Lover Unleashed - J. R. Ward [203]
The second set of doors was cracked immediately, and Manny had to blink a couple of times as the way in was opened. The brilliant, colorful foyer on the far side was nothing he’d expected: Majestic and with all the hues of the rainbow, it was everything the fortified exterior was not. And dear Lord, it seemed like every conceivable type of decorative marble and stone had been used . . . and holy shit from all the crystal and the gold leafing.
Then he stepped inside and saw the frescoed ceiling three stories up . . . and a staircase that made the one from Gone With the Wind look like a stepladder.
Just as the door shut behind him, Payne’s brother came out of what looked like a poolroom, with Red Sox by his side. As the vampire strode forward, he was all business as he put a hand-rolled between his fangs and jacked up his black leathers.
Stopping in front of Manny, the two of them locked eyes . . . until you had to wonder if it was all going to be over before it started—with Manny being made a meal of.
Except then the vampire held out his palm.
Of course—the cell phone.
Manny dropped his bags and took the BlackBerry out of his coat pocket. “Here—this is—”
The guy accepted what was offered but didn’t look at the thing. He just shifted it over to his free hand and put his palm out again.
The gesture was so very simple; its meaning very, very deep.
Manny grabbed for that palm with his own, and neither of them said anything. No reason to have to because the communication was clear: Respect was paid and accepted on both sides.
When they dropped palms, Manny said, “The phone?”
For the vampire, getting into the thing was the work of a moment.
“Jesus . . . you’re fast,” Manny murmured.
“No. This is the one I gave her. I was calling it every hour on the hour. The GPS is busted—otherwise I would have given you the addy you found it in.”
“Fuck.” Manny rubbed his face. “There was nothing else there. Jane and I combed the alley—and I’ve driven around downtown for hours. What now?”
“We wait. It’s all we can do while the sunlight is out. But the instant we go dark, the Brotherhood is tearing out of here with a vengeance. We’ll find her, don’t you worry—”
“I’m coming too,” he said. “Just so we’re clear.”
As Payne’s twin started shaking his head, Manny cut any protesting, be-reasonable shit off. “Sorry. That might be your sister out there . . . but she’s my woman. And that means I’m going to be a part of this.”
At that, the one with the baseball cap took off his hat and smoothed his hair. “Shit on a shingle—”
Manny froze in place, the rest of what the guy said not registering at all.
That face . . . that fucking face.
That—holy shit—face.
Manny had been wrong about where he’d seen the guy.
“What?” the guy said, glancing down at himself.
Manny was vaguely aware of Payne’s brother frowning and Jane looking worried. But his focus was on the other man. He searched those hazel eyes, that mouth, and that chin, trying to find something that didn’t fit, something out of place . . . something that disproved the two-plus-two-is-four he was rocking.
The only thing that was even slightly off was the nose—but that was just because it had been broken at least once.
The truth was in the bones.
And the connection was not the hospital or even St. Patrick’s Cathedral—because come to think of it, he had definitely seen this man, male . . . vampire, whatever . . . at church before.
“What the hell?” Butch muttered, looking at Vishous.
By way of explanation, Manny bent down and rifled through his bags. As he searched for what he hadn’t intentionally brought with him, he knew without a doubt he was going to find it. Fate had lined these dominos up too perfectly for this moment not to happen.
And yup, there it was.
As Manny straightened, his hands were shaking so badly that the picture frame’s bracer flapped against the back of the matting.
Given that his voice was gone, all he could do was turn the glass around and give the three of them a chance to look at the black-and-white photograph.
Which was the spitting image of