Cassidy stiffened at the innocent question. Aida wasn’t aware of Dante’s history, and Cassidy didn’t want him to relive it if he preferred not to.
“I lost my sister,” Dante said.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Aida blurted and covered her mouth with her hand. “I… I didn’t mean to… I—”
“It’s okay,” Dante assured her before she stammered through more of an awkward apology. “It was twenty years ago; I’d just like to know what happened to her.”
“You still don’t know what happened to her?” Julian asked, and Cassidy glared at him; he ignored her.
“No,” Dante said as Kyle returned with his beer. “She vanished one night, and no one’s heard from her since.”
“Who vanished?” Kyle asked, and Cassidy dropped her head into her hands. Sometimes, her siblings were utterly obtuse.
“His sister,” Aida said.
“Oh,” Kyle said. “I’m sorry, man. That sucks.”
Kyle stood awkwardly for a minute before glancing down the bar, waving to a woman who was barely paying attention to him, and walking away. When Aida and Julian didn’t speak, the awkward silence stretched on.
Dante hated when people got like this around him after they learned about Maya; it was why he so rarely told anyone about her. Although he would love to talk about her, share stories, and recall her in vivid detail because sometimes those details blurred so badly he couldn’t quite remember them. Maybe, if he talked about her more, she wouldn’t seem like such a figment of his imagination sometimes.
Loud laughter caused him to turn toward the group of young, drunk guys making their way to the bar. Most of them had their arms draped around a woman, but the groom had passed out in the booth.
“You have to get him out of here,” Rick said to one of the guys and pointed at the groom. “He can’t stay here in that condition.”
“Can we have a couple of drinks first?” one of them slurred.
“Don’t serve them,” Rick said to Kyle.
“Sorry, guys, that’s it for the night,” Kyle told them.
There were a few drunken grumblings, but they all turned and wandered away. When a couple of them waved at Cassidy, Dante stiffened beside her. They may be human, and he’d vowed never to hurt a human, but he would gladly pummel them into the ground.
Cassidy gave a small wave in return as Dante’s hostility vibrated against her back. A couple of women went out the door with them, but the others broke away and returned to their seats. Two of the men lifted the groom from the booth and dragged him out of the bar.
Dante relaxed when the door closed behind them. After the events of last night, heneverwanted to be involved in another bar fight.
Cassidy finished her beer and set the glass down. She glanced at the clock to discover it was already after midnight. “I should get my things; the bar’s going to close soon.”
Dante reluctantly lowered his hand from her hip and watched as she weaved her way through the crowd with elegant, mesmerizing grace. Lifting his glass, Dante ignored Julian and Aida’s stares as he sipped his beer.
“Excuse me,” he said to them as he set his beer down. “I’ll be back.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
He ignoredthe women who turned to watch him, but realized one of them was Tammy when she called his name and waved at him. He gave a brief wave back before stepping into the hallway Cassidy had entered.
Dante strode past the two bathrooms while following her scent to the door at the end. He was almost to the room when Cassidy stepped into the doorway. She looked up, and her mouth parted before a knowing smile curved her luscious lips.
His heart battered his ribs as his erection strained against his jeans. Before he could stop himself, he stalked toward her, slid his hand into her hair, and pulled her head back so he could claim her mouth.
She tasted of beer and smelled like cherries; it was the most enticing mixture he’d ever encountered. He didn’t know what it was about her that enthralled him so much, but he couldn’t get enough of touching her, tasting her, and being around her.
For years, his existence was one of loneliness. He believed he would spend an eternity alone, but Cassidy gave him hope for a different future. For the first time since becoming a vampire, he thought maybe,justmaybe, he could have love, happiness, and a family again.
He was getting way too ahead of himself with that kind of thinking; they barely knew each other, but she was a bright light in his otherwise bleak world.
All of this was a little too fast and overwhelming, but Cassidy couldn’t bring herself to care. She wanted to experience the elation his kiss evoked and the warmth of his arms enveloping her.
