Page 23 of Her Dark Salvation

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

“A double espresso,sweethaht. Twosugahs,” Vinnie said in his thick Boston accent.

She looked at me, eyes flashing with contempt. “Can I get you anything, Mr. DeVita?” The words cut with a sharp edge of disdain despite the shake in her voice.

“No.”

She gave me a terse nod and closed the door.

I let the tip of the letter opener fall to the blotter and spun it on its pointed end. “You’re supposed to text if you want something. Set up a meeting. Somewhere safe.”

He eyed the spinning blade. “What place is safer than Terme?

“Safe from eyes, Vinnie.”

He shrugged. “They watch me no matter where I go.”

His cavalier attitude made me want to stab him with the damn letter opener, but I let it go. A swift end to the conversation was more important than proving my point. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. But I do have something for you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Forgive my skepticism.”

He frowned, dropped his Don-of-Boston persona, and narrowed his eyes. “What’s with the venom, Marco? What the hell did I do?”

The valid question snapped me out of my attitude problem. I sighed, let the letter opener fall to my desk, and pressed my thumb and forefinger into my eyes before pinching the bridge of my nose.

I was on edge, annoyed by Vinnie’s unexpected visit, but he wasn’t the enemy. He wasn’t exactly a friend, but I’d known the man since I’d started working for his father eighty years ago. We shared an understanding and mutual respect.

No, this had to do with the fear I’d seen in Anna’s eyes, her reaction to the boss of the Boston Mafia showing up at her desk. It had triggered a response, some sort of instinct I didn’t want to examine. And it was making me act like a dick.

“Nothing. Sorry.” I dragged a hand down my face. “I’m flying to Italy Friday, and I have to finish reading this contract.” I waved a hand over the papers strewn across my desk.

He arched an eyebrow. “Now it’s my turn to be skeptical.”

I stared him down, done with the banter. “What do you have for me, Vinnie?”

He smirked but took the hint. “A business proposition.”

“I gathered. Which business?”

“Sources.”

I folded my hands in my lap and reclined in my chair. “I’m listening.”

“It’s important to me, you, and our community to have consistent and affordable access to Sources.”

“For a price.”

“Of course, for a price. This is business.”

Where there was a need, there was a way to make money, and enterprising blood demons like the Valenzanos had been cashing in on our need for hundreds of years, brokering Sources for those without a spouse or the connections to find one themselves. Boston housed the largest population of blood demons outside of Italy, and with it the largest Source market.

“The one demone del sangue crew under my control handles the clients, connects them with Sources, and collects and distributes payments. Same as when you worked for my father. But…” He lifted his hands and shrugged. “Demand is up. More and more demoni del sangue are settling in Boston every year. And now we have high-end clients with loftier expectations. Times are changing, and we need to change with them.”

Willing Sources weren’t as hard to find as one might imagine. Unbonded blood demons in need of extra cash. Humans intrigued by the darker side of nature, or the pleasure induced by our venom. But the key word waswilling. Feeding from another soul without consent was a sin akin to rape.

My brow furrowed. “You worried about an uptick in nonconsensual feedings? My lawyers haven’t mentioned they’re getting any more requests than usual from the community.”

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