“Dmitri Novikov,” I repeat. “He’s another… sibling. CK will give you his number,” I say blandly, not looking at my sire, who quite clearly, is looking at me with suspicion.
“May I inquire why you want to see Dmitri?” he asks, forcing me to look at him.
“I’m going to offer him the real seat for Eastern Europe. He can’t stand Lance either, so he will be happy to accept the subterfuge and step in once Lance is gone.”
“Hm,” he says softly. “Keeping it in the family indeed.”
“Indeed. It is time CK. I know it’s not what you want. That you like us scattered to the four corners of the Earth, but I think now is as good a time as any to start meeting and greeting the fam. As long as none of them try to torture and kill me, we should be just fine,” I add.
“I wouldn’t put it past some of them,” he mutters darkly, to which Cole’s eyebrows go up.
“Liv. I don’t think I’m altogether happy about this. What if they all turned
out like Lance?”
“I didn’t turn out like Lance!” I say, affronted. “Well, not for the most part anyway,” I amend.
“Constantine. Do you have any other charges that might try to hurt her?” Cole turns to my clearly uncomfortable sire.
“I am not discussing this. Aefre, leave it be.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my love. I need a Council and who else am I supposed to get to sit? Charges of Eloise and Gregor’s?”
He ponders that and I can see it makes sense to him, but he is still reluctant to give up the goods. Finally, he says, “I will make a list and contact them myself.”
“No can do. I need to speak to them. I’m not hiring just on your say so. No offense!” I add, as he looks thunderous that I don’t trust his judgement.
“I will make a list and contact them myself, and then you can speak to them,” he says. He doesn’t fold much, but it’ll do… for now.
“Agreed. In the meantime, please pass Dmitri’s number to Devon or call him yourself, so that we can sort this today,” I say sweetly.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
I n the end, he chooses to call himself, going off in a sulk back to Milan to do just that, under my promise that I will bring forth Gladius Infernus if Lance shows back up. Not that he can with it being daylight out now.
Cole and I go back to bed as I’m suddenly weary again. There are a long few days ahead of us with yet more time-difference traveling.
I strip off my robe and climb into bed. He curls up behind me with a sigh. “You have suffered so much in your life. Has it been worth it to live this long? With all this grief and pain?”
Having expected this for some time now, I turn to him and stroke his face. I kiss him softly. “To be here with you, like this, yes, it has been worth every second.”
He closes his eyes in contentment at my words and my gentle touch. “Tell me about your parents, your human ones,” he murmurs. “I never really thought about it before, but after hearing about Tiamat, it seems important now. Did you have real brothers or sisters?”
Somewhat surprised by the question, I say, “There’s not much to tell. My mother was a hardworking but cruel woman and my father was weak. Preferred the easy way out. I had two older sisters and a brother, but they died when I was a baby and then I had one more sister who also died. Clearly not of good stock. I suppose the only reason I made it was because I wasn’t altogether theirs,” I shrug.
“Wow, that’s harsh.”
“It happened a lot. If the babies even survived being born,” I add, suddenly thinking of my own. Damn you, Constantine for spilling the baby beans.
“How did they die? Your parents.”
“I have no idea. I was turned and living with CK by then.”
“You never wanted to find out?” he asks in amazement.
“Not really, no. I wasn’t fond of them and that part of my life was over. I never even thought about them again. Oh, except maybe that one time when we headed back to England in 1066 but they would have been dead by then anyway.”
“Maybe Constantine knows. He seems to have every aspect of your life covered,” he says with a grimace.