Page 28 of Roman

Did that make him stupid? Putting so much trust in a man—a vampire—he’d just met? Probably. And that should almost definitely worry him. But for whatever reason, it didn’t.Just further proof you’re a dummy, dummy.

Gabe had almost insisted on coming home with them, catching on quickly that there was more to the situation than anyone was telling him, but when he’d seemed about to argue with Danny’s refusal, Soren—Roman’s stupidly handsome vampire friend—had stepped in.

“I agree. Youshouldcome,” he’d purred, eyes glinting, lips stretched in that maniacal smile he seemed to have permanently etched on his face. “I might get scared just remembering the whole grisly experience and need someone to hold me in the night.”

Gabe had immediately backed down, mumbling about everyone going home and getting some sleep. Danny had never seen him so easily intimidated by anyone. He’d seen his brother hold his own with men built like linebackers, yet this svelte blond supermodel of a vampire seemed to scare the living daylights out of him with no effort at all.

Was it petty of Danny to find that hilarious?

In the end, Soren hadn’t come back with him and Roman either. He’d said he’d needed to feed, whispering to Roman something about searching for someone as he made his way out.

Roman set a steaming mug in front of Danny, bringing his mind back to the present.

“I didn’t even know Ihadtea.” Danny’s voice sounded hollow to his own ears.

“I purchased some for you.” Roman was eyeing him with concern, as if he would break at any moment.

Well, Danny was made of tougher stuff than that. He gave himself a shake and smiled genuinely at Roman.

“Thank you for the groceries. I didn’t get a chance to say it, with my whole ‘drunk ranting about phone numbers’ thing. It was very sweet of you to do that for me.”

Roman just nodded once, watching Danny with the same intensity he always did. “I like doing things for you. It…soothes me. Soothes my demon too. To take care of you.”

Danny felt a lump forming in his throat at Roman’s admission. How long had it been since someone had wanted to take care of him? He suddenly seemed on the verge of tears.

For fuck’s sake, when had he become such a sap?

He decided to blame the stress of the night and change the subject back to more pressing issues. He cleared his throat. “Tell me why you and Soren seemed so freaked out. About the dead man. If it wasn’t either of you who killed him.”

Roman raised an eyebrow at him.

“I believe you,” Danny insisted. “I really do. But I know there’s more going on than what you’ve told me.”

Roman gave a deep sigh. Voice full of resignation, he started explaining. “There is a reason I move around so much, even for a vampire. A reason beyond avoiding drawing attention to my lack of aging. I know I told you vampires tend to stick to themselves, other than rumors of mated pairs.”

Danny nodded in acknowledgment. He remembered every word of what Roman had told him about vampires.

“There was another vampire I used to spend a good deal of my time with, besides Soren. All my time, once.”

Danny’s throat tightened a bit at the thought of where this might be heading. “He was your…partner?”

Roman’s eyes flashed to his in surprise. “You mean romantically? No, nothing like that. He was my friend. My…brother, really. Lucien. Luc.”

Danny couldn’t help the little sigh of relief that escaped him. He already felt like a bumbling baby in contrast to Roman with his vast life experience. There was no way he could mentally compete with some centuries-old vampire romance.

Roman continued on, oblivious to Danny’s battle with jealousy. “Luc was the one who turned me. I was dying, a wounded soldier, and he…saved me, in his way.”

Danny’s gut clenched at the thought of Roman at death’s door. Already he didn’t like to think of a world without Roman in it.

“Luc’s own sire had left him shortly after turning him. Luc himself had only been a vampire for a decade at that point. Practically a baby. But he still knew more than me. He helped me adjust to this new…presence…inside of me. All he asked in return was that I stay by his side. I think he had been…very lonely.”

The presence inside Roman. His demon. The other side of this man, the one Danny had met so far only in brief snatches. Black eyes, fangs, and an aura of fierce protectiveness—protectiveness over Danny.

Roman’s eyes had gone a little unfocused, for once not drilling into Danny, as Roman became lost in the memories he was describing. “It was in the 1940s when things changed. We were staying in New York City. By that time, we had known Soren for a few decades, had heard about fated mates. Luc met a woman there. He was certain, so certain, she was his mate.”

Did Roman feel certain Danny was his mate? He hadn’t sounded convinced when he’d explained it to Danny.

“He was happy for a time,” Roman went on. “She was remarkably unfazed by what we were. She was…adventurous. Tempestuous. Selfish, really. Loved our power and our wealth and what Luc could provide for her. They had a sort of…game…going. Luc would try to convince her to turn. She would deny him. He seemed to think of it as an extended flirtation, certain that after she came into her own a bit more as a human, she would give in.”

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