Chapter Twenty
A cold and hollow sensation swamped Jessie’s body, nearly buckling her knees, but she remained upright, holding onto Ricard.
The last few moments had been an overload of information and emotion. Learning that Ricard had loved before was not the most shocking discovery. Learning that he’d bound his heart to another who had been killed, and then lived with the tormented heart for who knew how long was a surprise.
The intensity of the feelings she already had for Ricard without the full consummation of the bond was awe-inspiring. Already she could not imagine her world without him. The thought of it was equally as horrifying as losing her family.
She could not truly comprehend how Ricard had remained sane all these years.
The anger coming from him was darker and far more potent than anything she had ever experienced herself. Even in these hours since Joshua’s death, after realizing her entire family had been one big Panthera experiment, her anger and wish to avenge the people she loved did not compare to what she felt from Ricard.
He hated these men. This hatred seemed to have festered for a long time, hidden away as though it did not exist. But it had been there all along, waiting and growing.
She tried to think of the love she felt for her family, of the new and special love she felt for Ricard, in hopes he would feel her intentions and find it soothing. There was nothing she wanted more than to soothe the pain her mate felt.
Serge nodded toward the brothers. “Let’s bring the tension down a notch. Please sit.”
“Our mates,” Rafe said. He stared over Jessie’s head at Ricard.
With their mates positioned behind them both brothers kept menacing glowers focused at Ricard.
“They should go. I will not risk Aurelia or Maddie. They had nothing to do with what our father did. They will not be made to suffer.” Gabe stepped back with his arms out, corralling both women back toward the door.
Jessie looked closely at Aurelia. There was something familiar about her, though at the moment she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Rafe jockeyed around him, positioning one brother at the forefront as the other ensured a safe exit of the mates.
Keeping Jessie held close to him, Ricard retreated farther from the group.
“I’m not leaving,” the female vampire said. “Oh, no. There is no way I’m leaving you here alone. Are you leaving?” She looked at Maddie.
“Uh, no. Honestly, this is the stuff I’m always talking about, the super macho weirdo vampire stuff. No insult intended, Aurelia.” Maddie ducked under Gabe’s arm and raced back to the center of the room where Serge had replaced the table. Rafe quickly ushered her behind him.
“None taken.” Aurelia darted around Gabe and came to stand beside Rafe so quickly Jessie nearly missed the move.
“Aurelia!” Gabe appeared at her side. “This is no time for—”
“For what? Disobeying my master?” She grinned.
“This is why they need to be made to leave.” Gabe tossed Aurelia over his shoulder, scooped Maddie under his arm, and attempted to back toward the door with very little success as both women did not go willingly. “They do not understand the danger of this situation. They mock us!”
Watching what Jessie was certain was best described as the undoing of two very dangerous vampires, she realized she very much liked these women and wanted sincerely to have them as friends. Though, it seemed that was to be an unlikely outcome.
“Let us come to one accord for this conversation. No matter the details of the conversation, everyone’s mates remain safe,” Serge said, and if Jessie hadn’t looked when she did, she’d have missed the way he bit his cheek as a smile nearly cracked his lips.
“Agreed,” both Maddie and Aurelia said and instantly stopped fighting Gabe, who nearly dropped them both.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Gabe released Maddie when Rafe turned toward them. “You’re thinking it works both ways, but that was meant for the women. To assure all the men that the women would be safe. Not the other way.”
“Right. For the women.” Aurelia kissed Gabe’s cheek, grabbed Maddie’s hand and strode toward the table where both women parked themselves in the two middle chairs facing Jessie and Ricard. “For all the women.”
They smiled at Jessie, and she wanted to smile back, but she felt Ricard’s anxiety ratchet up a notch, which made it impossible for her to feel happy, though she did feel hopeful.
Simultaneously the brothers grabbed the remaining open chairs beside their mates, spun them around, and sat, leaning into the backs of the chairs. Both inched his chair closer to his mate until their legs touched.
