Page 12 of Inevitably Yves

“There was no sign of life when you did this?” Clyde asks.

“None. He was just…a shell. Badly disfigured.” Yves clutches his chest. “He deserved what happened, but that knowledge doesn’t make it any less painful.”

“And you, Damiano?” Emiko, another vampire who has been quiet until now asks. “Where were you during all this?”

“Gone,” I answer. “I had my reasons, but they are for Yves’s ears first.”

Thorn glares at me while Syn rubs Yves’s back. I sense the love and loyalty flowing between them, and I am happy he has them, but I also want to send them away and be his comfort.

He lifts his eyes to me, clearly aware of my thoughts, but his expression is passive.

“Hadrian wants revenge,” Yves says, flatly. “He wants to punish me. Unfortunately, I am not his sole target. In his mind, he is our god. He wants our reverence, devotion, and complete submission.”

“Yeah, well, he can fuck a dagger,” Thorn says. “I’m loyal to no one but Yves.”

Yves smiles warmly. “What we have on our side is modernity. Hadrian had to be locked away somewhere all this time, or it would have happened sooner. We have technology and our own covens and allies to support us. He has an ego and rogue vampires. That won’t make it easy, but we are not entirely defenseless.”

“We’ll start making calls right away,” Meredith says. “Should we consider Yves our main contact?”

Paolo nods. “New Onyx is his. If it falls, we all do.”

FOUR

Yves

Waiting in the hotel lobby with Syn and Thorn, my thoughts are utter chaos. Lorenzo is alive. And by the gods, Hadrian lives.

“Are you sure you want Damiano to stay with us?” Syn asks. “He seems to disrupt you.”

A dark chuckle bubbles out of me. “Disrupt me? Brother, there are no words for his effect on me.”

“You loved him once?” Thorn asks.

“I’m not sure I’ve stopped loving him. After he left I thought…” I pause. “These are words meant for him first. All I can say is that it would be impossible for me to let him stay anywhere else now that I know he lives.”

“You didn’t even suspect it?” Syn asks.

“No. I searched for him for years before I found you, Syn. I traveled the world, and there was no trace. Then in Spain I found…” I shake my head. “Something he never would have left behind. I believed him dead at that point. Until recently, I never once caught his scent.”

“Is he…” Syn grips my hand. “Is he your mate?”

“No. I would have known. I’m not sure I care though. Fate has yet to show me another option.”

The elevator doors part and Paolo steps out first, followed by Lorenzo. I should adjust to calling him Damiano for simplicity. Perhaps in private he can still be my Enzo.

“You’re sure you have space for us?” Paolo asks.

“I own a high-rise. There’s space. Fully furnished flats. Do you have a mate to invite?”

Paolo shakes his head. “No one serious.”

My gaze shifts to Damiano. “You?”

He shakes his head. “No, Yves.”

I nod, filled with relief. “Well, we should go. There’s work to do.”

We exit the hotel, waiting for the valet to bring the SUV around. Paolo scans the lot with an eagle eye, as if Hadrian would just walk up to us. No. Whatever his plan is, it will be stealthy and deadly.

---