“Right.” Tristan shut the door behind him.
Kyla gaped at him. He shook his head and looked at the floor, “I wish you wouldn’t have had to hear that.”
“My fault,” she squeaked out.
“No.”
“You had Sam bring her here for me, because of me…”
“Shh,” he closed the distance between them and gathered her into his arms and held her close, “Don’t blame yourself. They were unexpected. Becky is a loose cannon. Most vamps are happy with stored blood when a guest in someone else’s home but those two, they’re gluttons, and they fight like crazy.”
“How many more gluttonous vampires will be here tomorrow? Dozens, isn’t it? How many more child killers, how many more kidnapping rapists?” Julia had her whole life ahead of her and might have family wondering and worrying. Just another missing stripper who would eventually be found in a dumpster or landfill? That tiny, innocent-looking redhead was a cold-blooded killer. It was devastating.
She felt a stab of regret, “Sorry,” she muttered.
“For what?”
“The kidnapping rapist comment.”
“Why? It’s true. That’s what happened. They kidnapped you; I raped you, kept you against your will, and now you’re stuck with me. Aren’t you a lucky girl?” His gaze darkened, “That’s it. This needs to end.” He thrust his hands through his hair and let out a long breath.
“What needs to end? Us?” Her expression dropped.
“Not us.” His face filled with disgust, then determination, “We never end. Never.” He took her face into his hands, “Never, Kyla. This. This shit with Becky, with Joe, this party. This ends. Sorry I gotta leave you right now while you’re upset but I have to deal with this. Now. You okay?”
Kyla was about to speak and tell him no, that she was not even a little bit okay when she heard shouting down in the courtyard. Tristan rushed out onto the terrace, “Stay here,” he called over his shoulder as he descended over the side of the railing.
She carefully peeked out the window from behind the drapes and slowly slid the window open a few inches so she could try to hear what was going on.
She could hear Rebecca’s and Andre’s voices but couldn’t make them out. It sounded like Rebecca was having a fit and Kyla made out a slew of cuss words. She put her ear to the window from just behind the heavy drapes but the voices were lower now and she could hear Tristan’s distinct voice as well as he was obviously trying to get the situation simmered down.
“It’s all your fault!” she heard Rebecca shriek, “Why’d you fucking bring me here? I can’t be in the same house as him!”
Huh? Was she talking about Tristan?
An eerie sensation prickled the back of her neck. She looked back toward the bedroom door. Joe was leaning in the open doorway, arms crossed and staring at her. She froze. She hadn’t even heard him come in.
“Entranced, huh? Are you fooling him or is he trying to fool me?”
Kyla smiled sweetly, “Hmm?”
Joe’s eyes were dark and narrow and his face was stoic.
“He’s different since we brought you here.” He took a few steps forward and placed his hands on the handle of the dinner trolley that was between them, “He’s never brought a girl to his bedroom before. Why aren’t you in his fuck room?”
Kyla forced a thin smile and tried to stay still.
“He was a control freak and always on the ball. Now he’s not. Lackadaisical, unfocused, un-Tristan. Stays locked up with you for hours in the middle of the day when he’s got guests? When there are crises going on out there that need his attention? He’s never kept a girl for more than a few hours. His lust is insatiable. Usually has two or three women a day, sometimes at a time. You’ve been the only one for how many nights now? I brought him one the other day and he didn’t even bother to taste her.” He eyed her up and down and moistened his lips with his tongue.
Kyla just sat still and kept smiling at him.
“Never seen him go running outside the gym in all the time I’ve known him; ‘till now. He suddenly cooks. Leaves a fuckin’ mess --- dishes in the sink, papers all over his office. He’s letting things slide that he’d never have let slide before. Either there must be something very special about you or he’s on the road to ruin. Maybe both, eh?” he chuckled.
Kyla forced a chuckle. His fake smile faded, “Not sure I buy this. You suddenly fall in line after all this time?” He took a step closer to her. She stayed perfectly still but tried with all her might to scream internally, hoping that she could toe the line between looking calm and screaming in her head to Tristan to get in here right the fuck now. She could feel a muscle twitching in her cheek. She tried to hold her face steady.