the only moment I wondered if I would be able to kill when I became a vampire. The sound those pigs made while consuming the man was… nauseating.
“I never knew it worked.”
“More or less.” I shrugged and reached for a cigarette in my case on the table. “I think there were some parts left. But it was too dark to get a good look.” I lit it and took a drag.
“You are incredible.” Aleida sighed, and before I could protest, swung her leg around and straddled me. I stiffened as she ground into me. My hands remained outstretched, holding a lit cigarette as she put her arms around my neck and tried again to get me to show her affection.
I couldn’t.
It was like looking at Lawson Loren.
Nothing.
“You’re going to be an incredible vampire, Desiderio. And I’m going to revel in being your wife.”
I groaned. Before, I would avoid thinking about it, as it sounded incredibly dull to me. Now, it was terrifying to imagine.
“But,” she continued. Despite my attempts to move my head, she kissed me on the lips. “Until then, I’m going to have some fun.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means that if you won’t fuck me, I’m going to find someone who will.” She stood and stormed out of my house.
