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“Nope. Not even a little bit. Come on.”
Jude opened the door, a scowl on his face. “I didn’t think you’d be back.”
“I made a promise.”
“Not that it means much coming from you.”
“Hey! You don’t know me.”
Jude ignored me, choosing to greet Sloane instead. “And you are?”
“Here to see Carlos Marcello.” Sloane smirked a little. I didn’t know if he was always a smart ass, if he didn’t care for underlings, or if he was backing me up.
I preferred the latter. “Ahh… you’ve got my back, dude.”
Sloane rolled his eyes. “Can we get on with this?”
“Wait right here.” Jude let us into the foyer, but no farther as he scampered off to assuredly check with the big boss. Did he know what he’d let in the house? That Sloane was a vampire? And did all that invitation stuff actually mean anything or was it a myth?
I didn’t have time to even ask since Jude came right back and ushered us into the same fancy parlor I’d met with him in before. This time, it was empty. I sat at the table while Sloane looked around the place. I didn’t know if he was impressed or interested, and I didn’t get a chance to ask that either. Carlos Marcello walked in, his presence nearly bigger than life, and he took up all the empty space in the room.
“Austin.” He nodded to me and then looked at Sloane. “And you are?”
“Sloane St. Germain. Well, that’s the surname given to me after my maker. I’m of Jacques St. Germain’s line, though a bit removed, if you will. Nonetheless, it works as well as any other name.”
“Charmed, I’m sure. What’s this about, Austin?”
“Sloane is a vampire. He can give you all the essence you want.”
“In exchange for blood,” Sloane was quick to chime in. “Fresh blood.”
“He needs it to refuel the life essence. And he’s immortal.” I held up my hand. “See?”
“I’m impressed. If this works. If I can get the vital life from the vampire, we have a deal.” Greedy-greedy, this one was. “I never thought about that before. Clever, clever, Austin.”
Sloane nodded. “Let’s try.”
I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if it didn’t work. Carlos escorted Sloane into another room, and Luc promptly followed, leaving me alone with Jude.
“How long have you been a goon?” My smart mouth had refrained from the questions long enough.
“What?” Jude scowled even more. I was afraid his face would break.
“I mean, how long have you worked for the Deadman mafia?”
“Don’t call it that. And long enough.”
Apparently, we weren’t going to have a conversation about it. Well, fuck him anyway.
A minute later, Luc showed up. “I think it worked. Marcello took life force, then sent for blood.” Wherever the fuck he got that from—but it wasn’t my problem. “Sloane is feeding from a nice young man. If it restores him, we’re good. I think.” Well, he did sayfresh.
I leaned back in my chair. “Thankfully.”
“What?” Jude asked.
“Nothing.” I didn’t want to get into it with him. Telling him about Luc felt blasphemous.
But it worked.
