Stakes & Stilettos - Michelle Rowen [110]
I could barely hear him, since I was too focused on the photos. There was one of Thierry leaving through the back door of Haven and heading to his Audi. One of Amy and Barry laughing outside their house. George walking down the street holding a tray with two Starbucks coffees. The front of George’s house with the blinds drawn and a FedEx truck out front.
There was a picture of the high school where I’d attended the reunion. A shot of me and Thierry and Claire and Reggie outside after I’d bitten George. There was a picture of my parents’ home with all the cars belonging to my relatives parked in front. Another photo showed my mom and dad putting birdseed out.
“I will kill them all,” Gideon said softly. “I hate to do this with such a lack of finesse. It’s not really my style. But I’m afraid if you leave me with no other choice, then what can I do? I’m a desperate man.”
I turned and grabbed him by his throat and squeezed. His hands came up to claw at mine but I had a good hold on him. I pushed him back and he flew across the factory floor before hitting the ground hard, coughing and sputtering.
“You stay the hell away from these people!” I yelled.
He kept coughing. I could see the red, bruiselike imprint of my fingers on his throat. “You have quite the grip on you.”
The need for blood had been replaced by anger. No fear, no panic, no anxiety, just a simple, hot line of fury that anyone would threaten the people I loved.
“Stay away from them or I will kill you myself,” I said.
He struggled to get up from the floor. “I already gave you that option. That door has closed, Sarah. You made your choice.”
“Maybe I’ve changed my mind.” I took a step toward him.
“Harm me and all those who are pictured there are dead.” He breathed out. “I haven’t taken any chances. The other hunters may think I’m dead and buried, but my money still speaks volumes. And hired killers are a cheap commodity these days. Hired killers who, if they don’t hear from me in the next hour, will go ahead with their assignments.”
“So if I’d killed you when you gave me the chance all of these people would die anyhow?” I was shaking with anger. “You son of a bitch.”
His now-blank expression didn’t waver. “If you’d killed me I automatically would have gone to hell.”
“It’s what you deserve,” I snapped. “So all you want from me is my blood when I make you a vampire. What if it doesn’t work? What if you’re wrong and it’s only rumors?”
“Then so be it. It’s better to try and fail than leave one’s life up to nothing but fate.”
My head hurt. This was too much to take in, especially when I was feeling foggy to begin with. But my anger was fading and being replaced again by uncertainty and a dark hunger.
I clenched my fists at my sides. “And if I do this you swear you won’t hurt anyone I know.”
He smiled. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
I had no choice. He wasn’t giving me any damn choice.
“Then we’ll meet again in two weeks,” I said. “At the full moon.”
“You’ll do it?”
“It would be my pleasure to sink my teeth into your neck, Gideon. And I wouldn’t say that about just anybody.” I held my hand out. “Now, give me back the chain.”
“Two weeks is a very long time.” His gaze on me was steady. “A long time for you to go blabbing your pretty little head off to your darling boyfriend about my plans.”
I dropped my outstretched hand. “And let me guess, if I say anything, you’ll have everyone killed.”
“Of course. But I want a show of faith from you. I want you to do something for me tonight.”
“Sorry. Only one lap dance per customer per night. Those are the rules.”
His smile grew. “That’s not what I had in mind. It has more to do with Thierry.”
My eyes narrowed. “What about him?”
“You’re in love with him?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“I have observed this relationship and have been very surprised that it has lasted, given the difficulties you’ve encountered.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that it is a good way for me to know how