Page 37 of Depths of Obsession
I stare at my reflection, seeing the truth in my own eyes. Luca is right. I’m denying the truth to protect myself from facing it. My father was a monster, and he hurt me and my mother. But now, that monster is dead. And the vampire who killed him, just another kind of monster… maybe, just maybe, he’s the kind of monster I can live with.
CHAPTER 12
“She will be fine,” I growl. I’m tired of my brothers in my space. I’m even tired of Mia being here. I know it probably makes sense and Pippa might need her, but I’m reaching my limit. I haven’t had much sleep and my energy is low. I’ve been up most of the day and although I’m inside, the sunlight from the windows is still draining. And Pippa is hurting. I drop my elbows onto my knees and my head into my hands. That Pippa is torn up about everything that happens is the most draining.
Renzo goes over and hits the button to bring down the shades. “Sorry, but the sunlight is getting to me. My energy is waning. Mother would not be pleased, I know,” he offers a small smile and then raises his voice to mimic Mother’s. “You boys need to work on being in the sunshine for longer periods of time. You are among the very few vampires that have the ability to be in the sun at all, don’t waste it and hide away in the dark.”
Nico grins. “Her voice scolding me about it echoes in my head all the time.”
I don’t bother to respond. Nothing much to say. Our mother has been dead a long time and honestly, good riddance. Pippa is moving around in the bedroom. She’s just lost a parent which is hard enough when things are good. This will be devastating but she will pull herself together because what choice does she have? I won’t let her fall apart.
“It’s going to be a long road with Pippa,” Renzo observes.
“No it isn’t,” I say. “She is already coming around. She will get there in the end. Once she separates her father’s death from finding out about vampires, she will accept everything.”
“You seem confident,” Nico points out. “Why?”
“Because Pippa is a pragmatist in the end. She will accept what is going on and then figure out how to move forward. She dealt with finding Edoardo Gazzago’s body by asking for help. Then she moved forward by immediately packing her things when she realized she wasn’t going to stay at the gallery. She freaks at first, then figures out the best course of action and then moves forward with it. It’s a pattern. She’s in the freaking out stage. Next comes acceptance and then comes a plan of action to move forward.”
Mia sighs. “He’s not wrong. That’s what Pippa will do, but I’m just not sure how long it’s going to take her to get to stage three.”
I don’t say anything because that’s my worry as well. I think Pippa will adapt to her father’s death fairly quickly but it’s the moving forward part I’m unsure of. Now that she knows I’m a vampire, will she accept me or am I going to have to fight for her? She is mine and I will not let her go. The question is only about the amount of time it will take her to adjust. To see me as not just a monster, but her monster.
My cell phone buzzes. I check the screen. It’s Rocco. “Yeah,” I say. “Anything?”
“I’ve asked my family, but no one recognizes the guy. Again, I think he’s made up to look like you through magick. I asked a witch I know if she can unmagick his face in the picture and she’s working on it. Not sure if it will work, but it’s worth a shot.” He hesitates. “How’s Pippa?”
“She’s awake.” I don’t go into detail. There are no details to share.
“I think you should ask your family if they’ve ever seen this guy. He looks like all of you. Maybe they’ve heard of someone who looks like he’s part of your family. Besides, with all of these overdoses, Interpol is getting suspicious. I’ve got a source on the inside telling me they are going to put your family under a microscope. You need to tell the others.”
“Fuck,” I say as I ran a hand through my hair. “Fine. Let me know as soon as you have any kind of a picture.”
“I will. Before you go, I asked my grandfather about the Queen’s Heart necklace. He says it’s cursed. He says that someone in the magick realm had it for years and he’s not sure how it ended up in the human world again but to stay as far away from it as possible.”
“Thanks for the warnings, both of them,” I say and disconnect the call. I sit down in front of the monitors. I swivel my chair around and face my brothers, both of whom are sitting on the couch. Mia is sitting on a stool behind them, next to the breakfast bar.
I sigh silently. “Rocco says the necklace is cursed and we need to stay as far away from it as possible.”
“That’s not good,” Mia comments. “I was hoping we could get it and give it to Gazzago.”
“Yeah, me too.” I pause, then start again. “I didn’t want to bring it up once we had the whole Gazzago mess to deal with but I think I have to fill you in on what’s happening in my clubs.”
Mia’s cell phone chirps with an incoming call. “It’s the doctor in Switzerland.” She hops off the stool and goes to stand by the dining room table.
Renzo’s cell goes off a second later. “Gazzago. Fuck. What am I going to tell him?”
“That Danillo is dead, and Pippa isn’t marrying him,” I supply.
He answers the call and puts it on speaker. Mia glances over and moves down the hallway.
“Gazzago,” Renzo says by way of greeting.
“What’s this I hear that Danillo Dominici is dead, eh?”
“Yes. He died in a car crash late last night.”
“Merda. I don’t believe you. You killed him.”