The women glanced to the sides, sly smiles on their faces.
If these women could handle their mates in this way, the men could not possibly be as terrible as Ricard believed. Could they? If they were really devil’s spawn, would they allow these women to have so much control? Would they love these women the way it appeared they did?
“Join us, Ricard,” Serge said.
He hesitated. Jessie felt him reel against himself as though he’d split into three different beings. There was a part of him that wanted this confrontation. That part was eager for the blows to begin. Another piece did not want to relive any of it. He wanted to forget the entire matter. The third portion wanted to move forward, to forgive, to love Jessie and not look back.
Turning to her mate, she nodded. “We will not be able to live our lives devoted to each other without getting this out of the way.”
Although he looked down at her, his attention was split between those waiting at the table and her. “You do not understand, and I do not wish for you to ever know the pain.”
“I know what I heard about your first love. I know what I feel for you. There is no moving forward unless we deal with this. It’s killing you, and I can’t have that.” She placed her hand on his chest and felt the beating of his heart. Strong, angry beats, not the same as she felt before, when they had been fueled by the love they felt for one another. “I cannot lose you to the past or to vengeance. Remember, we cannot live with a hateful heart.”
Pent up rage bubbled beneath the surface, howling for release.
“Please, Ricard.” With her hand at his neck, she turned his attention toward her. “If you love me, you’ll do this.”
“You ask too much of me.”
“I ask only that we do this together.” She did not release him until he gave his word, and when he finally agreed, she moved with him to the table, staying by his side, but leading him to a conversation she knew he feared.
Seated at the table was a far less comfortable experience. The angst of three powerful vampires was palpable. Jessie looked to Serge to begin the conversation. They needed to move this along before the seven of them combusted from tension.
“Ladies, I doubt any of you know the full story of Raffaele Barone,” Serge said.
“No. They don’t. Why in the name of sanity would we share anything about that bastard?” Gabe asked.
“I know a little,” Maddie said, peering up at Rafe, who nodded.
“She knows of how our father turned me and attacked my mother.” He exhaled. “And she knows of how I killed my fiancée.” The words fell flat, and that horrible fear Jessie felt the moment Joshua lunged for her returned.
Ricard sneered at Rafe, though draped his arm around Jessie, pulling her closer.
“It was bloodlust. He had just awakened as a vampire and couldn’t control himself.” Maddie frowned and leaned into Rafe. “Though, I must say he was very controlled, when you think of it. He didn’t kill Gabe or try to turn him.”
“He couldn’t have turned me. He didn’t know how,” Gabe said.
“I’m certainly glad he waited until you were an adult. What would I have done with a little boy? I’d have been out of luck on that one and probably dead to boot,” Aurelia said.
Gabe stretched his neck, rolling it around on his shoulders. When he finished, he sat with a forced blank look as his mate, and Maddie went on to tell what she thought may have happened.
“I don’t know, maybe he’d be a lot less annoying. You know that thing he does with the cars in the parking garage,” Maddie said.
“Yes, that’s true. He wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals, so no driving,” Aurelia said.
“Enough.” Ricard slammed his hand on the table. “It is all fun and games when you have not experienced such a loss as to have their father rip your heart from your chest and devour it before your eyes.”
Jessie jumped.
“He was a savage,” Rafe said.
“You believe that is a gene not passed from a father to his son?” Ricard asked. “I am not so sure that all Barones are not savages.”
Maddie’s breath caught.
Jessie squeezed Ricard’s hand. “Please, don’t say things you can’t take back.”
“I’ll never want to take that back.”
“What happened to her?” Jessie asked.
“My mate was human as most are. I left her to hunt, and their father found her, took her from me.” Ricard’s face was hollow, beneath his eyes circles darkened to black. It was as though he was morphing into a crazed animal as they spoke.
“Why did you not feed from your mate? I never understood that,” Serge said.
Ricard glared at Serge. “My mate was carrying my child.”
The words fell in the room like priceless crystal crashing to the floor.